The Musings of a Working Mom

The holidays are here and that means HOLIDAY PARTIES!!  That also means oodles of eating and drinking and countless hours spent in the gym trying to work them off.  Here's a great little article breaking down the calories in those holiday libations that I came across in the December 2012 issue of Everyday Food.  I hope that this little calorie guide helps you to keep those excess holiday LBS from making their way to your midsection!  Enjoy and Be Merry...

Here is a simple, elegant and quick recipe to use especially during the holiday season.  I tried this appetizer at a holiday party a couple of years ago and I have loved it ever since.  The recipe is super easy to prepare but looks like a gourmet dish when arranged on a platter in a floral pattern.  Serve this appetizer at your next gathering and everyone will think that you are a gourmet chef!  Enjoy... Endive Spears with Stilton Cheese,  Toasted Pecans, and Sauteed Pears (original base recipe from FoodNetwork.com but tweaked by yours truly) Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Serves: 25 Spears Ingredients 3 Tbsp butter 2 Tbsp sugar 2 pears, peeled and diced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup Stilton cheese, crumbled (or any other blue cheese or soft cheese, like feta or goat) 25 endive spears (or more) 1/2 cup pecan halves, c...

This beauty caught my eye while browsing the many aisles at the Sephora store.  I am talking about the Lorac Sweet Temptations Lip Gloss Collection.  This set has 6 "diamond-etched" lip glosses that are infused with antioxidants of Acai Berry, Pomegranate, Grape Seed and Vitamins C & E to help nourish and protect your lips.  The lip glosses are richly pigmented, sparkly and have a nice yet subtle sweet scent to them.  These glosses aren't too sticky which is awesome if you have long hair and hate having your hair drag along your lips and leave behind streaks of lip gloss across your cheek (you know what I'm talking about).  I love the packaging - with the rhinestones on the gold cap of the glass tubes...gorgeous and lush.  This is a gorgeous set of glosses with a good variety of nude pinks to berries to a warm red.  I would've like to see a nude brownish color but oh well, this is still a nice set of colors to work with in the fall and winter sea...

November is the month for giving...after all Thanksgiving falls at the end of this month.  That is the theme for this month's Birchbox - giving thanks, giving back, and of course giving treats.  Included in this month's box is also a holiday gift guide to help you find the perfect gift for those special people in your life.   Have you subscribed yet? This month's Birchbox contains: 1.   Curly Hair Solutions: Curl Keeper (Full size, $10) - Comb this light, water-based serum through wet hair to keep your curls shiny, defined, and frizz-free. 2.   Jouer: Fragrance Cornucopia (Full size, $42) - Make room for your new purse staple: This portable scent features a heady trio of gardenia, jasmine, and honeysuckle. 3.   ModelCo: FIBRE LASHXTEND Lengthening Mascara (Full size, $24) - Falsies without the fuss.  This innovative mascara uses tiny lash-extending fibers to give you a lengthy fringe. Tip: Rotate the wand inside the bottle to pick up the f...

Here is another awesome and much coveted gift set from one of my favorite brands - Tarte!  This set features 4 mini (0.1 oz) Amazonian Clay blushes.  The regular size blushes (0.2 oz) retail for $25 each but this set is $35 for 4 amazing blushes (well 3 blushes, 1 highlighter).  Actually one of the blushes could be used as a bronzer/contour powder...but either way, you get 4 awesome shades in an amazing formulation.  And I love that these shades are universally flattering.  In this set, you get the shade Angelic, which is described as shimmering champagne (shimmer); Fantastic, soft fuchsia (matte); Magic, pink coral (matte); and Stellar, shimmering nude (shimmer).  These shades do seem to be limited edition and not part of their regular collection so I would get your hands on them as soon as you can before they sell out! I do love these blushes - just like their full size counterparts they seem to adjust to your skin needs.  If you have dry skin, t...

October was such a busy month for me - planning 2 birthday parties (my father's surprise 70th and my son's 2nd birthday), my husband was out on business for 3 weeks, getting the kiddos ready for Halloween, Halloween parties at school...October truly flew on by.  But the leaves are falling and the air is getting crisper - Fall is finally here! As the seasons change, so do my skin needs and makeup routine. Here are my favorites for the moth of October: For makeup - I am loving the Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation .  This foundation is just as great as the original fluid Colorstay foundation.  The pigmentation is great - a little goes a long way.  I have found that the best way to apply this foundation is not with a brush or damp beauty blender, but rather with your fingers.  Somehow I don't know if it's the warmth of your fingers or what, but using your fingers to apply and blend out the foundation leaves a flawless finish just like using a brush or beauty bl...

Well the holidays are right around the corner and that means...time to start thinking of the perfect gift to give to your family and friends.  Allow me to take the stress off of your shoulders - I have some great gift ideas for all of those beauty loving friends and family members in your life.   The first gift set that I have been loving is the Sephora Favorites In The Glow set. This is a great set of 9 of  Sephora’s bestselling complexion enhancers, including a selection of 3 blushes, 3 bronzers, and 3 luminizers.  They come in an array of different finishes from creams to powders to liquids. This set contains:  - 0.13 oz Benefit High Beam - 0.08 oz Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder - 0.17 oz Tarte Natural Cheek Stain in Flush - 0.07 oz Stila Convertible Color in Peony - 0.11 oz Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Splendor - 0.106 oz Lorac Perfectly Lit Oil-Free Luminizing Powder in Spotlight - 0.02 oz bareMinerals All Over Face ...