Dear Darlings Penpal Project

The lovely and creative Melissa at Oh, My Darling has created a fabulous penpal project! Called "Dear Darlings", it groups fellow bloggers together into penpal groups and let's you send and receive letters from people across the country. What better way to use that fabulous new stationary you just bought! I love getting mail and the idea of getting lots of letters full of beautiful paper and handwriting sounds fun!

To participate, head on over to her blog post and email her if you are interested.

In the meantime, check out these cute stationary sets while you wait for your penpal info :)

Kate Spade Idiom Notecards

Old World Damask Note Cards

Vintage Toile Stationary

Lilly Pulitzer Winter Lime Note Cards

Boatman Geller Pink Zinnias Note Cards

Silver Flourish Note Cards

Personalized Shoe Girl Flat Note Cards

Shopping for SUV's

Some of you ladies were asking what cars we were looking at for my hubby. We wanted to buy something used but relatively new with lower mileage and not too expensive. He is an SUV kind of guy but fuel economy has been the most important thing, since he drives 40 miles roundtrip to work everyday. The cars we've been looking at are:

Ford Escape

Mazda Tribute

Hyundai Santa Fe

Honda CRV

All of these are smaller SUV's with pretty good fuel economy. We've been looking at a lot of cars and hopefully we will find a great deal soon!

Holy Heatwave Batman!

I've lived in Florida all my life but I can never get used to this heat! It really makes me want a pool so badly but for now I will settle for this:

while my electricity bill will make me do this:

On a brighter note, I took my husband's car to get detailed today because we will be selling it soon. It's almost 11 years old and is very near it's end. In the meantime, the hubby and I have been looking for it's replacement and it's hard. It could be that the hubby is a tad picky but I understand he wants what he wants.

Hopefully, by the end of the week, he will have a new car and my car can take a rest from driving everywhere!

Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!

False Lashes; A New Frontier

I was lucky enough to win an awesome giveaway from Dina's Days. My prize was two of the Temptalia-approved Revlon Fantasy Lengths eyelashes!

These lashes come in Intensifying and look like they would be great for a hot night out or a special event.

The only time I've ever worn false lashes before was at a beauty pageant and, even then, I didn't apply them myself. Needless to say, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to falsies but I know they can work wonders.

Now I have to figure out when I can wear these beauties. How has your experience with false lashes been?

Weekend Entertainment

Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of posting over the weekend. I didn't use the computer once, just hung out with friends and tried to relax as much as possible.

I finished reading the final Harry Potter book and I was very happy with the way everything turned out. I've always loved how easy the HP books were to read and how fast everything happens. Now I am all set for the movies coming out soon.

To cater to my fascination with the Tudor dynasty, I watched Elizabeth over the weekend and thought it was a good movie. I'm getting the second one, Elizabeth The Golden Age, today so I'm excited to see that one as well.

Speaking of the Tudors, I've started reading The Secret Bride, which is about Henry VIII's sister Mary, who married the King of France only to marry Henry's best friend secretly after the King died. I was interested in this plot on The Tudors television show so this book intrigued me. Plus, imagining the Duke of Suffolk as Henry Cavill from the show makes this book all the more enjoyable :)

Oh Charles Brandon, how I love thee!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

Enjoying The Summer

I decided to ask off today to do this:

and this:

That's right, I am skipping work to go to a pool party! A group of women that I am in a Meetup group with are having a pool party (mostly for the ladies that work from home and can attend during work hours) and we are doing a potluck and congregating around the pool. I decided I was going to bring my delicious Watermelon Feta Salad (recipe found here) and enjoy the summer, despite the intense heat.

Have you ever asked off work to have a "you" day?

Your Questions Answered!

Thank you to the wonderful followers who participated in my first "Ask The Scientific Housewife" post! I got some great questions, some tough ones too, but I'm excited for you to get to know me better!

Kristin from Bon Bon Rose Girls asks:

"I would love to know when we're going to get together. HA! And did you go to Greece on your honeymoon?" 

• Haha, I know, we've both been so busy! I would say let me know how your next couple of weekends look and we'll go from there! As far as the honeymoon is concerned, we went on an Eastern Caribbean cruise onboard the Princess Cruise Lines (highly recommend for a romantic cruise) that went to St. Thomas, St. Maarten and their private island in the Bahamas. That was taken on the French side of St. Maarten and it was breathtaking!

Lindsey from Conner Chronicles asks:


"Where is your favorite place to shop for your home as well as for yourself? Scientifically, what do you think has been the biggest contribution to society in the last twenty years?"

• Wow, great questions! My favorite home decor store is Pottery Barn but I can hardly afford it so I usually end up shopping at Ikea and Ross/Marshalls. For myself, I love Ann Taylor Loft and Target. I had to think hard about that next question but since I work at a cancer hospital, I would have to say that I think the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, has been a huge contribution. HPV now affects more than half of the people in the US and leads to many cancers in women and men. Now, with the vaccine, we should see a sharp decline in those numbers and hopefully HPV will not be a threat to the younger generations. I'm really glad they just started offering it for young men as well, since they are carriers but aren't as easy to diagnose. 

Kaley from Something To Cheer About asks:


Do you happen to be an expert at bacterial genetics? Haha I have a test Friday and I'm freaking out!! But to my real question, what are your thoughts on probiotics? The concept of taking "good bacteria" makes sense, but is it actually doing anything to improve health?

• Wow, Bacterial Genetics is a difficult class I bet. I only took basic Genetics but I do remember that memorization and repetition was key, also utilizing other classmates who may have different study styles. That helped me through. Good luck on your test! To your question, I've eaten products with probiotics and they do a good job of regulating your digestion, which is their main purpose. The science behind it is that strains such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are "friendly bacteria" that attack bad bacteria in your digestive tract, which regulates. Some people use it for chronic diseases and it helps their symptoms. The studies behind probiotics are still too young to know for sure how well they work but many people say they help, so it doesn't hurt to try them out. 

The Zhush from The Zhush asks:


What are your thoughts on all these anti bacterial products, like Purell? Good or bad or indifferent?

• I live with anti-bacterial in my purse at all times! At the hospital, we are not only encouraged to wash our hands but also to utilize the many anti-bacterial stations set up. Though the 99.9% effective claims are reaching it (they do the tests on inanimate objects, not hands), the science does agree that alcohol-based products do a great job of killing bacteria on hands. That being said, hand sanitizer should never replace good old soap and water. But, if you aren't near soap and water, hand sanitizers definitely help.

Anonymous asks:


Do you think the anti-bacterial products are making us more prone to resistant bacteria?

• I do believe that the longer we use the same formulas in our hand sanitizers, the sooner they will become resistant. It is the nature of bacteria. Hopefully, we discover this resistance early on and can modify the chemical formulas of hand sanitizers to combat this resistance and keep us one step ahead of bacteria. It's a very difficult thing to do but there are scientists constantly working to monitor these bacteria.

Jill VT from Pining For Nordstrom asks:

Are you at all concerned between the tentative link between cell phones and brain tumors?

• It's hard not to pay attention to the studies and reports that scientists are releasing about cell phones contributing to brain cancer. Everything is still relatively young in research; cell phones have only been around 30 so years, less than that until the majority of people owned them. While I think it's something to be cautious of, our dependency on technology is probably a big environmental contributor to cancer and something we won't be able to fix until we have long term results. 

Ask the Scientific Housewife!

It's time the Scientific Housewife got a little more personal! Do you have a question about science, marriage, decorating, traveling or anything personal you're curious to know? Now is your chance to ask me whatever you'd like!

The hubby and I on our honeymoon

Ask a question in the comments section and I will answer tomorrow in a post. I look forward to seeing your questions!

Movie Of My Youth; Clueless

If I had to choose one movie that defined my youth, it would have to be Clueless.

The movie came out when I was 10, which was a super young age for a movie like this, but it completely defined my years in middle school. I have many a note written with friends where the words "as if", "whatever", and "classic" were the majority of the language used. This movie was hardly the first to introduce these slang words but for people who didn't live in California, it was a glimpse into the lives of Cali teenagers.

This movie was the one movie I could quote beginning to end and I would sometimes dream the entire movie in my sleep, just because I could. I consider it iconic and a jumping off point for a lot of actors today (RIP Brittany Murphy).

Were you a fan of Clueless? What movie defined your youth?

Make Paper Cranes For A Wonderful Cause!

I follow the beautiful and inspiring Denalee, who cut her beautiful silver strands in order for her mother, who is battling cancer, to have an authentic wig. She makes the ultimate sacrifices to help her family and is truly an inspiration to everybody!

She is asking her blog friends to make and send 1000 paper cranes, inspired by the story Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, to her mother as a way to give her better healing during these hard times.

I am asking you fellow bloggers to visit her blog and send some cranes if you can. If we can collectively make her wish, we can give back to someone who has given so much already!

I will be personally making and sending as many as I can and I challenge you to do the same!

The cranes can be sent to:

Connie Call

2612 Ashwood Lane

Bedford, TX 76021

 

Denalee and I appreciate your support and participation!

New Ikea Tables

Like any young, married couple, we started our lives together buying cheap furniture from Craigslist and garage sales. At the time, it does the job, but once you buy a house and establish a design, the old furniture can stick out. Such was the case with our living room tables. We bought a set of 3 tables three years ago to furnish our first apartment together. Since then, it's been hard finding nice tables that didn't break the budget. Thank god Ikea came to Tampa and made my design dreams come true! We headed over there Saturday and got 3 tables for only $60, which is a steal!

Lack large coffee table

Lack side table

Lack side table

I am so unbelievably happy that those old, blonde colored tables are gone and I have nice, new tables that fit our living room decor. Our living room is now completely finished and I can focus on getting the second guest room decorated and ready to go.

Did you accomplish anything this weekend?

P.S.- I was also successful in making homemade waffles. It may not seem like a large feat but it's taken me years to get it right :)

Science Sunday: Scientists Create a Malaria-Proof Mosquito

Scientists have genetically altered a common mosquito so that it can destroy malaria that may exist in it's body. They engineered a special type of the gene that they believe allows malaria to live and placed it in the eggs of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes. After being infected with the plasmodium parasites and allowed time for them to develop, they found no trace of malaria in the mosquito's body. They believe that whatever tweak they made with the genetic code allows the mosquito to kill off the plasmodium parasite completely.

If this genetically modified mosquito can be introduced into the wild, it would prevent millions of people from getting infected by malaria. Over time, it could outlive the regular mosquitoes and make malaria obsolete. They are still a decade or so away from releasing the mosquitoes, as more tests need to be done to see if they can successfully mate with non-genetically modified mosquitoes.

This gives people hope that malaria could be stopped at the source and cease to be a fear in many people's lives.

Article and Photo: MSNBC.com

MAC Cool, Calm & Collected

I was excited when I heard about the In The Groove collection from MAC, as I didn't own any mineralize eyeshadows and the colors that came in the collection were amazing. I decided to buy Cool, Calm & Collected because I needed a good set of green eyeshadows. Here are my pictures of Cool Calm & Collected.

(I hope the brow whisperer doesn't see those!)

I really like the colors but realized that they can be muted when just applied dry. Next time, I will try some of them wet to give more of an intense look but overall, I am happy with the set.

Did you pick up any goodies from In The Groove?

Less Makeup, More Home Decor

As you may know, I've been on a big makeup kick lately. Ever since I was a bridesmaid 4 months ago, I've been buying makeup left and right, finding a new found love for all things cosmetic. Now that I have updated my collection, I feel as though I need to focus my money on something else beneficial... getting my house where I want it to be.

I've prided myself on the ability to decorate my house using unconventional methods and with items of various prices. While I would love to decorate my house in all things Pottery Barn, our wallet makes that difficult, so I like to buy items from garage sales, Craigslist, and other less expensive stores. Then, once in awhile, I will buy an expensive item and place it here or there, creating a space that is my own. I've also done a lot of DIY projects, which really help keep costs down.

Some examples:

My DIY spray-painted chandelier 

My DIY fabric wall art for the bedroom

Our picture montage in the living room

Some things I still have to do with my home decor is:

• Make throw pillows for the couch 
• Put together the 2nd guest bed and get armoire upstairs
• Buy decorations and bedding for 2nd guest bed
• Paint the second wall of the kitchen

So, as of this week, I will forgo my usual makeup purchases and concentrate the money on getting my house in shape. Hopefully, everything will be ready by the time the holidays get here and it will be ready to go when guests come to stay.

Have you stopped purchasing one thing to buy something else?

New on My Etsy Shop!

I wanted to share some new creations I've added to my Etsy shop!

First, a Fish origami mobile fit for summer:

Second, my most recent addition, a Heart origami mobile perfect for anniversaries, parties, or just decoration:

 Visit my Etsy shop to see more creations :)

P.S - Thanks to all of you for the kind words yesterday about me being sick. It's still hanging around but I am being a trooper :)

Desiderata

This is my absolute favorite poem and has special meaning because it was given to me by my grandparents at one of my graduations. I hope you like it as much as I do!

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Sick At Work

This pretty much sums me up today...

Science Sunday: Benefits of Green Tea

I have recently come down with something, which prompted my health-centered Science Sunday for this week. Green tea has been popular for thousands of years but some people don't know just how good green tea is for them. Let's take a look!

• Reduces risk of developing cancer or having cancer come back
• Helps reduce clogging of heart blood vessels
• Reduces LDL (bad cholesterol) and helps you lose weight
• Helps treat Multiple Sclerosis
• Can help prevent tooth decay by killing bacteria responsible
• Contains free radicals which helps fight against aging
• Helps boost your immune system and can fight off or shorten colds
• Can reduce the severity of asthma
• Helps relieve stress and anxiety
• When applied to face, can treat sunburn and decrease redness as well as fight wrinkles.
• Green tea can strengthen and protect hair when used in hair products
• Warm tea bags can be applied to mosquito bites to reduce inflammation
• Tea bags applied on eyes can decrease puffiness and dark circles

Essence of Beauty Lip Butters

If you live near a CVS, you are in luck! There is a product that you have probably walked by a dozen times that wouldn't normally catch your eye unless you like to scour every corner of the cosmetic section like me. The product?

Essence of Beauty Lip Butters

These lip butters come in 5 different flavors and are super moisturizing. Not only do they smell and taste great, they are only $2.99! I picked up Pomegranate Apple, which tastes divine (yes, I was the girl that practically licked off all my Lip Smackers) and gives just a hint of color.

They also have Strawberry Banana, Peach Apricot, Lemon Twist, and Mango.

I've heard these are just as good as Korres and other lip butters, so give them a go!

Need Some Movie Recommendations!

Apparently, I am that person that says "never seen it" when people start talking about a classic or cult movie. My circle of friends hear that from me almost weekly (but they are also much more knowledgable about music, movies and books than I am).

We like to play an IMDB game on our Iphones where we enter an actor's name and the other person has to guess what 4 movies IMDB says they are best known for (which are not their best, just most searched). When I played this game with my husband, I kept saying "never seen it" and he kept saying "Are you kidding me? How have you not seen that!"

So, I decided I should probably update my Netflix queue with some classic "You have to see it" movies. So dear followers, please recommend some movies that I absolutely must see. I will reply with if I've seen it or not and what I felt about it.

Happy Friday!

Recommended movies I haven't seen: 

- Shawshank Redemption
- Message in a Bottle
- Shutter Island
- The Cove
- Dear Zachary
- Valley Girl
- Lucas
- Bringing Up Baby

Guest Room Ikea Style

So I was thinking yesterday about when I eventually set up my second guest room. In case you forgot, I painted these awesome pieces to go into the room but they haven't made it upstairs yet, haha.

I decided, since my color choice seems to move towards the more modern side, that Ikea was probably the best place to jazz up my guest room. Here are some accessories that I think would look fabulous with my newly painted furniture:

Lindved nightstand - This table is not only affordable, but it's unique and would look really nice compared to the bright, wood look of the furniture.

Klavsta shade and lamp - The khaki shade would be such a great color contrast to the white table and the green furniture.

Henny Rand curtain - Since so much color comes from the furniture, I feel like the curtains need to be neutral with a touch of print, which is why I love this set. It can always be accented with a sheer green if it needs more color.

Trilling art - This set of pictures has great color that really balances the room out, bringing in the white and the green.

 Bild poster - I also love this photo that incorporates more green and lots of neutral colors. These pictures combined give the room a sort of earthy feel.

Rotera lantern and Pjas basket - Some nice accessories to place on top of the armoire to give contrast to the green and add some earthy elements.

Ikea doesn't really have the type of linens I am looking for but hopefully I can find the final piece that will make this room complete.