Updike by Adam Begley

I will admit I have only read one Updike novel, Rabbitt Run, many years ago.
But that never puts me off reading a good biography. And Begley has written a good biography.
John Updike was both talented and ordinary. Talented because he had an artist's eye ( he really wanted to be a cartoonist) and ordinary because he was an upper middle class, suburban married man..cocktail parties, get togethers with his neighbors and yes, affairs with his neighbor's wives.
He was also a talented & prolific writer, writing novels, book reviews, art reviews, short stories, essays..all loosely and sometimes not so loosely based on the life he was living.
Author Begley wrote about all this and more. We get a look into his childhood, his college years, his married life through Begley's interviews with Updike family & friends. He wrote novels while he wrote essays, while he wrote reviews…this man Updike was a writer as no other author before or since. And he wrote about life as he knew it and then extended the reach for a more interesting existence. All captured by Begley in the this book.
So what  happens now..I will go back and read about Harry Angstrom's  further adventures in Rabbitt Redux, Rabbitt is Rich & Rabbitt at Rest. Thank you Adam Begley for showing me the error of my ways :)

Loving Mia Beauty Products

After such a long winter, and in some places it is still iffy whether spring has sprung….regardless of what the calendar says…..it is lots of fun to try new things. Makeup , perfume, hair styles, there are so many things that you can spruce up for the sun-season. I am loving the Mia Beauty products that I have tested.
My Memorial Day was brightened, even though there were dark clouds over head, because I was wearing a Mia Beauty Flower Halo. Loved it..it was comfortable, so comfortable in fact that at our MD parade, someone said "love your hair" and I totally forgot I had the Flower Halo on. It is so cute, it works for me, and my  4 year old granddaughter who decided she would have to wear it after I did.
Go to their website and have a look at all the colors and types of flowers. And while you are at it check out all their other products. All reasonably priced, too.
Live a little this summer and visit miabeauty.com

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 by Francine Prose

Since I read Hemingway, I have always been fascinated with Paris in the 20's & 30's. Teaming with great artists and writers, expats mostly writing about their new home..life in Paris..oh it was decadent.
Author Francine Prose has captured it perfectly in her new book Lovers at the Chameleon Club. I love to read books that have been written with each chapter an entry by a different character. I think it gives a book a kind of excitement, a "don't want to put  it down, what is happening now" feel.
Prose has chosen to write about several characters, their lives all entwined, each one with their own problems and each one on their own paths. The French Resistance has begun and Hitler has started to rear his ugly head and all of France will be affected.
Lou Villars would be the central character..a young girl, who is mentored to become a famous woman athlete, who is attacked by her mentor and then she flees to the Chameleon Club where she cross dresses and becomes part of the burlesque show.
Gabor Tsenyi, a fledgling photographer, captures a photo of Villars and her lover that makes both subject and photog famous. We learn about his character in letters sent home to his parents.
Lionel Maine is  a struggling writer who writes about Paris in ways that get him banned. Prose reveals his character in his articles that are published.
 Lilly de Rotheschild, married to a gay Baron, falls in love with Tenysi and does everything she can to support his career. She is revealed in a memoir that she writes.
There are others just as interesting: Yvonne who owns the Chameleon Club, Suzanne who becomes the wife of Gabor Tsenyi and  Nathalie Dunois, great niece of Lou Villars, who is writing a novel based on the tragic life of her great- aunt.
So many characters usually make my head spin but the way this novel is put together by Prose, it all makes perfect sense and flows from one character to the next.
All is very loosely based on real lives and you can actually go on line and find the famous photo!
Very well written and a great choice for book clubs.
Harper Collins Publisher

Some Fun with Mia Beauty Products

Oh, I love spring..time to have fun, get outside, wear colorful clothes! I was invited to a friend's official spring fling cocktail party recently and decided to try Mia Beauty's Clip-n-Bangs. After having four kids my hair has thinned from that thick, younger mane that I used to have. I have an angled bob haircut and I have a very thin spray of bangs. I clipped the Mia Bangs into the crown of my own hair..it just so happens the match was perfect…..and what a lush bang I now had..Off to the party and the best thing of all? The compliments I received,or I should say my stylist received, on how great my cut was. I just kept my secret weapon to myself..until now…loved it.
You can bring it with you to your stylist and have them cut to fit, or you can do it yourself. These Mia Beauty products are so much fun!

The past Saturday was a beautiful Spring day. Sunny, warm.. everyone was outside enjoying the day. I was meeting friends for lunch at our favorite spot and I decided to add some cuteness to my 'do.
I snapped a Mia Beauty's Clip-n-Dipped Ends into my hair, and instantly I was feeling the fun.  I generally make my bob smooth, but this day since my Dipped Ends had a little springy curl to it, I just scrunched my bob and went wavy. Got all kinds of ooh's and aah's from my friends.

If you are looking for some summer fun for your hair, go to miabeauty.com

Apothederm Brand Skin Care: Serums

Apothederm brand of skin care products launched in early 2011, but the active ingredients and formulations have been years in the making.

The patented SmartPeptides™ allow the products to specifically target your areas of concern such as crow’s feet, laugh lines or stretch marks. These peptides give targeted results – they act as cellular messengers to help stimulate and restore critical functions.

What you put in your body and on your skin is important to you, and it’s important to Apothederm, too. All the Apothederm products are formulated with that in mind. They are all paraben and phthalate free, and they do not contain pore-clogging or formaldehyde releasing ingredients.

Meet The SmartPeptides:

• Heptapeptide-7 is the latest advancement in peptide technology from Helix BioMedix. This bioactive peptide has been shown in laboratory tests to promote keratinocyte proliferation and migration to support skin renewal, essential processes for healthy, vibrant skin.
• Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14 helps boosts collagen production, thereby reducing the appearance of wrinkles while increasing firmness of the skin. It also helps to eliminate dull and dry skin with the addition of a lipid delivery system.
• Hexapeptide-21 works within the skin’s own natural repair and regeneration system. Hexapeptide-21 is designed to stimulate collagen production and cell turnover to help improve the appearance of damaged skin.

I have been using Apothederm's Nourishing Serum at night  for 14 days now. I can tell you that it has a different feel than the other serums I have tested. The other serums have mostly felt a bit oily when they go on, not so with Apothederm, it feels like a gel. It goes on very smoothly and then, while it is drying, seems to tighten and  once it is dry, just feels like soft skin. I am loving this serum. I have noticed a big difference in my skin, it is both soft and smooth…So easy to apply make up to this face :) I also started using it on the backs of my hands, just to see what effect it might  have. My hands have really suffered over the winter. First day I  noticed the smoothness right away, even after washing all day. So now, that is part of my skin care regimen as well.

Reduce Visible Signs of Aging with Bright Skin Serum. Specialized formula refines, brightens and hydrates for a more even complexion. SmartPeptide™ technology specifically targets impurities to refine blotchy, discolorations and imperfections. 
My skin  looks and feels glow-y and I had plenty of sun spots to test this on! You must be diligent in using it, but I have noticed a reduction in color of spots after two weeks. 

Go to apothederm.com for more information or to order products. 

Out of the Woods by Lynn Darling

Moving from your NYC apartment into a cabin in the Vermont woods, you can guess would be a HUGE change of lifestyle. Add to that you are a recently widowed woman, just dropped your only child, a daughter, off at college a few states away and  you have yourself some major life altering events.
Author Lynn Darling is looking for direction, not only so she doesn't get lost in the woods but also for the remainder of her life. Who is she now, who will she become, what does she want, what will life throw at her… all these questions are questions I have asked myself over the last few years. Who am I , really?
She moves into a little house in Vermont, gets herself a puppy, meets a few neighbors and sets off for walks in the woods. To see if she can navigate the trails and the wild, to see if she can survive in solitude after the hustle & bustle of NYC, survive the growing up of a child, to survive the loneliness of widowhood.  To find out what she is made of….
Lynn Darling is a survivor, for just as she is getting her bearings, a diagnosis that will alter her life one more time.
This is an honest memoir, one every woman over fifty needs to read. Well written, almost prose-like and lyrical . Lynn Darling has a way with words and a way with life. Very touching.
Published by Harper/Collins it is in bookstores now.

New Skin Care Must Haves & Something Fun for Spring

Will this Winter ever end? As I write today, they are predicting a Nor'easter with winds 40-50 mph, blizzard conditions..looks like a category 2-3 hurricane on the weather maps…ugh!

Lucky for me to be testing some awesome skin care products..when Spring comes, I want to be ready:)

My hands are a mess. Fall & winter means cold & flu season and I have washed every bit of moisture out of my hands long ago. They are dry and cracked and my cuticles are just awful. I was offered a sample of YU-BE Skin Cream, and I jumped at the chance. 

YU-BE was developed by a Japanese pharmacist back in 1957, for dry , cracked hands. He put concentrated glycerin (a process he developed) added Vitamin B2 & Vitamin E, Sodium Hyaluronate which helps to retain moisture and reduces fine lines, and camphor for it's anti-inflammatory properties.
When you put this on your dry hands, they are immediately soothed, and they look so much better and feel softer. I am hooked. But remember- it is a skin cream..you can use it on your face, your lips, your feet ( divine) , wherever you need it. It is non-greasy, too, your skin soaks it right up because it needs it!
YU-BE Skin Cream is available at Sephora, whole Foods Markets, or on line at : yu-be.com

Adventuress Skin Care introduces two products that I am now currently using. This new skin care line was launched in 2011, and was developed by Michele Carter, an outdoors woman and motorcycle enthusiast. She was looking for skin protection from harsh wind & sun damage and it had to be simple and something you could carry with you.
The You-Vee's Sunscreen Wipes, I love. I keep one in my purse. I love the beach, even on cold days, so I am able to apply sunscreen no matter when I decide to head out and get some fresh salt air. So convenient and it moisturizes as it protects your skin from harmful rays.
I am also loving the Fearlessly Refreshing Facial Wipes. Talk about feeling refreshed. After being in an office all day, I just want to "take it all off" when I get home and that includes my make up.
Convenient, packaged individually, so easy to keep one with you for only the go revival. Seven plant extracts including, willow bark, quince, sugar maple, orange, lemon & olive leaf.  They all help to reduce redness, reduce age spots, soothes, hydrates.. and they are alcohol free so no tight , dry feeling after.
To have a look at this great line of skin care products, stop by www.goadventuress.com for more
information and to order.

Right about now, no matter what the forecast tells me, I am ready to "spring forward' and try some fun products. Color Your Smile is such a fun way to boost moisture in these dry, cracked winter lips. Contains collagen peptides to smooth and plump your lips, and they are highly pigmented so you get great color & shine. The really fun part is that each tube has a small mirror and get this..a little light in the wand so you can apply perfectly, after the big first date and  right before the first kiss of Spring love !! Would make a sweet surprise for the teenage Easter Basket ;)
Go to www.whiteninglightening.com to check out the great colors and to order.

I was away last week for my birthday at a work related event. I was meeting people for dinner and I wanted to added a little sparkle to my outfit in light of the special day. I remembered I had packed Mia Beauty's Hair Stickers and I thought, now there is a bit of fun! These peelable, reuseable stickers are just the ticket to liven up your do. I put two sparkly flowers right by my ear where my hair was tucked and it was just enough to let people know..yeah, I am special today :) Another great idea for the Easter Basket…www.miabeauty.com