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Fyrinnae Haul

Karin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:46:12 +0000

I've wanted to try Fyrinnae for a while now. I've liked the looks on others and was pretty sure they would look good on me if they would apply nicely (as they did.)

For $26 I received all of this (in the two photos below):

Lip Lustres: (L to R) Lollipop-pop, Shibuya, Glitter Kittiez, Type A
You can see my review here and the colors as I wear them.

Shadows: (L to R)
I will be reviewing these as I wear them.
Top: Daijodan, Arcane Magic Dragon Mix
Lower: Arcane Magic Archmage, Professional Colors Embrace
Right side alone: Immortality (free sample with order)

What I wore today:
Lips: Visual Kei Lip Lustre
Lids: Digital Faerie (pictured left below)
Lower and lined above: Biker Chic (pictured right below)

Fyrinnae is clear on their home page the time frame for receipt of their products. Mine came in good order, in less time than I expected.

Do you wear Fyrinnae? What colors have you tried? Do you love it?

So far, after one day's application, I can say I do love it! If you haven't tried anything of theirs yet, give them a try. Let me know what colors you tried and how you like them.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-02 10:04:23.

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Grace, Generosity, and Gratitude for Christmas

Keira — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:09:48 +0000

This is from a guest writer today, Keira of Love Romance Passion.

Grace, Generosity, and Gratitude for Christmas -- the 3 Gs

The meaning of Christmas is ever growing and yet still incredibly timeless and practical. This year for me three words stood out above the rest. They are grace, generosity, and gratitude.

Grace – Everyone should want to experience a growth in grace this Christmas.

What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds. - Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 4, lines 3-5.

This is the time to be the most gracious, express even more goodwill, and to forgive unconditionally. Give up anger, animosity, and annoyance. Let grace run your day and you will be happier for it.

Generosity
This is the season of giving, and there should be a readiness to give and be generous on your part. What’s the use of giving, if there’s a bitterness or smallness about it? The Grinch started Christmas with a meanness of heart, described as a heart "two sizes too small," but ended with a largeness of heart (it expands three sizes). If you’re feeling pinched this holiday, work daily on expanding your heart with an overflowing of generosity. And remember, generosity comes in many forms and can be expressed in many ways. Don’t let preconceived notions of generosity stunt you.

Gratitude
As I was examining this word, I ran across another version of the word… overgratitude. Can you really communicate or convey gratitude over and above what is needed? I think not, because if there were a cap on gratitude, then there would be a cap on how much you appreciate something or someone, which implies there’s a time you wouldn’t be grateful for it or to the person. Ingratitude is easier to express, because you simply have to do nothing, but if you do nothing, you’re limiting yourself spiritually and emotionally. The best gift this year you could give anyone is the gift of gratitude. What are you grateful for, or to whom are you grateful? Share thankfulness, appreciation, and warmth of love. Be overabundant with it, and you will feel it in return. There is no shortage of loving gratitude.

How will you articulate grace, generosity, and gratitude this Christmas?

Keira

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What kind of Christmas tree do you have?

Karin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:48:06 +0000

We have a very old, battered silver tree from the 50s, that has been in my family since forever. I always think it might be the last year, because it sheds silver every time.

It really looks bad, until the lights and ornaments are put on. At night, when lit, it is magical. This isn't a very good picture, but it will give you an idea.

I actually looked to find a new silver tree a year or so ago, but the new ones were less silvery looking.

Magical!

One year my niece said there was only one thing she wanted of mine when I no longer wanted it. What was it? This tree! I will have to find lights on a white cord, not on green, but in RL you don't see the cord. I've used the white cord on a different decoration.

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it. And peace and love to all.

What kind of tree do you have?

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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Keepin’ on keepin’ on

Karin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:51:43 +0000

Yesterday I wrote about realizing I've walked over 200 miles this year. Wow! It was really interesting and motivating to me yesterday.

But everyday is a new day. You can't go on yesterday's inspiration, and today, the same thoughts were just mundane. I wasn't motivated one way or the other, but I did walk.

Meantime, I counted the number of steps I climb each time -- 26 -- which isn't a lot, compared to some who might even have stairs in their homes, but for me, living in a single story, not even having a second floor on the local malls, and living in an area where hills do not exist, 26 is as good as it gets. But hey! over the course of a year, that is more than 5200 steps I've climbed.

And thinking of the amount I've walked -- it was about 67 hours. Now that's impressive.

Even if it does feel mundane today.

What do you do to stay active?

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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Staying active…walking, walking, walking

Karin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:17:46 +0000

First off, let me say that I like to be active, but I am not in the least athletic. Nearly everything I really like to do is sedentary, but I think it is right to be active.

For a couple of years I did Curves, and I really liked it, until locally there were a lot of changes, and it no longer seemed the place for me. I wasn't going consistently, and when I went, I wasn't happy, so I went less and less. One location would have been perfect for me, but it was too far away to go daily.

I think there are as many reasons not to exercise as there are people -- it's too hot; it's too cold; it's raining; the sun's too bright; it's scary at night; there are too many bugs/mosquitoes; it's Monday; wait, no, it's Wednesday; I just don't feel like it; I don't have time...

But I figured a 20 minute program, such as Curves, was doable for me -- let's not get too crazy!

So I joined a gym with a walking/running track. It's temperature controlled and no bugs! I like to go roughly the same time of day, so after a while there are familiar faces.

As I walked this morning, I thought: I generally walk a mile 5 times a week, but for argument's sake, let's say it was only 4 miles. Wow! over the course of a year, I have walked more than 200 miles. Isn't that something!

Of course, I know how little that really is, compared to some, but it's great for me and really made me smile, because I asked a man at the gym how many miles he has run in a year. You have to know that he runs like a beautiful machine. He makes it look totally effortless, with such grace, and a light foot. He said he really didn't keep track, but when he was training for the marathon he just ran, he ran 1000 miles in 16 weeks, but generally he runs about 30-35 miles a week. Imagine how many miles he has racked up over the course of a year!

And there is a local man here who regularly runs 100 mile marathons. I can't even conceive of that. Seriously. Can you?!

Well, suppose you have some physical disabilities, maybe you could walk 5 mins a day in your house, sustained walking. You probably walk way more than that just moving around, but with stops along the way. Take your cane or walker and just walk for 5 mins. Then say, you don't really do it every day, maybe 200 days in a year. At the end of the year, you will have walked more than 16 1/2 hours.

I can't say I love it every day. Some days I'd rather have an excuse, and I do realize the gym exists for me, not the other way around, so I don't have to beat myself up if I don't go.

It ain't fun, exactly, but there is some enjoyment. That's like an oxymoron.

Along the way this year I did some heavy duty walking in Rome and in Israel, with some extreme heat in Masada and at the Dead Sea, so I likely have walked more than I thought this morning, but hey, you know, it's still pretty exciting how it adds up.

What do you do to be active?
What could you begin to do, with a small beginning?
I've even been known to read a magazine or a book as I walked the track. One friend has done weight training with a trainer. Another jogs slowly several times a week, then runs 1/2 marathons -- and even a full marathon at Disney. You go, girl!

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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Bill Cunningham On the Street

Karin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:26:43 +0000

If you'd like to see some dogs in their Easter bonnets, please take a look at Bill Cunningham's great audio and pictures. It will definitely make you smile!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-14 20:38:11.

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Alive and still kicking at 85 yrs young

Karin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:36:25 +0000

There aren't many people who can hold a candle to Dorothy Dale Kloss, the oldest showgirl in the world. (But my aunt is still tap dancing in her 80s!)

It's a lot of fun to research her name on the Internet, then see her in various videos and listen to the audio of her on a radio show.

Talk about inspiration!

Think about what it takes to rehearse for 8 hour stretches, pun intended.

She has beauty, verve and humor, not to mention grace, stamina and ability.
I wanna be her when I grow up. But to do that, first I'll have to begin to take tap lessons (never took them, but took ballet and jazz.) Book Girl has a good start as she is taking up tap again.

What to do with her life
She wondered what she would do with her life when her son and his family moved cross country. She had been a professional dancer from the time she was 15 and even taught Bob Fosse when he was a boy. Imagine that! One of her students suggested she audition for the Follies in Palm Springs.

She won her spot when she was 71 (all them are 55 or older.)

And she has a 63 year old boyfriend. How about that!

Don't you just love to hear of people who are still active and vital! I sure do.

And how come I didn't know this was there when I was visiting Palm Springs! Now that I'm not visiting Palm Springs, I hear about the show! Where's the justice in that!

But here's the thing
When I grow up, I wanna be a little bit crazy; a little bit wild; a little bit zany, and whole lotta me. I want to be more me than the me I was and the me I am. LOL! And why not, when to get there, we only need to plan for it today.

I hope you put some fun in your life today! Amen to that!

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2009-12-12 07:32:39.

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Do you eat cereal?

Karin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:51:35 +0000

It's hard for me to get away from my fave: Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats. Funnily, I only like the big bite (the bite size seem dry to me) -- and unknown to me, two other friends agreed with me on which they prefer when I happened to mention it. I used to love the cinnamon flavor which, of course, they discontinued -- so I add my own cinnamon sugar. I have actually returned two of the flavors as nasty, one of which was maple (which I've seen people buy.) So they discontinue the best to bring out others.

Recently, at a friend's, she had Post Honey Bunches of Oats with real peaches. Whoa! This is really, really good, and the peaches actually taste as though they are fresh, even to the texture. I don't know how they manage to get the number of peaches per spoonful to look like the picture on the box -- it is real truth in advertising. Every spoonful was chock full of peaches.

I am definitely buying some of this on my next grocery visit.

How about you? have you tried this? There is also a strawberry she said, but she had not tried it, nor have I.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-02 10:32:52.

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Nicholas Winton, an admirable man

Karin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:38:05 +0000

In the presence of good

Nicholas Winton, now 100 years old, was a 29 year old London stockbroker who traveled to Czechoslovakia in 1938, where he rescued hundreds of Jewish children from likely or certain death. Winton's parents were of German Jewish descent.

Even his wife didn't know about it until 40 years after they were married, he remarked in 1999.

Everything that happened before the war actually didn't feel important in the light of the war itself.

Winton, alarmed at the time -- and rightly -- that Czechoslovakia would be invaded by the Nazis and Jewish residents sent to concentration camps, persuaded British officials to accept the children as long as foster homes were found and a 50 pound guarantee was paid for each child. He set about raising funds and organizing passage.

Eight trains carried the children to Britain in the months before the war. A few went to Sweden. Many never saw their parents again, because of the Holocaust.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the rescue, a vintage train carrying about two dozen survivors and their families pulled into London's Liverpool Street Station this past Friday after three days journey by rail and ferry from Prague. They greeted Nicholas, frail though he was.

It's wonderful to see you all after 70 years. Don't leave it quite so long until we meet here again. Nicholas Winton

I never heard about him until today when the story of the kindertransports was retold in our paper.

It's quite remarkable that someone in the heat of confusing times would be led to act decisively in a timely fashion without regard to himself to save others and give them life. It looks easy in retrospect, but I bet we don't know the half of it or the persuading that needed to take place. And I don't suppose that 50 pounds each was a small sum in those days, not to mention the cost of passage.

To me, he is a righteous man. The world would have been poorer without him. He's another man I'd like to know. I was glad he lived long enough to be recognized for his part. And not to forget the part of all those who aided in giving funds, some of whom might have been their own families. May their memories be for a blessing.

Had you heard of him before?

Don't be prepared in your life only to do no wrong; Be prepared every day to try to do some good. Sir Nicholas Winton

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are!

Originally posted 2009-09-05 11:23:59.

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Finding a way out of disappointment, discouragement, despair

Karin — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:39:57 +0000

Life can be tough at times, that's for sure.

The adage: Into every life a little rain must fall holds little comfort, and I'd prefer real rain, thank you very much. Or the adage: When life gets tough, the tough get going, may be a whole lot easier said than done, when it comes to battling it out in your own life.

This quote came across my computer, and it started me thinking:

In every life there is some disappointment, but discouragement is a choice. In every life there is some disappointment. To become discouraged means it’s the way we think about disappointment that keeps us discouraged or encouraged. Mary Morrissey

Anybody who's ever fought a battle with discouragement, knows how difficult it can be. But it's the only way up and out of that black hole.

As I thought about this quote, it seemed to me that discouragement settles in when disappointments stick around for the long haul. Momentary disappointments are small blips on consciousness, but if they pile up, or if we see that there will be no changes, discouragement slides in the door and takes up residence.

And if discouragement settles in for very long, its companion despair shows up to sit alongside and whisper into consciousness. Also, serious grief skips the disappointment stage altogether and moves right into discouragement and despair.

I find it easier to catch at the disappointment stage than I do at the discouragement or despair stages.

Sometimes if I feel I could have done better than I did, I find myself disappointed in myself. That gives me two things to handle! And if I don't catch myself, I spiral downward.

Here are some things that work at times for me:

*It sometimes helps to have someone you can truly share with.
*I try to be good to myself, to be as accepting of my own humanness as I am of others'.
*I try to build up some strength in the easy moments.
*I try not to think about things, when I am overtired or need to eat or if life is crazy-busy (which I try to keep to a minimum.) (I'm laughing a bit at that right now, since I have to check my hall calendar to see what each day requires of me for the family.)
*I choose an activity that makes me happy: see a movie, read a book, do something with a friend or loved one, have some tea, take a walk, admire things that are beautiful, have a quiet time to myself...
*I try to make changes or ask for changes, if at all possible, not that they always happen. In fact, if I'm honest, they rarely do. The only change I can affect is within myself -- and that's not too easy all the time either.
*I try not to keep a tally of disappointments, but rather of the good things that occur.
*I look for hope and express some gratitude.
*I pray for the ability to accept the things that just are and for a way out of the hole, if I am in it.

This prayer is a good reminder to me:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Reinhold Niebuhr

Knowing the difference can be a huge key.

What works for you?
If it's not raining in your life right now, you can be happy about that!

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2010-09-21 14:12:26.

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