Paper Anniversary

They say the first year of marriage is the hardest. My husband and I managed to survive it and stay together. There were definitely ups and a lot more downs, but we made it. Normally a anniversary post would be filled with mushy saccharin sweet sentiments...but then it wouldn't be me!

The biggest "up" is that we decided in July to try to have a baby. So far things have been unsuccessful, but it's only 3 months, "they" say not to worry until a year passes. If you know me, you know I am impatient, and like immediate results! Luckily, I have relaxed a bit as stress is a major factor. Also, if you know me, you know how insanely opposite this whole baby thing is. For years and years I have been adamant in how I do not want kids, ever, period. I have cursed my uterus for years, wanting to do anything to end the monthly cycle of torture. And now, I want a baby. No reason. Nothing obvious changed. All that happened was there was a scare, and we realized, hey, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing! Weird, but very exciting.

In other aspects of my life, I am finally a school bus driver again! I am so thrilled, I got hired as a temp at the district I most wanted to be in! They are owned by the district which makes for a great working environment. There is almost no employee turnover, so just to have my foot in the door is awesome. I am hoping that a "full time" position opens up soon. I am still employed by the city transit bus company as well, which will work out nicely for days off and school vacations.

Anyways, back to the anniversary. My husband "kidnapped" me, not telling me where we were going or what we were doing. That actual works nicely, that way I can't come up with an excuse not to!

It turned out to be a perfect fall day. He took me to Ikea, which is one of my favorite stores, and we ate lunch there. I love the Swedish Meatballs! Ligonberry juice is yummy too. After lunch, we headed to the Franklin Park Zoo. We have been wanting to go there for a while now, but we just never got around to it.

It was great! I loved all the animals, but my favorite was the Jaguar. He was so beautiful! All the big cats were cool. I was disappointed that the giraffes weren't out, I'm not sure if they can't handle the cold. Some other birds were not out either, but the tradeoff of perfect cool temps was worth it!

After the zoo, we went to the Container Store to kill some time before dinner and found a perfect microwave stand, and it was on sale! We were able to customize it for the size we needed. The best part is that it freed up a huge section of counter in our very space-limited apartment kitchen.

Dinner was amazing, P.F. Changs. If you have never been there, you have to try the lettuce wraps! They are absolutely amazing! It's heaven wrapped in an iceberg lettuce leaf. I personally like the tofu variety, but I'm sure the chicken ones are excellent too.

It was a beautiful day!

For a gift, he gave me a Double Wrap leather Pandora bracelet with a Vespa and London Double Decker Bus charm.

BzzAgent Review: Curel Intensive Healing Cream

As you know, I am a member of BzzAgent, a site that gives you samples and points in return for your opinion. I was chosen to participate in the Curel Intensive Healing Cream campaign, so I received 6 or so travel size pots of cream to try for free and share with friends.

I had high-ish expectations of this cream as it comes from such a well known, quality brand Curel (yeah, I have no idea how to get the fancy little ` above the e, sorry!). The timing was perfect as fall was coming and my skin basically decides it wants to be like the Sahara desert; dry, dry, dry! So I was excited for this opportunity to try this cream.

According to my campaign homepage this cream:

Spreads easily, non-greasy and absorbs quickly

Provides immediate healing relief and revitalizes ceramide levels for long-lasting hydration

Clinically-proven to help chapping and chafing caused by dryness

Fragrance-free and hypo-allergenic

9 out of 10 dermatologists recommend using it

Pediatrician tested: suitable for children 6 months and older

Excellent for dry skin associated with diabetes — Curél^® is a proud partner of the American Diabetes Association

(source: BzzAgent.com)

I had mixed feelings about the results of using this cream nightly for a week. The cream does absorb fast and is not greasy, which is impressive for such a thick cream. It is definately fragrance free...it's actually a bit odd as it really smells like nothing. I would have preferred a very light fragrance myself, but I understand the hypoallergenic reasons. It does give an immediate effect of softer skin, however by morning, my hands are just as dry as they always are. I tried to remember to use the lotion again, but I am just not one of those lotion addicts. I forget. I think a "lotion addict" would experience good results with this lotion on their hands.

For an experiment, last night I put some of the cream on my very dry, disgusting elbows. Sorry in advance for the visual, but my elbows feel like a dried out crocodile skin! Yuck! I would have posted a pic, but how do you take a pic of your own elbow? It seems about as feasible as licking it! But anyways, it's around 1pm EST and they are still soft. So it seems on tough, scaly patches, this cream works very well, as I had expected. My hands are just difficult, plus I have a slight addition to alcohol based hand sanitizer, so that makes it even harder for lotions and creams to work.

Overall, it seems to be a good cream for tough scaly skin, but not for general dry hands. This is disappointing to me as my hands are a bigger issue for me, and I was hoping to find a solution. But not having scaly elbows is a plus. ;-)

My recommendation to you depends on what sort of dry skin you have. If you have basic dry hands, then I'd say pass. But if you have scaly, rough patches on your body, give it a shot! Even in one night I saw results, which was what I had expected from Curel.