megfowler.com

I’m not sure if you’re the kind of person who likes to hear when people find products that really work for them, but IF YOU ARE…

Well. I found some. Seriously. I did. I don’t even know.

(No, I wasn’t asked to endorse these, and no one’s paying me to do so. Unless you want to. Link to your right. Ha!)

Here’s a list:

Weleda Skin Food. Okay, if you look at the website, it’s all USE IT ON YOUR ELBOWS, IT’S SUPER RICH.

Well.

I use it on my face. The reason I use it on my face is because I saw Charlie Green and Pat Wexler recommend it in a magazine as a rich solution for weird, dry facial skin.

I didn’t know I had weird, dry facial skin until I got my first facial in November and she told me I was not, as I had believed from the dawn of time, Oily. Well, my nose was. But you shouldn’t moisturize based on your nose, apparently. Let it be what it is. Worry about your cheeks.

Ahem.

This stuff is for dry skin, absolutely, and it’s quite thick, almost like an ointment. I warm it up in my hands and pat it on my cheeks, eyes, forehead and chin. (My nose can go fly a kite.)

I get less breakouts (the pansy in it — heh heh heh — works beautifully on any complications), I stay glowy all day, and it smells like fresh oranges.

Woo! I’m a big fan of things that smell good, and I’ll stop using a product if it bugs me in some aesthetic sense.

But Skin Food has me for life! And it’s cheaper than the Origins and Mac and Clinique stuff I was using before. MUCH cheaper.

Boots No. 7 Restore and Renew Beauty Serum. This stuff is sold out in the UK, and I haven’t even SEEN it in Canada, though people claim it’s here. Women are going bonkers for it because it works like a dream on fine lines and unevenness, and FAST.

Not that I have fine lines. STOP STARING AT MY PHOTO.

(Hey, I’m 33, and worked outside in the sun for three months a year from the time I was 15, on top of skiing in the winter. It’s bound to happen.)

(I’m also mildly neurotic about my skin.)

Now, you may have noticed that I live in Canada, and may be wondering how I got my hands on this stuff. The answer is Eric.

Dear, sweet Eric, who is enough of a man to stand in CVS in San Diego talking on his phone about the various serum options in front of him until he and I figured out which one was the jackpot. And then to bring two tubes of magic to me in December. That’s right, he’s practically a saint. And he was already most of the way there when he switched to a Mac this year.

There are many reasons to love this kid. He is our Friend for the Ages. But I digress.

This STUFF WORKS. I look more even, more fresh, more smooth… and not just in a Billy Dee Williams kind of way.

It’s also not too pricey, especially compared to the serums marketed by the Big Kids on the skincare block.

L’Oreal Vive Pro Nutri-Gloss Shampoo/Conditioner. I have a small issue with expensive shampoo. Not as in, I OBJECT, but more along the lines of I BOUGHT TOO MUCH OF IT FROM 1987 to 2008.

That’s right.

21 years of Bumble and Bumble and Phytologie and Kerastase and Joico and Redken and on and on and on.

Yeah, I did some Neutrogena and Pantene and (so help me) Pert Plus in there, too, but I was pretty stuck on the pricey stuff because it makes your hair feel like buttah.

Then I came across this stuff and WHOA. In one use, the state of my medium-long, superfine, colour-treated hair was more shiny, more soft, and more manageable. Unreal.

Catherine is also using it on her super-thick, colour-treated blonde hair, and it’s doing the same things (she uses a slightly different formulation.)

I’m totally impressed. And it’s cheap like BORSCHT!

Well, that’s what I’ve got for you today.

Buy these things, change your head.

Wow, pharmaceutical companies should buy that slogan from me tout de suite!

I’m one of those people.

You know the ones.

The tossy-turny, rollovery, hmm I was just thinking-y, woo-it’s-warm-in-here, maybe-I-need-a-glass-of-milk-y, are-you-sleeping-already, I’m-not-ready-for-Monday-y, late-night-revelation-y, well… people.

When I climb into bed at night, my brain rumbles into overdrive, and I’m left lying awake until 2 am pondering the universe and world economics and old Magnum P.I. plotlines.

It’s much worse on Sunday nights, too.

I guess I’m mentally preparing for the week ahead, but not by making lists or setting out my agenda or doing anything rational. No, I’m just boggling at life. And not necessarily important aspects of life, either.

Like, only moments ago, trying to remember the names of the Hanson brothers (no, not the band. From Slapshot.)

For hours.

People make all sorts of suggestions as to how I could slow things down in my agitated brain/heart/soul: prayer, essential oils on my pillow, yoga, sleep breathing, sleep hygiene, herbal remedies, prescription drugs… you name it.

I suppose some of them might have an impact. But this has been the Nature of Meg since I was two years old and yelling, “HEY, WHAT YOU GUYS DOING IN THERE” through the wall when I was supposed to be a sleeping cherub in my crib.

Can it be cured? Hard to say.

I’ve never been a cherub.

More of a town crier.

And that’s fine, I think.

Except that I have nowhere to PUT all this stuff. I just have to let it juggle around in my psyche until I finally wear myself out or experience the cosmic release valve that is Morning Coffee.

So.

Want some?

For you, the last 15 things I thought about. Feel free to think about them, too, or just marvel at the fact that I’d do this instead of ZZZZZ…

1. If my love of fabric softener is leaving a buildup on the fibres of my clothes (well, okay, I already know it is, I’m just thinking about how I should STOP THAT.)

2. Why soda is always “lemon-lime” and not just “lemon” or “lime.”

3. How people actually make it through an episode of Survivor without wanting to send Mark Burnett a bill for their time.

4. Haircut or new boots? Haircut or new boots? Haircut or new boots?

5. Why the “vibrate” setting on my phone is so violent my roommate can hear it rattling on my bedside table through the wall when I get late-night texts (and this is a girl who can sleep through Eric and I debating about U.S. politics and Cirque de Soleil from three feet away.)

6. Why sometimes my bed is so incredibly comfy, and sometimes it makes my back ache.

7. How anyone convinces themselves that the way to get people to agree with their ideas is to belittle everyone else’s ideas mercilessly.

8. Why it is that I radically prefer non-fiction writing to fiction writing, even with a Lit degree under my belt (or hoop skirt, as it were.)

9. What the purpose is behind junebugs, the Electoral College, Dr. Phil, the return of legwarmers, or Dancing with the Stars.

10. If I put my charitable dollars in the right places this past year.

11. How to very quickly master the art of baking bread, with as few failed loaves as possible.

12. What I *really* want in a lifemate.

13. Which city I will end up moving to, when I eventually move. Which I think I will. One day.

14. How one can learn to excel at following diagrammatic instruction.

15. What it will take for me to become a better friend.

And you?

(If you’re new to Choose Ye, the object is to choose one of the two options. No “It depends…” or “Neither!” or “I don’t know!” or “In some cases…” No, this is the last bastion of black and white decisiveness on the Web… well, besides the Apple Store…)

Resolutions or keep on keepin’ on?

Ketchup or mustard?

Firm mattress or soft?

Tan or pale (however one gets tan)?

Oreo or chocolate chip?

Goldfish or tiny turtle?

Road rage or easy rider?

East coast or west?

Romantic comedy or action flick?

Windy or rainy?

Gossip or sealed lips?

Sing or dance?

“Nest” or go out at any opportunity?

Shatner or Norris?

Gold or silver?

Swing or push (on a swing, people… on a swing)?

Breath mints or gum?

Pine tree or palm tree?

Self-deprecation or quiet confidence?

Okay, so they’re not that wee, per se, just young. Much younger than me.

But WAY better at playing hockey.

I’m sitting in my living room (in front of my fireplace, drinking coffee, waiting to make myself brunch, still in my PJs… OH YES!) watching the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships Gold Medal Game.

Canada vs. Sweden.

Tim Horton’s vs. IKEA. Wait, I’d want IKEA to win. Never mind that.

Anyway.

Canada, at two goals up at the end of the second period, looks to be headed for their fourth Gold Medal in a row, 14th overall. Sweden? Have one Gold from 1981.

None of these kids were even alive then.

Nice.

Me? I’m looking to be headed for my fourth cup of coffee.

This? Is awesome.

UPDATE: Tied. And into OT. BLECH.

UPDATE: FOR THE WIN, BABY! YESSSSSS! FOURTH IN A ROW!

I got on the bus tonight with bags full of groceries weighing on my arms, my iPod plugged firmly into my head, and my toes exposed to the balmy air in silver-gray flip flops.

I was in a hurry to get home and clean the house and start the laundry and take out the recycling and make some sort of chicken parmigiana I planned to invent from three different recipes.

My brain was in fifty places… none of them where I actually was.

But as soon as I set my things down, I saw her looking at me intently, mouthing something I couldn’t hear over Ella Fitzgerald singing. I pulled the ear buds out as quickly as I could, and she was already mid-sentence.

“I’m engaged!”

She was maybe 25ish, about two inches shorter than me, blonde curly hair, showstopper smile, with Down’s Syndrome.

“You are? Congratulations!”

She nodded and beamed.

“Do you want to see his picture?” I spotted a tiny diamond in a band on her left hand as she handed me a photo booth strip of a grinning young man, also with Down’s.

“Very handsome!” She giggled and took the picture back hastily, lest I get any ideas.

“I’m so excited! I just had no idea it would happen, but our moms and dads said okay.”

“That’s awesome!” I said. “Do you have a date picked?”

“June 17th.”

“Oh, good, lots of time to plan.”

“Plan?”

“The wedding. They’re pretty busy.”

“Yes, yes. Well, my mom will help.”

“Yes, that’s what moms do.”

We sat in silence for a moment until she turned to someone else to tell her news. I smiled out the window and popped my ear buds back in to finish Ella’s song. Moments later, though, I felt her hand on my arm, squeezing insistently.

“Yeah, sweetie?”

“Are you married?”

“Oh, no…” I said. “Not yet.”

“Don’t you worry. It’ll happen.”

“I’m sure, one day.” Her face turned serious at my cavalier response.

“No. I mean it. It will. It did for me, it can for you.”

“Okay. I bet you’re right.”

“All you have to do is get your parents to say yes.”

Isn’t it romantic
Merely to be young on such a night as this?
Isn’t it romantic?
Every note that’s sung is like a lover’s kiss.
Sweet symbols in the moonlight,
Do you mean that I will fall in love perchance?
Isn’t it romance?

(for more love lists, just click “listy” or “love” to your right!)

That’s right, my chickens!

WE GOT OURSELVES A WHOLE NEW YEAR TO LOVE ON!

And that’s exactly what I intend to do.

I know that none of us feels loving or loved all the time, but sometimes forcing yourself to think through the things you enjoy/are passionate about/get the tingles for is a good way to pull yourself through the muck. A small step, but an important one.

But instead of focusing on the new year yet, I’m going to ask YOU to tell me what you loved LAST year.

That’s right! Interactivity! Which is to the Internet what Nerf toys are to safe violence.

And I’ll answer in comments as well.

Note: the things you loved in 2007 didn’t have to be invented/created/released in 2007. You just had to enjoy them last year.

GO!

THINGS OF LOVE FROM 2007

Movie of Love:

Song of Love:

Book of Love:

Album of Love:

Place of Love:

Month of Love:

Best Day of Love:

Best Moment of Love:

Word of Love:

Purchase of Love:

City of Love:

Food of Love:

Beverage of Love:

Person of Love (someone who made a difference for you this year):

Spot of Love (the best place to go to just be):

Clothing Item of Love:

Random Thing of Love (anything you want):

DO SHARE! And then post it or comment it.

I’m sorry, but is anyone else like WHOA WAS THAT THE HOLIDAYS I THINK I SNEEZED.

It just blitzed on by like a freight train and here I am at work and whew.

I have a new iPod. Christmas MUST have happened. Either that or I stole it, and if that’s the case, 2008 is just going to end up a complicated web of crime.

Which kind of sounds a little more razzamatazz (shut up, it’s a word) than my 2007.

So, to celebrate these “supposed” holidays, I’d like to give you a quick list, and a question…

THINGS I INTEND TO KEEP DOING IN 2008, I DON’T EVEN CARE

1. Drinking too much coffee.
2. Taking my laptop to bed (IT’S NOT LIKE IT’S ANNOYING ANYONE EXCEPT MR. PILLOW MY IMAGINARY BOYFRIEND I HUG WHO IS ACTUALLY JUST MY PILLOW BUT STOP JUDGING)
3. Not wearing correct footwear (nor corrective footwear, for that matter)
4. Playing the same songs over and over again on my iPod
5. Doing laundry almost every day
6. Continuing to smell like a cookie
7. Smiling without teeth until people force me to grin
8. Swearing at hockey games
9. Obsessing about produce
10. Perfecting the art of the momentary crush

So what aren’t YOU changing in 2008?

And why am I so shouty?

Ah well. On my sixth shot of espresso this am. Bliss.

Winter Classic.

Rose Bowl.

Laptop on the coffee table, big mug of coffee, getting work done.

Homemade brownies.

Fireplace going.

Pajamas.

Amen.

(Which would likely mean something if I hadn’t deleted the other 472 in the almost 18 months this blog has been alive. Anyhow…)

I’ve never really been one for New Year’s.

There’s too much pressure to recap/remember/resolutionize/revolutionize/redo for a single day that isn’t any different than every other day of the year.

I know we need milestones to make changes at times, and I know a clean slate isn’t a bad thing.

But nothing in life changes because of the date, unless you decide it does. And you can do that any day of the year, be it January 1st or April 3rd or August 29th.

It’s up to you.

So if you don’t manage to fix everything that’s astray or make some magnificent change by January 7th… well, don’t you worry.

January 8th is a perfect day to start again. Oh, and January 9th.

Love to all my family and friends. You make every day of the year a day when I want to do my best.

xoxoxo