Check out ebooks

Okay – I’ll admit that I’m probably the only person this is ‘new’ to. I actually can’t believe that I’ve not done this before, but I’m sharing it just in case there are a few of you out there who might benefit from hearing about this too. Here’s the background (this is NOT the new thing, but just the lead-in.)

Over the past 5-6 years, I’ve (re-)started checking out books I want to read from the library, rather than buying them. (I know that the authors out there don’t want to hear this – sorry!) I finally realized though, after my bookshelves were bulging and I dove in to do a purge, that there are actually few books I want to own for rereading purposes, or just because it makes me happy to see them on my shelves (books written by friends, for example, or my collection of books on Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Grace Kelly.)  When I started going to the library to get my reading material, it brought back fond memories of when we were kids on the farm in Kansas, and went to town every Saturday to do errands including getting reading material for the week from the library. In the summer particularly, we’d all come out with a huge stack of books to take home and enjoy all week long. I found myself really enjoying the whole process again, without having to shell out lots of bucks on books that I didn’t need to own.

The downside is that often the books I wanted were checked out already so I’d have to put a ‘hold’ on them and then wait for them to come in, which could take weeks. I was getting very frustrated with this happening over and over as I worked my way through my list. Then…and here’s the news:

I realized you can check out ebooks, from the comfort of your home or on the go, and read them on the Kindle app on the iPad. Well duh! I can’t believe I never thought of that before. While I prefer having the actual book to hold in-hand, I actually prefer more to not wait for weeks to get the book. This is a great alternative – I can download an ebook in the meantime, while putting other, more in-demand books on ‘hold’ to pick up when they come in. Love it! (Two of my favorite ‘new to me’ authors – for those of you who love murder mysteries, are Louise Penny and Tana French. Love, love, love these series of books! You don’t have to read them in order, but they will probably be most enjoyable if you can do it.

Fray your own jeans

This is another one that’s so simple I can’t believe I haven’t done it before. I personally love the look of distressed denim, and particularly the frayed hem. But I didn’t want to shell out any bucks for them because I’ve just felt that this trend (fad?) was going to fade rather quickly. I recently was taking assessment of my favorite pair of black jeans and had to admit that they had become a bit distressed on their own – the black was more a dark gray now and there were lighter, worn spots on the legs. That’s when I had my ‘aha’ moment and decided to cut off the hems to try to get the frayed look on my own. What did I have to lose?

So chop-chop it was and then I tossed them in the wash and – viola! – they had a great frayed hem!  So if this is a look that appeals to you, I say ‘go for it’!

New Face Product Favorites

I recently got some samples of two face products from my dermatologist and have to say that  love them! Normally, sample sizes of products don’t do much to convince me to shell out the bucks because it usually takes more experience with a product than the sample provides before I’m able to see results. Not this time. The products were by a company called Exuviance – one was a fine microdermabrasion product and the other was a follow-on moisturizing cream.

I loved the exfoliating product because it contained glycolic acid, yet was gentle. My face felt ‘fresh’ after one use. Then the moisturizer (which contains hyaluronic acid to help seal in moisture) was so rich and creamy (and smelled SO good), I really felt that my skin was soaking it all up. When I felt this positive after only one use, I knew I wanted to give these products a try for the long-term. Maybe you’ll want to try them too.

That’s it for now – thanks for reading!

Adena