Basket Case

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At some point, everyone has to make a gift basket right? So, it’s really helpful when you find a store that does much of the work for you! That’s how I felt when I walked into Cost Plus World Market the other day. This store offers an entire gift basket kit, which includes the basket, stuffing, a clear bag that fits over it, twine and a small gift card, for $9.99! Um, DONE!

It’s not like you can find baskets very easily these days, and this kit has everything you need except for the actual gift contents and maybe a giant bow and whatever other accessories you want to add. It made my life a little easier and I so appreciated it! By the way, this gift basket will be available for raffle at Salpointe’s Homecoming this weekend!

The Trader Joe’s Salad

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A fun Friday offering! This salad has been brought to so many T-town committee meetings, baby showers, happy hours and get-togethers. Plus, you can find almost every ingredient at Trader Joe’s!

It’s a nice change from the chopped bag salads I depend WAY too much on. Feel free to increase or decrease the toppings based on your own personal tastes.

THE TRADER JOE’S SALAD

1 bag of Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch

1/2 cup Trader Joe’s bag of shredded carrots

½ cup Trader Joe’s dried cranberries

½ cup sliced almonds (I think you’re getting the theme here – Trader Joe’s carries them)

Shredded parmesan to your taste

DRESSING:

1/4 cup olive oil

¼ cup white wine vinegar

2 T dijon mustard

1 tsp. finely chopped garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all the salad ingredients, except the almonds and parmesan, into a large bowl.

Whisk together the dressing components and toss through the salad.

Top the salad with the sliced almonds and parmesan.

Toss and serve.

Gameday Girls

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I have missed drawing my Arizona Wildcat girls! So, for each football game this year, I’m offering up a little inspo pic of the upcoming rivalry. Now, let me say I still struggle to get hands right, especially when they are holding up the Wildcat sign, but I’m working on it!

Hope you enjoy them and BEAR DOWN!

For My Sleep-Deprived Girls

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I’ve told so many people about this lately, including my mom and the cashier lady and a few total strangers, that I thought I should do it justice and write about it. For all of you amazing women taking the troubles of the world to bed with you each night, this stuff really has worked for me. Plus, it smells so incredibly good, if you don’t find that much success with it, at least the scent is super-calming.

I usually rub it on my arms and legs before I go to bed and literally, I feel like I sleep longer with it than without it. I would seriously like to write a letter to Dr. Teal, whoever this brilliant guy is, and thank him for coming up with something that costs less than $8 and I don’t have to swallow it or inject it to work. Now, can we extend this same technology to Botox?

A Fun Product for Luminous Skin After 50

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My Instagram feed is an endless scroll of women trying to sell me stuff – products, supplements, skin care and make-up. But this one time, they were telling the truth!

This 3-in-1 cheek palette by Ulta ($15), bought as an impulse purchase, literally makes your skin look amazing, in my opinion. I wanted to try the baked powder because all the women in this one specific IG ad were older and it made them look great! So, it stuck with me. Since I just passed that half-century mark myself, I’m game for some miracles. I know Laura Geller makes the pricier, probably more-legit baked powder. But, for this price, I took a chance that it was similar and loved it. The one pictured is California Sunlight, but it also comes in Santorini Glow.