Manestage Theatre Company

I found this hidden jewel while living in Bonney Lake, WA. I ventured into the tiny town of  Sumner looking for a used book store that resides in its historic downtown strip. The book store, named A GOOD BOOK is full of AMAZING books and great people. I am biased though, being a bookworm I think all other bookworms are great. Really though these ladies and a gentleman love books and between them all you can be pointed in the direction of an amazing book in any genre. I highly recommend stopping in there if you love books. So here I am driving towards A Good Book and I see a sign that says Pride and Prejudice by Manestage Theatre Company. I get home with my haul of books and google for the website to find the next showing.

I grabbed Yogi and we headed to the theatre to watch a play. It was delightful, this was my first time seeing live theatre outside of a high school production. I enjoyed it so much that we have continued going even after we moved. I have seen several of their plays now and my favorites were as I formentioned Pride and Prejudice...

Cinderella: This was wonderfully done. All of the cast fit their characters well and their voices were top notch. The prince was the stand out for me and my little sister in this one.

State Fair: This was perhaps my favorite that I have seen, It went by so fast. I wished it wasn't over or that I could rewind it. I don't have a favorite in this one because everyone did so amazing!

The Wizard of Oz: Of all the times I've been to the play now this was the most detailed and splendid makeup/costuming I have seen. The scarecrow was so funny, Toto was a true professional, the tin man was intriguing and the cowardly lion was lovable! I was disappointed not to hear over the rainbow but loved the songs they chose. This was my younger siblings first introduction to the story of OZ and they loved it.

The latest production was Narnia The Musical so I will give a more in depth review. I will say if every playhouse has to have a flop this one would be it for me, They didn't draw the curtains for set changes which took away from the mystique. Warning: You should be aware of my undying devotion to the C.S Lewis novels thusly I am a stickler for these books being impeccably covered. My biggest issue was the White Witch. She screamed.... A Lot. She should at all times remain cool, calm and collected even in anger. She is so presumptuous in her power and arrogant on her thrown that she has no need to lose control. The screeching actually gave me a headache, which was unfortunate as I was seated close to the orchestra which was wonderful but tended to be louder then the voices on stage and drowned them out often. The brilliance on stage was Mr and Mrs. Beaver, they were perfect. Mr. Tumnus did terrific and was very believably a fawn. Lucy's voice was the best of the night and Edmund was perfectly dislikable, which is exactly how he should be. I would like to also mention that the makeup and costumes were admirable.

I love this company and will continue to go to each production I can until I no longer live in Washington. If you are anywhere in the area and want to have a spectacular time, this is the place!!! I suggest you take your wife, husband, children, grandparents or really anyone and everyone who will see and appreciate the beauty of live theatre. Next Up is:

http://manestagetheatre.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ManeStage-Theatre-Company/248524651840022

First Aid Beauty

I have been using First Aid Beauty or FAB products since early 2010. After getting multiple system damage as well as chemical sensitivities from taking Levaquin, I decided I wanted to try and cut out chemicals from my life. I started looking for products that didn't have harsh chemicals like paraben, sulfates, dyes, fragrances, etc. I stumbled onto a store called sephora and bought a starter kit of FAB as well as Boscia. The Boscia has weird smells to each of their products and really didn't do much for me although I love their Botanical blast tonic spray. The FAB kit though was a blessing in adorable packaging. It lasted me about 4 months and cost $15.

The Body Wash: It is virtually smell free, great with sensitive skin and washes completely

without drying out my skin. I do have sensitive skin and for me this product is perfect.

The Body Moisturizer: This is a light yet moisturizing lotion. It goes on easily and works instantly. It doesn't leave a filmy feeling but does leave my skin soft.
The Face Cleanser: It is also smell free and works well. It is one of those products that follows the rule "A little goes a long way." Yogi still uses this cleanser and loves it, I am trying out others to see which side of the fence is greener or in this case clearer.
The Daily Face Cream: This product I am in love with but I do question our future together for only one reason, it doesn't have an SPF in it. :(

I went back to repurchase in the full sizes and the Fab Favs caught my eye. It is $38.00 and all of the products are FULL SIZE!

The Ultra Repair Cream: This is the real deal for serious moisturizing. I use it after swimming as my skin really dries out afterwards. For my hubby It is great for his hands after work, My little sister has a touch of eczema and this clears it up nicely. I highly recommend this product.
Radiance Pads: Yogi works A Lot and Very Hard in a Dirty Job! These little pads are a god send for him. He gets off work and can grab one or two of these to get the guck off his face as soon as possible. For me my skin is a little too sensitive to rub with anything. He loves em though.

My Mumsie tried the Red Serum by FAB and it did have a noticeable difference in the redness to her cheeks but is in no way a miracle cure for redness.

So I went back to repurchase the Ultra Repair Cream as my whole family invades my stash! and I found this little kit! $18

I was so excited to find this because the Cleanser and Cream will last me at least 4 months and I have been dying to try their new shave cream.
Shave Cream: This stuff is the product I have always been looking for. My skin is most sensitive on my legs and the regular shave creams make my skin burn! This product works great with my sensitive skin and "A little goes a long way".
Lip Therapy: This was a bonus to me, I didn't think I'd care much for it because I have so many smashbox glosses and for balms I use Jack Black lip balms. So it came as a surprise to me that I love this stuff. Its texture is not a gloss, not a balm but something all its own. There is no flavor and the smell is light and pleasant.

I hope you found this review helpful! Thanks for reading!

My Winter at the Movies

Every so often I tend to be at the movies a lot. This has been the case this winter. I'm sure you have figured out by now that I am a somewhat opinionated person and also that i love to share. These are the flicks:

Hunger Games

One For the Money

Safe House

Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked

Journey 2

and
This Means War:
I give this movie 4 F's... Fabulous, Funny, Flirty and Fiesty The casting was great, Reese had so much chemistry with both Chris and Tom that I didn't know which way she would go with it. The action, comedy and romance levels were all pretty even with one another, they didn't over focus on any one aspect of the movie so it came off well balanced. I found this movie to be a breath of fresh air. TWO THUMBS UP

One For the Money
Another Boovie(book to movie) I was very disappointed in the casting of this film, I like all the actors chosen but none of them for the characters. I was disappointed in the attempt to modernize it. The book was released in the early 90's. I came into this movie expecting it to be the same. Instead it was set in modern day and just didn't come close to the level of humor and suspense that the book reaches. Boo! ONE THUMB DOWN

Safe House by Guest Blogger Yogi!

Though I don't tend to get excited about movies these days for some reason 
Safe house had me thinking it would be better then it was. I will say there was a lotof good action in this movie and they did an ok job at building the characters. But 

like all action movies these days it is like watching one episode of 24, while there 
is a lot of action and a rich plot, when it ends you are wondering what will happen 
next. Not in a "I can't wait for the sequel" but in a " this movie is lacking a 
finish that's appropriate for it's hype" I would say this is an ok movie but one 
that you an wait till it's on Netflix. ONE THUMB UP

Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked
This movie was ok. Not the best of the series. My little brother loved it and thought it was funny. My younger sister thought it was good. I'd say it is good for 8 and under. ONE THUMB UP

Journey 2
Not often do you go to a sequel and think Wow that was better then the first one! This movie I thought exactly that. It was very good. The twists and turns were well thought out. I did not like the creepy "pop your pecks" thing, they took that too far. We watched this in 3D I personally hate 3D movies but the kids begged so I went with it. The 3D effects were a big hit with my siblings, I still hate 3D movies, but will buy the movie on dvd. TWO THUMBS UP

Hunger Games
Oh the Hunger Games. I have never had such mixed emotions about a Boovie before. They added in a lot of stuff that is not in the book at all. Normally this would make me want to walk out but instead I think in some ways it made it better. Unclear things were explained and I like that, although I do think it took away from the intensity of what Katniss went through. They cut out a few characters that are a part of the next book so it will be interesting to see how they recover from that. I do think they seriously missed the boat on one aspect. In the book you read how much Katniss is "faking" her romance with Peeta but in the movie they didn't really emphasize it so you feel like it is all real and steamy. The biggest complaint I have is the costume and makeup for the capitol people. I picture them very futuristically funky, bright crazy colors, and fresh looking. In the movie it is like a bad party in the 80's. Effie's makeup was the worst, they hyped it up so I was expecting it to look great but it came across like marie antoinette goes to the kentucky derby in 1985. Aside from the negatives I still give it TWO THUMBS UP because unlike twilight they had a great cast, there was no blue tint, and they didn't turn a great book into a joke.

;)

Product Review - Smashbox

I received the Smashbox Burlesque set over a year ago. I was very excited because I am a gloss junkie and also the set includes a full-size limitless liquid eyeliner. I had been wanting to try this product. You can no longer buy this set but the products are available individually at sephora or online. I can say genuinely that I love every product in this kit. I will review each in order of least loved to most.

The loose pink powder: It has a great color, goes on well and lasts. The only downside is that I am not big on loose powder.

The eyeshadow quad: This is a handy quad you can make a look with the colors in it or mix and match with others. The pigments are great and the case is not too bulky. No real downside but i do wish a few of the color were matte.

Limitless Eyeliner Pen: I wanted to do this review after such a long time because, haters of the brand say the eyeliner dries up quickly but i have found this to be untrue. This is a great way to apply liquid eyeliner, I was very inexperience with liquid eyeliner. I had tried it once before and came out of the bathroom looking like a raccoon, not a pretty sight. This has a felt tip so it like putting eyeliner on with a marker which was way more my speed as I was that girl in High school that drew on her shoes and doodled on her hands, in fact I use this product to draw temp tattoos, for halloween. I have had it forever and it still works. It has major staying power and the pigment is true to its name Jet Black. I will be buying this again.

Lip duo: I would have put the eyeliner last but as I fore mentioned I am a lip gloss junkie and this duo is top shelf! The colors are perfect with my skin tone. The you can mix them or do each individual either way it looks foxy! The texture of smash box glosses rock and the wear time is considerably longer then other glosses I have tried. I am so excited because they are now making this duo available individually. :) I will be ordering this once my 13 other smash box glosses are gone.

Well thats it for now, I hope this review was helpful. I know a lot of people are obsessed with make up for ever but I wanted to shine some light on Smashbox because they make some great products.

The Truth About Bulldogs Is

I have thought about writing this blog often but have never done it. Today I was watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and I realized I needed to do it. I am the mother to one Frank The Tank Gore He is an almost 4 y/o "english" Bulldog. He is very adorable, I mean really cute! I might post some pics. Anyhow owning a bulldog is a very adventurous undertaking. It is true they do love attention, they will watch TV with you and want to be around you ALL the time. 

When I was looking into dog breeds My Rottie was getting up there in age and her health was fading fast. Arthritis, hip dysplasia, smoked lungs, tumors, etc. I knew she wouldn't be with me forever and I also knew that I would not be ready to love again for a really long time after she went to Heaven, Hey all dogs do! I was very right she has been gone almost 3 years now and I miss her more then words. One day I will write her a blog that is fit for how amazing she was and what an impression she left on so many people. This blog is for the bulldog though. I was newly disabled and couldn't do much physically so I wanted a "lazy" dog. All you hear is how lazy bulldogs are. They are not LAZY!!! My dog is so hyper!!! Always running and jumping. People will sometimes admit this but add that it is only for the first few years...uh yea that is because you feed your dog way too much junk and they are now morbidly obese and therefore in pain so they lay around all day. If you keep your bulldog at a healthy weight this does not happen. Bulldogs are not supposed to be fat, it is actually really bad for them.

 When people speak about the negatives of bulldogs they say that they fart, snore, and burp a lot. You hear about the possible health problems that result in large vet bills. Then somewhere in a sweet way they throw in stubborn like it is a positive almost. I knew we could handle the vet bills if our bully happened to be struck with the bad luck of being a mutant breed gone bad. He was! Frank has had 4 surgeries and will have more in his life, his poor legs are riddled with scars and his vet knows him and myself by our nicknames. The bill passed 6k before his third birthday. His breeder went on and on about his father's wonderful blood line and she was right he does have a good strong line on his fathers side but she couldn't have cared less that her bitch(hey that is the proper term) was the reason for his genetic issues. Though he came with a health guarantee she did not back it up and told us to take her to court or get over it. Instead of spending more money on her we put our mulah into our vet's hand. So yes if you are wanting a bully make sure you have a Vet fund of at least 4k in the bank. 

The things you don't hear or at least I didn't was the REAL negatives of owning a bulldog. I'm sorry to all of you out there that don't want the light of truth shone down on this breed that you charge 3 grand a puppy for but the people deserve the truth. This blog is not the only place you can find this info, it is out there is you look for it. The lightest of them is they eat everything!!!! They will eat underwear, baby wipes(clean or dirty), plastic bags, ink pens, rocks, sticks, ornaments, really anything they can physically fit down their gullets. The best part about this(sarcasm) is that they will puke it up several hours later and you get to play "guess the half digested item". If they don't puke it up then you get to play "pull the 3/4 digested item out of frank's butt before he jumps on the couch!" Now the smell of the gas that you get to endure throughout this process is just delightful! 

Bulldogs are stubborn and not "Oh how cute he refuses to go into his crate cause he wants to stay with us!" No, they are stubborn about everything and will not ever look at you as though you are above or in control of them EVER! They are in control of themselves and what they will or won't do. They have an Alpha male complex to the point of ridiculous. They learn who they can get away with bullying and who they can't but don't ever expect them to back down to you completely. The problem comes into play when they decide they are above someone for example my little brother. He is 8 years old and Frank thinks he must be higher in the pack then him... Which bring me in to my most worrisome negative about bulldogs.

Bulldogs are aggressive. With a teacup pom-chi this might not be a problem and may even be cute to a point. With a 55-60 pound bulldog with a jaw built for taking down full size bulls this is not cute! Frank is built like a brick shit house and knows he is tougher then nails. He was attacked by a full grown pit bull in his first year of life and took him on face first with no fear. That dog had his jaw locked on Frank's lower jaw piercing all the way through. Frank didn't yipe, jump or try to run out of its grip, he stood tough and chomped down on that Pit's nose until Frank's Daddy came to his rescue. We rushed him the vet and he had a drain and stitches put in but after that day we saw a new side to him, we blamed this traumatic event. However in talking to other bully owners(once you are in the circle, you find out the real deal) it was natural for bullies to become aggressive. I have heard different ages usually between 2-3 years of age. Maybe the pit made Frank grow up too early.

The issue is that Frank's stubbornness, strength and aggressiveness have led to him appointing himself as the Alpha over children and some adults. Towards me he will growl if I try to discipline him or hurry him in or out of the door, mostly though he knows not to mess with Mommy and Daddy! Anyone else though he will be aggressive with. If they have food that he wants, he will just take it. If they are in his spot he will attempt to move them. He will come at people and scare the crap out of them and even bite at them. I don't fully trust that one day he won't hurt some one. I will say he is very protective of me and that does bring me some comfort when I am traveling with him.

I have seen an episode of dog whisperer that showcases an aggressive bulldog and on the third Harry Potter movie you can also see the true aggressive nature of a bulldog. This is a real issue that the breed has. I feel it is covered up often. Please remember that these dogs were custom bred to be low to the ground, wide and have strong jaws. Their purpose was to take down and kill a full grown bull. They are not lazy, farting, sweet hearts all the time. If you are wanting one I would suggest you really investigate not only the breed but your life, bulldogs are not the type to be left home all the time. They want to go out into the world, Frank is happiest when we are traveling and the more days he is confined to the house the more his aggression shows. They are very expensive and many bullies end up in shelters because people simply cannot afford the bills. If you want a no muss, no fuss kind of dog then don't get a bully. If you are the type who can take your bully everywhere you go then it  might be a good fit for you :)

I do love my frankalin the tankalin but he is a handful and I have had to learn how to best work with his natural behaviors.