Knitting progress has been suspended.

I received what has become my annual shipment* of Lush supplies today. I'd already be in the bath, but I'm having a hard time deciding what to use first. *smile*

So while I'm trying to decide, I thought I'd post a quick note, mostly to Sara, to say I tried rooibos tea yesterday. It's tasty, different from what I expected, though I liked it better than black teas, so I think it will likely become a staple. And while I'm waiting for my replacement diffuser (they have them on the website for $3.. I'm apparently not the only one who's had one go missing!) from Adagio (who also has a caramel rooibos tea -MMMMmmmm!), I've discovered that my little ingenuiTEA teapot works just fine with tea in bags and is easier to "dispense" than when made in a regular tea pot. I picked up some Lipton caramel something or other in the little pyramid tea bags last week and it's been quite tasty with a bit of non-dairy creamer.

And while it's not really related to anything, I spent a lovely weekend with three of my best friends from high school last weekend. We shopped and ate and caught up and relaxed (away from the kidlets for two of them). We've been spread a bit far and this is the first time we've all seen each other in person in about four years, and that was at one of our weddings so we were a bit occupied with other affairs at the time. Now that we're all a bit more settled, though, we've decided that we should reconnect. This weekend was the first "girl's weekend"; we have another scheduled for late July. *smile*

The timing was fortuitous - I don't have very many close female friends, but have been thinking lately that I need to take the step from post-grad-student to professional, which is a somewhat foreign area for me. Not in action, but in how to look the part, particularly in how to dress the part. I've ordered some outfits from Lane Bryant on line, but needed to expand on that meager beginning. My best friends helped me decide on a couple new pairs of pants and a new shirt from Lane Bryant and, in an effort to try to "look the professional part", helped me learn about make up.

Yes, as a *mubletypeg* year old woman, I'm just now learning how to properly apply make up. My best friend from high school is a Mary Kay representative and she brought her kit down so I could find stuff that wouldn't make me feel like I was wearing shellac. I think we succeeded - instead of a more traditional foundation, I'll use a tinted moisturizer with SPF 20, which also means I won't need to use any loose powder. I'll use lip gloss instead of lipstick, with no lip liner, and a nice subdued mocha/coffee color scheme for eye make up and cheek color. Spendy, yes, but I feel like I got quality make up that fits my needs precisely, so I think it's worth it.

At some point I may take the step of actually going to a hair stylist to get a "real" hair style, but for now I think a wardrobe update and make up will suffice!

* My sister-in-law's birthday is tomorrow and her brother (my husband) usually opts to get her Lush for her birthday. Since I'm ordering anyway, I usually take the opportunity to stock up for me, too. And since Lush tends to be on the pricey side of things, I don't order from them for me too often!