Summer vacation - week 3

Whew! It's playdatepalooza this week. Nice to get the kids out of the house and take a break from the usual cycle of play-fight-mope. It must be the boy-girl thing. Or the age difference thing. But man I'm sick of the bickering! And normally when they do that we go to the park or beach or go play outside. But in this weather? Notsomuch. It's way too hot and steamy out. Really, the only comfortable time to play outside is in the evening after dinner.

To help beat the heat here are my Top 10 Summertime Goodies:

1) Sephora Mineral Double Compact - stays put, beautiful buildable coverage, way less messy than Bare Escentuals



2) Nivea Lip Balms - not sticky, no waxy buildup, leaves your lips so soft



3) Burt's Bees Day Lotion SPF 15 - the ONLY SPF moisturizer I've ever used that doesn't make me break out!




4) Aveeno Continuous Protection Sunblock - non-greasy, great SPF, moisturizing. Plus their spray-on system really covers the kids in an instant. (Image not available.)

5) Organix Coconut Milk Mousse - I am (was?) a die-hard Aveda user, but I recently took a leap of faith and picked up this non-aerosol mousse. And guess what? I LOVE it! It has about the same hold as Phomollient, but it smells 1000 times better and is about 1/4 the price of Aveda. Plus they're organic, free of nasty chemicals, and have cool eco-friendly packaging. I can't wait to use up my current bottle of Shampure so I can try their shampoo & conditioner. But how to choose between Coconut, Vanilla Silk, Mocha Espresso, Grapefruit-Mango Butter or Passionfruit Guava?




6) Izze Sparkling Juice - the first time I tried this it was in a can and I was NOT wowed. All I could taste was the can. We love flavored sparkling water here, so we tried mixing our own homemade juice with seltzer water but it just tasted like watery juice. But THEN I found Izze in bottles at our local overpriced natural foods store and gave it another try and now I am hooked. Delicious, no sugar, very fruity flavors and so refreshing on a hot day. Dagny LOVES the pomegranate flavor and requested it as a beverage choice for her birthday party.




7) Honest Kids juice pouches - super refreshing, not-too-sweet flavors, half the sugar of regular juice boxes and a nice alternative to water on hot days. Dags likes the Tropical Tango flavor; Anders goes for Goodness Grapeness.




8) Havaianas - boy am I late to THIS party. The whole world raves about these flip flops, but I just bought my first pair a week ago - the super cute elephant print below. They are already my favorite flip flops ever, which is saying something because that's about all I wear. Now if only I could pronounce Havaiana.




9) Moleskine planner - we had our first Girl Scout planning meeting for the 09-10 year this week and it gave me the chance to break in my new planner. Talk about easy to use! Plus I love having a section for each week to jot notes. I go through 2 or 3 journals a year, plus a planner so maybe I can consolidate all my thoughts in just one book this year. (And yes, I still calendar everything on paper. Since I don't have an iPhone or Blackberry I would be lost if I couldn't tote my calendar with me.)




10) Angela Moore bracelets - pretty, colorful and fun for summer. Not too big and chunky or too small and delicate. Plus they match all my polo/capri/madras outfiits.




And finally a bonus SPLURGE item:

Kate Spade Penelope polarized sunglasses - aren't they cool? Maybe I'll have some money leftover after paying for our new sod, new a/c ducts, tree trimming, tuition for two kids, uniforms and school supplies...