Best Foot Forward Challenge: Day Two

I am a bit later in the day with this post than I'd wished to be, but the making of strawberry scones and a very long family devotion put me out of the computer world till now, which I didn't exactly mind because I've been going at my editing hammer and tongs and couldn't care less if I ever saw another computer screen ever again.

 This morning I thought I'd go Aviator-Nautical, which is a very strange combination.

It's like an aircraft carrier.

It's like Amelia Earhart in a submarine.

It's wonderful.

I threw my hair into a braid-ish sort of thing. It looks slightly complicated, but all I did was braid one of the three strands by itself, then braid it with the others. The bottom turned out curly, but that's all I did. Blue and brown was too duo-chromatic, so I threw in a red hairband and a red bracelet.

As far as makeup goes, I went very simple with my Maybelline "Velvet Crush" eye-shadow. It's grayish-blue-ish-purple-ish and looks good with pretty much anything.

I also used some of Leah's lipgloss which is supposed to be some chic-y chic brand, but which I found to be so pearlized it makes me look like I have white lips. Which in turns makes me think of Thomas the Footman, which then makes me shudder. I won't be using that lipgloss again. 

Oh yes: and pardon the strange setting. It's really grey and rainy here, and the only passable lighting in the house is to be found in a bathroom. :P

Ciao Bella!

{And thanks to everyone who participated in Day One!}

Best Foot Forward Challenge: Day One

Today begins the Best Foot Forward Challenge and I am laughing right now. Laughing because--if I hadn't challenged myself as well as the rest of you--I would probably be lolling about looking like a drudge. See, this Monday is acting very much like a Monday. I was supposed to get up at 5:30 and drop a friend off to meet another friend who had to get to work at a certain time. I set the alarm on my tablet, fully certain it would go off.

(Do I hear the sound of cynical laughter?)

Yeah.

It didn't go off.

I woke up at 6:41 and panicked, then rousted Amy out of bed and called the other friend, apologizing profusely. Urghbubrjubhldlhehehld. I hate inconveniencing people. ANYway, that was not an auspicious beginning to today. I have a lot of editing and rewriting in front of me, and it was not a happy thought, coming home after the mad dash and realizing what I had on my plate today.

But that is what this challenge is for, isn't it?

I had my devotion time, watched the sunrise, and got ready. So here's my Day 1 of the Best Foot Forward Challenge! 

I did my makeup, my hair, put on jewelry, woke myself up with Bath & Bodyworks' White Citrus lotion, and generally tried to feel wider awake than I am. I am wearing my "I'm With Ken" Ken Cuccinelli for Governor shirt. :D It makes me feel like campaigning. ;)

For my makeup I used Rimmel of London's "Sweet Smoulder" palette. 

I bought this last week and have worn it three times since then. I've wanted a pink shade for a while and I absolutely love the fresh, natural look.

(And if you're wondering, I use Rimmel of London's "Max CurveS" mascara in black. :)

Legit messy bun and silver sailing-ship earrings? Yes.

Ready for the day! :)

Leave your links in a comment below!

The Best Foot Forward Challenge!

Since I've been neck-deep in editing and rewriting in my literary world, and neck-deep in living in my real world, I started to think about the effect personal presentation has upon a body. Jenny spoke of the importance of making oneself and one's surrounding nice before trying to accomplish any writing. I have covered (at great length, I might say) the importance of dressing well and doing your best to present yourself best-foot-forward.

In my own life, I always try to look nice, even if I don't expect to leave the house at all.

 Yesterday, for example, I had a long day of editing and rewriting ahead of me, and I knew I needed to dress up to meet the day.

 It might sound ridiculous, but I did it.

I took a shower, I did my hair, and I put on makeup.

It turns out I did end up going out, but that doesn't really matter because I wasn't aware of it beforehand. ;) The point is, the care you put into your appearance really sets you up for your "mental-me" state for the day.

If you treat your appearance with care and dress up a little, you are mentally acknowledging the fact that you are worth it. On the other hand....

We had a funny discussion on Facebook the other day about the fact that my main qualm with going to work in the business was the color of the shirts we have to wear..."It's not that I *mind* going to work with Dad. It's just...the shirts are a color that would only look good on a cave troll in the deepest throes of an apoplectic hemorrhage."

Yes. I waxed eloquent on the subject of shirts.--does that really surprise you? My dear friend replied:

"Oh...Yeah. Not the happiest color to work in. Just the shade of them says, 'just lie down in the mud and mope...It doesn't matter....'."

See? This phenomenon is not a singularity of mine. I am firmly convinced it happens to women everywhere. So the point of this rambling post is this:

I am challenging those of us who agree with the ideas above to a Best Foot Forward Challenge.

The idea of this challenge is that for a week, (starting Monday) we participants will dress nicely each day--wearing our hair a different way than usual or just a taking a little more care, putting on a bit of makeup if you wear makeup, wearing some jewelry, and generally just presenting ourselves in a prettier, more careful way. Each day you'll take a picture and post it either on FB or your blog or G+, and leave your link in a comment. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, nothing intricate. Just everyday beauty. Along the way, notice how putting your best foot forward changes your attitude about everything from work, to housecleaning, to writing and school and beyond! :)

I'll be here Monday with my first day, and I hope to see you there! In closing, here are a few everyday-beauty photos to get you inspired!

See you Monday!

Hairstyle Tutorial: Lady Mary-esque

The Downton Epidemic has not left our family unscathed. We were very very late to the Downton game, and only just crammed seasons 1 & 2 into the weeks between Christmas and now. :D After hearing some awful things that happen to favorite characters in Season 3, the jury is still out on whether we'll continue or just leave it at the hopelessly wonderful ending to Season 2.

At any rate, if the story of Downton wasn't enough, the costumes and hairstyles are gorgeous, world without end, amen. That being said, I've been thinking a deal about Downton-inspired styles, and when I threw my hair up this morning, I thought I'd take a picture and show you how you can add a little Lady Mary flair to your twist-up. :)

Do realize that I was not intending to recreate one of Lady Mary's hairstyles--this style is simply a nod to the Edwardian period in general, and Cora, Sybil, and Mary (not the mention Aunt Isobel) wear similar styles. And though I'm far and away from being as pretty as Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), I thought the style turned out pretty well. :) 

I started with the basics I learned in this video:

But I didn't have time to curl my hair beforehand, and I didn't tease the front. Instead, I parted my hair to the side and twisted two strands together, then pinned it behind. The rest of the hair I did exactly as the video showed. I finished by slipping in a hand-painted Russian barrette. Voila! A soft, black shirt, a long pearl necklace, a pair of coordinating earrings, and you have an outfit even the Dowager Countess would approve of!

Aaaaand the side. At this point I had changed twice while wearing my hair up, so it was a bit fuzzy and the pins were showing. I didn't bother spraying my hair for a day at home. :P

Have you been inspired by Downton in your fashion?

"children drop your chains and sing"

A benefit of having a brother and cousin (who are rather on the up-and-up when it comes to Christian contemporary music) is they keep you well-informed on the best songs out there. So when Daniel bought Tenth Avenue North's The Struggle c.d., I had high high hopes.

 Mike Donahey's music blesses me more and more the better I get to know it. This c.d. is full of wonderful songs, but one in particular I have taken as my catch-phrase for 2013...

"The Struggle"

"There's a wreckage, there's a fire

There's a weakness in my love

There's a hunger I can't control.

Lord I falter, and I fall down 

Then I hold onto the chains You broke

When You came down and saved my soul.

Save my soul."

This verse is my heart's cry when I'm hurting...it was David's heart's cry in the Psalms, and I think it is the prayer of every Christian at times. (And as a purely aesthetic thing, I love the play on S.O.S. "save our ship" turned to "Save my soul") This verse just pins those moments of temptation and weakness and mourning. Then comes the chorus:

"Hallelujah!

We are free to struggle,

We're not struggling to be free.

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and sing."

So profound. So beautiful. "We are free to struggle. We're not struggling to be free." When I first heard this song I got chills...and it's happened every time since. God's love for me. His passion and longing for His wandering people to repent and come home to His arms.// I love how the author of this song pegged the difference grace makes: as Christians we are free to struggle--the battle and war against and wrestle temptations. But we're not in bondage. We're not struggling to be free.

"So I look. Do I still fail?

Do I withold? Do I give into temptations?

On my own I am bankrupt

I will trust You. I will take You at Your word.

You promise."

Then the chorus again. A cry for the fulfillment of this promise from Jesus...and the piercing knowledge that He will give it. This promise, this oath, this glorious, incomprehensible grace. 

"Hallelujah, death is overcome

And we are breathing.

Hallelujah our stone hearts become flesh,

a flesh that's beating.

Hallelujah chains have been undone

and we are singing.

Hallelujah the fire has begun.

Can you feel it?"

The victory in this verse reminds me so of that passage in Romans: (8:38-39) 

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."

"Hallelujah!

We are free to struggle,

We're not struggling to be free.

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and sing."

The Perfect Cuppa Checklist

Two thing have inspired this post.

Are you surprised?

Because of course, for me, it's never simple, is it? Never just one idea. Well. The two things that inspired this post were (1.) Forgetting I had made a cuppa and coming downstairs to find it cold. (2.) Reading Dead as a Scone and The Final Crumpet by Ron and Janet Benray. (Both of which, incidentally, are about tea.) Perhaps I might also honestly proclaim that this post was inspired by my love of tea, my spastic brain, and the fact that my toes are very cold right now and if I wasn't feeling "partickly" like a lazy bum, I would make some tea. That being said, ladies and gents, here is my tried and true Perfect Cuppa Checklist

Brewing the Perfect Cuppa

Most of us are not fortunate enough to have access to loose-leaf tea and strainers and all that lovely jazz and rigmarole that makes Brits turn their noses up at the American populace. They rightfully think we don't know how to do a proper job. That may be true in part and is all very well in theory, but certainly tea is a beverage that even we rebels deserve to drink? I've been a consumer of tea for a long while, and I know just the right way to do it. (Though the British probably frown on my practice of sugar and cream.) But too many times I've had cups of tea that were brewed by a scullery-maid who had been reading a penny-dreadful and cried her eyes out the entire time instead of watching the tea properly. I jest, of course, but great Scot, it's not often one encounters a real good cup. See, a proper cuppa isn't a watery beverage. Once you add the cream, it's almost as "thick" as coffee, and nearly as strong. So, to brew the perfect cuppa, here is what you will need:

Boiling water. 

Not hot. Boiling. 

"Unless the kettle boiling be, pouring the water shall spoil the tea."

Tea:

(My two favorites)

Natural Cane Sugar

(very important! I like demerara or turbinado best)

Half n' Half or Cream

A Tea Pot

A Tea Cup

(I do not allow you to drink tea out a mug. Silly business. Horrid. Only if you absolutely must. But it ruins the flavor, I'm convinced.)

Step One: Make sure your water is at a rolling boil. I promise you, this is important!

Step Two: Heat your tea cup and tea pot by rinsing them in hot water. This will keep them from cracking upon being filled with boiling hot water.

Step Three: Place however many bags you wish in your tea pot. I estimate depending on how many cups I wish to brew. Basically, a bag of P.G. Tips is generally good for a teacup and a half of tea. If my pot holds about eight teacups-full, I put 4 or 5 bags in the pot.

Step Four: Let it steep. You need to have the lid (and spout, preferably) covered so that the steam laden with lovely tea-leaf-oils doesn't escape. You want that the stay in the pot. Let the whole pot steep for 6-8 minutes. The stronger the better, if you want to do it properly.

Step Five: This is a tactic I read about in Dead as a Scone, but apparently the chemistry in a cup of tea is different (and improved!) if you add the cream to the cup before the tea. That would put Step Five as Pour a bit of Half n' Half in the bottom of your teacup. A couple of teaspoons should do the trick, depending on strong your brew is.

Step Six: Add the steeped tea. Your cuppa should be a lovely caramel color at this point. 

Step Seven: Add sugar to taste. Natural cane sugars like demarara or turbinado add the most amazing flavor to your tea. Don't use white sugar (even though the sweet little cubes are tempting!) and don't use honey (it changes the whole experience).

Step Eight: You are almost there! The only thing left to do on on our Perfect Cuppa checklist is to get a good book, find a spot near a sunny window, and rest a bit.

Enjoy your cuppa slowly! Life's too short to gulp your tea. :) 

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

-Henry James The Portrait of a Lady

Floored: The Shadow-Giver

Because I know so many families in the same boat, I haven't mentioned that our family has been going through a hideous time financially. The Recession, during the first couple years, didn't seem to hit our family much at all, but as everyone--even the moneybags--had to start tightening their belts, "extras" were cut...like landscapers. And when Landscapers aren't needed anymore, that means we're out of a job. It's an old, old story and we certainly aren't the original Dorrits, and I don't like to focus on it, so I haven't mentioned it much. You know. The less you think about it, the less it bothers you.

Throughout the month of December we received SO many financial blessings that happened in crazy ways. It was humbling, truly. Sometimes it was a family we know who dropped off huge loads of fresh fruit they had picked up for their farm from the food bank. Sometimes it was the bit of money left in Dad's wallet after church on Sunday. Once it was the 50 dollar bills scattered through the house by a generous and secret giver. Once it was the freshly killed doe a friend of ours shot for us that provided 60 or 70 pounds of good, fresh, all-natural meat for our table. I have seldom felt more love and support through family and friends' generosity than I have in the past few months.

Until today.

The first few seconds of my morning were pretty much average. I slowly fluttered to consciousness and cracked open my eyes just enough to notice Abigail Taylor packing her things in preparation for going home. I yawned, stretched, and then it happened.

A scuffle downstairs.

Shouting.

Yelling.

A charge up the stairs and the sound of Dad crying.

Dad crying?

Benjamin busts into our room. "GUYS!" he yells. "SOMEONE LEFT A VAN IN OUR DRIVEWAY!"

Abby pushed past him. "AND MONEY! AND A GIFTCARD!"

My sleep-drugged brain had a hard time processing this information. I squinted across the room at Sarah who looked much like I felt. We both looked at the doorway full of excited kids. "What?" I heard Dad crying and talking to Mama in the hallway. Sarah and I tumbled out of bed and pulled on our day clothes, then spilled downstairs with the rest of the family.

"We thought it was Jehovah's Witnesses!" Abigail offered.

We stood there shivering in the damp, cold grass and stared at the beautiful 12 passenger van parked in our driveway. Inside was a gift-card and money to go out to dinner as an entire family--something we never do. And more money--enough to make our next mortgage payment.

Some of us were crying, overwhelmed by the relief and joy pouring over us--I don't know how the giver knew, but we've been out of a vehicle that fits our family since June. And we've been behind on mortgage payments. There was a card tucked in amongst the money and things. The only signature? James 1:17

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

We took it for a short test-drive--the whole family piled in the car--and bit by bit it started to sink in through my brain just exactly how monumental this gift was:

A van (with a full tank of gas)--that means that we can go places as a family without having to take two cars. We can be together. We can go on a roadtrip if we want to!

The giftcard--We can go out to dinner and not have to hope they'll give us free chips to counteract that price of feeding a dozen people.

The money-- Through the generosity of the Shadow-Giver(s), God has provided our mortgage payment this month. I hope the Shadow-Giver understands just how huge this is to Dad, especially, but to all of us. The van is an enormous gift and one that we are still in awe over. I think I'll need 3 days at least to fully comprehend it. But the money--? I know it takes a huge burden off Dad's shoulders as a provider who finds provision hard to come by.

So dear, dear Shadow-Giver....I hope you read this. Somehow. I hope you know that if you were standing here, whether you liked it or not, I'd fly at you with a hug and possibly bury my face in your shoulder and cry just because. I hope you know that you will go down in the annals of the Heffington family as a legend of God's providence. I hope you know that you made me cry and you gave me hope, and I am just praying as hard as I ever can that God blesses you beyond all you could ask and imagine. You've given us more than a van and some money, Shadow-Giver. You've given us a hug straight from God--an assurance that He's got our back and He sees our needs and understands them. You've given us a love-gift. I know that somewhere out there you are sitting back, wondering what our morning was like.
If you want to know what our morning was like, Shadow-Giver, just think of any of the most precious moments in movie history. Think of the Extreme Makeover "revealings". Think of barefooted children bouncing up and down and yelling. Think of a strong man reduced to tears and prayers of gratefulness. Think of smiles and hugs and repeated oaths of "how can this be?" In short, think of joy--unsullied, pure joy--and you'll have a general idea of the effect of your gift.

Thank you. Thank you so so much.

I know you don't want to be found out, and I respect that. But I wish there was someway I could thank you. And I pray, somehow, that I can be a Shadow-Giver too. Because this gift has been the brightest, most amazing way to crack in 2013.