My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard.

Get ready for a new cult favorite.

The ‘Almond Coconut Milk Soufflé Cody Cream’ by Laura Mercier is straight up ridiculous.

Any by “ridiculous,” I mean “too awesome for words.”

As described by Ms. Mercier, “The Almond Coconut Milk Soufflé Body Crème is an ultra-rich, whipped moisturizing cream containing vitamins A, E and F for nourishment and shea butter for moisturizing without feeling heavy or greasy. The rich crème gives the skin optimum moisture levels, while leaving a delicate fragrance on the skin. Almond Coconut Milk is a warm, rich fragrance with powdered sugar, vanilla extract and a hint of cinnamon. It also includes notes of vanilla mousse as well as vanilla meringue.”

It’s currently sold out at Sephora, but you can still find it at Macy’s and Nordstrom. I’ve heard it’s going for as much as $259 a jar on eBay. (The retail price is usually around $55.) It smells that good. You’ll want to eat yourself. (GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER. I DIDN’T MEAN THAT IN A DIRTY WAY.)

Kindness is Magic, Volume II

This organization is two-fold:

First, we have The Veteran’s Garden, located in Los Angeles. It’s a 15-acre garden that’s operated by vets of the VA Hospital, as part of the Horticulture Therapy Program (HTP). HTP motivates patients to develop new interests and combat depression often associated with a disability. It’s a fully self-sufficient business; selling fresh-grown, pesticide-free produce to both the public and local restaurants.

Second, we have the Serenity Park Bird Sanctuary, located at the back of the Veteran’s Garden. Here you’ll find cockatoos, parakeets, macaws, and parrots that have been where injured, abused, and abandoned. They’re tended and nursed back to health by veterans. Admission is free and open to the public, but your donations are tax deductible, as it’s a non-profit.

If you live in or are visiting the Los Angeles area, I urge you to check out both places!

Preach.

I love this. It doesn’t matter where you fall on the political spectrum; these are such important words.

Light Blue, Part Deux!

Are you a fan of Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana?

If so, check out their brand new “limited edition” version called Light Blue Escape to Panarea. Panarea is one of the eight famous Aeolian Islands, a volcanic island chain north of Sicily. (Don’t feel bad, I had to Google it.)

Personally, I don’t mind the original Light Blue, but it’s not my favorite. The lemon notes have always smelled a bit off to me – kind of like Lysol cleaning products. They just overpowered the perfume; and this is coming from someone who loves lemon/citrus scents.

But the Escape to Panarea takes it down a notch, using less lemon and more bergamot, tonka bean, and vanilla. The first sniff will remind you of the original, but after that, Panarea takes on a life of its own. It’s a little more warm than the original, but still very much a spring and summer scent. Of course, since I love it, it has to be a limited edition. So….if you do end up loving it, I’d recommend buying a couple bottles, as it will be gone in a few months!

$55-$75 at Sephora, Ulta, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, and Nordstrom.

Everyday I’m Russell’n.

Yeah…..that’s a lame title for a post. Stay with me.

So we all know Russell Wilson is pretty much the best quarterback in the NFL. (Suck it, Peyton.)

And that he spends hundreds of his off hours donating his time and money to charities across the country, including visiting patients at the Seattle Children’s Hospital every Tuesday that he’s in town.

But did you know he’s also a really, REALLY good baseball player? He played college baseball for North Carolina State University before transferring to Wisconsin, and played minor league baseball for both the Tri-City Dust Devils and Ashville Tourists.

He recently went down to Arizona to participate in spring training with the Texas Rangers. For a couple days, he ran drills with the team, met with the Ranger’s head office, and visited with fans.

But all you really need to know is this is what he looks like in a baseball uniform:

Light ‘Em Up!

AWESOME.

You guys know that burning soy and vegan candles are WAY better for your health than other kinds wax candles, right? Right. Unfortunately, a lot of soy and vegan candles can be on the spendy side.

Enter Pacifica. They already make awesome perfume, body sprays, and makeup, but did you know they sell candles? I didn’t until I saw an ad in a magazine the other day.

And they’re CHEAP! Prices start at six bucks! Their 3oz candles burn for 30 hours, and the 10oz burn for 100. Pacifica has some amazing scents, including Indian Coconut Nectar, Tuscan Blood Orange (my favorite), Tahitian Gardenia, Mediterranean Fig, Sandalwood, and Hawaiian Ruby Guava.

Available at Whole Foods, Amazon.com, the Pacifica website, select Ulta’s, and select boutiques.

Oh! And Pacifica is 100% cruelty-free. No testing on cute lil’ bunnies!

March Madness-Book Edition.

I know people usually compose “best-of” lists at the end of the year. But here are some early standouts as of March 8th, 2014:

1). One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak

Yes, that B.J. Novak-former actor/writer/producer of “The Office.” The boy can write. I don’t read much fiction, but I couldn’t resist this book. “The Office” is my all-time favorite show, so it was just a given. This novel is a collection of delightful, sad, clever, hilarious, and sweet short stories. It reminds me of plate of petit-fours: small, sweet, and hits the spot. (That’s what she said.) OH COME ON, IT’S FROM “THE OFFICE.” Like I couldn’t make that joke?

2). The Death Class by Erika Hayasaki (non-fiction)

Nurse Norma Bowe teaches a “death class” at a small college in New Jersey. She never expected it to be so popular-the syllabus includes lessons about last wills and good-bye letters and class trips to mortuaries and cemeteries. Author Hayasaki spent four years following Bowe and her students. While the premise of the book sounds somewhat morbid, I promise you it’s really not. It forces you to ask yourself the “big questions” and what it really means to live, what death can teach us, and the real meaning of life.

3). Little Failure: A Memoir by Gary Shteyngart (non-fiction)

Shteyngart is already an acclaimed fiction author; but this is his first stab at non-fiction. Born in Leningrad, Russia (the Soviet Union back then), he moved to America with his family in the 1970’s. This book tells the familiar story of an immigrant family coming to America. Shteyngart intertwines both Russian and American life, and the two worlds he hopped back and forth from. The title of the book comes from a nickname his mother gave him, “Failurchka.” Roughly translated, it means “Little Failure.” I found this memoir to be funny, raw, emotional, vivid, and original.

4). The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert (non-fiction)

A scientific book that’s surprisingly easy to read, Kolbert tells us that by burning fossil fuels, we are rapidly changing the atmosphere, the oceans, and the climate, forcing potentially millions of species into extinction. You’ll follow her on many adventures: from the rain forest to the Great Barrier Reef to swimming amongst poisonous jellyfish and exploring bat caves, just to name a few. Anyone interested in science, sociology, geology, botany, biology, or zoology will find this book fascinating. Humans need to get their shit together, stat.

5). L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food by Roy Choi

Let me just start off by saying that I can’t cook. At all. No, really. I mess up boiled eggs.
But Anthony Bourdain is one of my favorite authors (who just happens to be a world famous chef), and he highly recommended this book via his Twitter page. It’s part memoir (growing up with Korean immigrants as parents, falling into a bad crowd as a teen, getting himself out of said bad crowd and eventually starting the food-truck craze in LA) and part cookbook, with “cheap eat” recipes like instant ramen with sliced cheese, to more difficult plates like eggplant curry, kimchi jjigae and carne asada.

Let me know what makes your list!

Kindness is Magic, Volume One.

Let me tell you about an organization called “The Gentle Barn.”

They’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit based out of Santa Clarita, California.

Their mission is “To rescue, rehabilitate and give sanctuary to abused animals. Through the interaction with our animals people learn reverence for all life.”

They’re home to over 160 rescue animals, including horses, cows, goats, dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and llamas. These animals are victims of horrible stories-starved, beaten, tortured, sick, wounded, and neglected.

But these animals have regained their trust in humankind by realizing that they are now loved, and their abuse is over. Because of their ongoing physical and psychological needs, they can’t be adopted and are given sanctuary with The Gentle Barn for the rest of their lives.

The Gentle Barn stands out because they not only rescue animals, they also work with children from the inner-city, group homes, mental health care facilities, foster homes, and schools to teach them that even though we are all different on the outside, on the inside we are all the same and are deserving of the same rights, respects and freedom. Many of these children have never been around farm animals.

To donate to The Gentle Barn, click here. To become a certified volunteer, click here.

In a Pineapple Under the Sea?

So, I’ve been eyeing Revlon’s new Parfumerie nail polish. It comes in a very cute little bottle; it looks like something you might find in a French drugstore.

Revlon claims that this polish is “scented.” (Didn’t we already go through a scented nail polish craze? Like, in the late 90’s and early 00’s?)

I DO give Revlon an A+ for scent. I purchased “Pink Pineapple,” a pale pink shade. And after the polish dries, it really does smell like a tropical vacation. The scent lasted several days, and every time I scratched my nose, I got a nice lil’ whiff of pineapple.

Sadly, the polish started chipping in less than 24 hours, and by day two, some nails were missing their polish completely.

It would be great product if you just wanted to use it for a one-time special event (prom, wedding, first date). But the product doesn’t have any real staying power.*

*I do not use base and/or top coats. Using two coats of the regular polish already tests my patience level. Maybe this polish would work better as 3-step set.

If you have better luck, let me know!