Texas Beauty Labs

Charles Dickens Reminded Me.

Alyssa's Thoughts

I absolutely love winter.

 

The Christmas season has always felt magical to me – neighborhoods smiling with colorful Christmas lights, fires blazing welcomingly on icy nights, extra time with loved ones… and then, New Year’s rolls around and I feel renewed, hopeful, and excited about what I can accomplish in the coming year.

 

December inevitably brings the movie “A Christmas Carol” (the George C. Scott version) to our family’s living room. I can practically quote every line, having watched it annually for at least a decade – I can’t even remember when the tradition began! We gathered on Monday night to watch it yet again, but this time, I got something different out of it.

 

In one of the final scenes, Ebenezer Scrooge sees a vision of the lonely tombstone that will be his if he fails to change his selfish ways. Scrooge falls to his knees and begs the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come for the chance to “sponge away” the writing on his headstone.

 

When I was little, this moment in the movie made me breathe a sigh of relief – the frightening Ghost would soon be departing and the sun would soon be shining again. In more recent years, I didn’t give this (or any other) scene of the movie much thought – nasty Scrooge just didn’t want to die and die alone. Yada-yada.  

 

This winter, something very important was pointed out to me – Scrooge begged for the chance to change because he didn’t want to die with more regret. Scrooge would always have regret about wasted years and missed opportunities, but he wanted to salvage what time he had left.

 

I think I finally got the message: Spend your life well.

 

No, it isn’t corny. It’s something I need to be reminded of again and again. I want to look back on every moment and feel good about what I did with it – I want to see days full of loving others, giving of myself, growing, trying new things, and reveling in what is beautiful about life.

 

Starting now, I resolve to make this winter about giving love and expressing joy. Oh, and in the spirit of trying new things, I’m going to live out a little Christmas dream: I’m going to make a gingerbread house!

Vote!

Alyssa's Thoughts

Don't miss your chance to be part of this historic presidential election! You still have plenty of time to exercise your right to vote - early voting continues through this Friday - October 31, 2008. If you can't make it to early voting, vote on Election Day on November 4, 2008! Fulfill your sense of civic duty, exercise an important right, and hey, if the election doesn't go your way... at least you will have earned the right to complain!

Click here for more information about voting in Texas.

Your Style?

Alyssa's Thoughts

I was recently reflecting on the different styles that my roommates and I have brought to our three individual corners of our one apartment (such musings are probably the result of time frittered away on design shows). I love the insight I can get into a person just by looking at the kinds of choices they have made in their space – pale or vibrant colors? Earthy tones or saturated jewel colors? What about decorations, photographs, and furniture? Are patterns and colors carefully coordinated or are things the result of spontaneity? What role do antiques, electronics, classic choices, or current trends play in their area? What about order or lack of order? What fun to just look around and try to put the pieces together!

After a roommate asked me to put words to my style, I decided on this conglomeration of ideas: rich, bright colors; black electronics, frames, and borders; minimalism and simplicity; right angles; pop art; grainy black and white photographs; order with splatters of freedom and roughness; and, on that happy day when I have a kitchen of my own… stainless steel, baby!

 

Photo (right): Statue in Tivoli, Italy - my time in Europe gave me the chance to explore art, architecture, and ideas about both!

 

I think the complexity of anyone’s style is fascinating – my hodgepodge of design likes and impulses stems from a variety of influences: my mother’s immaculate household, my Hispanic side of the family and their use of bright color, Annie Leibovitz’s photos, especially her early photos of The Rolling Stones, my life in Austin, my time in Italy, and Andy Warhol’s cold, colorful, and brilliant perspective on American culture.

 

What are the elements and origins of your style?

Photo (left): "Angel," a black and white photograph I took with a traditional camera and developed by hand... and a good example of my style!

128 MB of Joy!

Alyssa's Thoughts

Yesterday I received a very early birthday present - an eight inch Insignia Digital Photo Frame! I absolutely love taking photos of loved ones and the fact that I can only display a set number at a time has been a constant source of frustration for me - I just have so many photos that remind me of special moments!

I also really love space and minimalism - but the assortment of frames I had collected for my most precious photographs was really too much for my small apartment and limited furniture surfaces.

This one sleek, sophisticated, black frame that displays a slideshow of my favorite photos takes care of both problems! I can adjust the display, slideshow intervals, and transitions, and I have the option of purchasing more memory for extra photo storage. (It came with 128 MB of internal memory.)

If you are looking for a creative Christmas gift for a friend or family member - consider a digital photo frame. I love mine already!

*Photo of digital frame taken from the Best Buy website.

Small Businesses Worldwide!

Alyssa's Thoughts

Today I learned about an amazing three-year-old non-profit organization called Kiva - I am so excited about it!

Kiva is "the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world," according to its website.

Anyone interested in lending can search through the profiles of entrepreneurs from different regions of the world. After selecting an entrepreneur, one simply uses a PayPal account or credit card to make the loan and then Kiva collects the funds. The funds are passed on to a "Kiva partner" in the area who is responsible for selecting qualified entrepreneurs and distributing the funds. A chosen entrepreneur uses the funds to expand his or her business and repays the loan over time - typically six months to a year. Updates are provided to the lender.

I believe in donating money to charity, but I also love the Kiva concept because, as its website states, it empowers people in developing areas to lift themselves out of poverty. I also love that Kiva is committed to making "the system more transparent" so that people can actually see where there money is going, what their money is doing, and who their money is touching. In addition, many of the loans are small and a lender has the option of funding only part of a small loan.

I am eager to start browsing through the lists of entrepreneurs in need of loans. Becoming involved in Kiva could be a creative, meaningful staff project for small business teams - how incredible to have your small business play a key role in making a small business in a developing nation a success!

Check it out!

The ITs In Our Lives

Alyssa's Thoughts

I finally confronted IT.

IT was one of those uncomfortable situations - the type of situation where addressing the problem will result in tension and very probably in defensive, hostile reactions. By nature, I'm not a person who avoids conflict. But in this case, IT involved touchy subjects related to people I interact with on a day-to-day basis. In situations like that, I try to proceed with caution.

I tried to ignore, avoid, and simply live with IT.

But IT crept into my thoughts more and more frequently. I found that trying to ignore IT for the sake of keeping the peace was turning me into a resentful person.

This week, I knew I couldn't take IT anymore. I knew I had to address IT diplomatically, but with a great deal of firmness and honesty. The confrontation wasn't as bad as I imagined, and what's more - IT is now on the way OUT.

For A Fast, Delicious Dinner

Alyssa's Thoughts

I've been trying to cook on a fairly regular basis to save money, eat healthier, and improve my meal-making skills. Some weeks though, I opt for easy crockpot recipes so I can spend my evening on other things.

This week was one of those weeks! I made crockpot "Crowd-Pleasing Beef on a Bun" (a family favorite we once read about in a magazine) for BBQ sandwiches, heated up some honey baked beans, bought a container of mustard potato salad, and served it up with fresh pickles, onions, and chips.

Interested in the recipe?

Crowd-Pleasing Beef on a Bun

Ingredients:

3-4 pound roast or beef brisket, 3 sliced medium onions, 16 oz jar of barbecue sauce, soft rolls, pickle slices, salt and pepper

Preparation:

Carefully trim the meat of visible fat and season with salt and pepper. Place one sliced onion on the bottom of the crockpot, and then lay the meat on top of the slices.

Pour one half cup of the barbecue sauce over the meat and flip the meat around to coat it. Cover and let cook for 7-8 hours on low. Two hours before it has finished cooking, flip the meat to prevent drying, overcooking, or burning of the original top piece.

Carefully remove the cooked meat from the crock and pour out the fat and juices, retaining the onions. ROAST: Shred the meat into stringy chunks, discarding any fat. Put the meat back in the crock, mix in the remaining sauce and let it cook another half hour or so. BEEF: Slice the brisket across the grain and place it on a platter, discarding any fat. Cover it with warm sauce and let it sit for ten minutes.

Serve on soft rolls with onions and pickles on the side.

Nickels, Dimes, And In This Case, Dollars

Alyssa's Thoughts

As a college junior in charge of my own finances, I keep a close eye on where my money is going and how much of it is leaving. (I'm a Quicken fan!) Today, for example, I went over my budget for the semester to rethink some numbers. I also compiled a list of money-saving ideas that I've posted to my bathroom mirror as a reminder of my goals.

Yesterday I found myself perusing the back of my H.E.B. receipt for coupons that might come in handy for future grocery shopping trips. I found one! Oh, how I love useful coupons! (I have a stack of them next to my recipe book - a free specialty salsa here, a free regular size drink there... advertisers know just how to catch my eye: "Free!")

If you love coupons and great deals as much as me, consider signing up for the Texas Beauty Labs Newsletter. One thing I've learned from working with small business owners is that every cent counts. We understand that at Texas Beauty Labs, so our email newsletter always includes a helpful coupon - sometimes for a featured product, sometimes for free shipping, and sometimes for a percent off your entire purchase.

To sign up for the TBL Newsletter, go to our homepage and scroll down to the footer. Simply enter your email address... and you're in! Enjoy!

It Started With The Caterpillar.

Alyssa's Thoughts

When I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me, "If you can read, you can do anything." She encouraged me to explore literature; she showed me how magical it could be to lose myself in an adventure or wrestle with a new idea. I learned that the smell of library books and the feeling of their plastic-ish protective covers in my hands meant that I was to be transported to other worlds, and that bedtime would come all too soon.

I remember soaking in Ramona Quimby at the dinner table on special nights (I would always long to hear just one more chapter), browsing the shelves of the public library as we picked out stacks of books for the week (it felt so tragic that they put a limit on the number we could check out), and eagerly participating in Round Rock Library's "Summer Reading Program."

Mom encouraged our reading by creating a kind of "book caterpillar" - each time we finished a book, she wrote the title on a colored circle of construction paper and placed it on the top of our bedroom wall (the first book was connected to the beaming caterpillar head). As we read, the caterpillar grew and wrapped itself around our bedroom walls - sometimes several times!

As the years passed, I read less often. As a middle school student, I still loved a good story, though I found myself much more interested in phone conversations and school dances. During my high school years, extracurricular activities and dating took up the majority of my energy and free time. It wasn't until my first year of college that I rediscovered the joy of reading.

Last fall, I took an English course that surveyed American Literature. The professor was electric, inspiring, and challenging. He introduced me to classics I had never explored and a wide range of texts that I had never even considered. Thanks to his class, I screamed at the protagonist of The Awakening and sobbed for the protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching God (it became a favorite). I listened to the rich whispers of Walt Whitman, read texts of Native American chants and "Borderland Corridos," and analyzed work by such leaders as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois.

This fall, I am continuing this exploration by taking "African-American Literature Pre-1930." Reading slave narratives and abolitionist writings as an adult has opened my eyes to aspects of human nature and experience that I had never fully seen before.

I have also set some reading goals for each month of this academic year - I intend to read some new novels, but mostly to revisit some old favorites. I've found that as I mature, returning to those old friends allows me to discover new meaning in them. They always feel fresh. Last week I reread Arthur Miller's The Crucible (it felt like a good pick for autumn) and this week I am tasting Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions for the very first time.

If you are hunting for a good read this autumn, I recommend these delicious picks:

1984 by George Orwell

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Feel free to comment with your favorites!

Wordle It!

Mary's Thoughts

I just found a really cool site where you can make custom word clouds. I made one for Texas Beauty Labs - try it - it's fun!