Biggest Giveaway Ever-SkincareRx.com

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . March 8, 2010 . 8:00AM

Since I started writing blueshelled.com, I have been very lucky to have the support of some excellent people. One of those companies is SkincareRx.com. For the last six months, they have been a proud sponsor of my site and have been quietly working behind the scenes to support me in any way possible. They are one of the companies that make it possible for me to write here and I want to say thank you.

Besides being awesome and supporting unknown bloggers, they also do fun things such as giveaways to the faithful readers of said unknown blogs. It is another way of supporting this blog and rewarding the people who spend time here and I am incredibly grateful for their support. As such, I’d like to direct you back to their amazing home page and ask you to give them a whirl.

They are offering a great line of Skinceutical Advanced Brightening products, as well as all of the amazing skincare stuff you love. The Advanced Brightening products are particularly good for damaged skin, as they decrease the effects of that damage as well as protect your skin. If you aren’t using skincare, now is a good time to get started. I can tell the difference in my skin on the days that I use skincare versus the days I don’t. Soap and water isn’t enough, especially with the pollution we encounter daily in the air around us. I’m a fan of even toned skin, as mine tends to be blotchy, and this particular set helps even out the skin tone, as well.

My favorite product in the set is the sunscreen. I hate sunscreen. I hate the way it feels. I hate applying it. I hate having it on my face and stinging my eyes. I actually tried this brand a couple of years ago and it’s the only sunscreen I’ll use on my face because I can apply it with a makeup sponge and it feels like there is nothing there. Ok, enough gushing about the skincare. You want to know about the prize, right?

You don’t have the money to invest in skincare? This is where I come in and SkincareRx.com helps you out. We’re offering a giveaway for my readers! It is the largest prize I have ever offered and I’m thankful to them for sponsoring it. A gift card to SkincareRx.com is up for grabs in the amount of $150! This is NOT just for women. Men have skin, too, that needs protection. Even if you aren’t into your skin, I’m sure you know someone who is. Mother’s Day is coming up. What better gift than a $150 gift card to a great site? It’s pretty easy to enter, too. Here’s what you do:

As the sponsoring blog I will track and validate all entries. So when you post here that you posted or retweeted. I will check to see if you did. The winner MUST provide me with their full name, email address and a mailing address. Those are the rules. If you can’t do it, you can’t win.

How can you enter?

SkinCareRx Giveaway Entries

1) One entry for becoming a fan of SkincareRx on FaceBook
2) One entry for following SkincareRx on Twitter
3) 2 entries for retweeting any one of my tweets about this giveaway
4) 7 Entries for a blog post with a link directed to Skinceuticals Advanced Brightening System. This blog post must have a minimum of 100 words and use the words “SkinCeuticals Advanced Brightening System.”

That’s up to 11 entries! Post here when you have completed all of the entries you’d like to complete and I will keep track of them. The contest will run for 2 weeks and the winner will be posted March 22, 2010. Good luck everyone!

Walking the dog

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 10, 2009 . 10:38AM

For the last several months, I’ve been “off my program.” My program had been eating good for me foods and losing weight. Unfortunately, I’d hit a plateau, and after a month of said plateau, I gave up the fight. It wasn’t a huge deal for me, but I wanted to keep moving forward on my loss. I hadn’t been motivated until Halloween. I saw my Halloween pictures and thought, “Man, I really wanted to be a Merlotte’s waitress this year.” Yes, Brandon would probably classify it as a slut costume, but I love True Blood and I really want to do homage to the show without being a vampire. When I looked at the costume though, I thought to myself, “Self, you clearly cannot wear that costume in your current condition. It’s about that time.” So, yes. I am going to get myself in shape for a Halloween costume. I don’t see that it’s any better or worse than anyone else’s excuse. Besides, I have been working on getting in shape for me for a long time. This is just the added motivation.

My YMCA card had dust on it, so I blew that sucker off and decided to get back to business. Over the weekend, I’d managed to get ‘er done (yes, I just said it-go on and disown me), but after the car fiasco, I knew there wouldn’t be time to workout. My fitness guru and very good friend, Mike, has been yoda-ing me in this go-round and he’d cautioned that I needed a recovery day for my body. So, I decided that a nice, leisurely walk with Reagan would do the trick.

I don’t play favorites with walking the dogs, it’s just that Sophie tuckers out after a block and Molly is so busy sniffing and marking territory that I’d never get anywhere if I took them. Reagan is built Ford-tough. She has tiny legs and some serious muscle in that little weiner dog body of hers. She went with me today for 35 minutes without complaint. We did have some adventures, though.

-We attacked every crunchy leaf in the vicinity of our walk. As the trees are letting them drop like crazy, this amounted to some serious attacks.

-A school bus full of children waved at us.

-Reagan whined at the school bus full of children because she knows that the school bus might mean AJ is there.

-When the bus went past with no AJ, she pouted, moped, and refused to jump on crunchy leaves until I was ahead of her crunchy leaf ratio 10:1.

-We went around a park and found a small stream that I didn’t know existed.

-A car drove past us with a little dog in it that so desperately wanted to make Reagan it’s “friend” that it almost jumped out the window. I watched as it slowly drove past with the dog hanging out the window and the owner laughing so hard he almost let go of the little dog.

-We saw some beautiful fall foliage.

-A LOOSE doberman came running after Reagan. Apparently my horns came out because I yelled at it “NO!” and “YOU GO HOME YOU VERY BAD DOG!” and it literally turned and ran with its tail between it’s legs. Wussy. I must have a fierce angry face. Don’t mess with anything I believe belongs to me. I will ruin you. I don’t care if you have teeth that can tear me apart. I look really mean when I’m mad. And if I see it again I will have no problem calling animal control and letting those people pay to get that dog back. Leash laws are there for a reason.

-Reagan gave me the biggest, happiest face when she saw the front yard. Dogs can grin, you know? We both got our fitness on.

Overall, my walk today was simply breathtaking. It helped remind me why fall is my favorite season. I hope that all of you are spending some time outside just enjoying the scents and beauty of this time of year. I want to take a second and thank Mike, one more time, for the time and effort he has been putting into me. My friendships mean a lot to me and he’s holding me accountable this time and it is what I needed. I’m one of those needy, hard to be friends with people because sarcasm is my defense mechanism, so it really is hard to put up with me on a regular basis. I’m also sensitive, so I take things the wrong way a lot. To be “in charge” of anything I’m doing, especially when I’m such a type-A, has got to be a pain in the butt, so thank you, again.

Was that Halloween or a Slut Storm? Or, My Excuse To Talk About Having Babies With Taylor Swift

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 3, 2009 . 10:45AM

Note: This is not a post from me, but from my guest blogger, Brandon Kiser! Please make him feel very welcome
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Halloween has come and passed and chances are you’ve seen your fair share of police officers, nurses and witches for the year. Meanwhile, young (and some not so young) women across the country need to put on the most provocative Halloween costume they can find or muster to celebrate. I’m sure you’ve noticed if you went to any parties, live anywhere near a University or even have teens yourself. Halloween has become an excuse for women to dress up like promiscuous objects and an opportunity for men to oogle.

It’s hard to say exactly when the “slut ’stume” craze started or when it will end. Perhaps it started when the whole horror movie thing began, and it makes sense. The most prominent scenes in horror films usually consist of a scantily-clad women being chased by a killer who miraculously catches up by walking at a slow even pace. And why do they include these scenes in horror movies? Because Dudes like it. Women likely picked up on it and ran with it by becoming short skirted nurses, cleavage showing police officers and strangely attractive witches.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a dude and I like the “entertainment” just as much as anybody else – but seriously, the whole idea make no sense. Women are women, they are going to look good in anything. Plus, ladies shouldn’t do anything at 20 that they’ll be afraid to show their kids pictures of when they’re 30. Just sayin’.

Listening to the radio the other night I heard that Taylor Swift, the ideal woman (yes, I’m being slightly facetious here) and her friend decided in Junior High that instead of doing what all the other girls in her school did on Halloween they would take the alternative Halloween route. Instead of using Halloween as an excuse to act like a porn actress, they would dress completely opposite – as Chewbacca. Because the first thing every guy wants to see Taylor Swift in is a hairy alien Star Wars suit. Oh yeah.

But maybe it’s just another turn society is taking that is the result of peer pressure and lackluster parenting. Either way, if (when!) I have kids with Taylor Swift, they’re going to dress as Chewbacca and LIKE it.

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Brandon Kiser is a teenage web and politics junkie lining in KY. He blogs at The American Kiser (americankiser.blogspot.com) and, at launch, will write for the conservative news site 73wire.com. Like every other cool cat nowadays he tweets using the shocking pseudonym @BrandonKiser .

New hair color and cut = great day

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 21, 2009 . 11:05AM

Some days are just fantastic. It’d been a long time since I’d had one that put me at one with the all good and I was in need of something stellar to change the funky mood I’d been in for the last several days. Over the weekend, I went to a training that had me look inward and clean out some of the mental gunk I’d accumulated. As this felt like 9 hours of therapy for 3 days straight, I wasn’t exactly feeling up to being happy or sociable. My esteem was in the crapper and I felt down.

However, Tuesday rolled around and it was time for some change. I’d scheduled a cut, color and highlights with my friend Chris, who is an awesome stylist. He’s been taking care of me for almost 2 1/2 years and, beyond being good at what he does, we have a good time when we are together. He’s one of those people that I feel like I can be myself with in that he’s going to get my jokes and he might even laugh at them. We’ll sit and talk for 3 hours with no awkwardness and I’ll leave feeling like I’m caught up on his life and, hopefully, he’s caught up on mine. It’s a good relationship and there are precious few of those around lately.

I got to hear about old women and dirty Subway jokes, political jokes that we have to whisper, just in case the other patrons might hear and I can tell him that my theme for this haircut is “Hot. Just make me look hot. I don’t care what you do to it” and know that it’s going to happen. And it did. And he’s awesome. At one point, his co-worker, who’d kept himself in the majority of our conversation, had commented that he liked to laugh, too, because we were both laughing so hard that Chris had to stop working.

Rare friendships. I love those.

Well, what do you think? It’s got some red in it, as well as some blonde. Oh, and there is a Chris in the picture, too. I’m not getting rid of anyone that says “You already are” when I tell him to make me pretty. Nope. He’s a keeper. I’m not telling you anything else that was said. We share an odd sense of humor.

Besides spending time with one of my favorite people, as well as the best stylist in the area, I got to see one of my besties, Kristin. I rarely go to her neck of the woods, as it’s almost an hour away and there is more to do in my area. However, it’s where Chris is and my hair isn’t going to take care of itself, though wouldn’t that be awesome? “Hair, color yourself!”

Anyway, I happened to choose the day that Kristin only works until 3, which was awesome because I was done around 3:30. I hugged Chris goodbye and set off to the mall. Leon and AJ, who’d both taken a couple of days off for fall break, decided to meet us there after Leon hurt himself playing golf. I’m not going to say a word about golf. Nope. Not a word. It was a somewhat last minute decision that Leon and AJ would come to do some mall-wandering and ended with all of us going to Olive Garden.

I love Olive Garden.

I want to marry Olive Garden and have little olive-ettes.

Then, on the drive home, which was blissfully quiet except for some *whispering* country */whispering* music, I was treated to a sunset that literally brought me to tears. One of the reasons I love Nashville so much is the scenery. There is something so beautiful about the rolling hills and the trees and the natural rocks. When I turn a corner, I’m treated to something new and amazing with every breath. Sorry for the junky windshield pictures. I’m too lazy to clean it and too mystified by the beauty of it to not share it with you.

As I pulled into Franklin, I swore I heard bells. The closer I got to Five Points (an area of historic downtown), the louder they pealed. As I checked for signs of neurological disorder, I realized that I was driving closer to one of the beautiful historic churches in the area. Someone was ringing the bells and it was glorious. The bells and the sunset and the sky and day I’d had…it was all too much.

What a wonderful day. Can I please have more of these?

Women are stupid

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 15, 2009 . 11:56AM

Women aren’t stupid. But I figured that title would get the men here with a chuckle and the women here ready to b*@%$slap me like the bad woman I am. It worked. Hi. Good to see you again.

Women, we do stupid things for beauty. You’ve probably gathered that women and beauty and womanhood are something of a theme for the last couple of days, but this is the end of the road for it, at least for a while. I know that I do something stupid for my looks at least weekly.

One example? My eyebrows.

I was born of a yeti. Mom, I’m not calling you a yeti, I swear. Please don’t take back my Christmas presents. I’m just saying you adopted me from a yeti because I have a unibrow that makes grown men cry. It’s true. If I neglect this baby, I make muppets look like they wax. So, I have 2 options: waxing or plucking. Neither of them are appealing. I’m not going the electrolysis route. I’m just not. Yes, I’ve heard of threading. I don’t want to scream at the person who is doing my brows, so I’m going to pass.

Let’s talk about some of my eyebrow experiences.

How about the one time the woman almost pulled my face off.

Yes, it actually happened. My friend Kristin was there. This took place around 2002 and it was around the 2nd or 3rd time I’d had my brows waxed. The wax was bubbling. This is not a good sign. This is not how wax is supposed to be when you are going to put it on your face. The woman who was to do my brows was busy cutting hair, so another stylist said she would do it.

This is never a good sign.

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 and never, ever let someone pinch hit on your brows.

When the wax went on I could feel my skin bubble and tears welled in my eyes. It was then that I knew I was in trouble. She tugged and I could feel the blood. I was young and didn’t realize that I SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING. ALWAYS SAY SOMETHING. She then WENT OVER THE SAME SPOT AGAIN. I left with burns.

For beauty. Oh, I left looking like something, that’s for sure.

Let’s go to this earlier this year.

I was getting my brows done again. Look, I told you, if they aren’t done I’m a yeti. The woman was clearly not concentrating and the wax was thin and runny. It ran down my brow and into my eyeball.

Women are stupid for beauty. All I can say is that I hope men and other women appreciate it.