I drive by these 'cow hide' stands all the time.

Texas, where the state flower is a steak; I'm thinking of supporting local farms by buying a DIY handbag kit.

This puzzles me. 'Made in USA... or Mexico" Is it ok to be vague? I thought listing ingredients and the origin was important. "May contain nuts, dairy, sand, dirt, red dye #5 .... or it may not. We may have included vitamin C or D.... or maybe we didn't" By the way - this a package of Gummi Bears.

Nail polish - can be frustrating; literally watching paint dry. If you are like me, you lose patience and never leave enough time to let them dry. I've done my nails before bed and woken up with 'sheet' marks on them; I've left the spa immediately to find them smudge from  the inside of my handbag trying to dig out my keys. Oh, the drama... of nails.

Well - recently I wrote a bridal beauty article for theeventfulplanner.ca and came across MINX nails, (via twitter, actually). MINX is essentially a very cool shrink wrap technology that heat seals onto your nails - stylish AND functional. 

 I've been taking on clients since I have perfected my technique. During my MINX 'training', I have discovered a couple of great things about them;

1) If you are a nail biter, it makes it impossible to bite through the nail armour therefore you get long nails! I have a client who is excited to get her second set, this time put on her newly grown out nails.

 2) If you have a nail split mid-way on your nail plate, no need to try to mend with glue or tissue and clear polish - the MINX nail armour seals the split from snagging as it is covered, you can easily grow it out. Plus, ZERO drying time, means you don't have to sit in the spa for 20 minutes reading the old fashion magazines over and over and over.

MINX nail armours come in a vast amount of styles - you get to be a kid in a candy store wanting them all. My favourites are tweed, snake skin, gold studs, lace - ok, my list can go on and on and on.

How long do they last? Well- I have had clients wear them from 1-2 weeks (pedicures a lot longer - up to 2 months). It really depends on you. One of my clients, a hairstylist as well, got 2 weeks out of them and she was shampooing and blow-drying every day. Another client, a real estate agent got 1 week - she was fussing with keys all the time admittedly using her nails as tools; oy, you can lead a horse...

 How much does it cost? The average going rate is $75 US per mani. Why so much? Well, if you think about it, it's quite reasonable. Most women find their nail polish chips within the first 24 hours of getting a manicure - unless you are a Princess and have handlers who do everything for you. The steps to a MINX manicure start with a clean manicure, cuticle work, filing etc - so you aren't losing but gaining more in longevity and cool factor.  

Want to get MINXED?  The Minx Salon Locator is a click away to find your nail tech in your city.

 Hand photographer, clearly I am not, but the nails are very cool! Pink, black with silver polkadot, tweed, snake skin and lace. Check them out:

  Skin Inc - www.skininc.biz

Get your very own bespoke Daily Dose skin supplement

 as well as Skin Inc's Pure Revival Peel. My skin has been vibrant ALL day!

Lately I find myself unable to fully sleep at night. I have a teen who stresses me out. I get up, update my twitter, facebook, email others in various timezones - well, tonight was a slow social media night so I decided to surf.

I am not a sports fan, but this blog is inspired by an article about Air Canada apparently losing the Stanley Cup en route to Vancouver (google it). A friend's facebook had the link to this article - at first I thought  ' Who cares?!' ; then I clicked anyway - see, slow moving social media night.

Well, yes, the cup did  a detour on the way to a charity event. Not my beef.

My beef - all the people who jumped on the bandwagon of  'Air Canada is the worst airline' bla bla bla.

1. People - you get into a tin in the sky that flies you in the air, a flying tin can!And that is referencing ALL airlines - 'tin can' is not a statement of how I feel about the airplanes - just driving a point about the miracle of air travel.
2. I have flown all over the place- yes, Air Canada has lost my luggage, so has United, so has American...in fact American lost my teenagers! (They had to make an emergency landing and refused to answer my questions as I was apparently 'not authorized'. Hm, I gave birth to them and they live with me - that to me is authorization.
3. When I was 5 months pregnant I was flying from Singapore to Toronto; the leg  from Japan to Dallas was on American Airlines, business class.  I had asked the flight attendant to help me with my overhead. Her snappy response - 'No, I have a bad shoulder.' hm, Why aren't you off recouping that bad shoulder then??  I was flying alone - went to stick my bag under my seat and she was quick to tell me 'can't go there M'am.' Seeing my pregnant frustration (pun intended), a gentleman across from me but my bag up. Sidebar: I HATE being called M'am.
4. Japan Air: I had a horrible incident with a flight attendant - to the point that I complained in writing to the head office - whose response was basically 'we couldn't care less', heard they filed for bankruptcy for mismanagement. Quelle surprise.
5. We went to Argentina over the Christmas holidays - American Airlines lost our baby's return flight 'on lap' booking so we had to purchase her another ticket to get her home. Our bassinet seats we had requested  were given to someone else as we were the LAST people to be checked-in after to being to the airport 4 hours in advance. All this, including the cost of the baby's ticket avoided if they didn't lose her 'on lap' booking.
6. Years ago I was flying to New York from Toronto on Continental. Tried to check-in, the counter employee said that the flight was cancelled and started to serve someone else. I, puzzled, said 'So, I don't get to go to New York??' She seemed surprised at my request and put me on another flight - ticket in hand, I walked away shaking my head. I still think back to this and think 'huh??'
7. Further to the point 6 - my return flight from New York - massive storm hitting - I ask at check-in: Is the flight still going out? Yes. Great! I go through, sitting in the gate area, glancing to the board - still shows that the flight is on time. I hear panicked whispers from other passengers about the flight cancelling. I go up to the counter and ask - flights still on. Me, absorbing the other passengers' panic; I call the 1-800 number on my ticket. They tell me it's CANCELLED! I quietly panic in the corner on the phone, so no one can hear me - I get rebooked out right away to Cincinnati connecting to Toronto. Well, I was travelling with a friend - important business in NYC, Duran Duran at The Beaconsfield. We get to Cincinnati - they had a seat for me but not my friend, who they would happily put up in the Sheraton for the night... long story short - we got back to Toronto that night.
8. Garuda Air - this is another great story. We were flying to Bali for a long weekend when we were living in Singapore. We check-in, got some food. We are excited- going to Bali! Well, flight gets delayed. Delayed some more... then they open the gate - wahoo! We are going to Bail! We sit at the gate. Wait. Delayed. Delayed. Suddenly, cancelled. We are told to follow a line of passengers - we follow - exit the airport on a bus and dropped off at the sketchiest looking hotel in Singapore. (bizarre, cuz if you know Singapore, it's not particularly sketchy) - no one from Garuda there to explain anything at all. We all know nothing. We are handed hotel keys. We ask if we can just go home since our house was 10 minutes away - we were told no. We went to our rooms - went to bed, 2 hours later the 'wake up call' - we have 15 minutes to get to the bus. We get on the bus, drive to the airport, board the plane and in Bali by 9 am. All very odd - still no idea what happened to our flight.

I have more stories, but you don't need my travel novella. A few other points on air travel:

• Babies. Babies cry. Thankfully (in cocky tone) - mine doesn't - she travels beautifully. (This sentence just solidified her screaming on our flight to Canada this Friday.) Giving the parents dirty looks - does not help the situation AT ALL! I get dirty looks with the baby as I board all the time - people grumble loud enough for me to hear that babies should not be allowed to fly - people can be so bloody self-righteous (present company included) - Zoie has been to 12 countries and countless flights - she never screams, she sleeps, plays and reads books. EVERY flight - no exaggeration, we are told upon landing by everyone how dear she is and 'so well behaved.' On a flight to Australia, a couple whose baby screamed the whole time got the dirty looks as we landed and we were praised quite loudly how great our baby was. Ok - that was a rant to go into my point - babies cry - whatever - get over it. The passenger beside you who snores the ENTIRE time, or as they sleep drift into your space.... I'd take the hyper baby over the noisy sleeper with the drool hitting my shoulder any day. Sometimes parents have no control with crying babies but, you my friend have total control of being an asshole. So there. 
• Flight attendants with a sense of humour; while I do appreciate a good sense of humour - when we are taking off jokes about the exit doors, pilots sleeping - whatever you think is funny, save it for amateur night. However, I can say one joke stands out, I still laugh to myself. An Amercian Airlines fight attendant on a recent flight, when doing the seat-belt explanation 'And for those of you who have not driven in a car for the past 30 years....' and he proceeded with the functions of the seat-belt. Funny. Drinking/sleeping pilot jokes. Hope we locked the exit door jokes - hm, not funny and yes WestJet this means you.
• Image - now, maybe here I am a little too critical given what I do for a living, but ladies of American Airlines - ease up on the pastries, teasing comb and blue eye shadow with the frosty pink lipstick. No other airline looks as tacky as you do, period, end of discussion.
• I have had pleasant experiences on all airlines I have travelled with. (Well, not Garuda, but then again, I don't frequent Bali) On American though, I have to say, my pleasant experiences are only when my husband is present - they seem to be very sexist. They are so gosh darn sweet and helpful when travelling with my man; as sweet as American apple pie, gosh darn, insert 'smiley face' ; but on my own or with my children, not so much. I chalk it up to jealousy - not sure of what but that's what I do - when people are mean to me - I shrug it off (after I stew for a while and blog it) I say to myself 'jealous'.

Trust me, I know it is hard to remain calm - especially when you are past your 10th hour of travel - but you are headed somewhere and you are not the only (un)reasonable consumer out there - there are plenty kvetching to flight attendants, clerks, baggage attendants, customs... bla bla bla on a daily basis. Wonder if we all get tuned out in their heads like the Peanuts adults??

If you have a bad travel experience than I say youtube - 'Waitress In The Sky'

 - kick off your shoes, grind your toes into the carpet just like Bruce Willis did in Die Hard and sip some champagne cuz,  congrats you made it where you were going!

I leave with a final note: Singapore Airlines. If ever in your lifetime you can travel Singapore Airlines - hands down the BEST! I have never flown business on Singapore Airlines - but their economy is so amazing, I'd happily fly Singapore economy anywhere. My first experience with them, flying to Sydney, Australia; I was handed a hot towel, glass of juice and a menu for meal selection (with wine too - HELLO!). I said 'Oh, I am in economy.' She says: 'Yes M'am, I know.' Ok, here, I was fine with being called M'am.

Mommy Morning Make Up

From frumpy to fab; getting you out the door and into the kiddie car pool in under 10 minutes

As a mother of three, celebrity make up artist, Andrea Claire also finds it hard to look the part 24/7.  But you can steal secrets from her makeup regime – which takes so little time you could almost tell people “Make up?  No time!  I wake up this way!”

Andrea Claire’s secrets:

1.       Use tinted moisturizer in place of plain moisturizer.  Why?  Tinted moisturizer adds luminescence to the skin and coverage in one step combining separate steps for moisturizer and foundation.

2.       Add bronzer to the cheek hollows and eye contour.  Subtle bronzer slims the face and adds a healthy glow and bonus:  bronzers pop any eye color.

3.       Brush on a little peachy-pink blush slightly above the apples of the cheek.  Placing the blush above the apples of the cheeks avoids the ‘Dolly’ look.

4.       Line the eyes with an earthy, cool brown shadow. Why cool brown? Warm shades will exaggerate tired puffy eyes. Why shadow? Shadow, unlike liner, is softer in texture and when you have limited time, go for the quick and easy application method which is also forgiving with make up mishaps.

5.       Curl lashes and apply 2 coats of mascara to the top layer of lashes. If you have circles under your eyes, avoid mascara on the bottom lashes, which only adds to the dark circles.

6.       Awaken tired eyes by applying a champagne hue into the tearducts and browbone, which both lifts and brightens.

Andrea Claire’s faves for your Morning Mommy Make Up bag:

Jemma Kidd pro finish moisture tint spf 20 tinted moisturizer

NARS  South Beach bronzer

FACEatelier Peach Glaze blush

Yaby  Earth eyeshadow

L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon mascara

MAC Shroom eyeshadow

Carrying around excess baggage? For extreme measures, conceal under the eyes. Try YSL Touche Eclat

No Fuss Hair

Uber tired? Pull hair into a ponytail between your occipital bone and crown; instant awakening facelift! Goody's no-slip elastic for the chic mom on the go.

Frazzled mom? Translate to tousled Yummy Mummy, spritz hair with hairspray, wrap in a bun and leave up while doing your make up – loosen & shake it baby! Hair will have great texture. Spray to hold. L'Oreal's Elnett hairspray

Bed head from sleeping with no time to wash? Dry shampoos not only minimize oily roots but will give great long lasting lift to the roots. Batiste Dry Shampoo