Christmas Music

Music to uplift the spirit at Christmastime

See more of my Christmas Music list at ThisNext.

Trade not Aid

These gifts give twice - to the person to whom you're giving the gift and to the people in developing countries that make these items.

See more of my Trade not Aid list at ThisNext.

Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment

Ojon says that its Restorative Hair Treatment can be used leave-in conditioner, shine enhancer, and moisturizer. I like to use to get rid of flyaways and to groom my eyebrows (I then apply a dark eyeshadow like Sonia Kashuk's eyeshadow in Night or ModelCo ColourBox Eye Shadow Ibiza 13 on my brows).

You can feel good about using Ojon, because Ojon has created thousands of jobs for indigenous people who harvest palm nut oil from the Ojon tree, which grows only in Central America. As it's made of palm oil (one of nature's most saturated oils), it congeals. The fragrance reminds me of pipe tobacco, but I happen to like it.

You can find Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment 5 oz at Sephora.

News from The Style Page

I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. My husband and I flew to St. Louis to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. We had a wonderful time, but it was also poignant, as my mother (and my father, as an unwilling companion) visited with the marketing director of a senior living center in the St. Louis area. For them, moving to a senior living center is an admission that they are no longer able to live independently.

The first semester of my doctoral program will be over by December 9. I'm already struggling with my dissertation topic - more about this some other time. I'm indebted to ThisNext to provide fresh content for this blog, as my studies leave me precious little time to blog. Now ThisNext enables me to blog directly from my shopcasts; in fact, my Holiday Gift Guide 2006 post was created with ThisNext's BlogIt! utility.

I've also upgraded to Blogger beta, which enables me to add labels without having to go through the cumbersome process of using a widget to generate code for inclusion in my post. This allows you, the reader, to select a label and view all posts with a particular label. Look for labels at the end of a post. Another change I've made is adding a "badge" for del.icio.us under the "Subscribe" heading in the left-hand navigation bar.

I hope that you like these enhancements, and be sure to share your comments with me!

Holiday gift guide 2006

Gifts for the beauty fanatic on your list

See more of my Holiday gift guide 2006 list at ThisNext.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban

I haven't been one to dish on celebrities in this blog. I think that Nicole Kidman is a class act for her dignity as her marriage to Tom Cruise collapsed, her unwillingness to badmouth him afterwards no matter how nutty he got, and her bucking leftist politics in Hollywood to sign a petition condemning terrorism caused by Hamas and Hezbollah. I've read that she retains, in addition to her stylists and everyone else who makes her look good, a UCLA professor to teach her about the Old Testament. A mix of beauty and intellectuality - now that's the life I'd like to have!

I was happy to learn that she remarried, and today I was disappointed to learn about her new husband Keith Urban's substance abuse. He has checked himself into rehab. My best wishes to Nicole Kidman as Keith Urban goes through rehab.

Shop ETC is no more

Shop ETC. ceased publication with its October 2006 issue.

Looking for Shop ETC on the newstand? Then read this notice from its publisher Hearst Magazines:

Due to the challenging economy and rising paper and postal costs, SHOP Etc. will be discontinued after the October issue. more

My first impression of Shop ETC is that it was a blatant rip-off of Lucky. However, Shop ETC. began to grow on me, and I became a subscriber.

Frankly, I'm surprised that Shop ETC lasted as long as it did (about two years). While its graphic design was ho-hum compared to Lucky, I did find individual items of interest in its pages, like this Spanx "Tight-End" Tights Five-Day-a-Workweek set.

PS Rising paper costs??!! Then why I am getting more unsolicited mail-order catalogues than ever?

This I couldn't pass up ...

In France, croquembouche, a tower of profiteroles, or cream puffs, is serving at weddings as we might serve wedding cake.


croquembouche

In Ukraine, pastry chef Valentyn Shtefano created his fiancee's gown out of cream puffs so that she looks like a croquembouche:


And the bride wore croquembouche ...

Goth candlesticks for Halloween

The end of this month is Halloween, and here are two candesticks with a great goth vibe for Halloween:


Klein Reid Black Bisque Candlestick - the "candle" may be replaced by one of your own.


dl & co. 'claw' porcelain candle holder by douglas little

Ch-ch-changes

I am now enrolled in a doctoral studies program. Between my studies and regular job, I have precious little time to devote to this blog.

However, I'm trying to provide fresh content everyday through ThisNext - just look for the ThisNext "badge" under SHOPPING in the left-hand navigation bar everyday or visit ThisNext by thestylepage and vote on your favorite reviews and lists by The Style Page.

I'm also interested in guest writers who can provide content for those areas of interest to The Style Page: fashion, beauty, interior decorating, and media.