As a child I knew what she meant– Be Nice!

While there is a saying that “Beauty is only skin deep,” I think that the statement “Pretty is as Pretty Does,” contradicts the notion that beauty is only on the outside– That beauty comes from within.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the external.  Fighting those wrinkles, with lotions and potions.  But there is little talk about our “Pretty is as Pretty Does” Self, and how our emotional health transforms our beauty.

Think for a minute about the women you find most beautiful.  I think of Audrey Hepburn.  Her beauty was not only external but it was her grace and humor that made her more than just pretty, it made her beautiful.

Think for minute about a women you know that is pretty, but she doesn’t cross over into beautiful.  Some one like Lindsey Lohan comes to mind (maybe because she was recently in the news). Her inside unhappiness over takes the fact that she could be a beautiful women.

Positive mental traits do seem to make a women more beautiful. Pretty is as Pretty Does.

So add “Pretty is as Pretty Does” to your skin care routine, it is a free and cheap method that is a proven age defining method.

Below are my top 5 favorite (and free) sites to get organized:

1.) FlyLady: If you don’t know about this site and about FlyLady, get ready to have your life be transformed.  From a clean kitchen sink, your life will be cleaned and organized in 15 minutes, a swoosh and a swipe, and zones.   Without FlyLady, I would be lost.  This is the foundation of great organization, small parts with a central focus!

2.) Google Calender:  I use this from work to personal to even posting on my website (see my events page).  You can be certain that if it doesn’t make it to my google calender, I won’t get it done.  I set tasks per day and enjoy seeing them get crossed off.  I set reminders from everything to give the dogs their flea medication to sales appointment. Even better my husband can subscribe and see when I will be busy or really when he will be busy!

3.) Google Voice:  How can you go wrong with something that calls as many phone numbers as you wish!  I have it call my land line and my cell phone so I can always be reached with one number.  What makes google voice even better it sends you an email with your voice mail.  Keeps all of my messages, personal and business, in one simple and easy to use place.

4.) Mint.com:  I just found about this site yesterday (I am not kidding).  It keeps ALL of your banking in one place.  And yes, it is FREE.   It does have ads, but I can trade that off for being able to log into one place and see my retirement, saving, credit cards and checking all at once.  Even better, it sends emails to remind me of payments and low balances.  Also, it integrates with PayPal. This makes it a perfect place for personal finance management but seems to be pretty good for a small business as well.

5.) Highrise:  Ok, this is more for sales and business contacts but I think it has a lot of personal uses.  (and yes it is free up to 250 contacts).  At Highrise, you can track your contact, make notes and set reminders.  It will email you your daily task.  And you can connect it to your google calender!

(See how my dog Princess Buttercup helped.  She is CEO, Canine Executive Officer)

I would love to hear more ideas, what are your favorite organizational tools?

I spend so much time inside in the winter (and since this winter has as been so wet, this fall as well). In the spring and summer, I will take my lunch an eat outside. I will sit, eat and watch the birds come to eat at the bird feeder. I will enjoy the peace, the smell of summer and a few moments without any demands.  Also, I will go outside and pull weeds for a few minutes in the morning to get the day rolling.  I love to pull weeds in the morning.  The garden is damp, they are easy to pull and require nothing of me other than to be there doing what I am doing.

Outside, I can’t check email, orders, or the fast pace of modern life.   Outside, time is on its own terms. You can speed up winter or slow down a flower from fading. Time is what it is.

And I am dying to smell fresh air.

My goal this week, snow, sleet or shine, I will go outside for a few minutes each day.

If I can’t go outside because of the weather. I will spend a few minutes in Savasana, Corpse Pose. Yoga Journal has a great link on how to properly do this pose. Before I do the pose, I can mist my face, body and mat with one of Jackson Sage Hydrating Mist to breath in subtle smells of nature.  My favorite is Rose and Aloe Mist.

How do you relax in the winter?

Water isn’t the only thing that helps flush the system. Herbs, fruits and vegetable can have the same effect (when combined with the proper amount of water).

This week I voe to drink my 64 oz and incorporate some of the follow recipes into my daily routine.

Purpose: Your kidneys need water to help flush out all that waste from your system. The lemon water helps your liver and kidneys do their job.
Directions: Heat up 8 oz of water and add 1/2 a lemon.
Drink before breakfast.

Purpose: Cranberry juice cleanses the lymphatic system from accumulated wastes, reduced water retention, and helps with cellulite.
Directions: 4 oz of REAL Cranberry Juice (find it in the health food section at your grocery store not on the juice isle) to 28 oz of Water. You can drink up to two of these a day to get your 64 oz of water. It is a little dry tasting at first but soon you will really like the taste. This mix is so good for you after a week you will be able to see the difference it makes on your skin.

Purpose: Rich in antioxidants, can help speed up metabolism, and is even said to help protect skin from sun damage.
Directions: Drink Green Tea as desired throughout the day. Best to drink in the morning since too much caffeine can disrupt sleep.

What I don’t get from the above, I will drink in Water to get my total of 64 oz a day.

Since my goal this year is to build healthy habits, I figure the best place to start is with sitting down and seeing what those unhealthy habits are (and even finding out what good habits I have!).

I will keep a food journal. In that journal I will write down everything I eat and the portions. I also will write down any exercise that I did.

I will not count calories till the end of the week. At the end of the week, I will sit down and figure out the calories per day and what my daily caloric intake for the week was. I will also begin to see patterns in my eating habits and places where I can substitute a better habit for healthy alternative.

Once I sit down and calculate my caloric intake for the week. I will also need to find out how many calories a week I should be taking in to maintain my current weight or to lose weight. You can go to the Mayo Clinic’s Caloric Calculator to find this out. I will use a site like Calorie King to figure out the calories in the food I am eating. Also, we currently use a meal planner site like relish! to plan our dinners. They include in their recipes calories for each serving making it easy to know what you are eating (and even easier to plan).

Remember I am not making any judgements against myself this week. I just want to get an idea of what my typical habits are.

One habit I want to add this week is to make sure I am drinking my water. I am usually great about this but I fell off the wagon during the busy winter season.

Next week, I will give some H2O alternatives that help to flush the system and make water more fun (and make adult beverages more fun and healthy too!).

Side note: People say that those that keep a food diary not only lose more weight, they keep it off!

So taking my vitamins for healthier skin as well as all around general good healthy will be my goal this week!

But what vitamins should I take, especially for healthy skin? Now the most obvious answer, is to eat healthy and get the vitamins and minerals you need from food, but unfortunately sometimes we need to supplement our diet.

Here is a list of a few vitamins that also give you healthy skin and a list of the ones I will be taking everyday this week!

Multi Vitamin: Good all around. I prefer one with whole-food ingredients.
Zinc: Assist in wound healing, astringent, heals acne, reduce inflammation. Helps with the absorption of Vitamin A. Regulate hormonal production.
Essential Fatty Acids: I will take a fish oil but you can take flax or Evening Primrose Oil. Helps with Dry skin, white head and black heads. Helps to keep skin looking younger.
Vitamin B Complex: Helps keep skin hydrated. Assist in new skin cell growth. Helps to prevent premature aging and acne!

Read more on vitamins for acne at my previous blog.

Also WebMD has a good article on vitamins for skin.

Always check with your health care provider to decide what supplements are right for you.

Here is a picture of all that I threw away, along with my helper Brice. Brice is an Aussie, which means that he is always with me no matter what I am doing. If he can’t be with me, he is outside the door of where I am. He defines the term “Velcro dog.”

Now bathroom is clean with just the right about of products that I use every day!

So my bathroom is filled with half empty tubes, eye shadow colors from college and black nail polish. I know, I know, I have to let it go. This week’s resolution is to get rid of all the expired products.

But how do I know if a product has expired? Here are a few rules of thumb. Do remember that each brand has it own shelf life.

Rule Number One: If it looks bad, smells bad or feels bad, it is bad.
Rule Number Two: The more natural the product, the shorter the shelf life. In other words, Jackson Sage products are on the shorter end of the shelf life due to the lack of chemicals to prolong the shelf life.
Rule Number Three: The more water, the shorter the life span of the product.

Skin and Body Care Products:
* Cleansers/Toners: 6 months to 1 year from purchase.
* Creams/Lotions: 6 months to 1 year from purchase. Look for separate to let you know it is really time to say good bye.
* Oil Based Serums: 1 year from purchase.
* Oil Free Serums: 6 months to 1 year from purchase.
* Masques: 6 months to 1 year from purchase.
* Powder Clay Masque or Cleansers: 1 year from purchase.
* Bar Soap: Rarely do they expire. Natural soaps will over time lose their fragrance due to the lack of chemicals to hold the fragrance.
* Liquid Soap: If it is a detergent based cleansing gel, I suggest throwing it away on principle alone. It is bad for your body and the environment. But if is a natural cleanser, 1 year from purchase.
* Nail Polish: 1 year from purchase, or so I have heard. Not sure how something so toxic can expire. My guess is this number is based on the fact that it starts to dry up after being exposed to air. But it is a good rule of thumb since although flat black was recently in, that might not be the case by the time I actually get around to using it again.

Make -up:
* Liquid Foundation: 1 year from purchase.
* Powders: 2 years from purchase.
* Eye Liner Pencil: 2 years from purchase.
* Mascara: 4 months from purchase.
* Eye Shadow: 2 years from purchase.

Hair:
* Shampoo: 1 to 2 years from purchase.
* Conditioner: 6 months to 2 years from purchase.
* Styling products: 1 to 2 years from purchase.

Mouth:
* Toothpaste: 2 years (see expiration date).

Since most things seem to expire around year. January is a good month to have as the throw away and replace month. This makes it easier to keep track of when it is time to let go of that flat black nail polish.

But here is my New Year’s Resolution. I voe to post one thing each week that I am personally working on to be happier and healthier. Each weeks goal will not be a mountain to climb, but one small healthy habit that I need to try to integrate into my life (or reintegrate) for that week. I will try to keep that healthy goal going after that week but the goal is to integrate healthy habits in small doses to make trying healthy habits the goal not just for one habit to stick.

Each week will be simple goals, and if you want you can try some of the goals as well. Or post in the comments your goals for the year, month, day, week. Or give me a suggestions for a healthy goal of the week.

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