Product Review! Pré de Provence 100% Shea Butter Extra Dry Skin Treatment

It is product review time again everyone!

Today I will be reviewing a wonderful product that I've used for a couple of years now.  I am not entirely sure why I have not written a review for it, but here it is!  Pré de Provence 100% Shea Butter Extra Dry Skin Treatment is the review for the day.

If you have dry skin you know how much of a problem it can be to relieve that.  Most of  the time you go out and by lotions and creams in an attempt to relieve the inching and discomfort.  For some odd reason I have ridiculously dry skin on my hands and scalp.  I used to carry around hand creams and use them like nobody's business.  However, when working with fine jewellery that does not bode well.  The residue gets under your rings and fingernails which can make your skin turn colours if the chemicals in the cream react with the metal of your jewellery.  Not good.  Even worse is that it gets on the merchandise.  Large gems and rings tend to show fingerprints and it gets worse if you have lotion or hand cream on your hands.  Even if you do not work in the jewellery business you end up getting fingerprints everywhere and dropping things because your hands are slick.  Finding a product that does not leave a slick, greasy, or oily residue is very difficult.

The good news is that Pré de Provence 100% Shea Butter Extra Dry Skin Treatment does not have very much of a residue of any kind.  It is wonderful!  Best of all, it does not really have a smell to it.  This means that it will not mix funny with your perfumes or colognes.  As the name says, it is not a lotion or a cream.  It is a butter.  Yep, you read that right.  Since it is a butter it absorbs into the skin better in the same way that your kitchen butter will absorb into your food.  Also, because it absorbs into the skin and does not stay on the surface you do not have to keep reapplying  it over and over and over again.  It also does not get everywhere like some creams and lotions will because it has a thick texture. 

So, the bad thing about this product?  Well, honestly it is a bit expensive.  Granted, because you do not have to apply it as often it lasts longer than most lotions and that sort of makes up for it.  Even so, when I purchased my most recent tube of it I spent $13 for the small tube!  It seems a bit ridiculous for what it is.  Since it works though, I do not mind that much.  Also, the thick texture is a bit of downside.  Wait, I thought you said that was a good thing.  Yes, it is a good thing because it does not get everywhere and it is easy to close the tube back because it does not run.  That is also a down side because it is sort of difficult to get it spread over your hands.  You might also end up getting too much because you feel that in getting more it will be easy to spread.  Not true.  Using more will only give you that much more that you have to spread out.  So, in that sense it is not very good.

Overall, it is a good product.  I would recommend it to anyone.  I always keep a tube of it in my purse and am more than happy to share it with my friends when they ask for some.

Hope you found this helpful!  Until next time!

Stay beautiful and amazing!

Links of Interest
http://www.predeprovence.com/index.htm

Ich bin ein Preuße, kennt ihr meine Farben?

Hello everyone!

As of late I have been getting some questions about my ancestry.  Specifically about how I can be Prussian if the nation of Prussia does not exist anymore.  Today's post will not just be about my family.  Rather, today's post will be about genealogy.  I have been doing my family's genealogy for quite a while now.  So has my mother's side of the family.  It is ridiculous how much we know about her side of the family!  Of course, if you knew who was in my mother's family you would know why it is plentiful to come by.  Yes, on my mother's side I do have royal and noble blood and that makes finding out about various family members very easy.  I will leave it at that.  My father's side. Not so easy.  Why?  Mostly because his family has had no interest in learning where they came from.  He is also American Indian and that complicates things a lot!  Scattered in today's post I will have tips  for those of you who wish to trace your family back as far as they can. Without further ado, let us start digging into our pasts!

To answer the questions about my Prussian ancestry I will say this.  The farthest back that I can get in my Prussian ancestry is to a male ancestor, I will not mention names on here because of who members of my family are, and he came from Bartia.  Where the heck is Bartia?!  Bartia does not exist anymore so it is not too surprising if you have not heard of it.  In fact, it would really surprise me if you did seeing as how the only person that I have ever met that knew what I was talking about was a college professor of mine whose family also comes from that area.  Bartia is where the Bartians lived.  Before I get flooded with questions as to who the Bartians were I will answer that for you now.  The Bartians were one of the Baltic Prussian Tribes, of which there were between 9-13 (that depends on who you are talking to).  They lived in the area that is now part of Poland.  Wait!  Wouldn't that make you Polish?!  Nope.  Way back in those times the Poles were a West Slavic group of tribes.  They did work their way up towards the Baltic region, but that was a bit later.  So, to answer the question outright as to whether or not I am actually Prussian.  Yes!  I am in fact very, very, very Prussian.  On both sides of my family.  I will get into this topic now.

As I said above finding out about my mother's family is ridiculously easy because of their ridiculous record keeping about family births, baptisms, deaths, moves, and every other thing about the family.  My father's side is the exact opposite.  Finding out about American Indian families is hard.  This is because they just did not keep records.  We can only trace my father's American Indian lineage back so far and then it just stops.  Although we can get pretty far back!  Thanks to census records and oral history of the tribe we've got quite a bit.  There is however this wonderful, although some would argue it is horrible, quirk in our tribe.  Way back when, the Oto-Missouria tribe did love them some French and Dutch fur trappers.  Those French and Dutch fur trappers brought with them their need to keep records and keep track of every thing.  Of course, they also tried to convert us to our own religion, but we will forgive them for that.  They did not know any better.  This has helped finding out about my father's family a lot easier.

Filling out a census is a pain in the butt.  I hate filling them out, but they are necessary.  They also are a great help to anyone trying to find out anything about their family.  Without these census records I would have never found out that part of my father's family came from Canada.  Yep.  I have always known that the Oto tribe lived way up in the Northern United States, but I did not know that they actually lived for any length of time up in Canada.  Now, part of my mother's family does live in and are from Canada.  So, having Canadian relatives is not that much of a surprise.  The surprise came with it being on my father's side.  I even traced that part of my family back to Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson.  I am his 40th great grand-daughter.  If you know anything about Nordic history you should know who that is.  He was the King of Danmark and Norge.  The Bluetooth communication technology is named after him as well and uses his Rune initials. Funzies!
 
Another surprise came when I was tracking down parts of my mother's family that had not been explored.  That is when I found this lovely person on my family tree.
 

 



Who is that handsome devil?  That is a cousin of mine...kind of a distant cousin, but a cousin none the less (Distant cousin to my family is 3rd cousin and back).  That man is Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen.  Yep, that is the Prince of Prussia.  You can read more about him, his lovely wife, and the House of  Hohenzollern by clicking on that picture of him.  Like I said, I am Prussian.  There is a picture of the Prince of Prussia.  So, yes, you can be Prussian even though the country does not exist anymore.  We still have a prince!  He does not have any political power and he does not really want any.  Either way, I admire him.  He is pretty awesome and I found it interesting that I am related to this man. 

Is there a point to all of this?  Do you really need to know about part of my family's history?  Not really, but there is a point to it.  I would have never known about being related to the Prince of Prussia or that I was even Prussian had I not had any interest in my family's genealogy.  I had always been told that there was noble and royal blood in my family's past and now I know where it comes from.  Actually, it comes from both sides.  Some of the stories that I had been told about my family turned out to be true!  You never know until you look it up.

Okay, okay, so the point of this post even though it is really long is this: learn about your family history!  You might even find out that you are related to someone famous.  You might even learn that your family was from a country that you didn't even expect them to be from.  I was not expecting to have more of a family connection than my first cousins on my mother's side be from Canada.  I defiantly was not expecting the Prince of Prussia to pop up on my family tree or the King of Danmark and Norge.  Learning about your family history is exciting and it can make world history more exciting if you know that your family had a hand in some of the events or lived through some atrocities that happened in the past.  It has defiantly changed my world view.  I look at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and it means more to me now because part of my family wanted that built that as a symbol of peace.  It is now one of the most recognized monuments in all of Germany!  You never know what you will find out about your family.  So go out and learn about your family and your history!

To help you along the way here are some of the most helpful sites that I have come across when doing my family's genealogy.  Some of them are free and some are not.  RootsWeb is free and one of the most useful ones that I have come across and is basically a free version of Ancestry.  I recommend an Ancestry account if you want a paid for site.  It is wonderful and has the most resources of any site I have come across. Have fun and I hope that you all find something interesting in your family history!

RootsWeb
Ancestry
My Heritage
Family Search

October's Opal Birthstone!

Shalom!

I hope everyone is doing well.  It has been crazy busy where I live.  However, I have been working hard on keeping you all informed on various things.  So, it is October.  This month is full of various holidays!  We have: All Hallows Eve, Samhain, Winter Nights, Thanksgiving (for Canada), Columbus Day, Nanomonestose, and a whole bunch of made up holidays like Mole Day and Sweetest Day.  For me, I have family with birthdays this month.  What is the birthstone of October?  The Opal is the traditional birthstone of October.  However, with Opal being a fragile stone, the alternative is Tourmaline.  Today I will be talking about the Opal, since it is the traditional stone.  So, on with the post!

Opal is a type of silica that contains about 6% to 21% water.  It is commonly found with sandstone, basalt, and rhyolite stones in Australia.  In fact, 97% of Opals in the world come from Australia where it is considered the national gemstone!  Some Opals come from Mexico or Oregon.  Fun fact, Opal is the only stone that can throw off every colour with minimal cuts to it. 

Speaking of Opal colours, it comes in many different colours.  The most desirable Opals are the ones that throw off the beautiful plays of colour.  Sometimes if the stone is clear and has a great amount of colour play it is called a Jelly Opal.  However, you can also find more that are a milky white, bluish green, yellow, brown, and colourless.  Many of these opals are not very desirable.  However, there are the beautiful Mexican Fire Opals and the Mexican Water Opals.  While they do not give off a great amount of colour play, they do throw off green flashes.  Fire Opals are a red to a yellow colour while Water Opals are clear with a blue green colour inside.  Black Opals are extremely hard to find and are considered to be some of the rarest Opal one can find.  However, Boulder Opal is even more rare and is very beautiful as well.  Boulder Opal is Opal that is found in small streaks within other the surrounding stones.  People will often polish the whole stone into a cabochon and make it into jewellery.

Opal

Boulder Opal

Fire Opal

 

Opal is almost always polished into a cabochon.  Because of the nature of the stone it makes it near to impossible to cut the stone.   The nature of the stone also makes it incredibly fragile!  You would not believe how many people come in to the jewellery store with broken Opals.  We have even gone to put a new Opal into a ring with an already broken stone and broke the stone we had to put in there.  It can be quite frustrating.  This is the reason why most jewellers will dread selling or even seeing Opal rings or bracelets.  If you are going to buy an Opal your best luck is going to be buying pendants and earrings.  Because of their fragility, imitation Opals are very common.  Thankfully, they are also incredibly easy to identify if you know what you are looking for.  Chances are, if it looks like thin little triangles or squares put together and sealed under something, chances are, they are imitation.  Very rarely are they real and a jeweller will let you know if what you are looking at is imitation.  If you come across a piece when you are out and about and you are not sure if it is genuine, there is a simple test that you can do at home!  If you hold the Opal in question under a UV light and it fluoresces then it is genuine.  If the Opal does not fluoresce under the UV light it is NOT genuine!  However, if in doubt just take it to your jeweller and they will be able to tell you if it is genuine or not.

Before I close, there is a common superstition that if you wear an Opal and it is not your birthstone it will break or you will lose it.  This is not true at all.  I have a PANDORA Pink Opal ring that I wear all the time at work and it has never cracked, never been lost, and I have never had any problems with it.  It is just a fragile gem and you have just as much chance of cracking it as someone born in the middle of October.

So, I hope you learned something new today about this beautiful stone.  If you have any questions feel free to ask! 

Until next time!  Stay beautiful and lovely everyone!

Tips for College: Be Social

Hello everyone!

Let us talk about being social in college.  This is important!  Yes, being a good student and studying so you can do well is even more important, but so is having a social live.  There are numerous reasons for this.  Today I will talk about just a few of the more important reasons.  So, let us get started shall we.

First off, I should probably give you all some background on my social life so that you will see where I am coming from in terms of my social life.  As a child and up into my young adult life, I was shy and did not make friends easily.  Yes, I was in numerous extracurricular activities in school, but that does not equal being social.  On the whole I tried to keep to myself because I had issues with some of the other students picking on me since I was the "smart kid"  and I never really told anyone about it because when I did it got worse for a bit.  My mother always told me that they only picked on me because they knew it bothered me.  As long as I ignored them it seemed to be manageable.  Part of my problem may have, and probably still does when it comes to the random moments of social awkwardness that I still experience, come from the fact that I am the youngest of 10 children. Yeah you read that correctly.  I have 9 siblings and a plethora of nieces and nephews.  Because my oldest sibling is in his 50's and the next closest in age to me, that is still living, is in his 30's, there I have mostly be around adults.  Since most of my siblings have children and some of their children have children, I have also had a lot of dealings with little kids.  This is probably the reason that most people that are around my age view me as being ridiculously mature for my age.  On the flip side, people that are older than me seem to think that I am too childish because I still enjoy things from my childhood like Pokémon and various other anime, cartoons, and games.  That has turned out to be a good thing though since I connect with little kids and my nieces and nephew seem to think of me as the "cool aunt" and my cousins think I am pretty cool too because I will play games with them, watch cartoons with them, run around the park, and even go to concerts with them.  In high school when I was thrust into a group of four different grade levels from the entire city I was kind of at a loss as to what to do with myself.  It did not help that when I was in 4th grade my older brother, he was a teenager at the time, shot himself in the basement bathroom of my grade school.  That was the first time that the death of a person had really hit me hard.  Because he was close to my age we got along really well, not that I do not get along with my other siblings.  That we the first time I had seem my brother Robert get mad like that, throwing his keys, kicking his VW van, and what have you.  However, a friend of mine had asked me to go to church with her a few mouths before and I had been going there for a bit.  This turned out to be a good thing because I had a good support network, small though it was because of how shy I was at the time.  I still go to that church and if you are wondering why I am bringing this up, here is why.  In high school I had a few good friends, but I still got tormented about being the "smart kid" at times by the same kinds from junior high.  However, there was always one boy outside of my friends that whenever I saw him in the hallway or in line at lunch he always said "hello" to me.  I think, I am not sure since I am not in his brain, that he probably recognized me as someone from church and that was why he talked to me when he saw me in the hall.  Maybe it was because it seemed like every time that I saw him I was having a bad day and I looked stressed out and that I needed someone to acknowledge my existence, I have no idea what it was that made him say hello, but he did.  His name is Brett.  I sometimes sit over by him and his wife at church, she is an amazing photographer by the way and if you live in northern Oklahoma and need someone to take pictures she is your girl.  Turns out, when I went out to dinner with a group of friends, him and his wife were with us, he asked if I had always been a quiet person.  Well, I was until someone actually acknowledged me in the hallway in high school.  That was when I started to be more talkative and actually started gaining more friends.  So, if you are reading this for some odd reason Brett, thank you for just saying "hello" to me in high school.  It meant a lot to me then to have someone acknowledge my existence outside of my small group of friends.

Was I social when I went off to college and then to university?  Well, yes and no.  I was certainly more social than I was when I was a little kid.  I started at Cottey College right out of high school, and I mean right out of high school because I took summer classes online, I only had one friend that was even going there with me.  There was another girl from my school, but she was more of a classmate than a friend.  My friend that was there was in a different dorm and we didn't see each other that often.   So, I was effectively on my own when I actually got to move into my dorm room that August.  In my suite there were ten girls, two of which were from Sweden, two from Texas, one from Chicago, one from Michigan, one from Montana, one from Malawi, one from Missouri, and then me.  Of them, only one was a returning student.  Despite us going through some sticky spots due to our differences, we all got along pretty well and I still talk to some of those girls from my first year.  My second year was a whole other story.  That year was  filled with drama deluxe.  However, I still talk to a lot of my friends there from Cottey.  I was more involved in other activities and have far more friends from the University of Central Oklahoma where I was in a much smaller academic department that was closer knit than a two year "finishing school" like college.

Now on to what this post is actually about.  Probably the most important reason to actually be social in college is, this could possibly be taken as being shallow and I assure you that I do not mean it to be but I will go ahead and say it,  networking for the future.  Think about it logically.  The people that you will ultimately hang out with are your best friends from high school and your college friends.  Who are you going to turn to when you need to get a job?  You are going to ask your friends if they know of anyone hiring in the area you are in or wanting to go, you put them down for references on applications, and you may end up working for them.  As sad as it is, the old saying of it isn't what you know it's who you know when it comes to getting a job is very true.  I ran into this at a place I used to work at.  The management just handed jobs over to their friends without following their own policies and I was overlooked for jobs that I was more qualified for in favour of the management hiring their buddies.  Thankfully, I do not have to deal with that anymore.  So, be nice to your friends as they will most likely end up helping you in some way when it comes to the job market.

Everyone goes through some rough patches in their life and I am no exception.  Thankfully, I have had always had a good support network.  How did I get this support network?  Well, at first it was just my family and it has since grown.  However, these people did not just pop up out of nowhere.  No, I actually had to go out and make friends.  That's right.  I had to be social.  Thankfully, being social at university becomes a bit easier than in high school.  In college you have a vast number of people that don't really know everyone and they are pretty much in the same boat as you.  So, don't be afraid to just go up and talk to someone in the hall between classes or in the department while you are waiting to talk to a professor.  Also, universities generally have a greater number of extracurricular activities and clubs to join than your average high school because of the sheer number of students they have.  Some of which are from completely different countries and their interests tend to vary a great deal.  By joining a club or any other student group allows you to make friends that share the same interest as you.  At the University of Central Oklahoma I joined Chess and Games Club, Medieval Society, and the Philosophy Symposium group.  These people have been there for me through a lot.   They are some of my closest friend that I have.  I talk to them all the time.  I probably would be a lot more stressed out if I did not have their support.

Reason number three, and this will be the last one on this already ridiculously long post, is that it can actually help with your grades.  *gasp*  Really?!  You have to be kidding me.  Nope, I am serious.  When you think about it this really does make sense.  Since most of your friends that you make are going to be in classes and most likely have the same major, at least have a minor in the field you are studying, you will most likely call them for help if you cannot get a hold of your professors.  Also, who are you going to ask to be in your study groups?  Your friends.  Most of the time my friends and I had study groups at either a coffee shop, the library, or a restaurant of some kind.  Usually a pizza place or a place that was open 24/7 because we sometimes stayed there until about 2 or 3 in the morning.  If it was a coffee shop it was either a Starbucks or one of the local coffee shops that actually liked having college students there.  Your friends can also help you get over your nervousness about presenting a paper because you can read it allowed to them.  Just be sure to tell them to correct you if they find something wrong with it.  They are your friends they are not going to criticize you just for laughs.  When you actually study you tend to do better in your classes.  Just saying.  I mean some of the classes that I took at university I could not have made it through had it not been for my friends.

To sum things up since this post was really long, making friends and being social has a lot of perks in terms of your happiness, health, employment, and your grades.  Friends can help you out of a lot of sticky situations.  Just remember, that lovely quote by the wonderful C.S. Lewis.

 

It is true!  If you never go out and make friends you will never experience that wonderful feeling.  I had that moment when I met my friend Andrew's wife, at the time she was not his wife.  Her name is Rosemary.  Those two are probably some of my closest friends.  I have known Andrew since I was in junior high.  At that time I had not met another girl that had quite the same interests in games and crafts as I did.  Also, I have not met another person who eats eggs and hash browns the same way and loves rubber ducks as much as I do except Rosemary.

 

So, go out and make friends!  Be social!  I promise it will not be the end of the world if you do.  Believe me.  I am very introverted and it takes me a while to make friends and start being more talkative around people even today.  However, going out and making new friends has really made me more of an upbeat person that gets along with a wider range of people.  That has helped me out a lot.

 

In closing I would love to say THANK YOU to all of my friends!  I adore each and every one of you and you mean the world to me.

Black Tie and White Tie for Men!

Salve pulchra populus!

If you have been following my blog then you will probably have ready my post on ties and you will know that I said I would talk about Black Tie and White Tie differences.  I will be dividing this post up into two parts.  Part one is the difference between men’s Black Tie and White Tie and part two will be about women’s dress.  That is what today’s post in going to be about.  So, put on your ties and tuxedos and let us get down to business!

First things first; what is Black Tie and White Tie and when are they worn?  White Tie is the most formal of evening dress in the States, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth Countries, and other European countries.  Other names for this are “Full Dress”, “Tails”,  and “Full Evening Dress”.  Black Tie is slightly less formal, but still considered formal wear.  However, it is occasionally called semi-formal wear.  It is also called the “suit and tie” that people talk about.  As for when they are to be worn, both are only worn after 6 in the evening.  They are evening wear after all.  It would not make sense to wear it in the middle of the day.  White Tie is usually worn at events such as  formal weddings, balls, state dinners, some graduation ceremonies, and when requested by the host or hostess of the event.  On the other hand, Black Tie is worn at some weddings, operas, some dinner parties, and some dances for school age children.  Now that you know the differences in when to wear them we can move on to more important things.

Both are similar in that they both consist of a Black or Midnight Blue suit made from wool with silk lapels.  The collar on the shirts both wing style and the shirts themselves are made from cotton. The waistcoats are not to be seen below the cutaway on the coat. When it comes to the trousers, both have the braids made from silk.  Footwear is also the same; either a black court shoe or plain black oxfords.  However, this is basically where the similarities end.

Since Black Tie events are more common, we will start with it and go from the top to the bottom.  Obviously, as the name suggests one wears a black bow tie.  You never, ever wear a necktie to a Black Tie event.  It just looks bad and very out of place.  You will look like you have no idea what is going.  That may in fact be the case, but at least try to look like you at least know how to dress yourself.  The dress shirt that is worn with this particular dress is usually called a "dress shirt", "formal shirt", or a "tuxedo shirt".  These come in several styles, but almost always have some form of pleating.  The waistcoat that is worn with Black Tie is called an evening waistcoat and it can be switched out for a cummerbund.  Yes, it is cummerbund NOT cumberbun.  You would not believe how many people I have come across asking if I know anything about "cumberbuns".  It is ridiculous.  Anyway, back to Black Tie.  The trouser will only have one silk braid on the side, NOT two.  I see a lot of people with two, Black Tie only has one silk braid.  Here is an example of Black Tie attire.

When it comes to the accessories worn for Black Tie, if you must have colour, then it is only a single colour and is muted.  No bright colours when you are wearing Black Tie!  Absolutely not!  DO NOT WEAR A TOP HAT WITH BLACK TIE ATTIRE!!!  Just don't.  If you are going to wear at hat then follow the guide.  For warm seasons you wear a boater hat made of star and during cold seasons you wear a Homburg that is the same colour as your suit.  A handkerchief is usually worn in the pocket on the breast.  This handkerchief is either made of silk or cotton today, but the traditional one is made of linen.  As the wearing of a handkerchief is slightly out of fashion, or if you are attending a less formal form of Black Tie, a Boutonnière is worn and will usually be a rose.  You do not wear it if you are wearing a handkerchief.  That is another big fashion no-no.  Pocket watches are the desired timepiece if you must have one.  However, time pieces that are out and visible are not desired.  This is because if you are going to a formal event it is considered rude to be constantly checking the time.  If you live in ridiculously cold places you may wear a matching overcoat, scarf, and white gloves.  If you do not live in a cold climate I am not sure why you would even need these, but if you insist on having it just in case, make sure it matches! 

Now on White Tie!  White Tie events require a white bow tie in case it was not obvious enough and is made from cotton.  Once again, no neckties.  That is just trashy looking and you will probably not be allowed into the event at all if you wear one.  The coat itself is made differently.  It is called a "bodycoat" by the people that make them and will have more detail.  Also, this is where you get the tails on the coat.  The coat does not button!  Do not even try to button it.  Those six buttons are there for decorations and nothing else.  The shirt that is to be worn will have no pleats on the front at all.  It is plain and made of cotton.  Also, the collar is detachable.  No cummerbunds are to be worn at White Tie events.  Instead there are special cotton waistcoats called a low-cut waistcoat that are made for White Tie dress.  Make sure that your waistcoat covers your belt!  That is very important. The trousers that are to be worn for White Tie have two silk braids going down the side.  You can get away with only having one, but if people notice they might look at you strangely.  So, to be on the safe side, make sure that your trousers have two braids.  This is what White Tie looks like.

Accessories for White Tie are few, but the details in them are very important to get correct!  Your buttons need to match.  It does not matter if they are gold, silver, or have semi-precious or precious stones set in them.  They need to match.  That means shirt studs, cufflinks (if worn), and the buttons on the waistcoat.  All of it.  No exceptions!  Another thing with no exceptions is that you must not wear a watch on your wrist.  It does not matter what brand or how expensive it is.  The standard time piece is a pocket watch.  Yes, it is proper to wear a pocket watch to White Tie.  Boutonnières are almost never worn and the standard is to wear a white handkerchief.  If you have state decorations, those go on your pocket instead.  Top hats are the standard hat for White Tie and white gloves are to be worn when dancing and at other times except for dining.  You do not want to get your gloves dirty.  Not only are they a pain to clean because they are so delicate, but it just looks bad.  If you must wear a coat it should be a Chesterfield coat.  If you want to go for a cloak instead, you wear a opera cloak or an Inverness cloak.  Yes, an Inverness cloak.  That's right.  In the old movies and drawings Sherlock Holmes is wearing a cloak that is worn with White Tie attire.  How classy!   Scarves that are worn sometimes are made of silk and if you want to have cane, you may.

That is it.  In terms of men's Black Tie and White Tie these are the basics.  Just remember to always wear what the dress code calls for!  If it says White Tie do not wear Black Tie and vice versa. Some hosts or hostesses might want certain accent colours and some will not want accent colours to be worn by guests at all.  If you have any doubts, check with the host or hostess.  They will always be able to clear things up for you.  They know what they want and since it is their event, they make the rules.  You may go your entire life and not go to either a Black Tie or White Tie affair.  You may go to several in a year.  It just depends.  However, many of my friends that are guys have at least the attire for a Black Tie event.  They have told me that it is always good to have it on hand and to make sure that it fits because you never know when you might need it.

I hope this has helped you guys out!  Until next time!

Tips for College: Picking a Major that You Will Enjoy!

Helo Pobl Hyfryd!

It has been requested of me to do some posts on going off to college or university.  Why and who?  The who is not important and they that requested it know who they are.  As to why, there is an alarming amount of people my age and younger that either did not go to college, are struggling in college, or do not even want to go to college.  So, for their benefit, I today I will be talking about the importance of picking a major that you enjoy.  I hope you find this helpful and interesting.  Enjoy.

First off, what did I study at college?  Well, my first two years I went to Cottey College and I switched my major several times before graduating with an Associate of Arts degree.  When I went off to University at the University of Central Oklahoma, I read Philosophy.  This was focused on Philosophy of Religion.  I minored in English Composition.  What can I do with those degrees that I spent so long working for?  Honestly, not a whole lot.  Philosophy is one of those majors that you cannot do a whole lot with.  You can write about it or teach it.  That is about it.

So, why did I got to school to read a subject that I cannot do a whole with?  Easy, I enjoy the subject.  This was something that was important to me.  I feel as though it is important to find something that you enjoy studying.  The reason I believe this is quite simple.  If you are going to be sitting through classes day after day for four years or more, should you not sit through something that you enjoy rather than something you hate?  I for one would not like to sit through four or more years of biology.  I respect anyone that does.  I mean really, if you pick a major just to make money chances are you will end up picking something that you hate or have no interest in.  If you have no interest in the subject you are more likely to skip which will lead to bad grades and possibly flunking out of college or university.  There goes all your plans of making lots of money.  So, if you are going to spend all that time and money on going to university or college, pick something you enjoy.  It will make going to class a lot more enjoyable.

That being said; be realistic when you go to college or university.  Yes, I understand that not everything that is offered as a major is going to make you a ton of money.  Just look at my Philosophy and English Composition.  As I said before there is not a lot that I can do with it.  I can write or teach and that is about it.  Yes, I am a published author and you can buy my book.  I will post the link below if you are curious about it.  Yes, I am a private tutor.  I have several students that I teach and this particular job I have had since high school.  However, my primary job is that of the Vice President of Sales at a high-end jewellery store.  Do I use my Philosophy or English Composition in that job?  A little, but it is not the primary point of my job.  So, what do I mean when I say be realistic about your major?  Simply this,  understand that what you like to study may not have a lot of job openings and that you need a practical skill to fall back on if all else fails.  Pick something that you enjoy that may not be offered at college or university or something that you get certified in at a trade school. 

What is my practical skill?  Well, I actually have a few.  You see, I was raised pretty much as a farm girl.  I can tell you all about how and when to plant things, how to take care of farm equipment, and I can even tell you how to take care of livestock.  Is this something that I enjoy doing?  Well, besides keeping a small garden, not particularly, but it is a skill that I have that was taught to me by my father.  Another skill that I have that was taught to me by my family is cooking.  I can cook just about anything.  You name it, chances are high that I can fix it for you.  Do I enjoy this?  Well, I enjoy baking and making candy.  I will cook when I need to, but I find more enjoyment in baking and trying to find a job as a baker without spending money on going to culinary school is near impossible.  Why not go to culinary school?  Well, why would I want to spend money taking classes on a skill that I already have?  My grandfather was a five star chief.  I am pretty sure that I know what the heck I am doing in the kitchen.  There is, however, one skill that I have that I am the most proud of and that I love more than anything.  That skill has basically become a lost art.  Very few people still do this skill.  That skill is sewing.  You know, making clothing.  Yes, I do know that there are a lot of people out there that can “sew” because they had to take a class in school or they can fix a tear in something.  What I am talking about is that I design and make clothing myself.  Mostly it is for myself, but I have been known to make clothing for other people.  I can also do all that fancy beadwork that people put on clothing and that includes loom beading.  Sure, some of you all have made pillows or made a skirt.  I made my first hand sewn quilt when I was five.  I made this quilt last year.

 

That is a lot of little pieces.  No, that quilt is not for sale.  That particular quilt was made for someone special and he loves it.  However, if you would like something made, be it a quilt or a dress, please feel free to drop me a line in the comments section or by emailing me.

In closing what exactly am I saying to you all?  Go to college or university and study what you love.  It does not matter if it is Classical Philosophy or Aerospace Engineering.  Do what you feel you would be most interested in.  However, do understand that some fields of study are incredibly hard to find jobs in.  That does not mean that you should not study them.  It only means that you need to have a practical skill to fall back on if you cannot get a job in that field.  Make sure it is something that you also love.  You want a career when all is said and done.  You do not want to have to go to work.  Work is just what it sounds like.  Work.  Work is not fun work is boring.  A career is fun and exciting!  A career is something that you wake up in the morning, or evening, and want to go to.  Work you want to stay home and sleep.  Live your life the way you want too and be whatever you want.  If you want to be a Philosopher that works in a jewellery store then so be it.  If you want to be an Aerospace engineer that works for NASA.  Do that!  Just do what you love.  It makes the world a little bit brighter for you because you are happy with your life.  Life should be enjoyed not suffered through.

Until next time my beautiful people!  Stay happy and fun-loving!

 

Click here to go look at my novel!

Fashion Trend!: Ties and How to Tie Them

Hej alle! 

This weekend has been super crazy for me which ended up with me being sick for about 3 days and me somehow or another being asked to help with a Sunday School class at my church.  After having my coffee I gladly said yes to helping out with Sunday School.  I hope to do well in that!  Wish me luck!

Well, today I will be talking about a fashion trend that comes and goes so lately that it seems to be caught up in a whirlwind.  Yes!  It is time for another fashion trend post!  I have not done one of these in a while and I apologize for that.  I have been busy with so many things it is hard to keep track of my post topics that I do.  Anyways, today I will be talking about ties.  Yes, ties.  Men wear them most of the time, but lately women have as well.  Cats and dogs have as well, but we will not go into that.  Not just as part of a work uniform mind you.  I mean they wear them out and about as part of their regular everyday attire.  I love ties.  I have a vast selection of ties.  I am not entirely sure where all of my ties came from and I am pretty sure that some of them were my grandfathers.  Why have I selected this topic?  It dawned on me while I was walking through the shopping center on my way to Teavana that a lot of women are wearing ties now.  There were so many of them wearing ties!  So many of them had them tied wrong.  Now when I say wrong I mean it looked as if they had just tied a knot in the tie and went about their merry way.  It looked awful.  Today I will be talking about the different types of ties there are and different ways to tie them.  As such, this is one of the few fashion posts that I have done that could be useful to both men and women.  So enjoy it!  Ladies, share it with your man if he need to learn how to tie a tie!  This is defiantly a skill that both men and women could use.

First things first.  Have I ever worn a tie?  Yep, I sure have.  I have been wearing ties since I was a little girl.  Why?  Because that is how my parents dressed me.  My mother has always dabbled in fashion and most of the women in her ancestry have at some point in time either been the owners of a dress and clothing boutique or they have been the ones setting the fashion.  In short, my love of fashion comes from my mother’s side of the family and they, for some reason or other, have always been a couple years ahead of anything that has become fashionable in the States.  As I stated above, I have a vast collection of ties.  Most of my ties are Neckties.  I do have a couple of Bow Ties though.  My father has several ties, but not many.  He works in construction and masonry.  He does not have a job that requires a tie or even recommends the wearing of a tie.  My job, however, I could if I wanted to.   

Now, when it comes to ties there are several different types.  For today’s post I will be covering the two that are most commonly worn today.  These are the Neckties and Bow Ties.  In the past Bolo Ties, Ascot Ties, Cravats, Stock Ties, and Neckerchiefs were also worn.  However, for the sake of not having a post a mile long on all the different types we will be sticking with Neckties and Bow Ties.  So, on with learning about ties!

 

We will start off with Bow Ties because they are the easiest to talk about.  Bow Ties have been around for quite a while and are commonly worn with tuxedos at Black Tie and White Tie events.  I will talk about the difference between the two at a later time.  Bow Ties are most commonly made from silk, cotton, or polyester.  The good thing about Bow Ties is that there is really only one way to tie them.  You really cannot get this wrong.  Well, I guess you could, but it would be really hard to get it wrong.  The shape of the Bow Tie when it is not tied may look a little intimidating, but once you know how to tie it you cannot really screw it up.  Most Bow Ties are sold in what is called the Thistle Style.  There really is not any need to know why it is called this, but there you go.  Random trivia for you.  Here is a fun little graphic that I found on Pinterest about how to tie a Bow Tie.

 

See, not that hard.  In fact, they are actually easier to tie than a Necktie.  You are about to find out why.

Ah the Necktie.  Style’s way of telling men that fashion and looking good is not easy.  When you look at all the different ways to tie a Necktie and all the different ways that it can go horribly, horribly wrong looking at a the different necklines a woman’s dress can have and picking one out looks like child’s play.  Here is an example of just some of the different types of ways that one can tie this lovely staple of the men’s fashion world.

 

 

Of these, the Half-Windsor, the Four-in-Hand, and the Full Windsor are the most common to see.  That is because these are the easiest to tie when it comes to getting these suckers on.  However, the Prince Albert is pretty easy to tie as well.  How exactly do you tie these monsters?  Well, here is an easy to follow diagram that I found on Pinterest to help you along the way with ten of the simpler knots for your Neckties.
 

 

Got a handle on that?  Good.  If not keep practicing!  No worries!  You will get it eventually.  I had to practice to get them right and some of them I still have to do several times before I get them right.  If you are good with those knots I have two diagrams here for two of the most complicated tie knots that you have probably ever seen.  Yep, those two on the bottom left of the comparison picture up there.  The Eldredge and the Trinity Knots.  These two are monsters.  I still to this day have more problems with these things and I have been tying Neckties since I was five.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Complicated right?  They do look really cool though.  I admire any person, man or woman, that can tie these things right on the first try.  It is hard.  The end result is really amazing and look really classy when guys wear them.  I wish more guys would learn to do these two knots so that they were seen more often.

Well, enough with how to tie the darn things.  What is so great about ties anyways?  Well, for one thing.  Ties add a bit more class to your button down shirts.  No, polo shirts do not count.  I am talking about cotton, silk, or satin button down dress shirts.  They also look amazing with weskits.  There are pros and cons to each type of tie.  They can be worn with most everything.  However, there are a few exceptions to this.  The most important thing to remember is that Neckties are not to be worn for Black Tie or White Tie events!  Ever!  Bow Ties are to be worn during those kind of events.  Some civic clubs or churches require a jacket and tie to be worn by men who are ushers or during meetings.  In these cases the usual tie worn is a Necktie.  That is not to say that Bow Ties cannot be worn.  You just might be the only one wearing one.  Other than that, wear whatever you want.  Some jobs you might want to wear a Bow Tie over a Necktie though.  For example, if you are working in a lab you may want to wear a Bow Tie so that your tie does not catch fire or get into any of your lab work.  Neckties may also get caught in paper shredders at work.  As much as it sounds like Bow Ties would be the better choice for being worn at work there is something to remember.  When one is not wearing Black Tie or White Tie apparel Bow Ties have the tendency to look like just a cute fashion accessory.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  However, it is something to note. 

 

What do I think of ties?  I think they are an amazing part of fashion for any man or woman!  They can be worn to work or just out and about.  Sure, they can be a pain to put on.  Once you get the hang of tying them it becomes easy as pie though.  If nothing else, it gives men a bit of a glimpse into what women go through with the pain that being fashion conscious can be.  Yes, I said it.  Being fashion conscious can be a pain.  I will not lie.  It takes work, but it is worth it.  Practice is really the key when it comes to this part of fashion.  Learning to tie a tie is something that you have to have practice to get it right.  I have been doing it since I was a little kid and you would not believe how many times I have had to tie a man’s tie for him.  Be it a Bow Tie or a Necktie.  It is a skill that everyone should have be they a man or a woman.

 

I hope you have found this post informative and helpful!  What do you think about ties?  Are they an awesome accessory for men and women or are they too much of a hassle to deal with? 

Until next time!  Stay lovely and trendy!

 

Links to Buy Ties

 

• Jesse Tyler Ferguson Ties from The Tie Bar (When you buy a tie from here part of the money goes to Tie the Knot which is a human civil rights foundation that you can read more about at their website by clicking on the link.)
• Tie Drake has a amazing selection of ties of all kinds.

 

September's Beautiful Blue Birthstone! Sapphires!

Greetings everyone!

Today I will be talking about September’s birthstone: Sapphire.  Sapphire is one of the four precious gems with the others being Diamond, Ruby, and Emerald.  Like the Ruby it is a form of corundum.  As such, if it feels like you have heard some of this before from a previous post you might have.  Anyways, on with the post!

The actual word Sapphire comes from the Greek word sappheiros.  Sappheiros means blue stone.  That is not to say that all Sapphires are blue.  On the contrary.  Sapphires come in a variety of colours some of which are: yellow, purple, orange, greenish blue, white, black, pink, and varying shades of blue.  Corundum can also come in a variety of red shades.  However, if it is red it is usually classified as a Ruby.  At times Pink Sapphires are called Pink Rubies.  Just know that they are the same thing just a different name.   The colour of the stone depends on what elements are found within the crystal structure as it is forming.  For example, Pink Sapphires and Rubies are corundum that contain chromium.  Vandadium causes the stone to be purple.  White Sapphires contain titanium.  Yellow and Green Sapphires have Iron insides of them.  The Blue Sapphires are created when both Iron and Titanium are present in the crystal as it is forming. 

So, where do Sapphires come from?  Many of the same places that Rubies do!  However, the most famous Sapphire mines in the world are in Kashmir, India.  India has many of the Sapphire and Ruby mines, but they are also found elsewhere.  These include various places in the Indo-China region,  Malawi, Nigeria, Australia, and the United States.  Montana has most of the United States’ Sapphire mines.

Well, now that you know about the colour of Sapphires and where they come from it is time to move on to some more important things.  Like all gems Sapphires have inclusions.  If they do not have these you may be looking at a synthetic Sapphire. Unlike Rubies though, most Sapphires do not have lead glass filling, fracture filling, or any other form of inclusion filling treatment.  Why is this?  Because by heating the Sapphire not only does it increase the blue colour of the stone, it also loses what jewellers call the silk of the stone.  What is the silk?  The silk is what is causes the inclusions to be visible.  When heated it vanishes and the stone becomes clear.  The practice of heating Sapphires is so common that if it is NOT heat treated it will sometimes come with a certificate saying that it was not heat treated rather than the other way around.  Sapphires have been heat treated has been going on since the time of the Roman Empire.  As such, it does not reduce the price of the stone.  If any treatment that the Sapphire receives has an effect on the stone, be it a negative or a positive, it must be disclosed in accordance to the USFTC.

Well, that is all for now.  I hope you all enjoyed this and found it interesting!  Until next time!

Love you all!