Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my 29th birthday (the first of many, I'm sure).

It was a pretty low key day- just work so far.

I had intended to take a ballet class, but I still haven't heard back from the ballet studio about pricing (grr, btw) so I'm not going to pay the walk-in rate again. Since ballet doesn't seem to be working out this semester, I think I'm going to try to go skating tomorrow. I hope skating will work out again. I miss skating.

For my birthday, Kevin got me a subscription to CookieA's sock club, so I will be receiving yarn and patterns throughout the year. I adore Cookie A socks, so this is a majorly good present. (And one I kind of thought I'd be getting because I strongly worded the suggestion in December that it was a not to be missed sort of deal).

I also treated myself to some soap last week, and it arrived today.

Aren't those fabulous! They are from Chagrin Valley Soap. I ordered once before and loved everything I got so I got all different things this time, except a small sample bar of Cafe Moreno shampoo- I adored it the first time and wanted more. I was sad I couldn't get the large size bar, but they have a price limit for the flat rate envelope (although they say it fits 7 bars...) so it would have put me over the limit. Still 6 bars + a sample had it stuffed to the brim, so maybe 7 wouldn't have fit.

Here is what I got (I put the weight in so you can compare the price to other soapers, she has LARGE bars, so they are actually well priced, even though they seem more expensive than alot of etsy prices) Her website lists benefits of each type but in my opinion, it's that they are all moisturizing and smell great!

Dead Sea Spa (6.5 ounces)

I got this one because of the supposed benefits of the salt in the soap. It has a pleasant smell that is tough to describe- citrusy? It has lime in it, so that makes sense.

Bananas and Cream (7.0 ounces)

I got this one because it was described as a complexion soap. I don't care for my skin as well as I should, so I thought a fun new facewash would be a good thing. It apparently has a very light scent, because I can't distinguish it from those it was wrapped with.

Eggnog Spice (7.0 ounces)

I'm an eggnog lover so this was a must have. It smells of cloves and nutmeg. I'm using this one first! I hope the eggnog scent comes out. (It is made with real organic eggnog in it!)

Avocado Oats, and Shea (6.7 ounces)

This one sounded like a good moisturizing bar for the winter, so I thought I'd give it a try. It has a fresh scent, likely the ylang ylang and lemon that I'm smelling.

Butter Bar Conditioner Shampoo Bar (6.6 ounces)

I chose this one for it's conditioning properties. Usually with a shampoo bar I don't need a conditioner, but it still seemed like a good one to try. It also doesn't have much of a scent. I can't distinguish it from the others it was packaged near.

Mud and Clay Shampoo Bar (7.6 ounces)

This one was described as being a great treatment for the hair. It smells strongly of lavender, which is what my current soap smells like (my homemade- boy is it ugly!) so this will be a good match. This scent is stronger than my soap- I must not have used enough oil!

Cafe Moreno Shampoo Bar Sample (1.9 ounces)

My favorite from last time, but I got a sample since I've used it before. This is a spice smell, I just love it.

(You may remember last time, or perhaps you clicked the link, or perhaps you don't care at all, that I weighed all the soaps and was a bit disappointed they were all on the low end- happily, these are all on the high end, although the range is now 6.2-7.2 ounces, I think last time it started at 6.6... interesting.)

After I got home from work and opened my soap (smells so good!) I started a dye bath to over dye some Knitpicks Stroll in Carbon Twist- I made my Dad a pair of socks with this last year, and want to make him another pair this year, but not the same color. So hopefully this pair will be blue... we'll see how the over dye works!

(Me at the dye pot, NOT cooking!)

And Kevin is making me spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. (I'm still full from lunch, my friend Matt took me out for Mexican food!) Yummy yummy day.