Naturally, after my post that stated I haven't forgotten comes a post 3 or 4 months later explaining the lag.

In the interim:
-we moved
-we continue to unpack
-my Lyme symptoms returned
-my work grew exponentially based on a contract we received
-I found a new doctor
-we got a cat

I'll post about the current medical stuff another time; this post is a return to P365 with photos I took about 2 weeks ago.

First, I photographed the contents of a giveaway package I won in a blog drawing. The UPS box held this:


 

 


Cute hatboxes huh?




The small one held a bath pouf...




...and the larger one held these:





See a theme? The drawing was sponsored by Pillsbury and I also received a coupon for free chocolate caramel brownie bites from the company. They're a new item.

Then, I ordered a few items from Sephora during their annual Friends & Family 20% off sale. One of the things I like about ordering from them is the free samples:



I got this revolutionary new hair cream developed by scientists at MIT to try- it's got a funky mode of action. (I'm still testing its effects on my hair.)




I also got an eau de parfum I'd had on my list for a while:



(ridiculously adorable packaging)



and more cute packaging:



I also bought some spiced and chocolatey bodywashes for the winter...



...and my favourite purchase was this Brown Sugar fragrance kit (lotion, parfum, and an amazing lip treatment). It doesn't actually smell like brown sugar- it's more of a combination of sugar, light lemon, and shea butter. Hard to describe but it's unique and delicate.



I have to get going but more updates will follow, and photos will trickle in too!

What have you been up to this fall?

I miss you.
I can't believe it's been a year come Friday. It seems impossible. But then, your absence is so impossible too.

I remember talking to you on the phone- you are so funny- and how you wanted to be so many things when you were a bit older: a producer, a computer scientist, a director, an inventor, a marksman, and more, all at once. You knew exactly what you wanted to use your wealth to do, too. Half of the things you wanted to make or buy were so technical I couldn't understand them. But I know they would have been great.

I think of you while I am working, sometimes, writing about cancer treatments and surgical developments, and I wonder if they would have helped you. And then I wonder why God took you then, and why that way?
It is too much for me to understand.

I still see your face, and your hilarious comments, on Facebook. I see that the wall is empty- 'has no recent activity'- and it makes the space you left behind feel that much greater. You were so young.

I am so happy for you, brother, that you are now whole, pain-free, and enjoying the presence of the Perfect One. I can't even imagine how great it must be. We all know we'll be joining you there-
but for now we are still here, and the gulf is so great...

...and you are loved, and missed, by many. 

 


This one's for you.

 
Maybe I should do a Tiny Things series...

Scenario: I recently made an order from Sephora for two small items. With any order, one may choose 3 free samples of various products; the selection changes every week, and it's a fun way to try really expensive stuff that realistically I'm not likely to buy. In addition, I am a member of their beauty group, and as such one acquires points for each purchase. These points can be redeemed at levels of 100, 500, 1,000, etc.

This order put me over the 100 point mark, so I was automatically directed to choose a 'deluxe' sample. I chose a liquid blush. It was nice too- much larger than a normal sample- almost half of a full-sized item of the same type. (Which reminds me that the product is 0.33 oz for $25. Overpriced? It's a lovely product, but unless I were a professional who would use it all the time, I wouldn't consider buying it.)


In addition, I noticed the current Freebie offers. I chose a fancy eye cream and so, having spent only $19 on actual products got 5 samples of various sizes to try. Now, I'm not sure if I was inattentive, or if the products were over-inflated, but here's the eye cream I got:



Pretty darn small, even for a sample.
Even for a sample of eye cream, which one applies in notoriously tiny amounts.

The advertising photo is about the size of the tube shown when I checked out. (For reference, this tube contains 0.08 oz. The full-size product contains 0.5 oz for $28 dollars....a bit excessive, especially when you consider that any facial cream can be used as an eye cream- if you don't get it IN your eyes- since eye creams do very little to change/prevent wrinkles. In fact, too rich an eye cream can cause breakouts or buildup of the skin. Wop-wah.)




Anyways, I was just struck by the tiny size of that item....I got this huge book-worthy box (too big for my mailbox) stuffed with wads of paper because it really only held a tiny palette, a folded cotton pouch, and 5 tiny itty-bitty samples, thin and small as playing cards.

It all seemed a bit stingy and wasteful at the same time.

What do you think?