Color Me Cultured - Arrested Development



The Bluth's are back.

If you are not an Arrested Development junkie do not worry, there is still time.

Log in to Netflix and start with Season 1 Pilot and in a quick 53 episodes or 26.5 hours you'll be hooked. You'll be a monster. And you'll be blue.

Just get through everything at least once before Sunday at midnight when Season 4 is released on Netflix.

If you like Sienfield, Wilfred, 30 Rock and the Office you should already be obsessed with this beautifully written show. If you're not, seriously, I already told you, stop reading and go watch the show!

Netflix will release all episodes at once and you can bet your bottom dollar that people will watch all 14 episodes straight through. The good news is that you can cancel your Memorial Day BBQ and sleep all day after staying up for 7 hours watching TV.

Here's just a taste of what is to come.

I hope you all have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!

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Color Me Domestic - Memorial Day Decorations



Memorial Day is upon us! The official opening of summer! And the first 3 day weekend of the season.

The good news is that decorating for Memorial day is easy and with a few investments now you'll be good to go for the 4th of July and Labor Day too!

American holiday decorating is all about the red, white and blue!

I love this drink dispenser from World Market (similar here) and the red and blue ribbed tumblers, and American flag cocktail napkins. World Market also sells the Freedom Chips which are delicious red, white and blue tortilla chips!

World Market also has Americana stripe napkins and a table cloth and classic bunting flags.

But you can save on those decorations by putting together a quick DIY with crepe paper, double stick tape and string.

It literally is as easy as folding a 5-6 inch strip of crepe paper in half and using a piece of double stick tape to close it off. Then string them together on kitchen twine and hang it up.

Seriously, that easy.

The little bows are also made with crepe paper. This was a pinterest find and I will not pretend that I can explain it better. Here is the crepe paper bow tutorial.

The elements of a great Memorial Day party is to serve finger-food eats, BBQ classics and easy to sip drinks! If you've got a grill you can host a BYO-Meat party where each guest brings something to grill. This way you don't have to pay to feed the whole crowd nor do you have to worry about taste preferences, allergies or special diets!

Happy Memorial Day!!

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Color Me Bonita - Anti-Aging Yay or Nay

Our skin care expert Daniela is back today to address a often asked question. I know I stand in the moisturizer aisle for what seems like hours trying to figure out what I need!

What's so special about anti-aging products and when should I start to use them?

I'm going to tell you the Big Dirty Secret about anti-aging :  of ALL the anti-aging ingredients, there are only TWO that are preventative as well as corrective - sunscreen and topical antioxidant serums.  All others are only corrective, not preventative.

Which means if you don't have any fine lines or wrinkles yet, no corrective product will prevent them.  The only thing that will, besides a broad-spectrum sunscreen ("broad-spectrum" means that it filters both UVA and UVB rays and must say so on the label), is something with multiple forms of antioxidants. Only one form in a product usually doesn't do the trick because different antioxidants interrupt the cascade of skin damage at different points.  Some of the best antioxidants to look for are, L-ascorbic acid or Magnesium Ascorbal Phosphate (stabilized forms of vitamin c), Sea Whip, Superoxide Dismutase, L-tocopherol (skin penetrating vitamin E), Beta Carotene, acai berry, and pomegranate.

For preventative measure, added moisture does nothing to prevent fine lines.  Fine lines and wrinkles do not form as a result of lack of moisture.  They form as a result of breakdown of the proteins that hold the skin up when damaged by sun, stress and trauma to the integrity of the skin.  Dryness can make existing lines look worse, but moisturizer is for hydration and softening only.  If a moisturizer has antioxidants, it will actually be effective at preventing and correcting aging issues.  But it will be the antioxidants giving the anti-aging benefit, not the emollients.

Whether you decide to use specifically anti-aging products or not, one of the best things you can do is become super religious with your SPF.  85-90% of aging we see on faces is from sun damage alone! And sun damage is cumulative - five minutes here, ten minutes there, walking back to work from lunch out, walking to the store, you must have sun protection at all times.  UV protection sunglasses are a must as well; they should cover as much of your eye area as possible, and must say "UV Protection" on the label.

As for puffiness, dark circles, and existing fine lines and wrinkles, there's nothing like the new Peptide technology for combatting all of these.  This class of ingredients is what makes up the entire Olay Regenerist line.  However, drugstore products tend to be quite weak in comparison to salon brands, which contain levels of active ingredients that are the same as levels the ingredients were tested at in the lab. 

I have also found that the fast majority of national brands that offer anti-aging products are completely inappropriate for those with adult acne or just oily skin. Unfortunately, many formulators, either being misinformed themselves or wanting to give consumers what they want, formulate according to the idea that lubricating emollients are needed to prevent aging, many of which are terribly pore clogging.

For help with the best formulated, potent and totally non-clogging anti-aging products, or any skin care products to help with any skin issues you may have, please visit my web site at www.daniela.com.  Receive 10% off your first order with discount code "CMS"!

(image via flickr)

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101 in 1001 - Northport, MI

Northport, MI, a set on Flickr.

Everywhere you turn in Chicago you see Pure Michigan ads. Well, I went and saw it for myself and darn are they right!

On Friday we traveled from Chicago to Northport, MI which is about XX miles north of traverse city. It is a long drive (about 6 hours) but the road goes through lush forest scenery, wide open pastures and Grand Rapids which seemed like a nice, clean, midsized city.

This was my first time in lower Michigan (we skied every year in the UP when I was younger). It is my list so I'm counting this as a new state! It is also being counted as a new destination because I'd never been to Leelanau wine country before.

Friday night we grilled out, drank local wine and then made s'mores by the campfire! Saturday night was the same deal.

Saturday morning Danny and I took Moose, the 5 month old American Stratfordshire puppy for a nice long walk! He was adorable and rather well behaved and it was fun to pretend we had a puppy for 35 minutes.

Saturday afternoon we were driven around by Robert and we toured several local wineries for tastings. The wines were all pretty good but none of the vines are more than 20 years old which is young for grapes! My favorite was Shady Lane, the winery where we just nabbed two bottles (cue: a bottle of red, a bottle of white) and enjoyed our snacks at a picnic table. The best view goes to Willow and their tasting room with an expansive view of the bay. At 45 North we had a private tasting loft where we sampled basically everything and then took more bottles to the patio.

By the time we got back to the house we had sung the same songs 90 times but still wanted to hear them again. 

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