hidey-ho, everyone!

how are the kittehs after all of your gallavanting around?

Thanks for the tip, Laurie. Always looking for better ways to moisturize.

Will you get the Friday after Thanksgiving off? Cause that would be nice.

Thanks for the tips on L'Occitane--we have that here in Minneapolis at the Galleria in Edina and I think the Mall of America may have gotten one too The almond shower oil sounds like something I will be trying very soon. Cool!

We're sorry, Dr. Vino is with another patient right now, but Dr. Cerveza is available, would you like to speak with him?

I wholeheartedly second your endorsement of the shea butter body cream. It is amazing. So is their shea butter hand cream, although it smells a bit like baby powder.

You are just so cute. I love the product recommendations.

Mine is for Tom's of Maine toothpaste in the Orange-mango flavor. It sounds gross, but it's nice to have a light citrusy cleanser, and it is a great toothpaste.

I wish I could use nice pampery skin stuff. my skin is uber-sensitive, so I can pretty much only use water and some lotions. Even alot of lotions make me break out. Infact, if i use anything on my face besides water, Get a bad case adult acne all over again. it's beatiful, lemme tell ya!

I always try to recommend neat things to people on my blog, but it's always stuff that people have been using for ten years that I've only recently discovered. Like, earrings.

i too have uber sensitive skin (L'Occitane gives me an instant breakout) and use Alba jasmine and vitamin E moisturizer with almost no problems. It smells great!

Just wanted to tell you that I'm reading your book right now and its great! So interesting and funny and poignant as well. Good work!

I don't have any product recommendations unless it is about ice cream. I love ice cream. Of course, I mostly make my own now, so I recommend my ice cream!

Laurie,
If you can't get ahold of Dr. Vino, might I recommend Dr. Opus One. He specializes in merlot therapy. He is on the expensive side but he is oh. so. very. much. worth. it.

I'm still trying to get my insurance to pay for him.

Stupid Blue Cross.

I have never commented before, and I'm so excited that I will be in the top 10...or 20 at least by the time I post this.

I am so in love with your blog, and all of my 20 year old friends think I'm nuts for reading a knitting blog by a woman named Crazy Aunt Purl. Most of my friends think I'm nuts anyway...

Either way, I too love the product endorsements, and living in Wisconsin, I'm thinking the dry skin thing is kind of more of an issue here....

Also...(this is going back a few posts) I can't believe your friend who was born in the 1980's didn't know about the Fresh Prince, or about Will Smith's Miami song!! That's just sad.

Have a great day Laurie!!

Oh, and post some more kitty pictures, they must be dying for some attention now that you are back home!!

Oddly enough, I think an HMO will cover wine therapy.

There's a L'Occitane shop in the mall I work right next to... fancy-pants moisturizers being my one vice, I'll have to check this out. (I alternate between Clinique products and Bag Balm. Clinique = very nice, nongreasy, expensive, not always enough. Bag Balm = heavy duty, greasy, cheap, miraculously turns my lizard-skin human again.)

If only Tom's would bring back their honeysuckle baby shampoo...

Is tomorrow the day for the sweepstakes winners to be announced, or is that next Friday? - I am dying to see pictures! And let me tell you, if I had the ability to knit anything more than a bookmark or a scarf, I would have been so all over knitting a sweater for my cat, or my gecko! I could maybe handle a sweater project to that scale. Hee.

Hey, I just checked that site! Do you know they have an "Almond Bust Gel"??? That's right ... a BUST gel! Unfortunately it says it is to help replace elasticity after pregnancy. But I don't have kids. So I'm looking for something more along the lines of "The Girls are Turning 40" Bust Gel. Do they have that, do you know?!!!!

The sugar scrub from Bath & Body Works is good for old leather belts. haha! But, if you are just borderline old leather belt, it will leave you a bit oily. And your shower floor. Not good for klutzes.

Bag Balm? That stuff'll cure anything except overdrafts. Great stuff.

Oh Laurie... Maybe you should teach the kitties how to walk all over your back while you lay on the floor... I do that with my kiddies... hahaha... They also use Qtips and put lotion on my legs. It's nice. hahaha... I'm sorry you are having a Monday week. I've been having a Friday week which I think is worse because I keep waking up and am disappointed right away to realize that it is in fact Tuesday... or Thursday... Anyway, I'm glad you are getting catch up time... Go take a little rest on your couch... You'll feel WAY better!

Dry skin? Fatigue? At the risk of sounding like a wet blanket mom, skip the vino and start drinking a bunch of water.

Yep, it's been a row of Mondays this week ...

Hey, how about making it a spa evening in your home? Get out a yummy candle and the nailpolish and do your tootsies? That always makes me feel better.

I can't imagine how wonderfuly-tired you are - a delicious but whirlwind last two months. Hmm...have the kitties turn the hot-tub on about 30 min before you get home, it'll be all ready for you when you drive in. :) Come o-o-on Friday!

I really love your blog and look forward to reading it. I read your book and greatly enjoyed that, too. I got a lot of inspiration from the way you've handled life's ups and downs with courage and humor. Oh, and Thanks for the tip on the free shipping.

I'm looking for Dr. Martini, Dr. Gin Martini! Love, love, love the products from L'Occitane! Especially the fragrance "Eau D'Iparie"

Get some rest! Glad you are back!! Send cat photos!!!

Thanks for the bath product tip. I just got a magazine called ShopSmart by the same people that put out Consumer Reports. They say that the L'Occitane is a good website to shop in. See what a Smart Shopper you are?

I make some of my own bath products. My friends love them too. Try this:

Fill an unbreakable jar with sugar
fill up with olive oil or canola oil

Scrub self
Don't slip in shower!

I know, it doesn't smell that great, but those two oils happen to have lots of good stuff for your skin. Add some good smelling essential oil.

I can do you one better on the L'Occitane - 25% off with code FNF25 through Sunday....

have the kitties forgiven your absence yet? mine have a hard time between the 'omg you're back - we worried' and the 'what do you think you are doing?!?' so first they weave the legs and all that then the ignore for whatever period they feel is sufficient. gotta love them cats!

I just get a kick out of running into your readers other places - the 'I am 12' really gives them away

Holiday on the way - you can rest up and spend quality time with the kitties

Be careful which doctor you call ... Dr. Absolut must be a quack brain surgeon because I feel like I have an axe buried in my head today! *shudder*

Also, welcome back to the land of women who work for a living and are not able to jetset across the country visiting malls and such. :)

For those who may not have found this site yet, here is where you can get discount codes for hundreds of online retailers (I have used a few of them and they were valid so hopefully it is all legit):

www.currentcodes.com

Happy Shopping!

P.S. Paging Dr. Grey Goose, STAT!

Thanks for the coupon!

Eat lots of chicken soup, and feel better!

Besides, no one can be funny all the time.

The "rhymes with orange" was funny today---well, funny for 30-somethings with lots of cats...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/rhymes.asp

I'm tired, too, but I've been sick. Nothing fun like what caused your fatigue. Hope you find time to get plenty of rest!

I think I'm addicted to free shipping offers. As much as I love shopping, I love getting stuff for free!

Welcome back. So glad you had such a successful (in every sense of the word) trip.

Along with the other doctors suggested, you *might* want to go to your regular doctor and get all your stuff checked out. Not to sound like a nagging mom, but you probably need to go anyway - right?

We love you and want you to be happy and not tired.

My nine-year-old daughter just unintentionally came up with the same Thanksgiving joke -- 'cept she didn't mean it as a joke. She & her sister were comparing what day whose birthday was going to fall on next year, etc., and she told me with great interest that Thanksgiving was going to be on Thursday AGAIN! Fancy that! She was somewhat disbelieving when I told her the real deal.
Thanks for the skin care product recommendations! Up North here, the air is so dry it crackles this time of year.

I have a happy little hysterical sort of song I'll begin singing as I unlock my door, exhausted. It goes -

"Wine, wine, winewinewine
Gonna get some some winewinewine"

So yeah, right there with you gal. :)

It's not my skin that is suffering but instead my hair. It's just so dry these days. *pout*

ITA about the almond shower oil, which I tried on your recommendation, but I love the grape stuff too. If you've been scarred by Bath and Body Works fruity stuff fear not, this stuff just smells so clean and fresh and not at all like a grape popsicle, and I like what it does for my skin, though I will state for the record that I do not see magical anti-water-retention properties. But softness and nice smelling? Hugely.

A good winter cream to try is Ginger Souffle Whipped body cream by Origins. It's a little pricey but it lasts most of the winter and has a light scent. It's my little indulgance!

Wine. And Kittehs! and then more wine. and some sleep.

For those on a budget, Jergens Ultra Healing Extra Dry Skin Moisturizer has a light clean scent and guaranteed 24-hour hydration. Leather belts turn into silk purses! For sure!

I loves me that Crazy Aunt Purl. Long may she and her catties live. :>)

Oh, I LOVE product reviews. This time o' year my lips turn (as if by magic) to Nabisco Shredded Wheat, and the Daughter turned me on to Burt's Bees lipstuff in "honey" scent. It really IS a honey scent, without any flavor which causes you to lick it all up off your lips and then go outside where the shredded wheat falls apart and cracks and you say "HI" to your sweetie and grin...causing blood to ooze out of the cracks in your lips. I don't like flavored lipstuff. Also--Catherine, it sounds like you got bummed by Bath & Body Works, my all-time favorite, and I'm sorry! But again, I don't go for fruity, I tend to LOOK like a bunch o'grapes, I don't want to smell like 'em! But their "Purely Silk" or now "Ultra Silk" hand lotion is the ONLIEST thing I've ever found for my chappy hands that softens them nicely and you can knit IMMEDIATELY because of the not-greasy-ness. And that stuff comes in their "Sensual Amber" now, which makes me feel like an Exotic Raven-Haired Spanish Beauty, even if I do look like a short Jewish Bubbeleh graying bunch o' grapes.

Have you ever used any Lush products? I don't know if they have any stores where you live--the only store in Texas is in Dallas. Their stuff is INCREDIBLE. I love their body bars and their bath bombs. Simply divine.

Yes, Lush! Try Ceridwen's Cauldron bath melt, Buffy body butter scrub bar and Amazonian massage bar. All the bath bombs are great, but Butterball has extra cocoa butter for dry skin! There are a couple of stores in California, but they also do mail order...Enjoy! ;-)

Their Shea Butter cream is the best out there. I was shocked at the price but two years later my big ole tin is going strong. Really great stuff!

I just finished your book last night- loved it. I am probably gonna pass it on to a friend in ventura who needs it more than I do. you did a great job.
and I like the Dove Calming Night shower goo. and we have 1 million bottles of baby lotion lying around the house so that's what gets used. But Burt's Bees apricot baby oil is incredible, and its scent is wonderful... Happy Thanksgiving!

Oooo! I love LUSH. My favorite is the Tramp shower gel which is green (my favorite color) and smells pleasantly of patchoulli. But my favorite for knitting is the Schnuggle body butter. It's designed for a powdery finish so that you don't feel oily before you climb between the sheets. I like to wash my hands with it before I knit, and I don't feel the need to put on moisturizer.

http://usa.lush.com/cgi-bin/lushdb/2383?expand=Skincare:upd=y

On an unrelated note, I just purchased the Ojon sample set from Sephora. (Ah, Sephora. I should just hand them my paycheck.) This shampoo smells AMAZING in the shower, and the deep conditioner seems to really work. And I have very long, curly, color treated hair.

i just laughed out loud at your cheesey turkey day joke.... =)

That reminds me, you were a Revlon colorstay overtime girl, weren't you? Me too. Love it. But I tried something last week that might be even better: L'Oreal Infallible lip color. It's the same idea, but feels less sticky, and doesn't taste as icky. Just a hint, if you want to try something new. ;)

Hopefully Dr Vino answers the paging, and helps you relax. Have a nice weekend!

I so understand about "tired beyond the physical." That's how I felt for about a year after Katrina. I still feel it some days.

I've found that Dr. Jack Daniels, sipped along with a good book or some basic knitting, is a very helpful psychologist with that particular kind of tired.

hahahaha "dry" in California. Sister, I live in Colorado where Vaseline is a MUST! I have to use Eucerin on my FACE!

I was warned when I first started knitting to never mix yarn with alcohol. Or at the very least, to never pick up one of my WIPS and start knitting on that while drunk. Apparently, that never ends without tears...

I recently discovered your blog while surfing the net and love it! In fact, I just listed it in a post " 111 Women Bloggers - List Reads Like a Who's Who!" on one of my blogs Virtual Woman's Day (http://www.virtualwomansday.com).

Wishing you all the best and continued success.

Heidi Richards, Founder & CE) - The WECAI Network™ - http://www.wecai.org - Publisher WE Magazine for Women

Late to the Party, as usual...

Bio-Oil® is my latest find, so far it is working pretty gook on my lizzard, splochy, acne scar skin.

http://www.bio-oil.info/en/home

http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=100592&id=prod3156430

I love the L'Occitaine lavender/shea foot cream - especially this time of year! I went and had a consult with Dr. Yarn on Wednesday - ended up buying a ton of gorgeous, pricey merino wool for a couple of sweaters. Frank wants me to duplicate an old one of his in celery green merino wool from Italy (the boy has taste!) and....

FRANK WANTS ME TO TEACH HIM HOW TO KNIT!

He's had dreams recently about knitting - usually where he's in a group and screws it up somehow and people tell him he can't fix it (I explained about "frogging") and swears that when he watches me knit, it's like magic.

I'm sure this is all due to Laurie's influence! I'm going to start him on a simple cotton washcloth - he says he can use it to wipe down his models as he builds them.

I didn't even enter the cat sweater contest and I'm so excited to see the winner!! ACK!

I don't think that what I said above made any sense. And I'm not even drunk. Yet.

I meant: I'm so excited and I can't wait to see who the winner is of the cat sweater contest!! I'm looking forward to seeing all the cute photos!!!!

I have the shop for you to visit for the most sinful body scrub on the market....www.dressgreen.etsy.com. I am hooked on the herb garden scrub! Lauren has the most amazing product under the sun. I used to love L'Occitane's almond body oil until I tried this scrub! Oh mama, it is fab! It scrubs and it moisturizes!

Miss Flora Underfoot begs to inform you that my Sweater Submission will never EVER arrive... She purred and snuggled and somehow TALKED ME OUT OF FINISHING IT. (and if I can get the pic sent surreptitiously, you'll get to see it anyhow... at least the misbegotten beginning thereof).