The genius of skinny mirrors

I recently turned 40. Now, being a woman, this has me a bit freaked out. It is not that I look older than I did 2 weeks ago, but now...I am 40! 40! I can see a little difference in my skin. I don't get checked out like I used to. And stress is harder on my body than it used to be. But overall, I am holding up quite well. So, on my 40th, I went shopping. If you have children, a career, and no time to yourself, you may be able to relate to this one. I went shopping all day. And I don't mean to Target to browse some of the sales racks while I am picking up diapers and toilet paper. I mean, I drove to a mall and went to several stores and tried everything on that I thought was cute. And by the end of it, I was exhausted! Shopping takes a lot of work. All that walking around carrying your coat and hat, looking at things, taking off clothes, looking at yourself in a full length mirror with no clothes (yikes!) and trying things on. Wow! Did I really do this on a regular basis in my 20's? Holy cow!

Which brings me to the mirrors. I have decided that you can pretty much tell the quality of the store by its mirrors and I have ranked the stores from best to worst in the mirror department.

#1 - Anthropology - These mirrors are awesome. The changing rooms were spacious and softly lit. They are what I call skinny mirrors. In fact, I stood there in my underwear taking a look at myself and thinking...."mmmmm...not too bad missy!" It was the one store where I looked better without clothes on then with the clothes on. I don't know why exactly. I love their clothes, but I didn't buy any. Why buy them if you look so good without the clothes?

#2 - Lucy - These mirrors were average. The dressing rooms weren't too cramped but I hate going into a dressing room without a door. Curtains bug me. Give me a nice door. I don't want to have to continually pull a curtain shut. There is always that one side that just won't close. I think these mirrors were fairly accurate. I didn't want to stand there in only my underwear admiring myself, but I didn't want to vomit either. And the pants make my butt look a so great! I just want to walk into every room backwards when I wear their pants. Since, my side job is as a fitness instructor, I did buy some much needed clothes. I knew I would pretty much look the same in my mirror as I did their's so I didn't feel like I was being lied to.

#3 - H&M - These mirrors were not the best. I think I looked a little plumper than I actually am. Pair that with the fact that most of the shoppers there were about 20 years younger than me and you don't exactly have a mirror for the best self image. I loved some of the little outfits, but knew I was just a little too old to pull it off. My 40th birthday party was that night so I was looking for a little snazzy outfit to wear. The clothes are awesomely priced but the clothes are not always cut very well, or at least, not for a curvy, bootyliscious girl as myself. After a long while there, I was able to find a few things that I can add to the staples of my wardrobe. If the prices werent' so good, I wouldn't have bothered searching for the right fit for me.

#4 - Lululemon - OMG! Could their mirrors be any worse! Holy cow! The changing rooms were tiny. They have this huge open space in between all the dressing rooms but you could barely turn around in the actual dressing room. And the mirrors! Don't get me started! I swore they added a few rolls that I didn't have before. Also according to the sizes, I wear a size 8. I am quite tall, and the last time I wear a size 8, I looked like I was on crack. So I already felt like they were trying to pull a fast one on me. These pants are supposed to make my butt look bootyliscious, but the mirrors were so horrible and the dressing rooms so small that I could actually only look at one cheek at a time and could not see the bootie area as a whole. I gave up and left, but not before I tried on one of their running jackets. And I did not take that jacket back to the dressing room. I tried it on right there on the floor and it looked fabulous, which lead me deduce that their mirrors are a conspiracy to make us work out even more. I didn't buy the jacket because I knew it was on sale on the web page. I am a savvy shopper people!

#5 - Gap - ?? I don't know. By the time I got there I was too tired to take my clothes off again and my bff called me and invited me to dinner and her husband made me a cake. Now, I don't know about you, but I would rather have dinner and cake

So I was trying to find a sharp and witty way to tie this into Blackett Body Basics. I couldn't really come up with anything that didn't sound contrived. I am changing the look of the packaging a bit. As much as people love my product, we as humans, go for looks too. So, I am creating my packaging to look as good as my product actually is. I am slowly changing the silver tins, which we all love but EVERYONE is using, to beautiful black jars with twist top lids. The plastic jars will be easier for me to reuse and recycle as well make it easier to actually access the product. So I will have the skinny mirrors of packaging with the product to match. See how I slid that one in there? Damn I am good!

The professional shoppers guide to hand crafted, artisan gifts

This season has been CRAZY! But in a good way. I have been invited to do several shows with other women artists which 1) makes me feel special that they asked me and 2) gives me an opportunity to scope out their goods. Because most of you lovely people do not have the time or even the desire to go to every artisan show in Seattle, I have done the work for you and have compiled what I have seen so far to be the best of the best in Seattle artisan, hand crafted goods. All these businesses have 3 things in common. They are women owned. The work is solid, unique, and often gorgeous. And I like them. It was a very scientific approach I took to compile this list for you! Men, I must stress that a gift from any of these artists would most likely be a hit and have you looking like a super star to your lady and all her friends. Because we all know that it is just as important to impress your girl's friends as it is to impress her. We will tell you that that is not true. We will deny that fact until the day is done. But when it comes down to it, it is fact. I can't change basic psychology....but I can help you win in the war against bad gift giving!

#1 Abaloria Jewelry - I met Brandy at the Urban Unveiled Wedding Event. Her booth was right next to me and we instantly fell in love. Her jewelry is GORGEOUS! She has closed down her custom part of her business which means that she will have more time to devote to what she does best ..... creating unique, eye catching pieces that have the WOW factor that every woman craves. It was hard for me not to spend my eldest daughter's college tuition and buy all her stuff. I did, however, buy a pair of awesome earrings (above picture) from her and I have a necklace picked out, copy and pasted to my husband's email. You MUST check her out! http://www.abaloria.com/.

#2 Deanna Dibene - Her hats are to die for. In fact Brandy saw mine and said, "Give that to me right now or die!" Okay, Brandy is really sweet and would never say that to me, but I know she was thinking it. I met Deanna at the Central Chic Boutique. Her workwomanship is almost perfection and all her patterns are fun classics with that extra flare to make it stand out just enough. She has leather wrist bands that I wasn't sure about at first, but wore around a bit and decided that I love the look. I got several for random girls and women in my life. She also has sweet make up bags. You can see how sassy my special hat makes me feel in the above picture! http://www.deannadibene.com/ My hat is a brand new pattern, so if that's what you are looking for, contact her and tell her you want my hat. She will know what you are talking about.

#3 Glass Elements - I felt like I was cheating on Brandy at first when I fell in love with Marja's work. Then I realized that their styles are completely different. Glass Elements hand blows colored glass and then casts them in silver in unique and beautiful ways. You can go bold or you can go subtle. I met her at the West Seattle Art Walk. When I tried my necklace on, it was obvious to both of us that it was made for me and coming home with me. (necklace is also pictured above) While I was calculating my budget in my head, her husband picked up on of my shaving kits and was very excited about my products when it became clear to both of us....trade! Sometimes, I just love my job! She sells her work on Etsy and has a huge following, including me! www.etsy.com/shop/glasselements

#4 True Love Truffles - I know it may seem that I am being bias when I say that Lisa's truffles are hands down the best truffles....EVER! Our daughters are BFF's and we live down the street from each other and I heart her and her family. BUT......I am also very greedy with my money and I won't spend it on just any ole chocolate and I am buying about a dozen boxes from her by the time this season is over. Her truffles are hand rolled and are the oooie goooie kind that need to be kept chilled. You don't find many truffles like her's out there because the logistics of delivering and selling can be a bit tricky. Also, they take a lot of skill to create. But she does it all and they are so worth it. My faves right now are the maple bacon and the coconut curry. My mouth is just watering thinking about it. I bought 5 boxes for a get together that got postphoned and I had to ask her to keep them in her house because I knew I would eat them.....ALL! http://www.truetruffles.com/

#5 Blackett Body Basics - need I say more? http://www.blackettbodybasics.com/ of course I have great gift sets!

I hope that maybe these suggestions give you some fresh ideas on the gift giving list. I love that all my new found treasures are one of the kind pieces that won't be found anywhere else and created by beautiful, lovely, and kind souls!