Must See! PlanetHiltron

I admit that I love US Weekly.

It's that seedy, superficiality that's like a secret smoking habit, with telltale signs of addiction like yellow fingers and bad breath. I may not have TV, but I know every actor in all the hot shows, as well as what they wear, where they shop and whom they are dating.

Such embarrassing personality flaws must be embraced! Don't HIDE your copy of People magazine, flaunt it! Trust me, everyone has at least one disgusting vice.
Everyone.
Keep it in the open, and you appear trustworthy.

On that note, I must share the funniest website discovery:

www.PlanetHiltron.com

If you like celebs, you will love this site.

If you hate celebs, you will love it even more.

Pesticide Park

Aaaahhh, the splendor of the Great Outdoors. The majesty of our National Parks. Nature preserved for generations to come. Protected and poisoned.

Did you get a good look at the photo above???

On our last excursion through Utah's glorious Arches National Park, we happened upon this guy, in an official truck, strapping on the Poison-Pack to "clean up" the unsightly flora (and perhaps fauna?....who knows what other chemical delights were hidden in that truck) that besmirched the perfect landscape we all thought was God's design.

This was one of those amazing moments that jars the senses and begs to be photographed for posterity.

Neighborhood Crepes: Le Cote in Madison Valley

After a long day of skiing, nothing tastes bad.

That's the one caveat that accompanies this review, which is entirely favorable.

We spent the day at Steven's Pass, enjoying the perfect Winter Wonderland that puts all previous ski seasons to shame, and headed straight to our newest local restaurant, Le Cote.

It occupies the space that was previously St Germain, and has been reincarnated into a delightful, casual French creperie. According to our friendly and efficient server, one of the owners left the business, leaving the other to reinvent the theme. He also owns Voila, down the block.

The menu is radically different than St Germain, but thankfully retained that simple, yet elegant green salad with butter lettuce and slightly sweet shallot dressing. Sounds boring, tastes stupendous.

The crepes are buckwheat, bucking tradition, and are quite good, but the fillings are show-stoppers. Many choices are offered, but only a few without dairy (even the crepes have a tinge of cream), but what do you expect from the French?

I ordered the Ratatouille Crepe, which sounds weird and unappetizing, but was assured by the server that I would love it. She was right. The filling was rich and hearty, the perfect answer to a cold night. I can't wait to go back and have this again.

My daughter ordered the French Onion Soup, which was delicious with that perfect savory, sweet balance, though we were both not fond of the bread immersed in the broth. We each picked our way around it. This accompanied a cheese, egg, ham crepe, which was good, but FAR too much food for us.

Overall, I welcome a new restaurant into the mix in Madison Valley, and love the idea of a relatively inexpensive, friendly place that serves easy, quick food to please the whole family. Match that with beer and wine service and you've got yourself a regular!

(photo above taken with the iPhone)

Be Proactive for an Acne Solution

Jessica Simpson is lame and infomercials sell crap. We ALL know that.

Well, sometimes, even pigs fly.

Proactive Solution, the acne product that the Dumb Blonde pimps ACTUALLY WORKS.

I had seen it work first hand with a cousin in California who was miraculously transformed in high school, as well as a few other people I have known over the last few years, though not to the same extent. But you never really believe until you try it yourself.

I'm too old to get acne. Acne is for teenagers, kids going through adolescence, hormonal hell. Did someone say Hormones??? Try the first stage of menopause on for size.

Ok, that explains the hormonal issues, but whatever. Women my age just can't have acne. Period. It's un-American.

I'm not sure what happened, considering that I never had pimples even when I WAS an adolescent, so I was thunderstruck when my forehead and chin transformed overnight into a warpath of eruptions. Initially, I thought it might be an allergic reaction, but nothing had changed; no new products, no new foods, no new environment. Weird.

I tried washing my face twice a day instead of once, tried drinking more water, tried crushing an aspirin with water to add a little salicylic acid to my forehead....all to no avail. Of course, this led to wearing a hat to hide my "problem" which only served to exacerbate the acne. Daily, I swear I could feel my T-zone getting greasier and greasier. Ick.

If you can believe it, I endured this for 5 WEEKS. Finally, I hopped on the internet and searched for Proactive Solution.

The problem with ordering on this site, is they force you to sign up for this never-ending cycle of sending you product on a monthly/bimonthly basis. I don't want to sign in blood for life, just try the damned product, thank you very much. If there is a way to just buy the product one time without the membership, it wasn't entirely obvious.

Anyway, I've dealt with such membership issues before, and canceling becomes a ritual in frustration, so I fled this site and ordered from Amazon.com.

The product arrived a couple days later and I started it that night. Cleanser, Toner, Repairing Lotion. Simple and easy to use.

That night, I already felt a difference, but was cautious to be too optimistic.

The next morning, the diffence was pronounced. My skin felt much drier (which ironically, is my normal skin type) and the acne was no longer red and inflammed, and appeared to be healing.

By the second morning, the results were nothing short of astonishing. My acne was almost completely gone and the area was nearly smooth and blemish-free. I will admit that some skin discoloration remains because I scar easily, but this was to be expected according to the Proactiv website.

As far as ingredients go, I'm sure this is right up there with slathering your face in turpentine, but I'm too vain to embrace the acne. In this case, I am refusing to even research the ingredients.

Final word: Proactiv WORKS. Miracle in a bottle. I give it a 10 out of 10 for performance.

Faux Rocks Rock

Kids like rocks. Kids like to climb. Rather than fighting millions of years of evolution, embrace it! Don't tell them NOT to climb, but rather, teach them to EXCEL at it.

Check out Vertical World near Fisherman's Terminal, near the Ballard Bridge. The intro to climbing class is a great opportunity to learn the ropes, so to speak. They spend time teaching you how to climb safely, as well as how to belay, or secure another climber. The class is only $50 for non-members and includes a 2-week membership to practice your newly acquired skills.

Once you have that down, bring your little rugrats into the climbing gym for quality family time scrambling up 30-foot vertical walls. Your kids will think you're cool again, and your upper body will hate you for several days.

Just one more reason (of millions) to trash that TV and get out of the house!

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