Thawing the Freeze

So the whole freeze on letting you know who we really are . . .

thawed. 

At least this once.

Presenting the Tiny Human, LakeGirl and yours truly, SWMNBN.

We'll still go with the whole undercover secret agent names and all,

but hello.

'Tis us.

We had an awesome weekend,

mostly because we got to see Auntie LG,

who is single-handedly our most favorite human ever. 

And another one of my rockstar friends from law school.

Just a whole buncha happy, I tell ya.

Weekends like that are good for the soul.

Also awesome? 

My departure from attempts in recent weekends past to dress cute.

What was I thinking?

Comfort is just the way I roll at heart.

And if I can work a Fat Amy shoutout tee into the mix,

even better.

Now back to business,

and all things Lush.

Sigh.

My stash is growing nicely and I am oh so proud.

I was giddy to know I have enough stuff crammed into my shower that I could make this possible . . .

#lovewins rainbow shower time. 

Seriously.

If I could live in my shower, 

I totally would.

Or bath.

Because this also happened. . . .

Good lord do I need some Botox in between my eyebrows . . .

ignore that, please and thanks.

Focus on the Kitchen Polaroids.

My very first ever Kitchen order arrived last Friday . . .

so naturally,

I went home immediately,

without passing Go,

I did not collect $200,

and I headed straight for the tub.

I decided to combine a Razzle Dazzle Bath Oil with the Frozen bomb.

Frozen is, in my opinion, almost floral smelling.

Not strong overwhelming floral,

but floral nonetheless.

Expert Lushies have compared the scent of Frozen to Happy Happy Joy Joy conditioner;

and although there is supposed to be grapefruit oil in it,

it's the neroli floral scent that seems to break the ice.

 So to level out the floral,

I wanted to toss in something extra sweet.

Cue the Razzle Dazzle,

which screams of raspberry and lime.

But first, just watch me Let it Go . . .

Once the bomb had fizzled and scooted its way around my tub,

leaving a wake of blue and white ice caps in its wake,

I tossed in the Razzle Dazzle.

And here is where I add a disclaimer.

Razzle Dazzle is a stainer.

The Tiny Human's washcloth isn't supposed to look like James P. Sullivan from Monsters Inc.

And yet after a little bit of time in the tub with Razzle Dazzle,

James P. Sullivan it is.

The combination of Frozen blue and Razzle Dazzle pink did make for some beautiful grape-colored water,

but can you see the pink staining on the wall of the tub?

This was the first Lush product that I used that couldn't simply be rinsed away post-bath with a bit of water. 

BUT, there is good news!

I spritzed a quick bit of Scrubbing Bubbles onto the stains as soon as the bath was drained,

and the pink wiped away easily.

No scrubbing or sweating or anything like that.

But I did have to use a cleaning product and rag to wash away the evidence of my bath.

I'd say worth it though because the color and scent of Razzle Dazzle was quite awesome!

And The Greatest of These Is Love

Oh today is a good, good, day.

The United States Supreme Court,

in a 5-4 decision,

has declared that it is legal for all Americans,

no matter their gender or sexual orientation,

to marry the people they love.

The headlines actually brought me to tears.

Happy, incredibly grateful and proud tears.

My heart feels like it could explode out of my chest.

I am giddy and thrilled that my daughter is going to grow up in a country where the law will finally be that every single human being is equal.

No Justice would ever include this in his or her opinion,

but this decision screams loud and clear that all of the beautifully unique and diverse and individual human beings that make up our country are valuable, worthwhile, and equal human beings.

She won't appreciate it now,

but tonight our bedtime story is going to be Justice Kennedy's opinion for the majority.

The lead plaintiff in the case was Jim Obergefell,

an Ohio resident who had married his longtime love and partner about two decades ago.

Jim's partner and husband, Arthur, suffered from ALS and eventually lost his life to the disease.

Jim's wish was simple: to be identified on Arthur's death certificate as his surviving spouse.

Imagine that: losing the love of your life,

the person who stood beside you and battled life's ups and downs,

celebrated life's joys,

wondered at life's beauties,

cried and laughed and created every memory that made the story of your life . . .

and to not be allowed to memorialize that love.

To have someone tell you that your story didn't matter.

Your love somehow wasn't enough or wasn't the right kind of love.

Those battles you fought? Those tears you cried? The laughs you shared?

The memories you created?

You did all that with the wrong kind of person,

so it doesn't count. 

Now, it does. 

Legally.

Whether this decision had come down or not,

in our house,

we have always loved love.

All kinds of love.

All kinds of happiness.

And every single kind of beautiful person there is.

The most important thing to me,

from the moment my daughter was born,

was to cultivate in her a kind and loving heart.

I desperately wanted her to celebrate and excite in the exquisite diversity of humankind.

To appreciate that one of the greatest privileges of being given this life we've been given is to interact with and support and love and celebrate the beautiful people around us who are all on their own journeys.

To recognize that every single human being on this Earth has worth,

and value, and something beautiful and unique to contribute to this world of ours.

And to believe with all of her heart that if you have love in your life,

you'll never get any part of this living thing wrong.

Gay marriage was legalized in Wisconsin on a Friday,

June 6th.

I spent Saturday morning at the courthouse in Milwaukee,

celebrating the marriage of two incredibly special people in my life,

But while we were waiting for their ceremony,

I also offered to witness several other couples' marriages.

I cannot explain the joy and love and happiness and pride that filled every single square inch of the courtroom corridor. 

Weddings are always filled with love,

but there was something more in the hallways on that day.

I watched couples cry uncontrollably as they said their vows,

because today they were allowed to marry the person who had been the other half of their heart for so long. 

Damn straight, Lush. 

The rest of the world has finally caught up with you.

I'm honored and giddy at the ongoing opportunity as a mom to teach my innocent, perfect little tiny human being how to love unconditionally,

how to respect all people,

how to be tolerant and accepting,

how to see beauty in our differences,

and how to embrace those differences.

Hate is not inherent.

It is learned.

Intolerance is taught.

But so is love.

High five, United States Supreme Court.

You've done damn fine work.

The Experimenter. Aka Mind. Blown.

Video via Lush You Tube

So this happened. 

In my tub.

Last night.

And the world will never, ever be the same.

Claire sent me an Experimenter bath bomb and just wow.

I don't know that I could have ever imagined so many colors popping and swirling and fizzing and floating in a tub at one time.

It was breathtaking.

And awe-inspiring.

And mesmerizing.

And so totally amazing.

We just sat and stared and ooohed and ahhhed. 

And then sat some more because our minds were so blown by the whole rainbow explosion that we could hardly do anything else. 

So because I feel compelled to be completely honest about my Lush addiction at all times,

I can't say that the scent of the Experimenter is totally wowing. 

It's weird and complex,

on the Earthy side and somewhat strong.

But seriously, the experience is so out of this world that the scent doesn't even seem to matter.

This bomb could've smelled like poo (which it didn't, btw) and I would still rave about it.

Because it's just so gosh darn WOAH.

Scent aside, there is one other minor disappointing downside to this bomb,

and that is that once the show is over,

you're left with a somewhat murky grayish-blue tub full of water.

I actually felt a little sad,

which could be a sign that I am way too emotionally invested in this whole Lush crave, 

and I totally admit that.

But really. 

It's like you're taken to the highest high place,

and shown things that don't even exist in the most magical of psychedelic dream worlds,

and then BAM.

Nothing. A cold, dreary abyss of nothing.

The swing from high to low is intense, 

in my not so humble opinion.

And because I'm not wild about the scent,

it's not like I could even sit and deeply inhale and exhale to make the blue-gray expanse seem less depressing. 

But even with all of that said,

the Experimenter is worth the hype.

The Blue Lagoon

Truth.

So this morning, I decided to take matters into my own hands and enter the magical world of all things mermaid.

May I present to you the Blue Lagoon . . .

Claire turned me on to the whole mermaid bath idea,

and God love her for it.

I started my bath with a Big Blue bath bomb,

and once Big Blue had done its thing,

I crushed up about one-half of a Sunnyside bubble bar and let the magic begin.

A picture just does not do it justice.

The magical melding of the seaweed and swirls of golden glitter and the perfect teal of the water was beautifully mesmerizing. 

I tried to take a little video of it because to truly appreciate the mermaid bath,

you have to be able to see the swirling spirals of gold and the seaweed,

simply suspended somewhere in a deep expanse of blue and teal.

Probably the most beautiful Lush bath I have had yet.

And the smell was equally gratifying,

albeit totally out of what has become my Lush wheelhouse.

Big Blue smelled fresh and slightly Earthy, although subtlety so.

Claire likened Big Blue with the Ocean,

and I don't know that I would disagree with that.

It's just that I couldn't quite find the words to take what I was smelling and experiencing and make it cognizable. 

Sunnyside was citrusy,

but not as zingy or in-your-face citrusy as say Calacas or other products in the citrus family.

When you combine Big Blue and Sunnyside,

I felt like it was just a very soothing, calming bath.

I can't describe it any other way than complex and yet subtle.

No one scent stood out and although I can't seem to find a way to describe it,

that's not because the bath was nondescript.

It was perfect, actually.

Because I just can't get enough, I decided to shower after my bath as well,

and felt called to the bold blue tub of Rub Rub Rub I just added to my collection.

Rub Rub Rub is a beautiful thing.

Thick and coarse, 

while simultaneously soothing and creamy.

RRR has a hint of lemon while also boasting a tropical mimosa scent.

To me, it's divine.

I couldn't stay away from my penchant for all things fruity and sweet,

so I ended my glorious morning of Lush with Celebrate lotion.

I swear,

in my Heaven, 

there will be pots and pots of Celebrate. 

Perhaps the only thing more delicious than the sweet time I took lathering up every inch of my body with Celebrate was the Bubblegum scrub I patted on my pouter.

Ummm. Yummm.

So I followed the instructions,

rubbed some scrub on my lips,

and then weirdly licked myself for the next few minutes.

Don't knock it until you've tried it.

Let's Pretend It's Easter. Because Easter Lush Smells Like Cotton Candy.

So someone smarter than me out there . . .

why is there a shit ton of blank white space at the bottom of my last few posts?

Help.

White space and blog formatting is lame. Let's move on to cool stuff.

Like a flashback to Easter, 

Lush style.

Remember how I said I joined some black market Facebook groups to buy more Lush?

And just to clarify,

even though I use the term "black market" this is all legal stuff.

Black market just sounds underground and secret and cool.

Anyway, I acquired some Easter stuff on said black market and am soooo in love.

You'll see from the above pic I used both a Fluffy Egg bomb and a Bunny Bubble Bar.

With an audience, because the Tiny Human can never be apart from me,

which is why most of my baths occur at about 5 'clock in the a.m. before she awakes.

But I couldn't hold out for a morning bath when these lovelies arrived,

so bathing with an audience it was.

The scent and the color . . .

it was like whisps of candy floss swirled around in my tub.

I've said before that I love sweet and fruity scents the best,

and this combo was like some sort of heaven for me.

Fluffy Egg shares a scent with Snow Fairy,

and I absolutely cannot get enough of either.

My bath just oozed vanilla, and cotton candy, and all things sweet.

And the pink water was mesmerizing to watch.

I used my mini strainer to get bonus bubbles out of the Bunny Bar and was very surprised at the amount of "floaty stuff," as the Tiny Human calls it, that was left behind.

You might think from the picture that the Bunny Bar would be very floral scented but all I smelled was candy and vanilla.

Sigh.

My collection is slowly growing . . .

and I'm having so much fun figuring out what scents I am drawn too.

Of course, Claire and I continue to text non stop and talk about all things Lush.

Maybe we could split the therapist's bill??

Until I get my addiction under control,

which I have no plans to do in the anytime near future,

I decided to go out on a limb and try something that doesn't scream my comfort zone,

so you know,

vanilla, candy and sugar.

AND it's my first product from the Japanese kitchen!

Meet Mr. Freeze. 

I expect him to be like Bengay,

but less in the bad-smelly sense and more so in the holy-shit-my-skin-is-totally-tingling sense.

You know, like that.

And now for more unexplained annoying white space... wtf.

Let it Go, Let it Go!

This week has been chaos . . . 

good chaos, but chaos nonetheless. 

So I haven't had the chance to report that I am no longer a virgin**!!!!!

** keep reading before you judge

Before you assume that's a gross overshare,

I should explain I mean a Lush Kitchen virgin . . .

I am now fully aboard the crazy train and set my alarm for 1:45 a.m. this past Mondayish/Tuesdayish so I could wake up and log on to the Lush UK Kitchen site to wait not-so-patiently for the Frozen bath bombs to show up on the menu.

As the Lush Kitchen advertised,

They say love is an open door but you'll want to keep it closed tightly and enjoy this one all to yourself.

I cannot even describe how thrilling this whole Kitchen experience was . . .

and in keeping with her uber-awesome status,

Claire was morally supporting me viz text during the whole thing,

which was wicked cool because I would've royally screwed it up with out her.

If you aren't familiar with the Kitchen,

you should be. 

It's. Amazing.

The kitchen offers a limited edition or exclusive product once per day, 

Monday through Friday.

The product "goes live," if you will at 2 a.m. central standard time.

If you're lucky enough to snag the item into your cart,

I learned that actually completing your transaction can take forever . . .

I had the bombs in my cart and had to refresh and try to pay for a half-hour.

I was almost ready to Let It Go (pun totally intended) and then voila!

I was redirected from my shopping cart to paypal and the rest is history . . .

I am so, so, so excited for the Royal Mail carrier to leave these beauties on my doorstop.

And the Tiny Human is going to go wild too.

I mean put yourself in a three-year-old's-shoes.

Bath bombs (which she adores and finds magical, as she should) AND Elsa?!?!

Mind. Blown.

In other addiction news . . .

Claire has introduced me to the black market world of Lush,

also known as Facebook groups where you can buy, sell, talk, and obsess over all things Lush.

My first black market order arrived today . . .

I anticipate this is just the beginning of a beautiful lifelong love affair.

(Good thing I know a few good bankruptcy attorneys . . .)

Lush Mish Mash

One of the things I am getting better at, 

and big-time loving I should add,

with all this Lush goodness is mish-mashing.

Granted, mish-mashing is a concept I made up but it just means mixing and matching different products to create magical concoctions of feel and flavor.

You know, so instead of just tossing a You've Been Mangoed bath melt into the tub,

mix it up. 

My bath last night included the You've Been Mangoed melt,

which to me smells like some sort of tropical candy elixir of intoxication.

It is so deliciously fruity.

Then I tossed a few jellies and some FUN into my strainer.

I used a few samples sent by the always LUSHious Claire including Sweetie Pie jelly and Strawberry Santa. 

Pink FUN of course.

Once my bath was brewing, I used the Strawberry Feels Forever massage bar to top off my life-sized fruit cocktail.

I loved pretty much everything about the bath except the massage bar.

The smell of Strawberry Feels Forever is right up my alley- sweet and fruity and yummy.

Personally, though, I didn't care for how greasy and waxy my skin felt after using it.

Not my cup of tea but I'm sure others adore Lush's massage bars. 

Speaking of cups of tea, this is where it's at for me right now:

Why am I so obsessed with this stuff?!? 

I don't even really have jubblies and yet I cannot get enough of this stuff.

It's also on the discontinued list,

which breaks my heart,

so I am ordering vats of it while I still can.

I enjoy the smell but mostly I enjoy the feel of it.

Maybe it's all in my head, the result of very determined wishful thinking,

but I feel like my skin is tighter and firmer after using it.

Now back to the mish-mashing.

The Tiny Human is also obsessed with Lush,

although she just refers to it as the "melly magic bath stuff."

It's hilarious, actually, because half of her bath consists of her just sitting in tub sniffing herself and whatever we're using saying "mmmmm... 'mell it mama. It's delicious."

True that, kid.

The Tiny Human's bath consisted of a majorly random mish-mash of samples and scraps I had leftover from my own baths:

Fun with a Twist

Whoosh jelly

Pot o' Gold jelly

Pink Fun

So remember when I said half of her bath is just her 'melling herself?

The other half is this:

Please please please ignore my disgusting grout. 

"Mama it 'mells so amazing I going to clean the whole bathroom and then everything will 'mell delicious."

Who I am to discourage cleanliness and bathroom cleaning habits?!?

Just keep the loofa away from the toilet bowl kid . . .

I'm An Addict. And a Lush.

Soooo.... consistency with this whole blogging thing hasn't been my thing.

But I will get better. 

And to make up for my less-than-stellar attendance as of late I will fill you in on the most amazing thing that happened to me in the past few months.

I became a total Lush. 

In the healthy, organic bath products meaning of the word, that is.

My former blogging-friend and now long-distance BFF, Claire,

turned me on to the world of Lush . . .

And wouldn't you know, my addictive personality kicked in and now I can't stop.

I get up at the crack of dawn just so I can enjoy a bath before the chaos of my morning ensues with the Tiny Human. 

I take what seem like hour-long showers and just inhale slowly and deeply and feel as if I have escaped to some sort of steamy Heaven.

I kid you not, Lush is life-changing. 

I realize I sound totally dramatic and maybe I drank the Kool-Aid,

but for real. 

Lush = Love + Magic + Happiness

So now I plan to share my obsession here . . . 

and hopefully I will be able to learn from those of you who love Lush too!

For now, I just text Claire multiple times a day asking "what do I do with this jelly thing?" or

to remind her I spent 15 minutes sniffing myself at my desk because I smell so gosh damn amazing.

And total full disclaimer: I am a newbie Lush virgin, 

so there are a million other people out there more learned in all things Lush than me,

but sharing is caring and basically I just like to talk about my addiction,

so there.

The bath bomb I'm holding in the picture that is now buried about 800 paragraphs ago is Space Girl,

which is currently available in the Lush line.

I was drawn to it because it's purple and sparkly.

And yes, I buy things for reasons that are that superficial.

This is a judgement free zone.

I liked that the bomb left my skin super soft and silky,

and the pink and purple swirls in my tub were pretty too.

It wasn't all that bubbly,

and it was a "fast bomb," 

meaning it did it's thing pretty quick and then the show was over.

I would probably use this one again,

although I've discovered so many others that I love-love that maybe I wouldn't.

But I enjoyed it.

Speaking of love-love,

let me tell you about my fave bomb of the moment.

I used my mini-strainer,

  thanks fort the magic tip Claire, 

and a Brightside bath bar first.

If you do not have a mini-strainer and enjoy Lush,

go now and get one. Like now. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. 

Get. A. Mini. Strainer.

It's a magical thing.

Brightside is one of my favorite bath bars,

which you can use for more than one bath, btw.

The mini-strainer gets you even more mileage, 

in my opinion,

because you can use less bar and get 100 times the bubbles you would get without using it.

See.

Oh the sweet bubbles.

Brightside is sort of citrusy but not too sweet.

Then again, I adore all things fruity and sweet,

so it takes a lot of sweet for me to admit something is sweet-smelling.

Once I had a bath full of foamy, luxurious bubbles,

I dropped in my favorite bomb:

Fizzbanger.

I love every single thing about Fizzbanger.

It's smell, the colors . . .

the way it leaves my skin feeling like butter.

And I especially enjoy the sound of pop rocks crackling in my bath as it slowly releases its magic in to my tub.

Fizzbanger, unlike Space Girl, is a really, really, slow bomb.

And I adore that because it just lets me loose myself in a bath that becomes a moving and swirling work of scented art. 

If you haven't experienced this yet,

try it. 

Maybe you won't need to get a second job,

like I'm going to have to do,

to bankroll your habit,

but you will not regret that you splurged.

Normally, when Fizzbanger is all done, it leaves your bathwater a bright, vivid lime green.

Remember, what you're seeing above was mixed with the otherwise-orange Brightside,

but it's still fun . . .

although admittedly a bit urine-tinted.

So what do you say?

Up for a bath with a bang?

Then check out Lush and add about 50 Fizzbangers to your cart.

Really, if you did, I so wouldn't judge.