Turby and John » friends

Foody Friday: Pumpkin Dog Treats

Dawn — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:00:15 +0000

My friend Hannah visited recently, and she left a big, beautiful pumpkin behind when she returned home. Since then, I’ve been brainstorming ways to put it to good use. Halloween’s over, so carving it seems kind of silly. I did just come across an article about the health benefits of pumpkins for dogs, though, so making pumpkin dog treats might be in order.

Below are a few pumpkin dog treat recipes I’ve found:

I noticed that all of these recipes call for canned pumpkin, but maybe I could just purée my own? That should work.

Maybe I’ll even toast my own pumpkin seeds, since dogs can apparently eat those as well.

Any tried and true dog treat recipes you’d like to share? Clementine and Winston would really appreciate it!

Guest Review: Vitamin Enhanced Face Firming Serum

Dawn — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:00:37 +0000

Hello, I’m Christina Vedros McCain and I’ll be reviewing Made From Earth’s Vitamin Enhanced Face Firming Serum. My lovely and generous friend Dawn passed this product along to me to review recently when I was dabbling in all the great products she has at her house. I hope my review helps you to decide if this product is right for you!

Ingredients (provided at madefromearth.com)- Rose Distillate, Aloe Vera Juice, Dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Organic Bilberry Extract, Organic Sugar Cane Extract, Organic Sugar Maple Extract, Organic Orange Fruit Extract, Organic Lemon Extract, Organic Cranberry Extract, Vitamin E, Vitamin C Ester, CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10), Beta Carotene (Pro Vitamin A), Retinol Palmitate (Vitamin A), Alpha Lipoic Acid DL- Thioctic Acid, d-Calcium Pantothenate (Panthenol Vitamin B5), Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Carrot Oil, Milk, Tetrasodium EDTA, Polysaccharide gum.

This serum wasn’t in the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, so each ingredient has been linked above. The only ingredient with a hazard score above a 3 is Retinol Palmitate, and it earns a hazard score of 8. Polysaccharide gum wasn’t in the database.

Some great things about this product:

1. It’s free of parabens.

2. It contains organic ingredients.

3. It’s cruelty-free.

Product Description(also provided at madefromearth.com)- “This serum contains powerful organic nutrients of DMAE, vitamin A, B, C and E, and alpha lipoic acid along with the wonder oil meadowfoam. Our blended formula counteracts dryness that occurs in aging skin and increases the moisture retention capacity. This will eventually improve your skins elasticity. ProVitiamin B5 stimulates skin regeneration while the organic compound DMAE immediately tightens and firms the skin for a fresh youthful appearance.”

Price- $39.99 for 2 oz.

Performance- I’ve been using this serum in the mornings under my make-up and at night before going to sleep. Depending on your skin type, you may need to use the serum in addition to a moisturizer, but my skin is oily enough to use only the serum. In fact, I find that my make-up goes on much smoother with this serum than it does when I use lotion. I’ll also add that I haven’t had any dry patches of skin since I began using this product, whereas, I normally do have dry skin despite applying lotion twice a day.

Scent- The product has a slight citrus scent that you don’t smell at all after it is applied. I find the smell to be fresh and pleasant.

Rating- I am going to take a 1/2 point off for the one hazardous ingredient. I am going to take another 1/2 point for the price being $39.99. 9/10.

Would I purchase this item again? I would likely purchase this product again because I do love the way my skin feels with it on. However, it is a bit out of my price range. While it is expensive, though, I do have to mention that I’ve had it for about three weeks and still have way more than half the bottle left. So, if I feeling like spoiling myself in the next couple months when I run out, I may splurge and order more.

*This product was provided by Made From Earth. Opinions were provided by Christina, one of Dawn’s dearest friends.

More Green Gifts!

Dawn — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:00:07 +0000

This is me with my pretty friend, Allie

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks. That is a fancy Christmas vest that I’m wearing.

Preparing to travel home, Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, Christmas crafting (which I will post about eventually), and fighting off a cold have been keeping me pretty busy lately. I honestly didn’t have much time to throw together anything even kind of original today. Still, I think you guys should check out Care2′s list of 20 Green Gift Ideas. There are some real winners here and there. I love a list that includes animal lovers.

Louisiana might actually suck less than Mississippi.

Dawn — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:44:28 +0000

Last weekend I took a trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana with Kirby, Danielle, and Kyle. Danielle and Kyle are going to grad school in Lake Charles, and they are planning on buying a house since they will be there for at least three years. Kirby and I are tagging along because we generally go with the flow (also, Danielle and Kyle are two of the coolest cats we know). While in Lake Charles, we looked at a few houses and may or may not have found the perfect one. We discovered a restaurant with tasty vegetarian options. We also hung out with some pretty cool people who will be in grad school with Danielle and Kyle. Sometimes my judgmental nature makes meeting new people rather unpleasant, but I had low expectations and ended up being pleasantly surprised (I have a feeling that entire sentence makes me seem like a real turd, and maybe I am). After Lake Charles, we drove to Houma to see our friends who live there and some who don’t. We also saw three great bands from Mississippi(The Devil You And Me, Cicadas, and The Jarheads )play at our friends’ bar, The Boxer & the Barrel, on Saturday. Sunday we met my sister, Erika, and her boyfriend, Morgan, for pizza in New Orleans. Afterward, we hung out with our friends Jason and Bena for a minute before returning to Mississippi.

Overall, I’d say our weekend ended up being a success. I brought my camera and intended to take so many pictures, but I failed miserably. I ended up taking more pictures with my cheesy hipstamatic app than I did with my actual camera. How lame am I?

Kyle is incapable of smiling for a picture, and Danielle was creepin'.

Selena may be shocked and/or amazed by what Nikki has just said.

I am a big fan of sunflowers, and this was one big sunflower. Kirby said that I ruined this picture by making that face, but I think that I may have saved it.

I have a handsome boyfriend.

I have the most beautiful sisters in the world.

Selena is putting the bang back in bangs. By that, I mean she looks hott with an extra T.

Danielle and I had an impromptu photo shoot in the bar bathroom. This is one of the gems.