First book on queue – the new business tome written by the blond beauties behind Gilt Groupe – namely ‘By Invitation Only‘.

Why call your new blog, Her Literary Salon?

In the great days of yore, a long long time ago, intellectuals used to come together with but one goal – to discuss ideas, innovations, and the newest novels of the day. Brilliant + saucy women – like Gertrude Stein, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, and Alice Roosevelt Longfellow – used to gather their friends for deep debates + delicious dinners in what came to be referred to as ‘salons’. HerLiterarySalon.com is my little webesque salon created to garner healthy debate, book recommendations, deep discussion, and full-on-gushing-love concerning all things novel related. There are only 4 simple rules:

1. The term ‘Chick Lit’ is strictly verboten
2. We make no apologies about our deep dislike of the Misogynist as both a person and a novelist
3. Trashy romance novels are welcome, well-liked + wanted {the trashier the better}
4. ‘If you have nothing nice to say, come sit by me’

The blog will always be here and I hope you continue to read it {simply click on the Wonderblog link along the left}, but when you navigate to Wonderpug Graphics you will see more and more projects that are by me and define me, rather than discussion about the greatness and intrigue of others. I hope that you stay on-board for this exciting ride – because although things are going to start to look a little different, Wonderpug Graphics will always be the same … a story of a girl, her life, and her pug.

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Take a break this Friday morning + afternoon and check Noa Noa {and Haute Design} out!

Fast forward to the present, and LUSH has gradually enticed me to use its products, particularly their body products, thanks to countless positive reviews and recommendations from YouTube and other beauty bloggers. I stopped at their SoHo location last year on my birthday and wound up purchasing a couple items – specifically, the Handy Gurugu hand cream and the Sweet Lips Lip Scrub. Although neither of those became Holy Grail products for me, I returned to LUSH during the holidays to purchase a gift for a friend and decided to browse their famous soaps and body butters. I left that day with a few more items, and have since gone back to sample even more products, so I thought I’d give you the rundown on my LUSH loves (and some I’m not so crazy about):

SWEETHEART SOAP:

LUSH says ‘This is one sweetheart of a soap, with a soft pink and white colour and a creamy, moisturizing lather. The gentle fragrant suds of warm vanilla, jasmine and sandalwood will have you oohing and aahing in the shower.’

Historically, I’ve been primarily a shower gel kind of gal. However, during the holiday season, I decided to try out LUSH’s limited edition Snowcake soap, which smells like almonds and cream – perfect for winter. After using my last chunk of Snowcake a few weeks ago, I was in search of a replacement soap for spring. The very helpful sales associate at LUSH suggested Sweetheart, because the scent was fairly subtle, and like Snowcake, it lathers up in the shower.

So far, I’m really liking the scent, because even though it’s not too flowery, it’s still very springy-smelling, even with the warm vanilla and sandalwood notes. Alas, Sweetheart is also limited edition (for Valentine’s Day), so to be safe, I bought a ¾ lb. chunk of it for $20. When I got home, I cut the block into 4 smaller bars, which should last me about 3 months or so.

(For those who are unfamiliar with LUSH, their soaps are displayed in enormous blocks. You can ask for a custom-sized piece to be cut from any of the soaps, which is then weighed and priced for you – similar to buying cold cuts at the deli. There are usually a few pre-cut chunks already wrapped and labeled for those who prefer to grab and go.)

BUFFY BODY BUTTER:

LUSH says ‘Massage our Buffy body butter all over your wet skin in the bath or shower to make you softer and smooth to the touch, paying special attention to your backside. We add ground rice, almonds and beans to Buffy to act as exfoliants; the rough textures eliminate lumps and bumps and sloughs away dry skin cells to reveal brighter, fresher looking skin. Rinse off the exfoliating bits and pat yourself dry. There’s no need for body lotion after a Buffy slaying session, because the cocoa and shea butters keep your skin beautifully smooth, moisturized and soft to the touch.’

I’ll admit that I’m partial to this product based on the name (originally, it was called Buffy the Backside Slayer), but it’s also a really excellent, gentle exfoliator. At first, I was using Buffy to exfoliate before shaving my legs, but I noticed that because it’s so moisturizing (it’s true that you do NOT need to use a separate lotion with this), the residue would get caught in the razor blades. Buffy would be ideal for prepping for spray tanning or self-tanner, because it will exfoliate and moisturize at the same time.

Tip: If you use any of LUSH’s body butters, I would definitely recommend purchasing a Body Butter Tin to store it in, because otherwise it will melt from the heat and humidity of the shower.

IT’S RAINING MEN SHOWER GEL:

LUSH says ‘Our honey hand and body soap became such a huge customer favorite that we just had to create a soothing honey shower gel with the same scent. It smells like toffee-fudge, with refreshing sweet orange and bergamot oils to give it a little extra sweetness. In case of stormy weather ahead we made It’s Raining Men with lotus flowers to soothe your ravaged bodies and oodles of moisturizing, cleansing honey.’

I was considering several of the LUSH shower gels when the sales associate was nice enough to send me home with some samples to try. I picked It’s Raining Men because it has a really delicious, sweet but not TOO sweet scent. It’s supposed to be the same scent as LUSH’s famous Honey I Washed the Kids soap, but I definitely prefer the shower gel to the soap. For some reason, the shower gel just smells better to me. I plan on purchasing a full-size bottle as soon as my sample is used up.

HAPPY HIPPY SHOWER GEL:

LUSH says ‘A perfect way to start the day, Happy Hippy remains one of our best-sellers because it smells absolutely delicious, bursting with fresh, juicy organic pink grapefruits to cleanse away grime, refresh your skin, and make you feel brighter all over. Plus, it’s full of zippy citrus oils, grapefruit and bergamot oils to work on tired minds for a double dose of Vitamin C.’

This was the other shower gel that I chose to sample. Happy Hippy is very citrusy and bright-smelling – there’s no denying the pink grapefruit scent, which I love. This is a great shower gel to use first thing in the morning, because the citrus scent helps wake you up and feel refreshed. I feel like this shower gel also feels extra clean, so if I’m feeling particularly grimy or sweaty, I’ll reach for this in the shower.

HANDY GURUGU:

LUSH says ‘Our thickest, richest, most luxurious hand cream is lovingly made with hand blended organic Shea, cashew, almond and pumpkin seed butters and soothing essential oils to moisturize dry, sore hands. Our heaviest hand cream, it contains over 25% Shea butter.’

I really, really wanted to like this hand cream. In fact, I think that the main reason I don’t like it is due to the packaging – it comes in a small tub with a lid that screws on, which makes it awkward and messy to use (not to mention kind of unsanitary). If Handy Gurugu came in a tube, I think it would be my regular nighttime hand cream, as it’s a little too heavy to use throughout the day (but not greasy, just super moisturizing), and is not purse-friendly. Sadly, because I was averse to the packaging, I was not using Handy Gurugu on a regular basis and the expiration date came and went before I had used up the entire container. Bottom line – I don’t think I will be repurchasing this product.

SWEET LIPS LIP SCRUB:

LUSH says ‘Sweet Lips is our cocoa and vanilla infused scrub that tastes like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Vanilla extract and jojoba oil keep your lips moist, castor sugar gently exfoliates, and the rich, deep fragrance of cocoa absolute gives this an irresistible touch.’

I originally heard about this lip scrub on YouTube, and was intrigued by the fact that it was edible. To use, you have to kind of pout your lips, rub a small amount onto them, and then lick off the excess (so clearly, this is an “alone-time” beauty ritual). I like to use this at night, after I’ve washed my face, and before I apply my eos Lip Balm (but before I brush my teeth, because there’s no point in contaminating a freshly cleaned mouth with brown sugar!).

Readers, have you tried any LUSH products? Which are your faves?

Don’t forget to follow Krista (@hellopanda57) and Carolann (@cadematos) on Twitter for the latest in beauty discounts, giveaways, and tips!

As a teenager, I was forced by my ‘evil’ literature teacher to read Henry James’s novel ‘The Turn of the Screw’ and I hated every little second of that tale. However, I have decided to forgive Henry that ill, and have recently been attempting to read more from this – according to Wikipedia – ‘key figure in 19th-century literary realism’.

I started with the short story ‘Daisy Miller’ and then moved my way over to ‘Washington Square’. ‘Washington Square’ was an easy, not thoroughly unenjoyable read, but ‘Daisy Miller’ was the James novel that I found most intriguing.

Daisy Miller is a young American girl, traveling and exploring everything Europe has to offer – the sights, the sounds … and the handsome gentlemen. She happens to cross paths with Mr. Frederick Winterbourne, a very English gentleman whom becomes enamored with her. However, our heroine, Daisy, is not one to put all her eggs in one basket so she also makes friends with another gentleman and this is where the scandal begins.

Daisy, and one of her beau’s, are swiftly shunned by polite society, with one particularly stuffy dame referring to Daisy as ‘vulgar’.

‘They are hopelessly vulgar. Whether or no being hopelessly vulgar is being bad is a question for the metaphysicians. They are bad enough to dislike, at any rate; and for this short life that is quite enough.’

And before the end of the tale, Daisy contracts a fever and dies.

No really – she dies. Sorry to ruin the ending folks, but trust me the tale is still worth reading {and I did place the spoiler after the jump – you have to be careful with those saucy ‘read more’ links}.

Now I took this novella, in addition to being a pleasurable way to pass the time, as a not-so-subterfuged warning – to all women of the time and possibly the future – to know their role and follow their p’s and q’s or you will maybe not literally, but figuratively die. Fancy literary critics, however, believe that Daisy is representative of a full, bright flower whom blooms and plays in the summer and dies in the winter. Well, they can have their interpretation and I will have mine. If you decide to read this short tale – it should take you no longer than an hour, it may be 65 pages in total if that – please feel free to let me know what you think.

STEP 1: The stickers come in multiple sizes so that they can be placed appropriately on your different sized nail beds. Through trial and error I learned that it is better to choose a sticker that is a little smaller than your actual nail because if you choose one that is larger, the sticker will not lay correctly and tends to peel right back off/look sloppy. Now, there are covers that need to be removed from both sides of the sticker before it can be placed on your nail. And be prepared as there is quite a bit of waste/excess stickerage – and this is normal.

STEP 2: Place the sticker on your nail being dilligent to avoid bubbling. What I learned was that these stickers are pretty heavy duty, and if you touch the sticky side a bit in an effort to place the nail perfectly in place, the stickers will not be ruined. At first I was trying so hard to not touch the sticky side in fear of destroying the adhesive that my stickers were laying all wonky and weird. Then you simply file the extra sticker off.

STEP 3: Enjoy your shiny, colorful nails – because these stickers are pretty shiny. In truth, I have discovered that these stickers tend to last longer – at least on my nails – than standard polish and even the new gel polish. Also, after all was said and done, I had about 5 stickers left over and over time I figure I will start to collect enough leftovers to get a ‘free’ manicure! If you decide to try sticker polish out, I would love to know what you think of the product.

PS> I had a TERRIBLE time trying to take these things off. Regular nail polish remover just did not work very well. Anyone with suggestions PLEASE comment below! This is a beauty SOS people – I so love these stickers otherwise.

{ All images via Style.com }

‘You’ve got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got troubles, well I’ve got ‘em too
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you
We’ll stick together and we’ll see it through
You’ve got a friend in me’

{ Randy Newman }

Now, I just ran through the site all willy-nilly, clicking on items that looked fun and yummy, and had attractive packaging design {I am a graphic designer – design plays a huge part in my buying choices}. My husband took a slightly different track. He started researching Mr. Chewy to make sure they were a reputable resale company {They are! Plus, they have an amazing rush 1 to 2 day free shipping offer if you order more than $49 worth of product – which is easy to do as dog goods can be quite pricey}. Then he began to research all the different retailers of the food I had considered buying for Frank – and quickly altered the state of my cart.

Mr. DeMatos seemed especially excited to try out ZiwiPeaks’s raw and dried meat treats and food. We ordered two different varieties of treats {Venison and Venison + Mussels} and one food variety to try. On the flip side, Mr. DeMatos was anti-DogsWell brand treats due to some negative reviews he discovered, and also the fact that the food is allegedly produced in China, where health + wellness guidelines tend to be a bit lax especially in pet food production.

Both of us were a little disappointed with the size of the Flossie brand chew treat {pictured above} once we received it, especially when compared to the price tag. Now, don’t get me wrong, Frank loved it – but our wallets did not – and Frank consumed the whole treat in 3 minutes so we are not so sure this treat actually touched, let alone flossed, any of his teeth.

Our most important critic Frank seems to love all his new treats and gets a special wag in his tail when offered a tasty morsel – with the exception of his Doggie Delicacy Deer Antler Chew {pictured above}. When we first gave it to him, he attempted to gnaw at it for a few minutes. But it was quickly discarded and has been abandoned to Frank’s corner of crap toys and chews ever since.

WONDERPUG FULL DISCLOSURE: Mr. Chewy provided Wonderpug Graphics with funds to purchase some items from their site, whereas others were purchased wholly by us. Please note, we at WPG chose which items to purchase, we chose what to say in this post, and we are first and foremost – always honest and open. If you have any questions about our experience please do not hesitate to ask either here or email info@wonderpuggraphics.com. If you are a pet retailer who would like Frank to taste test your food, please contact us at sponsorship@wonderpuggraphics.com.

Just some price points of note in case you are interested. The amazing red cowboy, ankle boots above are referred to as the Blackson Boot. This is my most favorite piece of the entire collection. This would set a person back $1325.00. My second favorite piece, the red capris along the bottom here – with the quaint bottom button detail. Well, these pants are called the Bauer Pant and would set a girl back $605.00.  And lastly, the nude silk slip-dress, placed smack near the middle of the page, called the Jessie Dress would set a fashionable dame back $1005.00. All in all, I can not afford a thing – but a girl can dream, can’t she?