Snow!

It snowed here this week! Here are some pictures from our front and back porches,

for those of you in 75 degree weather:

Boston

Yesterday I went to a baby shower held in the Penthouse of an MIT apartment building. We have had Bible study in this room for the past 2 years or so, and it has the most magnificent view of Boston over the Charles River. I've never taken pictures of it before, so I decided it was high time I do so, especially since the sky was so bright and the river was interesting (it has been frozen for the past few weeks but is starting to break up).

I love the architecture in Boston, especially in the Back Bay and Beacon Hill areas, which are (roughly) across the Charles from MIT. One of the reasons I love this view is because you can see a lot of the old buildings. One of my other favorite views is from the train as it crosses the river in this area. I always sit on the side of the train that faces this panorama.


Someone was saying that the other day she saw someone trying to walk across the river, down near Boston University. Probably a crazy student. Not exactly a smart thing to do, which you can clearly see from the pictures.

Ken & Meredith

So those of you who only see my blog (and not my family) may be wondering who this strange person is who agreed to marry my brother. So I swiped some pictures from Ken's Facebook profile and posted them here. They're getting married two weeks from today! We're excited. Yay Ken & Meredith!

In Central Park, when Ken swept her away to propose in NYC.

Arbonne February Specials

Check out Arbonne's specials this month, and be on the lookout for more information about the new Referral Rewards system!


20% off Prep & Plump Lip Gloss
When you want to polish, moisturize and protect your lips, you need a product that provides more than just mere lip service—you need confident, visible results that can only come through Arbonne's About Face Prep & Plump. These gloss and treatment duos—in 10 terrific shades—feature a double-ended application wand which plumps lips while it applies anti-aging elements. The Prep & Plumps are 20% off this month, or $22.40.
Personally, as someone with perpetually chapped lips, the Prep & Plump lip gloss is the only product I've ever used that has completely healed my chapped lips.


Holiday 2006 Blowout
You can still get many of your holiday favorites with huge savings before they are gone for good. Pick select products from the following lines and get 50% off: Ginger Citrus, Arbonne Aromassentials, Figure 8® and Wine & Roses Color Collection. Supplies are very limited!
https://www.arbonne.com/products/blowout.asp


Daily Self-Adjusting Shampoo with Tea Tree Oil for $10
The natural choice for combating a dry, flaky scalp, this super-charged blend works to help hair shine while eliminating annoying, dry scalp. Smells amazing! $10 with any $75 srp purchase. Reg. $25.
https://www.arbonne.com/products/promotion.asp?i=shampoo


Referrals = Free Arbonne
With the new year comes a new way for you to receive free Arbonne: my new Referral Program! My business relies on word of mouth, so start spreading the word about the products you love. You'll receive free products as thanks for telling others about Arbonne.

Here's how it works:
Talk to your friends and family about the products you love. If they are interested in trying the products or learning more about the business opportunity, let me know and I will send them samples or business information.
*For each person you refer me who ends up placing a product order of $150 or more, I will give you $10 of free products.
*For each person you refer to me who ends up joining my team and starting an Arbonne business, I will give you a skin care set of your choice for free!
Please feel free to call me with any questions about this new program.

Interested in the Arbonne business opportunity?
Have you ever considered starting your own Arbonne business? Set your own hours and tap into an incredible income potential. If you would like more information, listen into one of our Discover Arbonne conference calls, held every Wednesday night at 9pm Central (10pm Eastern). For more details, contact me or check out the "Calendar" tab on my website: laurenbenesh.myarbonne.com.

As always, feel free to contact me with questions or to place an order.

Yarn

I came home from work today to find that the cats had ransacked my yarn basket again. Ha!

Sledding!

So we went sledding this weekend! We walked on over to Fresh Pond, which is actually a reservoir used by the city of Cambridge surrounded by a park and a golf course. Most of it is actually a quite natural setting (except for the chain link fence surrounding the pond to keep people--and dogs--out of the water supply). Well, when we first went there, Nathan said of a nice clearing with a hill, "That's the perfect sledding hill!" So last weekend we bought this sled-type thing that was $1.50. It's actually just a piece of hardy foam with handle holes. Anyway, here are some pictures of us sledding (and one of Nathan with the half-frozen pond behind him).

That's Nathan, halfway down the hill.

Can you see Nathan? He's at the bottom of the hill. We we able to slide a good 60 yards or so. That was probably in part because the snow was VERY icy - it had snowed, melted, then froze again, which made the snow have an icy layer on top. It is actually a little treacherous for walking, but it made for good sledding.

Me, about to head down.
The funny thing about this day was that it was 32 or 33 degrees outside, and after a few weeks of below-freezing temperatures, we didn't even miss our winter jackets! It's funny how you acclimate to the cold over time.

Me, about to mow down a couple of kids. :)

Fun with Yarn

Nathan and I have discovered that our cats LOVE playing with string. I've never seen cats get as into it as Livvy and Vi. They could go for hours, and it's so fun! (I'll take some pictures and post them this weekend.)

So last night we came home and found that they had discovered my yarn basket. We were cracking up because there were balls of yarn all down the hall and three on the bed, which apparently was the "trophy room," as Nathan termed it. I even found one under the bed later! I counted, and they had dragged about 10 balls of yarn around. What a fun day they must have had!

What's in a name?

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. . . .

Yes, we went with the Shakespearean names, Olivia and Viola. The tri-colored cat is Livvy, and the long-haired one is Vi.

More Cat News . . . or shall I say Mews

We have nearly settled on some names--Livvy for the tri-colored cat and Sophie/Sophia for the long-haired one. Nathan suggested Sophie, and we're trying it out for a bit before deciding.

This morning, when Nathan let the cats out of the kitchen (we had closed them in there overnight with their food & litter), Livvy, who we thought was the shy one, followed on his heels into the bedroom and insisted on being petted for 20 minutes. We were a little surprised that she was so friendly, but we were very pleased. Sophie, on the other hand, stayed in the kitchen for a while and is now hiding under the bed. We think she may be mad at us for locking her in the kitchen all night. :)

Nathan took this picture of me last night. He was kind enough to cut my head out of it, as I was asleep and looked crazy. But we wanted to put this up anyway because the cats are cute here and it shows how quickly they're becoming attached to us. They each found a warm crook:

Kitties!

Nathan and I adopted two cats today!!

We were intending to adopt kittens, but apparently it's not kitten season (May through Sept.). Instead, we ended up liking these two cats, who are most likely sisters. They're a year and a half old, which comes with some definite advantages--they are litter trained and are already bonded with one another. They were a little shy at the animal shelter, but the more time we spent with them, the more they warmed up to us, and we ended up going home with them!

We have not decided on names for them yet. I had liked "Olivia" and "Ophelia" if we got two girls (a la Shakespeare), but we're not sure those names suit them. We like the idea of naming one of them Olivia and calling her "Livvy" for short. I also like the idea of naming one Olivia and one Viola (anagrams that Shakespeare used in Twelfth Night), but like I said, we have not decided yet. We are open to suggestions! I'm leaning toward literary names, as you might have guessed.

They're both very sweet and like to be petted, but the gray long-haired one likes to be held more than the short-haired tri-color one. They're very nice girls. :)

Straight Hair

Weird! My hair is really straight today! It's because it's so dry - the humidity usually makes it curlier, so I guess it works in the other direction, too.

Superbowl Sunday

Football, shmootball. The most entertaining thing going on in our living room right now is Nathan trying to rip a phone book in half with his bare hands. He found some special technique online and has been working at this for about the last 40 minutes. By now he is honestly, truly frustrated and got kind of miffed at me when I was giggling at the sight of him, red faced with a blood vessel throbbing in his temple. But the fact that he is so serious about ripping a phone book in half is so dang funny!

Okay, he finally decided it's not worth it and has sat down to read the paper. Whew!