Stubborn Monkeys online shop

It has been so long since I've blogged here. I don't quite know what direction this blog should go. I can't take it down because my reviews of certain items seem to be quite popular. So while I am thinking of the direction of this blog, please allow me to point you out to my newest venture: handmade shops!

   

 and on Facebook! http://facebook.com/stubbornmonkeys

Megan Miller Collection nail polish review

It's not cheap but I saw a deal from one of those deal sites so I caved in, especially that I've been on a polish kick lately (as in I haven't seen my bare nails in 3 weeks). I bought 6 colors; carribean, latte, pink lilly, roja, foxy, and ganache. In my opinion, there is nothing remarkable about the polish, except that the colors attracted me. The bottle is pretty with its cork top though.

I tried the foxy first. It's grey, and so happens to match exactly the gray leather on the steering wheel of my town and country van. The polish is too runny for my taste. It was completely transparent on the first coat. I had a good enough coverage on the second so I stopped there. I'm a mother of 4 young kids and I paint my nails on borrowed time. To top the polish I used Sally Hansen Anti-Chip Top Coat.

Next I tried the Caribbean. Again, it was too runny and thin. For this color I had to apply 3 coats.
The website does not have very many colors. The 6 I got was over half of their collection. They boast of rustic colors, which they are. They also say the line is free of some chemicals commonly found in drug-store nail polish, though. It's free of  DBP (Dibutyl Phtalate), Toluene and Formaldehyde.

Each nail polish will set you back $12. Yeah, they're expensive.



This is the Caribbean color.

Orthotic footwear to relieve knee pain

In early 2008, after suffering from crunchy knees for a while, I was diagnosed with PatelloFemoral Arthritis. Both my knee caps do not stay in place when I bend and flex my legs, so it is worn out. It makes a crunchy noise, and it's painful. My doctor prescribed 6 weeks of physical therapy, which actually extended to 3 months before we finally decided on surgery. I had an arthroscopy with bilateral release on my worst knee (the right). But after 6 weeks of physical therapy after, I still couldn't extend my knee very much without extreme pain. Finally, my doctor referred me to a sports therapy orthopedist, who gave me a simple remedy - a steroid shot on the knee. The shot blocked the pain and I resumed physical therapy. It was successful.

I knew I had to have the same surgery on my left knee, but with life changes and moves across the country, it had to wait. Meanwhile, it was the same as before, I felt constant pain with going up and down the stairs and any squatting motions. The degree of pain differed, but it was always there. After my fourth child, the plan was to wait until he was at least a year old before I think about the surgery. But then again, the pain was miserable. Waiting that long means I was going to endure pain.

My house has 2 floors and a tall stairs (without any landing midway). I had to plan out my days so that I didn't have to go upstairs too many times. Of course with young kids, I had to make several trips anyway. I started researching doctors and asked for recommendations. Then I saw online that using orthotics may lessen knee pains, so I started looking for people who could do orthotics. Someone told me I should try store-bought ones first and see how that goes. So I went to Wal-Mart and stepped onto the Dr. Scholls thing and bought what it recommended. I placed those on my tennis shoes. The problem was, based on my cultural upbringing, I'm not the kind of person to wear shoes at home. Even my kids removed shoes at home and either went barefoot or with indoor slippers. I then researched flipflops with arches, and came across the Orthaheel Orthopedic Sandals from Amazon. It was expensive in my opinion, at $65 dollars, but I had to try it. I've been using this since April of 2011 and I can't tell you how much better my knees feel!!!!

Instead of the pain constantly being there and ruining my mood, the pain is now forgotten! I can go up and down the stairs without having to think of all the things I should do before I go back down so I wouldn't have to go up again later. If I have to go upstairs, I just do. Sometimes there is a little pain when I bear weight as I go up the stairs, but it's more than 50% reduced compared to before, at the very least. Pain doesn't rule my day. It's not constantly there. Many days, I forget about knee pains. It's amazing!

Between the Dr. Scholls insert on my tennis shoes and the Orthaheel sandals, I am wearing high-arch footwear most of the day. As of today, I have no plans on getting surgery done on my left knee. This might change in the near future, or maybe not...but at least now it's not a foregone conclusion just yet!

Plum District DFW & Birthday Blessing TX partnering together for a cause

 Plum District DFW is working with Birthday Blessing TX to help in their cause give under-privileged children have a birthday they deserve. They are a non-profit organization who provide everything for the party in order to make feel a child important and loved on their special day. 

For every new subscription to Plum District through the link below from now through Aug. 29, 2011, we will donate $3 to Birthday Blessing TX.  

Win Legoland Discovery (Grapevine, TX) tickets (4 pack) ends 7/31/11

Plum District Dallas is sponsoring a giveaway at Dallas Single Mom to bring Dallas/DFW families a family 4-pack ticket to Legoland Discovery Ctr in DFW (Grapevine, TX)! It's so easy to enter, so head on over there and win your family the tickets! With over 100-degrees in the Dallas area for almost a month, you're probably running out of new places to bring the kids to cool down. 

Hurry, the contest ends on 7/31/11.

Plum District

Plum District's new logo! 

Kids Play Fore Kids North Dallas Charity Event Aug 2011

Date: Friday, August 5th, 2011

Location: Firewheel Golf Park (Old/Lakes Courses) 

600 W Campbell Road

Garland, Texas 75044 (map)

This is a charity event benefiting the Northern Texas PGA Jr Golf Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas. Kids ages 6 -18 play a 9-hole scramble in teams of 4. Kids can sign up as an individual or as a team. All kids are asked to set a goal of raising at least $100 and kids win prizes on the amount of money they raise.

My 6-year old son has never played golf but is always up for fun. I am trying to get a team together just because it's fun to do this with friends. I have spoken to the coordinator for the event and was told that they will provide golf clubs if needed. She also said that they will have plenty of assistance for the younger players, and if they just end up throwing the ball that's alright too. The goal is to have fun and help a cause.

If your kids, or your kids' friends are playing for this great cause, contact me at izzy4300(at)gmail(dot)com OR leave a comment here leaving me your contact info and I can get Plum District - Dallas help you out in your efforts of raising funds!