For The Love of Shoes and Feet

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

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Is it just me or is it difficult to find shoes that are both good for your feet (orthopedically designed inside) and really cute?   I don’t mean all right looking, I mean oh my God they are so cute I have to buy them-cute.  You know what I mean?

I recently began a search for such a pair.

With my feet needing more pampering from me (no more cheap flip flops) I set out to find a good, cute pair of black sandals.  Who knew it would prove to be such a challenge?

A dozen stores later and I still don’t have a new pair of sandals.

It is partially my fault.  One of my quirks is my insistence on finding exactly what I’m looking for and not settling for less.  (Once it took me 2 weeks of shopping to find the perfect set of utensils.)  My friends think I’m too picky.  I think of myself as….dedicated.

Back to the shoes at hand.

In my search for the ideal black sandals I found a neglected market, shoes that are good for the feet and designer cute.

Have I looked at designer shoes you may ask?  Yes I have.  In fact, I have a gorgeous pair of Gucci boots that set us back $1,000.  They are NOT comfortable.  

The cute designer shoes I’ve tried on are not comfortable.  Why don’t I just add an insole you ask?  Because if I’m paying hundreds of dollars for a pair of shoes I don’t think I should have to spend more money to improve them.

There are many decent, comfortable shoe companies out there, such as, Clarks, Naturalizers, Vionic, Birkenstock etc., but they aren’t cute, dressy or glam.

Why is it no one pairs quality, comfort and cute (glam) in a single pair of shoes or sandals?

Just because we’re getting older and need to wear good-for-our-feet shoes doesn’t mean we don’t want to wear shoes that will rock the red carpet.

So I implore, I beg-any new shoe designer out there to please fill that niche.

Trust me, we will happily pay 2 or 3 or $400 for the perfect pair of sandals and shoes.

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Posted in health

Always ready for the camera

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

  

Posted in Uncategorized

Arm chair doctors

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

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Doctors go to school continually to add to their knowledge and learn about new findings, which is one reason they get annoyed when we become arm chair doctors for ourselves.

I understand their concern if and when we might misdiagnose our illness, however, I am a firm believer in being responsible for our health.

As my doctor once told me, I have more time than he does to search online for hours reading about remedies, rx’s, symptoms and ailments (said in a nice way, not condescending.)

I am an arm chair unlicensed doctor for myself and my kids.  Proudly so.  In my search for a long standing health issue I discovered what the problem was and the solution.  The news was shared with my new doctor (who is a woman) who was happy that I took the initiative to find my own answers.

Every body is suppose to have the same requirements and function the same, roughly.  Governments provide guidelines of what they believe is best for all of us, the problem is we aren’t all the same.

Case in point, it is recommended to eat whole grains, whole wheat, it provides energy and needed vitamins and minerals.

But not for me or anyone else who is gluten intolerant or has Celiac disease.  My life had been spent eating what I was told was healthy which turned out to be the cause of many problems.  I stopped eating gluten and within 3 days felt amazing and the symptoms eventually went away.

On a side note, if you are one of the thousands who is chronically tired, who has to take a nap in the afternoon or pound an energy at 2 o’clock to stay awake, I would suggest you look into gluten intolerance to learn about it.

Another case in point, exercise.  The experts say that exercise gives us energy, wakes us up.  Maybe for you it does, but not me.

Ever since I was a teenager (ages ago) I’ve preferred to exercise before bed.  It helps me sleep.  In fact, if I wake up during the night, worried about something I can’t change, I will get up and exercise, climb back into bed and I’m asleep in minutes.

This doesn’t work for everyone, but then again we’re not all the same.

My point being, if you’re struggling with a health issue, don’t be afraid to at least do some research.  Perhaps ask around forums to get feed back from others with similar issues and you might find some solutions.  For anything life threatening please consult your doctor.

And doctors, bless their educated hearts, have a tendency to stick with tried and true methodology, but we are not all the same.

Be accountable for your body, your mind and your soul and who knows, maybe you’ll feel better tomorrow.

 

 

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Posted in health

Why aren’t there magazines for mature women?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

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Are there other women out there besides me, who would like to read a magazine that is specifically for women over 45?

There are plenty of magazines for women in general, but none specifically for 45+ women.  They want us to believe that More magazine is for us, but sadly no.

My idea of a magazine for us features images of women who are all over the age of 45, no 20 year olds modeling how effective a face cream is.  Have a woman who is 50 modeling this years trending fashions.  Is that too much to ask?

Speaking of fashion, it should be what women of our age wear.  I am height/weight proportionate and have slim legs, but I won’t embarrass myself by wearing a minnie skirt. There are age appropriate fashions for all ages.  Don’t try to dress us in clothes a teen would wear.

All the advertising should be products that are geared for us also.  I love Disneyland as much as anyone else, but I don’t look through a women’s magazine for ideas for my future grandchildren.  I do it for me.

The products should all be for mature women and don’t be shy about the price tag.  Luxury cars, exotic vacations, pricey jewelry are all welcome along with skin care, cosmetics and fashion.

Stories should be of interest.  How about articles of women inventors?  Women entrepreneurs?  Women leaders?  Include the well known and the not well known.

I would love to read a magazine about women who rise to challenges, who are strong, support one another, who are positive and ever growing.

Please tell me I’m not the only one?

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Posted in Information

Our aging, fragile finger nails.

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

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“As we get older, it shows in our nails.”  That’s what the dermatologist said.  Before I had weak, splitting, cracking nails I had no idea that a dermatologist is the doctor who cares for nails!  Who knew?!

I thought I should share the information the good doctor gave, ya know, in case I’m not the only one who’s nails are starting to look like hell because of age.

It really boils down to just a few key factors and they are:

  • Eat healthy and be sure you are getting enough calcium.
  • Stop using nails as keys, mini knives or flathead screwdrivers.
  • Don’t bite them.
  • It’s ok to gently file down any ridges that are a nuisance.
  • Try supplements for nails if you aren’t getting proper nutrition.
  • Rub salve on the cuticles two times a day.  Rubbing the salve helps stimulate growth and helps hydrate dry, brittle nails.
  • Nail polishes and remover can dry out nails, so do your research before buying.

Yes, I have stopped using my nails as utility tools and that really helps.

Yes, I now eat a nail and hair supplement. I think it helps, but maybe I’m just being optimistic.

Yes, occasionally I buff the ridges off my nails, it also makes them shiny (bonus), but I think it makes them weaker.

The best tip of all is the salve.  Hands down.  🙂  It sits on my night stand as a reminder to love my nails as much as any other body part.

To sum it all up, as we get older every body part needs some extra love and care, even finger and toe nails.

As a bonus, healthy nails are symbolic of youth, just that I should throw that in.

 

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Posted in health

False claims of skin care products.

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

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How many commercials have you seen for mature skin products that make claims of ageless aesthetic beauty?

Enough already.

Olay makes a line of skin care products for mature skin and I’m sure they are nourishing and hydrating for our skin, but they make claims implying that your skin won’t age any more once you start using their product.

For the record, the key ingredient is sunscreen.  Please allow me to use my own sunscreen and stop putting it in all mature skin care lotions and creams.  Some of us are allergic to sunscreen.

Stop with the false advertising.

We all want to take care of our skin so we can look our best and we are willing to pay up the wazoo if it’s really possible.  Logically, we know it isn’t, but we want to believe.  We buy the products in hopes they will prove us wrong.

I’m not just picking on Olay, Loreal makes the similar claims with their products for mature skin along with many, many others.

We would all love to find products that help to nourish, hydrate, remove age spots, even the tone and firm the skin (at an affordable price.)  Seriously though, stick to the facts.  Stop lying about your “miracle” products.  No one, no product can stop the hands of time.  No one can stop mother nature all we can slow her down.

The cosmetic industry makes claims of using doctors and chemists to formulate their miracle products.  I’m wondering if we would have any better success buying ingredients and combining them ourselves to create an effective age slowing skin care product?

To answer my question,

if any one out there makes their own serums and lotions that work better than the products on the market, please, let me know.  I would love to try it.  Otherwise I will feel compelled to create my own skin care line for mature skin and that is just too time consuming.

So to all the women (and men) out there over 45 who have found skin care products that work, please pass on the names, just don’t tell me if they make false claims of the fountain of youth.

 

 

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Posted in Beauty

The bedtime routine for over 40.

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

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Why is it that the older I get the longer my bedtime routine becomes?

As a little girl my bedroom routine consisted of pretending to brush my teeth and putting on a nightgown, 5 minutes tops.

As a teenager, the routine was brushing my teeth, brushing my hair and putting on a nightgown.

As an adult, it became brush my teeth, wash my face and fall into bed.

Once I hit 40 the routine became a thirty minute process;  brush  my teeth, floss, wash my face, use toner, apply night face creme, age spot remover, bleach teeth (once a week), apply body lotion over my entire body, apply cuticle salve, take jewelry off, stretch, put in a mouth guard, go pee one last time, put pj’s on and turn on the heating pad so I have a warm bed to crawl into and relax my back muscles.  Whew, did I miss anything?  Maybe.

Then there’s allergy season,  which brings with it an entirely different set of routine habits.

When does it go back to 5 minutes again?  Is it when I no longer care about trying to slow down the aging process?  I can’t imagine when that will happen.

Sleep well my friends.  I’m off to get ready for bed.

 

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Posted in Uncategorized

Humor for getting older.

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

I thought I would share some humor today.

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Lessons from Grammy.

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

grammyThe saying is, all you ever need to know you learned in kindergarten, is pretty true.  However, I would like to add, all you need to know about growing up (and I use that term loosely) you can learn from your grandparents.  In my case, that would be my grandmother, more affectionately known as, Grammy.

Sixteen years ago she left this earthly plane to go try out the buffet in heaven, but the memories I have of her teach me lessons that I need to make it through the next half of my life.

Lesson one-Have a great sense of humor.  Be able to find the humor in any scenario, even the mix up of hairspray with ant spray.

Lesson two-Enjoy your food, but don’t let it rule your life.

Lesson three-Sleep likes to evade us.  Our body decides it can be productive at 3 a.m., but don’t believe it.  We still need to try to get 8 hours of shut eye.

Lesson four-You can learn to be charming.  Being able to talk to God and the devil in the same room has it’s benefits, just ask any politician.

Lesson five-It’s okay to get a face lift if that’s what you want to do.  You need to be happy with yourself.  Don’t ever let anyone put you down for your decision, they don’t live in your skin.

Lesson six-Always be able to support yourself and save money.  When it gets down to it, you are the only one responsible for you.  Save for retirement.

Lesson seven-You are always loved unconditionally by God.  We all have days when we feel as though the world is against us, we feel unloved, but you’re not.  Everyone on this planet needs to know that there is always at least one being who will love us, me, you unconditionally. Whether that is God, a grandparent, a parent or best friend we all need love to survive.

Lesson eight-Be able to make friends.  As we get older friends die, move away or become too busy, so make sure you can still make new friends.  They are a structural support beam for our foundation of happiness.

Lesson nine-Be proactive.  We can slow the wrinkle, age spot, sagging skin factor of old age by taking care of our bodies.  So stay out of the sun, use sunscreen and wear long sleeves for crying out loud.

Lesson ten-Family and traveling are 2 of the greatest gifts God gives us.  Enjoy them both.

Lesson eleven-Keep on learning until the day you die.  It helps your mind and gives you more to topics to be able to discuss with friends, family and associates.  No one wants to hear the story of how we accidentally used ant spray on our hair instead of hairspray every time we meet.

So, thank you Grammy for all the lessons you taught me.  And, yes, The Golden Girls rock.

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Women going bald.

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Still Young — Leave a comment

 

We love our hair.

Thick, long, shiny locks are typically symbolic of youth, so when we start to lose it, it can feel like we are losing our youth as well.  I’m not saying that we aren’t, I’m saying that we like the illusion that we are still young.  After all, we usually feel much younger than a calendar tells us we are.

For some women hair loss is genetic, for the rest of us we do it to ourselves.  Here are some simple suggestions.

Stop wearing your hair pulled back tight everyday.  It can cause a thinning or receding hairline.

Use a better hair brush.  Cheap hair brushes can snag and pull out hair unnecessarily.  My favorite is a boar bristle brush..

Check your shampoo.  Believe it or not, the chemicals in some shampoos can make your hair fall out.  For example, Pantene makes my hair fall out and has the same effect on my best friend’s hair.  Dove is now my go to Shampoo and I love it.

Hair restoration products.  When we have frizzy hair we like to use restoration products to magically give us back our beautiful locks.  Be cautious.  A protein pack had been recommended to me by a hairdresser, so I tried it.  My hair was falling out in clumps for weeks!  I was shocked.  It took a year or so to get my hair to grow back.

If your hair is getting thin and you don’t think it’s genetic try different products to see if maybe that’s the culprit.

Ladies, if you treasure your locks be sure to give them the respect they deserve and they will reward you.

 

Posted in Appearances