Luck Is My Middle Name

Have you ever lost a raffle? I win them. Somehow my name just always gets drawn. This wasn't always the case.

In third grade, I let Cassie cut in front of me in the cafeteria line, and she was the 100th student and won a prize. Much to my dismay, she didn't automatically hand over the prize to me, it's rightful owner. Drat. I thought it was my fate to always be in the background.

But around my junior year of college everything changed. All of a sudden my name was always drawn out of the hat and I was always at the 'right' spot in line. It got to be such a hassle.

At the Christmas party this year I had the most uncomfortable (but sexy) shoes, and I was really worried that I would have to wear them to the front of the room only to get a heavy door prize and have to wobble back to my seat with a TV or something just as hideous. Now I consider it lucky to NOT win more clutter to take home, but I usually manage to win and then have to pawn off the prize.

Here's a picture of my shoes. That tiny little heel is super cute but not so easy to walk on. It is kinda hard to see in the photo, but there are 2 lines - the heel and it's shadow. The heel is skinnier than a #2 pencil.

Here's an close shot of the shoes. I didn't walk for the rest of the weekend.

As luck would have it [and my luck never seems to run out] my ticket number wasn't called at the Christmas party. I did consider jumping up in shocked amazement and running up there to claim my prize when a different number was called with the hope that they wouldn't check my ticket stub, but everyone at my table kept me under pretty tight wraps.

Are you wondering why I feel especially lucky today? I just read Paula Begoun's newsletter, and she will be at the Barnes and Nobles in Edina. I LOVE PAULA! She helped me find Cetaphil (a gentle cleanser that has the added bonus of being cheap.)

Before her, I was using *gasp* bar soap on my face. I figured I was tough and could handle it. It was not pretty. In high school I accidentally wrote on my face with a red pen AND NO ONE COULD TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY PIMPLES AND THE INK. Now I use Paula's 2% beta hydroxy acid along with Cetaphil and a fragrance free moisturizer, and my pimples are confined to a couple of times a month - mostly when I haven't changed my pillowcase for a while.

Paula wrote "Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me" which is my all time favorite self help book. In it she reviewed many different products and she recommends specific formulations and knows all about effective ph balances. We gave it to Miranda this year so she can start learning about marketing gimmicks and avoid wasting money on worthless products.

It is extra lucky that she is coming to Edina because it is 20 minutes from my house and there is hardly any traffic. It seems like when authors come to town they always book the downtown Barnes and Nobles so I either have to fight with Minneapolis traffic or skip it. Generally I skip it. I am giddy with excitement.

Does anyone want to come meet Paula with me? She will be at the Barnes and Nobles in the Galleria at 7 PM on Monday, April 13th. A great family home evening would be learning more about gentle products and how to properly treat our sensitive skin. She will be speaking about Skincare Mythbusting.