Friday Fave: Self Tanning & Sunscreen & Henry's

I am clear. Not white. CLEAR. It's a joke with my friends and family how clear I am. Once upon a time when I was a kid and outside everyday, I was maybe Crayola Crayon Desert Sand. And that was because I was out in the sun every single day, for several hours a day...

Once I started life in the real world with a full time job, I was back to clear. If I'm out in the sun without sunscreen for more than 15-20 minutes, I turn a nice shade of lobster red. When it peels and goes away, I'm back to clear. There's no real tan period I go through after a burn.

For my wedding, I got a glorious full body airbrush tan. I did that for my bachelorette party, Lani's bachelorette party, and even her wedding too! It's so handy and makes me look a color other than pasty. However, it's an expensive habit and doesn't last that long... Plus, who has time for that?!

I've tried self tanning stuff before, but I always end up orange and streaky, so I had kind of come to terms with my clear-ness. Then, on a whim, and thanks to a Target endcap, I saw Jergens Natural Glow lotion. I had also clipped a coupon for it and it was on sale. Double bonus! I picked it up and started using it. It's also a firming lotion. Super genius!

Someone said to me the other day "You look like you got some sun". Usually, when someone says that, it's either sarcastic or it's because I'm suffering from a 3rd degree sunburn. This was neither! I actually had a nice calm, even skin tone of light brown. Because I'm clear, I opted for the Light to Medium shade, but you can definitely go darker. It's awesome, easy, and I haven't seen a streak yet! WOOT!

Also on the skin color note... SUNSCREEN! Summer is here - thanks to my birthday which is the first day of summer! - and it's time to protect you and your little bambinos. During the rest of the year, I usually use the lotion sunscreen on Will because he's usually fairly covered up so it's not too much of a hassle. These days, we are in swim class 2-3 times a week, outside 90% of the time, and running through any water we can find, so clothing is minimal and sometimes optional for him. He's not the type of kid to sit still...EVER...so thank God for spray on sunscreen. It takes 2 seconds and only requires minor irritation from Will to stand still for 2 seconds. I don't bother with sunscreen that's less than 45 SPF, so thank you Up & Up at Target for Kid's Sunscreen Continuous Spray SPF 50. At $5.59 a pop, you can't beat it and we go through quite a few of these during the summer days. So be sure to lather (or spray) up this weekend, since most of us will be enjoying the summer sun for the 4th of July!

My last favorite is an oldie but a goodie. Henry's Farmers Market is a fab grocery store. They just opened one up over at the Tustin Marketplace (for those of you in the SoCal area), and I have been meaning to check it out. Usually, when I get my grocery store ads, Henry's has the cheapest and freshest produce out of everyone. I'm always up for a good bargain! Yesterday, we hit up the new store after swim class. It's very pretty! I guess I get that from my dad, because I could spend hours at a grocery store going up and down every aisle checking out their goods. That of course doesn't happen these days since I have Will with me and he isn't a doddler... I bought food for 5 or 6 dinners, including halibut, chicken boobs & tenders, beef tip, tilapia, and shrimp, plus lots of fruits & veggies all for [drum roll, please] $65. When I was comparing the ads from Ralphs, Vons, Stater Bros, with Henry's, Henry's would beat the other stores' prices by $0.50 to $1 sometimes! How crazy is that?! Oh, and my $65 shopping spree was done with NO coupons. Sweeeeeeeeet!