The Wrap Up

Today's post will have roughly a million pictures, et al, so let's get going. Also, my apologies for the lack of real jewelry posts. This is the last one of it's kind...

1. As I mentioned last week, yesterday was the end of my Birthday week. How sad. We capped of the parties by heading to Philadelphia for the weekend and visiting the two places I've really wanted to see for a while now: The Mutter Museum and the Eastern State Penitentiary. The museum is basically a font of everything disgusting (and therefore fascinating) in medicine. Dwarfism fetuses, a skeleton of a gentleman whose body turned tissue into bone, more fetuses with bizarre issues and lots of wax models with diseases! They did not allow photos and they were sold out of T-shirts, so I have nothing to show. I do recommend it though.
The prison tour, however, produced really great photos. I'll post several here, but the rest can be found on my Flickr. This is our third prison and I was struck by how serene this one seemed. High, white ceilings with skylights, generous (solitary) cells also with skylights, lots of windows... Of course, as it became overcrowded, a lot of those features were removed to make more space. But the tour was wonderful--very informative and interesting.


There were several art installations on the grounds, including these red pipes, placed wherever the artist thought it would be possible for a prisoner to escape (several prisoners did escape, but only one was not caught):


Another installation featured plaster cats that were hidden in cells and on top of the roofs...



They were created to honor a group of cats that had moved in after the prison closed in the late 70's. A caretaker found the and fed them three times a week until the last one died many years later.
Philadelphia itself gave us lovely weather and good food. Thanks, city, for making my birthday awesome!

2. As I promised waaay back when, here are the cosmetics I use on a daily basis...

Cover Girl foundation in 1 (405), which is the best I've found for decent coverage and skin color matching. I am very pale, and while Chanel and Origins match well, I don't like their texture. Cover Girl doesn't feel heavy... ; Stila Illuminating Powder in Light (or Fair) 10 Watts--the plastic shell thing, I lost the case; Cover Girl Blush in Plumberry Glow; Per-fekt Skin Gel, which goes on before make up (or in lieu of make-up, if you are brave) and gives the skin a matte, smooth texture; Benefit powder in Thrrrob (all over "flushed" look); Chanel Glossimer in Eclipse; Cover Girl Classic Ivory Touch up, which is amazing for under eye circles; Covergirl Lash Exact Mascara in black; Maybelline Define-a-Line eyeliner in brownish black and some sort of shimmery white eyeshadow, to put on the inside corners of the eyes. Also, I have a ton of Bare Escentuals stuff--eyeshadow and blush. I like it okay, so it gets used when I am spending a lot of time on my eyes...

For face/ body wash and face lotion, I always use Aveeno because I have very sensitive skin. For body lotion, I am obsessed with L'Occitane Almond Milk products (lotion, body oil)... the best smell EVER.
Oh, and Sharon, I am 99% sure that nail polish color was called Lady Godiva. It was in one of those square bottles with the white tops. Classic nail shop bottle!

And lastly (I bet you all are so happy this is the end of birthday week), some of the presents from BF!