OMG. Lush.

Some time ago a friend of mine told me about Lush. I remember thinking it sounded nice, but I was a mostly stay-at-home mum at the time and was perpetually broke. I couldn't afford the drive down to Portland, never mind the purchase of $7 or $8 bath goodies. Fast forward a couple of years and I'm working full time and making bank (not really, but I can afford to drive to Portland and back without having to sell my prized possessions on the way). Last weekend I finally got myself into the Maine Mall Lush.

So, first impressions: Damn, does it smell good in here and holy shit, I may work in a high school, but wow that's a lotta teenagers. The discomfort of being around so many who had recently been through puberty aside (this is why I teach adults, not kids), I really super liked it in there. I immediately gravitated toward the bath bombs and bubble bars. I was immediately greeted by a very enthusiastic guy, who was super helpful since I really didn't know what to get. And actually, every employee who I encountered in the store was really sweet (the girl at checkout had a SWEET HP tattoo) and I left with some very fun stuff.

First on the docket are these suckers:

Source

These actually weren't for me, but for the kids. It's play dough for the tub! M. and E. really enjoyed them and they went quick (E. took a bath twice in one day, purely for the fun of using these). They smell wonderful, run the water a fun color, and make lots and lots and lots of bubbles that last a very long time. I actually took a picture of E. in the tub with all her bubbles, but she's forbidden me to post it online, so you'll just have to take my word for it. 

I also got this lovely bath bomb: 

It's the Sex Bomb, which is super highly rated on the website, was on the 2015 Nylon Beauty Hit List, and I LOOOOVED it. It fizzed and fizzed and fizzed, scented my whole bathroom with this nice, ethereal scent (I'm terrible at describing scents, so I'm not even going to try, go look at the description on Lush's site if you want an idea). This was a super fabulous way to unwind in the tub.

I also got my hubby a little something (because he probably takes more baths than I do):

Source

I got this one because it had a kind of more "masculine" scent and it wasn't sparkly and pink. The hubs said he liked it a lot and that his skin felt more smooth and hydrated (actually, he said he felt greasy, but in a good way, but what I said is essentially the same as what he meant). 

Finally, there is my absolutely favorite purchase: 

Do you remember a scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Harry is taking a bath in the prefects' bathroom and he fills the swimming pool sized tub with deliciously scented and colored bubbles? This is as close as I'll ever come (and believe me, I've daydreamed about that wonderful bath since I was in middle school). That tub was so full of bubbles, the bathwater such a pretty color, so full of bubbles and wonderful scents I was determined to never come out (which actually almost happened, I fell asleep in the tub). This is the Unicorn Bubble Bar and I just sort of want all of them. If the unicorn part doesn't sell you (And I mean, how could it not?), the sheer fact that it is just wonderful to smell and feel and lives you smelling pretty and looking just a tiny bit sparkly should really do the trick.

God, do I already love a good, hot bath, but these up the whole hot-water-in-a-big-old-fashioned-claw-foot-tub experience to another level. Love. It.

So, I feel like I've done quite a few review-y kind of posts lately (or maybe just two - not paying a lot of attention). I promise, more posts of substance are coming, I'm just really enjoying being able to afford STUFF lately.

P.S. I don't really dislike being around teenagers. I just dislike being around teenagers when I'm at the mall. It reminds that I'm old. 😬 Why being at a high school 35 hours a week doesn't doe this I don't know, probably because I regularly have former teachers telling me I don't look any different than I did 10 (TEN!!!) years ago. 😀

The Crush

From the moment I cracked open and devoured Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I could not wait for the day I would have a kid with whom to read it. I imagined us snuggled together in bed, my little one rapt with attention as we flipped page after page, neither one of us wanting to stop. I could not wait for the anticipation for the next book (I even considered making my child wait a year between each read, because, after all, I did, sometimes even longer!).

This summer we attempted the first book because E. had expressed some interest when she saw me rereading The Order of the Pheonix over the summer (she also wanted to read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon because my mom was reading it, but we decided we'd better save the sexy Scottish warriors for another time). After learning within the first chapter that the heroic boy wizard had been orphaned as a baby (not much younger than her own little brother) she needed to stop. It just wasn't fair! She had said. How could that happen? So, we stopped, and I wondered if this initial read was just too soon and feared that it would prevent her from ever wanting to try to read the series again.

But then, something wonderful happened. E. made a friend at school and that friend loved Harry Potter (so much so, I heard, that she is going to be Harry for Halloween this year). This, and the fact that there is a movie I will not let her see until she has read the book with me, prompted E. to beg me to start reading The Sorcerer's Stone once again. With a little reluctance, afraid I would really ruin it this time, I started the book again.

And she's loving it.

We're on our way to Hogwarts as we speak and she is thrilled or chilled by each character she meets. She thinks Hagrid is sweet, the Dursley's are vile, and she's already picked up on Draco Malfoy's general awfulness. But most of all, she is absolutely enamored with Harry. And who wouldn't be - he's a kind, humble boy who has a sense of justice. Who wouldn't admire a person like that?

Today, at the doctor's office, she got to pick a sticker, per usual. I spotted a sticker with Harry and Hermoine on it and pointed it out. Immediately, E. snatched up and told the nurse who had been offering the stickers that she was reading Harry Potter and loved Harry (the book, she meant, of course). Later that day, she came downstairs, a bashful grin on her face.
"Mama," she said. "I kissed Harry Potter on my sticker."
My, oh my, what have I done?