Graphic Designin': 2

Designed myself a logo that got printed on stuff! This was from a campaign called "Lions Leading Lions" or "Creating an Army of Lions" - they changed the name a couple times. These jackets went to the "champions" of the program across the US.

It sounds impressive - I think like 10 jackets were made.

Still - nice to see your work on something.

I'm an army!

"Dairy" "Free" "Is" "A" "Lie"

This is 100% why I can’t trust. . .

Oddly enough, I contacted the Everyday Essentials and didn't hear anything back. I’m not sure what their position is on lying but if I had to guess, I would say they are pro!

This is not the normal, "might contain trace amounts. . ." or "processed in a plant that also. . ." this is clearly stating it is dairy-free and clearly stating there is dairy in it.

I did a little research and found "dairy-free" is not a rational term but one build on legalities and statistics - as plainly explained here from the foodallergygourmet.com:

Non-dairy creamers, non-dairy ice cream and other so-called non-dairy products can contain dairy, and still legally be labeled “non-dairy.” According to the FDA’s regulations, only a product containing actual milk in specific forms can be labeled dairy. The FDA does not allow milk derivatives or milk by-products to be called dairy. So if a product has a milk derivative or byproduct, it can be called non-dairy. Lactose is a great example. Many of the so-called non-dairy products contain lactose, which is a derivative from milk.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? You can read more about how the FDA defines terms you think you might know by checking out Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Part 101: Food Labeling.

While everything is surely legally based, not human based, I'd like to think that maybe this company is trying to market and warn at the same time - pointing out a sort of faulty logic that could affect thousands if not millions of people because what "dairy-free" means to me, someone who cannot consume dairy, means something different in the world of food production.

I even came across a letter from April 2004 in which Ms. Anne Mufioz-Furlong reported this issue (in a January letter) and to which it was explained to her there could be some confusion over the term "dairy-free."

Because laws at the State rather than Federal level currently influence the use of a “non-dairy” statement on food labels, FDA would be willing to contact representatives of such States to discuss FAAN’s concern with them. To help facilitate this discussion, we would like to know if we could share a copy of your January 21” letter along with its enclosures with our State partners so FDA can more accurately and fully describe the problem with the current use of this term for milk-allergic consumers. We believe that this Federal-State dialog is an essential first step to pursuing a possible remedy.

To me, this isn't simply about avoiding all foods or growing your own or becoming vegan or whatever the common response when any issue is found with a food or product (I think a lot involves panicky parents raising alarms because their sweet children are in danger). To me, it's about logic and clarity.

I want my backyard farmer to grow his crops and then grow his business into larger businesses - as has happened with most of these businesses - I just want to trust the use of simple terms is not double-speak. Don't protect yourself legally, protect yourself in a practical and straight-forward manner.

Maybe there is a bigger issue when it comes to casein and dairy and milk during production - how can this be solved so it's clearer? I know no one is going to do anything so I got to do something.

Seems to be, a really easy way, Everyday Essentials should remove "Dairy-free" from its product. Not because it's not legally dairy-free but because it's the right thing to do for people like me who can't have dairy.

Things I Eat: Mango Sorbet

An Ode

Oh, Mango Sorbet from Trader Joe's

How much I love thee, nobody knows.

A contain a day is all I needed

My sadness is impeded,

I'm eating it right now . .

<3

Me-icure

Nice nails

I love a good manicure - you know, when someone who is good at it does it for me. And I love a good gel  manicure.I think everyone has those little things that makes them feel good. I like a clean car and a nice manicure. (Did you read my post: Get a Gel Manicure?)

Practicing & Tricks
I am not really good at doing my nails myself but I have been practicing more. I found one good professional manicure a month takes care of all that shaping and stuff I really can't do.

So, by practicing, I mean really collecting data (my favorite thing) and making determinations on what works for me and what doesn't. After having people give me and me buying or squiring nail polishes through gift sets, I have determined I really like Essie nail polish.

I have more experience with OPI, and I really like their web site better, but a couple bottles of Essie and a couple runs with the polish, I found I really don't have to struggle to like too much about it. 

My current collection is:

• Ballet slippers
• Limo-scene
• Lady like

I really need to find something that's like OPIs Samoan Sands. Since I am unskilled, the consistency makes the polish easy to apply.I use to just try to get the thinnest layer of these polish on my nails because it would always run all over, but, now I have a good feeling with the tiny brush and that I can get a good drop on the brush, push the brush down on my nails and get a pretty good looking polish layer. 

I have basically been doing my nails once a day or four time a week in an attempt to prefer my technique!

Stickers?

Orange and blue - wrong blue

I was at Target and got myself a pack of these nail stickers things. They seem to have been around for a bit although I don't know if I ever knew someone who used them, but, they seemed fun and thought I would give it a try.

I never did nail art, but, I don't mind having an accent finger or something a little different on one nail. Sort of like what I did for the MS City to Shore ride I have done a couple times.

I got a pack of the Essie Sleek Stick Nail Applique, Embrace the Lace 070 at Target and headed home to give it a try. They call them this fancy thing, I'm just going to call them stickers because that's where my vocab is.

The Product

Doing the Sticky
To be honest, I wasn't sure I could follow the three steps. Clean nail, apply sticker, file off extra sticker - however, it really worked!

I applied on on my left hand ring finger. The sticker was pretty forgiving when I was applying - I could half apply it and then remove it to re-preposition as needed. After a few tries, I gave it a firm press and then set about the filing part. The pack comes with a little nail file, but, I have my own block. This might have been the most awkward part for me because I thought I would just be damaging my nails or the sticker. Something was going to go wrong. . .but it didn't!

You have to fold the sticker over the end of your nail, and then you just start to grid on that crease with the file. It comes off pretty easily without damaging your nail or ripping the design on your nail.

Not bad!

The Aftermath
The design lasted a long time, actually. Through lotion, hand washing, showers, hand sanitizer and all that. I started to pick at little at the end of it by my cuticle after about a week and the thing pulled off pretty easily leaving not a hint of damage on my nail.

I think I will be using these again - probably not a lot, though. They are nice for some detail on a nail but I don't think I would wear them on every nail because it's not just my style.

Image Credits
I got the image of the pack of stickers from CVS.com