Well, hello there, followers!

I know, I know, you haven't heard from me in awhile.  Well, suck it  up.  Life has been busy and I haven't had time to write.  My hope is that you'll say, "Oh, okay." and move forward.  If not... well, sucks for me.

What have you done in the last 180 days?  No, really.  I challenge you to figure out what YOU have done in the last 180 days.  Here's a short synopsis of my last half a year...

*Dropped multiple pants sizes
*Quit drinking Coca-Cola, started again, then quit again.  For reals.
*Finished my term as 2 year PTO President.  Hallelujah!'
*Completed a 3,000 mile trip up the eastern seaboard and back with the Monkey.  Wow.  I suggest you check the family blog for a play-by-play of the trip if you are interested.
*I learned that the hokey pokey is NOT what it's all about.  So there.
*I discovered the amazing awesomeness of Pinterest. What? You haven't joined Pinterest yet?  Email me, I'll send you and invite.  Soooooooo totally worth it.
*Commited to becoming part of Mary Kay management.

So... How about you?  What have you done with the last 180 days of your life?

Ready... SHARE!!

It's My Giveaway!

Welcome to The Answers Are Simple!  I'm glad you made your way over from Fairly Fabulous!

The Answers Are Simple is my way of letting off some steam in this crazy life of mine. You'll get a glimpse into my brain and hopefully some laughs, so I hope you'll follow along!

Like Meagan said, I'm an Independent Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics.  What the heck does that mean?  

It means that I teach skin care and color cosmetics.  It means I take the difficulty out of both of those things and help you understand why you should wash your face and what's the best color for you. It means I call you and remind you that it's been three months since you ordered a mascara so it's time to order a new one so that you don't get eye mites (yes, I'm completely serious.).  It means if you don't like a product that you buy or a color that you totally thought you'd love and totally don't, I'll take it back from you and find you a new one at no charge.  

And there's one more thing: I am way more fun than the pushy women at the mall counters and the high school boy with acne at CVS.  

I'm super excited to add to the Birthday Extravaganza Giveaway with two products from the FABULOUS new Mary Kay Limited Edition Weekender Collection.  The Collection includes two nail lacquers plus a clear base/top coat, four eye pencils and two lip pencils.  

I was a little wary of the eye pencils, but I tried one and ~  holy cow ~ amazing!

  A little secret? I'm a do-my-makeup-in-the-car kind of girl (not driving ~ I'm always pulled over in a parking space, but still...).  Let me just tell you that these eye pencils just kicked my eye color up a couple of notches.  I can throw it in my purse and ... voila ... primo eye color! 

Because of my LOVE for the nail lacquers and the eye pencils especially (though the lip pencils are great!), I'd like to give one of each to one lucky reader.  To be that lucky reader, you'll need to sweep back over to Meagan's Fairly Fabulous blog to enter in HER comments.  These are the things you can do to enter:

1. Become a follower of my  Blog.  You won't be disappointed, I promise.
2. Cruise over to my Mary Kay website and tell Meagan your favorite color in the new weekender collection.
3. What's your go-to makeup? Mascara? Powder? Gloss? Foundation?

Are three entries not enough?  You'll get an extra entry for each giveaway if:

1. You have the party button on your blog.
2. You blog, tweet, or facebook about THIS giveaway.

Are you totally wanting a piece of the Weekender Collection right now?  A long time MK lover who doesn't have a consultant?  Interested in giving the NUMBER ONE skin care and color cosmetics company a try?  Send me a message on my Mary Kay website that you found me through Meagan's blog or this post and I'll give you 20% off your first purchase!  Add that to the fact that I always offer free shipping, as well as a gift with $40 purchase, and I just knocked the mall cosmetics off their pedestal.  Give Mary Kay a try ~ you won't be sorry.  

Oh no, she didn't!

Oh yes...  I did!

I took the plunge and am now an official Mary Kay Independent Business Consultant.

Yes, I know what you're thinking.
"Sam?  Mary Kay?  Really?  I'm not even sure she remembers to shower everyday, much less wear makeup!"

First of all, shame on you; I do shower everyday.  Sometimes I don't want to and I have to do it with an audience of one watching {if you don't have kid(s), you can't possibly understand!}, but I DO shower.  But I digress...

Second, and more importantly, I believe in Mary Kay AND the business model, so I decided to take the plunge!  Here are the top five reasons {in no particular order} I decided to become a consultant:

1. MK makes a product with which I can cleanse, exfoliate and freshen my face.  Did you read the part where I don't get to shower without my two year old watching me?  Combining three of the five facial care steps into one is impressive and really the only way I'm going to do any kind of facial care.

2. The opportunity to earn extra money - as little or as much as I want.  No pressure either way. Yes, really!

3. "Me" Perks.  The opportunity to earn rings, pins, earrings, bracelets...okay, jewelry!, purses, trips, home stuff, kids toys ~ sometimes MK chooses what I get and other times I get to choose and go 'shopping.'  There's even a company car that's available pretty early on!
What's the biggest "Me" Perk?  Other strong, confident, successful women looking at me and saying " Good Job! You Rock!"  I'm a pretty strong person, but I live for that kind of praise.

4. The opportunity to get my own products at a discount.  I'm going to buy them anyway, so why not buy them for less?!

5.  Me.  You heard me.  I'm doing it for me.
I already love the women in my unit/area because they get it.  They understand that as women and wives and moms and friends, we not only feel the need {and pull} to do, do, do for everyone else and many times either forget our forgo our needs and wants.  I'm so incredibly lucky that I have an amazing husband who loves me, looks out for me, keeps me sane, tells me not to worry about cleaning... makes sure that my happiness is at the top of his 'to do list.'  I totally understand that most women aren't that lucky and I thank God for Brian each and every day {usually multiple times!} Even so, I want to provide some of that happiness on my own and I want to make it for Brian.  Pretty neat idea, huh?  I'll let you know how it works out, but so far, so good!

That's a little about what's going on with me.  Now my question(s) for you! {Don't even fake like that.  You knew it was coming...}
Want some pampering {because contrary to what you might think, you DO deserve it and you CAN make time for it}?  Want to host a party {and earn free products?!}?  Want to just order some of the stuff you already know you love {Hello - Satin Hands? OMG!!}?  Send me an email or check out the website.  We can have some fun!

www.marykay.com/samz
SamZ@MaryKay.com

Hasta Manana,
s