All posts by Anne Younger

Anne is a 30-something full-time SAHM mom of 5 ranging from 3 to 17 and grandma of 1 who resides in Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) Wisconsin. She started blogging in 2008 as a way to regain her sanity. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, cheeseburgers and vodka along with spending time with her husband and kids.
Fashion

3 Simple Steps That Will Make You Look Amazing Effortlessly

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Every girl wants to be beautiful and invests a small fortune into makeup, clothes, accessories, etc. However, you don’t have to get a facial and pro makeup to look stunning. There are a few tricks that will enhance your natural beauty and won’t cost you hundreds of dollars. It’s all about style, lifestyle, and a clever use of makeup.

3 Ways to Enhance Your Natural Beauty with Little to No Effort

1.      Switch to a healthy lifestyle right now

There’s a host of studies on the subject of nutrition and skin health. A great article published in the Dermato Endocrinology journal sums up this research rather well. The conclusion that scientists agree on?

Eating a healthy diet full of fruits, veggies, and other sources of antioxidants will slow down skin aging.

This will also have the pleasant effect of helping you fight a variety of skin disorders, such as acne, psoriasis, rosacea, etc. Even when the condition can’t be cured, a healthy diet is a necessary requirement for its management.

Furthermore, leading a healthy lifestyle requires:

  • Getting rid of bad habits, including smoking and drinking.
  • Exercising regularly.
  • Drinking more water (8 glasses daily).

Each of these factors will also serve to enhance the beauty of not only your skin, but also your body. A healthy diet and regular exercise, even if it’s a mere 30-minute walk, will help you shape up. This will definitely boost your self-confidence and reduce the stress you feel about your appearance. This, in turn, will boost your skin health, as stress and anxiety often lead to premature wrinkles, breakouts, and other issues.

2.      Accessorize for style, elegance, and subtle nuances

Accessories can help enhance your natural beauty by drawing attention to your most attractive features. In the meantime, they can be used to ‘hide’ some imperfections. Well-chosen accessories will also make you look stylish. An excellent sense of style can make all the difference for a woman. For example, consider Coco Chanel, an icon in the world of beauty and fashion. Yet, she has never been what one would call a ‘classic beauty’.

In fact, start with one of her accessorizing tricks, which is layering your necklaces. This will highlight your neck and make it seem longer and more graceful. Long enough necklaces will also draw attention to your cleavage. Choose the pieces wisely when layering, as none of them should be ‘too much’. Opt for elegant pieces, like a Charmed Simplicity Necklace combined with two thin chains, one silver and one yellow gold. Each piece should be of a different length, and the one with a charm should be the longest.

Another important accessory is sunglasses. They are invaluable for both protecting your eyesight from UV rays and making summer makeup unnecessary. Hats and scarves can be used for the same purposes, as well as to conceal a ‘bad hair’ day or to draw attention from some other imperfection.

3.      Have regular ‘days off’ for skin, body, and mind

DailyMail says that going without makeup for only two days a week can enhance your beauty naturally. Add to this the benefits of relaxation and mindfulness meditation, and you’ll see that to stay pretty at all times, you have to give yourself an occasional break.

The best way to do this is to make your days off a sacred ritual in beauty. You don’t have to spend an entire day on facial masks and other treatments. However, you should let your skin and body relax. A calming bath with chamomile, rosemary, or lavender will help relax your body and mind. The herbs also offer an extra perk of making your skin healthier.

So, don’t deny yourself a chance to relax and simply enjoy life for a few moments. This will make you happier, and nothing adds more glow to the skin than joy.

Automotive

Get $100 Off Any Vehicle at Waldorf Dodge Ram

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Are you on the hunt to buy a new car in the Waldorf, MD area? Do you like to save money? Well, look no further than Waldorf Dodge RAM on Crain HWY because they want to help you save money!

In addition to the great specials they offer on new and used vehicles, you can also save an additional $100 off your next new or used vehicle purchase!

You can even pair this offer with the great prices being offered for the President’s Day Event and Truck Month now through February 28th!

On top of these great deals, Waldorf Dodge Ram has a variety of special programs that you may be able to take advantage of for more great savings.

Save yourself some time before heading to the dealership and get pre-approved for financing online!

For Our Furry Friends

What to Do If Your Dog Bites a Visitor

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You love your dog. Your dog loves you. But some dogs don’t love when strangers come to the door. Sometimes, this uncomfortable situation can lead to your dog biting another person. This is a worst case scenario for every dog owner. Suddenly, the dog you love and trust is portrayed as a danger. Here’s what to do if your dog bites a visitor.

Remove the Dog

The first thing to do if your dog bites a visitor is to move the animal to another part of the house. It doesn’t matter if they tear up your bed or go to the bathroom inside. You need to quickly act to make the victim feel as safe as possible. It’s not enough to just put yourself between the dog and the other person. They need to be completely separated. While unlikely, it’s possible that the dog will attack again—causing further distress to the injured individual. 

Don’t Freak Out

As with all situations, losing your cool isn’t going to help anything. If your dog bites someone, you need to keep a clear head in order to deescalate the situation. After you’ve put away the dog, take an objective assessment of the scene. This can be difficult when your adrenaline is pumping; but it’s necessary in order to give the visitor adequate aid. If they’re bleeding, get some antiseptic and something to cover the wound. Once you have collected yourself, you’ll be better able to determine next steps.

It’s also important to note that being gruff with the person won’t help anything. When your dog bites someone, you’re in the wrong. It doesn’t matter if you think they did something to trigger the dog. There’s no way they could have known that might happen, and you allowed the situation. In fact, the victim has every right to pursue legal action if they are bitten by your dog. Even with homeowners insurance, you can be held liable if you don’t act appropriately following the bite. However, if you show genuine remorse, it’s more likely that the other person will show you some empathy.

Get Necessary Medical Aid

If the bite is bad enough, the visitor may need to be transported to the hospital. Offer to bring the person yourself. Should they not feel comfortable with this, suggest calling an ambulance. Unless there was absolutely no damage done from the bite, it’s usually safest to seek medical attention for the victim. Not only is this beneficial to their health, you might be accountable should the bite develop into another malady. It’s also essential that you have all your dog’s medical records readily available. You will need to show that they have gotten appropriate vaccinations for things such as rabies.

Check in with the Victim

This is one of the most important things to do following a dog bite. You probably want to put the event as far out of your mind as possible. However, this isn’t really the best idea. Even if you’ve moved on from the event, it’s unlikely the victim feels the same way. This is especially true if they were traumatized by the attack. Make sure you call to see how the person is doing a few days and weeks after the bite took place. They’ll be more likely to see that you’re regretful of what happened, and will hopefully not want to press charges. Remember to respect the wishes of the victim. Keep calling if it seems like they’re okay with it. But leave them alone if they express that wish.

There’s nothing good about a dog bite. It stinks for everyone involved—including the animal. However, these things occasionally happen, even with well-trained pets. These instructions may come in handy if your dog ever bites a visitor.

Health

How Digital Devices are Affecting Your Eyes

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Technological devices have become increasingly prevalent in modern society and today are nearly ubiquitous. We are on our computers all day at work, watching our big-screen televisions in the evening, and hooked to our smart phones at all times in between. Aside from the massive social and economic impacts this technological revolution has had, these omnipresent devices have been found to cause a number of different health effects as well. Here, we will examine the effects of extensive screen time on your eyes, a phenomenon known as “digital eyestrain.”

Signs that you are suffering from digital eyestrain include eye discomfort, redness, dryness, eye watering, tired eyes, blurred vision and headaches, particularly after looking at a screen for a prolonged time. People with digital eyestrain may experience a few to all of these symptoms in varying degrees of severity, and symptoms tend to increase during the day over the course of digital media use, then gradually subside after screen time is discontinued.

One of the more significant technology-related dangers to your vision is prolonged exposure to non-natural types of light. The screens on your phone, television, and computer produce greater amounts of light at the blue end of the spectrum than you would normally encounter in nature. Rays of blue light are at a higher wavelength than other colors, are packed with more energy, and are able to penetrate deeper into your eye past your natural filters, where they can cause damage to the important cells and structures in the back of your eyes. Glasses with special lenses that filter out blue light can be helpful in preventing blue light-induced damage and reducing related eyestrain. Some screens, particularly computer monitors, also emit low levels of UV light, the non-visible type which can cause sunburn and snow blindness and can cause damage to your corneas, lenses and retinas.1

Many of the problems that arise from excessive device use are not caused by the screens themselves but from the consequences of focusing your eyes to a point close to your face for too long of a time. Forcing your eyes to focus close-up for extended lengths of time can stress your optical muscles. Eye tiredness and difficulty focusing are common problems after working up-close for a stretch of time, and repeated, prolonged screen time can lead to myopia. When working at a computer, remember the 20-20-20 rule: keep the screen at least 20 inches away from your face, and take a break every 20 minutes to focus on a distant object for at least 20 seconds. Also remember to blink!  We can forget to blink frequently when staring at a screen, which can cause some of the dryness and discomfort we experience. Lubricating eye drops can also be a great help.2

While technology and display screens are significant parts of most people’s daily lives, being aware of their effects on your eyes and knowing some basic remedies can make digital eyestrain less of a concern. Use blue-filtering lenses, don’t focus too closely on the screen, and make sure to give your eyes a rest once in a while, and they can remain healthy and sharp-focused for a good part of your life.

 

Scheffer C.G. Tseng, MD, PhD, is Chief Technology Officer of TissueTech, Inc and a practicing Ophthalmologist. He is a world renowned surgeon in ocular surface reconstruction and is well published with over 300 peer reviewed clinical and scientific papers. For over 30 years, Dr. Tseng has been dedicated to making a difference in the lives of his patients. He is the creator of Cliradex & PROKERA

Automotive

5 Reasons You Should Shop Sheridan Ford in Wilmington

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When shopping for a new car, you need to know that you are working with a reputable dealership, someone you can trust.

Joe Sheridan has been in Wilmington for more than 30 years, and has been the proud owner of Sheridan Ford for more than ten. A Marine, Joe prides himself on his dealerships having a professional and customer focused staff that is here to help you.

Reasons Why You Should Buy Sheridan Ford

  1. Sheridan Ford is conveniently located in Wilmington, on the Kirkwood Highway.
  2. They stock new Fords, along with pre-owned Chevrolet, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Nissan, Honda, Toyota along with pretty much anything else you might be able to think of.
  3. All of Sheridan Ford’s vehicles are extensively serviced to uphold their strict rules with regards to sales.
  4. Sheridan Ford’s service department is second to none. They have available online scheduling, and will vacuum your car and wash your windshield before giving you back your vehicle.
  5. Joe Sheridan believes in giving you something back in better condition than it was given to them, and you will see that when you visit!

Offers and Incentives

If you are on the hunt for a new vehicle, Sheridan Ford has a wide selection of vehicles with some great incentives and offers to help you save on your purchase.

Service Specials

Be sure to check out the current service specials Sheridan Ford has to offer before scheduling your appointment so you can snag the best deal!