Pampering Day 8: French Toast Recipe, Manicures and Fluffy Magazines

My pampering mission for today was going to be to try to accumulate 8 hours of sleep within 24-hours. However, we went to bed last night at 12:45 and when I looked at my clock this morning it was 9:00 am! I slept through the night for the first time in 2 1/2 months. Hallelujah for that! I feel like a new woman and didn't even feel sluggish mid-day like I usually do. So, since the sleep happened on its own, I didn't really need to do it for my pampering mission.

This morning, a friend and her 1-year-old came over for brunch. I made baked french toast and she brought some delish fruit that is always a big hit.

Baked French Toast

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
8 slices whole wheat bread


Put 1/4 cup butter in the bottom of a 9x12 baking pan. Turn the oven to 400, put the pan in there and allow the butter to melt. Meanwhile, whisk cream and eggs. Mix sugar and cinnamon and then sprinkle it evenly into the melted butter in the baking pan. Dip bread in egg mixutre and put it in the baking pan. Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. YUMMY!

We had a wonderful time talking and Mom's urn box came via FedEx from my cousin who is an artist in Key West. She hand painted the box herself and it is exquisite. I will likely put pictures up on my Mom's blog later and link to it here, too. By the time our dear friends left it was nearly 2:00. Since I wasn't exhausted, I had no idea it was that late.

I got the kids down for their nap and then settled in for some pampering. I've had trouble keeping up with the mail lately, between stuff with the baby and my Mom's arrangements and I knew I had a backlog of fluffy magazines mixed in with the mail, everything from Essence, Jet, and Ebony to Martha Stewart Living, Marie Claire, and Glamour. Before kids, one of my favorite indulgences was sitting down with the mags, flipping through them and dreaming about things I could buy or new looks I could create for upcoming dates and romantic evenings.

I went searching through the mail and found a few of the magazines I knew were lying around and decided on today's pamper mission: Manicure and fluffy magazines. I set out my manicure tools:

I trimmed my nails. I have to keep them short for teaching violin and they hadn't really gotten out of hand, but I trimmed them a little anyhow. Then, I followed up with the nail file and then used a bunch of different cuticle tools to push down my cuticles and trim them.

I haven't painted my fingernails since May of 2007, when I graduated from grad school -- before Will was born. I've told myself that I use my hands too much and that they get too nasty with baby diapers and that I don't have time to keep up the polish. But, like most mamas out there, I think we all know those are all just excuses. If I want to have pretty nails, I should just take the time to do them and make the time to keep them up. Why not? So, I broke out the polish and this is what I ended up with:

Yay, pretty nails! While they dried, I flipped through the mags and got to dreaming about upcoming pamper missions based on what I was reading. Magazines have so many amazing ideas for stuff like that!

I have a date with Allen on the weekend. We're having our belated Valentine's Day night out and I'm going to get all dressed up. I will feel extra special adding shiny nails to the mix for the first time in years. Sexy sexy!