Hi and Welcom to LAL Musings!  I’m thrilled to be hosting my first carnival on this new blog. And even more thrilled that it’s the Fabulous Festival!  This festival is filled with great tips for women and men, so Welcome!

I’m LAL (livingalmostlarge) of LAL Musings. I write about life as a woman without kids and my journey to financial freedom one day. I hope you have a look around here and jump on over to my personal finance blog LivingAlmostLarge.  Tomorrow actually I’m hosting the 154th Festival of Frugality, so feel free to submit a post for consideration.

Please sign up for RSS or Email Feeds.  Also check out a couple of my more interesting posts.

• The Stay at Home Parent Debate
• Engagement Rings?
• Teen Pregnancy

Next month Meg from AllAboutAppearances will be hosting the Fabulous Festival!  It will be up January 5th, but posts are due January 2nd here.  If you wish to host, contact Meg here.  I hope you have a great time.  I’m going to share with readers stuff I like in each category.

Beauty

I was advised by a dermatologist to use proactiv to help clear up my adult acne.  It’s relatively inexpensive, but a PIA to order.  But the stuff works great!  My skin looks better than ever. I also use Garnier Nutrioniste for moisturizing my skin to prevent wrinkles.  What do you use?

• Victoria E interviews the founder of Spirit Beauty Lounge in Green Beauty Gets Easier at Spirit Beauty Lounge + EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT! posted at Victoria Everman :: Sustainable, Creative, Enlightened Living :: San Francisco. I love this idea of green beauty, and the discount is tempting!
• Julie gives us the lowdown on Alternatives to Celebrity Makeup Brands posted at Healthtrition Skin Care and Beauty. Sound like generic makeup might work as well as the “celebrity” stuff, like most generics.
• Woman Tribune reviews a product she can’t live without in Product I Will Not Live Without: Nature Babe Body Balm posted at Woman Tribune. She makes it sound so good, I feel like trying it out, and she says she’s still hooked after a year!
• Sarah Scrafford lists 50 Health and Beauty Products You Can Make at Home posted at Massage Therapy Careers. I am so going to have to try the body treatments, especially the coffee clove body scrub.

Fashion

This is my current favorite pair of shoes, the naturalizer sport mirror shoes. It’s awesome!  They are super comfortable, easy to wear, cute, and CHEAP!  What’s your favorite shoe?

• Shannon Hurst Lane reviews Joe’s Jeans in Motherhood of the Traveling Pants posted at Traveling Mamas. Wow those are some hot looking mamas, looking great Joe’s Jean. Darn I’m so short, I’m not sure it’s worth the splurge.
• Mac. runs down a list of Actorlicious: 10 Basics Wardrobe Essentials posted at Actorlicious. I’m not so sure about white jeans for women as a basic. What do you think? I think heavier jacket than a trenchcoat more important than white jeans, but I’m no fashion expert.
• Viviana gives us a list of things to do before winter hits in Clean up and replenish, wardrobe planning posted at The Lean Times. Great list, I should have done it earlier. She advises knowing what you own and shopping from a list as well!
• DCDiva puts together a cool list of Cheap Chic Under $50: Tis the Season for Festive Holiday Shoes posted at Heels Are a Girl’s Best Friend. OMG I am in love. These are great shoes, and the Karen Scott is so simple. Too bad I can’t wear heels after my recent foot accident.
• Darragh Daly put together the preppy grunge style in Survival of the fittest: Tobi’s lookbook and styling yourself posted at desiderate. Very cool, but I doubt I could pull it off, I’d look more like a kid than I do now.
• Heather Winters gives us tips on Special Occasion Attire – Special Occasion Dress posted at 2009 Prom Dresses. There is a broad range of tips for anyone attending a special occasion or planning one.
• Joanna Clay talks about the new Michael Kors: Flowers Falling Everywhere posted at chic xica.. I love Micheal Kors, but I may have to stick with the discount retailer version.
• Serge talks about the use of non-models in an ad campaign by Christian Dior: Major Ad Campaigning for Handbags and Fragrance posted at Edictive. I have to say the ladies look like models to me, but then I’m unenlightened about fashion.
• MBB explains how to tell Fake Polo Shirts and Designer Clothing posted at Money Blue Book Blog. It is so cool to see a real and fake crocodiles next to each other, check it out.
• CzechFolks tells about all slavic hotties in Czech Models Shine in the World – Kurkova is at the Top posted at CzechFolks.com. I had no idea there were so many beautiful Czech models. Interesting fact.
• Paige Muller says giving shoes is a no-no in gift giving etiquette. Instead maybe a coffee table book such as Shoe Lover’s Holiday Gift Guide: Red Shoe Diaries posted at Heels Are a Girl’s Best Friend. I’m putting Stiletto on my library reading list.

Blogging

I just thought this was a cute sign. I have been blogging for 3 years now, though until this April when I moved to a self-hosted website for LivingAlmostLarge.  But why do it? I think it’s to publicly journal our lives for input about things we normally wouldn’t say in public to others.  Like I lost a ton of money in the stock market recently!

• Good Thing asks us to all submit good things that are happening and she’ll post a list in A Million Good Things posted at A Million Good Things. She says her goal is to put together a list of 1 million good things by 1/1/09! Help her reach her goal and submit a good thing!
• Data SystemsPlus explains how to Automate Blog Carnival Submissions For Backlinks [E-Course] posted at Data SystemsPlus. Nice idea, but as a carnival hoster, many carnivals discourage submitting the same post to multiple carnivals in the same week. This can cause the rejection of posts, but a nice idea.
• Laetitia gives us tips on How to find your unique blogging style. posted at Mademoiselle Robot. I am starting out on this new more personal blog LAL Musings, and I find it’s harder to be more personal than just writing about finance and numbers, because I wonder if people will think it’s completely stupid and irrelevant.
• GC explains Making Money By Flipping Websites posted at Get Money. I know people who suggest making niche websites for cash. Personally I find it too much work.
• Barry Wright III talks about critiquing fashion in The “Art” of Criticism posted at 3stylelife. I agree that you have to take criticism with a grain of salt, so dare I ask how is this new blog of mine? Could I take the heat?

Relationships

I really admire these articles about relationships.  I had to laugh because both were from two single guys who are looking for woman.  Strangely their perspective is very similar to single women.

• Vicky gives us tips on Trimming Your Wedding List – How to Make the Tough Decisions posted at Cheap Weddings. I had no problems, but my Mom was just awful in demanding people be invited. I just drew a line in the sand and said NO. Plus I paid for my own wedding so I could draw the line. I know many people have parental help and that makes it difficult to reign in the number of people invited.
• Baller King tells us his take on Becoming Exotic And Intelligent To A Girl posted at Men’s Advice. I think that women are looking for men who are intelligent and real. I want a man who invests in a 401k/IRA, cares about retirement, savings, etc. Someone who is real enough to tell me TRUTH! I don’t want a faker who pretends to speak foreign languages, wine, or travelling. What will we have in common and what is the man’s REAL values if he lies?
• Mandingo talks about the Biggest Dating Mistake posted at Attract Women Now. Interesting. I think it works for women too. Men don’t want to date women who think they aren’t good enough for the man. Everyone likes self-confidence.

That wraps up the carnival. I hope you had as great a time looking over the Fabulous posts as I had putting it together. Please come back again or sign up for RSS or Email Feeds.