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Being the happiest and most beautiful you can be is your right. When you look in the mirror and are satisfied with the reflection, you have a confidence boost, and why shouldn’t you? Especially if you have put in the hours down the gym. However, having the time to work on your image may seem like a luxury. Maybe you have given up the gym to concentrate on something else closer to home, or maybe you always think, I’ll sign up next month. The truth is there is no time like the present, and tomorrow never comes. So, if you want to enhance that natural beauty of yours, you should start today. Not only will it help make you look better, but by concentrating on your so-called vanity, you will improve your mental and physical health as well, and that has to be a plus in anyone’s books. Cast the naysayers aside, and that goes for the cynical little devil in your own head and begin being a little bit more selfish and focus on you. Here are some simple beauty tips to get you started.
Okay, this tip is easier said than done, and if you do suffer from stress, you may be fed up with people telling you to relax. However, even if you have a busy life, you need to take some time out every day to sit alone, be able to do nothing, have no distractions, and focus on you. It need only be for about ten minutes. Perhaps you could disappear up to the bedroom, turn that phone off and lock the door. Maybe you could indulge in a hot bath every now and again. Wherever you choose to go, just close your eyes, breathe deeply and rhythmically in an out and allow all the worrisome thoughts to fade away. This sort of meditation is great because you can just fit it into your life fairly quickly. If you can de-stress, this will help you as stress is a cause of wrinkles.
Drink more water
Water is such an easy way to allow you to become more radiant. All you have to do is drink more of it. There are so many advantages to increasing the amount of water you take. First of all, it is a natural detoxifier, and it helps the organs function correctly. Ridding your body of toxin does wonders for every aspect of your health. It also has a significant effect on the skin. It moisturizes it from within, helping to reduce the signs of aging, including minimizing wrinkles and reducing large pores. Water also helps sufferers of acne. All you have to do is stop drinking pop and swap it for water.
Eat more healthily
Have a good look at your diet? Is it really a diet that says beauty? If you eat a lot of takeaways, T.V dinners, fatty food, sweets and chocolates, none of that is going to help you. Write up a list of healthy food and dinners you can make that will help you. More fruit and vegetables in your diet will add much-needed vitamins and minerals that you may be lacking with a fast-food lifestyle. Swap bad foods for gone ones, and your skin will start to shine. Your body will begin to let go of all the fat you have built up, whether that be internally or externally, and you will simply look and feel so much better as a result of changing your diet.
If anything really bothers you about your appearance, something you may be able to get a little extra help with, why not do it? Seriously start thinking about investing in you. For example, do you have teeth you are embarrassed with? Well, you shouldn’t, you should see a dentist at Brookpointe Dental and have those teeth straightened or whitened or both. Having those teeth done will make you feel like a new person. There is no point in hiding your smile for the rest of your life.
Exercise
If you can add some exercise into your routine, it will help you in a whole range of ways. First of all, it will help you lose weight and tone up. It is a great natural stress and anxiety reliever because it reduces the amount of cortisol in the body as well as adrenaline. It also floods the body with endorphins, which make you feel happier, so it has a three-pronged attack to stress. Not only that, but it also helps the body reduce cholesterol, it’s good for the heart, and it helps prevent you from getting illnesses such as diabetes. It also works wonders for the skin. When you exercise blood rushes to the surface of your skin, vital oxygen and nutrients are carried there too, this helps look after the skin cells. So if you can fit in half an hour a day, you will see the benefits soon. It could be a brisk walk to a from work, or to the corner shop. Instead of parking close to the places you need to go park as far away as possible and pick up a few extra steps. If you can fit in a jog or go to the gym all the better, but you have to start somewhere, so start with walking a few extra steps.
Sleep
If you are regularly not getting enough shut-eye, it won’t take long for this to show on your skin. Unfortunately, the older you are, the worse it is. While you sleep, it where the body heals itself and repairs any damage, so if you are not sleeping properly, the damage will keep getting worse. You should aim for seven to eight hours a night. To ensure a better night’s sleep, don’t drink alcohol in the evening as this acts as a stimulant in small doses. Avoid coffee and tea late at night. Try and meditate if you are a worrier, as this should help you put things into perspective. And if you genuinely are a bit of an insomniac, perhaps it is about time you saw a doctor.

Summer is here and many parents are trying to find interesting activities to keep their children entertained while still learning a bit too. This year LeapFrog has just the thing for those parents…and it’s Free!
LeapFrog is hosting the first annual “Summer Camp”, where parents can sign up for 8 weeks of free printables, activities, articles, videos, and more, that help kids stay engaged and learning over the summer. Each week presents a different theme, with materials covering skills in math, reading, science, creativity, and more! See the link above for our Summer Camp microsite.
For some background, research shows that children experience learning losses when they don’t engage in educational activities over the summer. As much as two months of learning can be lost during those long summer months (particularly in the math and science subject areas), which is why it’s extremely important to keep children’s brains active and challenged year round.
I signed up the other day and my 5 year old loves it! He’s so ready for kindergarden next year and excited to be doing “school work”.

Welcome back to our 12 Days of St. Patrick’s Day Recipes and Crafts! Today for day 9 your taste buds will be a drooling. Not only do you get the flavor of the holiday mint, but they also added the joy of Girl Scout cookies also.
Head over to Adventures of Country Divas and check out their Thin Mint Cupcakes made from scratch. The only thing is you can’t eat the box of cookies before you bake! Ohh heck, go ahead buy two 1 for you and 1 for the recipe.
Check it out HERE.
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Health is foremost on people’s minds, keeping your family in tip top shape can be a challenge in these busy times. Campbell’s Soup wants you to “Address Your Heart” with Heart Healthy Tips, recipes and more! We usually try to teach the kids to eat healthy even though we normally don’t, but this changed when we had a scare…He called me one morning from work and told me that he needed me to take him to the ER. Thinking that he broke something or cut himself, I asked why…I was not ready for what I heard! He was having a heart attack! Cold Sweats, numbness, severe chest pains that radiate to his back & Jaw, dizziness…we jumped in the car and rushed him to the ER where he ended up being for 2 days having all kinds of tests done and was transferred to a local heart hospital to have a cath test done. I could not be with him because I had the kids and no one here to care for them, so separated and scared we went through this. This was our wake up! He is okay, thank god, but at 35 we had to change the way we eat! We now watch what we eat, no longer are in love with our deep fryer, we bake a lot more things and he has been eating Campbell’s Heart Healthy Soups for lunch, instead of eating out! Eating more protein & veggies and less carbs…I’m excited that Campbells has put together 21 recipes at AddressYourHeart.com that are certified by the AHA! The site also offers money saving product coupons, which I know we can all use! Some of my favorite recipes from the site are below, they are great for the whole family and I feel better that we are ALL being heart healthy!
Visit AddressYourHeart.com to get heart-healthy tips, including 21 Campbell’s recipes that are certified by the AHA and product coupons, as well as Facebook for the latest Campbell’s recipes and offers.
Disclosure – This post is sponsored by Campbell Soup Company, however my story is my own.

In Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” an all-new spectacular adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. Directed by James Bobin, who brings his own unique vision to the spectacular world Tim Burton created on screen in 2010 with “Alice in Wonderland,” the film is written by Linda Woolverton based on characters created by Lewis Carroll and produced by Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd and Tim Burton with John G. Scotti serving as executive producer. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” reunites the all-star cast from the worldwide blockbuster phenomenon, including: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. We are also introduced to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock.
Alice Kingsleigh (Wasikowska) has spent the past few years following in her father’s footsteps and sailing the high seas. Upon her return to London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the fantastical realm of Underland and her friends the White Rabbit (Sheen), Absolem (Rickman), the Cheshire Cat (Fry) and the Mad Hatter (Depp), who is not himself. The Hatter has lost his Muchness, so Mirana (Hathaway) sendsAlice on a quest to borrow the Chronosphere, a metallic globe inside the chamber of the Grand Clock which powers all time. Returning to the past, she comes across friends – and enemies – at different points in their lives, and embarks on a perilous race to save the Hatter before time runs out.
I’m so excited to share with you P!nk’s brand new music video for Just Like Fire from Disney’s ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Alice Through the Looking Glass opens in U.S. theaters on May 27, 2016.
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My little toddler just loves to play pretend. He loves getting his action figures and peoples and build houses for them. So he was super excited when VTech sent him the Go-Go Smart Friends Busy Sounds Discovery Home to play with. I tell you what, he plays with it EVERY day since we got it almost two weeks ago!
VTech’s Go! Go! Smart line lets little ones discover cause-and-effect learning as they engage in imaginative role play and develop fine motor skills with help from fun, friendly vehicles, animals and figures.
The Go! Go! Smart ranges each feature colorful, interactive playsets includes a variety of track pieces that easily snap together and connect to other playsets in the lines.
For even more excitement the Go! Go! Smart Friends figures can be placed on MagicPoint™ locations found throughout the playsets. They will respond with phrases, music and lights while teaching cause and effect, first words, letters and more. The sets and characters are completely interactive and ready to fuel your child’s creativity!
His favorite feature of the Go! Go! Smart Friends Busy Sounds Discovery Home…the elevator..you place the Go! Go! Smart Friend Norah on the elevator, and it goes up, you take her off, then place her back on and it goes down…pretty simple..but he loves that he can make it do something cool like that! He giggles every time Norah goes potty, because the toilet flushes…But don’t try to put your figure to bed…you will get knocked out of bed and across the room..lol..He also really likes the slide, and always has someone going “weee”. He tends to bring in his little batman figures to play with her as well. Norah likes having her super friends to play with
The house itself wasn’t too hard to put together…but I will say, find the page with sticker placement and put those on before you piece it together…it will save you time.
As he grows we can get more into the lessons that Norah gives on each MagicPoint™. This teaches while still giving him the ability to use his imagination.
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WIN IT!!
One lucky My Sparkling Life Reader is going to win a Go! Go! Smart Friends Busy Sounds Discovery Home! This giveaway is open to residents of the US who are 18+ until 11:59 PM EST Oct 7, 2015.
The Fine Print: Entering this giveaway means that you accept both my rules & disclosure. I will notify winner via e-mail and they will have 48 hours to reply before I am forced to redraw winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Each household is only eligible to win this prize via blog reviews and giveaways once. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Many will enter, few will win! Please allow 8-12 weeks for delivery of prizing. My Sparkling Life is not responsible for any lost or misdirected packages. Prizing provided and shipped by VTech. In the rare occasion that a prize does not arrive (which has happened), please notify me and I will try to contact the sponsor.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”