Rarely do I come across a book that inspires me just as much as my kids. However, Whats Your Red Ball is that book. This book is like no other book you’ve ever seen.  It is about how to overcome adversity and find your true passion.  As an adult, we all need to do this too, so this book, while geared at kids, can certainly get you thinking as an adult.  The author of this book, Kevin Carroll, went from an abandoned child with a love of sports to working for the Air Force, Philadelphia 76ers, and Nike.  His story, which is how the book starts, makes you want to be all you can be.  The book itself gives you the material to make your own “box of magic”.  This box is all about your gifts, your talents, your aspirations, your interests, and your hopes.  The rest of the book tells you how to figure out how to decorate and fill your box.  There are questions you need to answer and excercises you need to do, but by the end, you will have figured out whats your red ball.

Your age does not matter for this book.  At 31, I find inspiration in it.  This book is perfect for anyone who has lost their path in life and for those who are just finding it now.

A great gift to give any women in your life is Giella custom blend cosmetics. There is no more guessing on what shade will work best for you (or her). They make cosmetic pencils for lips, eyes, and brows. They also have concealer. For your lips, they have custom blend pencils that range from sheer to cream to full bodied. You can even add soy butter and conditioners if you like. For your eyes, you can create the perfect eye liner. You can keep it matte or add some shimmer in gold, silver, copper, or bronze. For brows, you can create a color that matches your hair, softens your brows, and is smudge proof. Madison and I tried the nail polish they also have this afternoon. It dried pretty quick with a great shine. The lipstick and lip gloss also has a great look to it. I love that you can customize everything, so it looks best with your hair color and skin tone. We watched While You Were Out Today, and this is a great show to see how much a little of the right kind of makeup can make a difference!  I’m not sure if they used this kind of makeup.  However, they had a lady that had 80’s makeup and was using all the wrong colors.  When they updated her look and showed her the right colors for her skintone, the difference was amazing.

The best part is that this can all be made while you are waiting. It takes about 5 minutes to make. You can find this at Henri Bendel’s in New York City, selec t salons in Baltimore, Louisiana, and Philadelphia, and online at www.giella.com.  To do this for Christmas, here’s what you need to do:

Purchase an empty lipstick case, lip gloss wand, cheek tint or concealer compact or nail polish bottle, and we will fill it according to what your gift recipient wants.  They will send the empty component(s) (for lips, cheeks or nails) with instructions of how to pick the perfect color and texture online at www.giella.com. Then they will mail the personalized custom colors and keep the formulas on file for future reorders.  How easy is that shopping, and you (or the woman you are shopping for) gets exactly what they want!