Bonjour, les amis! I've been at a foreign language teaching conference in Texas (ACTFL), where I was thrilled to learn about the current state of French education in the U.S. I also appreciated the opportunity to glean ideas for classroom and home teaching--I'll share the best of what I learned next week.

In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving! I cherish this holiday. It is personally relevant because my great, great grandma (who lived in Massachusetts until her death at 104) shared that our family geneology descends from John Tilley Howland--the fellow who fell off The Mayflower during a mid-voyage storm but was rescued by rope. How's that for a tenuous family thread?! He went on to be the second-longest living survivor of The Mayflower, and the home where he and his wife Elizabeth lived is the only original pilgrim home remaining in Plymouth today.

I am not a professional model nor a hippie, but I manage to go makeup-free and stick to a bare-bones personal care routine without becoming a eyesore. I stopped wearing makeup shortly after my daughter was born--I didn't want her eating my lipstick (as my little sister had), but mostly I wanted her to grow up believing that her natural beauty could shine just as well without makeup. And minus makeup, I soon discovered that I no longer needed facial cleanser or moisturizer. (I do feel that it's a kindness to others to be easy on the eyes, so I still use tinted lip balm and mascara more often than not.)

With that simplified personal care routine, I've had time enough to learn how to make make the few personal care products I still use:

Gratitude for Generations

Living Without Manufactured Beauty Products & Toiletries: How?