3 Ways To Stay Healthy When Flying

Charlene Harreveld 11/01/2016 3 Comments

3 Ways to Stay Healthy When Flying

I can’t say that I necessarily enjoy travelling. In fact, it’s probably one of my least-favorite things to do. However, it seems like we go out-of-town every few months. We don’t go to exotic places; it’s usually to NYC or NJ. I used to get sick whenever we came home, until I started taking these 3 simple steps when flying. I haven’t been sick in a very long time. My family makes fun of me, but I don’t care! Here are 3 ways you can stay healthy when flying.

Shut Off the Overhead Air Vent

As soon as I get to my seat, I reach up and shut off all of the overhead air vents. I don’t care if someone is already sitting in the row. They’re usually ignoring me anyway – you know, who wants to talk on a plane? I don’t even want to think about the germs that flow around in the recycled air that flows through those vents. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. I always wear layers when I fly, so if I get a little warm, I just take off at shirt. I don’t think the air really does much to keep you cool, so why inhale germs that are blowing right onto your face?

Wipe Down the Area with a Wet-Wipe

This is a must. Just like I don’t want to think about the germs that are recirculating through the air, I certainly don’t want to think about the person who sat in the seat, wore the seat belt, and touched the arm rests before me. That’s another yuck, yuck, yuck. I wipe down the seat, headrest, arm rest, seatbelt buckle, and the air vent. I also make sure I carry a little hand sanitizer and I sanitize my hands obsessively.

Wear A Surgical Mask

This is the biggest thing that embarrasses my family, but I really don’t care. Wear a surgical mask! I really believe that this is the one major thing that has kept me healthy. There is no point in shutting the vents or wiping down the area if you don’t take this final precaution. If someone coughs or sneezes in your direction, there is no place for those germs to go! I don’t care if people think I’m rude. I don’t care if people think I’m crazy. Those people aren’t going to be there to drive me to the doctor or blow my nose for me. I don’t owe them an explanation. However, I do casually mention to the people sitting next to me that, “I’m not sick. I’m just a germaphobe,” and no one has every freaked out or had a problem with it. Except my embarrassed family.

Next time you fly, follow my 3 tips to staying healthy and see if it works for you, too!

Modest Dresses from Adrianna Pappel & One Important Shopping Tip

Charlene Harreveld 10/29/2016 Comments Off

Modest Dresses from Adrianna Pappel

If you remember my infamous post about perveted men, you’ll remember that I mentioned that from my earliest rmemories I have always wanted to keep my body covered. Modesty has always been an important personal principle for me, even before I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You’ll notice in all of my fashion Instagram account photos and pictures from black-tie events that I’ve attended, that I’ve found a way to be modest without sacrificing my fashion sense. Modest dresses aren’t easy to find, but with a little bit of effort, I’ve always been successful.

One of my favorite designers is Adrianna Pappel. It seems like whenever I find a dress that I love, I look at the label and see that it is one of her designs and I immediately say to myself that I’m not surprised. With the holidays just around the corner, I wanted to share some of my favorite modest Adrianna Pappel dresses with you.

FREE SHIPPING and 15% OFF

Right now, Adrianna Pappel has free shipping on all orders (no coupon code needed) and if you sign up to receive their emails, you’ll receive a code for 15% off your order. Woo hoo!

First, EVERYONE needs this wrap! I have about a dozen (no kidding) black bolero jackets that I wear over strapless dresses. I have to admit, this one is my all-time favorite! It’s so classic and the wrap part of it just makes it that much cooler! If you have a staple like this in your closet, you can make every dress modest!

In addition to evening gowns and shoes, Adrianna Pappel also sells dress shoes, flats, and funky boots. The boots are 50% off right now! Keep scrolling down to take a look:

What’s my important shopping tip?

Don’t shop for things when you need them, shop all the time! What does that mean? Whenever I’m out shopping and I find a modest evening gown, I buy it. I don’t wait until I’m invited to something to then go and look for a dress. That never works. Buy it when you find it, because if you don’t you’ll regret it.

And guess what? Every single time I’ve bought a black-tie evening gown, an occasion presented itself and I wore the dress. No stress involved.

(affiliate post)

A Cornual Pregnancy, Chapter One

Charlene Harreveld 10/29/2016 6 Comments

Cornual Pregnancy

If there is one thing I can thank Donald Trump for it’s that his inflammatory rhetoric has been the catalyst I’ve needed to write about things that I’ve wanted to write about for a very long time. My essay about perverted men started coming together in my brain several years ago. Today’s essay has been in the making since March 4, 1994. That’s the day my second pregnancy was terminated and I was reduced to zero. Ever since that day, whenever Mother’s Day rolls around, I remember how I always intended to write an article about my experience with a cornual pregnancy and submit it to a magazine. Imagine that. The words I’m about to type have been in my head since the age of snail mail, and now, with just the click of the word “publish,” they will be available for the whole world to read. Continue reading →

Hacked By A Trumpster?

Charlene Harreveld 10/11/2016 1 Comment

Hacked By A Trumpster?

I was hacked. This election is real and dirty and straight out of a movie and I know it firsthand. It happened to me. Remember my last post about Donald Trump, Perverted Men, and Me? One minute it was there and the next minute it was … gone.

Imagine my surprise when I attempted to log in to my blog’s dashboard today to do some updates and I was unable to access my account. In addition to being surprised, I was also a little perplexed that when I went to my blog’s homepage, my last post about perverted men wasn’t there. It had disappeared.

I immediately called my hosting company and jokingly said to them, “I bet Donald deleted my post because it was a negative post about him.” The technician chuckled a little bit and then put me on hold to find out what was going on and why neither she nor I could access my account. But something about her reaction left me unsettled.

While she had me on hold, I went over to my Sussex Circle Musing Facebook Page to click on the link that directly linked to the Trump blog entry. I wanted to VOMIT when I clicked the link and it brought me to a blog post I wrote back in 2010 about a fun time my husband and I had when we attended a party at Mar-a-Lago – Trump’s house in Palm Beach.

Not only was my negative post removed by a hacker, but that same hacker took the time to redirect the link to a positive post about Trump.

Add two and two together and let me know what conclusion you reach.

Is the First Ammendment alive and well? Is he going to appoint a special prosecutor to look into me and put me in jail along with Hillary? Hey Donald – news flash! My post really had NOTHING to do with YOU and EVERYTHING to do with perverted men. But if the shoe fits…

Donald Trump, Perverted Men, and Me

Charlene Harreveld 10/08/2016 3 Comments

Donald Trump, Perverted Men, and Me

From my earliest recollection, I have always wanted to keep my body covered. It was instinctual. A little voice inside my head kept me in the modest zone. It was revolting to me – even before I knew about sex – that a man might look at my body and objectify it. The thought of a man looking at me in a sexual way made me want to vomit. It still does.

With the passing of time, I have had little blips of memories of certain times in my childhood. But like the sun trying to peek out from behind the clouds, the memories are never fully exposed. I think it’s a protective mechanism keeping me safe from the memories in the same way the clouds cover us from the sun. Somehow, deep down, my brain knows that I don’t have a sunscreen powerful enough to protect me from the full impact of the rays.

The blips of memories include a man asking me inappropriate questions that I can’t bring myself to type, that same man pinching my waist and telling me I needed to lose a few pounds, and when I was really young, that same man asking me to sit on his lap. That’s when my mind goes blank. And it is a slate that I want to keep uncolored. There is just enough hue there to make me know to protect myself and my daughters from perverted men; to turn away, to not engage, to speak up and say enough is enough. Jokes about women are not funny, and no man that I associate with would ever degrade a woman in my presence and live to tell about it.

The Access Hollywood video of Donald Trump has been like a hurricane to me, forcibly blowing the clouds to and fro, with rays coming and going. Even though the tape is revolting on every level, it has actually been helpful to me because it is a verbal record of what perverted men think. It’s a “Hallelujah!” moment. Now there are words and a visual for my experience.

Poor Arianne Zucker in the purple dress had no idea that she was being burned alive by a bus full of cacklers seconds before their meeting, behaving like the men who clapped and cheered while watching Jodi Foster’s character get raped in The Accused. The sun was fully exposed in that moment, yet it was never darker outside.

with my husband and daughters/2015