the most wonderful time of the year . . .

My favorite time is approaching once more, and I am so excited. What time is that, you ask? Time to pick a new bar of soap! What's that you say? That that's boring and lame? Oh, how wrong you are, my friends. I speak not of ordinary soap, but of soap handmade by Kathy, saponifier extraordinaire. Here is part of my extensive soap collection.


Isn't that just irresistably yummy looking? This doesn't include all the odds and ends and little experiments she's given me over the years. Having a soap connection is a very good thing. Kathy also makes this:

The most glorious shea-butter that is the only thing that has completely quenched my dry skin. It's like going to a spa. I can't stop feeling how soft my skin is even hours later. ("Umm, Kim, why are you rubbing your own arm?")

Admit it. You envy my soap.

Plus, Kathy is one of the sweetest, most hard-working people I know, one of those really healthy-looking, outdoorsy, I'm-just-naturally-this-gorgeous sort of girls that I have always wanted to be. I am not outdoorsy, and I will never have Kathy's gorgeous hair, even if I were to sell my soul. I will also never have Bernadette Peters' hair, and it makes me sick with envy and keeps me awake at night, but that's just my own cross to bear. Enough about my girl-crush on Kathy. Go buy her soap, and let's all hope it can give us just a little of Kathy's gorgeousness.