April « 2015 « ((little fat notebook))

Homegrown Collective March 2015 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: baking soda, cleaning, home, household, projects, reviews, sucscription boxes, vinegar

11 April 2015

Homegrown Collective is trying something new and instead of printing out inserts with the projects for the box, they’re posting all the info on their site! I think that’s a great idea and it certainly offered them a chance to share a ton of information. This month’s theme is “Vim & Vinegar!” and they showcase three types of vinegar, all with amazing uses. This is great timing since Panda and I were planning on some spring cleaning this weekend.

The Homegrown Collective GREENBOX is $39 per box + $9 shipping (or as discounted as $429 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with fun and easy projects to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program you can apply to join.

Project #1, orange peel white vinegar: I can’t believe I never considered infusing vinegar with other scents to help with the odor. I’m pretty sensitive to the scent, so cleaning with vinegar has been something I avoided. This is perfect and I can’t wait to see how the orange peel helps with the vinegar smell! I won’t have to hold my breath when using white vinegar to clean. 🙂 They also laid out over a dozen ways to use it, from removing scents to conditioning hair and of course plenty of cleaning remedies. A spray bottle of this stuff is going to be a total life saver around the house.

Project #2, baking soda & white vinegar cleanser: Combine two power cleaning products and the effects have got to be amazing! I’ve heard of all the things baking soda can do, so it totally makes sense for both of these to be key ingredients to cleaning just about anything. Surprisingly, I haven’t tried using them for removing stains before. I really need to try that on the ones the cats have created.

Project #3, apple cider vinegar: Wow, they wrote up another extensive list of ways to use this kind of vinegar. I’m totally adding this to my daily drinking habit (I go through a good 10 mugs of water and/or tea on weekdays). I never knew it could be good for digestion! Maybe it will help with my stomachaches. Other uses that jumped out at me were skincare related, including using it for a facial toner, applying it to work against acne, and rubbing it in to help with cellulite. The hair care benefits reminded me of what I learned from the January box.

Project #4, pasillo pepper spicy vinegar: The final use is about infusing vinegar, which takes advantage of the balsamic vinegar. I did a cold infusion before, so this hot style will be new and should provide a strong flavor. I’ve never tried pasillo peppers and I hope they aren’t too spicy or I’ll have to give this to someone else to actually consume.

What an assortment of vinegars and their respective uses! This will certainly keep me busy for awhile, trying out all the ways vinegar (and baking soda) can power my cleaning needs. I love the simplicity of these natural items that are so easy to buy.

Subscribe to the Homegrown Collective today and start living a greener lifestyle!

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Drywall patching

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: drywall, home, home improvement, panda, pictures, service

09 April 2015

Our home is now over a year old and for our one year, we had our drywall patched up for the areas showing signs of popped nails. Panda and I made a list of everything we noticed so when the guy came, I was able to point them all out. It took a good portion of the morning, with a break in between for the new drywall to dry. I’m always curious about how these things are done and it was totally not what I expected! Granted, I wasn’t really sure how they’d patch things up so I guess breaking off the pieces and filling them in sort of makes sense.

Here’s the damage we observed:

set of nails popping underneath drywall causing bumps

We were seeing some movement underneath.

crack in drywall from shifting walls in home

Some cracks presented themselves.

popped nail under drywall creating obvious dent

A few nails popped quite clearly.

When the guy came, he quickly set out to fix up all those parts of the walls and ceiling.

plastic protectant laid on ground to catch drywall pieces

He carefully laid down plastic to cover areas where he was working.

exposed drywall patch being fixed and redone

The cracks got chipped away and new drywall was put on top. The netting thing was to help things stabilize and adhere.

cat hiding in closet by hanging dress shirt sleeves

Smokey was not happy about the intrusion, so she went to hide in the closet.

wet drywall drying out after patching popped nails

When he left, everything was still drying.

Once dry, this is how it looked. For the most part I hardly ever notice the patches, but every now and then they become obvious. Eventually we’ll paint them!

Loot Crate March 2015 Covert box review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，

07 April 2015

At work, the CEO ordered Loot Crate for the first time, just to see what it was like. Upon checking it out, he decided he wants to get a subscription and reward one employee with a box each month, for something that they’ve done. I happened to get this first one because of a strong presentation I gave at the company All Hands recently, plus all my work to get Slack launched for our internal communication. I thought the “Covert” theme was perfect for Panda, who is nerdy like that.

Loot Crate is $13.95 per box + $6 shipping/handling (or as discounted as $215.40 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with a variety of tech/geek/gamer gadgets, gear, collectibles, and apparel with themes. Each box comes with a booklet about the contents and a collectible pin. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program to earn money towards free boxes.

James Bond t-shirt – Ah yes, of course a nod to one of the most famous spies in pop culture. This is a fun t-shirt, though it came in the CEO’s size, which is about two sizes larger than Panda or I. Maybe we’ll have to give it back to him for wearing. It’s cute and a design that works for movie buffs and tech geeks alike.

Orphan Black Sarah comic – I’m not into comics and I got kind of confused trying to read this, so I’ll leave it to Panda or anyone I meet who shows interest in comics. I don’t quite get how it fits the theme – perhaps all the secrets the character has or discovers.

Field Notes notebook pack – These are adorable! I love stationery so this is right up my alley and if Panda doesn’t take notes with it, I will. I thought it’d be particularly hilarious for him to take with him on his training, but he was unwilling. Too bad.

Blink Time Stealth wrist watch – At first I thought this was a fake watch, but then I found that you press the face of it and it lights up the time in red! What a fun gadget and totally spy-worthy. Again, I tried to get Panda to take it to training (unsuccessfully).

Spy Mad Libs – These are always hilarious, so it’ll be fun to go through! Maybe I’ll play with my coworkers for a laugh sometime.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. badge and lanyard – I saw a bit of this show and I guess they have quite a following. I’ll probably use the lanyard for other things and leave the badge for decoration.

Paracord Survival Bracelet – This is the coolest multipurpose thing. I love that it’s a bracelet so you can easily wear it around, but then you can unravel it to use for survival purposes.

Loot Crate March 2015 Covert pin – Panda’s really into pins for some reason, so we can add this to his collection…

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support me and I’d be ever so grateful. 😀 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just received this box as a gift and wanted to share what I got!]

Free L’Occitane Tin with Mini Hand Creams

laelene Posted in deals, lifestyle glimpses，Tags: beauty, deals, free, free stuff, hand creams, offers, pictures, skincare

05 April 2015

Deal time! Panda recently notified me of a free offer from L’Occitane, where you can get a cute little tin with two small shea butter hand creams inside.When I found out about it on Friday, I wanted to go to the mall that very night! Luckily, when we went yesterday they were just getting started and we were actually the first to redeem the offer at that location. And here I was afraid they’d run out. 😛 It was so new that the cashier had to read through some instructions on how to handle the offer.

All you have to do it like/follow them, share the offer (I believe this is optional), and subscribe to their newsletter. If you’re not a VIP already, they’ll ask for your info at the store to sign up to be one. Pretty great deal for this set of products, good through next weekend. Hop on it now! #LOVELOCCITANE

Offer details:

-FREE collector’s hand cream tin with Rose and Vanilla hand creams (both 10 ml tubes)

-15% off select best seller items, including shea butter hand cream, foot cream, etc.

-redeem in store or online

in store: no purchase necessary
online: offer good with any purchase, plus spend $25 to get free shipping

-offer valid April 3-12, 2015 (while supplies last)

size comparison of l'occitane collector's tin and mini hand creams against person's hand

Here’s a sense of the size of the items.

Influenster XOVoxBox

laelene Posted in reviews，Tags: colgate optic white, influenster, john frieda, pictures, products, reviews, samples, skinfix, tide pods, toothbrush, toothpaste, voxbox, whitening pen

03 April 2015

It’s been awhile, but I finally qualified for another VoxBox! Shipping got a bit delayed, but thankfully they also extended the active period for reviews to accommodate. For awhile I was concerned mine got lost along the way, but then it finally showed up a few weeks ago. 🙂

As always, I got a wonderful box full of products that I enjoyed. Some I will definitely buy again, some I might not, but I liked trying them all.

Colgate Optic White Platinum toothpaste – We’ve used other Colgate Optic products before, but not quite this exact one. I like their tube design that allows us to stand the toothpaste up – it saves on counter space! This felt warm at first and then more minty with further brushing. I like it

Colgate Optic White toothbrush with built-in whitening pen – I’m always happy to get another toothbrush and these bristles feel good. The whitening pen in the handle is a handy design that makes it easier to remember to whiten after brushing. I did find the tip to be rather odd, with the texture that made the paste come out on my teeth in small globs. I like that I don’t have to worry about removing it from my teeth after a certain period. I didn’t notice a huge change in my teeth, but they did seem glossier/brighter after a few uses.

Skinfix Hand Repair Cream – This is a really great healing lotion for whenever my skin desperately needs deep hydration. I get these weird red bumps on my fingers sometimes, which I think are an allergic reaction (typically to frozen cardboard, like the ones for housing goods in the freezer). My fingers itch a lot when that happens and I’m keeping this handy for those situations, to help soothe and heal my skin.

Tide Pods with Febreze – I just love how convenient these are! Throw one in, no muss no fuss, and your clothes come out smelling fresher than clean. I love that there’s no risk of a sticky mess and no need for measuring. What a great solution. They dissolve perfectly and leave no trace at the end, except the lingering Febreze scent. I’ll definitely be using these as my go-to for my laundry needs.

John Frieda 7 Day Volume – So the instructions say to use a blow dryer, but I’m not in that habit so I wanted to see what would happen if I styled my hair normally (which means letting it air dry). I do feel there was a bit more volume to my hair, but nothing super obvious that would scare people away. I’ll have to leave it in longer and try this whole blow drying thing another time.

John Frieda Beach Blonde collection of shampoo, conditioner, and sea salt spray – I like the mint in the shampoo and conditioner! It offers a nice scent that is fresh and sweet. I haven’t noticed them performing differently than my standard hair care products, though the conditioner is more subtle and doesn’t over-slick my hair. The spray has a coconut scent that is oh so tropical. It gives great texture and a bit of tousling helps to give that ocean air-blown hair.

What’s your favorite item in this #XOVoxBox?

[I received these products free for testing purposes. All opinions are my own.]

Reston Town Center April Fool’s

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: april fools, experiences, fun, pictures, play, reston, work

01 April 2015

It looks like the Reston Town Center does a fun joke each year for April Fool’s! Last year the balls were all rainbow colored and this time around they went with a new theme. Pretty fun!