Last year was the first time Panda and I came across the Green Festivals and got involved volunteering there. You can check out what it was like and some of the goodies I scored! I also signed up to help out at the LA one, but then managed to total my car on the way so I didn’t end up going. This year we were back again and I signed up to help at the Green Festival store, which I had helped out with in the second half of my shift last time. I really enjoyed sharing the products at the store with passersby so I figured I’d do it again!
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Green Festival DC 2013!
July Favorites 2013
Let’s do a recap of the things I enjoyed in July!
1. Julep products – Ok, so this is actually a picture of the trade in which I got a bunch of my most recent Julep products. I’ve actually yet to purchase any Julep products since I’ve gotten much of what I want through trades. Still, if they start selling the green tea blotting papers on their site, I might have to spring for it. I’ve yet to find someone willing to trade! At least I’ve gotten to try their gel top coat, multiples shades of polish, and the cool nail polish dispenser shown here. I’ll definitely continue to try to acquire their products and one of these days I might just subscribe.
2. ALO drinks – I first tried these when they came in my March Goodies box. I really enjoy the bits of aloe floating around, as well as the light fruity flavor of the drink. So when I saw them at Whole Foods, I was pretty happy. I waited until they went on sale and took advantage of the cheaper price, plus the box discount that Whole Foods offers, buying a dozen. I got a total of 5 different flavors to determine which ones I like the most. I’ve now narrowed it down to the original watermelon+peach I got from Goodies and the pomelo lemon+pink grapefruit. Depending on if I want a sweeter or more tart taste, I alternate between the two.
3. Mossimo flip flops – I eyed these at Target for just about two weeks before they went on sale! Of course I had to jump on that the moment Panda told me. The gold tips of these flip flops are so nice and the overall look is casual yet fancy. I love simple things that make you look good but don’t require upkeep – that’s why dressed up flip flops, tinted lip balms, and summer dresses are my friend. Each makes you look like you put in a lot more effort, but they’re pretty effortless. 🙂
4. Juice Beauty skin clearing system – I get emails from Juice Beauty since they’re a brand I wanted to try. When I saw an offer for a 30-day skin clearing kit, I couldn’t resist. I mean, my skin needs help, I’ve been wanting to try this brand (especially the green apple peel), and they have a money back guarantee! Might as well try it, right? I’ve got to admit that the bamboo face towel was a big draw too. I can’t get enough of cute little super soft towels! I got the box on the 10th and have been dutifully using the products as directed. I’ll be sharing my experience in another post.
5. Mossimo bikini – The last time I bought a bikini was in Thailand about four years ago and that set was quite worn! I finally decided to get a new set this summer so I could enjoy the pool without oddly droopy swimwear. I had hoped to use our Disney gift cards in Orlando to find a cute Minnie Mouse bikini, but apparently Disney’s adult swimwear consists of boring black and white pieces best fit for older generations. So, where else would I turn but Target? They had a ton of styles to choose from and I’m most picky about the shape of the bottom, so once I picked that out I just found a top that matched. This one was super cute with the little twist in the front. I also got a reversible triangle top that I can pair with the bottoms, since this top is better for lounging and not too much movement.
6. Pocket Planes – Many years ago, I started playing Pocket Frogs, where you grow and breed frogs in an effort to “collect them all.” Every now and then I get back into it and the last time this happened, they showed me an ad for another game from the same company. I decided to give it a try and now I’ve been playing Pocket Planes consistently. I’m not sure what the draw is, but I sure do want to conquer the world and build airplanes at every available location. As you can see I’ve done pretty well in North America, but have yet to venture far from that. And so the flying continues.
7. ClosetMaid Cubeicals organizer – When I “moved” out here to live with Panda last month, it was the first time I knew I’d be staying for a long time. I finally started to feel like I could make this place home, so my first order of business was to get a piece of furniture I’d wanted. I then found this perfect cube shelving solution that I can use to store my stuff and as a pseudo desk when I’m sitting on the bed. We moved it out to the living area when Panda’s dad came to visit and I’ve yet to decide where it will go in our new place, but no matter what it makes my clutter a little less crazy.
8. Dr. Scholl’s For Her – I got not only the high heel insoles pictured, but massaging gel insoles as well! Both were free – the high heel insoles came in my Sunkissed VoxBox from Influenster and the massaging gel insoles came from BzzAgent. I’ve enjoyed trying these out in my shoes and I found the high heel ones particularly helpful in my recent interview, when I wore those shoes. Not only did they make it less painful to walk in the heels, they helped my feet fill them in better. Without the insoles, my feet would have slipped in and out of the shoes as I walked since they’re more spacious than my feet require.
9. Minnie tank top – I found myself wearing this shirt quite a lot in July! It’s the perfect summer shirt – loose, light, soft. I also love the design that is cute without being too over-the-top. It was the very first item I knew I was going to buy with the Disney gift cards we had. As soon as we were down in Orlando, I made sure to track down my size in a store and claim it. I may not be a huge Disney fan, but I do enjoy my sweet tank!
Alright, that wraps up July for me. Have you tried any of these products? What would you have highlighted in your July favorites?
Frolicking in Orlando
Many months ago, I was trying to change a hotel reservation for my uncle when I unwittingly agreed to a discounted vacation in exchange for a timeshare presentation. I chose to go to Orlando since it had been so long that I don’t remember last time I was there. Everything actually worked out really well – Panda and I got a nice little vacation out of it and right before we went, he was able to earn some free Disney gift cards that we could use on our trip. Plus, he actually had some training out there a few weeks before we went so he got to scout out the area first. Here’s a picture tour of our trip:
In the mail: a sample, a splurge, and some winnings
Just like my first “in the mail” post, these are all items I received in the past month or so. Most were free, but some I paid for and each package was just as exciting as the next. I especially love when I’m not sure what is in a box because I wasn’t expecting it. It’s like a mini celebration each time. 🙂
I received this very generous size sample of Purina One SmartBlend in Healthy Metabolism (a new variety that just came out) from Walmart. They were offering it for awhile but have since moved on to promoting dog food. Missy, as you can see, loved it. Molly, the other cat, doesn’t eat it though. I doled it out to Missy slowly and only as a snack aside from her normal dry food and made it last about a month! I have since bought a bag of it because she enjoyed it so much and maybe it’s my imagination, or is her little belly less flabby? Maybe her metabolism is healthier now.
These are the polishes I chose for the Earth Day exchange (missing: Penny, a coppery shade – it was sent later since it was backordered). In order, they are Harley, Zuza, Crystal, Pandora, Skylar, Ziv, and Sienna. Since my order was over $30, I got a cute little bottle of nail polish remover as well. The box included some brochures and “spoons” with samples of some of their other colors. I have never bought this much nail polish at once, but I figured since I’m swapping out my old ones I’d do a few more.
I won this really cool Lumnique deluxe candle set from Monica of Creative Me. This is a very unique brand that allows you to customize your own candle creation – check them out! It was really fun going through and picking out an intention (something to be mindful of every time I light it), a color (my favorite), and a scent (this was hard with so many great choices!). I ultimately went with the Good Luck intention “to remind you that impossible situations can become attainable miracles,” the Royal color “representative of intuition, idealism, honor, royalty, spirituality, nobility, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment,” and the Green Tea Lemongrass scent “like savoring a cup of relaxing green tea with invigorating lemongrass, this citrusy scent renews, refreshes and restores balance and harmony.” I love that it came with a cute box of matches too!
This set of Klorane products was a SheKnows giveaway that I won… except that I won the Citrus Pulp Giveaway offering the Klorane Citrus Pulp Shampoo and Leave-In Spray. But what they sent me was the prize pack for their other Klorane giveaway offering the Klorane Eco-Friendly Essentials Earth Day Kit with a reusable pouch, dry shampoo with oat milk, and biodegradable make-up remover wipes with cornflower water. While this kit is cool, I was really looking forward to trying the leave-in spray so I was a bit disappointed. When I emailed them to say they sent me the wrong items, they got back to me with the reply I predicted: they substituted my prize. I wish they had at least thrown in something else to make the value of the prizes the same – my original prize was worth $30 but this one is only worth $20. Oh well, winning is still better than nothing!
Another great win from Creative Me! This set of SeabuckWonders products is my current skincare routine and I’m loving it. If you’re not familiar with sea buckthorn, it’s a bright orange “superfruit” found in the Himalayans (so exotic) and because of the harsh environment it grows in, it has a ton of defensive mechanisms that translate to all kinds of health benefits of us humans. You can consume things made with it (and presumably eat the fruit directly if you’re lucky enough to have access) or use products made with it to get some of those benefits. One of the most unique things about it is its Omega-7 property, which is rare, though I have no idea what Omega-7s are good for. I love how both these products feel and that they will last me a long time since such a little amount is needed each time.
What great luck that I was also able to win this Sibu Sea Buckthorn Balancing Facial Cleanser! I will have to try this out to compare with the SeabuckWonders one. I could see myself using both since one is exfoliating and one is not. I like to switch it up! I previously got Sibu soap in a Yuzen box and it was the first time I’d heard of sea buckthorn. I am now obsessed with that special berry so I love it when any of my beauty products incorporate it.
Gogobot 500 Days of Summer
In celebration of reaching 500 members in Gogobot’s West LA Facebook group, the lovely community manager and her interns put together a party that also featured the premiere of the Gogobus Thrift Shop music video that we filmed at the Gogobus Stop Spring Break Party. Of course I had to be there! We took over the outdoor patio at the back of Rush Street in Culver City. It was nice to see some familiar faces from the last event and also get a chance to meet some new ones.
Stay tuned for an update to the music video when it’s posted! [Update: it’s up!! GO WATCH IT (and like please) – I’ve also embedded it below. Enjoy! :)]
Back to Bruin
I enjoyed a lovely day back on campus with Panda and a ton of other UCLA alumni today for Alumni Day 2013! It’s the first time most of us have ever seen or been in the new Pauley Pavilion and wow, it is nice. Our day started off by checking in outside and getting our reusable tote bags with the programs inside. We had nice large name tag lanyards displaying our graduation year. Inside Pauley’s food court/concession stand area were a bunch of stations filled with food options! The Chancellor was about to speak inside the arena, so we rushed to grab some breakfast before heading in. I got a couple of quiches and Panda got a parfait.
We sat down just as the Chancellor was introducing the keynote speaker: Guy Kawasaki. One of our friends happened to notice us and beckoned us to join her. We then settled in to learn the art of enchantment from Guy (and I was so enchanted that I totally forgot to take a picture or video to commemorate the event!!). We learned that crow’s feet are good, you’ve got to accept people, you should have a “yes” mentality, you should find something small in common to start building a connection, and so much more. When he was done speaking, we returned upstairs and found all kinds of tasty treats awaiting. We got some dessert items and a cup of Jamba Juice, but weren’t hungry enough for the hot dogs, nachos, churros, etc.
We then split up for the smaller sessions, which were about 20 minutes long. Each time slot had three options of topics to choose from and to cover the most ground, Panda I chose different ones so we could learn the most. I started off listening to the co-founder of the Nom Nom Truck talk about change, but I arrived late and kind of missed too much of the presentation to get much out of it. Then it was off to hear from Mike Flynn, co-founder of Opportunity Green, who told a fun story about his own path of growth. Then I heard from a guy who helped launch Startup UCLA, which is sort of an accelerator program for startups that UCLA students and recent grads work on. I actually know two people who participated in the program and worked on two different companies!
For the last presentation of the day, I went to hear Sue Enquist talk about Coach Wooden’s impact on her and advice taken from him for living a better life. I actually ran into a girl from my high school prior to heading in and got a chance to catch up with her as we went in to the session. Once we got out, I caught up with Panda and we got a chance to explore the store at Pauley, as well as some of the many booths and tables that were set up around the area.
By 2, everything within Pauley was wrapping up and many alum were already heading out, but Panda and I went to the SAC pool to enjoy a boat race put on by engineering students! It was a grand old time watching the students putting their cardboard and duct tape creations to the test of staying afloat as someone rowed it one lap in the pool. There were some pretty hilarious sinking moments that seemed to happen in slow motion and there were a few runaway successes too!
After all the fun was over, I got a chance to peruse the UCLA Store. It’s one of my favorite stores in the whole world, probably because of all the cool clothing they have with various UCLA messaging on them. I love anything related to my alma mater! I tried on some things and got a chance to purchase my favs. The rest will go on my wishlist. That hat? Not so much. And I was so surprised to find Hello Kitty as a Bruin! Lol.
To wrap up, Panda and I wandered around campus a bit to enjoy the sunshine and each other. Then it was off again, with both of us returning to our respective parents’ homes. As we were walking out, Panda realized we hadn’t done a single 8-clap all day (what?!?!) – that’s pretty much unheard of at a UCLA event, so I did one in my head. 😉
What a great day in terms of goodies! Not only was there tons of food (I later got a salad and sandwich that I brought back home with me, as well as chips and soda), but I got quite a few other treats as well. It started off with the reusable tote and my badge with lanyard. Then there were buttons and wooden USBs for the taking. At the UCLA Anderson table, I got a nice booklet with various sizes of post-its inside and a shiny pen. At the networking area, the engineering table had fun Raytheon post-its for the taking so I got some of those. Towards the end of the day, I went to chat with the people of Ecos and the VP generously offered me one of the full size products they had on display since they were leaving soon! I had already gotten a nice sample of their laundry detergent so I picked the stain & odor remover. And finally, in the UCLA Store, there was a shelf with Whitelines that were FREE. LOVE IT!!!
And to wrap up, I couldn’t resist spending some money on my alma mater. I acquired a sweet Spring Sing top to wear it loud and proud for our awesome musical tradition. I acquired a cool UCLA Fund t-shirt for donating money and participating in the North vs. South campus competition. Lastly, I acquired a lovely aqua sweatshirt with the UCLA seal on it in glittery screenprint. I’m so excited about each of these items and can’t wait to wear them excessively. 🙂
Gogobot Spring Break Bus Party
Been away all day! I had a grand old time at Gogobot West LA’s Spring Break Bus Party extravaganza. Check out what we did!
After this, my phone died! We had some fun checking out the view, then headed back to our original meeting point and most people went their own ways. A few of us decided to meet up for dinner and spent some extra time together before parting ways. I got back just before 11 pm, after a very full day of activities! Good times. 🙂
Target Earth Day Haul
This morning, we had a little family outing to Target to get the free reusable bags for Earth Day! The good thing about my town is that store traffic is pretty light, so we didn’t have to worry about them running out. Also, ours came with samples! I’m sure plenty of other Targets only passed out bags mostly, especially if they’re in a concentrated area where a ton of people would come running for free snacks/skincare/cleaning products. That’s the one good thing about living in a quiet suburban area – we may not always have the most things in stock or the best sales, but on offers like this we tend to get a sweeter deal (and an easier time getting it). On the right you can see a sneak peek of the goodies we got from our 3 bags.
And here’s a look at everything laid out:
You can see on average each bag had 4 samples, plus the coupon book. There might have been other samples available, but here’s what we got in our bags, which I think is pretty representative of what was available: 2 Method Smarty Dish Plus dishwasher tablets, 3 Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent samples (good for one large load of laundry each), 3 bags of Annie’s Bunny Grahams (with honey, chocolate, & chocolate chip) made with whole grains, 3 Burt’s Bees Sensitive skincare Daily Moisturizing Cream samples, 1 Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid sample, and three Target coupon booklets with over $44 worth of savings on various eco-conscious brands like the ones shown. Sponsors this year that didn’t have products included were plantbottle, GE, and Neutrogena Naturals.
The bags themselves are deemed a “bit tote” because they’re a smaller size and the messaging this year is “each bit counts.” I totally agree with this! People often dismiss efforts to be more green because they think “oh this one time won’t matter” or they wonder “can I really make such a difference?” While we may not see it, the sum of all our little “bits” can add up pretty fast, especially over time. So I hope people become more conscious of this and do a little more each day to conserve, repurpose, reuse, recycle, etc. In addition, with each action we take, we can change our way of thinking and doing so that we become more and more “green” – so I see every small step compounding into bigger and bigger steps for the future.
One final note – I loved that the words were composed of tiny little handprints! Very cute and it goes with the idea that each of us counts. Every bit.
A TOUS holiday
Panda went browsing at the TOUS store the other day and came back with some free goodies! Don’t mind Missy, she was just admiring her new toys…