((little fat notebook))

Escape Monthly April: Mexico Box Review

laelene Post in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, escape monthly, pictures, products, reviews, subscriptions

26 April 2014

Escape Monthly has really gotten good at putting together their boxes. I am always looking forward to what new products I’ll learn about. This was another box heavy on the food items, which is perfectly fine with me. I’m happy to have more snacks and drinks to enjoy!

Escape Monthly is just under $40 per box (with code for 20% off your subscription – see end of post) and comes with a variety of food, home, skincare items themed around a city. Each box comes with a Moon Handbooks guide for that region. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a lovely recurring referral commission program.

(click to enlarge and read full messaging)

Everything came carefully wrapped in bubble wrap since there were so many glass items this time! They were all well-protected and came in perfect condition. I’ve already tasted about half the items and I can’t stop sniffing the candle. 😉

Here’s what came in the box:

Moon Handbooks guide to Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo – I’ve never heard of these areas of Mexico and I’m totally intrigued. There are so many cool things to explore and I love the contrast of more local flair and culture with the touristy areas for vacationing. I’m glad they didn’t just go for Mexico City or Cancun or something, but chose a more exotic and lesser-known locale to share.

Ayate Agave Fiber Washcloth – The moment you get this wet the first time, it does a fun shrinking act. I was concerned about the holes being so large, but they totally shrink down once wet and make a perfect handcloth for exfoliating your body. I was surprised at how nice it felt – I kind of expected it to be a little scratchy. Love this and I think I might need to stock up on a few.

Mundet Green Apple & Sangria Senorial sodas – The green apple soda seemed safest, so I tried it first. It’s a nice sweet drink just as you’d expect green apple to be. It had a sort of aftertaste/smell that I couldn’t quite place. Overall still a tasty drink. At first glance, I thought I had gotten some sort of wine with the sangria, but it’s non-alcoholic and just happens to be in a wine bottle sort of shape. It’s much sweeter and I don’t think I could finish the entire thing in one sitting.

Fusion Habanero Heat sea salt – This packaging is just too cute. This is the same type of salt as the Hawaiian-inspired one I got back in the Hawaii box and I hope more keep coming because I’d totally love a collection. I must think of some dish I can cook up using this salt. Maybe I’ll just add it to some chicken and see how that tastes.

Pacifica Mexican Cocoa candle – I’ve never had a Pacifica candle before and I’m thrilled. This smells fantastic – rich and chocolatey with a hint of spice! What a totally appropriate scent to have wafting through the house when I want to think of our neighbors to the south. I will enjoy this for a bit before I start burning it. It’s fun to sniff here and there.

Kopali Fruit Organic Mango – I’m not a mango fan so I’ll be giving these to Panda to eat, or coworkers if he’s not interested. I did get this brand back in a Yuzen box nearly two years ago (my first intro to mulberries) and I like it, so I’d be willing to try their other fruits.

Lucas Mango powder, de la Rosa Pulparindo & de la Rosa marzipan peanut candy – Such playful candies! I’m skipping the mango powder due to the flavor, but I had the two de la Rosa products and they really made me think of this Mexican market in my area back in SoCal. I’ve definitely seen them around and now I’ve tried them too. The Pulparindo is an interesting gritty sort of snack with salty and spicy bits. It definitely isn’t something I’m used to but I do like to nibble on it. The marzipan candy isn’t peanutty like Western peanut candy and I appreciate that. This is a crumbly treat I would actually like to have despite not being a huge fan of peanuts.

This box was nice and warm in the flavors and sense it gave off, just like what I think of down in Mexico. The non-edible items are right up my alley and many of the snacks were nice to try. What items stood out to you in this Mexican Escape Monthly box? If you want to sign up, try one of these codes (not sure which ones are still active): YOURESCAPE for 20% off the lifetime of your subscription or GIFTESCAPE for 25% off.

Next month we’re returning stateside to California and I’m really looking forward to what things they can show me right in my own backyard. They’ve already announced one product from Juice Beauty, which is a brand I enjoy using. Looking good!

[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!]

The perfect storm

laelene Post in general blog，

24 April 2014

Exhaustion. That state in which you start breaking down.

Not just the body. The mind. The soul.

I didn’t think I was all that drained. It overcame me before I even realized it. Didn’t help that I was freezing and starving too. Could there be a more uncomfortable combination?

Oh, and suddenly I found myself overworked. So for no reason, I felt like crying. Must have been the droopy eyes I got from all the stress.

It’s strange, I don’t feel overtly stressed, just… worn. Yet, not physically tired the way I’ve been before, from lack of sleep or too much strenuous activity. Perhaps it is my essence itself that is tired.

I was lightheaded, woozy, easily bordering into delirious territory. Funny how it happened so quickly. It’s only the second day back from my vacation! I don’t seem to fare well when I don’t have enough snacks and the office is chilly.

In times like these, a warm bed full of blankets has never felt more welcoming.

Peaceful plane landing

laelene Post in lifestyle glimpses, video blog，Tags: flying, natures, planes, scenery, sunset, trees, videos

23 April 2014

I’m pooped! After leaving work around 6 to go catch the HOA Board Meeting and then spending two hours there hashing out concerns, I grabbed some fast food and arrived home to start working at something I needed to prepare for tomorrow. I finally finished up and I’m so exhausted, so I shall leave you with this lovely scene I get to see on my drive home sometimes.

plane landing over trees from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Easter holiday

laelene Post in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: charleston, experiences, middleton place, myrtle beach, panda, pictures, smokey, south carolina, travel, vacation

22 April 2014

For the first time in my life, I got Good Friday and Earth Day off (what a fabulously quirky company I work at) so Panda and I planned a little vacation for this weekend. I took Monday off so I’d have 5 days and his schedule is so odd with his travel that I’m not sure if he had to take any days off. Since he got solicited to sit in a timeshare presentation awhile back, we decided to schedule that for this little Easter break we’d be getting. The location we’d chosen was Myrtle Beach, because it’s about as far as we can drive in a reasonable time and we’d enjoyed it the first time we went. The timeshare offer was only for 2 nights, so we planned to spend a night in Charleston to explore a new place while we were at it.

As it turns out, he couldn’t make it back until the night of the first day of our trip (when we were supposed to be in Charleston), so we headed out in the middle of the night. He flew in at 5 pm, took care of some business, and we napped until midnight or so. We then crawled up and made sure Smokey had enough food and water laid out. I scooped her litter one last time to ensure the freshest box possible and we were off at 1 in the morning. We talked along the drive for the first two hours as it rained all through the night. I started to get tired between 3 and 4 and finally decided to sleep. I kept waking up paranoid that Panda would be too tired to drive, so I always asked him how he was doing before crashing again. We made a pit stop at a Chick-fil-a right as it was opening at 6:30 and I felt much better after eating. As it was getting brighter, I woke up again and finally felt somewhat refreshed. I offered to drive and took over for the last hour and something that it took for us to reach our first destination: Middleton Place.

green tree-lined road with little sky showing

As, such wonderful greenery!

panorama of middleton place near charleston south carolina

Welcome to Middleton Place!

small section of green rice paddy at middleton place

They have a mini rice paddy to give you a sense of what it’s like.

alligator laying on grass of bank and head of other alligator peeking out of water

Alligators were just chillin’! Can you spot the one in the water?

kneeling in front of giant bush of white and pink flowers

They usually have tons of flowers, but most didn’t survive the storm from the previous night.

crowd of kids and parents gearing up for easter egg hunt at middleton place

They were hosting multiple Easter egg hunts for kids that morning.

giant stork walking on path at middleton place

That stork calmly walked around like it owned the place.

brown water buffalo standing by water looking up

Was this water buffalo gazing up at the sky?

When I first saw this goat, I thought it might be fake.

family of black momma pig and three baby piglets

Momma pig had some babies!

This piglet was so hungry it tried to eat my finger.

brown and white water buffalo pair drinking water and staring

Getting stared down by the water buffalo.

brown and white water buffalo pair nuzzling

Aww look at them nuzzling.

group of different fowl including chickens, roosters, and geese

Such a pretty variety of birds on the farm.

petting farm cat walking on picnic table

Farm cats are always so bold.

giant white rabbit in cage with brown one behind it

Bunny rabbits for Easter! And check out my speckled egg nails. 🙂

Peacocks just roamed around.

A lady thought that this peacock grooming would actually spread his tail out.

male peacock with feathers spread out to groom himself

Such brilliant colors. Too bad this guy had no competition on the farm to give him a reason to show us his plumage.

white tents at middleton place for wedding

We were asked if we were the couple getting married here today. Do I look dressed for a wedding?! 😛

giant oak tree on middleton place property

A very large oak with plenty of character, even after some major branches fell.

pair of swans sitting in water by edge eating grass

As we headed out, we tracked down the swans.

two 2-piece meals of fried chicken with sides at bojangles

For lunch, we had Bojangles. We still prefer Popeye’s.

black and white bird flying in for piece of bread on ground

When I saw birds, I happily busted out the old bread I brought to feed animals on the trip.

parking lot in midst of trees with no paved roads or painted lines

The parking lots for the plantations were basically part of the forest.

charleston tea plantation america's only tea garden

The only place in America you’ll find them growing, harvesting, and making tea! Bigelow owns this one.

fields of tea plants and giant machine for harvesting tea leaves

Fields and fields of tea bushes that just look like a regular plant.

close-up of tea leaves of camellia sinensis bush

This my friends, is what you start with when you want a nice cup of tea.

horse-drawn cart with tour of charleston

Time to swing by downtown Charleston! Of course the first thing we see is a horse-drawn tour.

fragrance room at colonial candle store in charleston

At Colonial Candle, they had Fragrance Rooms where you could experience a candle.

fried green tomatoes atop bed of corn covered with cheese and sweet and sour sauce

For dinner, I tried fried green tomatoes for the first time. YUM

view of myrtle beach area inland from patricia grand hotel 16th floor

We arrive in Myrtle Beach and get a room at the Patricia Grand.

shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, and she crab soup at mr. fish

Lunch the next day consisted of all sorts of creamy options.

sea salt scrub made by fishermen in restroom of mr. fish restaurant

In the restroom they had a fabulous salt scrub that I almost wanted to buy.

store of all purple things at broadway at the beach in myrtle beach

Out to the Barefoot Landing area and I had to check out the Purpleologist.

wall of racks and racks of globe candles with many designs

Walking by another store, I saw someone making candles so I went in.

round candle with starfish and lionfish design

I loved the intricate look to them!

lady holdking candle while carving into it

I wanted a UCLA one, so the lady made it on the spot.

blue and yellow ucla globe candle hand carved

Check out that beauty! The yellow part will glow when I light it.

The final morning, I woke up just as the sun was rising.

people down on beach and chairs with tents laid out

By the time we headed out, people were roaming the beach. I had no idea those crescent things became wind-blocking tent things!

Along the drive home, we happened upon quite the accident. Yikes!

Treatsie April 2014 review

laelene Post in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, chocolates, cookies, food, pictures, reviews, snacks, subscriptions, treats, treatsie

21 April 2014

[Edit: I’ve learned that there was some confusion and I was actually supposed to get a third brand. I’m getting a premium one sent to me to make up for it! :)]

I was super confused with the box I got this time around because there were only two brands (granted one item was really large) and the card inside listed three. I finally reached out to Treatsie to ask if I was supposed to get all three and it seems that the upgraded boxes had the third item, but those grandfathered in to the non-upgraded version got the card listing all the items without actually receiving all items listed.

Treatsie is $15 per box + $4.95 shipping and comes with artisan candy from 3-4 brands (I am grandfathered in for $15 for 2-3 brands and fewer items). That means about 6 or 7 different flavors of treats (or 4 or 5 for me). Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program.

Brix Bites Chocolate for Wine in Extra Dark, Smooth Dark, Medium Dark, and Milk Chocolate bars: Even though I don’t drink wine, I can totally enjoy these. They truly are “brix” in that they are a very firm piece of chocolate. If you like a piece that will not just melt in your hand, this is the type for you. I like the hardness of them and even better is the taste. I’ve tried the medium dark and extra dark so far and both are fabulous – great flavors that are super smooth. These are some quality chocolates that anyone would love with or without wine.

Grey Ghost Bakery Lemon Sugar cookies: I was certainly skeptical when I first saw these – they looked too crumbly. But oh my, did they surprise and impress me! They’re actually wonderfully moist (I hate dried out cookies, don’t you?) and those giant grains of sugar along with the chewy bits of lemon hidden in there… wow, fantastic combo in a cookie. I think I need to have these with my tea every day now. Fantastic, and I’m glad the bag of them is a generous portion.

The third brand as you can see was Hot Cakes. I’m not much into peanut butter, so no huge loss there. I’m glad I got the two brands I did! What do you think of the items in this box?

How to: set keyboard shortcuts

laelene Post in how to guides，Tags: efficiency, how to, images, ipad, iphone, screenshots, settings, time saving, tutorial, typing

20 April 2014

Save time by setting your own personalized keyboard shortcuts on your iDevice! If you type a lot on your Apple device, there are probably certain words and phrases that you input all the time. In my case, I kept meaning to set up a shortcut for my email address so I don’t have to fill it out each time. This also helps prevents any typing errors I might have.

To set your own, go to Settings>General and scroll down to Keyboard. At the bottom are shortcuts and some might have been created for you already (like “omw” becoming “On my way”). Tap “Add New Shortcut…” to create custom ones.
The first line, Phrase, is what you want to be filled in when you use the shortcut.
The second line, Shortcut, is what you want to type to trigger the replacement.

In my example, you can see that I’ve set “mq” to automatically expand into my full email address: mary@maryqin.com. Saves me so much effort! If you want the replacement to happen, just add punctuation or a space after you type the shortcut and the phrase will automatically appear. If you don’t want the replacement, keep typing letters to form a different word or press the gray “x” next to the replacement phrase as shown.

Easy! And now you can prevent excessive time being spent typing the same things over and over. 🙂

Little girl

laelene Post in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: animals, cats, home, pets, pictures, smokey

19 April 2014

Now that Smokey’s been with us for over two weeks, she’s really settling into things and taking over the home in her adorable way. I’ve taken to calling her “little girl” when Smokey or Smokey Bear doesn’t feel right. Take a look at her all around the house…

She poses authoritatively.

She gets mischievous.

She claims the couch.

She claims my spot on the bed.

She takes over my desk.

She had her own getaway.

She splays all over the place.

She explores the bath.

She stretches out.

Ah, what a good life! When she first arrived she couldn’t seem to truly let go and rest, but now she sleeps so soundly. 🙂 It’s great having some liveliness around here!

Good Friday

laelene Post in general blog，Tags: dreams, holidays, sleep, time off, vacation, volunteering, work

18 April 2014

Last night was the first time in a long while that I actually fell asleep unintentionally. I woke up at 2 something in the morning to find the lights still on, my laptop running, and the cat dozing away. I thought about getting in a blog post, but that required too much effort to wake up from a fog, so I turned off the lights and settled back to sleep. I’m pretty sure I had a dream in a world that I’d dreamed of before. It was like a hybrid of SF and Georgetown and (much like last time) parts of it were flooded. I even recall a house that I’d admired last time. This time I decided to sneak in with Panda and another friend (I think it might have been Ninja) to check it out.

Such was my exhausted state of mind last night, so I’m very glad that we get today off. I’ve got to say, I’ve never had Good Friday off (nor have I had Earth Day, which I also get this year). It’s quite nice and I hadn’t realized how much I was trying to cram in before my long weekend (I’m taking Monday since Earth Day is Tuesday, so I get 5 days!). I guess it all caught up to me last night as I finally got a chance to decompress from it all. It’s also the perfect time for me to be able to go pick up my volunteer badge for the Smithsonian. Their security office is only open weekdays so I haven’t had time to go all the way out to DC to get my badge.

I’m also looking forward to swinging by a macaroon shop that closed before Panda and I could go buy anything last time. I might just get some Georgetown Cupcakes or Sprinkles too.

Ipsy April 2014: Beauty Rocks review

laelene Post in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, boxes, ipsy, pictures, products, reviews, skincare, subscriptions

16 April 2014

After a disappointing run last month, I was glad to get a bag that was pretty decent this time. The products actually made sense for my preferences for the most part and I can see myself trying all the products if I don’t end up trading the ones I don’t really want.

Ipsy is $10 per glam bag and comes with 5 or so beauty/skincare products. Bags are sent monthly with no option to skip. There’s usually a waitlist to get the subscription. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards free products.

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil – This didn’t apply as easily as I’m used to. I had to press harder than with other eye pencils and then I ended up pressing too hard and making a fatty line. I did like the “velvety”ness once it was on, but I don’t know if I could achieve the nice line I’d want to. It was pretty smudge and waterproof at least.

Elizabeth Mott pop! goes the shadow in Champagne – Since I don’t ever use eye shadow, I’ll be saving this for a trade. I love the shiny look of it and I was tempted to touch it just to see what sort of consistency it has, but I resisted. If I don’t manage to trade this, it just might be an eye shadow I’d try out here and there.

Mary Kay at Play jelly lip gloss in Teddy Bare – I’m cool with gooey lip glosses, so I liked this. The nude color is great for a natural look or to go on top of a bolder color. It has pretty awesome staying power, which is nice since I don’t like having to reapply something on my lips all day (and if I don’t, they dry out easily).

dr. brandt microdermabrasion – Well, I’m fascinated with microdermabrasion so I’m really happy I got this. Since it has a seal, I’m going to keep it in my stash while I work through some other scrubs I have. I wonder how it will compare to the derma e microderm scrub that I absolutely love.

St. Tropez Gradual Tan Plus Anti-Aging Multi-Action Face – I’m just not into tanning products, so I shall definitely be putting this up for trade. If I was interested in trying them, this seems like a nice brand to use. I’m sure there are ladies out there who’d love to trade.

It was nice to get a bag with different dimensions and I like that shade of purple, but the design is meh. At least there are products I’m excited about and others I’m moderately interested in this time. If you want to trade for any of my items, check out my eDivv shop.

Julep Speckled for Spring Mystery Box with Kimberly review

laelene Post in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, boxes, julep, mystery box, nail polishes, nails, pictures, products, reviews, subscriptions

15 April 2014

Since my first mystery box (which I loved), I haven’t seen one come across my inbox that truly intrigued me. But then I saw the fun speckled designs for the Speckled for Spring Mystery box and I decided to spring for it (har har). There was one complete mystery one, one with Kimberly (the purple one), and one with Emerson (the blue one). Can you guess which one I got? My favorite color is purple… 😉

Julep mystery boxes are just under $25 per box and come with a mix of polish colors and beauty products. These are one-time orders and do not require a subscription.

julep speckled for spring mystery box contents including lengthening mascara and polishes in kimberly, catrina, lois, farrah, dakota, and karen

A very light box with nearly all nail polish. Not the most spring look.

set of julep polishes in kimberly, catrina, lois, farrah, dakota, and karen

Polish colors in Kimberly, Catrina, Lois, Farrah, Dakota, and Karen. I like the two on either end and the brilliant yellow.

julep boho glam lengthening mascara in espresso brown

Boho Glam Lengthening Mascara in Espresso Brown
My very first brown mascara!

julep boho glam lengthening mascara in espresso brown brush

The brush has firmer bristles than I’m used to. I like the shape, which makes it easier to get onto my shorter lashes.

I’m not very impressed with this box, especially in light of everything I got in my first mystery box. All I got in addition to the polishes was one beauty product. It’s a decent product and I will use it, but the lack of extras combined with the lackluster set of colors leaves me wanting more. I definitely like the speckled Kimberly I chose the box for and I’m cool with Catrina because it’s bright and Karen because the peachy glitter is certainly springy. The other three I’m undecided on. Perhaps next time I will be more careful with my purchase (and I’m certainly going to search for a discount code first, since there was an active one for 30% off that I could have used!!). What do you think of this box?

Estimated value: $108 (Nail Color @ $14 each: $84, Lengthening Mascara $24) or $86.40 at Maven prices (20% off)

Join as a Julep Maven to get polishes sent to you monthly! Use code FREEBOX or FREEMAVEN to get the first box free (you pay shipping).

First Prev 48 49 50 51 52 Next Last