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Posts Tagged ‘food’

365great Day 46: Graze

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, eating, food, pictures, service, snacks

29 April 2013

Graze hasn’t been available in the US for long, but it’s quite popular! At the moment it’s invite-only (and each person only gets to invite one other) so it’s tough to get in. Once you do, you get to set up weekly, fortnightly, or monthly deliveries of delicious little snack packets! Each is carefully created to be nutritious and a single serving size. These are great for eating a healthier diet and portion control (which most people probably struggle with). They’re constantly coming up with new recipes and you get to decide which ones you’re willing to try, which ones you like and want more of, which ones you LOVE and want a lot, or which ones you’d like to “trash” and never get again. You can change your ratings for the snacks at any time as your tastes change too. The flexibility, the ease of snacking without worry, and the tasty treats sent to your door make for a really great service!

Yuzen October 2012 edition

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, chocolate, eco-friendly, food, fruit snacks, green, health, lotion, mango, massage oil, moisturizer, pictures, products, review, shampoo, shaving cream, skincare, snacks, yuzen

29 April 2013

Alright, it’s time to continue this game of catch-up and go through the treats that came in the Yuzen box for October. 🙂

Yuzen is $26 per month and comes with around 5 or 6 eco-friendly beauty, skincare, food/snacks, and home products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. Sometimes there’s a waitlist to get the subscription. They do not offer a referral program.

*Disclosure: As a super fan, I was invited to be the Yuzen Ambassador to help them spread the word about their brand. Starting with this box, I began to receive them for free. I was not compensated otherwise and all opinions are my own, irregardless of my relation to Yuzen. I just happen to think they’re awesome (as does everyone else I’ve heard from). 🙂

collage of products included in the october 2012 yuzen box

They actually sent me two boxes since they were trying out a new packaging method and wanted my feedback.

Click on the pictures for the full sizes so you can enjoy all the details of each product! You can even zoom in to read all the messaging.

Eco-Armour Shave with Benefits – Bergamot & Pink Grapefruit Luxurious Botanical Shave Foam: There are a lot of things I love about this product! It smells great and feels so smooth on your skin. It works really well and makes shaving such a breeze! Plus, it’s got an awesome foaming dispenser (and I love a foaming product), which also means that you can bring it with you on the plane! And did you know that you can actually put it on your razor blades to extend their life?! HOW AWESOME!

Nova Monda Cacao & Chocolate – Cacao Indio Jar Chocolate: Chocolate in a jar? Wow, the possibilities! You can eat it straight up, melt it to use as ganache or fondue or even pour over ice cream for a fantastically yummy shell. This is such a fun way to present chocolate for consumption. Definitely gets your creativity going and encourages new ways of enjoying a classic treat. Plus, it’s all ethically sourced so you can really enjoy this treat guilt-free.

red flower – plum blossom silk cream & yuzu mimosa sea algae wash: These products feel really luxurious. The lotion truly is silky and rubs on so well. It’s got a sweet, flowery scent that is lovely. The body wash is pretty silky too and it has a nice mildly citrusy smell. I really love the use of various botanical elements to create these products!

Matt’s Munchies – Mango Premium Fruit Snack: Ok, I actually don’t eat mangoes, so I did not try this snack, but my mom gobbled it right up so that’s got to be a good sign! And hey, even my cat gave it a sniff of approval… 😉 I was expecting more of a dried mango snack, so it was interesting opening the package to find cute little fruit leather squares. Definitely a nice treat to bring along anywhere and you don’t have to worry about getting your hands messy trying to rip off a piece.

JAMU Spa Organics – Island Fruits Massage, Body & Hair Oil: I’ve discovered a love for massage oils. I don’t think I ever used a massage oil before this, but the hydrating feeling in the dry winter weather was just amazing. I loved the subtle sweet scent of the oil, which wafted up here and there when applying. The one thing is that the bottle starts to get a little oily on the outside after awhile, you should be careful where you put it (and wipe it down after use).

HollyBeth Organics Luxury Skincare – Rose Geranium Face Moisturizer: This is the thickest face moisturizer I’ve ever used. Kind of waxy, almost. It felt weird at first putting something so dense on my face, but it hydrated well and kept my skin from drying out. Excellent for colder months, but I’d switch to a lighter cream for the summer months.

365great Day 44: pickles

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, eating, food, habits, pickles, pictures, snack, tasty

27 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

I’ve always loved pickles. Maybe it’s a genetic thing? My parents seem to like them too, but not in the crazy scarf-them-down way that I do. There’s something about the salty, sour, crisp, juiciness that is delightful to me. I love the way they crunch and add a kick to whatever you eat them with (or without). My favorite is munching on giant kosher dills straight up. I don’t need anything to go with them. However, I do often enjoy a bowl of Top Ramen in chicken flavor with them whenever I need a more filling snack. Depending on my mood, sometimes I crave hamburger slice pickles and other times I crave wedges.

I’m actually pretty picky about my pickles and have very specific requirements – they must be a sort of yellowish green on the inside (not those weird white ones) and they must have maximum crunch (some just don’t have the right crunching feeling). Luckily, the Ralph’s brand offers such pickles, so I can always get them for a decent price. I’ve always loved the pickle slices offered at Quizno’s and sometimes even piled up a small cup’s worth to eat with my sandwich. What can I say? To me, they just taste so great.

Rationing control

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: america, china, chinese, communism, control, controlling, experiences, family, food, freedom, housing, one child policy, opinion, pictures, rationing, rations, usa

24 April 2013

Perhaps you associate rationing with wartime, like I generally do. Did you know that in China they still do it? Well, at least in terms of the [centralized] heating supply. Every year, as fall fades away, the citizens await the day that their heating will get turned on. It’s earliest in the northern cities (like my hometown of Shenyang) and later in areas like Beijing. For those in the south – forget about it. No matter how cold it gets, they have no heat unless you purchase a special air conditioning/heating unit for your home. Then, as spring approaches, as soon as the government deems it warm enough, the heat is taken away again. And so year after year, the Chinese get to deal with bundling up in their homes because they don’t have enough heat.

chinese granddaughter and grandfather standing outside doorway in winter

Maybe that’s why winter wear looks like this and usually includes 5-7 layers, even indoors.

Back when I was born in the 1980’s, there was a lot of food rationing too. My mom always told me how eggs were a valued commodity in the cities and when she was pregnant, she got to enjoy the one egg per household (per month I think, though maybe it was per week). I had a cousin who was a year older than me and when I was born, I turned out to be a big eater. Or drinker, I guess. I gobbled up milk like nobody’s business (which meant that my cousin’s milk rations often went to me too). Maybe that’s why I grew up so big and strong.

Even housing in the old days was “rationed” – you were given a place to live and that was that, pretty much. If you wanted to move (within the same city), you could apply to be “given” a different apartment that might be newer and/or in a better location. I believe there was some sort of lottery system to help determine who got to live where. Certainly unlike the American buying experience I’m used to, where any house anywhere is fair game if it’s in your price range.

And then there’s the One Child Policy, which is kind of like rationing children to families. Except in this case, rather than waiting to be given what you want, you have what you want (once) and that’s it. Still, it’s similar to getting handed rations since you are allowed a limited supply, which has nothing to do with your personal situation. Rather, it’s an “everybody gets the same restriction” kind of thing.

Each of these in their own ways take control away from you the individual. You do not have the power to decide that you want to heat your home earlier in the year, or that you want to eat half a dozen eggs in one sitting, or that you want to move clear across town to that beautiful new complex, or that you want to have another child. Granted, things have eased up over the years and many of these rules have gone away or at least become more flexible. Still, sometimes it amazes me what sort of uber-controlling environment some cultures grow up in. And how the act of rationing itself is a rationing of control: Here, this is how much control we’ll give you over your own life. All’s fair in communism, right?

On My Mind, episode 4

laelene Posted in on my mind，Tags: 1 second everyday, blogging, cats, digital shower, dmv, drivers license, eating, electronic shower, food, free stuff, friends, galileo thermometer, giveaways, hilton garden inn, hot tub, hotel, hydra recharge, iphone app, itunes, jacuzzi, nail polish, on my mind, products, shopping, snacks, subscriptions, travel, winning

23 April 2013

Ready for another round of On My Mind? Here goes!

~Ha! I was just thinking about how my blog posts used to be so much more insightful/thoughtful/interesting when I started to get the inspiration bug again and went crazy preparing some draft posts. Tons of goodness to come!

~Sooo I had said I didn’t want to buy any more nail polish until I used up one bottle. Just one! Which shouldn’t be that hard since I rarely buy nail polish anyway, but then I came across a BOGO deal and I couldn’t resist! BAH. I bought it and then promptly spilled one all over my carpet (which took out about a third of that bottle). Karma for going against my word? 🙁 I did manage to mostly get it out (and better than I had hoped at least!).

~That nail polish I got? Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri. I’d never tried it before, but that coupon for buy one, get one meant each bottle was $2. While I may not want to pay $4 for some nail polish, $2 was a deal I couldn’t resist. I know, I’m terrible. But you know what? I discovered an AMAZING brush! Like seriously, why don’t all (or at least more) nail polishes have brushes like this? It applies so well, I just love it. Plus, I really love that these nail polishes dry so quickly, since clumsy old me would usually mess up at least three nails before they managed to dry.

~And if you keep up with the blog, you will see that I’ve decided to exchange some of my old nail polishes for some Zoya ones! At least I’m not accumulating more, right? That’s ok, right?!

~My family went out and got a bunch of Garnier Fructis Hydra Recharge shampoos because of the current deal for them! Only $0.86 in CA if you bring your own reusable bag. Less in other states since our tax is a high 9%, ugh.

I cleaned the bulbs and put them in a vase.

~About two weeks ago, Missy (one of my cats) broke my Galileo thermometer when she knocked it over – RIP 🙁 – and I learned that the oil they use in it smells naaasty. It smelled like a gas station exploded on my carpet. I guess that’s the only material the bulbs will float in correctly. I cleaned and scrubbed and patted for an hour and the smell didn’t dissipate, so I had to move to another room to sleep. Took about a week of leaving the window open and spraying odor remover on it daily before I could move back. My carpet is forever scarred though – for some reason, it grew a bump that won’t go away.

It used to be a lot worse but it has since shrunk.

~Panda (the boyfriend) was in town earlier in the month and we got a pretty cool room at the Hilton Garden Inn LAX! I loooved the rocker, which was so smooth and made me feel lighter. Reminded me of the zero gravity chairs they have a Brookstone. The bathroom was rather sweet too, with a jacuzzi/hot tub (what’s the difference?) on one side and an electronically-controlled shower on the other. I got to set the shower water to exactly the temperature I wanted!

Here I am demonstrating the rocking chair…

awesome smooth leather rocking chair from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
~I had told my cousin about the 1 Second Everyday app, which she was interested in. I’ve been having a blast with it! I was sad, however, that I had redeemed an iTunes gift card for $50 and wasn’t able to split it into two $25 gift codes so she too could get some apps without paying. Then a few days later it dawned on me: gifting an app! I hadn’t thought of it because I never used it (and really wasn’t sure it was even a feature), but I checked and it’s so easy to do it! But by the time I told her, she had already bought the app. Womp, womp… next time!!

~I’ve been doing pretty well with the giveaways I’ve entered and won a couple more, yippee! You’ll see pictures of them after I get them. One in particular I wanted to point out – I actually won another 3-month Conscious Box subscription and this time I got to share an additional one with a friend! I mean, what is more thrilling than winning for you AND a friend of your choice? I picked a super awesome, super supportive friend and she was totally excited. Coincidentally, her birthday was right around then too! Happy birthday!

~I’m so glad I went through that long, long DMV line to get a new picture taken because I am SO much happier with my new picture! The original picture was from when I was in high school and it looks like I have a fake orange tan when in reality I just swam outdoors a lot for our high school team.

driver's license pictures side by side comparison

The old picture looks a lot more orange in person.

~I’m STILL waiting to get my first Goodie box and Graze box. Waaah! I’ve held myself back from buying snacks because they were supposed to replace my snack food shopping and THEY’RE STILL NOT HERE… -___- I, being hugely reliant on snacking to survive/thrive, feel so forlorn… BUT I should be getting my Goodie box today*! *fingers crossed* My Graze box was prepared on the 11th and if I don’t get it by tomorrow I’m going to contact customer service. Yes, you can call me Cookie Monster.

~And finally, I was SO off-the-walls (maybe too) happy to get an email from the Pink Panel letting me know I’m in their nail care testing group. I had just signed up and filled out the survey for the latest testing group and it was awesome to get that invitation!! I can’t wait – I remember seeing Julep in the survey URL so I’m pretty sure we get to test some Julep products. I’ve yet to try anything from them, but I’d totally love to. I’m turning into a nail polish/hand care fiend. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that we get a $75 Amazon gift card (code, probably) for participating. I’m getting my cats a fun feeding maze I learned about from an article on Squidoo with those funds!

*Yay the Goodie box arrived! Time to rip through it. 🙂

Blissmobox: Fair Trade Favorites II

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, blissmobox, chocolate, coffee, eco-friendly, food, green, health, lip balm, pictures, products, review, shea butter, snack bar, snacks, soap

19 April 2013

Another belated review, but Blissmo sometimes offers old boxes up so hopefully this will come in useful! The options were Pantry Picks, Fair Trade Favorites II, or Skin ‘n’ Hair Care (which I had gotten in a previous month).

blissmobox is just under $25 per month with shipping (or as discounted as just under $120 for 6 months) and comes with eco-friendly products in themes like beauty, snacks, home, pets, and more. Each month you choose from two or three themes, or skip if none of them appeal to you. They do not offer a referral program.

the choices for september's blissmobox: pantry picks, fair trade favorites ii, or skin 'n' hair care

The three choices for the September blissmobox.

This was my September 2012 box and I chose the Fair Trade Favorites option since their original Fair Trade box seemed to have been well-received, plus I totally wanted to discover more Fair Trade products!

Hand in Hand shea butter soap, Orange Blossom – I thought this was totally adorable and amazing! The packaging is really nice and I’d never heard of shea butter soap before, so that was intriguing. These are made in Vermont from vegetable-based ingredients – they’re biodegradable and cruelty-free! This is one of those brands that gives a product each time one is sold (like Tom’s shoes or other similar buy a soap give a soap brands). The orange blossom scent sounded amazing, but I found that it was too light for my liking. It almost felt like a scentless soap, so this is being used in the kitchen since I like fresher smells when washing my hands there.

Eli’s Earth bars, Dream Big – This lovely bar was just fasntastic. Yummy, yummy! I gobbled it right up and wanted more, which is funny because I’m not really a fan of peanuts or peanut butter. Yet, the way they made this was very tasty without being overly “peanuty” so it’s an excellent treat to have in lieu of Snickers/Milky Way/Mars Bars sort of junk food. Plus, they support children in need and who doesn’t want to help children?

Akoma Skincare raw shea butter, Shea Million – I was pretty excited when I saw this. I hear shea butter and I think all kinds of wonderful things. However, since this is a raw shea butter with no scent, I got to really smell shea and I found I don’t really like it. I love how it melts with your body heat, which is pretty fun. I’m saving this to either gift to someone or use for when my hands need some extra loving.

Green Mountain Coffee grinds, Signature Vermont Country Blend – I personally do not drink coffee, but I was still glad to see this because my future brother-in-law is pretty obsessed and I knew he could appreciate a nice blend. I gave it to him for his birthday and heard back not long after that it was very tasty! If his discerning taste buds give the stamp of approval, I’m sure most coffee-lovers out there would enjoy it too.

EcoLips Organic Hemp lip balm, Vanilla – I’ve gotta say, I’m not sure how I feel about hemp. In middle school it was like a buzz word for drugs or something, but then by college I saw getting those hemp bracelets without qualms. Why is there a bit of a negative connotation around that word? I mean hemp itself isn’t anything bad, right? I was a little hesitant to try this since I didn’t want to numb my lips or something (no idea why I would think that). It’s really just like any other lip balm though, with a nice sweet vanilla scent and it glides on quite well.

LÄRABAR fruit & nut bar, Chocolate Chip Brownie & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough – Oh my, these are dense! I thought the small size would not be enough, but just one piece and I was feeling full. They sure to pack it in there! Both flavors were quite good and if I worked out, I’d totally be stocking up on these to eat after a workout. For now my life is too sedentary to need a “power bar” sort of thing like this.

If you’d like more info on these brands, you can click below to enlarge the photo and read more.

365great Day 31: freshly baked

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, baking, cooking, delicious, desserts, eating, experiences, food, fresh, pictures, yummy

14 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

Don’t you just love the smell of something baking in the oven? Whether it’s bread, cookies, brownies, cake, a pot pie, a pizza, or whatever your favorite may be, a wonderful smell starts wafting up in the air and then you get to pull out a hot, delicious, steaming tray of food to eat. As the food cools down, you can dig in and enjoy the sensory experience of tasting and smelling it, as well as enjoying the lovely soft texture while it’s sill moist. It’s one of the simple things that is oh so satisfying. Totally great!

Panda watching

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, bamboo, behavior, eating, food, pacing, panda, pandas, videos, zoo

12 April 2013

Panda and I visited the National Zoo not long ago and got a chance to see the pandas! They were stuck indoors for the time being (maybe because it was brisk outside) so it was easy to watch them.

Look at how dexterous those paws are!

panda eating apple from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

This one was eating ever so vigorously behind all that bamboo.

munching panda from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

“Let me ooout!” What a sassy one. 😉

pacing panda from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

So this researcher gets to sit and watch pandas all day. Maybe I should apply for that job.

observing pandas from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

365great Day 27: micro-entrepreneurism

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, entrepreneurs, experiences, food, pictures, work

10 April 2013

Learn more about 365great here.

I’ve written about micro-entrepreneurism before and I’ll say it again: I love that new business models are popping up all over the place (on the web), empowering people to be small-time entrepreneurs. Whether you want to pet sit, run people’s errands, do freelance projects, give tours, rent out your space, teach a private lesson, or cook/bake for hire… there’s probably a site out there for you. What a great way to take your skill sets and/or passions and turn them into income-generating gigs! While it’s definitely challenging and takes a lot to be able to live off odd jobs like that, the experiences are extremely rewarding and satisfying. And hey, for most people, it’s just a nice way to supplement your income by doing what you’re good at.

In this picture I was demoing food at the Whole Foods in Westwood through my employer, Natural Selection Promotions. I really enjoyed that job since I requested shifts only when I wanted, had an everchanging work environment, and got to get out from behind a desk. At first it was a summer job and then it was an in-between job once I graduated college and was looking for work. I liked that I got to move around in the day, meet new people all the time, and only work when I decided to. The pay was pretty good and I even got extra food samples to keep much of the time! Since then, a far more robust industry has grown to allow people similar experiences. It’s easier than ever to take what you love or know and turn it into an income-generator. This sort of empowerment is truly great.

Snow cream

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: black sesame, blockheads, boba, cantaloupe, condensed milk, desserts, food, fruits, green tea, ice cream, pictures, rice cakes, shavery, snow cream, strawberry

10 April 2013

It was about a year ago when I was first introduced to Blockheads, this mysteriously new dessert place that was all the craze. Maven took me there upon discovering that I, his foodie friend, hadn’t tried it yet!! This whole “snow cream” idea was something new to me – I knew ice cream and I knew shave ice, but shaved ice cream?? I had to see what the fuss was all about. The moment I tried it, I was blown away. From then on it was a long-distance addiction for me. I live too far to justify going there whenever I want, but when I get a chance, I always stop by.