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Posts Tagged ‘pictures’

Treatsie December 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, candy, caramels, chocolates, cookies, food, hot chocolate, pictures, reviews, snacks, subscriptions, treatsie

20 December 2014

The December Treatsie box totally has holiday flair! I am absolutely loving it and it’s finally starting to feel like Christmas is near.

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 to earn store credit. Use my referral link to get your first box FREE!

Ticket Chocolate Peppermint Hot Chocolate on a Stick: This is so perfect! I thoroughly enjoyed the hot chocolate on a sticks from last winter, so I jumped at the chance to buy some from Target last week. Now I have another delicious one to enjoy and I can’t wait.

Newfangled Confections Frittle: Whoa, this is something made with peanuts that I actually really enjoy. It reminds me of those flaky, crunchy peanut candies. Totally addicting. I like how they flake, but then they sort of bind in your mouth if you give it more pressure, so it becomes more chewy like hard candy.

Serendipity Confections Gingerbread caramels: These are huge! The gingerbread taste comes in a few chews in. It tastes slightly different from caramels I’m used to – definitely a unique set of ingredients for them. It’s not my preferred taste, but these are still really good and I couldn’t stop eating until the entire piece was gone.

Grey Ghost Bakery Cranberry Orange cookies: This is a wonderful bakery with a great flavor for the season. I do prefer their lemon sugar ones, but those are just heavenly and can’t be compared. These are more tangy and have a little bit of a bite from the cranberries. I think drinking hot chocolate with these would be a perfect complement. Nom!

Alright, this is a box that I will completely devour. I’m excited to try more products and see what I might want to order from their shop. I won an Instagram contest awhile back so I have some store credit to use, yippee! Which items caught your eye in this box? To get Treatsie, sign up with my link and get your first box free!

[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!]

Laser tag holiday party

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: celebrations, coworkers, fun, holidays, laser tag, parties, party, pictures, play, work

19 December 2014

Yesterday our company had our holiday party celebration at a laser tag place! I think it was my first time, but then I have this faint memory of darkness, glowing lights, and being downright awful at the game. I don’t know if that was just a dream from my childhood or an actual memory. Either way, I was very new to this experience and had a lot to learn. We booked the whole place for over 4 hours and it was quite the night of fun and exercise!

shadowland laser adventures laser tag in chantilly

Arriving at the holiday party after the Secret Santa at the office.

We signed waivers, gathered in the break room, then moved on to the briefing room before putting on our packs.

I’d show you those pictures, but some of my coworkers might not want to appear on my blog. 😛 Just imagine a break room painted with some sort of alien landscape with observation domes. There are a bunch of long tables and chairs there for people to sit (in our case, eat and drink). Across the way are doors leading to the briefing room, which is mostly kept darkened. There are other things painted on to these walls and it sort of looks like the background in the next picture. Three sides of the room have wooden benches lining them, one row in front, one row in back much like bleachers. Along the forth wall are the rules, a sample gem (glowing thing on the wall that can give you power-ups but also tag you), and a blown up example of what the display screen on the gun look like.

They walk you through the basics and then let us choose how we wanted to play each time. The first time it was two teams against each other. The second time we went crazy with four. The third time we toned it down to three and the forth time we had team captains split us into two teams (I’m pretty sure I was the worst player on my team then, but we still won!). And finally they went a fifth time with free for all. I really wanted zombies and didn’t want to get demolished in the free for all, so I sat out and got to stand by the entrance to watch everyone else battle it out. The same 6 or 7 people kept running around and around the area closest to me. Seems like many people had zones they preferred, so some sort of pattern.

girl wearing laser tag pack for laser tag game

Got my pack 14 on and ready to rumble!

laser tag gun display panel showing stats

The display on our laser guns let us know all sorts of stats that thoroughly confused me. Half the time I couldn’t tell if someone got hit or hit me.

laser tag arena with everything painted black and glowing lights everywhere

In we went! It wasn’t until later that I realized there was a gem right at the beginning.

sign reserving and welcoming company party to laser tag venue

A few rounds in, I suddenly noticed the sign for our party!

scoareboard listing ranking and stats for players after laser tag round

After each game, we’d convene outside to check out how everyone did.

laser tag score card summarizing stats of game for each player

They even handed out score cards! I was pretty consistently one of the last (usually third to last).

Cardboard success!

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: boxes, cats, home, pets, pictures, projects, smokey

17 December 2014

Alright, tonight’s the first night we saw Smokey go into her new box of her own volition. Pretty exciting stuff, I have to say. Panda did have to cut the hole larger after the original hole turned out to require Smokey to squeeze in and out of. Now she can easily step in and out of the box comfortably. 🙂

Power Supply Week of Dec 8 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, food, lunch, meals, pictures, power supply, reviews, services, subscriptions, work

15 December 2014

At our office, we started ordering Power Supply for our meals. My company helps subsidize the cost and it’s a whole lot easier than going out trying to figure out what to buy! I’ve enjoyed not feeling limited to the restaurants within walking distance and not even having to step outside into the cold. Ok, so here’s how it works: you can choose 3, 5, 6, or 10 meals per week. If you go with the 3- or 6-meal plans, they are delivered for pickup on Mondays. If you go with the 5- or 10-meal plans, the first 3/6 are delivered on Monday and then the remaining 2/4 are delivered on Thursday.

There are three sizes: boost (small for snacking or sides), standard (for most normal people’s portions), and XL (for those massive eaters who can’t get enough). There are three breakdowns: mixitarian (meats, veggies, some grains and legumes), paleo (“cave man” food – meats, veggies, fruits, nuts), and vegetarian (well you know, vegetables only). And then there’s the option of lunch and/or dinners: lunches are meals that are easier/faster to eat, sort of like grab-and-go, while dinners are meals that are slower and generally require silverware to complete the task. Portion sizes do not vary between the meal types, so you can freely swap between any of them on a given week (though you can’t get meals slated for Thursday delivery on Monday delivery). Pork and fish are only available on Thursday deliveries, so you’d have to get the 5 or 10 meal plan for those.

Does that all make sense? Basically they’ve made it veeeery flexible to get what you want. It’s easy to “mod your meal” as they say. 🙂

Power Supply is around $9.50-$15.50 per meal (when you sign up for a recurring plan – single orders are 5% more) and offers a variety of ready-made meal types, all gluten- and dairy-free. Boxes are sent once or twice weekly (depending on your plan) and you have total control over customization of which meals you get. You can easily switch between plans or choose to skip some weeks. They offer a referral program that earns free meals for referrer and referree.

Power Supply delivers to fridges at gyms and offices like this.

power supply meals packaged for each person and put in fridge

First day ever receiving their meals and the fridge is packed!

power supply turkey pot pie mixitarian lunch meal in box

The very first one I go for is the Turkey Pot Pie.

power supply turkey pot pie mixitarian lunch meal open

I loved it! I wish there was more though… but it did fill me up for a good 5-6 hours.

power supply cinnamon ancho beef with acorn squash & chocolate pana cotta mixitarian lunch meal in box

Somehow at least 7 of us in the office all decided to 1. get this meal and then 2. eat this meal on Tuesday!

power supply cinnamon ancho beef with acorn squash & chocolate pana cotta mixitarian lunch meal open

The beef was fantastic and I liked dipping it in the sauce. The squash was not as soft as I would have liked and the pana cotta was an odd sort of chocolate pudding (good enough to eat the whole container though).

power supply orange chicken with oyster mushroom, broccoli & cauliflower fried rice mixitarian dinner meal in box

I wasn’t too sure about this so I put off eating it earlier in the week, but I liked it.

power supply orange chicken with oyster mushroom, broccoli & cauliflower fried rice mixitarian dinner meal open

Surprisingly, I ate the broccoli completely. The only thing I didn’t eat was the peppers.

power supply blackened mahi mahi with herbed mashed sweet potatoes & sautéed kale mixitarian dinner meal in box

Thursday came with a fresh delivery and my fish dish!!

power supply blackened mahi mahi with herbed mashed sweet potatoes & sautéed kale mixitarian dinner meal open

The blackened mahi mahi was the reason I went for the 5 meal plan. I also happen to like kale and sweet potatoes! The fish was very black peppery, which I love.

power supply vanilla maple glazed pork with sautéed spinach, tomatoes & brown rice mixitarian dinner meal in box

And then came the pork dish, which a sweetness that the rice helped balance out. This dish was ok and I totally forgot a picture when I removed the lid.

Hawaii 2014 haul

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: clothes, clothing, earrings, family, food, gifts, hawaii, home goods, jewelry, panda, pets, pictures, snacks, travel

13 December 2014

Somehow I always manage to forget to take pictures after coming back from a trip and it’s week later when I actually have a haul post ready. This time around I got so eager to share some of the snacks we brought back that they were taken to work and devoured (or given to my parents) before I ever snapped a photo. But here’s a look at some of the cool things we got while in Oahu last month!

One of the many snack items I got. These fun little guys came in panda or seal shapes and are filled with custard or jam! I just wish they were more fresh when I got them.

hawaiian red shrimp and snails ecosphere self-sustaining ecosystem

These awesome self-sustaining ecospheres have Hawaiian red shrimp and (optionally) snails. I’ve wanted one for years and I’m so happy they made it through air travel just fine.

pineapple-scented candle in coconut shell, koa wood bookmark, and hawaii calendar for 2015

I got the pineapple-scented candle in a coconut shell and koa wood bookmark from an ABC Store. The calendar came free from a Hilo Hattie purchase!

purple halter top dress with white flowers, blue and beige hawaiian shirt, and hawaii t-shirt from hilo hattie

The clothing we got at Hilo Hattie included a dress for me, a Hawaiian shirt for my brother-in-law, and a t-shirt for my father-in-law. I actually have a dress in the exact same pattern as the Hawaiian shirt, from Panda’s previous visit to HI.

hawaiian host macadamia chocolates from costco and gold sea turtle earrings from hilo hattie

The other item I got at Hilo Hattie are those awesome earrings! I love sea turtles. At the local Costco, we got a giant tub of the Hawaiian Host macadamia chocolates – they were a hit at work. We also got tins of nuts for my parents, but I forgot to get a picture of that.

blue and white flip flop oven glove from dole plantation in hawaii

One day, we stopped by the Dole Plantation and I thought this was a super cute and creative oven glove design. I hope my mother-in-law likes it!

honolulu cookie company pineapple-shaped shortbread cookies

And of course, no visit to Hawaii is complete without some Honolulu Cookies. Panda and I both brought some to our offices. They disappeared pretty quickly!

Yogi Surprise December 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, lifestyle, pictures, products, reviews, subscriptions, yoga, yogi

11 December 2014

Yay, my very first Yogi Surprise box arrived today! It looks like this company is run by the same folks as Escape Monthly so they offer a similar photo contest to win a trip (in this case a yoga retreat as opposed to a general vacation getaway with Escape Monthly). I got a deal for their “Purple Friday” so I decided to go for it. The original price of $44.95 is just too much for me. I think $40 is my general subscription box limit and my preferred range is $15-20. I’m pretty excited about what came, so I’ll keep this subscription going.

Yogi Surprise is just under $36 per box (with code for 20% off your subscription – use my referral links from this post) and comes with yoga gear, skincare, food, and other lifestyle products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you free boxes.

Urban Moonshine Energy Tonic – I’m still trying to understand this product, but it’s certainly intriguing. I think I’m supposed to spray it in my mouth to get a boost of energy? It feels so very strange, but I can see how it can quickly deliver energy. This one tastes a little bitter, as I imagine all of them do (they are tonics, after all). I don’t think I could do more than a few sprays at a time. I could mix it with water to dilute the flavor though. We’ll see if this actually helps with energy!

essential living foods chocolate-covered cacao nibs – I like chocolate and cacao, so this is a nice treat. It’s certainly not the sweet kind of chocolate kids may want, but if you like dark chocolate and the crunch of nibs, it’s kind of like munching on seeds. I think this is supposed to help with both energy, being a superfood, and mood, what with the chocolate and whatnot. I’ll nibble on a few throughout the day whenever I need a little boost.

booda butter daily moisturizer – Yes!! I’ve wanted to try booda butter ever since I saw them on Beautiful Basics. This is fantastic and I’m so excited. It’s a generous size tin and it starts melting right as you put your body heat on it. Then it just melts into your skin like it can’t wait to moisturize you. This is wonderful and I’m so happy to see it included. Totally fits the yoga lifestyle and it’s exactly what I wanted.

Star Essence Angel Rejuvenation Spray – Funny enough, back when I chose a yoga-themed box from blissmobox, I received another product from this brand. That was a mouth mist and this is a face/pillow/air mist, so I’m glad to try something else of theirs. I love it as a relaxing pillow spray and calming facial mist. I might spray myself with this before I start my yoga practice next time. I’ll also want to use it on my pillow at night!

Metolius Tea & Apothecary Cardamom Rose Mate tea – So this was in my box instead of the Indian Tiger Eye mala beads. I’m not sure how I feel about that knowing I didn’t get the original intended product, but I do like this one. Still, I wonder if those beads would have come in useful for meditation. In all reality, I probably wouldn’t even have used them so this is probably far more practical. The tea is just gorgeous – rose petals, peppercorn, and green leaves mix in a beautiful blend. I look forward to drinking it – it’s probably very soothing! This is another brand I’m familiar with because I received it in an Escape Monthly box. I think I’m going to like this flavor more.

skout pacific sea salt raw pumpkin seeds – Seeds are pretty good for us, so I’ll eat these. They’re quite salty at first taste, but then as I chew the seeds, it mellows out. I think this would be great mixed with other items. I could eat a handful here and there too. The brand looked familiar, and lo and behold, it came in a Conscious Box once. I don’t like bars, so I never did try that…

Yogi Surprise yoga strap – How cool that they made their own branded yoga straps! All I have are mats and a carrying bag, so I’m glad to be adding to my yoga toolkit with this strap. I think I’ll try to use it at home to stretch better. If I remember to bring it to class, I may use it too (but I hardly ever use straps in class). I think I’d make more use of it if we ever get an instructor to come to work. For some reason that type of class would make me want to bring more of my own stuff.

So there you go, Yogi Surprise for December! So far I am impressed and I look forward to the next box. I think I’m going to have to cancel one of my other subscriptions though, if I’m picking this one up long-term.

Petit Vour November 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, boxes, petit vour, pictures, products, reviews, skincare, subscriptions

07 December 2014

This month, they teamed up with The Little Foxes to curate the box. As always, I like how the combination of items can account for a good portion of a given day’s routine.

Petit Vour is $15 per box (or as much as $30 for international subscribers) and comes with vegan beauty, skincare, and other personal care products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards free boxes (email contact@petitvour.com to say I referred you if you sign up!).

Au Naturale Organic Creme Concealer in Beige and Eye Shadow in Palma – I was really confused when I first opened this, because there was a tube that looked like mascara and a tub that could be any creme. Once I actually opened the products and read the part of the info card on either side for both items, it made a lot more sense. The eye shadow comes in a long tube much like lipstick would. That’ll make it easy to apply without irritating my eyes! The shade is somewhere between bronze and gold, which makes for a nice metallic color that won’t stand out too much (just the way I like it). The concealer is too light for my skin tone, but since I tried it already I’ll see if it can still be helpful when merged with my foundation.

French Girl Organics Mineral Lip Tint in Cerise – I’m actually just using up my Keeki lip shimmer, which has the same fun oval tube as this. The tint on this is a bit darker and it has a sweet and minty smell to it. It’s a lot like that lip shimmer as well as the Burt’s Bees ones I’ve had, but it smells better – kind of like a macaron. It’s a great formula that is hydrating and applies smoothly. I see this easily being my next go-to lip balm!

Caru Skincare Co Rose Facial Serum – As far as serums go, these oil types with the dripper bottle are by far my favorite. My skin is so soft, supple, and nourished after applying this serum. I can definitely smell the rose and something else that I can’t place. I’m not crazy about the scent but I think the ingredients will be awesome for my complexion. I think their Immortelle Facial Serum would be awesome and the best fit for my preferences and skincare needs.

Earthbody Sacred Skincare Dream Body Oil – The scent of this oil is fantastic – just the kind of soothing fragrance I’d relax and fall asleep to. Now is the perfect time for body oils, which is what I’ve switched to applying after my showers. There’s nothing quite as restorative for the skin and so little covers a lot of skin. I’m really curious about their day spa and might treat myself to that experience the next time in SF with time to explore.

I enjoyed trying the products from this box and I’ll be keeping them all. The body oil and lip tint are right up my alley. I use both types of products regularly! What do you like from this box?

[This post mentions a referral program. Signing up and emailing contact@petitvour.com to say I referred you 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!]

A shelter for Smokey

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: boxes, cats, crafts, pets, pictures, projects, repurposing, smokey

06 December 2014

Panda’s been wanting to create a little hideaway shelter for Smokey to use whenever she wants to get away from light and noise. She likes to go sit in our closets sometimes when the outside stuff gets to be too much. We decided to cut a hole into a cardboard box we have that she can crawl into. We put shredded packing paper on the bottom to make it more enticing and hopefully she’ll like it!

plated cardboard box with circle marked for cutting

We used an old box and traced a circle where we’d cut a hole.

cat sitting in cardboard box with white tissue paper padding

Smokey waited nearby in one of her many other boxes.

cat sitting watching cardboard box being cut

As the cutting began, she moved closer for a better view.

circular hole cut into side of cardboard box and cat staring at it

All done! Time to set it up.

cat sitting by card board box cat shelter

She was hesitant to try it out.

cat paw and tail hanging out of hole in cardboard box cat shelter

We eventually convinced her to go in for a whirl.

cat squeezing out of hole in cardboard box shelter

But then she came right out. I guess we’ll see if she takes to it.

Love With Food Baby, It’s Cold Outside November 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: biscotti, biscuits, chocolates, food, love with food, pictures, products, reviews, seasoning, seattle chocolates, snacks

05 December 2014

The snacks for this month were far more aligned with my taste overall. I considered if I should continue this box but I really don’t get around to eating all those snacks, so if I’m not absolutely loving it then it’s a no.

Love With Food is $12 per box (or as discounted as $120 for an entire year, with an option in between) and comes with 8 or more snack products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards products or boxes.

(click to enlarge and read messaging)

Maybe I’m more into winter weather food or something. These snacks fit my preferences more than most other boxes so far. I enjoyed the Laiki red rice crackers that scared me at first when I saw they were kind of purple-ish. The taste was a nice salty flavor, nothing overwhelming and a most excellent crispy crunchy with each bite. I was also surprised by the Marlo’s Midnight soft baked biscotti when I saw it had some espresso flavor, since I don’t like anything remotely coffee-related. Turns out the chocolate flavor of this was enough to overcome any espresso influence. I definitely prefer this being soft and crumbly rather than firm like most biscotti. When it came to the Fruit Bliss soft dried mini figs, I was really hoping I’d like them, but they were kind of plain and too natural. Is it my imagination or did they taste almost earthy? Then the last treat I’ve tried so far is Jer’s Groupies Milk Chocolate peanut cluster, which are too peanuty for me. They have plain peanuts inside so the flavor was too strong for me (I don’t like peanuts). I was really hoping for something more like a caramel turtle.

As for the ones I’ve yet to try, I’m mostly looking forward to it. The Chipz Happen Cinnful Sweet Heat tortilla chips look so intriguing. I don’t think I’ve ever had sweet tortilla chips, much less sweet and spicy ones. I already put the Whole Spice All Purpose Salt Seasoning in our cupboard for use. I love seasonings and I dream of having a rack of them, except that I hardly ever use them so it’s not worth it. This little pack is perfect and I can’t wait to taste it. The Dick & Jane Smart Educational cookies seem fun, both to eat and brush up on my knowledge. I sure hope they’re buttery and crisp the way I imagine. Then there are the Guylian truffles, which I know I’ll enjoy. I’ve had them before and I like the slight hint of graininess in the filling.

This was a pretty great combination of items and I’m happy knowing that they won’t have to go to waste, though I’ll probably need help finishing the peanut cluster. Which are your favorite products?

Treatsie November 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, chocolates, pictures, reviews, snacks, subscriptions, treats, treatsie

01 December 2014

With the season cooling down, I’m happy to see more chocolates appearing again! The November Treatsie box came with a great treat for starting off the day and chocolates for any time.

fixx chocolates chelle’s cashew nougat bar: I was apprehensive about this at first after reading is was inspired by a Snickers bar’s flavor and contents. I’ve never been a fan of those, so I was wondering how I’d like this, good as it looked. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. The dark chocolate casing is rich and wonderful, with just the right kind of hardness. The inside with the nougat and caramel is sweet and soft, not at all like the icky Snickers. I could actually do with some more cashews since there was hardly any and some crunch would have been nice. This luxury bar may be made of similar ingredients, but it is soooo much better.

Megpies Blueberry Tart: I could instantly smell the butteriness of these the moment I opened them. I thought at first that there were two and I tried prying the crust apart only to realize my mistake. Luckily, it took just a bite or two to cover up that accident. 😉 This is a great dessert or breakfast item and the crust is somewhat like a croissant. I love the blueberry flavoring both inside and on top. I’m a fan.

Alcove Chocolate Fleur de Sel, Mimosa, and Red Velvet bars: Funny enough, my favorite was the mimosa, despite never having had a mimosa before. I guess I’m into that citrus and chocolate pairing, though the bar is a bit sweet so I’d definitely want to have it with something to even out the sugar rush. The textures of the chocolates are all smooth and crisp, which I like. The salt granules in the fleur de sel hit me in little pockets and then blended with the dark chocolate for a stronger dark chocolate sensation. The red velvet is softer, probably because it’s milk chocolate and boy does that flavor pack a punch! If you like your chocolates strong and intensely flavored, these are great. I need to pair them with something more bland and eating on them on their own is overwhelming.

This was a lovely box with more surprises than I expected. Some I liked more than I thought I would and some I didn’t prefer as much. Still, it’s a fantastic selection of products I’m glad I tried. What products do you like best from this box? To get Treatsie, sign up with my link and get your first box free!

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((little fat notebook))

Posts Tagged ‘pictures’

Treatsie December 2014 review

Laser tag holiday party

Cardboard success!

Power Supply Week of Dec 8 review

Turkey Pot Pie

Cinnamon Ancho Beef w/ Acorn Squash & Chocolate Pana Cotta

Citrusy Chicken w/ Oyster Mushroom, Broccoli & Cauliflower Fried Rice (NEW)

Blackened Mahi Mahi w/ Herbed Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Sautéed Kale

Vanilla Maple Glazed Pork w/ Sautéed Spinach, Tomatoes & Brown Rice

Hawaii 2014 haul

Yogi Surprise December 2014 review

Petit Vour November 2014 review

A shelter for Smokey

Love With Food Baby, It’s Cold Outside November 2014 review

Treatsie November 2014 review

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laelene

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