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Treatsie July 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: candies, candy, caramels, chocolates, food, hard candy, pictures, raley's confectionary, seattle chocolates, shotwell candy co, snacks, treats, treatsie

27 July 2014

Now this is just the kind of candy mix I love! A little bit of caramels, a little bit of candy, and some chocolate. I was much more impressed by this month’s Treatsie box. I didn’t even notice until now, but I didn’t get an info card. Not sure if that’s just me or if they decided to stop including them?

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!

Seattle Chocolates bars in Total Toffee and Dark Chocolate: Oooooo these made this box for me. I loved both flavors and will definitely keep a lookout for them in stores. The toffee had wonderful bits of crunchy toffee AND some fine grains of salt, which made for a really interesting texture. I’ve never had a bar like that before. The dark chocolate was smooth and very solid – a nice luxurious-feeling piece.

Shotwell Candy Co. Old Fashioned Cocktail Caramels: I thought these tasted a little strange to me and no wonder, they’re made with whiskey. Since I don’t drink, I have no idea what whiskey tastes like and whether someone who likes drinking would enjoy this flavoring in their caramel candy. I guess I’ll take the leftover pieces to work and see what others think. It’s not to my liking though, much as I enjoy a nice caramel.

Raley’s Confectionary Treatsie Variety Mix hard candy: How freakin’ adorable that a special Treatsie mix was put together! This is a grab bag of assorted flavors, mostly fruit ones, but then there’s root beer too. The designs are just fantastic and I love the fun pieces. I’m quite impressed with their designs! I’ve got to say, this is the cutest candy I’ve ever seen.

I was excited about these products and for the most part they did not disappoint. What do you think of these candies? If you want to try Treatsie, sign up 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!]

New furniture!

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: furniture, home, household, online shopping, panda, pictures, products, projects, smokey, target

26 July 2014

I’m so excited about the newest additions to our home – a (real) TV stand and a dresser! Panda and I got a chance to put everything together today, so I feel super accomplished.

pieces of tv stand furniture before assembly

I came home from volunteering to find Panda starting to put together the TV stand.

We got it on Brookstone’s website because we had a Groupon to use.

instructions for building tv stand and nearly finished product

The instructions were stapled on the right corner. Who does that??

new tv stand with tv and cable box set up

Yay, new TV stand all done! Now the other table that came with our sofas can actually be used as a table.

box for room essentials black 4-drawer dresser from target

Next up was the dresser we got at Target for like 40% off.

This was sooo heavy we just let the pieces slide as we opened the box.

cat sitting on pieces for dresser yawning impatiently

Smokey was already impatient for her new playhouse, aka the drawers.

Pushing together those drawer pieces.

pile of screws, dowels, cams, and other hardware for dresser

That’s a lot of screws and cams and whatnot.

cat sitting in newly built drawer for dresser

As soon as we had the drawers made, Smokey made sure to test them out.

cat sleeping in corner of drawer with face squished

Soon enough, she was passed out in another drawer. Must mean they passed QC!

adding drawers glides to side of dresser wall

Things got a little confusing when we started adding the drawer glides.

frame of dresser created and cat sitting on upside down drawer nearby

We were getting close and Smokey decided she needed to try the support of the drawer from the underside.

black 4-drawer dresser newly assembled but with one brown drawer

Alright, dresser! It wasn’t until we put the drawers in that I realized one of them didn’t quite match… looks like I’ll be calling for a replacement piece.

We’ve designated one drawer for Smokey’s enjoyment and I finally get to move my underwear from a suitcase to a drawer!!

Love With Food Happy Camper July 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, food, love with food, pictures, products, reviews, snacks, subscriptions

22 July 2014

I was pretty pleased with the snacks from my first Love With Food box last month so I decided to continue my subscription. While I don’t really feel like the value is great, I really like discovering and sampling all these types of snacks. I even just upgraded to the 6-month plan that saves me $1 a month. Maybe I just need to go grocery shopping more. 😛 There’s still 8+ more days for the Love With Food free trial box (just pay $2 for shipping) – try it out yourself!

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.

I like the cute little themes they come up with I can certainly see these snacks coming in handy while out camping. I really enjoyed the ginnyminis butter crisp love cookies that were wonderfully crunchy and so much like butter cookies, but without the greasiness. Then Madyson’s marshmallow was such a cool, unique treat. I really enjoyed the handmade aspect and the chunks of chocolate chips were a perfect contrast to the soft marshmallow.

I appreciated having the ZOUQ Curry Crunch sweet and sour trail mix for when I was starving, but it was sweeter than I’d prefer so I couldn’t finish the bag. I certainly prefer it to normal trail mix though. The Mediterranean Snacks Lentil Crackers turned out to be less tasty than I hoped. Pretty good for a light snack and satisfyingly crunchy, but I like my crackers saltier. The Honey Stinger Kids’ Organic Chews were decent and I’m glad their red flavor is strawberry rather than cherry. I will actually eat all the flavors! They aren’t the sticky kind of chewy that I actually prefer, but that might be a good thing for you.

I was really looking forward to the Beanitos white cheddar puffs because it reminded me of Cheetos and I like white cheddar crackers, but it was kind of sour and dry. Maybe the bean base was just not to my liking. I’m not huge on beans to begin with. I’ve had Somersaults dutch cocoa in other boxes before and something about the flavor just doesn’t do it for me. I like how solid and crisp they are though. Finally, the 2 Degrees apple pecan bar is quite chunky and chewy, which is ok for me but I don’t really enjoy bars like that. I didn’t really get a pecan flavor from it, but it has a nice sweet fragrance from the apple.

While some of the snacks looked better than I ended up liking, I do like having snacks to sample. 6 more months, let’s do this! Which of these snacks do you want the most? Are any already favorites?

The Body Shop hauls

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, reviews，Tags: acne, body butters, body scrubs, cleansing wipes, deals, facial wipes, groupon, lotions, pictures, products, shopping, skincare, sprays, spritzes, tea tree oil, the body shop

20 July 2014

Awhile back, Panda saw a Groupon for The Body Shop and he bought it for me to use. After visiting the store and purchasing some items, I decided to get the Groupon myself for another run. We paid $15 each for $30 worth of stuff. I now have a nice little collection of products from them, which I’m really enjoying. Let me share my two hauls!

the body shop tea tree oil cleansing wipes, bottle of tea tree oil, and vineyard peach body butter

Haul #1

The first time around, I was really focused on the tea tree oil products because of my incessant acne. Of course I also had to try one of their body butters! That’s what drew me to the store in the first place. The moment I smelled the Vineyard Peach, I knew I had to have it. It reminds me of white peaches from China, so fresh and juicy and lightly sweet. Have you ever seen those flat peaches? Between those and the peaches featured in the Journey to the West, that’s exactly what I think of here. Since they offer buy two get one free, I got either the Tea Tree Cleansing Wipes or Tea Tree Oil for free. I can’t quite remember the pricing, though the wipes were around $12 and the body butter was full price at $20 (I wonder if I should have gotten the 3 for $30 deal instead).

I’ve nearly used up the wipes and I’m probably halfway through the tea tree oil. I think they’ve definitely helped calm down my skin and I always feel so great after using them – like my acne is really being tackled. They have a slight tingling sensation upon application and smell medicinal. Meanwhile, I’m saving the body butter for when I’ve used up some more lotions, but I couldn’t resist trying out the bit that got on the lid and it feels fabulous. Just a little bit applied into my skin perfectly and left me with a whiff of peach.

the body shop mandarin & tangelo body, room, & linen spritz, special edition blueberry body butter, tea tree oil skin clearing lotion, and brazil nut body scrub

Haul #2

The second time, I was looking for more variety and actually was hoping to get more of the cleansing wipes, but they were all out. I opted for the Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion instead. If I can’t wipe my face with it, why not apply it after cleansing? I originally got the Brazil Nut Cream Body Scrub and special edition Blueberry Body Butter as the other items, but since the body butter was on clearance for $10, it didn’t count towards my buy 2 get 1 free option. Sooo I browsed around and added the Mandarin & Tangelo Body, Room & Linen Spritz – turns out to be a most excellent choice!

I remember the scrub was $20 or so and I think the lotion and spray were somewhere around $12-15? So far I’ve used the lotion, which is great for offering that healing feeling without the stickiness of the tea tree oil itself. I’ve also been spraying the spritz around and I love it! I’m so glad I had to choose another item, or else I might not have discovered it. I’m putting the body butter away for now since I have a ton of other items, but I really wanted blueberry because they’re my favorite fruit. I know, total sucker here. As for the scrub, I was really drawn to the unique Brazil nut ingredient. I think it’s kind of almond-y? Plus the scrub has small scrubby bits and large scrubby bits, which is super fun!

If you’re looking for a deal on The Body Shop stuff, they’re currently running their Christmas in July promotion: 40% sitewide and free shipping!

Ipsy July 2014: Sensationally Sunkissed review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, boxes, cheek stains, creams, eye shadows, gels, lip stains, mascaras, pictures, products, reviews, skincare, subscriptions, tanning oils, tints

17 July 2014

Ick, what a strange-looking Ipsy bag this month. I will try to give it to someone or use it to package off some items next time I do a trade. Product-wise it was also very meh for me this time. I’m debating whether I should just unsubscribe and redeem a free product that I don’t really want with the points I’ve earned or try to wait around for one I do like.

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.

Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil – I have no idea how to use tanning oil, nor do I feel any need to try. If I want to tan, I just go outside for a bit. Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy with my skin tone, whatever shade it might be! This is definitely an item I’m not opening and putting up for trade.

Lavilin Jojoba Skin Soother Gel Cream – For something with gel in the name, I did not expect the consistency that was more like sunscreen. Looked like sunscreen, felt like sunscreen a bit, and is it just my imagination? Smelled like sunscreen too? It didn’t mention any SPF properties so I have no idea, but I guess I’ll use this up sort of as a normal lotion.

Benefit they’re Real! beyond mascara – Mascaras must be super popular since we keep getting them. I better start applying daily if I want to ever get close to using up my supply. These bristles looked scary because they are so pokey, but application was just fine and they help my lashes pop well, without giving my raccoon eyes. I’ll keep using this for sure!

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass fabulous lip & cheek stain in cherry – I don’t plan on staining my cheeks anytime soon, but the lip staining aspect of this intrigued me. I’ve been getting bolder with my choice of lip color, so I’ll play around with this one too. The application was less staining that I thought, thankfully – I was afraid it’d super stain my lips the instant anything touched them! But it took a little rubbing to get a nice shade on and I like the look and feel of it.

bareMinerals 5 in 1 BB advanced performance cream eyeshadow in Divine Wine – This is pretty boring to me. I don’t like to use eye products, so what’s the point of putting something on that is basically nude? If I’m going to that trouble, might as well be something fun and interesting. I guess it’s supposed to be like sunscreen for the eyes? I don’t know, I’m not really into it. I’ll try trading but if it doesn’t go I might consider trying it.

Not impressed at all this month and if it weren’t for the points I accumulated, I’d be unsubscribing right now (see how rewards programs lock people in?). I’ll get these up in my eDivv shop eventually so I can trade for stuff I’d actually appreciate.

Beauty Box 5 July 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, beauty box 5, boxes, hair masks, lip balms, lip liners, lip pencils, mascaras, pictures, products, reviews, scrubs, skincare, subscriptions

15 July 2014

I’ve been testing out this box for a few months and overall I’ve liked it enough to keep it, so I’m thinking of using it to replace my Ipsy subscription. Lately it’s been up and down with Ipsy, so I want to use up my bonus points to redeem a free item and then cancel it.

Beauty Box 5 is $12 per box (or as discounted as $99 for an entire year, with an option in between) and comes with 5 cosmetic products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. You also have the option of buying it as a gift your box to a friend. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards products or boxes.

Revlon Bold Lacquer mascara: We just got a mascara in last month’s box so I’ve got plenty of this product and will probably save this for use a little later. Perhaps I should apply mascara daily, since my stash is growing far faster than I can keep up with using. I pretty much use mascara a few times a year and that’s it. Part of the problem is that some of them wear down and give me raccoon eyes. We’ll see how this one does.

HASK Argan Oil hair treatment: I’m going to treat myself to this along with a bath sometime in the near future. I don’t have many hair masks, so this is a great product to try, especially since my hair dries out pretty easily. I don’t have the silkiest hair, but it does a decent job of staying conditioned. Am I supposed to use a hair mask frequently to maintain that sort of shine? Will this really last for two weeks of shine? We shall see…

Body Drench Candy Licious lip balm in Red Licorice: I love these smaller tubes of lip balm – they’re adorable! The flavor is spot on and tastes very much like licorice. I’m not a huge fan of that flavor, but I’m fine with a little bit of it on my lips so I’ll definitely be using this up. The bright red tint is a fun color that adds a pop without being in your face.

Anna Naturals Glowing Mama scrub: First of all, this smells luscious. Kind of reminds me of my favorite facial exfoliating product, derma e’s microdermabrasion. It also feels so wonderful as I’m scrubbing it – my fingers glide around and the granules are rough enough to feel satisfying but not too large. I love it. I’m glad it wasn’t the sort of oatmeal-y or almond-y scent I thought it would have; it’s more refreshing than that!

Starlooks lip liner in Tipsy: I don’t use lip liner, so this is going in my trade pile. I have some other Starlooks items, which I like, particularly a glitter eyeliner that I use sort of like a light eyeshadow. I put a little on the corners of my eyes and smudge it in to brighten them and give a fun glittery effect.

The variety of items made for a very useful set of complementing items. I’ve got my eyes, lips, hair, and skin covered here! I won’t use all the items, but nearly all of them will get opened eventually. The “defining moments” theme was pretty vague so just about any products would have worked for it. What’s your favorite item in this box?

Coastal Flats meal review

laelene Posted in reviews，Tags: eating, food, lunch, meals, panda, pictures, seafood

13 July 2014

You know, today Panda and I were having lunch at Coastal Flats and he was sort of surprised when I wasn’t eagerly taking pictures of the food. I usually take pictures of just about everything we order, but lately I’ve been low on memory space on my phone so I’ve been limiting my photo snapping. However, it did make me realize that perhaps I should take pictures of the food and actually share them! Part of why I was stopping was because I haven’t really been sharing them like I usually do on Facebook. Sooo I’ll start reviewing some of the dishes I have at various food establishments. Maybe it’ll help me remember when I want to relive a dish and can’t quite figure out where I had it or what it was called…

First up is our lunch today at Coastal Flats. This is our first time eating there and originally I wanted Seasons 52 right across the hall, but Panda didn’t know if there was anything new on that menu that he’d like to try. I’m usually up for trying something new and as soon as I heard Coastal Flats offered deviled eggs, I was sold. I love a good deviled egg. This was the location in Tyson’s Corner Center, over by all the restaurants on the Old Navy and Barnes & Noble end.

We chose to sit in the patio/pavilion area (I forgot what they called it) right by the hallway. The ambiance was mostly casual and not too loud, which was nice. I didn’t want to sit inside since it was darker and felt more like a dinner atmosphere. Plus, I like those elevated tables. The service was mostly efficient – they filled the water without having to be asked and always brought out more bread when we requested it.

assorted bread and butter at coastal flats

I loved those little dough balls, which came out piping hot. The raisin bread was ok and the other slice of bread varied between white and jalapeno cheese. We got three baskets!

deviled eggs with spiced pecans and sugar cured bacon at coastal flats

The deviled eggs tasted good, though there was a mystery ingredient that was mixed in with the yolk and provided a super crunchy experience that was unusual. Yolk to white ratio was good and not overwhelming. Panda seemed to enjoy the bacon!

hickory grilled absolutely fresh fish of the day at coastal flats

My hickory grilled rock fish (of the day) dish had very seasonal influences – a mango and watermelon salsa underneath and crispy onion on top. I loved the mesh of sweet and salty, soft and crunchy. The flavors were strong, so I appreciated a fish with not so much flavor to balance it out. We devoured this.

penne primavera with chicken at coastal flats

His penne primavera with chicken was a more standard dish and offered a good variety of vegetables. Nothing super exciting here, but a nice dish when you don’t want a creamy sauce on your pasta.

Except for my dish, the choice of plates was rather boring. It didn’t give our food the pop it could have. Everything was quick to come out and we certainly liked the taste of it all. I’m sure we’ll be returning to one of their locations again. This menu offered multiple items that both Panda and I would like to try next time. A lovely meal that came to just under $50 before tip. Not bad!

4th of July Pittsburgh

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: cats, driving, exploring, holidays, panda, pennsylvania, pets, pictures, road trips, smokey, travel, trips, vacations

11 July 2014

Last weekend, for the 4th of July, Panda and I went on our little vacation to Pittsburgh. He chose that city because we were looking for something within a 4-5 hour drive, didn’t want to do NYC again, and wanted to try a new city. I might have gone there once upon a time, but I don’t have a memory of it, so it’d pretty much be like going there for the first time anyway. We also planned for quite awhile to prepare Smokey for the trip, since he was able to book a hotel that allowed pets for free. It was a nice, quick getaway and there was a ton going on in Pittsburgh that weekend.

We started driving at night, avoiding all toll roads.

On the 4th, we went to join in the regatta festivities.

We walked across the bridge to get to the Carnegie Science Center.

Pretty flowers!

Outside the science center, we entered the Brain Maze.

Do I weigh enough? Yes!

I had to put on a shirt since my shoulders weren’t covered. Also had to tie back my hair.

The zero gravity machine letting me hang. I did all the tasks almost twice over! Total astronaut material here.

Going through the stinky submarine. I could hardly breathe.

I wanted to be served by a robot and get a commemorative cup, so we got some froyo.

The world through my heart sunglasses.

The first time, we didn’t have cash so we had to go hunting for change! Then it was up the incline.

What a fantastic view.

Up on this steep hill.

Looking down, it’s a ton of greenery.

On our trip back down the incline, we pass over the road with cars driving under.

The journey we made.

Hey, we were up on the tiny round platform earlier!

Yelp helped us find this dinner spot.

Yum, cornbread and fried pickles!

How cute, the pizza has flavoring sides.

Final morning and I take advantage of the Texas waffle iron.

Alright! Texas waffle. 🙂

On the drive back, I discovered some slippers I might want to get.

Homegrown Collective June 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, bug sprays, cats, eco-friendly, green, household, insect repellants, lotions, pets, pictures, projects, reviews, skincare, sprays, subscriptions, summer, sunscreens

09 July 2014

I am constantly amazed at how the folks over at the Homegrown Collectiv e come up with these awesome projects month after month. This box comes perfectly timed for the summer months and I was so eager I started one of them even as we left for Pittsburgh Thursday night.

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

cat sniffing aloe included in homegrown collective june 2014 box with summertime & the livin's easy theme

Smokey was a big fan of this box too.

Project #1, after-sun aloe lotion bars: Ducky molds?!! I LOVE IT. How playful and fun are these? I really look forward to making them and playing around with my little ducky lotions. So adorable! And of course these will be super useful in the summertime to help soothe the bites and scratches that seem inevitable.

Project #2, all natural insect repellant: This is the project that I already have underway and just need to finish up today. What perfect timing – Panda and I went out catching fireflies last week and got bites all over, so next time we go out we’ll have protection against those bugs. I sure hope this is super effective at repelling mosquitoes since we both seem to taste extra good to them.

Project #3, all natural organic sunscreen: Woo hoo, a third project again! I hope they keep this up so I can play around with even more projects. Making my very own sunscreen is fantastic. I wonder if it will have that “sunscreen smell” that we’re all too used to? I doubt it, and that is a very good thing indeed. I had no idea soybean oil could be so useful for bug spray and sunscreen! Fascinating.

Can you say summer soothing in a box? This is amazing. I can’t wait to see how effective everything is! And those ducky molds are precious. I feel like making jello with them… 😛

You know you want to get in on this action! Just subscribe to the Homegrown Collective and you can enjoy these fantastic projects too. 😀

Snagging an iPad mini retina

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: apple, best buy, electronics, gadgets, ipads, pictures, products, shopping, target, technology

07 July 2014

For the past year or so, I’ve been thinking about replacing my iPad 2. I’ve had it since 2010 and it’s bulkier and slower than I’d like. A few months ago, Target was offering $150 trade-ins plus a $50 gift card. That would make the iPad mini retina 16GB only half its original price! I should have sprung on the deal then, but I missed out and the next week they were offering the iPad mini with the same type of deal. I thought the difference between retina and not wouldn’t be a big deal, so I went to check it out. Unfortunately, the instant I looked at a non-retina screen, I could discern the pixels and it was more obvious to my eye than I had hoped. I set my resolve to get an iPad mini retina the next time I could get it at the $200 price point, with trade-in value and gift cards earned and whatnot.

Finally, on Saturday Panda and I got back from our trip and saw the Target ad for this week – $100 gift card for the iPad mini retina! Between that and my trade-in value around $100 for the iPad 2, I was ready to finally get my new device. Sunday morning, I went in prepared to trade in my iPad and get the mini retina. Then I realized that I don’t have to trade in my iPad at Target, which would give me $91 for it. Since I’m just getting a gift card back, why not go to the highest bidder? Best Buy is quoting $126 for the same one. I’ll certainly be able to spend that sort of money there the next time I get a laptop, TV, or other electronics. So I went ahead and bought the iPad mini I wanted at Target without trading in.

Today I went to Best Buy to trade in my iPad 2 and got that $126 gift card, as promised. I’ll be getting a smart cover for my iPad mini when I figure out which color I like best. I also went by Target again since the first time I didn’t put the full charge on my Target RedCard and I missed out on nearly $15 in savings from the 5% off I get with that card! I had thought that any portion of the charge made on my RedCard would result in 5% off the purchase, but it’s just 5% off the amount charged to the card. Makes total sense, and I should have known that. Good thing I checked my receipt and noticed it, or else that’s a nice meal’s worth of money I would have missed out on.

So now I proudly introduce to you my new gadget, in case you’ve never seen Apple packaging before. Ready for the unboxing?