I’m very much in touch with the monkey in me. I love climbing trees, swinging around, and even hanging upside down. Ever since I was young, I enjoyed trying to get up in trees. Nothing too crazy, but if it had a branch that wasn’t more than a foot or two above my arms’ reach, I could at least hang off it. But of course the best thing is when you can get up there and sit around for a bit. There was a tree in my front yard in St. Louis that was just big enough to hold me and I loved to arrange myself on its branches with my books on a beautiful afternoon. When I couldn’t make it into a tree, sitting on monkey bars was a decent alternative. When I found this tree in Anaheim, I absolutely had to play around on it. A good tree is so sturdy, so supportive, and offers a fabulous view. What a great way to enjoy nature.
Posts Tagged ‘pictures’
365great Day 344: tree climbing
365great Day 343: Coach bags
When Panda wins an award at work, he gets to choose a prize. One of the items he got was this set of Coach bags for me. 🙂 I’ve been using them for many months now and I’ve been very happy with how well they hold up to my heavy use. The larger bag has acted as my work bag and carries my laptop, snacks, drinks, even clothing. Despite the thin straps, it has shown no sign of wear and I love how the quality makes it so sturdy. The smaller bag actually snaps into the interior of the large bag, but I’ve been using it separately as its own clutch sort of purse. I like the simple design that is very practical and so useful for me. I’m not usually into brand names, but this is one brand I’ve grown to appreciate, so it might be a gateway product for me to get into designer brands. 😛 Only at steep discounts though! Or maybe I could just win them; wouldn’t that be great?
How to Apply for a Chinese Visa
What a ride it’s been applying for my visa to go to China! I watched as time after time, people were turned away because they didn’t have everything they needed for the application. It seems that the law changed in the past couple of years, so those who had been getting visas to China for over 20 years suddenly found themselves no longer meeting the requirements for the application (on their first try anyway). I don’t think a single person who was there for the first time had a successful experience. So, to help you avoid a similar fate, here’s what I learned to make your visa application process as painless as possible.
Short on time? Skip right to the tips list.
First and foremost, PREPARE thoroughly.
When I first saw the extensive forms of visas, I had no clue which one I wanted and I didn’t pay much attention to the requirements. After all, I’d done it plenty of times before so how hard could it be? Oh no, how naive I was. First of all, you have to fill out the form ahead of time. There are no longer forms at the embassy – my first big mistake. Luckily, there is a well-situated travel agency upstairs from the visa office in DC (what a smart move on their part), so I went there and paid $10 to fill out my form on a computer and print it out. Avoid those mistakes and download a copy and print it yourself.
All applicants are going to want to have a photo copy of their passport ID pages (for the office to keep once they return your passport to you), previous visa(s) to China if this is not your first, and a copy of your itinerary (proof that you will leave the country within an appropriate time period). If you’re like me and just got a new passport, you’ll want to bring copies of your old passport and visas that you had in there. If you’re getting a special visa that lasts beyond the typical maximum of 12 months, there are other documents to provide. This usually includes a signed letter from a Chinese native/resident or company, inviting you to the country and explaining the purpose of your visit.
Plan for at least 40-60 minutes at the visa office
Don’t forget to bring all your documentation! When you arrive, you’ll almost always find a dozen or more people in line to submit their application and it’s a painfully slow process. After all, they have to be thorough in reviewing your application. They also often have to explain exactly what is missing from an application so people can get it right the second time. And inevitably, there are those frustrated people who spent hours getting to the office only to find out they have to make another trek, so they vent and sometimes demand managers.
Wait patiently for 3-4 business days, then pick up your visa
When you leave after submitting your application, you’ll get a receipt – hang on to it! It lists the date your visa will be ready and if you don’t get a call by that time, it means your visa should be ready with no issues. Picking up the visa is pretty quick, thankfully. Go first to the payment window and they’ll process your payment. All visas cost the same, no matter the length of validity and they’re currently at $140 for US citizens. I paid by credit card and then took my receipts over the to pick up window when the lady returned. She located my passport and showed me the page with the visa on it. I checked to make sure it was accurate – correct personal information, appropriate expiration date (two years from now, woo hoo!), and actually in my passport.
Payment time.
Boxes of passports.
So here’s a recap of the main points:
Download the application and bring it filled out along with a 2×2 photo attached (no more copies offered at the visa office)
Bring
-photo copy of passport
-copy of old passport (if recently outdated)
-copies of previous visas (if you’ve had any before)
-copy of travel itinerary (if already booked)
-invitation letter with name, ID number, and address of inviter (Chinese citizen or resident) – also include your name and passport number as invitee
-copy of front and back of ID of inviter
Apply at least 5 business days prior to intended travel (but preferably closer to 8-10 days in case there are issues)
When picking up your visa, bring form of payment (credit card is fine) and receipt slip
Did I forget anything? Do you have any lessons learned to share?
365great Day 342: boutiques
I’ve been shying away from most large chains when I shop. Nowadays with all the shops on the internet, it’s super easy to find sweet little boutiques selling much more unique items for good prices. I’ve come across quite a few and even follow these two on Instagram – on the left is a necklace from Stone Rush Jewelry and on the right is a shirt from Hazel & Olive Boutique. I also recently bought a necklace on sale from Cents of Style. It’s a lot more fun shopping these e-stores than going out to your typical big box store. I find the selection far more intriguing, with personality and flair. It’s much more fitting to my preferences and a far more comfortable shopping experience. I’m glad I’ve stumbled across these brands because they offer some great products!
365great Day 341: Postagram
Postagram is a fun app that allows you to send out postcards of pictures you’ve taken. It’s like sending a physical version of an Instagram post, in a way. Pictures are always cropped to a square and come as part of a postcard where you can remove the square photo for posting up. They make it fun and easy to send a unique, simple gift all through a few taps in their app. They also do quite a few offers where you can get free credits; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever paid to send one. I’ve sent about 7 or 8 and I still have a good 25 credits! Amazing. For special occasions, it’s such a nice way to commemorate a meaningful moment. What a great little gift.
Blissmobox: Winter Beauty
The final blissmobox. As I mentioned recently, I never got the last one I was supposed to receive, so I contacted customer service and they eventually agreed to send me one of the variations they have now. It was a toss up between Winter Beauty and Blissmo Beauty for me (the other option was a snack-themed one). I went with Winter Beauty hoping for more rich, hydrating, healing skincare. This was my last blissmo box and I think it was the February one, but I’m really out of touch with their cycle so it might have been from the Jan selections.
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.
Yes To Blueberries, Age Refresh Eye Firming Treatment – I’ve been fascinated by this brand and I’m always happy to get their products, but I don’t know if I really need eye treatment stuff so I think I’ll put this in my samples pile to share with people I trade with. It’s hard to believe that this packet is fully 1/5th of the regular size they sell! I bet it’d last quite a long time.
Nature’s Gate, Biotin Strengthening Conditioner – I already got this in last February’s Skin Essentials box and it was pretty good. However, I am confused as to why they only included the conditioner this time… would it have been so much trouble to have at least the shampoo again, if not the body wash as well? I mean, isn’t conditioner more effective combined with shampoo? It’s disappointing to get just the single sample here.
Joyful Bath Co, Oatsy Floatsie bath soap – I love this soap and have another sample sitting around somewhere. I’d bought the full size previously and used that all up. I love how well it suds and it smells wonderfully of lavender. When I use up some of the other soaps I have around now, I’m definitely going to look at getting another one of these. I believe you can even find them in Whole Foods now! I love perusing the bath section of stores.
Choice Teas, Organic Breathing Space – I could definitely use some caffeine-free tea. This seems like a great one to have when you’re feeling a little under the weather or need a pick-me-up on a cold day. Like with the hair care sample, I wish they hadn’t given just one little packet. Another flavor or a trio of this same flavor would have made a far greater punch here.
Calolea, Glycerine & Olive Oil Complexion Bar – Ok, I was not impressed at first, but once I read about how great this soap is I’m looking forward to using it. Plus, I sniffed it and it’s such a lovely clean, fresh, but not too strong scent. This is hypoallergenic and is supposed to be good for your complexion. I certainly need something like that! It’s gentle and they even recommend using it for men when they’re shaving. So useful! And with olive oil, I’m sure it won’t dry me out.
ellovi, lip butter – Pure and simple, just a few ingredients (six, to be exact). It’s a cute little lip butter with nothing extra in it to complicate things. I happen to love the oval shape for lip balms, which applies faster and really gets those corners well. I like to have lip balms available everywhere, since you never know where your lips will feel dry, so this will find a happy home in a pocket, on a counter, or maybe even in the car.
Mee Beauty, Bee Kissed honey & beeswax lip balm – Ooo, a lip balm infused with honey! That’s pretty new to me and a fun way to draw in the bee theme. Once again, I’ll find a place for this so I can keep my lips well taken care of. I like how there’s not a strong scent to this. I’m sure I could even convince Panda to use this for his winter lips.
This time there was no info card and I wish there was some “wow” factor. While I do like some of the new brands here, I feel like they could have been a bit more generous with the samples.
365great Day 340: rice crispy treats
In middle school, I used to gorge on Rice Krispy Treats and Gatorade. I loved the sweetness of the marshmallows and the crispness of the popped rice in those snacks. Since then, I’ve enjoyed many other versions made by a variety of sources and I’m always looking forward to trying more. I like ones that are gooey and soft, almost taffy-like. These ones from Starbucks are pretty fantastic and I could eat them for breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert. Rice crispy treats make a versatile snack that you can enjoy any time of day. I find they go quite well with a nice hot drink too. One of these days I’m going to try making them for myself. I can just imagine how amazing they’d be fresh out of the oven! What a great baked good to have around.
Better work at work
It was back to work today after working from home Thursday and Friday due to the snow. While Panda happily snoozed away, I got up and went in for a normal day’s work. I felt much less stressed working in the office than I do when I’m home. The home environment makes me worry that I’m not working hard enough and it leaves me out of touch with what’s going on. I’d actually rather just work at the office, much as working from home sounds like a cool concept. Funny, since I never thought that’d be the case. I guess I just like home to be where I can relax and not think about work. Shouldn’t your home be your sanctuary?
Plus, today was fun because I took a Starbucks break with coworkers, made friends with a new guy in our company’s co-working space, got a cool delivery, found out I get to travel for work next month, and helped out on a couple of initiatives. An eventful day that sort of flew by and was pretty productive! Not much more I could ask for. I went home feeling good and looking forward to more days like this. I love being engaged and excited about what I’m working on. And with the recent shift in my responsibilities, I’m getting more and more of that, which is just awesome.
Do you prefer to work from home or at the office?
And the package I received, which was pretty thrilling:
It came out beautifully!
What a cool design. Simple, lightweight, and effective.
365great Day 339: smoked salmon
I had a craving for smoked salmon again, after eating a delicious sushi roll with some of that recently. For the longest time, I wouldn’t eat it because I shied away from what I thought was raw meat. I’m still confused as to whether smoked salmon is considered truly raw since it’s been treated, but I like it enough to not really care. I love the cool, moist texture of it and the salty but not overwhelming taste. Last time I craved it, I ate a ton as part of salads. This time, I opted to pair it with cucumber on bread. Since I didn’t want a creamy sauce, I just added lime juice, salt, and pepper on top for extra flavor. Then today I saw this offered at Ikea and I couldn’t resist. Yum! It’s a great little snack to enjoy.
Yuzen Spring 2014 edition review
Aww, it’s finally Yuzen time again! I actually got it over a week ago, but with the move and filming the video for them, I kept forgetting to get still pictures. This lovely box for the spring provides a wonderful assortment of products for treating yourself. They smell great and feel wonderful too. I’m ready for all this snow to finally end and feel like spring is on its way! The box I’m showing here came in a red organza bag and has white tissue paper for Valentine’s. If you get this later in the quarter, you’ll probably receive the spring one with a white organza bag and yellow/lime green tissue paper. That’s what you’ll see in the video I filmed for Yuzen’s YouTube channel, which will be up soon. 🙂
Yuzen is $33 per quarter (with boxes sent Feb, May, Aug, and Nov) and comes with around 7 or 8 eco-friendly beauty, skincare, food/snacks, and home products. Boxes are sent quarterly with no option to skip, but you can get one-time gift boxes too. Sometimes there’s a waitlist to get the subscription. They do not offer a referral program.
Beautiful red coloring that works for spring AND Valentine’s.
Info about the products in the spring box.
And the last couple of brands included.
I see myself taking an enriching bath and then nourishing myself afterward.
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.
Lotus Wei – Infinite Love Mist: So very suitable for the month of love. I actually have this mist already, from way back in the early days of Yuzen. It’s a sweet scent with a hint of tartness, which makes sense since it’s a blend of mandarin, rose, and honey. These are meant to be sprayed around to surround you with the type of scent that will enhance your experience of love for yourself and those around you. You can use it as a pillow mist, spray it as you enter a room, or just spray it around your body. Inhale, relax, and feel the love! Use code YUZEN by 4/30/14 for 20% off at Lotus Wei.
Acure – Radical Resurfacing Facial Treatment: I am pretty excited about this product, if it can help even out my skin! I have acne scars and some random dark spots that plague me, so I’m hoping this will help. I’ve never heard of lemon probiotic or chlorella growth factor, but I do believe plants have powerful abilities to heal and harnessing that certainly sounds good. I’ve heard of natural remedies using lemon to brighten skin, so this probably works similarly. At the very least it feels so hydrating and smells sort of tangy like ginger. I’m loving this as a moisturizer on its own, even though it goes on under one. Use code YUZENLOVE for 25% at Acure.
sumbody – sum fizzer: This large block of fizzing fun is in their Coconut Cream scent (though I don’t know if they were sending out other variations too). I tested a small piece and it fizzes very well! Can’t wait to incorporate this into a bath. My skin felt great after using the water with the fizz in it and I loved the light scent it left! It’s not too strong on the coconut, but definitely gives you a tropical feel. I think you’re supposed to use the whole one in the bath, but I’ll probably split it up between a few uses. I’m loving this! Use code Yuzen2 by 5/1/14 for 20% off at sumbody.
sumbody – bath melt: I broke off a quarter of this to use in my bath this weekend and I enjoyed the use of goat milk in their Milky Rich variation. It reminded me of a luxurious bar of chocolate and I was almost tempted to eat it! Inside the foil you’ll find a little piece of paper telling you more about the product and how to use it (they had one for the fizzer too). It took some swirling of the water to get this dissolved and then I could see the oils that were released. It was almost like taking a milk bath, which I’m sure my skin was happy about. Use code Yuzen2 by 5/1/14 for 20% off at sumbody.
Sranrom – Calm Down Hand Cream: Anything inspired by Thailand has got to be good. This lotion is thicker than most, but not quite a body butter. The lemongrass and lime scent is so refreshing and soothing all at once. I love it! It’s very enriching and perfect to combat the dryness that winter brought on. I got a good laugh when I saw the scent name of Calm Down, because I tell Panda to do that all the time. When I showed him, he had a chuckle too and I think I’m going to give him a tube to use. He worries too much and needs some calming! Use code YUZEN20 for 20% at Sranrom.
Sranrom – Compassion candle: I’m really enjoying all the refreshing scents in this box, like this lemongrass, lemon, and spearmint candle! It’s beautifully made and smells wonderful. I used it while soaking in a bath and it was a great calming prescence. It burns cleanly and comes in such a cute little glass container! What a lovely way to enhance the mood in any room. Use code YUZEN20 for 20% at Sranrom.
Balanced Guru – Balm Me Up Body Balm: I was surprised at how solid this body balm is when I first opened it. It’s actually quite soft though, and melts with your body heat. It’s a very strong tangy scented product that is super buttery. It’s absolutely wonderful for your elbows, knees, and other rough patches of skin. Just a thin layer took away all trace of dry skin for me. I can see this being perfect for getting through the cold months, though the scent can get overwhelming for me so I can only use a little bit at a time. Use code YUZEN by 4/30/14 for 20% off at Balanced Guru.
Chocolove – Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate: I just got my first intro to Chocolove in my Escape Monthly box and what do you know, it’s showing up here too! This flavor is just what you’d want around Valentine’s and I enjoyed it, but I’ve got to admit I’m not a huge fan of anything other than fresh, ripe cherries. Nevertheless, the chocolate is delicious and they have plenty of amazing flavors to choose from! Definitely a brand that I’ll keep my eye out for when I’m out shopping.
essio – aromatherapy shower kit: Finally, there’s a discount code for Essio’s aromatherapy for the shower. It’s a little arm contraption that you put on your showerhead and then you swap in little pods with different essential oil aromatherapy scents. I met the founder at a LOHAS event that I was helping Yuzen out at and I liked the idea, but was not at a point in my life where I was treating myself to such luxuries. However, I’m thinking that now might be the time, since I’ve really gotten into skincare and taking care of my body. Thankfully, I have until June to decide on this! Use code YUZEN20 by 6/30/14 for 20% off at Essio.
So there you go, a lovely way to kick off spring by healing your skin from a tough winter’s beating. What did you like most in this box?
*Disclosure: As a super fan, I was invited to be the Yuzen Ambassador to help them spread the word about their brand. I now receive the boxes 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). 🙂
