Panda’s mom gave us this adorable tea set when we were visiting and I finally unpacked it today for us to use. After rinsing it all out, we got some of the loose leaf tea I’d bought from the Tea & Spice Exchange and brewed a pot. There’s something about brewing tea in a pot and then pouring it into tiny little cups that is such a fun experience for me. There’s a certain ceremony about it and it exudes gracefulness as you pour. The delicate little cups make me feel all fancy. I’ve been coveting those cast iron pots at Teavana for years and I’m still trying to justify the cost to myself. In the mean time, this set makes a perfect starter set for us to use at home. Paired with a slice of Chinese-style cake, this spread made the perfect way to wind down at night. I’ll be having mini tea parties nightly!
Posts Tagged ‘snacks’
Tea time
A fun day at work
Recently, Canvas decided to do a Shark Tank initiative to gather ideas from across the company for what we can do to increase the trial subscriber volume. Everyone was invited to partner up and present an idea to five Sharks – a panel of decision-makers at Canvas. I was interested in participating, but didn’t really have any good ideas. One of my coworkers had reached out to me to partner up and just as we were about to get together, he found out that another guy one our team had already signed them up as a team. I kept an eye out, wondering who else I could team up with, but nothing really presented itself.
Today rolled around, with pitches scheduled throughout the afternoon. Right before lunch, a colleague who is a good friend started talking about it because she’d just learned about our Shark Tank (she didn’t get the emails). She needed someone to work with, so I offered to join her. After lunch, we met up with our coworker with the idea – he had to leave early and didn’t want to present anyway, so we took the idea and ran with it. He acted as our adviser and really helped make sure we had a ton of great information, so we were well-prepared. We took all that content and broke it into a bunch of slides, then started practicing. We even rehearsed walking in and greeting the Sharks. It was hilarious and so much fun!
I signed us up for the first time slot at 3:30 under our chosen team name: Double Trouble. After about an hour, we were pretty confident in our presentation. We had the entrance, presentation flow, and even synchronized moves all ready. We did a practice run in front of the idea man before he had to run and he loved it! Just as we were looking forward to going first, the Sharks came over to ask us to move to 4:10, the second slot. They had to postpone the start to 4. While it was sad we wouldn’t be first up, it did give us extra time to rehearse! I then booked a meeting room so we could practice clicking through the slides.
When it finally came time to pitch, we went through our presentation nearly flawlessly. Our high energy and funny moments really captured the Sharks and they had a great time with us. We certainly had the most memorable and entertaining presentation! The idea was a hit too, and we finished off on a fabulous note. I think the Sharks were not only impressed with how prepared we were (especially considering we’d only prepared for about an hour and a half), but how enthusiastic we were! I think some of them know us both to be more quiet, and not nearly as goofy as we turned out to be. Wins all around for team Double Trouble!!
We were still high from the rush of joy after that fun experience when we were told about the free food in the kitchen for a “Christmas in July” Happy Hour. Check out the awesome spread, including some super cool Australian dessert – pavlova – and an assortment of fruit as well as cocktail shrimp. We had a fabulous time enjoying the food before I decided to get back to work. I’d lost about half a day due to all this Shark Tank and Happy Hour fun, so it was time to get crackin’ again.
Homemade and oh so delicious!!
Treatsie July 2014 review
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!]
Love With Food Happy Camper July 2014 review
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?
[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 at the special offer price and wanted to share what I got!]
Escape Monthly June: Las Vegas Box Review
Alright! I’ve been sitting on this box for two weeks (oops) but here’s my review. Panda and I are both teetotalers who aren’t into the party scene, so when we go to Vegas it’s about the sights, shows, and food. I think this box offered a nice balance between the party side of things and the getaway side of things. I’m glad to see they didn’t just focus on one aspect of Vegas.
Escape Monthly is just under $40 per box (with code for 20% off your subscription – see end of post) and comes with a variety of food, home, skincare items themed around a city. Each box comes with a Moon Handbooks guide for that region. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a lovely recurring referral commission program.
(click to enlarge and read full messaging)
At first I thought I didn’t get the bonus item and I was super bummed, but then I found it hiding against the side of the box! Is it strange that a little thing like that made my day brighter?
Here’s what came in the box:
Moon Handbooks guide to Nevada – I’m keeping this one handy since Panda and I will be going to Las Vegas next month. I’m definitely planning on doing a helicopter ride over to the Grand Canyon this time around, since that’s the one thing I haven’t gotten a chance to do that’s been on my list for ages. Other than that, we’ll see what this guidebook has to offer.
Tahoe Toffee – Anyone who went to college in California or Nevada probably went to Lake Tahoe for some skiing/snowboarding at some point! I know I certainly did (my only time on the slopes so far, actually). It’s lovely to see a brand from that area and it’s a mighty fine toffee they make. When I first saw it, I thought there was a corner missing since from the back, it looked like it was supposed to be a big triangle. When I turned it around, I found out it’s the shape of Nevada, haha!
New York New York clipped casino playing cards – What a simple and unique gift item. I happened to get ones used at the New York New York casino, which I’ve been to many a time (though not to gamble). I’ve been thinking about reviving a game of Snerds with Panda – it was a card game we played all summer as Orientation Counselors at UCLA. Looks like I have my chance now!
Las Vegas shot glass – Even though I don’t drink, I have this thing with shot glasses and mini alcohol bottles. When I was traveling Europe, there were just so many cute ones to get that I have a small collection, so this is a perfect addition! I recently read someone mentioning it’s the perfect portion for drinking water with your daily pills… so if I ever need to take pills, I will certainly keep that in mind. 😉 Note that this is NOT dishwasher safe, so be careful with it and hand wash!
glass die wine stopper – Is it just me or does this remind you of a wedding gift? It might be the white and silver coloring of the packaging. Or it might be the hearts. I don’t have wine to stop, but I really like the look of this glass die so I’ll see if I can find a use for it. If not, my dad or Panda’s brother might have a use for these!
3Girls Holistic Calming Mist spray – This is a nice large bottle of calming mist that sprays perfectly finely, for a nice thin layer of mist. I love that it’s organic and vegan, with very simple ingredients like lavender, chamomile, ylang ylang, and vanilla essential oils. It smells sweet and tart, like a summer garden brimming with flowers.
Iadora Charcoal Body Scrub – Ooo, I can’t wait to use this when my body scrub supply goes down a bit. I’ve had charcoal soap, but never a scrub, so this is fantastic! They’ve got some large salt granules that will provide a super exfoliating scrubbing experience. The oils like to sit at the bottom of the tub, so I flipped it over to allow the drier bits on top to get soaked again.
Vegas nail file – This was the bonus item I thought I didn’t get. Yay for finding it somewhat hidden. 🙂 I don’t really file my nails, so I will keep this as a nice Vegas item until I decide to put it to use. Now that I say that, I kind of want to use it right away!
I’m a big fan of the items for relaxation and enjoyment in this box and whatever I won’t use will make a wonderful gift. What do you like best in this Las Vegas Escape Monthly box? If you want to sign up, try one of these codes (not sure which ones are still active): INDIAESCAPE or VEGASESCAPE for 20% off the lifetime of your subscription or GIFTESCAPE for 25% off.
July’s destination is India!! I’ve never been there, but I have some good friends who have been or are from there so I can’t wait to see what I’ll get and whether they approve. This time around they offered a deluxe box as well ($150 for $69.95), since there are so many items they wanted to share. I’m very tempted but I need to cut back on my spending so I hope I don’t regret not springing for it (or maybe they’ll have extras once I see what it comes with).
[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!]
Treatsie June 2014 review
I had just mentioned how Treatsie seemed to not be using ice packs anymore, so of course I had to be proven wrong. 😛 This time, it was hot enough outside that it warranted some cooling packs again. The box came in an insulated bag with two ice packs that weren’t solid anymore, but did their job along the way.
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!
Salty Road Salt Water Taffy in Peppermint: I would have preferred most of the other flavors that could have come in this box. Peppermint as a breath mint works for me, but for most other things it’s just not a flavor I’d choose. These taffies are interesting, with their salt bits that is completely unique to a taffy. I love that idea and would especially like a caramel-flavored taffy.
Olive & Sinclair Buttermilk White Chocolate: The chocolate was not melted at all, which was wonderful. I wasn’t really into the tangy sort of taste that the buttermilk apparently creates. Pretty sure I would have liked the sea salt dark chocolate flavor better. I like the firmness and smoothness of the chocolate though.
Brittle Brothers Gourmet Cashew Brittle: At first glance, I thought this product was a repeat. Turns out this is their cashew brittle whereas previously I had received their peanut brittle. The difference in nuts does matter! I can’t compare how this one tastes next to the peanut exactly, but I think I prefer the peanut one slightly. Perhaps I’m just not use to cashews in a brittle. It’s super nutty and I really like the sugary bits.
Flavor-wise, this was probably my least favorite box so far. Brand-wise I think it would have been more exciting for me if the flavors matched up to my taste better. I’ll be sharing these with my co-workers or whoever wants them. Which of these treats is your fav? Sign up for Treatsie 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!]
Love With Food Take Me Out to the Ballgame June 2014 review
This is my very first Love With Food box, which I got because it was free (I paid $2 for shipping). For the life of me, I can’t remember where I got that deal (and no amount of searching has helped). But hey, I came across a link to the deal that you can use this month! So try Love With Food free too (and pay for shipping).
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.
The box comes nicely packaged and protected from the elements with plastic wrap.
First look! The card shares the theme of the month.
And the snacks for this month.
Check out the deets here.
Overall, they stuck to the theme well and these are all snacks I can see bringing to a ball game or eating on the way there. I’m not sure about the value, which certainly doesn’t blow me away, but I do appreciate being introduced to some nice brands. My favorites are the Dolcetto chocolate cookies and the Snikiddy baked fries. The cookies attracted Smokey too, and I had to quickly ensure she wasn’t able to eat any lest she get sick. They kind of remind me of those flute/straw cookie things that are crispy and crumbly (just looked it up and apparently they are called Piroulines). The Snikiddy baked fries were strangely reminiscent of onion rings, even though they’re actually made with potato and corn. I really liked them for the super crunch!
The YumEarth fruit snacks were quite good, but it was such a tiny pack and half of it was mango-flavored, which I don’t like. If I could get just the raspberry and pineapple, I’d be a happy camper. The G.H. Cretors Chicago mix was quite interesting and featured a mix of salty cheddar popcorn with sweet caramel popcorn. I’ve never had such a thing before and I enjoyed it. The Stoneridge Orchards dried cherries were pretty good, but I’m not into cherries that aren’t fresh, so I can’t take more than one bite at a time. I would want to try one of their other fruits though!
Finally, I have not yet tried the rest of the items. I’m most interested in The Cookie Department’s cookie because it’s been on my wishlist. I didn’t want to open it for a taste test until I wanted to gain the benefits of this detoxing cookie though. The Tree Hugger Gum gumball is cute, but again, the sample size could have been more generous – say, three gumballs? I don’t chew much gum and if I do it’s almost always to freshen my breath so I prefer a strong mint flavor. The Jolly Oak granola looks more appealing than granola usually does to me, but I still am not interested in granola so I gave this one to Panda for his travels. Great little snack to have handy!
I’m going to keep the subscription and see what the next box or two look like before deciding if I’ll keep this subscription. It’s nice to get more food sent to me again. What do you think about the snacks in this box? Have you tried any of them?
[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 at the special offer price and wanted to share what I got!]
Treatsie May 2014 review
Just in time for my trip, I got these treats to snack on. With the warmer months in play now, we probably won’t get much in terms of chocolate, since it’d likely melt along the way. It’s also been awhile since Treatsie has included little ice packs with their boxes, which is good in that it saves on waste. I do miss the nice inner boxes that I reused for storing various things. So much is changing!
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.
CC Made Caramel Popcorn in Classic, Rosemary & Cashew, and Pistachio: What fascinating flavors! I tried the classic first and it was a solid snack to have. Definitely a really tasty caramel popcorn, with a nice crunch to it. I then tried the rosemary cashew, which was kind of strange but still good. I wouldn’t go around eating bagfuls of it, but I liked the unique flair. There were a few bits of cashews mixed in, which was quite different. I haven’t tried the pistachio yet, but I imagine it also has nuts mixed in.
Williamette Valley Confectionery Strawberry Rhubarb & Raspberry Sweet Heart Pâte de Fruit: Oh boy, this is a whole lot of sugary sweetness! I couldn’t have more than one small bite before needing some water. If you have a major sugar craving, definitely check these out. I may have a sweet tooth, but I can’t quite handle this concentration of sweetness.
Serendipity Confections Sea Salt caramels: I can definitely taste the difference the brown sugar makes in these caramels – they’re richer and… warmer? It’s difficult to describe, but they are quite dense! I did devour them, though I don’t know if I’d prefer the brown sugar taste. A solid candy for sure, but just not to my personal taste the way some other caramels are.
They seem to be playing around with the look of their card. They only recently started to include one and this is the most developed look I’ve seen yet. I wonder if they decided to stick with this? As usual, the bonus item for upgrading to premium just isn’t enough for me to want to upgrade. I am perfectly happy with my fewer items. Do these treats appeal to you?
[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!]
Treatsie April 2014 review continued
Ok, so I’d originally received my Treatsie box for April with an item missing, so they ended up sending me the other two items I would have received if I was a premium subscriber (as a non-premium subscriber, I would have received only the peanut butter bites).
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.
Hot Cakes Peanut Butter Bites: As I’ve mentioned, peanut butter’s not my thing, so it’s no surprise that I’m not big on these bites. They have a really intriguing texture though, that is sort of crunchy and crumbly like Butterfingers. They actually don’t taste strongly of peanut butter, which makes it better for me. I love their small size that makes it easy to pop a few as a snack.
Hot Cakes Bling Bling: Hot dang, this is one massive snack. One single bite (about a quarter of the thing) was enough to last me quite awhile. I thought I tasted a hint of something coffee-ish in there, which is not a flavor I like, so it was ok.
This brand was interesting, but not really to my taste. Do you prefer these items to the other two I got in the box originally?
[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!]
Treatsie April 2014 review
[Edit: I’ve learned that there was some confusion and I was actually supposed to get a third brand. I’m getting a premium one sent to me to make up for it! :)]
I was super confused with the box I got this time around because there were only two brands (granted one item was really large) and the card inside listed three. I finally reached out to Treatsie to ask if I was supposed to get all three and it seems that the upgraded boxes had the third item, but those grandfathered in to the non-upgraded version got the card listing all the items without actually receiving all items listed.
Treatsie is $15 per box + $4.95 shipping and comes with artisan candy from 3-4 brands (I am grandfathered in for $15 for 2-3 brands and fewer items). That means about 6 or 7 different flavors of treats (or 4 or 5 for me). Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program.
Brix Bites Chocolate for Wine in Extra Dark, Smooth Dark, Medium Dark, and Milk Chocolate bars: Even though I don’t drink wine, I can totally enjoy these. They truly are “brix” in that they are a very firm piece of chocolate. If you like a piece that will not just melt in your hand, this is the type for you. I like the hardness of them and even better is the taste. I’ve tried the medium dark and extra dark so far and both are fabulous – great flavors that are super smooth. These are some quality chocolates that anyone would love with or without wine.
Grey Ghost Bakery Lemon Sugar cookies: I was certainly skeptical when I first saw these – they looked too crumbly. But oh my, did they surprise and impress me! They’re actually wonderfully moist (I hate dried out cookies, don’t you?) and those giant grains of sugar along with the chewy bits of lemon hidden in there… wow, fantastic combo in a cookie. I think I need to have these with my tea every day now. Fantastic, and I’m glad the bag of them is a generous portion.
The third brand as you can see was Hot Cakes. I’m not much into peanut butter, so no huge loss there. I’m glad I got the two brands I did! What do you think of the items in this box?
[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!]
