Go VoxBox

I received an Influenster VoxBox last month and it was a good one!

Lil was obvs excited

In this box I received Playtex Sport Fresh Balance tampons, Vitamin Shoppe Next Step Fit N Full Protein shakes, Blue Diamond Blueberry Flavored Almonds, Profoot Triad Orthoics, Profoot Pedi-Rock, Aqua Spa Body Cream, and a coupon for a free Muller yogurt product.

This month came and went and I realized I didn’t even try all of the products, so let’s start with those.

Tampons: didn’t use, I’m sure they work fine.

Blueberry Almonds: I didn’t try, I bet they’re good though! I still plan on trying these.

Muller yogurt: Greek yogurt makes me nervous. I’ll redeem the coupon if it hasn’t expired, but I’ll give the yogurt to someone else and let them give the full report. I’m pretty partial to my yoplait regular, so don’t think I could handle this.

Protein shakes: Another thing that makes me nervous (hey, I don’t like new things). I was impressed that I was sent the fancy cup with the shake up thing in it as well as three flavors- chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. I think I’ll eventually try this, although I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to drink more than a sip. Really I just want to try out the cup and see how well it mixes the powder.

Now onto the things I did try:

Profoot Triad Orthodic insoles:

I went to a wedding last month and wore these shoes [yikes]:

Before we left, I remembered I had the insoles, so I placed them in the shoes before we walked across downtown Chicago and back. I don’t know how much comfort they actually provided, but they definitely couldn’t have made my feet feel any worse than they would have without! The insoles stopped at the ball of my foot, so there wasn’t any comfort for my toes. Since these weren’t my shoes, I didn’t use the little glue thingys, but I will use these again if I ever wear uncomfortable shoes again (so, yes I will use these again).

Profoot Pedi Rock:

I love this, especially for sandal season. I’ve actually given myself two pedis since I received this and it does a good job scraping off dead skin. I like how it’s shaped and fits in my hand while I use it. My feet always get dry and cracked during the summer, so this is perfect and I will continue to use it.

Aqua Spa Body Creme:

Another perfect pedicure product! I am enjoying this lotion, although I don’t wear it often because the smell is very perfumey. I do like the lavender scent, but it is kind of strong. I also like how soft my skin feels after applying it. Great for the summer.

This was a great VoxBox. I still plan on trying the products that I haven’t yet had a chance to use.

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Colgate Optic White

About a month ago I received another box from Influenster, hooray! It was the Colgate Optic White VoxBox.

Optic White VoxBox

When I opened it, I saw:

Optic White brush & whitening pen

[I think there was some toothpaste that came in the box too, but I think one of the kitties batted it somewhere around the bathroom]

Brush.Whiten.Go

The product idea is pretty neat, the whitening pen snaps into the bottom of the toothbrush, making it handy for use. Also makes it easier not to forget to whiten.

The last time I tried a whitening product was a longggg time ago. Like, whitening products were still pretty new. I don’t remember what brand I used, but I remember it being nasty. It was a clear gel that tasted nasty. Also, I have pretty sensitive teeth, so putting anything on them besides my sensitive toothpaste makes me a little nervous sometimes. It took me a few weeks to decide that I did want to try and review this product.

After I brushed (not with that Colgate brush, I just like my electric Oral-B Vitality too much), I put the whitening (gel? paste? stuff?) on. You just had to click the bottom to push the whitening stuff up.

Whitening device

Applying the whitening…stuff

The instructions never really said how to apply it, so I kind of just painted it on my teeth.

The taste has improved tremendously over the past 12 years or so! This did not taste nasty, it really didn’t have much of a flavor, but there was a hint of mint which made it feel fresh. However, I did not like how it felt on my teeth. It was kind of rubbery. It wasn’t bad, but I’m a baby & am particular about what I put on my teeth.

I only used this product for two nights, for two reasons. One, I was scared about how my sensitive teeth would react to it with continuous use (although I did not have any pain only using it for two nights, I’m not sure how it would have been had I continued to use it. It was a risk I was not willing to take). Two, I really didn’t like the way it felt on my teeth. That weird feeling really only lasted a few minutes & there wasn’t any there when I woke up in the morning, but I just couldn’t handle the few minutes that it did feel funny.

I obviously did not use it enough (or pay attention) to see a difference, even though the packaging does say “Whiter teeth in just 2 days.” While this might be a good product, the cons outweighed the pros for me when using it. I told my friend about this product & ended up giving it to her to try because she was interested in using it.

I just googled this product to see how much it costs and it looks like it can be bought for anywhere from $12.99 to $16.99. Yikes! If I was looking for a whitening product, that price would turn me off before I even looked at the product (maybe all teeth whitening products run about that price? I have no idea). I was sad that this product just wasn’t for me & that I couldn’t give it a full review.

I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

No Sweets January, 2014

M & I just completed our 3rd no-sweets January. Crazy, huh! This year I did not feel like I over-indulged in sweets over Christmas, but it’s just been a good way to start the year fresh. I feel like this year I had more cravings than in the past, so that sucked, but I survived. I did cheat a little by adding coffee creamer to my coffee on mornings that I drank it (not every morning!). I also am now using less creamer than I was a few months ago, so that’s a good thing.

I still struggled on days where I had basically no sugar at all. One Saturday we had pizza for lunch, cheeseburgers and fries for dinner and popcorn for a snack, so really no sugar at all. That afternoon (after only eating pizza) I had no energy & knew I’d feel better if I just ate a piece of chocolate or something. I didn’t give in though.

In addition to not eating candy, cookies, ice cream (or drinking soda), I tracked everything I ate on myfitnesspal. Although I cut out sweets, I still ate junk- chips, pizza, pasta. There would be days I’d be way over my myfitnesspal calorie limit and other days I’d be right around the recommended amount. I don’t base my life around this program, but it is nice to have a record of how I’m eating. By cutting out sweets, and tracking what I ate, I ended up losing 6 pounds! That was seriously all I did, I already said I did not eat any healthier and I definitely did not do any exercise (I walked to the post office and back in -20 degree weather one evening, does that count?).

Even though 6 pounds isn’t much, it’s still something. And that was the goal of the month- to see if I could lose weight by not eating sweets. Since I did, I have some motivation to keep it up (eventhoughImayormaynothavejusteatenadovechocolate). I’ve been pretty good this week, only eating a piece of cheesecake (Superbowl) and drinking a milk shake (Steak n Shake bday coupon). We’re already a month into February and I’m still using myfitnesspal just because I’m interested. I am really not focused on losing any weight, but if it happens, great!

I will probably splurge this weekend…aka birthday weekend woohoooo!!! and then go back to watching it more. We’ll see. Who knows.

Apparently I didn’t blog about my 2013 experience 😦 (which is why I wrote this so I do have it to reflect back on!) If you want to read about 2012, you can check those blog posts out  here, here, here, here, here annnnd here.

Sidenote: I do someday hope to start writing more again. I took a new job back in October (!) and at this job I do actual work & don’t have a chance to sit around and do nothing. We still don’t have internet in our apartment, so I can’t post from home besides on my phone. I don’t have much time for making crafts any more, but have done some the past few months and have also tried (and made up!) some new recipes. Sommmmedayyyy I hope to post regularly again!

Dr. Scholl’s Active Series

A few months ago I received Dr. Scholl’s Active Series insoles from Influenster.

For those of you who know me, you know that I am not a fan of working out. I pretend to sometimes, I wish I liked it sometimes, but I really really don’t like it. But! For the sake of giving these an honest review and maybe because I ate half a pizza the night before, I decided to go for a walk/run. I braved the chilly outside (how to people enjoy running outside when it’s freezing out??) and went for a [quick] walk/run.

I bought new tennis shoes over the summer because my feet were hurting in my other ones (I really should have tried these insoles in those shoes!). I have never had a reason to wear or buy insoles, but I do like these! My feet didn’t hurt much when I got home (and I think only did because my toes were cold because I didn’t have socks on). I like the support and they are comfy. I am definitely going to keep wearing them in my shoes!

Mail!

of course Lena was interested!

Love the pink!

in my shoes

at least I look the part??

comfy!

 

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

 

Easy, Delish Nacho Dip

I had some friends over last week for a taco night. I wanted to do something more than just tacos with chips and salsa. Then I remembered this dish that my mom makes often for the Superbowl or other parties.

Prepare yourself, this is prob the most easiest dip you’ll ever make (obvs besides pouring out a jar of salsa or queso, but that’s not making anything, now is it).

You need: cream cheese, salsa & Mexican cheese
Not pictured: chips

Let the cream cheese set out to soften up a bit, then spread it around a plate (this is a pie dish)

Pour a layer of salsa on top of the cream cheese

Sprinkle cheese on the top
You could then top it with olives or peppers or anything else

You could probably make a single serving of this as well…oh wait, this isn’t a single serving??

Also, a tip of advice from 17-year-old Hannah: do not take this in your lunch and leave the container in your backpack for weeks. Whoops. hashtag mold.

Breaking Bad > Life

At least from September 19-29, Breaking Bad was greater than life. After dinner on the 19th M & I were trying to figure out what to do, so I suggested “letsgogetbreakingbadfrommyparentshouseandstartit!” So. We did. Then after watching 3 episodes that night I decided that we needed to watch all 61 episodes to get caught up for the series finale on the 29th. So. We did.

season 1

I don’t even know how we did it. Yes I do, by staying up ridiculously late. I legit planned our week around it, sending M a dinner list that included quesadillas, grilled cheese and pizza. This way we could make dinner and start it up again asap.

We had a few hindrances throughout the week, like taking time out of our evening to make life decisions as well as our blu-ray player not playing sound one night (solved by flipping on and off the power switch, took like 20 minutes to figure that out) and netflix not loading on Sunday afternoon (solved by mom’s ipad-she had bought all the episodes of season 5).

We cut it close for sure! We finished the third to last episode about 30 minutes before the second to last started on AMC.

The day of the finale (after staying up until 3:30 and getting back up at 9:30), we had KFC (aka los pollos hermanos) for lunch. Later in the afternoon M ran out to the local establishments to pick up some of the “good stuff.” [disclaimer: he went to cracker barrel and picked up some blue rock candy. I do not condone the cooking or usage of methamphetamine! I do condone the use of Shraderbrau]

blue stuff

Shraderbrau

I don’t even know why I liked this show. I typically only like shows like Dance Moms or Teen Mom or New Girl. We had seen bits and pieces of a few of the later episodes this summer & something made me think “I need to watch this (and catch up with the rest of the world!)”

It was fun watching all of the episodes in a week & racing against the clock those final two days. However, eventually I want to go back and take my time through them. I hard-core dozed through some of the ones we watched late (but went back and re-watched most of those! not the ones towards the end though, no time!).

I was satisfied with the ending (well, I was hoping it was all a dream and Walt & Jesse were eating breakfast at Denny’s and everyone lived happily ever after). I knew that wouldn’t be the case, so I approved of what it was. I would have liked one more “Mr. White” because Jesse calling him that was pretty much my most favorite thing about the whole show. I would totes watch a show featuring Jesse Pinkman.

We went back and re-watched Jimmy Fallon’s Joking Bad on Sunday night. So much more hilar now that I understood the jokes and characters.

If you haven’t watched this show, you should. I don’t know why it’s good, but it is.

 

 

 

Free Schtuff!

You may remember earlier this summer I received a VoxBox from Influenster. Well, apparently I did something right with my reviews and stuff because late in July I received two e-mails that I had won Brand Challenges! I don’t even know what that means, but you know I’m always open to getting free stuff!

From Kiss (who originally provided me the press-on nails that I loved) sent me false eyelashes & glue  and gradation polishes. I don’t know if I’ll ever wear the lashes. I haven’t tried out the polishes yet, maybe I will later in October-the grays/silvers look kind of Halloweeny.

Kiss eyelashes & glue and Gradation polishes

I also received…a year supply of deodorant! Of the kind that I already use! Now you may be wondering how many deodorants equal a year’s supply. Four. Four deodorants in a year, but really I’m pretty sure it takes me about three months to go through one, so it actually does equal about a year! I just saved $16!

A year supply of Secret!

So, I guess writing those reviews really paid off. I always love free stuff, but awesome free stuff makes it that much better!

Free schtuff!

**edit** I started the first deodorant of my year’s supply on December 15th. I’m writing that here so I can go back and look when I’m wondering when I started it!

**editedit** I finished the last of my free year’s supply on April 1, 2015! So, yes, apparently four deodorants is a year+ supply!

Candy Corn Wreath

Happy [basically] fall! Yes yes it is that time again for pumpkin flavored and scented everything. My home smells quite scrumptious these days. Because it is [practically] fall, I decided to finally post a wreath that I actually made for last Halloween.

This works out perfectly because Sonja the Pintester is hosting another Pintester Movement. Have you ever checked out her blog? No? Pause here and go do it. She tests different Pinterest pins and writes about her experiences. This is the third Pintester Movement she’s done and since I’ve been meaning to make this post anyway, it’s perfect timing!

So here we go! There are about 8 million options if you type “Candy Corn Wreath” into your Pinterest search. I chose this one from Woman’s Day. It only requires a foam wreath, black duct tape, hot glue, ribbon and, ovbs, candy corn.

Start off by wrapping the wreath in duct tape then start lining up the candy corn. Also, not necessarily required, but always a huge help, two gorgeous kitties.

Just helping my momma!

um, mom, can I have the leftovers?

Then just glue the candy corns down as you go along. Keep going until the wreath is done! Then tie one some ribbon (black, yellow, orange, whatever!) and voila! Cute, simple Halloween wreath.

Easy, festive Halloween wreath

Once it’s done, hang it on your front door!

Oh yeah…and pray that it doesn’t rain until November 1st…

Yum

womp womp

Can you see the drips of melting candy? Maybe this was meant to be an inside craft…

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So That Happened

I’m back. I don’t know where I’ve been, no where really, but I’m back now! I’ve missed just writing about things that are happening in my life, so my goal is to upload more pictures and write about them! Let’s go.

We went to a wedding this weekend.

lookin’ snazzy!

I am turning into an old lady. I get cold real easily these days, so always make sure to grab a cardigan or my columbia or something to put on if I get chilly. Saturday was no exception. I grabbed my black cardigan to take into the ceremony. I actually didn’t need it, it was quite warm in the room. Sooo that’s a good thing because when we drove to the reception, I went to grab my cardigan and realized I’d been carrying around a pair of black gauchos. What?! Yes, this happened. I have no idea how (I’m guessing after I changed into my dress I threw my clothes in the backseat. I guess my cardigan had been out of my bag as well and I grabbed the pants instead). I balled the cardigan pants up and stuck them in my bag for the ceremony so I didn’t even notice. What an icebreaker that would have been had I been cold in the church and gone to put on my sweater. Ridic!

This is why I need to blog more! So I can relive all of these hilarious moments of my life!