Why I'll stick with Birchbox

So, I did an experiment this month. There was an awesome deal in which new subscribers were getting free points to use in the Birchbox shop. PLUS this was a big collaboration month with US Weekly that promised to deliver better boxes. SO I referred myself another subscription. Why? Well the free points mean dollars off of full size purchases, so that was worth it alone. What I REALLY did it for was to see if I got a box I liked better from this other subscription. I wanted to see what kinds of different items I got if I filled out a profile another way. Would I like this other box better? I got my first box, the one from my original subscription and even though there were only four items in it, the samples were all a good size and stuff I really wanted, so I was pretty pleased. I also had put in an order for other full sized items and saved $30 through points from reviews, past purchases and referring myself a new subscription. The savings I get in the shop is worth a disappointing box or two in my mind. I'm really happy with the full size shop purchases I got in the mail and this shop has been the main place I'm getting my beauty products from. Where else am I going to be able to buy a $65 eye cream for $29? And do I LOVE that eye cream.

This is my first of the two boxes this month. I received Benefit fakeup, OPI pink tinted top coat, Dr. Brandt Pores No More and Agave hair oil. There is a tiny sample of the new Benefit CC cream as well. I will use everything in this box. I much prefer this box to last months. I bought the full size Fakeup. It's an under eye concealer with added moisturizer. Divine.

Fulfillment

Sometimes I have deep thoughts and you get two posts in one day. Lucky interwebs.

The other evening I was FB chatting with a slightly intoxicated friend who was asking me about what was going on in my life and about my lack of significant other. He was very adamant that he thought my situation would make him very sad. I don't believe he was trying to make me depressed or to be insulting, but that for him, he NEEDS that relationship or else he becomes very depressed. My initial reaction was to get a little upset, or to make a vaguebook statement about how women don't require a significant other (male, female or otherwise) to achieve happiness, but then I just decided that I felt pretty lucky that I didn't feel that way about a relationship.

Not to say that I never felt that way. For a long time I based a big part of my self worth on whether or not I was in a relationship. I know LOTS of people still do that whether they realize it or not. When I meet someone who jumps from relationship to relationship with no downtime in between, I immediately draw that conclusion. I have spent a good portion of time relationship free and a good portion of that time I lived alone. It made me a stronger person. It made me realize that I don't "need someone" in order to survive. I can take care of myself just fine without assistance from anyone else. Of course, having a roommate is great for bill paying purposes and generally someone to talk to and do things with, if you can find the right person to room with. This is not the point of this post however.

At some point I think I must have decided to just live my life the way I want to live it and stop looking for fulfillment from outside. I don't know if it was a conscious decision or not, but it happened nonetheless. I have a lot to be thankful for. Pets that I love and that visibly show their affection toward me, a job that makes me feel good about what I do all day(even if my coworkers sometimes drive me to drink), an education I'm pursuing so that I can create a better situation for myself and help others even more. Without trying to sound like an asshole, I'm smart, pretty attractive, funny, talented and at my core I know that I'm a good person. Even if I'm sarcastic and snarky on the outside. It's all part of my charm. I have hobbies that I love. I managed to weed out the losers and now I have AWESOME friends. And I'm fortunate enough to be able to do nice things for myself. I take none of this for granted. I am an incredibly lucky person who has a lot on her plate. I feel fulfilled.

I went through a lot of bullshit getting to this place. I have had some extremely low lows. This most certainly has not been an easy place to get to. Would I love to find an awesome partner? Hell yeah I would. The only thing that would make my life better would be if I found an awesome life partner....or if I came into 5 million dollars and didn't have to work anymore....o_O....I just don't feel like I NEED it in order to be a happy person and I don't think there's anything sad about that. Frankly, I'm probably too busy to devote a whole heap of time to a relationship anyway. I would rather wait for the right person then settle for someone who's just okay out of loneliness.

I leave it up to the universe. I can only control myself and how I respond to the situations I find myself in. I think it's important to remind yourself of the positive things you have going for you instead of focusing on the crap. That's my life lesson for this post.

Vegan Protein Smoothie of Deliciousness

Hey there!

It occurs to me that some of you out there might be interested in my kick ass vegan protein smoothie recipe. I have issues with breakfasts at work. I work 7-3:30. Breakfast is usually around 7:30 and lunch isn't until 12. I needed something to tide me over because in the hospital it's not always possible to have a midmorning snack. Especially in the Cancer Center. When my bloodsugar tanks, my hands start to shake. That's bad when you're making IVs. So, I wanted something that would last without being an enormous amount of food and would also be good for me. This is what I came up with after relentlessly searching Pinterest for smoothie recipes. It's seriously delicious, filling and is basically like having a milkshake for breakfast, but full of whole food, unprocessed goodness. I don't measure a damn thing except the protein powder itself. I kind of eyeball the amounts.

I use this protein powder:

I order it from Amazon and it's $17 and change. It lasts a loooong time. It's vegan and it tastes great in the smoothie. I have Amazon prime and this ships free and usually arrives within 48 hours. It's MUCH cheaper than ANYTHING I found to purchase locally of similar quality.

The smoothie:

2 heaping tablespoons of protein powder

1 Tbs almond butter

local bee pollen

1 Tbs flax oil or milled flax seed

mixed frozen berries

vanilla almond milk (I prefer the sweetened Blue Diamond brand)

I dump it all in a bowl and blend it with my immersion blender. I LOVE my immersion blender. It's sweet, but not too sweet and has a great nutty quality from the almond stuff. I use the local bee pollen as an additive to get extra vitamins (LOTS of B vitamins) and help with my allergies. When I drink this for breakfast I can hold out until lunch. I also find that drinking enough water helps too. Lots of times we think we're hungry, when really, we're dehydrated. 

Anyway, if you do try it, let me know what you think! I love it and any protein powder will do, this just happens to be the one I like. 

Modcloth Haul!!!!

Hello there. It's been a hot minute since I posted. My semester has started at University of Hartford and I am up to my eyeballs in Orgo and Rhetoric. Bleccchhh.

Sorry. The GOOD news is I got quite the refund from the government and amongst other things (TRIP TO IRELAND WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!) I bought some new wardrobe items from Modcloth. I promised all my ladies I would model them long distance, so as promised, I am posting my purchases. I may cancel Stitch Fix #5 since this was QUITE the haul! I also wound up with a new iphone, since my old phone went smashy smashy on the tile and the glass shattered. I'm pretty pleased with life this week. ON TO THE CLOTHES!!!

These are the Perfect Stitch Flat in Blackbird. Combining three of my favorite things: the color green, a fat bird, and a loafer style shoe. I adore them so. So happy with this purchase!

Creatures of the Whim-sea tee. Oh modcloth. You are so clever. I love sea creatures, so I bought this shirt. YAY! It is very soft. The neck is a bit looooow, but I'll get over it.

LEGGINGS! I'm wearing these in all the photos in which I have pants on. I caved and bought some I might actually wear out and not just to bed. Leggings are my favorite night time pant to wear because they don't get all jumbled at my knees or move around and squish my parts and make it hard to spread out. These are the Trek and See Leggings in black. They're thick, with a cool pattern to the material. The rise is a little on the LOW side, so I'll be sure to wear a looooong shirt, but I like them very much. I got a large even though I usually wear a medium and I'm glad I did.

Home is Where the Helm is sweater. More like a sweatshirt. I like it though. A bit tight in the arms, but to buy a larger size would make the rest of it HUGE. Love the pattern.

I couldn't get a great close up of this earring. They're clocks. So cute. The On the Clock earring.

The museum sketching top. Very silky soft fabric. J'adore the print. I bought a lot of tunics....

LOVE THIS TOP. Wearing it now! The Queen of Hearths sweatshirt. It's pretty thin, but comfy and I adore the design. SO. FLIPPIN. CUTE. Does everyone also love my adorable iphone case? I do too.

This is my favorite shirt as far as feel and fit. It feels like 100% silk. It's the perfect length, the perfect fit, a great color. I'm so happy with this. If you decide to buy anything based on my reviews today, buy this. Comes in all sizes.

I really love this one too. My boobs are ALMOST too big for it. No padded bras for me in this shirt. It's a WONDERFUL flannel. Bonfires Tunic in Brown Plaid. 

This dress was the one I was looking most forward to and it didn't disappoint. It fits perfectly. I like the sleeves and the casual vibe. The green and black rugby stripes are also incredible cute. I dig the pocket. The Brewpub Brilliant Dress. I need some thick black tights and my riding boots and I'm all set.

I also bought some lacy tights that I'm not taking out of the package until I wear them. If you're interested in checking them out they're the Intricately Exquisite Tights.

So that's my massive Modcloth purchase. Everything fit and I'm so happy. Yay tax dollars. You may be wondering about the Ireland trip I mentioned. That'll be another post. Sorry. I'm all posted out for the moment. :)

February Julep Box

The one box I have yet to be disappointed by has been Julep. Who'd have thunk it? This most recent box was no exception. This month they decided to feature some gorgeous cream eyeshadows. I had to add on an extra one to this months box. If you're unfamiliar with Julep, you take a quick quiz and they let you know which of 5 styles you fit. 4 of the 5 profiles send 2 polishes and one other item each month. The 5th box, modern beauty, has all makeup/body items and no polishes. This month, they were offering a gel eyeliner and brush in the Modern Beauty box plus an eyeshadow. Every month they add an extra surprise little something that they don't tell you about. This month they made an exception and let everyone know that they'd be getting a special Valentine's themed polish. The basic box is $19.99. I added on an eyeshadow and a polish. I applied some Jules (the points you earn by purchasing or referring friends) and got the added on polish for free. I paid a total of $31 and change for the whole box.

Here's the contents of my box. The eyeshadows I received were the pale nude and warm fig shimmer. I also have the jet black gel eyeliner with stiff angled brush. I added on the Glam Roc polish which is a midnight purple with gold stardust shimmer. The Love Polish is an multi colored sparkle with red, pink and gold flecks.

A close up of the brush.

I used the eyeshadow and liner last night and it looks fabulous. Another great month. 

Klutch Box Best of Box

Why hello there dear readers. reader? Either way. I recently scored a deal to get a best of Klutch box for free. Well, mostly free. I paid $8 shipping. I decided that that was a pretty sweet deal. Klutch box is full of healthy products for your outsides and your insides and I thought I'd share with you the sweet deal I got for $8. I did eat a bag of chips that I forgot to photograph before I ate it. It was made of rice and beans and pico de gallo flavored. They were alright. Tasty enough, but not so much that I'd seek it out and buy it on my own. Gluten free though, so that was good.

This here is some ultra purified water, so they say. Apparently it's free of all possible contaminants and therefore hydrates better. I can't really comment on how scientifically sound that is. 

I've had other gnu foods bars before, they're ok. This one was pretty freaking tasty. It was moist and cinnamon raisin-y. I would recommend this as a tasty healthy snack.

So this here is some banana blueberry energy fruit puree. I haven't eaten this yet.

Here are the assortment of body products I received. There's  bottle of oral therapy wash that's supposed to promote healthy teeth, breath, and gums. It's herbal. There's a wound spray that's supposed to speed up the healing of cuts and abrasions. This will really come in handy for me. My kitten is a little monster who likes to wrestle. There's a brightening shampoo that's free of sulfates, parabens and all other nasty stuff. A razor, clearly. Finally, a face primer with SPF 30 that's supposed to improve the quality of your skin. 

I'm excited about these tasty noms. Particularly the indian rice dish. 

Yogi tea, with coupon. Always tasty. 

Assortment of coupons. The footzy folds one looks promising. Most of the shoes there are around $60. Maybe I can combine them? I'll definitely review the wound spray in order to get a free one. The retrofit seems kind of not a great deal. It's "$600 off", but is still crazy expensive for a long distance personal trainer/life coach deal. Cory vines is athletic apparel. 

For $8, I'm super pleased with the value of this box. I've definitely found some things that I'd be willing to purchase again. I'm happier using all natural products anyhoo and this was a terrific introduction to some new products. 

Stitch Fix #4. Womp womp.

*Sigh* I just....Oh, I don't even know, you guys. As I mentioned previously, I knew I was going to be hella disappointed with this fix. I'm bringing hella back, btw. And I was. So very disappointed. I had Sasha again as a stylist and she started off her note telling me that their stock was very low. Great. I feel like that's $20 wasted. I MUCH rather would have gotten an e-mail asking me if I would mind postponing my fix a week or two until my requests could be accommodated. I'd be happy to wait if it meant that I would receive the items I wanted. Anyhoo, I did receive embellished tops, as I'd asked for, so that was cool. I got a repeat top from a previous box in a different color and a maxi skirt instead of the pants I wanted. What I was most bummed about was the price point of the box as a whole, the fact that they could not accommodate a request for pants that are not skinny jeans and that there was only one piece that would really be appropriate for me to wear given the weather we're having right now. It is a whopping 12 degrees fahrenheit right now, you guys. I am chilled to the bone.  They DID respond to my e-mail, however I don't really think that they looked at my account history or really read my request. They thought I had wanted jeans (wrong-o) and also said they couldn't guarantee that every piece would be less than $50 (also, not what I said). I'm debating replying and correcting the things they misunderstood. ANYHOO. On to my box of sadness. I am watching TNG while I write this in an attempt to cheer me up. Maybe I'll also have whiskey. We'll see.



Pardon my hair. I just got back from class and it is matted from my hat. I debated even posting this because it makes me look lumpy. Then I thought, nah, view the lumps. Understand my disappointment with this piece. This is the Lily Bethanie Side-Ruched knit top. It is $78. I can't find this clothing line online at all. No. No to $78 and no lumps. I got this same shirt in black in my last fix. I didn't keep it then because of the price (and the lumps) and I'm not keeping it now.

This is the Collective Concepts Geoffry Geo Print blouse. It is $68. I might have liked this if it hadn't been navy blue and orange. I am repelled by this color combination. I'm also not that big a fan of the print itself. Here it is up close.

Here it is far away. I feel like I'm wearing a bib. I can't find this particular shirt on sale online anywhere else. I think I need that whiskey now.

This is the Katherine Barclay Ziza Chain Detailed Sleeveless Blouse. $28. It's a reasonable price, anyway. Ok. It's friggin freezing. I need sleeves. I can't even think about this. The chain detail feels....odd to me. Maybe it's my OCD, but the fact that it's asymmetrical bugs me.

So, I realize you can see my bra. I thought about changing it and then decided not to because I wanted to illustrate how sheer this blouse is. It's not lined. At all. I probably would have kept it if it was lined. I'm also not a fan of white. I'm going to check that off as a color not to send me. I'm also going to check the color blue. I seem to be getting a lot of it and I have to wear navy blue scrubs every day to work. I'm all blued out. I don't think this looks bad on except for the fact that it isn't lined.

I apologize for the state of my mirror. I didn't realize that it was this dirty until I took this photo. However, I'm too tired to do anything about it now. Next time, kids. This is the Mystree Charlie Mixed Stripe Maxi skirt. I own 2 striped maxi skirts already. I paid less than $30 for each of them. At $68 this was too expensive. Can't find this particular item online either.

This is the one piece I'm considering keeping. This would be the Mystree Abigail Colorblock lace trim top. It is $58. Can't find it online anywhere. It's pretty. I pinned it, in fact as an example of one of their products that I liked. It's thin and sleeveless, but it's classic and timeless and I do have a black cardigan I can pair this with until temperatures improve.

Here's the up close of the lace detail.

I would be annoyed to lose my $20. I also have a $25 credit, so it'd only be another $13. I will keep it. It'll fit in to my wardrobe well, I know I look good in it and I'll get compliments. 

There it is guys. Will I schedule another one? Yeah. I'm a sucker. I REALLY want a box with 5 pieces I love. *sigh* I don't know. This service has been so up and down. I find when they miss the mark, they REALLY miss it. When they get it right, though, it's so great. I guess that's the chance you take. I did tell them at checkout that I would prefer to wait if they can't accommodate me. Maybe they'll add it as an option? What do you guys think? Has anyone out there gotten a fix and felt differently? The same? Do you think I'm being too persnickety? 

It's my referral link. Just in case.