Oh my goodness!

It appears as if I've been a little lazy with posting over the past few months!

I am still a member of Birchbox and get shipments every month. Some have been great, others not so great. It's hit or miss and you never know what you are going to get. I've also signed up for Eco-Emi which is another monthly box program. This box is more geared toward natural products and less focused on beauty. I am very excited to get my first box in January.

Of course I've also been reading/listening to books. I just got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I am loving it.  I love the fact that you can now download library books on the Kindle and it is no longer Amazon only. I am currently reading The Enemy by Charlie Higson.  It's about children in a world where all the adults have been stricken with a horrible disease that essentially turns them into flesh-eating zombies. It's slightly interesting so far, but not the best thing I've ever read. I'm only a third of the way through so I'm hoping it picks up the pace a bit.

My goal for 2012: cook more often and better my culinary skills. I know I said that last year, but I'm really going to try and stick to it this time.

So long for now!

August 2011 Birchbox - Beauty Innovations

It's that time again! I got my August Birchbox in the mail today and the theme this month is beauty innovations. I'm not sure how well that really describes this months products, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

1. blinc Eyeliner 0.02 oz
2. Carol's Daughter Monoi Repairing Hair Mask 0.71 oz
3. Pangea Organics Australian Wild Plum & Willow Facial Cleanser 1 fl oz
4. Wei Tibetan Chrysanthemum Correcting Eye Treatment Pads 2 pairs
5. twistband Hair Tie

So far, I think I like this box better than last month's box.  I'm a little hesitant about the eyeliner. It looks like a great product. The packaging claims that it cannot fade, smudge, run or flake.  I did a swatch on my hand and I'm inclined to believe those claims.

Why am I hesitant? It's simple. I suck at applying eyeliner.  This stuff dries pretty quickly and doesn't budge once it's dry. If I try and fail with this it's going to my sister.

I'm excited to try the hair mask. My hair is really long and tends to break relatively easily so this is a great product for me. I am equally excited about trying the Pangea Organics facial cleanser. In my June box I received a Pangea Organics toner and I loved that so I'm hoping I'll be equally pleased with the cleanser.  It definitely smells delicious and fresh.  The eye pads look interesting. They claim to minimize the appearance of dark circles.  They better make them disappear and stay gone if I'm going to shell out $60 for a package of 10 pairs.  Wow, they're expensive... The last item was the hair tie. I didn't even know it was an item in the box until I read the card. I thought it was part of the packaging that had slipped off. I can always use extra hair ties!

The value of this month's Birchbox: $25.90. Not too shabby.

Yay Books!

It's time for another mini book review!



I stopped by the library the other day to return my copy of The Murder Room and needed to grab something quickly to listen to during my ride home. If you know me pretty well, you know that Neil Gaiman is my all-time favorite author. In my opinion, he can do no wrong.  I do have to thank my sister, Gretchen, for turning me on to Neil. If she hadn't brought home a copy of Coraline, I may never have become hooked.

Anyway, I decided to see if any Neil Gaiman audiobooks were available in the library. I was in luck! I picked up two. The first, Fragile Things, was a compilation of short stories and poems. The second, Good Omens, a novel co-authored with Terry Pratchett.


Fragile Things:
I do own a signed copy of this book. It is one of my prized possessions. I had the good fortune of meeting Neil at the National Book Festival in DC several years ago. Ok, so when I say meet, I mean I handed him my book and said hello and couldn't think of anything intelligent to say because I was awestruck.  There was also a very long line (I had already waited 3 hours in the rain) of people behind me waiting for autographs.  Anyway, I figured this would be a fun book to listen to during my commute.  I was very happy to discover that Neil would be reading the audio version of the book.  From the few other experiences I've had with authors reading their own work, it's not a good thing. Neil is different. It works. I highly recommend Fragile Things in either book or audiobook form.

I had a discussion with my father on this topic of author-read audio books a while back when I had tried to listen to another book that was horrible (Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef) I'm not saying the book was horrible, I didn't make it far enough into it to form an opinion. The reading was so awful that I just had to give up. I might try the actual book form at a later date.  The difference between that author and Neil Gaiman?  Neil is a storyteller.  It is evident in his words and through his voice.



Good Omens:
I own the white paperback copy of this book and I've read approx. 1/3 of it. I don't know how long ago that was or why I put it down. It wasn't boring. I enjoy Terry Pratchett almost as much as Neil Gaiman. I should probably be tarred and feathered for not having read the full book at this point in my life.  From what I recall reading, it was hilarious and had many ridiculously wonderful footnotes.  I just put the first disc in my car on Friday afternoon so I haven't listened to much of it yet.

Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed my little Neil Gaiman lovefest. Feel free to leave comments below!

July 2011 Birchbox - Cynthia Rowley

This July Birchbox got a lot of hype because it was curated by fashion designer, Cynthia Rowley.  I am not super duper into fashion so I'll admit to being a little ignorant of who she is.  I just went to check out her website and it kinda creeped me out. Don't watch the video.  Well, she designed some cute Band-Aids...but they're $10. Who spends $10 on designer Band-Aids? Wait. Don't answer that.  Back to the box.

What you see when you open the box.

I was really entertained by the tissue paper matching my bedsheets this month. They usually wrap everything in pink so this was a fun little surprise. So, here is what I got:

It's like a little present inside a present!

My Impression: Meh.

1. AHAVA Mineral Hand Cream 25ml
2. philosophy purity made simple one-step facial cleanser 1 fl oz
3. Redken shine flash 02 2.1 fl oz
4. Zoya Touch Collection Nail Polish in Shay 0.25 fl oz
5. Kind Almond & Apricot Bar

The hand cream is nice, but I am not too keen on the smell. It's not too strong of a fragrance so I'll probably still use it. The cleanser is also nice, but stinky. It doesn't dry out my skin which is a plus. I haven't tried the Redken shine spray. I usually have my hair up for work and it's been ridiculously hot so I'll get back to you on that one. My first impression of the Zoya nail polish was ugh. It's a light neutral color and I always wear bright colors and I only paint my toes. I tried it out on my thumb and the color is starting to grow on me. Last, but not least, the Almond & Apricot Bar was delicious. I didn't have an afternoon snack on my way home from work so it was the perfect treat. The apricot added a nice tartness to the sweet crunch of the almonds.

Overall, it was not a bad box, but not that great either. The value of the products is about $19 and I paid $10. I wonder what July will bring. Interested in Birchbox? Let me know!

I Can't Cook!

There. I've said it. I can't cook. Now I'm not saying that I'm a complete idiot in the kitchen and that I can't cook a single thing, because I can. I am just not confident in the kitchen. I like recipes that tell me exactly what I need to do, preferably with pictures. Lots of pictures. Even then, I'm very hesitant to even try them, and rarely do.  Needless to say, my diet is unexciting.  Usually when I want to try something, I call my mom for one of her recipes and get step by step directions. AND I call her fifty bajillion times while cooking. I'm surprised she still answers the phone when I call.  Like I said, I'm not confident in the kitchen.

Today I decided to try grilling. It wasn't a complete failure and I only called my parents 3 times (I think!) for some troubleshooting.  I opted for boneless chicken breasts marinated in Ken's Light Options Sweet Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette served with a side of steamed green beans. I was using a charcoal grill and a chimney. No lighter fluid for this girl! I think my only problem was that I didn't use quite enough charcoal. I only filled the chimney 2/3 of the way. Things were going great until I flipped the chicken breasts. I got some great grill marks on the first side and it smelled wonderful.  Now I know what you're thinking...she dropped the chicken in the coals?! I didn't! The second side just didn't cook quite as well as the first and no lovely grill marks. I left the breasts on the grill for an extra 10 minutes but no luck. Fortunately they did cook all they way through and they were quite tasty.

For my first grilling experience, I'd call it a success. The Ken's dressing was a great choice as a marinade and I highly recommend it for that purpose. The chicken was juicy and had a lot of flavor. I'm slowly working towards the grilled pizza.

Just Say It Right Already!

First of all, I hope everybody enjoyed the holiday weekend! I watched a lot of crap TV on Netflix and did some cleaning because all my plans fell through. Better luck next time, I suppose.

Today I'll be talking about one of my biggest pet peeves with audiobooks. Pronunciation. It drives me absolutely insane when the reader pronounces something incorrectly, and I'm not talking poTAYto poTAHto here. In The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World's Most Perplexing Cold Cases, which I did a mini review of a few days ago, there is a discussion of a case in Manlius, NY. I got really excited because this is near my hometown of Oswego and I think it's cool that the Vidocq Society helped out with something local. If you know the area, you hear Manlius and you automatically think Fayetteville.  Every single time the reader says Fayetteville, he pronounces it incorrectly and it drives me up the wall.  I suppose it's not really his fault, but come on.

Anytime I hear a mispronounced word I lose focus on the story and am only able to focus on the word, no matter how many times it happens. I just can't seem to get over it. Maybe I'm crazy.

What are your pet peeves?

What I'm Reading

A Little Change: If I limit this blog to beauty and crafts, I'll get bored rather quickly.  I'm just going to write about whatever comes to mind.  I don't know how broad this blog will end up being, so bear with me.

What I've decided to do today is give mini reviews of what I'm currently reading. I read purely for pleasure. I do not read, or listen, as the case may be, to find deeper meanings hidden within the story. When I say listen it's because I am quite fond of books on CD. I have a long commute and listening to books makes it go by much more quickly than just listening to the radio.


 
In my car, I have The Murder Room by Michael Capuzzo. I picked this up from the new non-fiction media section of the library on a whim because I am fascinated by forensics. The book chronicles the the founding of the Vidocq Society and the men behind it. You have Frank Bender, a sex obsessed forensic sculptor, Richard Walter, forensic psychologist and profiler, and William Fleisher, U.S. Customs agent, who were brought together by their desire to give voice to the dead by solving cold cases. It is truly amazing what they've set out to do. I've been enjoying the book so far aside from the slightly disjointed way in which it is written. The audio version is read by Adam Grupper. I am quite pleased with his interpretation. Characters are easily distinguishable from one another and he does not read in a monotone voice.





I have a second book on CD at home that I listen to as I'm falling asleep. Fell is a young adult novel written by David Clement-Davies. I tend to read a lot of young adult literature. It's fun and there is usually a happy ending. This is the story of a young girl named Alina and a lone black wolf named Fell. They are an unlikely pair that must fight for their lives and the future of a war-torn kingdom. It is a well written adventure with a strong female lead. It has been a fun book to listen to. Steven Crossley has an absolutely wonderful reading voice. I look forward to finishing this book.






What are you reading right now?