December 2013 Empties

Took me a little while to get to my empties this month but finally, here we go! 

Each month I save up things that the fam and I have completely used up and finished. We have tons of new and partially used goodies around our home and I started this project to motivate me to try some new things. It's so easy to just reach for the same thing again and again, you know?? It's actually been really fun and I hope you enjoy this monthly peek "behind the scenes," too! 

I include bath and body products - except things that are obviously too TMI! haha! - and some household things that I feel strongly enough about to share! Let's see what we got into in December!!

Bath & Shower Stuff

1. Library of Flowers The Forest Bubble Bath - this stuff.... OMG. So good! I received this in my PopSugar Fall Style 2013 box and it's huge - 32 ounces. I was never going to get to it as a bubble bath so I used it as a daily shower gel. The smell is woodsy and kind of manly and the stuff is so moisturizing and luxurious. It was truly fab and I loved every last drop of it! 

2. Mr. Bubble 3 in 1 Bubble Bath - I had forgotten all about Mr. Bubble! I loved this stuff as a kid! I got this sample in a Pinch Me box of freebies and it was plenty for a foamy bubble bath for the girls. They loved it! 

3. LUSH Karma Bubble Bar and Bath Melt - I ended the month of December with a killer cold (missed New Year's and everything!) and super hot baths were heaven. The Karma scent from LUSH has long been my favorite and the Karma bath melt has the added fun of leaving tons of super fine gold glitter everywhere! Love.

4. Raw Minerals Sport Fix Soap - I bought this for the hubby in the Birchbox shop with points. He was excited to try it and it's black, due to carbon content?, which is fun. He never gives me feedback so I'm assuming it's fine. I'm personally not a big fan of the black stuff it's leaving all over the shower! 

Stuff the Girls Used

5. Flintstones & Disney Vitamins - Kroger keeps giving me vitamins for free and I keep taking them! :) No problems with any of these, the girls wolfed them right down. The sour Flintstones vitamins are their favorites!

6. Travel Samples:

- Lanvin Orange Ambre Shower Gel - I still have a small stash of these Lanvin toiletries from a hotel stay in Beverly Hills. So posh! 
- Disney H2O Shampoo & Conditioner - the girls love the mouse!
- Spa Terre Coconut Mango Shampoo and Body Wash - We picked these up at our hotel stay in Ft. Lauderdale and they are truly fab! I would buy this entire line in a heartbeat!

7. Aim Kids Bubble Berry Toothpaste - This stuff is dirt cheap and is the girls' favorite! 

Body Stuff

8. Bath & Body Works Shea Cashmere Hand Cream - I don't know that this stuff is uber moisturizing but I would buy it again based on the scent alone. It's a heavenly version of shea butter that smells good enough to eat!

9. Origins Ginger Souffle Whipped Body Cream - The ginger scent is to die for, the moisturizing is unfortunately lacking. Le sigh.

10. Julep Pink Grapefruit Body Frosting - This stuff wasn't the most moisturizing but it was fun! The smell is so happy and bright and the consistency is just like rich frosting! 

11. Infinity Sun Glow on the Go - I received this self tanner in the FabFitFun Summer 2013 box and it is pretty much perfect. It was so easy to pack on our November cruise and the color is so uniform and natural. This small 3 ounce can lasted a long time. Huge fan!

Misc Home Things

12. Bath and Body Works Hot Buttered Rum Candle - Well, I'm officially back on board with the B&BW three wick candles. This one was fabulous and scented a massive space. Love.

13. Wet Ones Travel Pack - How does anybody, mom or otherwise, get by without Wet Ones stashed everywhere??

14. Pac Man Bandages - I keep buying these from the $1 spot at Target! The kids love them and we go through lots of bandaids. I don't mind so much when they are only a dime each! ;)

Face Care

15. Simple Eye Makeup Remover Wipes - I received these wayyyyy back in the Allure Summer Must Haves box and fell in love. Then.... this pack. They were kind of dry and didn't work very well. After multiple awesome packs, this one was definitely a disappointment. I'll try again, though! Hopefully this one was just a rare dud!

16. Elsor Skincare Kit - I received this four step skincare system in the December Birchbox. The cleanser and the mask were nice. The lotion wasn't hydrating enough for my parched winter skin. The scrub was not my favorite. You have to mix it with a few drops of water to kind of liquify it for use. Then I did that, it seemed kind of runny overall with huge chunks in it? My overall impression of the line is definitely higher end and luxurious and I would be happy to have more of the cleanser or mask!

Makeup

17. Pacifica Alight BB Cream - This stuff was.... Fine. I like that it's layerable for more coverage (most BB/CC creams are) but I was unable to figure out if it contains SPF? Since I wasn't sure, I had to use SPF as a separate step and wouldn't buy again for that reason.

18. Bare Minerals Mineral Veil - I used up this little powder container on my kiddo to finish her dance performance makeup. I love the idea of using purer products on the kiddos!

19. Maybelline Rocket Volum' Mascara - Nope. Do not buy this!! Nobody's a bigger fan of Maybelline mascaras than me, I've sworn by them since I was a kid. But this stuff??? It literally made my lashes fall out. There were nights I had 5 or 6 lashes on my remover pad!!!!! Crazy.

20. Juice Beauty Oil-Free Moisturizer - This stuff was not nearly as intense as I need a winter moisturizer to be. I think I was definitely expecting it to be as good at the Juice Beauty Stem Cellular line but it definitely didn't seem as nice. 

Hair Stuff

21. Pantene Beautiful Lengths Conditioner x 2 - I've said it before, but I keep coming back to Pantene products, no matter what I try at any price point. This Beautiful Lengths line is the only stuff that has ever prompted the "your hair has gotten SO LONG!" comment from my hairstylist. The girls use it, too!

22. Aveda Rosemary Mint Conditioner - I think this might actually be the end of the Aveda goodies I stockpiled last summer on a trip to Cancun :(

23. TreSemme' Platinum Strength Heat Protect Spray - I'm kind of obsessive about protective sprays. This one seemed to work just fine at a fraction of the price of salon brands.

24. Philip B. Maui Wowie - Ok, ok, I'm finally sold on surf spray. This stuff was amazing for my curly hair - I could air dry and come away with tons of volume and perfectly defined but not TOO neat curls. Another hit from the FabFitFun Summer box. Love.

What do you think?? Do you see anything you love on this list?? I'm so nosy by nature and I'd LOVE to see your empties! I'm going to attach a monthly linkup, if anyone else wants to play along! Grab a bag and start saving them up! You might just be surprised at how much - or how little - you actually consume!! 

Stitch Fix January 2013 Box Review, Stitch #2

Stitch Fix is a clothing service that sends you a box of pieces selected specifically for you by a stylist. You try everything on at home and mail back the pieces you don't want within three days in a pre-paid mailer. There is a $20 styling fee, which can be used as a credit towards any of the items you want to keep. If you keep nothing, you are out the $20 fee. If you keep everything, you get it all at a 25% discount (and then -$20 for the styling fee).

Stitch Fix has a very extensive questionnaire that covers everything from sizes and body measurements to price points and lifestyle. There is a form for you to review each item received and give your stylist comments and feedback, with the goal of Fix's becoming more and more tailored to your preferences over time! 

I was definitely a little lukewarm about my Stitch Fix #1, but gave them TONS of feedback and was excited to see what I got the second time around! Now, on to what I received in my January Fix! 

Here's first looks:

My first thoughts? OMG... WHERE is all the color and craziness I asked for??? I spent SO much time on my feedback telling them that I like COLOR and SPARKLE and FUN pieces. This box is definitely not that. I mentioned that I wear lots of red/black pieces for Louisville sports activities and maybe that's the only comment they listened to??? Even then, first looks make me think that these are the least interesting red and black pieces ever.... Ok. But you HAVE to try them on. That's part of the process! So on to the individual pieces.

Daniel Rainn Bilson Silk Pleat Tabsleeve Blouse, $78

Sorry for the red jeans with burgundy on top, that's just what I happened to be wearing! LOL! This top... OMG. Seriously. I thought I looked pregnant in it in the mirror and, looking at the picture above, it definitely looks like maternity wear. There could easily be a 6 month preggo belly in there. So unflattering and ridiculous. Fail.

41Hawthorn Elora Silk Button Down Collared Blouse, $78
and 

Kut From the Kloth Miranda Houndstooth Flocked Skinny Pant, $68

Another burgundy silk blouse?? Really?? So weird. This one was the right size on the label but was enormous on. And just really doesn't look like anything special. Maybe if I wore suits on the regular??? But I don't. And my profile makes that clear. So who knows. And the 41Hawthorne brand? I'm wondering if this is their house brand or something? 

These pants.... okay. I know I'm sounding so negative, but these things were horrible. The houndstooth print might have been a fun alternative to jeans in theory but these were awful, thick, stiff, velvet-like material. Seriously. Like velvet. And the fit was terrible. You can't tell from the photo, but the crotch was really long. Like, I literally could grab inches of fabric hanging down there. That in combination with skinny leg pants??? Not good. Fit and fabric comparable to what I'd expect from someplace like Kmart. Seriously.

Ravel Kevella Cross-Front Lace Detailed Top, $28 

Ok.... I was excited about the price of this one and was hoping I loved it! With the $20 styling fee I had already paid, it would only cost $8 to keep it. Then.... I put it on. WTF. The crossing drapey pieces in the front are soooo blousy and weird. I seriously looked pregnant again. See me cupping my baby in the second picture??? LOL! At this point the girls and I were all having a good laugh at these clothes. They thought the huge crotch on the pants was hilarious and were just totally confused by this third shirt with belly issues. My seven year old kept saying "Do they think you're pregnant????" OMG. Fail.

Mystree Portia Faux Suede Detailed Cardigan,  $58

Well... it's completely unexciting, but this is something that I will wear a lot. The faux leather detail on shoulders is nice and the fabric is super soft. 

So, I kept the cardigan, one piece out of five. If I had kept everything, my total cost, after the 25% discount, would have been $237.50. The quality, fit and innovation of this box was severley lacking. No way I would have gone out and paid $237.50 for this haul. It would have been arguably overpriced at half that. I wouldn't have bought the cardigan for $58 if I had seen it while shopping but I hated to lose the $20 fee I had paid by not keeping anything. 

I was totally disappointed by this box and didn't feel like they used to my feedback at all. If I get another offer to try Stitch Fix without paying the styling fee, I'll give it another shot. If not, I think I'll keep my $20 and just shop for myself.

2013 Reading List, Part Two

I made a New Year's resolution a few years ago to read a book a month. I kept it that year, and have kept it up since! Lots of the things I read are trash and just for entertainment (#truth). Sometimes I push myself to read a classic or something that I feel will enrich me in some way. Occasionally I find an author I love and devour everything they've written before moving on. My favorite book of all time is The Lord of the Rings trilogy but I'm just as likely to read a Shopaholic book! 

The vast majority of what I read is what I can get for free on my Kindle app through the Louisville public library. Do other cities have a service like this??? It's freakin awesome. You can borrow up to three books at a time and after two weeks the books just expire. It is 100% free and there are no trips to the library to return books and zero chance of late fees! Loves it.

So, with all of that said, here is the second half of my 2013 list. You can see the first half of my list here. Maybe you will find a new book that you'd like to read and hopefully I'll get a few recommendations from you of what I should read next!!

90-Day Geisha by Chelsea Haywood -  This book was recommended to me by my library website and I loved it. It's about an all-American girl who spends some time as a Tokyo hostess. It was really interesting to see the private world of the Tokyo clubs from an insider's perspective. One trip that I MUST make someday is to Japan to see the cherry blossoms and to have my own (increasingly rare) geisha sightings. So interesting!

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella - Like all of her books, this is a light, entertaining and quick read. Enjoyable and fun, I read everything she writes!

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - The library recommended this one to me after I loved 90-Day Geisha and, eh, it is okay. It's supposed to be "an insider's look at the Asian JetSet" but it definitely read a little more like a typical fictional chick lit story than a realistic/gritty behinds the scenes type thing. Maybe, if I had known that going in, I would have liked it more!

Cornbread Mafia by James Higdon - Loved this book. It's an in-depth look at the largest marijuana bust in US history which just happened to be based here in Kentucky. I learned SO much about the history of the state and the Louisville area, too. I think it would have been fascinating, even if I didn't live here, though! I talked about it so much that I wound up with a "Run Johnny Run" t-shirt as a Christmas gift (a reference to the head honcho on the book cover who is still on the lam!)! Haha!

Evening Bags and Executions,  Clutches and Curses, Shoulder Bags and Shootings, Tote Bags and Toe Tags by Dorothy Howell - These books are all part of a series that centers around a character named Haley Randolph. She is a flighty, handbag obsessed woman who keeps finding herself accidentally associated with murder. They are sort of fashion/mystery novels which are sometimes flippant but definitely entertaining and fun. They are perfect reads for the elliptical and I flew through these four back to back on my library app.

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis - This is the first book in a trilogy that centers on character Nina Borg, a public health nurse, mom and compulsive do-gooder who can't say no to a person in need of help. It is set in Denmark and is an interesting mystery involving child trafficking, murder, danger and deceit. It kind of reminds me of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, same kind of quirkiness by Scandinavian authors, if that makes sense. Has the same kind of feel like maybe a little bit has been lost in translation? I enjoyed it and moved on to the second installment of the trilogy, below.
  

Invisible Murders by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis - The second installment of the Nina Borg trilogy, this one was definitely different than the first. Invisible Murders also takes place in Denmark and has the same Scandinavian feel. It is a mystery and adventure story that involves terrorism, gypsy refugees and radiation poisoning. The Nina Borg character is a little bit un-killable, like Jack Bauer on 24 or Robert Langdon in the Da Vinci Code series, but I don't mind suspending disbelief for the sake of entertainment! LOL! I'm on the wait list for the third installment now!

Locked in Time by Lois Duncan - The library recommended this one for me after I read a few mysteries in a row. I realized after I was about 2/3 of the way through it that it is a young adult/teenager selection... oh well! LOL! It's about a 17 year-old girl who moves into a Civil War mansion in Louisiana with her dad and step mom after her mother dies. There's all kinds of creepiness and hints of something sinister. Not a super complicated nor difficult to figure out mystery, but I think my older daughter would really like it! 

So I read a total of 21 books in 2013! Not bad! There was definitely a lot of fluff but I read some really challenging and intellectually stimulating things, too! I'm already working on my first book of 2014 and would love some suggestions if you know something I must read! 

Do you see anything here that you'd like to read? Have you read anything fantastic lately??

Fancy Pants Food December 2013 Box Review

I've taken my time on this review because Fancy Pants Food is no more! They sent out an email in December that announced the end of the company. It seems like so many subscription box services come and go, you know?? I thought I'd go on and do the review for this December box, just for future reference on food boxes. This niche in particular seems to me to really have a hard time with consistency and sustainability.... 

Fancy Pants Food was a food subscription service that delivered a monthly box of 5-8 trial size products. The products were "amazing food that you've probably never heard about" for a cost of $10/month. My first box was slow to arrive but I was expecting the second one around the end of the month in December and received it with no delays. 

Here's first looks:

And the breakdown:

Halfpops Popcorn Snack, $1.50
Chia Shots Chia Seeds, $1

Brix Chocolate, $1 - These are a fun concept! You use little bites to do tastings with wine! 

JimmyBar, $2.50 - These are made in Chicago and are gluten and dairy free. Only 180 calories and no artificial ingredients, sounds like a great and easy snack!

TeeChia Cereal, $1.70 - This definitely looked way too healthy for me but the hubs enjoyed it! LOL!

So I came up with a total value of $7.70 for this box. The value was less than the cost of the box for the second month in a row. I try to give a subscription a few months before I really make a judgement on it but I'm afraid I would have been headed towards canceling this one after this second low value box even if the company hadn't tanked. I love the idea of food/snack subscriptions but I feel like I have a hard time finding one with the value I expect when spending my money on a box filled with things someone else is picking!

Visit to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee

** HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELVIS! Long live the King! **

It's really strange to grow up really close to a major landmark but never go see it. Isn't it? I think this is something that a lot of people do. Maybe you just take for granted that you can go anytime so you feel no urgency to go and as a result you never go at all?? Anybody else doing this in your life right now??

I grew up in Arkansas, about an hour away from Memphis and Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, but I just never went to see it. Over Christmas break we had the rare opportunity to spend four wonderful nights with my family and we decided to make a quick trip over to visit the home of the King! 

I was super excited. I had heard soooo much about it. How gaudy it is. How emotional it is. How much it's like stepping back in a time machine. We took the girls with us to teach them a little more about an important chunk of rock 'n' roll history! It's important to us for our kids to be musically well-rounded - they are probably some of few 7 and 9 year olds who know all current pop songs but can also belt out everything from Beastie Boys to Black Crowes to Bob Marley to The Beatles! LOL! 

There is a massive tourist center across the street from Graceland where you park and buy your tickets. There are all kinds of exhibits here and, when you're ready, you load into a bus that drives you across the street and through the gates to climb the winding drive to the mansion. 

The self-guided tour is done with a headset and little hand held control box. It is easy to see how people spend lots and lots of time listening to all of the additional info that's available! 

One thing that's so striking about the inside of the mansion is the fact that the decor is all still exactly as it was when Elvis left the building in 1977. The upstairs is off limits out of respect to Elvis since, according to the tour, it was his private area when he lived there. The mansion is definitely kitschy but it's fabulous and you can see how it was the place to be in his time!! Here are some pics of the inside, decorated for the holidays with the same decorations that were used when he was there. 

Formal Living Room

Stairs to the private area

Any ghosts reflected up there??

His parents' room

Dining room set for holiday dinner

State of the art kitchen, just newly redone in 1977

Basement TV room (with awful creepy monkey)

Basement pool room, looks like inside of a genie bottle!

The much-discussed waterfall in the "jungle room"

The tour continues through outbuildings which include a massive hall of awards and a racquetball court that has been turned into an amazing room of trophies and stage costumes. 

View across the horse fields in the back

Lisa Marie's creepy swingset - can't you just see/hear this thing swinging and squeaking in the night???

Offices

Just a few of his awards.... wow.

The girls with maybe the hokiest painting ever

This paisley tux is pimp. And let's just be honest, I was mostly there for the clothes!

Plaque with just a portion of the many, many charities he helped. I know people personally who can attest to the fact that he gave out new cars all the time to strangers that he found nice or deserving!

Seriously. I want this!! 

Ah-mazing.

Or one of these!! I bet I said "I want a jumpsuit!!!!" about 50 times! LOL! 

The tour concludes at the graves of Elvis and his family. I guess I had forgotten that he was buried here and it kind of caught me off guard. It was a cold, overcast day, which are the worst for visiting burial sites anyway. Before long I had to keep on walking to stop the tears :(

After we toured the mansion we walked through a few of the visitor center exhibits and they were great!

So many fun cars! 

Legendary.

All aboard the private plane! 

Bed on the Lisa Marie. All seat belts have real gold buckles!

All in all, the place is amazing. It is truly breathtaking to see what ONE PERSON'S life can be. He was only 42 when he died but he lived one of the biggest lives imaginable. We spent tons of time over the next couple of days googling all of the drama in his life and the controversies and conspiracies surrounding his death. The whole story is fascinating! 

I would go back again and again and again. If you get the chance, GO! So inspiring and touching and perfect.