May 2016 Graze Box

Watch the video here.

I am pretty happy with my Graze Box this month. I have been really careful to go in each month and leave feedback on the items I receive and I think that helps a lot. This month I got some repeat items, a couple I love and a few that are just okay.

So first let's just look at how pretty the box is when you open it. The people at Graze do a nice job of putting this box together and the packaging has been thought out so that the items set stay right where they are supposed to be. I also love that the packaging is all cardboard so it is easy to recycle.

The first item I grabbed out of my box was the Banana Cream Pie mix. Normally I love these mixes of dry fruit and nuts. This one is not as good as some of the others I have gotten in the past. I think that is because the dry banana slices are labeled as being “chewy” I think that is reason that the pecans are also rather chewy instead of crisp and fresh tasting. I am sure they chose this type of dry banana slice for the texture but I think a harder banana slice would have preserved the nuts a bit more.

Next up was the Sweet Rhubarb Jam, another dry fruit mixture. I was a bit worried about this one since I am not the biggest fan of rhubarb but I love it! This is now one of my favorite items I have gotten. The mix of sweet and tangy is perfect in this mixture.

This box held another FlapJack, this time I received a repeat of the flavor. I don't dislike FlapJacks I just don't love them either. Frankly there are other granola type bars that I prefer over these.

The last item on the top layer was the Zesty Line and red Pepper Salsa, this is probably my absolute favorite from this box. I love things I can dip, I love spicy foods and I love the savory options in the box. This one was a winner all the way around.

The first item out of the bottom layer was the Vitamin C Crush. This one was another miss for me. Mainly because the taste and smell of the coconut took over the entire package. All the bits in this one tasted (and smelled like coconut) It isn't that I don't like coconut, I just don't love it especially when it over powers the other flavors. I really would have like to be able to taste the pineapple and mango too.

Herby Bread Basket, I was so happy to see this one making a return to my box. I love this one and am going to save it for when I have time to sit and enjoy it.

Another snack to make a return was the Kettle corn Kern Pops. I am on the fence about these, I don't dislike them but I don't really like them either. When I got them last time I decided to give them another try. If I don't like them more this time I think I will mark them as something I don't like so they won't show up again.

Lastly was the Peach Cobbler, normally I am not a huge fan of these mixtures that contain the fruit with the little cookie things. This one is an exception. The cookies in this one not only taste better they have a better texture and they actually add to the mixture. I do love peaches so I am going to mark this one as a favorite.

Plan with Me Fairy Theme

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This week I am using a Fairy theme. It was funny I don't think I would have thougth of this one except I got a newsletter from one of the shops that I purchase my clip art from and this design was featured. I fell in love with the fairies so I had to use it this month.

Here are some closer photos of the pages. 

May 2016 Ipsy Bag

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I have to say I do love the bag this month mainly because it is different! It looks like an envelope (at least to me it does) the design in cool and the color is pretty. The vinyl that it is made of is a bit on the cheap side but I can forgive that. Overall, this is definitely one of my favorite bags so far.

As for the contents of the bag I am pretty happy about those too. So I think that Ipsy hit the mark this month at least for me.

First out of the bag was a tube of Smashbox X-Rated mascara. I am looking forward to trying this after I use up some of the mascara I already have open. If I found the right mascara on the website the full size retails for $22.

I am really happy to get to try the 3 sheet masks from Soo AE. After a bit of digging around on the internet I finally found these for sale at Target.com. The site says they are only available online and not in stores. The 3 in the bag are there along with several other choices. They come in packs of 3 (same variety in pack) for $15.

The Hikari bronzer, I know I totally butchered the name of the company. I have seen this brand on several un-boxing videos but have not purchased anything from them(I think I have gotten some items from them in other Ipsy bags though). I have a couple of bronzers in my collection but it is always fun to try something new. If I decide I don't want this I know of at least 3 other people that will be happy to volunteer to take it. LOL I have no idea if this is a sample size or a full size but the full size retails for $17.

The Inspr 282 Eye Fluff brush is interesting. I have other brushes this shape but they are much softer than this one. Not that this one is not soft, it is firm but soft at the same time. I am thinking that it will be a great brush for applying eyeshadow and I can't wait to try it. Online the brush retails for $12 which I think is a good price for a nice brush.

The last item out of the bag was the face mask from Epice. I totally forgot to see what this one smelled like on camera. I am pleased to tell you it has a nice smell to it. Since my skin has been really dry this spring I am looking forward to some nice me time to try this one out too. Online you can purchase a 1 oz tube for $12 which is what seems to have come in the bag.

I am really pleased with not only the selection of products this month but with the value of the products too. Some months it seems like the bag really isn't worth even the $10 you pay for it but this month there are for the most part all products that I would be happy to pay that much for.

Did you get any Ipsy bag this month?? What did you get in yours? Let me know.

Pinch-Me Box 1

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This week I have a really fun box to share with you. The pinchme box is a totally free sample box that comes once per month. This one is a bit different in several ways.

First and most importantly it is totally free of charge! That's right you don't even have to pay a shipping charge.

Another difference it that you have to pick your samples from the ones that they pick for you. You do get to have up to 5 and the ones that you choose from are based on your profile.

Let's be totally honest here there are a couple of drawbacks to this service that I am noticing immediately. The samples are tiny, they are free but they are tiny. On some of the products I am not sure I can really form an opinion on the product based on the small sample. The other thing is it takes forever to get the box to you. From the day I picked these samples to the day the box arrived was exactly a month. That is a long time but again it is offset by the fact it is free.

Okay so on to my samples and what I thought of them in the order I took them out of the box in the video.

1. the Olay Regenerist. This is a case of a really tiny sample but it does come with a $3 coupon to purchase the product. Since this is only a single use sample I decided to use it first. It felt good going on, but not a lot different from my normal skin cream.
   {follow up} This product does have a fragrance so if those bother you I would suggest trying a sample. Would I buy this based on the sample? I doubt it very much since I really like my skin care products that I currently use.

2. Zzzquil, again a tiny sample, one dose but at least with this type of product one try should be enough to judge it.

{follow up} this product did just what it said it would do, it gave me a good night's sleep. I do use this type of product occasionally so it is nice to try a different brand from what I normally use.

3. Olay Ageless, from the looks of the tube I thought I would get at 3 or 4 uses out of this one.

{follow up} I only tried this product one time because it really didn't work well with my skin. Although the package says it is a moisturizer a few hours after I applied it my skin felt really dry and almost painful. I am thinking there is something in this product that I should stay away from.

4. Allegra Allergy, I was really excited to see this one in my choices because the last few years allergy season has been horrid here. I have tried the store brand version of this product but I wanted to see if the real brand was any different.

{follow up} I have purchased the store brand of this product in the past and not been really impressed. The name brand this time did a much better job than than the store brand version has in the past. I am not sure if that is because the pollen was different this time or what. With a coupon I will probably try the name brand in the future.

5. Muse by Purina cat food. Is it strange that this was actually the product I was the most excited to be receiving??? LOL. We currently have two cats and though they mostly eat dry cat food that is left out at all times I do divide a can of food between them each morning. They love the routine of this and I love finding them special foods. I have not seen this brand in my local stores yet but at the same time I have not actually looked for it either.

{follow up} I gave this to the cats the morning after I filmed the video. One of them loved it (she is our fish lover) and the other ate it but I could tell he would have rather had something with chicken. Now this is pretty much how any fish cat food goes in the morning. Would I purchase this product? If I saw it on sale somewhere I might consider it, especially for a special occasion.

So those are the samples I got this month in my Pinchme box. If you are interested in receiving a Pinchme box go their website (here) and answer the questions to set up your profile. Then wait for the second Tuesday of the month at noon (ET) and see what they offer you.

I am really looking forward to my next box, I hope it comes a bit quicker next time.  

Plan with Me- Butterflies

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This week I am using a butterfly theme in my planner. I am fairly happy with how it turned out. My only problem with it is I bought all the clip art and papers for this theme a couple of months ago. I liked it okay then too and didn't find a lot else at the time. Since then I have found a set of papers that I am absolutely in love with. So now my problem is do I do another butterfly week this month with the other set because it is just gorgeous. Or do I hold off and hope to find it again next year and use it then.....

So here are some close up photos of each of the pages. Enjoy them and thank you so much for coming to my blog.

 

April Graze Box

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I do think the Graze Box is my very favorite thing to get in the mail each month. I get excited when I see that it has finally arrived.

This month we have some familiar things and a few new ones too.

The first thing that I noticed was that my very favorite of all the Graze products was in my box right on the top layer, the Thai Sweet Chili Bites. These came a few months ago and I fell in love. I decided not to taste them on camera because I want to save them for when I have the time to really enjoy them. Just trust me they are sooooooo yummy!!

The next item that caught my eye was the Protein Flapjack. These are really just a granola bar and really nothing that I get excited about. They are fine, they taste good, they have a good texture and are a filling snack. They just are not very exciting so they (so far) have never been my favorite item in the box but I always like them, I just don't love them.

Next was the Salted Fudge and Peanut Cookie mix. These mixtures that have the little cookie bites typically are not my favorite either. I think if they found a substitute for those darn little mini cookies they would be a lot better. I mean don't get me wrong I'm not hating on them I again just don't get all that excited to see them.

On the other hand the Cherries and Berries are to die for!! I love dried fruit and this was not a disappointment at all. The mixture contains some lingonberries which are one of my favorites and I don't find them in many things so they were a nice surprise. As far as I am concerned they could just fill my box up with more of these packages and I would be very happy.

The Everything Bagel snack, I am pretty sure this one was a repeat. I do love them though so it was nice to see them appear this month.

The Maple Pecan Granola Topper, I haven't decided if I like these granola topper things or not. They are okay just not something I would go out of my way to get. I do need to get some yogurt so I can enjoy this one this week.

One item that was a bit of a disappointment was the Honey Drizzled Cashews, I was really excited to see them but they were just okay. Again, I don't not like them I just don't love them.

The Italian Herb Focaccia is always nice to see in the box too. I know I have gotten a focaccia in a past box I am not sure if it was the same flavor or not though. I do love these.

You probably did notice that once again with the exception of the dried fruit the savory items are my favorites in the box. I really don't have that much of a sweet tooth, so the savory items are just more my thing.

Remember to let me know what you got in your Graze Box! Did you get the same or similar items? Or was yours completely different from mine?

Plan with Me- Mermaids

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This week I decided to use a mermaid theme for my planner. I had every intention of using the purple and kind of teal blue that the Erin Condren has for the month of April. However, when I started matching the colors from my papers and clip art I just didn't care for the tones of the purple. The pink was just shouting to be featured so that is the direction I ended up taking this week.

I did some experimenting with my top bar, adding the days of the week. Since this is just for me and I knew what week I was using it I printed the dates on there too. I think it would have been fun to use the bubble clip art to make date pieces for the spread too.

Since I didn't get pwm filmed last week I am including some photos of last week's spread too. I had really been looking forward to filming that pwm but I ended up with a horrid headache all weekend and didn't get much of anything done. It took me all afternoon last Sunday to get the spread done because I could only stand to work on it for a couple of minutes at a time. I do love how it turned out though.