FabFitFun - Winter Box Goodies

Last fall, I decided to stop my Birchbox shipments. No particular reason, I just wanted a change and had learned of the FabFitFun VIP Box. FabFitFun is a quarterly subscription box ($49.99/quarter) and it includes over $120 of the hottest of the season items from Giuliana Rancic and the FabFitFun team. This is the second box that I've received from FFF and so far I am really enjoying the goodies I receive! Below are the items that were in my winter box and a brief description/review of each: 

Winter Fab.Fit.Fun box (kitty not included)

Beauty For Real Lip Gloss in Light My Fire ($22) this is one of the products that makes you think, "Damn..why didn't I think of this?" The packaging on this item is awesome - the gloss has a mirror on the side of the tube and a light! In the tube, the gloss looks like it would be really dark which is not something I'd normally wear but when you put it on it's a pretty red/berry color. And it's a plumper...score! I am going to look into getting some other colors when mine gets low. This is a new brand for me, but so far I'm super impressed.

MeUndies Gift Card ($20) - I've never heard of MeUndies before - am I alone? As a loyal Victoria Secret undies girl, I wasn't too impressed with this item in my box. But, it's $20 so why not give it a shot. I went to the website and checked out the prices. Whoa.. 5 pairs of undies for $89?? I think I'll just buy one pair and see how that goes. They do have other items such as socks, t-shirts and pants that look pretty comfortable. A couple cool things about this company (a) they have a subscription service - underwear sent directly to your doorstep! and (b) free shipping..all the time

Skyn Icelandic Relief Eye Cream ($45) Again, another brand that I've never heard of (that makes 3/3 now) so far I'm loving this eye cream. It is really thick and really creamy but it feels light and smooth when you put it on. Another thing I love is that it feels so cool against your skin which is nice and refreshing. The cream is supposed to reduce puffiness, dark circles and fine lines, so far I can't really say that I've noticed a huge difference but it's only been a couple of weeks. I do remember to put it on every day, and there's not a lot of products I can say that with - that counts for something. 

NYX Eye shadow Palette ($8) A couple days before receiving this box, I had splurged and bought the Urban Decay Naked 2 eye shadow palette so I didn't experiment with this one for a while. I decided to try it out, and I like it OK - the colors are what I would have probably bought anyways but with the Naked 2 monopolizing all of my eyelid real estate, I think I'll tuck this one away for a while. 

Simple Foaming Cleanser - not pictured ($7.49) I love a foaming cleanser, and I am still using the one I received in my last FFF box (Bliss Oxygen Cleanser) but I am excited to start using this one. I have wanted to try the Simple products due to the fact they don't use dyes and keep things as natural as possible. 

Bioxidea Miracle 24 Face Mask ($20) I've never heard of this brand either but I am really excited about using this face mask! I was going to use it on the weekend but I think I'll wait until I have someplace important to go since it's supposed to make your skin look visibly younger - I need all the help I can get in that department. 

The Giving Keys Never Ending Necklace ($55) love, love, LOVE the idea behind this necklace! I have to admit that when I first got it I  wasn't sure if I would wear it, let alone give it to someone else. However, after doing some more research on it and thinking about the concept - I really fell in love with this idea. I also love the idea of this necklace getting passed from person to person. The company behind the Giving Keys employ people transitioning out of homelessness, how great is that?! The necklace I received is "Strength" so I'll make sure to pass it along when I come across someone who could use it. 

Lorna Jane Bracelet ($29.99) I wasn't familiar with this brand either (I must be really out of touch!) but after visiting the website, I like the items I see! The pricing is higher than my normal workout attire, but I could see myself splurging on some of these clothes. The bracelet is to be worn as a symbol of sisterhood, and to remind us to Move, Nourish and Believe - a wonderful message. The color is too bright for my taste, but I do really like it regardless. 
After visiting the website I am now obsessed with ordering the 2014 Move Nourish Believe Diary. With my FFF box, I received a 20% off coupon and the site has free shipping.

Physique 57 Online Classes ($25) This coupon is good for five online workout classes. I am pretty into my CrossFit/Running regimen now, but I can see myself using this for when I travel and I'm stuck working out in a hotel room. A great concept for those who don't/can't make it to a gym. 

TruEnergy Earbuds ($39.99) Who doesn't need another pair of earbuds? Don't know about you, but I keep losing mine or they get so tangled/quit working. I loved seeing this in my FFF box! I love the color (coastal) and they are comfortable and they work well. They also have the splitter feature so you can share your earbuds with someone else

The retail value of this box was $272.47!I would say the $49.99 was a good price as I'll use the majority of these items. 
I'm already looking forward to the next FFF box!

AJ

Happy New Year!

Why, Hello 2014!! 

It's so hard to believe the craziness of Christmas/New Years is over already! I guess it's true as you get older they seem to pass so quickly but this year it felt like the blink of an eye. 

I do love the promise of a new year, the goals, the 'fresh slate' to start things over, or the resolution to begin others. With that said, I have been working on my 2014 Short List. I didn't do so great on my 2013 Short List (you'll see a lot of repeats!) but hopefully this year I'll be better about tackling the items that didn't get completed last year. 

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year! 

Happy November!

Wow, is it really November?! Each year seems to fly by faster than the one before. The good news is that my spending hiatus is over (credit card companies, rejoice!) and the other good news is that it's time to think of a new goal for the month. 

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been doing CrossFit since June. It's hard but challenging and I am loving it! However, I felt like I needed to do something to supplement the CrossFit workouts which leads us to November's goals:

Run 10 miles/week - Since October 14th I have started a new goal of running 10 miles a week. I can definitely tell a change in my body since throwing in the running, which makes me muy happy. I can also tell a change in my endurance since CrossFitting - I can now run a couple miles in about 18 minutes (I am still breathing like a walrus, but at least I can run it all without stopping!) 

Eat 80/20 Paleo  - being mostly vegetarian (I eat fish) it is really hard to follow the paleo diet 100%. However, thanks to Pinterest, I am finding a ton of new recipes to try! Some of my favs are: cauliflower stir fry, paleo chocolate chip cookies, brownies, sweet potato and cauliflower soup. 

Non-CrossFit goals for November: 
start crossing off the items on my short list! The weeks left in the year are rapidly decreasing and I still have lots of checking off to do! I also need to start thinking about next year's short list. 

Art lesson a week: On my Pinterest page, I posted a bunch of art tutorials. Since I will probably not be able to take an art class this year I can just practice drawing and painting in the comfort of my home (and while in PJ's)

October - aka the Month My Credit Card Companies Cried

I decided to do a little self challenge for the month of October. It's going to be a tough one, and one that requires a lot of self discipline and possibly at some point, restraints. I have decided that.. <Insert big dramatic sigh>.. I am not going to spend any money for the entire month of October. I know.. what!? I will keep my credit cards and checkbook tucked away in my new Tory Burch purse (said purse is part of the reason for my financial lock-down). 

Some people may not think this challenge would be that difficult. I applaud those people, and secretly despise them a little bit (kidding..sort of). I decided on this challenge because for the past few months I was spending money like it was going out of style. We went to Chicago a couple weeks ago, bought a lot (damn you, IKEA!) and ate out a lot. I also have a horrible compulsive shopping problem. I think I “need” things such as hair product, nail polish, makeup, etc when I have probably 10 years’ worth at home. What I really ‘need’ is this challenge to force me to stop spending money – even if it’s a few dollars here and there.  

This is much harder than I thought it was going to be. I work in an area that houses just about any store you could imagine. I feel like my lunch hour turns into a one-hour race of “how much you can buy”. I joke about power shopping, but it’s very real – and I am freaking awesome at it. However, my money isn't just being spent on ‘stuff’; there are also a lot of really good restaurants around work too. It makes turning down a lunch offer very difficult. The first day on my challenge I found myself daydreaming of where I would go for lunch – should I buy the new OPI nail polish? What about those new gym shoes? I opted for lunch in my car and I started reading a book that has been on my short list. Success. Day 2, same situation – knew I had to get my dad a present for his birthday (see fine print below) and thought that maybe I would pick up this hair stuff, I mean…what’s an extra $6? But, I fought the urge, bought the present only (not even a gift bag). Yay me. It’s Day 4 and well, lets just say there's been a few temptations   Yesterday, I caught myself thinking ‘what can I buy on November 1 as a reward for completing this?” Clearly I still have to grasp the meaning behind this challenge :) 

Okay, so the fine print: I get to still buy groceries and gas for my car (duh. I am not looking to waste away or lose my job here). There are also a few things that will require money, which I've already committed to this month. Those events have been grandfathered in to my challenge, but shouldn't exceed a total of $100. 

Florida Fun!

As mentioned in my birthday post, I recently got back from a trip to Florida. The main reason for the trip was our annual work conference, but since it was in Orlando I thought pairing it with a family vacation would be fun! 
My mom, brother, sister, 3 year old niece (Brooke) and I piled into our rented mini van to drive the 18ish hours from IL to FL (MapQuest says it takes 14.5 hours..big, fat LIE) It was a long ride, as in Painful, as in never again. We made it into FL on Sunday afternoon and met my dad at the hotel (he flew - smart man). We headed to Disney the following day. First of all, can I just say that Disney is SO freaking expensive! For an adult 1-day ticket it is $95. That part made me sad, how could an average family of 4 even afford to go? That's almost $400 in tickets, not to mention airfare, then you have food, etc. Anyway, I digress. 

To be honest, I wasn't sure how I would feel going to Disney, being a thirty-something childless woman hanging out at the Magical Kingdom seemed a little odd but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!! Of course, my favorite part was seeing Brooke's reaction to everything. Brooke was able to meet Mickey and some of her favorite princesses, which was super cute. We went to Cinderella's castle, rode as many rides as possible, and of course shopped in the gift stores. My family and I enjoyed the boat rides; It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Ariel's Adventure. My sister and I braved Space Mountain (and I confirmed that I am a total chicken). We had great weather, although it did rain for about an hour pretty heavily, but during that time we just went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit.  My mom, sister, niece and I all went back to the park after the rainstorm and stayed for the fireworks and parade. The following day I had to leave the family to attend my work conference (which was also a lot of fun) and the family did some more touristy-stuff. However, if you ask my niece what her favorite part of the trip was she'll say the Beach. Hmm..go figure..the one free attraction they went to :) Gotta love kids. It's a trip I know that I will remember forever, and hopefully one the rest of the family will cherish as well.

We made it!

Disney parade

The Fam (minus my sister)

Happy Birthday to ME!

It feels like my birthday comes quicker every year! This year on September 1st, I turned 36 (I actually cringed when typing that) and I have to admit that officially being in my late 30's is a hard concept for me to accept. However, as much as I am going to bitch and moan about my age I am also very thankful that I am healthy. Recently, I got some routine lab work done to check vitamin levels and such and everything came back perfect! I also did some bio metric testing at our work conference last week and everything came back great on that as well. I attribute this to an active lifestyle (although I feel I could always do more and my weight is never where I want it.. :/ ) and a mostly healthy, mainly plant-based diet. 

Because it was my birthday (or close enough) I splurged and bought this Tory Burch Dena Bag!  I was in Florida for work last week and they happen to have a great outlet mall nearby so I headed there as soon as I could and bought her. Isn't she pretty?! 

My birthday present! To: Me.. Love, Me

The store was giving away free iPhone cases with the purchase of a purse, so I was happy about that since my old one had a crack in it. The purse is a very soft black leather with the gold TB logo on it. You can fold the top half down and remove the strap to use it as a clutch, or keep the strap on and use it as a fold-over cross body. My favorite look is using it as a longer bag (i.e. not folded..not sure what the technical term is? Bucket? it is what is shown in the picture)

I didn't have a new purse on my short list, and I still have a few big-ticket items I'd like to buy this year but I thought this was a good find. Also, it was about $65 less than the retail price..and the fact that you can carry it 3 ways makes it even more worth the price (look, I have to justify it somehow, OK?) 

More about my FL trip in a separate post, but when I got home from the trip, the H suggested we go to the Animal Protective Association (APA) in Missouri to look at this cat I had my eye on. So..needless to say we came home with our newest 4-legged family member, Pierre! I really wish I could take credit for his name, but it was given to him at the shelter. He is the sweetest cat ever and so far he is fitting in nicely with the other animals. 

Me.Ow.

He's so cultured

All in all, it was a great birthday, even if I am now in my late thirties (groan). I look forward to the next 36 years! 

-AJ

Um.. yikes...

Wow..it's been over 2 months since posting on the blog. I really have no good excuse other than the fact I am getting really frustrated with not being able to design this the way I want. I know it is going to take some time and some trial and error, but damn.. it can't be this hard! I have an IT background, for crying out loud! I have Googled, YouTubed and read countless articles/videos/etc on this but still can't get it to do what I want. 
I should just sit down one day and really dig into HTML, or really take the time to learn it. OR, perhaps I should just hire someone to design the look for me? I am way too stubborn to do that - after all, I love this stuff, right? Sigh.. 

Aside from blog design woes, I have been busy with my new fitness obsession..Crossfit! I've heard a lot about this fitness phenomenon so when a Groupon popped up in my area my friends and I jumped at the chance to check it out. At first, I'll admit I wasn't totally on-board with the idea...I mean, in the classes we flipped tires, we lift really heavy weights, we tear up our hands doing pull-ups and climbing ropes! But then something changed, and it became "Hey - guess what? I flipped a 300lb tire...10 times!" or, "look at how torn up my hands are from climbing the rope!"  I wear the bruises, cuts, callouses proudly like battle wounds. I can't wait to get into the "box" and give it all I have, then I enjoy the high at the end of the workout while telling myself, wow..you really just did that! I know it sounds corny but seriously, I have learned a lot about myself in the month or so since beginning the classes. I look forward to the day where we are pulling trucks with ropes (and we've been forewarned that is coming) 

-AJ