November Favorites

Holy cannoli, it’s December already?! I usually try to have my monthly favorites posted on the last day of the month, but November 30^th really snuck up on me, so it’s going up today tonight!

1. Orange Blossom Cloister Honey

For the past two years, I’ve been attending the annual Shopping Spree in Downtown Raleigh at the Convention Center as a start to Christmas shopping, and both years I’ve been, Cloister Honey from Charlotte has been there as a vendor. I bought honey from them both times, and without fail, they keep me wanting more. They are my favorite small business honey makers for sure. This year I purchased the Orange Blossom honey, and have been using it all month in my tea, and also on top of my pie crust cookies (the recipe I shared recently).

2. Archer Farms Skirt Steak

This was actually in 2 WIAW posts not too long ago. It is honestly one of the easiest dinners I’ve made in a long time. I put these skirt steaks in my Crockpot with a small amount of water, turn it on low before I leave for work, and when I get home, it’s done, and ready to serve! It’s so delicious and I love how easy it is to make.  They also have about 5 flavors to choose from and my 2 favorites are Garlic and Herb and Carne Asada.

3. Sugar Lip Serum Advanced Therapy

For about two weeks in November, my lips were so chapped that it felt like they were constantly burning. Nothing I had at home would make the burning stop, and sometimes at night, my lips would crack open when I was sleeping (lovely image, I know). In years past, my basic chap stick options would fix this, but not this year. I discovered the Sugar Lip Serum Advanced Therapy and began using it at morning and at night, and it worked wonders on my lips. No more super chapped lips. Yay!

4. NARS Blush in Orgasm

Gotta love the color names of NARS products. 🙂 I’m sure every beauty guru has mentioned this product at some point or another, and if you’re even somewhat obsessed with makeup, you either already have this product, or have seriously contemplated purchasing it. I only have one other blush that I use, and it’s a matte pink shade in a bronzer/highlighter/blush palette, so I finally made the plunge, and purchased this one, and have been wearing it every day since. It really is a great basic blush for all skin tones.

5. Hollywood Fashion Secrets Sweater Saver

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have mentioned this thing to someone and raved about how awesome it is in the past month. Seriously. If your sweaters are pilling, go to Target or Ulta right now, and buy this bad boy. It’s a lifesaver. I mean sweater saver.

6. Mine Chalkboard Soy Message Ceramic Candle

I got this in my October Pop Sugar Must Have box and wasn’t sure about how excited I was about the scent. Lo and behold, I’ve burned the entire candle already! So now it’s an empty chalkboard jar that I’ll probably turn into a pen holder on my desk. Who knows…DIY project to come!

7. Madewell Sidney Boots in Pecan

I believe I purchased these boots in September, but I’ve probably chosen to wear them 3 out of 7 days of the week every week since. They are extremely comfortable if you’re on your feet all day, and they are also the perfect shaft width if you have no calf muscle whatsoever like me. The brown is also a great color as well and balances well even when wearing a lot of black.

8. Russell + Hazel Desk Calendar

I don’t know why I needed a new desk calendar a month and a half before the end of the year, but I did. I saw this one in The Container Store when I was shopping for Christmas presents, and I had to have it. It’s completely blank. You fill in the days, the month, and pretty much do whatever you want to it. No fancy designs or anything. Which to me, is awesome, because I love doodling and designing my own organizational calendar. There is also a section at the bottom for notes, and a section on the side with each day of the month in a “to-do” list form.

9. Sephora Pro Precision Smudge Brush #29

I needed a new eye shadow brush. I did. I needed it. Because the only other ones I have are by ELF (which for a very affordable brand, has some really good quality items), but the brushes I have from them have bristles that occasionally fall out. The brushes are also meant more for sweeping one color all over your eyelid, and not necessarily providing precision placement of shadows, and ya know, sometimes, I like putting multiple colors of shadow on my lids. This Sephora brush didn’t let me down! And it even comes with a brush cap, so it can stay safe and clean while traveling.

10. Merrick Natural Wet Dog Food

This one isn’t necessarily my favorite, but rather, one of Gabi’s favorites, but I’m putting it here for the world to see. The names and packaging of their wet dog food options are awesome, they are grain free, and they make little cans (which say they are for toy breeds, but really it’s just because of the size of the can) that I can feed to Gabi all at once mixed into her dry food. She’s kinda picky when it comes to wet dog food that has been sitting in the fridge. She even got a Thanksgiving Day Dinner flavor for Thanksgiving!  If you live in Raleigh, you can pick these cute little cans up at Phydeaux.

Let me know if any of you love any of these products as much as I do! And Happy December!

Bows and Arrows,

Pop Sugar Must Have October 2014 Subscription Box Review

There were a lot of issues surrounding the Pop Sugar box this month that resulted in multiple emails being sent out to acknowledge these issues. I always stalk the ladies at MUT to see if anyone got their box early, and a lot of people posting on there were very frustrated for one reason or another. I happened to be one of the people that never got shipment confirmation or notifications, but my box did happen to show up last night! Hopefully next month, everything will go smoother for them.

What’s in the box:

 Butter London Wink Eye Pencil- $18

I already have about 7 or 8 of Butter London’s nail polish and I absolutely love it, but I’ve never tried any of their other makeup items. This is one of their blendable eye pencils in the color Earl Grey. It has a slight shimmer to it, but I do actually really like the way it looks…it’s a really dark grey which is a great alternative to wearing black all the time. This liner also says it sets in 30 seconds (and that you can blend it out) and wears for 24 hours, so I’m going to try it out today and see if it actually does last all day.

Happy Socks- $12

My socks from last year with the ones from the Pop Sugar box

Soooo….the company I work for sold this brand last year, so I already knew I loved these before I got them because I already have 3-4 pairs of them! In fact, I have a pair that are very similar. I love these to wear with booties for a pop of color underneath jeans, or to wear with riding boots. They are also perfect to wear with pj’s while you cozy up by the fireplace with a warm cocoa.

 Hall Designs Shoreline Shea Butter/Olive Oil Bar Soap- $10

This soap smells really good. And even though it doesn’t scream “fall” scent, it does have something in there that reminds me of the holidays. (I don’t even know why because it totally has a beachy scent to it.) I don’t use bar soap at all, so I’m considering turning this into a liquid soap or gifting it over the holidays. Side note: this brand also makes the Barr-Co. products, which I already love.

Dean & Deluca Pumpkin Spice Malt Balls- $5.75

I already love boutique style candies, and since mine didn’t come melted like a lot of other subscribers seemed to get, these were great. I don’t think they taste super “pumpkiny,” however, they do taste like the “spices” you do associate with pumpkin. Either way, I think they are delicious…I’m also not really picky when it comes to chocolate. (Also, Happy National Chocolate Day!!!)

Mine Design Chalkboard Candle- $24

I agree with other subscribers that it would have been nice to get a candle with a fall scent this month, but I do love the concept of this candle. I can change the design anytime I want with the chalk that was provided, and once my candle is completely burned, I can even reuse the ceramic container (maybe for my makeup brushes…I’ll figure something out). My candles scent is pomegranate, but for some reason it smells like a fresh spring scent…not really reminiscent of fall, but I’ll still use it!

Isaac Jacobs International Acrylic Frame- $36

I’ve seen these frames before (probably not this brand), and thought they were cool, but never wanted to spend the money on them. I don’t really have too many pictures to frame either, but I’ll probably use this for something…or I’ll gift it during the holidays. Either way, it’s nice.

Nailed Kit Halloween Decals- $8

So, I was thinking that I was lucky when I saw that my box arrived last night, because I was getting to actually use these decals before it was actually Halloween…I’m sure some subscribers are going to be upset when they get their October boxes in November, because that makes this product worthless until next year. However, my nail decals weren’t in the box! I didn’t get them at all!!! So yeah, it’s on the list of things in the box, yet, I didn’t get them in my box at all…so I guess I’ll be contacting Pop Sugar about that.

The Blue Jean Bar Blue Jean Box- $40 dollars off box

This is a unique coupon code for $40 dollars of the subscription box service offered by The Blue Jean Bar. It’s similar to the other clothing subscription services where there is a stylist that curates your box and mails it to you, and then you choose what to keep and what to mail back, and you only pay for what you keep. I may or may not try this out…if I do, I’ll post it on here. I’m conflicted though, because I work for a denim company, so I’m not sure I want to try this out since it focuses on denim, which I don’t need.

Overall Thoughts on the October Box:

I did like the items I got in my box this month, though it was lackluster compared to other previous boxes. This may be because I was reading all the negative comments about how this month didn’t go by so smoothly in terms of billing and shipping since their new website launch. But I’m torn, because I will use everything I got in this box in some way, even if it’s by gifting it. And past boxes with bigger ticket items are either a hit or miss. But who knows, I definitely understand that these boxes can’t please everyone. Hopefully next months box will be awesome!

Value of box: $105.75

(Not including the $8 Nailed Kit decals since I didn’t get those, or the $40 off BJB Express coupon since not everyone will use that)

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda