October Birchbox

I've had my October Birchbox for a week now. I'm slacking on the blog. Actually, this isn't so bad because I've been able to use a few of the items and can review them. I've been disappointed in the boxes since the earbud one was so awesome. I decided to adjust (lower) my expectations. This one was pretty good. Here's the rundown:


Tea. Fail. I do think there is one herbal version in the pack. Sore throat today, maybe I'll try it this evening.



Haven't tried it yet. I wish this was a month earlier. I kept bars like this in my office for some quick energy for my bike ride home.


Miracle Skin Transformer. Primer, serum and fact tint. I liked how this made my skin feel. It is just a tint and did not provide much coverage. I would have liked a larger sample.

Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum and per-fekt Beauty Lip Perfection Gel.. I keep forgetting to try these.

DDF Brightening Cleanser. Favorite item in the box. I was needing a little bottle of face cleanser for my yoga bag. (I like to shower at the studio instead of driving home all sweaty.) This is perfect. It's much larger than sample size and I like how it makes my skin feel.

Weekend Report

I'm still here. I feel like I've been blogging because I've created a bunch of blogs in my head over the past several weeks, they have just never made it to the computer.

This weekend I went back to Bikram yoga. I was worried my feet wouldn't handle it very well, but I was OK. I went both Friday and Saturday. Friday my feet didn't hurt too much, but my body had a hard time in the heat and intensity of the workout. I knew I needed to go back Saturday or I'd be too sore to walk by Sunday. Day 2 was better on my body as far as handling the heat, but my feet hurt a little more. Overall, it was very cleansing. I am excited to put it back in my weekly workout rotation.

Friday night we were invited to a dinner party at a colleague of Rick's from the U. My first thought was that I'm too old for college parties, but we went and had a wonderful time.

This is Ting. She made a traditional Chinese meal called a Hot Pot. One side had spicy broth and the other sweet. It sat on the table on a small stove. Everyone sat around the table and added meat and veggies. As the food cooked, you take out what you want and put it in your personal bowl which had a little sesame sauce in it. It was a fun and social way to eat dinner. It was also very delicious. We enjoyed trying new types of veggies, like lotus root.

After dinner we learned to play Mahjong, a traditional Chinese tile game. It was a lot of fun. Rick and I won twice.

We spent a lot of Saturday at a fencing tournament. Rick and Isaac participated and had a great time.

They did three separate tournaments. The second one was for Cadets (19 and younger). Isaac took 5th place, which was really good considering he's only been fencing about 4 months and everyone else there had been fencing at least a year and a half.

Sunday we relaxed and recovered. Another fine weekend!

September Birchbox

I haven't been feeling too "bloggity" lately so I'm glad the September Birchbox came to give me an excuse to blog. Not too thrilled with this month's selection. Here's the rundown.

The POREfessional. Face primer. Never something I've thought of using, but I'll give it a try.

This was probably the best sample in the box. Boscia Soothing Cleansing Cream. I'm always up for trying a new face cleansing product.

kate spade Twirl perfume sample. Add it to the fragrance stash.

twistband Hair tie. Eh. Nothing special.

tili bag. Basically a decorated ziplock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Color Club custom polish. I don't color my fingernails, but I'm sure I can find someone to give this to.

Weekend Report

This weekend I have both a ride report and a hiking report.

Ride Report
I rode home from work Friday. I hadn't ridden in a couple of weeks due to some ... uh.... saddle issues. It felt great to be back on my bike. Rick decided to leave from home at the same time and meet me so we could ride back together.

What he didn't realize was I was racing him. The ride is 22 miles. Rick rides faster than I do and he started going downhill so I was trying to reach mile 10 before we met.

About mile 9.5 I saw him coming. I started waving. He didn't see me. I waved my whole arm frantically and still no response. As he passed I realized it wasn't Rick, just a guy with the same color bike who thought I was a lunatic.

We met around mile 11. (I won - he was delayed leaving but it still counts.) Temps were in the mid 80s which made coming up the hill so much nicer. It was a great ride.

Hiking Report
I've been reading a book about a woman who hiked the Pacific Coast Trail. I was inspired to take the family on a hike. Saturday we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Dog Lake Trail.

It was about 5 miles round trip and steep enough to be a good workout. We got to the lake, had a snack, and skipped rocks for a bit.

It was a nice family outing. And I'm pleased (?) that my feet didn't hurt as much as my knees. :) I'm inspired to plan some future hikes. Maybe a slot canyon or two.

 

I had to add a cute photo of Josh who, on Sunday at a family dinner, had a fork on one hand and a spoon in another. He filled both up with food and put both in his mouth at the same time. He's so cute. 

DIY Weekend

This weekend we did a couple of Do-It-Yourself projects. I painted our bedroom. We'd had an eggplant colored accent wall since we moved in, but I've wanted to tie the room together a little better. I found something similar to this online and gave it a try. I LOVE it.

 

 The best thing we did to help was to purchase a laser level. It made the prep work much easier. We also purchased Frog Tape since it advertises it repels paint and gives you clean lines. Not true. I still had quite a bit of touch up. Does anyone have suggestions on how to get clean paint lines? This project was just a warm up for what we have planned for the living room. 

Zane had his own DIY project his weekend. He customized his new car with some red rims. He did a very nice job.

Rick went between both projects with advice and help when needed.

Sort of along the DIY lines, we had our first taste of the homemade syrup.

Rick made banana waffles. We had fresh whipped cream and the blackberry/raspberry syrup, along with some fresh-squeezed orange/grapefruit juice. Delicious!

 

A very satisfying holiday weekend.