Julep: September 2014, The Art Walk Collection

And it's September again, aka the school year has re-started itself. This year, I'm just hoping for a peaceful year. I've finally got pretty close to my dream position, I'm a special education teacher, this year, which is WHY I wanted to become a teacher, and I'm just hoping I can get through my third year, as a teacher, without any sort of medical emergency like sleep apnea forcing me to get a tonsillectomy [NOT FUN AS AN ADULT] or Uterine cancer. 

I've already got my usual back to school head cold, in the third week of school, so I would say this year is officially underway.

My Julep box was sitting in my mailbox today.

In case I have any new readers, or people randomly find this blog in a google search or whatever, Julep is a subscription box service that consists primarily of nailpolish and makeup and skin products. 

I'm grandfathered into their old subscription service and feel no desire to change. 

But for newcomers, they have My Maven and Maven Lux, $19.99/$34.99, which are fully customizable boxes, where you can pick and choose the products of your choice.

I have to say, I'm not as interested in subscription boxes, as I used to be. I don't get as excited when the 20th of the month rolls around and I get to pick the products for my month, and I don't really feel a desire to add new subscriptions. After being broke for several months after my surgery, money seems to have more of a value to me, and I still have medical bills and credit card bills to pay to make up for that time when I didn't have a paycheck.

However, that didn't stop me from ordering a Jewel Heist Mystery Box today.

And I am still content with my Julep and Ipsy subscriptions.

This month's theme was "Art Walk."

The beauty product for my usual profile was a lip crayon, and I had no interest in getting a lip crayon, so I went with "It Girl" and added on a few colors from the other profiles and because I had three extras, I got two bonus colors.

Art Walk Colors from l to r: Mahima, Kirby, Fifi, Ryan, and Quinn.

Mahima, IT GIRL, is a matte gold color that sort of reminds me of mustard. That's not a bad or good comment, just a comment. 

Kirby, Bombshell, is a salt and pepper glitter color. 

Fifi, IT GIRL, is a very very very pale pink, almost white color. It would look good with a french manicure, in my opinion. 

Ryan, IT GIRL, is my favorite of the new colors. It's a very dark turquoise color. I like it a lot. 

Quinn, classic with a twist, is a cross between purple, dark blue, and smoke. I really like it. It's a nice dark color. I prefer darker and cooler colors to bright colors. 

from l to r: Candace, Daria, and Queen Anne.

Candace, I may have, or I may not have, I find a lot of the golden glitter colors sort of look alike after awhile, and if I don't have it, I definitely have a color that's similar to it. This was one of my free extras.

Daria is a slate gray color. I like it because it's not glittery. It's nice to have a darker gray color that I can wear as a base color, or just alone. I find I lack gray colors. This was my other free extra.

Queen Anne, was made in honor of Julep's 3rd birthday methinks, hence the 3 and the candle. I like it. It's a nice rose glitter with some magenta and purple.

And that concludes my September Julep box.

Overall, pretty happy with the colors and extras I got. 

Though, I'm more excited about October since Halloween is my favorite time of year.

Anyhow if it interests you, feel free to check out Julep.

 Ajani approved.

Tasty Tuesday: Basalmic Chicken

I've decided to expand this blog. Since, my district doesn't seem like it wants to pay me anytime soon, therefore, my subscription box addiction will have to be put on hold until probably... July?

 Then there's my Pokemon addiction, and my quest to get all Eeveeloutions, but I beat Pokemon X, months ago [with a team of all Eevees], and Pokemon's remake of sapphire and ruby aren't going to come out until probably fall... THOUGH I AM EXCITED about that, since ruby/sapphire are two I haven't played... I HAD ruby, but the game cartridge was fucked up and wouldn't save my game, so that never went anymore... Plus, if you're hankering for a pokemon fix, there's always Twitch Plays Pokemon, they're on black and white now.

So what can I blog about?

Let's see...  my new-found interests include cooking recipes my fiance will actually eat that are reasonably healthy for you, therefore  I've decided to post random recipes.

My fiance has the tastes of a five year old. He doesn't like healthy foods or vegetables, and his favorite meals include burgers, grilled cheese, and milkshakes. We used to live entirely on a diet of frozen lean pockets and lean cuisines, but in the past few months, we've decided to venture down the path to cooking, in hopes of eating healthier, especially since we have a wedding in... 270 days!

My goals... to find decently healthy, and EASY recipes that my fiance will eat, and I won't go crazy cooking since I lack talent in the kitchen department. 

So all these recipes are fiance tested and fiance approved.

The first recipe I'm going to post is EASY balsamic chicken, each piece of chicken has 170 calories.

Note: I DID NOT INVENT THIS RECIPE, I don't know where I found it, I literally transfer any recipes I like into a word document entitled: FOODS JUSTIN WILL EAT.  It was from a google search, but I don't know the exact website. 

These are the ingredients needed:

2-3 Skinless and Boneless Chicken Breasts

 [Note: I ONLY buy organic hormone free meat because when I got cancer, the doctor told me to stay away from hormones, and since a lot of meat is hormone-treated, I prefer to buy free range hormone free organic chicken and beef, this is a personal preference though]

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

[Note: I tend to buy organic EVOO, which is extra virgin olive oil, a lot of recipes call for EVOO, though I don't know what the difference between VOO and EVOO is.]

1 and 1/2 teaspoon Italian Spice 

[Note: You can probably use whatever spice you prefer... like oregano or basil, etc, I just use Italian since it mixes everything together]

2 garlic cloves minced

[Note: I just buy minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon is equivalent to 1 clove of garlic. I think it tastes better, and it's less effort than me mincing garlic myself. You can usually find it by the fruits/veggies in a  supermarket. I USE THIS IN EVERYTHING.]

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

cooking spray

[just to spray the pan before you stick it in the oven]

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, put vinegar, oil, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and paper, mix it until it all combines.

2. Put chicken in a Ziploc bag. Pour the vinegar mixture in bag with chicken, seal bag,and spread marinade all over the chicken.

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to Overnight.

[Note: I find that the longer you refrigerate it for, the stronger the taste it. I have refrigerated it for 30 minutes, 24 hours, and 8ish hours, and I thought the taste was better when it was refrigerated for the longer periods of time, although it is still good after 30 minutes, just the flavor is weaker.]

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the baking dish and pour the marinade all over the chicken. Cover the chicken [I usually don't cover it, I haven't had any issues]. Bake for 35-40 minutes [I tend to go for 40 since it's chicken].

5. Let sit for 5 minutes, and then serve it.

There you go... EASY TO BAKE, Balsamic chicken breast.  It's really delicious, and really simple to make. 

Enjoy.

And, whenever I cook, Gandalf the Gray watches me.

Ipsy: May 2013, Fresh Picks

Since I had been in the hospital and then hadn't been home for about two weeks because I wasn't allowed to climb stairs... and third story apartment, no elevator, made it pretty impossible to get home, I had no idea that my Ipsy bag had even been mailed. I didn't even know any of the spoilers, for once, since I hadn't even really been on facebook or social media, so when this turned up in my mailbox, I was pretty surprised.

Ajani was pretty curious about it too.

Ipsy is a ten dollar a month subscription bag service. They send a mixture of 4-5 products... hair products, skin care, makeup, perfume, etc, in a makeup bag every month, in both full-sizes and sample sizes. 

There's a waiting list to sign up for it, but I think you can skip some of the waiting if you connect Ipsy to your facebook account... at least that's what I did. 

Ipsy is one of two subscription boxes/bags that I decided to keep when I needed to cut down on spending money, when I went on FMLA for my surgery. 

Pacifica Mineral Eyeshadow Duo in Duo 1, estimated to be worth about... $3.00.

I can't really find any comparable prices on their website, there's not really a similar product, but it's a decent size, so I'll estimate it to be about three dollars. Pacifica's products are 100% Vegan and cruelty-free as well.

My picture doesn't do my swatches justice. The color on the right of the palette is a glittery bronze color with sparkle, and the paler color is a beautiful pinkish purple shimmer. They're both completely gorgeous colors and look NOTHING like they do in the container they came in. 

Just goes to show that you can't judge a makeup, by first glance.

I really like these colors, they're nude enough for every day wear, but glittery enough to make a statement. 

Eau Thermal Avene, Thermal Spring Water, worth $9.00,based on an internet search that showed me the same product in the same size for that price. A full-size is twice the size of this, and costs $18.00, so that $9.00 does seem accurate.

But... WHAT THE HELL IS THERMAL SPRING WATER?

These are the directions that came with the product. Apparently it has a lot of uses... makeup removal, after hair removal, razor burn, diaper rash, reducing facial redness, itching, after a surgical procedure, damaged skin, after exercise, during travel, and in summer, and I do like the special illustrations that came with my directions.

I sprayed some on my face, out of curiosity, and it was cooling and refreshing. So, this will probably be something that will go great after being outside in Texas sun during the summer and working up an awful sweat, just walking to and from my car... LOVE THAT 105 DEGREE HUMIDITY!!

Nailtini nailpolish in Bloody Mary, full-size, worth $13.00

I don't like really like bright red and slutty nailpolish, no offense to anyone, who does.  It's just not me, I prefer cooler colors as opposed to warmer colors. It's a very very bright red. I do love nailpolish though. I wish I had gotten one of the other colors offered this month because they're more "me", but then again, you never know when I might want a red nailpolish for some reason, so I am satisfied with this.

Hang-Ten Classic Sport Sunblock, SPF 50, let's estimate it at... $4.00? It's a decent sized sample, but not full-size, which retails at $13.00.

This will go to use. I don't use SPF that high, I have medium skin, and I really like to tan over the summer, but I do tend to use stronger SPF on my face [I'm partial to Coola cucumer scented facial sunscreen in SPF 30, which I got in a birchbox, last summer] just not SPF 50.

However, my fiance is very pale, and burns very easily, and requires a high SPF, so I will pass this on to him, and I'm sure it will be very useful when we take out summer pilgrimage down to New Braufels/San Antonio for Schlitterbahn and Tubing :) 

Pur-lisse hydra balance moisturizer, worth about $13.75. To get this price, I did math. I got about one fourth of the full-size product, and figured out what 25% of the full-size product, which is $55.00 would be. 

I'm slightly excited about this product. It claims it helps with anti-aging and redness, which are two things I like. I also like moisturizers because my face gets awful in Texas heat, and I like any product that makes me look younger than I am, although, most people say I really don't look my age anyways... BUT STILL. 

I plan to try this after my shower later today.

Sorin was watching me the entire time that I wrote this and unbagged my products.

And Gandalf was watching me from behind. 

My cats are so freaking curious whenever I get a subscription box. I should get them like a Cat subscription box. 

Anyhow, my total for Ipsy this month is: approximately $42.75

I paid ten smackers for this bag, and the value was $32.75 over my initial purchase. 

Ipsy always gives you great value for your money. 

I was very happy with this month's bag. I will actually use probably all the products in it... even that weird thermal water.

So... ten dollars, great value, generous samples, check Ipsy out.