Her March Birchbox

I am so glad that I could get myself together this week so I could post about my March Birchbox. (You can click here to see why it did not get posted last Thursday.) 

I was happy with this month's box - though I could care less about the "March Madness" connected theme (I find basketball so boring!!!). Here's what I received...

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Madewell for Birchbox Emery Board

Birchbox says: We teamed up with Madewell to create this adorable mani savior, patterned after a print from their spring collection.

Full size: $5

My review: Though I love a good emery board, I found the print to be old looking and I am not sure why it costs $5. It is in my purse now and I will use it when I need it.

Make Face Primer Broad Spectrum

Birchbox says: Pump up your makeup's endurance and protect skin with this two-in-one base and SPF.

Full-size: $30

My review: I used this product but I don't think I get it. What is a face primer supposed to do? If I am already using moisturizer then what changes should I see when I use this?

Nick Chavez Beverly Hills Color-Saver Sulfate-Free Shampoo and Paraben-Free Conditioner

Birchbox says: The Hollywood stylist devised this sulfate-free shampoo to enhance the vibrancy of your hue. It's loaded with yummy apple and lemon extracts that boost volume.

Made with a team of restorative peptides, this gentle conditioner sinks into each stand to boost shine and enhance your hair color.

Full-size: $22, $24

My review: I really, really liked everything about this shampoo and conditioner (except the smell, ick!). I wouldn't spend that much for a full-size but I will happily use the whole sample. 

Caldrea Body Lotion

Birchbox says: We adore these elegant body lotions, which come in three ethereal scents: Tea Olive Lime, Aloe Water Apricot, and Coconut Fig.

Full-size: $22

My review: I haven't used these yet so no review here. :)

Make Eyeshadow

Birchbox says: This new brand's pretty pigments have serious staying power, and we love that one-third of all sales are donated to charity.

Full-size: $18

My review: This color is a dark grey and I do not like wearing dark colored eye shadow. Maybe one day -- but not now.

Overall, I would give this month's Birchbox three out of five stars.

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How was your box this month? Did you love any of the products you received?

Happy Sampling,

His: Living in America Mar 27th

There are many things that I love about living in America. This week I will share 3 of them with you and the story that goes with each one.

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1: The super sized shake story: I was taken to a McDonalds for lunch on my first full day in America. Since I hadn't eaten anything besides airline food in over 24 hours I was starving. I was asked what size shake I would like and since I was thirsty I ordered the largest one they had. A few moments later I was passed this enormous drink container that ended up being 42oz/1.25 liters. It took about 2 hours to finish the shake. I was surprised that drinks at here were this big since a large drink in an Australian McDonald's was marginally bigger than a small drink here. I soon learned that big drinks were quite common in America and always asked how big each one was before ordering. The biggest soft drinks are found either at a movie theater or 7-11 and can be almost 2 liters.

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2: Drive up ATM's and pay at the pump for fuel: If I wanted to get cash from an ATM in Australia I would often have to drive downtown, find a parking space which was often half a block or more from the bank and then walk up to the ATM to withdraw cash. American banks often have their own car park/parking lot and have at least one drive up ATM. This might seem lazy but it does come in handy especially if it is dark or the weather is bad. Another great convenience is at the gas/petrol station where you can pay for your fuel at the pump. The last time I was in Australia I filled up the car and almost drove off without paying because they didn't have pay at the pump and I was so used to paying prior to fueling up. Thankfully I remembered right before driving off and went and paid before the police was called.

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3: 24 Hour Walmarts and other stores: If you get sick in the middle of the night and need a drug store in Australia you are often out of luck and will need to suffer until the chemist opens around 7am. In America most drug stores are open 24 hours a day and so are convenience stores like 7-11. Walmart is another store that is often open 24 hours a day so you can get just about anything you need at any time of day or night. I have a great Walmart story that I would like to share with you. I was first taken to Walmart a few days into my trip to America (with Amanda and one of her friends) and I quickly figured out that the store layout was exactly like Big W. (which is the store I worked at in Australia) Amanda's friend who was with us was looking for a certain item and asked Amanda if she knew where it was. I  replied by saying that it was in the next aisle, on the left about half way down and on the middle shelf. Sure enough it was exactly where I said it was and she was shocked that I knew exactly where it was as she knew I had never been to a Walmart before and had not been anywhere close to that aisle. She couldn't figure out how I knew and I decided to keep my little secret until later on as revealing it then would have spoiled the fun.

There are many more stories about things I love about America but that is for another day and another post. Is there something that you love about a place that you have traveled to?

Her Weigh-In (3/26/13)

Hello Tuesday - aka Weigh-In Day! Here's what happened this week...

Weigh-In: -0.4

I was careful and tracked six days. I watched what I ate and tried to make some good decisions. The only meal that went way over points was our anniversary dinner on Saturday (we went to The Melting Pot). I tried the Intermediate level of Wii Zumba and went to the gym. I tried really hard to not make excuses for why I can't do things. Instead I tried to focus on all the reasons I should eat well/work out and how it would benefit me in the long run.

Last Week's Goals:

~Make better choices on Saturday

     I did OK with breakfast and lunch. Dinner, as I said above was at The Melting Pot.

~Go to the gym at least three times

     I went to the gym once and then did a 40 minute Zumba class on the Wii.

Goals for the Week:
~Earn 15 Activity Points

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~Stay within my points

Recipes to Share:
I used to hate Chicken Cordon Bleu - probably because I hated swiss cheese. However, I have converted and Sean and I have several variations that we work into our menus every other week or so. This one is new to us but delish! It's from SkinnyTaste where everything is amazingly good. It is fairly simple to put together and isn't too many points for what you are getting. Try it, I know you will enjoy it! Click here for the recipe.


 

*fingers crossed for a good coming week*

His and Her GBU - Anniversary Edition

Happy Monday! Our 11th anniversary was this past weekend. Our GBU will be a little different this week as we recap how we celebrated our 11 years together.

Bad - Friday Night:
(Amanda) I have been coughing for the last ten days. I finally, after two pretty scary coughing fits, agreed to go to Patient's First (an Urgent Care facility). Two x-rays and a doctor's consult later, I left with a cough syrup, steroid, and antibiotic and a diagnosis of bronchitis. I have never had bronchitis before and I am not loving it now. Ugh!

Good - Saturday:
(Sean) I decided to take Amanda to The Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant - for dinner. I will let the pictures do the talking...

Cheese Fondue course to start (beer and cheddar cheese as the base)

Yum! Yum!

Amanda's favorite dipper for the cheese is the bread

2nd course - Caesar Salad

3rd course - Meats and veges cooked in a chicken broth

I decided to try duck for the first time

I liked it!

Cooking away!

4th course - Dessert with a special message from our server

4th course - Chocolate and caramel fondue with candied pecans

Ugly - Sunday:
(Amanda) I had every intention of cleaning the house from top to bottom on Sunday. I didn't have much school work to do so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Well, that was the plan. I took my cough syrup with codeine Saturday night and for some reason could not sleep. The medicine finally kicked in around 2:30 and I slept until 7:00. I felt like I was in a fog all day Sunday, as if the medicine did not wear off entirely. So my house is still ugly. :( Sean and I are going to make a schedule and clean one room a day this week. Here's our plan:

Monday - Bathrooms

Tuesday - Kitchen

Wednesday - Dining Room

Thursday - Living Room

Friday/Saturday - Dust, Vacuum, Mop Floors

How was your weekend? 

Happy Monday,

  

His and Her Sunday Social (3/24/13)

 

1. What is your favorite thing about Spring?
Amanda: I like the warmer weather and when the flowers bloom. Spring is so pretty!

Sean: I enjoy the warmer weather. I will go out into the cold during winter as I get cabin fever but it's nice not having to spend 10 minutes putting on 3 layers of clothing just to go outside.

2. Favorite kind of flowers to grow or receive?

A rose from one of our rose bushes

Amanda: I love our rose bushes in the backyard. When Sean sends me flowers I like getting the bouquets that have a lot of different flowers together.
Sean: I enjoy growing roses. We currently have 5 rose bushes in the back yard. They take some care to grow well but they look so wonderful when they are in full bloom.  

3. What is your favorite nail polish color?
Amanda: I usually stick with pink - pale pink, hot pink, anything pink.
Sean: No nail polish for me.

4. What is your favorite out door activity?
Amanda: I am not very outdoorsy. I like going to Busch Gardens (a local amusement park) in the Spring because it isn't too crowded or too hot.

My favorite view in the park!

Sean: It depends on the day but it would either be bicycling, running or disc golfing.

 
5. Do you have any fun Spring plans?
Amanda: In April, a bunch (about 10) of my friends and I are walking the Color Me Rad 5K. I cannot wait! It should be so much fun!!

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  Sean: I have my first half marathon in a few weeks so that is pretty exciting for me.

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 What are your favorite Spring time activities?

Happy Sunday,

Her Procrastinating Problem

So I thought I was going to have time to write a great post about my new Birchbox but then I remembered that I am giving a Civics test tomorrow and --- fun times! --- I haven't finished making it. Oops!! So I will leave you with this and will blog about my Birchbox later.

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I do tend to waste time on both sites and then wonder where all my "free" time goes. One day the procrastinating will stop *I hope*. 

TTFN,

His: Living in America: Mar 20, 2013

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      It has been many years since I graduated from high school and many of my teachers were grateful that they didn't have to deal with my antics anymore. Although I have not stepped foot on school property since, there is a night each year where all are welcome back to the school for a fun night of food, fun and entertainment. It is called International night and is one of the biggest fund raisers for the school each year.

    The main courtyard of the school (lovingly known as the quadrangle) is transformed one Friday night a year and is covered with hundreds of tables and chairs. The covered walkways around the edge of the courtyard are turned into makeshift food stalls selling traditional food from dozens of countries from around the world. Patrons buy meal tickets which can be exchanged for a meal at any of the food stalls. Many people buy several tickets so they can sample several different cuisines in one evening and share with family and friends. The school also has entertainment which includes the school bands so you aren't eating in silence.

    To reduce production costs the students are involved in creating some of the dishes and help serve and sell tickets. When I was a student in German class we spent a few days making black forest cherry cakes for sale at the event and we did a pretty good job at creating an authentic dessert. Students also assist in moving the hundreds of desks and chair from the classrooms to the courtyard before the event. I always liked to help as it got me out of my last class which usually was a class I didn't want to go to.

    International night was a good time to hang out with friends and try some different foods. As much as I would like to think it was an unique event, I am sure there are other schools somewhere that do something similar. If I happened to be in Tamworth when the event is on I would definitely go again . Sadly I don't have any photos of international night from when I was a student but I did find a youtube video online that gives a quick overview of the event. (Thanks to user petroidau for creating the video)

Did your school have an interesting fundraiser? If so please share with us.

Her Weighin (3/19/13)

Howdy Weigh-In Day! After not such a great week last week, I was hoping I could turn things around. Here is what happened...


Weigh-In: -3.1

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**That number completely shocked me! I don't know how I did it but I will happily take it. I am almost to a new middle number (in my three digit weight, a new number in the middle). I have been stuck for so long that I would be over the moon if I could reach a new number.**

What I did...

Right - I tracked 6/7 days. ---- My food choices were not terrible (with the exception of Saturday). ---- I had plenty of water. ---- I earned 4 APs this week.

Wrong - Saturday was my horrible day again. *sigh* ---- I went over points - again! ---- I didn't track on Saturday because I knew it was going to be so bad. ---- None of my APs were earned at the gym or by doing Zumba on the Wii.

Goals for the Week:
~Make better choices on Saturday
~Go to the gym at least three times

Recipes to Share:
In true Southern girl form, I love Chicken & Dumplings. Yum! Yum!! Yum!!! It can be very damaging to my points though. That's why I was so excited when I found this recipe from Polish the Stars. It is very easy and very delicious. It tastes a little more like chicken and biscuits (because the dumplings are biscuits) but I don't care. When I was feeling crummy on Sunday night, this totally hit the spot. Click here to check out the recipe.

*fingers crossed for a good coming week*

 

His and Her GBU (3/18/13)

Well hello Monday! Neither of us were happy about the weekend ending, but at least we can look forward to the GBU link up with Kate and Kati. Here goes...

Good:
Amanda - Sean and I went out Saturday night with two friends to see Oz: The Great and Powerful. What a great movie!!! I absolutely loved it and we had so much fun with our friends. All-in-all a perfect Saturday evening!

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Bad:
Sean: The weekend went by so quickly!!! We had errands to run Saturday, then hanging out with our mates for dinner and the movie. Sunday was platelets donation at the Red Cross, then grocery shopping and cooking. By the time I got everything done yesterday I was way too exhausted to play disc golf and ended up taking two naps. I am grateful to have weekends off but they seem to fly by so quickly!

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Ugly:
Amanda - I have been dealing with a horrible cough for a few days now. Sunday morning a few more symptoms joined the party and by Sunday evening, I was feeling really icky. The fever that started at around 6:30 was the final icing on the cake though. With state testing this week...

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How was your weekend?

Happy Monday,

His and Her Sunday Social (3/17/13)

Happy St. Patrick's Day. In honor of this holiday, we are going to use green font as opposed to the normal blue, red, and purple. 

This Weeks Questions:

1. Favorite thing to do on a rainy day

Amanda - Watch shows on my DVR, read, knit, chill out and relax!!

Sean - Either watch some movies/TV shows on Netflix or go to Glazenfyre and paint pottery.

2. Favorite thing to do on a Summer weekend?

Amanda - Hang out with Sean. During the summers I am home during the day and he is at work so I miss him. We will go to Busch Gardens or Water Country, maybe to the park, anything where we can hang out together is good with me.

Sean - If it's not blistering hot I like to be outside whether it is cycling, disc golfing, running, traveling or going to the theme park or water park.

3. Favorite Spring accessory? 

Amanda - I don't really have a fave spring accessory. 

Sean -Not having to wear accessories like earmuffs, gloves, thermals during spring is what I enjoy most.

4. Favorite way to spend a Winter day? 

Amanda - This is basically the same list as the rainy day. Add playing in the snow if we have been lucky enough to get any.

Sean - Playing disc golf or going for a run if it's not below freezing or too windy. If it's too cold or wet just relaxing at home with hot chocolate is good.

 

5. What is your favorite season and why? 

Amanda - Fall: I love when the leaves change and the weather gets chiller so I can wear my sweaters and scarves. Plus I love Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Sean - Summer. It may get hot but there are no allergies (like spring and fall give me) and I don't have to wear 3 layers of clothes to go outside. Plus I enjoy the warmer weather.

6. Best birthday you ever had? 
Amanda - All of my birthdays have been fun but I think my 21st birthday would be the best. I was with good friends and it was the first birthday I spent with Sean.

Sean - I'm not a big birthday person so no one birthday stands out. It would be probably be my 23rd birthday which was the first one I was able to spend with Amanda.

We hope you are enjoying your St. Patrick's Day! Do you have any special, green plans for today?

Stay Green!

His: Living in America: Mar 13, 2013

One of the things I miss about Australia is all of the food that I can't get in America. A lot of traditional Australian meals are very similar to British fare but Aussies also have plenty of foods that are not widely available elsewhere. These are foods that I remember being able to grab in any supermarket as a child but not anymore since moving to America. Some foods I have been able to create myself like the Meat Pie and Sausage Rolls but there any many foods that I have not been able to recreate. These are just some of the foods that I can't get in America and miss dearly

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Red Rooster Roll: This is probably the food I miss the most. Red Rooster rolls are a delicious roll filled with a herb stuffing and pulled roasted chicken. I don't know exactly what I love about it so much. I have tried to recreate it using American ingredients but have not been able to figure out how to recreate the herb stuffing. I already plan to swing into a Red Rooster store the first day I am in Australia again and get myself a Red Rooster Roll. Yes they are that good!

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 Chiko Roll: They kinda look like an egg roll but taste a whole lot better. They are an Australian staple at many cafes and sporting events as they are easy to eat without utensils. They have a thick coating that is filled with vegetables and lamb. Its hard to describe the taste, especially since its been over 6 years since I had one but its kind of like an egg roll with less cabbage, more vegetables like celery and carrots and plenty of delicious lamb. I recently found a recipe for them online and plan to try it soon. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

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Chicken Flavoured Chips: Chicken flavoured potato chips have been an Australian favourite for years and something I miss a lot. It is one of the most popular flavours for many years and it is a big surprise to my Aussie mates when I tell them that there are no chicken flavoured chips in America. Recently I did get a little excited when I heard that Lays came out with a "Chicken and Waffles" flavour in the USA but so far none of the stores in my area have had them in stock. Hopefully I will able to get a bag sometime soon and give you a review and compare them to the Australia chicken flavoured chip.



There are many other foods that I miss but I will save them for future blog posts. What is one food that you would miss if you were unable to get it for several years?