Sally Hansen Salon Effects Review

I recently received another VoxBox from Influenster and I was thrilled to see that it included a package of Salon Effects from Sally Hansen. As a self described nail polishaholic I have used the product in the past, but now I get to share it with you!

The strips are super easy to apply. They come with a very handy instruction sheet that outlines the steps and includes pictures. It took me about half an hour, and I am definitely a perfectionist. The strips are made out of actual nail polish, but are immediately dry. I still use a top coat, but that's just personal preference, it's not necessary.

Since I keep my nails short I am able to get two applications out of each package. I am able to open just one blister pack for each full manicure, and I am able to cut the strips in half so that I can do both hands with one blister pack. The other blister pack stays nice and fresh for whenever I choose to use it. The last time I used Salon Effects the polish stayed on my nails and unchipped for 5 days. I was amazed!

 I received this product complimentary for testing and review purposes from Influenster

NYC New York Color Review

I recently received my first VoxBox from Influenster. Included was a full sized sample of NYC New York Color LIQUIDLipshine #582 Nude York Shine.

This is a shimmery nude with teeny tiny speckles of silver and peach sparkle. 

The gloss applies with a straight fuzzy applicator. Pretty much your standard lipgloss applicator.

None of the color really shows when applied, but that's fine by me since I am more of a clear sparkly lipgloss kind of gal. This one does not disappoint. The amount of shimmer that applies is subtle enough to be work appropriate.

This is a slightly sticky gloss, but nowhere near the stickiness of my current everyday gloss by Victoria's Secret. No residue was left on my coffee mug with the NYC LIQUIDLipshine and that is a major drawback of the stickier glosses.

The scent is a generic, undeterminable sweet scent and there is no flavor. 

The official statement from NYC New York Color:

"A beauty-editor favorite is Liquid Lipshine ($2.49). It has pure pigments that created a 3-D gloss effect. Vitamin E provides shine and a moisturizing feel. The formula is non-sticky, super shiny & soft. Available in 10 on-trend shades from neutral nudes, to berries & fuchsias. Start shopping for NYC at these stores nearest you: Walmart, Target, Rite Aid, CVS, Family Dollar, Duane Reade, Kmart, HEB, and others.  Visit newyorkcolor.com to check out all shades and fun products from New York Color!"

*This product was provided to me, complimentary, for review through Influenster's VoxBox program*

Fall TV, So Far- Thursday Nights

We are a couple of weeks into the Fall TV season and I think I am ready to weigh in on it.

So far we are managing with Hulu Plus and appointment TV. I have not been able to catch Pan Am yet, it's on Hulu Plus but only available via computer. Community is the same, but I have been making a point to sit down and watch that on Thursday nights. In fact, last night we rushed home from running some errands so we could catch Community. That never would have happened when we had the DVR, and I would have preferred to take my time and not get my sandwich to go last night.

Let's start with Thursday nights, we stick with NBC:

Community has been good so far this season, not great but I am sure it will pick up the pace as the season progresses. I, along with so many others on the internet, was thrilled when the show referenced it's version of Doctor Who, Inspector Space Time. It was inevitable that a show that is so aware of pop culture would dip a toe into the Whoniverse, and I was impressed with the way they did it. What better show to fill the gap in Abed's world then one that has 782 + episodes and 32 seasons? The internet has run with the concept of Inspector Space Time and has begun to create cannon for the series. For those not familiar with epic fandoms such as Doctor Who or Harry Potter I direct you to the Wikipedia.org entry for canon.

Parks and Recreation had been one of the shows that I have always "watched" but while doing something else. This season I am putting distractions aside and actually paying attention. What I have watched so far, I have enjoyed. I love Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope and I am willing to forgive Adam Scott for leaving Party Down for his role as Ben Wyatt. I can't wait to watch Leslie's campaign for city council.

I watch The Office, but I have never been a super fan. That said, I do not like James Spader's character Robert California. I think the build up to who would be the new boss was such a waste of time when they pull a switcheroo like they did, why even bother? I don't read any internet commentary about The Office, but even I could tell you that one of the current cast members was going to ultimately end up being the boss. I am enjoying Andy Bernard in the role, but the first few episode have bored me. I think blaming that on the lack of Steve Carrell is a cop out, most of my favorite story lines in past haven't even included Michael Scott. Where are those great secondary story lines this season?

I tweeted the other night that I was going to boycott Whitney because I was annoyed by the commercials from over the summer. I did eventually watch the first episode on Hulu and I think my earlier assessment was correct. I was not impressed. Whitney annoys me. The characters are too one dimensional. I gave it two episodes and I am out, which obviously means this show will continue for ten seasons.

That took longer than I expected, so I will continue my reviews of the non-Thursday night shows in another post. I promise I will begin to be more positive!

Is This Crafty?

I am not really a crafty person, but I do like to do crafts on occasion. Most of what I do is imperfect, that's the kind of non-crafter I am.

Kevbo recently started reading A Song of Ice and Fire and has been using my Kindle to do so. We have  talked about getting another Kindle for awhile, and I decided that since that series was going to be a fairly epic undertaking now was the time.

I didn't really want to shell out the money for a cover for this new Kindle right away, so I decided to see if I could make one myself. As with most good ideas, wine was involved.

My supplies included:

One Glass of Merlot
2 Sheets of Felt, one sheet for the outer layer, and one for the inner. I used grey for the outer and purple for the inner.
Embroidery Floss

The ribbon and black felt are for another project I worked on and will probably
post a tutorial for in the future.

Start by hacking a good sized chunk of cardboard out of the box from your dishwasher, which has been conveniently waiting for a year on your front porch to be put to some use. This should probably happen prior to opening the bottle of wine.

Measure your Kindle and cut two pieces from the cardboard of the approximate size. Use the only ruler in your house, a souvenir from Seabreeze Amusement Park that your husband got sometime around 1987.

 

Cut the outer layer of felt into two pieces, you will want it to be slightly larger than your piece of cardboard. You can just eyeball it, as you can see this felt piece was the perfect size and only needed to be cut in half.

 

Do the same with the inner piece of felt.

 

Sandwich the pieces of felt and cardboard. 

 

The order should go: outer layer, cardboard, inner layer, inner layer, cardboard, outer layer.

 

Use the embroidery floss to "anchor" the cardboard where you want it to sit within the felt. Four anchors total: top, bottom and each side. 

 

Try to take a picture of your complicated anchoring process and fail to keep your giant head out of the shot.

 

Use whatever stitch you feel comfortable with to close up the bottom and two sides stopping about  two inches from the top. I think this might be called a pillow stitch, but I can't find any reference to it online to give a better explanation of it.

 

Forget to see if your Kindle actually fits into your case and check when you are about half way through stitching.

 

When you get to the top, continue your stitches going through only two layers of felt. This is your opening.

 

When you have stitched all the way around pull out your anchor stitches.

Admire your handi-work, and it cost less than $3, spend the money saved on more wine for future crafting sessions.

Fall 2011 TV Schedule

The Fall TV season is just days away, can you feel the excitement? I love the anticipation of a whole new season of shows; the optimism of how great everything is going to be before any of it actually disappoints you.

Here is what I plan on watching:

Tuesday 9/13

• 9pm, CW- Ringer

This is going to be one of those shows that I will watch because nothing else is on at the same time. I like Sarah Michelle Gellar (or is it Prinze, didn't she officially change her name recently?) but, the premise really doesn't intrigue me. Since other shows I want to see are in the same time slot later on in the season I am only giving this one a single episode to reel me in.

Wednesday 9/14

• 10pm, NBC- Up All Night

Another show that I will watch because it has no competition at the moment. I am not sure I will enjoy Will Arnett as anything but a douche but I love Maya Rudolph so I will give it a try.

Monday 9/19

• 8pm, CBS- How I Met Your Mother
• 9:30, CBS- 2 Broke Girls
• 10pm, ???- CONFLICT!

This night is going to be the true test of life after DVR. In the past I have watched/DVRd Castle and Hawaii 5-0, both at 10pm, plus I really want to see The Playboy Club. I am hoping that The Playboy Club and Castle end up on Hulu Plus, and I will watch Hawaii 5-0 live. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Tuesday 9/20

• 8pm, Fox- Glee
• 9pm, Fox- New Girl
• 10pm, ABC- Body of Proof

I am so excited about New Girl, I love Zooey Deschanel.  I started watching Body of Proof over the summer while in reruns and have really enjoyed it thus far so I am throwing it on my schedule for the fall.

Wednesday 9/21

• 8pm, ABC- The Middle
• 9pm, ABC- Modern Family
• 10pm, ABC- Revenge

I am looking forward to this night, I love The Middle and Modern Family. The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all time favorite stories, and Revenge's take on the archetype really piques my interest.

Thursday 9/22

• 8pm, NBC- Community
• 8:30pm, NBC- Parks and Recreation
• 9pm, NBC- The Office

The first casualty of the Fall 2011 TV season for me is going to be The Big Bang Theory. CBS doesn't contribute to Hulu Plus and I much prefer Community, so I am going to have to give up on Sheldon, Penny and the rest. I'll have to wait for reruns. 

Sunday 9/25

• 10pm, ABC- Pan Am

Another Mad Men knockoff, along with The Playboy Club, but what can I say? I am a sucker for these retro dramas and I am hoping good things for this one.

Monday 9/26

• 8pm, Fox- Terra Nova

Please Fox, put this on Hulu Plus. I don't want to skip How I Met Your Mother for it, but I really think this show is going to be entertaining.

In putting this together I am really beginning to miss having the DVR. I liked that we weren't slaves to our TV and could watch our favorite shows when it suited us. Since this will be our first "live" season with Hulu Plus, I am really hoping that it surprises me with content. 

30 Minutes or Less

We actually went to see this movie last Wednesday, but I have been putting off reviewing it for a week now. I considered going back and seeing it again since my reaction to it was so drastically different from Kevbo's.

Jesse Eisenberg stars as Nick, a pizza delivery boy who lives with his best friend Chet, played by Aziz Ansari. Nick is secretly in love with Chet's twin sister Katie, Greek's Dilshad Vadsaria. Danny McBride is Dwayne, an unemployed man child who still lives at home and dreams of opening his own tanning salon/brothel with his best friend Travis, please go back to stand up Nick Swardson.

The plot revolves around Dwayne planning to have his father murdered so he can inherit what remains of his lottery winnings. He needs $100,000 for the hit and in order to avoid being implicated in his father's murder Dwayne comes up with the plan to strap a bomb to some other loser and force them to come up with the money. That other loser is Nick the pizza delivery boy. Hilarity ensues. Actually, hilarity ensues if you are Kevbo, to me the comedy seemed forced and just plain not funny.  I did not believe Jesse Eisenberg as the down on his luck pizza delivery boy and I was annoyed by Aziz Ansari as the sidekick. Danny McBride and Nick Swardson were equally unfunny.

I really wanted to love this movie, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for it. I can't recommend that anyone pays money to see this in a theater but, I certainly plan on having a few beers and watching it again at some point in the future. There is nothing wrong with a movie being more watchable while drinking. I just wish more theaters offered alcohol.

Mission Icefly Part 2

If you followed my previous post about Mission Icefly then you will be interested to learn I received another package from the Human Preservation Project today:

I chose the wrong camera app on my phone for these
photos, please forgive the border.

This one included a pack of 5 Gum, Swerve flavor. It's described as "a tangy to sweet tropical" on the package. A tangy to sweet tropical what, I do not know. Also included was a "Test Subject" ID badge, and a slip of paper with the Icefly logo and the message "When the senses are properly aligned, they act as a beacon to new ideas, new discoveries and new experiences. A NEW PATH AWAITS".

The ID badge has a QR code on the back but, it does not appear to be a complete QR code as my QR reader does not recognize it.

I haven't been keeping up with this, so I don't know where things stand at the moment. I am planning on checking out some of the message boards I followed in my previous post to see what the people there have figured out.

So, what do you think? Is this just an incredibly elaborate promotion by Wrigley for a new flavor of 5 gum? Or are they just part of something larger?