On the Agenda and Other News
The weather outside this morning is not cool. . . not cool at all! Here’s the view from my window– rain-soaked streets and forty degree temperatures on Memorial Day weekend? What a bummer!
Well, I am glad that despite the weather, I have a fun-filled weekend ahead that’s a perfect mix of downtime and fun with friends. Today, I have one of my best friend’s wedding shower to attend and I can’t wait. This chica (a coworker of mine) has been with me through thick and thin– I can’t count the number of times I have come into work with something on my mind and cried to her before homeroom starts! She always manages to make me feel better in our pre-class therapy sessions every morning and without her, my job would be a lot less fun!
Then, my husband and I have a BBQ to visit down in the southern part of RI, in Narragansett, near the beaches. While it will most likely be an indoor party, I am excited to see more friends and be near the water! My husband and I then have plans to fo to a new-to-us restaurant, Trio, that we have heard about for years but never had an excuse to go to since it’s on the other side of the state and we’re hardly down there. So, in other words, considering the shower, BBQ and my dinner plans, today will be an epic day in eating!
House-hunting update: We put another offer on a house and didn’t get it. . . that makes us 0 for 3. We have very specific house needs in a very specific neighborhood, which makes our search incredibly difficult. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be!
I have what I think is eighteen more school days left! I am so ready for summer and I am so hopeful that once school is over, I will be given the OK to slowly get back into running again. Fingers crossed.
This is Brown University’s graduation weekend, which means I am surrounded by graduation festivities where I live. It’s so exciting to see Providence so alive, but come Monday, our neighborhood will officially be dead. . . that is until the summer school students come in. . . I hear that Ben Affleck will be in town to receive an honorary degree.
(Source)
Happy Memorial Day weekend friends! Have a good one!
How’s the weather where you are? Any fun weekend plans?
It’s Been A While (Since I’ve Adventure Shopped!)
In case you don’t know, I love “adventure shopping.” Well, you probably don’t quite know what I mean by that, but basically, my version of “adventure shopping” is going to a place like Marshall’s, Home Goods, or TJ Maxx to see what sort of random foodie finds I can discover lurking on their shelves. I have found that places like these seem to always have the coolest raw, vegan and/or gluten-free snacks that I have seen on websites like Vegan Essentials for a lot more dough than these stores sell them for. I haven’t gone adventure shopping in a long time, so when I had an hour or so to kill Thursday afternoon, I decided to hit up a Homegoods/TJ Maxx combo store to see what they had by way of fun food. Admittedly, the selection this time around was incredible, and I went home with a ton of awesome purchases! Here’s what I picked up:
First, I spotted this Earthling Organics raw granola that I actually have purchased before online. Of course, it was still pricey, but it was four dollars less than what I paid for it before!
I also picked up five boxes of these Brad’s raw, vegan kale chips! These are small, single-serve sized packages which are great for bringing to work. I bought three flavors: Naked, Pina-kale-ada, and Vampire Killer. I was so happy to have found these since these kale chips taste awesome and are way more expensive at Whole Foods.
I purchased this mix of sprouted, seasoned sunflower and pumpkin seeds as well as these pumpkin chips (ingredients being pumpkin, rice bran oil, and sea salt only!).
I have bought these Next Organics chocolate-covered nuts before but again, for at least a few dollars more per bag. I can’t wait to eat these for dessert!
This bag of dark chocolate cashew crunch practically leaped into my basket. I adore cashews, so finding chocolatey cashew clusters that are vegan and gluten-free was sort of an amazing score!
This small bag of organic dried mango looked good. . .
as did this granola! I just finished a bag of Oats granola a week or so ago, which I bought from Whole Foods for at least three or four dollars more. I thought this was definitely the best deal of the day, as it was only three bucks!
I think I did pretty good, don’t you? In fact, I plan on going to another Home Goods soon so I can see if there’s any other vegan and gluten-free foodie steals!
Do you “adventure shop?” If so, where?
April and May Ipsy Bags
There was a slightly annoying glitch with my Ipsy subscription in April. I received an email last month from Ipsy encouraging me to renew my subscription– the kicker was I in fact never stopped my subscription! So, I emailed Ipsy’s customer service and basically, through a few exchanges, we figured out that Ipsy accidentally stopped my subscription. They gladly reinstated it, and sent my May bag to me in April, along with my April bag. That’s why today, you get two for the *post* of one!
April’s bag actually came without any of the cards that describe the products inside, probably because it was sent late as a replacement.
I received a pink nail polish a la Sation for Ipsy. I always enjoy getting full-sized nail polishes in my boxes since nail polish is one beauty ritual I do indulge in!
Eyeshadow also made its way in my bag. . .
and a full-sized blush did too! I am stoked about the blush because it too is something I incorporate into my beauty routine pretty easily.
I love me some nourishing hair product (probably the type of beauty product I use the most!), so I was happy with this Big Sexy Hair leave-in treatment.
May’s Ipsy bag is adorable!
The theme of May’s bag is Spring Fling, which is quite appropriate too.
I got some more eyeshadow– the Urban Decay moondust is limited edition and very sparkly!
More hair treatments for me!
Juice Beauty lip gloss. . . it smelled amazing.
And the best thing out of both bags? This roll-on vanilla perfume! Vanilla is such a “me” smell, and I don’t leave the house without some sort of fragrance on me.
One more nail polish was presented to me — this time in a nice golden yellow color.
As always, Ipsy impressed, both with the products I received but also with their customer service. I was worried the whole dropped subscription thing would be a debacle, but they sorted out the whole situation quite easily!
Do you paint your own nails, or do you rely on the professionals to take care of them? Or are you a minimalist who avoids color on your nails entirely? I definitely fall in all three categories!
Scenes From Six Miles
My husband and I tend to take the same route through Providence when we go on our six-mile walks outside. This past Sunday, in efforts to make the walk more of an adventure, we agreed that as we strolled, we would be on the lookout for those little moments of magic and wonder or just plain bizzare-ness that we tend to just overlook on our walks. Armed with his phone camera, we decided to document the strange, unusual or just plain quirky sights we came across on Sunday’s six-miler!
First up, we saw what is perhaps the coolest tree house I have ever seen in person!
Obama said hello to us on our walk. . .
We didn’t put any art there, but at least it was an option!
Who knew there was an observatory minutes away from our home!
A happy hitching post (or at least I think that’s what it is!). . .
And lastly, a tree that watches over us!
We have decided we are going to explore new neighborhoods on our walks with the mission of finding some more oddities. You should try it– it makes walks so much more interesting!
What strange things have you noticed when you have been out and about?
April Vegan Cuts Box and a 22 Days Bar Review
Last month’s Vegan Cuts box arrived towards the end of April, which is just one of the reasons this post is kinda late! I actually didn’t get around to opening it until last week– for some reason, I let the box sit on my table untouched for a good week or two. I finally busted into it, and I have to say, it was a really great box full of vegan goodies.
Nothing wrong with a little Christmas in April. . .
The first item I pulled out was this bag of Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato chips. I already know I love these, as I have purchased these a few times before.
I am excited to try this all-natural bag of Skinny Pop, which is really nothing more than just plain old popcorn.
The most interesting food in the box is this Teese cheddar cheese (vegan of course). It’s full sized, and basically, you just slice and eat!
This 22 Days vegan protein bar peaked my interest immediately (in fact, I ate it right away!).
How cute is this little jar of vegan bruschetta topping?
Just as cute is this little bag of Oloves olives! Olives on the go is a great snack idea.
I’m definitely excited to try this Tee-cino herbal coffee bag. I’ve always been interested in trying natural coffee alternatives.
A 22 days protein powder pack also was included.
And a little lip balm for a non-edible treat. . .
You all know I love my vegan parm, so this cutie little sample of Parmela vegan parm definitely appealed to me.
The box also included a coupon for Beyond Meat products, which I have seen at my local Whole Foods.
The full round-up:
The 22 Days protein bar was my first victim. I obviously loved how it was vegan and gluten-free, but what I really liked about it was the fact the 20 grams of protein in the bar came from brown rice.
The ingredients were pretty good, although it was fairly high in sugar.
As far as texture, it was like a soft larabar. I tried the peanut butter chocolate chip flavor, and overall it was pretty good! I thought it was a little too soft and would have liked a firmer texture, but otherwise, the bar tasted great. Also, it was a nice size and served as a perfect lunch replacement on a day when my stomach was acting up and “real food” wasn’t appealing to me.
I would definitely buy the bar again, although I probably wouldn’t eat them too often since I usually like to eat bars for snacks (not meals) and a nearly 300 calorie bar is a little too much for me to have as a snack. Still, a 20 gram of protein vegan bar is much appreciated, especially because it’s not full of junky ingredients.
What’s your favorite protein bar?
