Way Overdue Product Review

Once again, I've had time off from work, and yet, I've blogged about 0 times.  Not sure how it always works out that way.  I still have a lot to catch you up on from the summer and school starts tomorrow!  But first, I need to tell you about some products I've been using thanks to Influenster and the Summer VoxBox.  If you haven't already checked out this program, it's definitely worth doing.  Essentially, you sign up and answer some fun quick questionnaires about yourself to earn badges.  Then you wait.  I signed up several months ago and honestly forgot about it and then started receiving emails at the beginning of the summer saying that I'd qualified to receive a box!  You get a box of new products in the mail to try and review.  No cost, which of course, is a biggie for me :)  So without further ado...

Behold, the box.

First up is Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration sunscreen, spf 30.  This is my little pool companion and I give it 4 out of 5 stars!  The smell is amazing...a little beachy, a little citrusy, yum.  It's a great quality sunscreen so it doesn't leave you slimy and sticky.  And the stripes you see on the bottle?  Those are hydrating ribbons in the sunscreen and it's exactly what the product itself looks like when you use it.  My skin felt amazing after using this and it protected my skin very well.  The only thing I'm not crazy about is that I typically prefer spray-on sunscreens for the ease and convenience.  And hey, when I'm sitting by the pool by myself, I can't rub lotion into my own back!  But if you're ok with lotion, this is definitely a product to pick up!

Next up is the Nails & Cuticles Hand Cream from Sally Hansen.  This is a fantastic hand cream.  Again, no sticky slimy residue, but great hydration for my dishwashing, cooking, gardening hands.  I found this to be a lot better than those twisty cuticle pen things that I always make a mess with.  5 out of 5 stars for sure.

Oh man.  This is so good.  Banana Nut Bread Soft Baked Bar from Quaker.  This little guy has 6 grams of protein!  Hollerrrrrr!  Will definitely buy more of these for "treats" when I need the extra protein boost.  The package boasts that these are great warmed up, and I'm sure they would be.  I ate mine in an emergency hypoglycemic moment, and it was still great without microwaving.  Truly delicious, and totally without the typical cardboard-protein taste.  WIN!  6 out of 5 stars!

Now...Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Nail Effects.  This is the most awesome thing I've seen in a while, to be quite honest.  I was lucky enough to get this deep blue color with black effects.  LOVE! So here's the deal...you take off the cap (which is the magnet) and open the bottle, paint one coat on your nails and let dry.  Then you paint one nail at a time with a thick second coat (it has to be pretty thick to work).  Hold the magnet right over the nail (just above so not touching) for about 20 seconds.  (The bottle says 10 seconds, but I found that 20 is much much cooler!)  When you life the magnet, you'll find the coolest wavy 3d design.  

 This pic was taken after using the magnet for only 10 seconds...

This one after 20 seconds... This product was so so fun to play around with.  Will definitely try this again.  The colors in the store so far are all darker, fall tones.  I'd love to check out the purple!  6 out of 5 stars!

And finally, in the cute little pink pouch on the windowsill of my ugly under-construction bathroom, are my Radiant collection feminine products.  The pouch is great, fits a lot of products, and is perfect for my desk drawer at work.  The products themselves are packaged well, great-quality, and high-performance.  I've already purchased a few boxes in store.  5 out of 5 stars! So my first VoxBox experience with Influenster was very positive.  I really hope I qualify again for a box...so fun!

Goodwill Finds

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Yesterday I scored these finds at Goodwill...seriously, Coach at Goodwill for $8!  The Target dress has the funnest little triangle cutout design on the neckline.  It's very difficult to see here in the picture, but I love it.  Been wanting to try this trend in a way that isn't trashy or that shows uber amounts of skin.  This is perfect.  May just wear it to a wedding next weekend!  

Ying-yang

You have my heart forever...  

    Paula Deen and your Zucchini Bread Recipe...it's the perfect blend of cinnamon and nutmeg and will be forever my choice for making about a bajillion loaves at a time for the freezer.       Curses upon you...

Bambi and your evil desire to sit upon my zucchini plants (no more Paula Deen this summer for muah) and eat my cucumber vines.  Could you not have made a better choice and at least eaten something tastier?  I promise there are better options in that garden.  Oh, and thanks for the random jalapenos sprinkled around the garden with teeth marks in them.  I kinda hope you had some serious heartburn this morning.

Thrifting Exchange!

So on a whim, I decided to join up with this chick over here for a thrifty gift exchange.  I mean, not like I need another excuse to go thrifting, but hey, why not?       I got matched up with Whitney, who blogs over here at Rooted in His Grace.  She's fun, and she's puuuuuurdy.

See?   I totally just stole that picture from her.  Hope that's ok?? So I stalked her on her blog for a little bit, discovered that she's a thrifting expert, friends, for real.  She's crafty, artsy, and very stylish.  She also happens to be studying special ed in college, and of course you know that bonded us right away. So I skipped off to the thrift store to hunt down a cute new outfit for her fall semester that I think will look so cute with her cowgirl boots.  :) And then....

This came!

Beautiful earrings!  Remind me of sea glass, and will totally go with just about every clothing item I own.  Sweet!

Fun distressed painted block of wood that will look awesome on my bedside table next to a pic of my hubby and I...

and this!  It's a homemade earring holder.  Loved this post on Whitney's blog where she did a diy for this project... and let's also just throw in a shameless plug for her new Etsy shop where she sells these one-of-a-kind pretties!   Can't wait to set up my haul and show you! Thanks, Whitney!  and thanks for awesome exchange, Carina!

Deep Fried Coke Balls

First of all, no, I am not dead.
I sorta slipped off the face of the blogging earth for a while there...you know how life just gets crazy sometimes?  This silly little online grad class is sucking up all my online time with its meaningless frivolity.  Oh well.
I have lots to catch you up on, but let's start with something super outdated, ok?
This is going back a few weeks now, but my good friend and I decided to try something she scoped out on Pinterest...deep fried coke.
Observe.

Whip up some batter with coca-cola as the base.  Kinda like a coke-flavored funnel cake batter.

Heat up some oil in the deep fryer.  What, you don't have one of these?  Shame on you!  Some oil in a deep skillet will work, too.

Drop the batter in the hot oil...I kinda used a big spoon and drizzled it around in circles.  Let 'er rip....er...fry.

When the chunks are golden-brown, let them sit on a paper towel for a little bit and then transfer to your serving dish.  We took this delicious goodness, poured more coke over the top, dusted with powdered sugar, and topped with cool whip!
Verdict...probably not MORE amazing than a funnel cake, really, but interesting and easy to make.  If we did it again, we decided we'd need to find coke concentrate to give it more of a kick. We also may have gotten a little fry-happy and started deep frying whatever we could find...hunks of marshmallow, cookies...
What have you deep-fried lately?

Come find me...

In the haze of not sleeping for 30 hours, plus the fact that hospital wi-fi doesn't permit access to blogs, I totally blanked on telling you that I was over here yesterday sharing a freezer-friendly recipe that will feed a crowd.
My first guest post EVA'.  Thanks, Sarah, for letting me hijack your blog while you care for your sweet little babe.

Currently

Currently...
Wearing: hubby's vintage Sixers tshirt and American eagle sweatpants from high school

Reading: the Pioneer Woman's love story. Seriously one of the best romances I have ever read in my life. Really.

Savoring: every taste of dinner out at bonefish with the man. Bang bang shrimp, margarita with a shot of blood orange, scallops with mango salsa... And sitting across the table on a date with my hubby!

Thinking: about my new love-baby girl tucked into the nursery in the maternity ward, snug as a bug. All 10 pounds of her. Can't wait to see her again!

Beginning: to completely conk out. It's been a long 28 hours since I sped to the hospital, a long night trying to doze in a wooden chair in the labor room.

Baby post soon.
Goodnight.