blog

Hungryroot Review- Gluten Free

One of my resolutions was to eat healthier for the New Year. I wanted to get a jump start on that by stocking our fridge with all the right things.

For months now I’d heard of the brand Hungryroot, and was interested to try their products. I absolutely love that their products are all gluten free!! And one thing I enjoyed more than that, is reading the “about me” section on their website. I really admire the chef that founded the company, especially because I have so many challenges with food myself.

I finally decided to give it a go, and ordered about 5 different products. We decided to try out two of them – the sweet potato mac with creamy cashew cheese, and the almond chickpea cookie dough (healthy snack foods count for something, right?!).

FullSizeRender 97.jpg

The sweet potato mac with cashew cheese was interesting. I liked it, and would definitely try it again. But the consistency of the cheese will take me some time to get used to. Nick loved it though! We both thought it was quite filling.

FullSizeRender 94.jpg

 

The cookies however, were fantastic. Because there is no dairy, eating the “raw” dough is totally ok. And delicious. But when I baked them, they were even better. Again, the consistency was weird at first, but they smell and taste like “regular” cookies, so it wasn’t a far leap.

FullSizeRender 95.jpg

FullSizeRender 98.jpg

 

We still have the black bean brownie batter, sweet potato noodles, and beet noodles to go – and I’m SO excited!

* I paid for all of this food with my own money – and loved it so much I wanted to give it a review!*

Advertisement

Moving…

So much has gone on this year, it is certainly one of change. A few months back my boyfriend and I made a really big purchase… we bought a condo. We looked only looked at two places, and fell in love with the first one. We hadn’t even been planning to buy anything for at least 6 more months, but we couldn’t pass this up.

Moving has been the slowest process for us. We had a long wait before closing and then decided to move in slowly because I wound up working almost every weekend in September. I’m still bringing things over from my parents house almost two and a half months later. But we did it! And we’re proud of our little space. I plan to do some posts on how I was able to find everything we needed at a very low cost and in great packages.

Does anyone have any tips for where to find great prints for the walls? We desperately need to decorate the walls, but I don’t want to pick just anything. I welcome all suggestions!

IMG_7239.JPG

Love With Food Gluten Free Review – February 2016

I may have said this before – but I LOVE love with food. I wait patiently each month for my gluten free box to arrive at my door. They have such great brands that I can always find something to enjoy in each box. This month was no different. I literally tore open one of the items the second I saw it. Note the chip clip on the popcorn…

FullSizeRender 51.jpg

So what did I get this month?

-Stellar Strawberry non-dairy fruit and veggie blend by Ruby Rocket’s

-Strawberry Shortcake Flavored Instant Oatmeal by Bakery On Main

-Cookies by Labrems Bakery

-Organic Rice Vermicelli Noodles by Explore Asian

-Dark Chocolate + Bing Cherries Popcorn by 470 (AMAZING!)

-Google Grape Organic Lollipops by Yumearth

-Maple Sugar and Sea Salt Pumpkin Seeds by Super Seedz

-Plaintain Stips with Sea Salt by Artisan Tropic

-Gluten-Free Mini Honey Grahams by Pamela’s Products

-Saladpower by Allinone Vegetables

-Savory Bar by Mediterra

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Untitled design (2).jpg

One of my favorite ways to shop nowadays is through the curated emails I get that are thematically targeted for whatever holiday is approaching. Of all of the emails I received regarding Valentine’s Day gifts, Paper Source was definitely my favorite. I’ve always loved them, and adore their products. I wanted to post this completely because I think this store is adorable – not because I was asked to do so. These are some adorable and sweet gifts for that special person in your life! Below are some screen shots from their website:

Screen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.11.35 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.11.23 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.10.23 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.11.51 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.29.58 PM.png                Screen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.30.21 PM.png

 

Merle Norman

FullSizeRender 47.jpg

Back in December when I was on vacation in South Carolina, I noticed that there was a Merle Norman store just down the road from us. This is not a makeup company I’m used to seeing up north, so I wanted to check it out. The only thing I knew going in was that it was a company that had been around for a long time.

I’ve since come to find out that this company was launched in the 1920’s, thus making sense why I picked up on a vibe that they were skewing their products towards a more mature audience. However, my saleswoman was fantastic, and helped me find great introductory pieces to their lines. And you know what? I really LOVE their products. My favorite is the creamy concealer – I got a sample for making a purchase over a certain price – and my color is medium light warm. I use it for under my eyes, and it blends really well.

The lash primer and retinol night complex also came with the sample set, but admittedly I haven’t tried those out. Their Found Primer Plus SPF 15 however – is def a fav of mine. It has a silicone feel, and definitely gets into my pores to hold my foundation on well. Great consistency. I also fell hard for their Lip Pencil Plus (lip liner and lipstick pencils that are two in one pencils). Mine are in Wild Berry and Hussy. Hussy is sparkly and red – perfect for Valentines Day! Wild Berry is a darker wine color that I love to wear pretty often.

I just stumbled across a Merle Norman store, but I highly recommend checking out their products!

 

January 2016 Favorites

Between having pneumonia and then things being crazy at work, my time has been pulled in a million directions. But I didn’t want to miss mentioning some of my favorite products from January! My goal is to do a favorites post every month – hoping I can stick to it!

FullSizeRender 48.jpg

January brought me a super random group of favorites. I made the decision not to head to IMATS again this year, largely because once you factor in the ticket price and the train tickets, the discounted makeup doesn’t seem worth it to me anymore. Once that decision was made, I decided to use an Amazon gift card from Christmas to pick up some of the items I would have picked up at the show. I’m looking to try out and explore new makeup brands, and also brands that have been pretty hyped, so this seemed like the best way to do that. One of the pieces I picked up was the Morphe blush palette (Morphe 9B The Blushed Blush Palette) that Jaclyn Hill talked about a few months back. Note: my camera massively darkened the blush colors above, see below for true colors.

IMG_6597.JPG

I haven’t stopped using it since I bought it – the colors are gorgeous. I’ve become a blush-a-holic, and this has just fed the addiction. Conveniently I also received a Target gift card [to feed my massive Target addiction] and this allowed me to purchase the Sonia Kashuk 10 piece Facet-nating Brush set. This was put out around Christmas, and I tried forever to justify buying it. The brushes are mixed between goat hair and synthetic – I love many of the goat hair ones. It really completes a brush collection, plus the gold handles are gorgeous.

And then there was the L’Oreal True Match Lumi Liquid Glow Illuminator in the shade Ice. I tend to like liquid highlighters, so I was excited for this one, and it didn’t disappoint. Plus, lets be real, their packaging is enough to make you buy one.

Every so often I get brave and decide to try a new dry shampoo. Strangely enough, although I’m blonde and it shouldn’t be so bad, I find they make my hair look gross.  The Bumble and Bumble Pret-a-powder smells amazing, and truly does the job of refreshing your hair. Because I have natrually dry hair, a product like this is perfect for me. I know some people have problems with the idea that this is a powder and not a spray, but I actually like that. This way it doesn’t make my hair clumpy or sticky like some do.

I found the CoverGirl Eye Shadow Quad in Blooming Blushes on one of my many trips to the drug store recently. The quality of the shadows isn’t amazing, but blendable enough to really work. Plus anything with a pink smoky eye is right up my alley.

Whenever I can I like to support fellow bloggers or Youtubers that I like to watch. When I saw Dani from Coffee Break with Dani released the 5 slot clear organizer in a collab with Zahra, I was happy to pick one up. I use it to store brushes, but I’ve seen posts from other bloggers where they bought upwards of 5+. These really are great. In a recent video Dani said they are almost sold out!

FullSizeRender 49.jpg

And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to include two of the jewelry items I’ve been wearing on the reg lately. For our anniversary (which is at the end of December) my boyfriend got me this amazingly sparkly Michael Kors watch that I had been eyeing. It fits my wrist perfectly, and I’m obsessed with the sparkles! I was so surprised – and I know I’m quite blessed to have such a generous boyfriend. In addition he gave me the gorgeous necklace above as a Christmas gift. I’ll be sparkling year round!

What products were you loving last month??

Pneumonia…

So I’ve been sick for the past three weeks, and after many visits to the doctor, it turns out that I have pneumonia. Crazy, right? I haven’t been sick like this in years, so being stuck on the couch and unable to really get out and do anything really isn’t fun. FullSizeRender 44.jpg

What have I been doing while I’ve been out of commission for a while? Watching A LOT of YouTube videos. Below are a few links to my favorite YouTubers:

Alex Garza

Manny MUA

Mallory Ervin

 Elle Fowler

Please send other recommendations! My boyfriend and I also watched Pitch Perfect 2 – and it was SO cute. I’ll take movie recommendations too! I’m so crazy tired – I’ve been curled up in yoga pants, old t-shirts and my favorite blankets. [My leopard print one above is my absolute fav]. I have little desire to pull a cute outfit together. And since I can’t work out [insanity is on pause for a few weeks] I’ve been treating myself to some snacks… cue the whole bag of cherry m&ms…..

What helps you guys when you’re under the weather?

Birchbox January 2016

IMG_2999.jpg

Finally – my last subscription box arrived! I will always love Birchbox, even when I don’t always love my box each month. I’ve come to realize that having small sample sized items are GREAT for travel, and since I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, these have definitely come in handy.

I have to say – I adore the theme (and the color of the box) this month. I selected “ambition” to be my word for 2016. I want this to be the year I achieve some serious goals!

This month the items in my box are just OK. I laughed when I opened it because there were two products (shampoo and conditioner) from Beautiful Nutrition. In my Glossybox I just received a bottle of toner from the same brand – so this brand must be blowing up the beauty market. I’m curious to give it a shot! See what else I got in my box below:

DSCN3001.jpg

Beautiful Nutrition Grapefruit Detox Shine Repair Shampoo

Beautiful Nutrition Grapefruit Detox Shine Repair Conditioner

Cargo Swimmables Shadow Stick – Coral Reef

derma e* Hydrating Serum with Hyaluronic Acid

Peripera Peri’s Tint Water – Strawberry Juice

What did you guys get in your box this month?

What’s on my iPad

I recently got an iPad mini because my regular iPad was a first gen and wasn’t working well. I didn’t realize how much more efficient the smaller size would be for every day use. There used to be days where I wouldn’t pick up my iPad, but now I always have it on hand. I wanted to share the apps I’m loving!

IMG_1071.png

Of course I have the obligatory Facebook, Twitter [Follow me: GVGP1989] and Pinterest right at the top. And I know I’ve already discussed my obsession with Audible. So we can start with Podcasts. Season two of Serial is pretty great. I’m about one episode behind, but I find the story intriguing. It seems to be heavy on jargon that I don’t understand, but given the nature of the case [Beau Bergdahl] I think it needs to be that way. My boyfriend and I also listen to Lore, which delves into the history behind certain folklore and superstitions. Skipping to the bottom – Colorfy is a new app I found that is like a digital coloring book. I’m still trying it out, but I think it would be fun if you had a stylus.

IMG_6828.png

I do have some iBooks and some digital books from the Nook app, but I honestly haven’t read them recently, so I can do a post once I’ve gotten through some of them. While I don’t read many books anymore, I do LOVE magazines. Cosmo, Glamour and Women’s Health happen to be my favorite – especially when country music stars are on the cover. I’ve been home sick and having these on hand has been great.

IMG_7109.png

I love to binge watch things. YouTube videos, tv shows, movies, etc – it doesn’t matter, I love it all. So naturally I have every possible app (Hulu should be there, but I must have forgot to add it). On Netflix I’m patiently waiting on Fuller House to drop, while I binge watch seasons 3 and 4 of The Mindy Project on Hulu. I know it sounds weird I subscribe to both, but I love them for different reasons! Amazon Video works with my Amazon Prime account, so on occasion I’ll check out what is new on there.

IMG_9396.png

These two apps are more informational than anything. MSA is the app for MySubscriptionAddiction.com, a website dedicated to trying out and reviewing subscription boxes. I like to check out spoilers for my boxes, so I keep this on my iPad and iPhone too. I keep the Ebates app on both as well because I like to keep tabs on how much money I’ll be getting back from my purchases. Many people think this is a scam, but it is honestly great and has proven to be very much legit. You get a percentage of your purchase back through them if you shop using their add on in your Google Chrome browser. [I discovered Ebates on my own, and signed up on my own – I have no affiliation with them]

I do have two games on my phone as well – one is an app where you put together puzzles, and one is the Simpon’s Tapped Out game I’ve had forever.

What apps are you loving?  Please share – I’d love to discover some new ones!