The Influenster J'Adore VoxBox

The much-coveted J'adore VoxBox is here. :) I have been waiting for this thing since December, towards the end of the Violet VoxBox. There was a Violet Voxstar badge you could unlock that automatically qualified you to get the J'adore. So yeah, I've been anticipating this for quite some time. But it's here now, and it's allll good. :D

The box included a family size bag of valentine-themed hershey kisses (it was over a pound of kisses), four (4) packs of Red Rose Simply Indulgent Tea (3 creme caramel, 1 lemon chiffon), a can of Vaseline men's spray lotion, a box of Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes, John Frieda Frizz Ease 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray, and a tube of Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask. An EXTREMELY impressive product haul. The box was too big to fit in the mailbox! So many amazing products, y'all!

The first thing I tried were the Kisses (obviously). Once the kids saw that I had gotten those in the box, they had to be opened immediately. Yes, I will blame them. Lol. But as expected, they were delicious. I looove holiday themed candies and stuff like that, so it was nice to have them. Oh, and did I mention I got them on VALENTINES DAY?! How freakin' perfect!! And of course, the children loved them too. As of now, they're almost all gone. What's left fits in a martini glass. Lol.

The next thing I tried was the tea. I tried the Creme Caramel flavor, and it was really nice. I only added sugar, no creamer or anything, and it was still great. For some reason it reminded me of Black & Milds. I guess just the caramel flavor was similar to those. Idk. It was good, that's what I do know. 

The next item I tested out was the John Frieda 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray. I took a much-needed shower wednesday night, and when I got out I did not do anything to my hair. I normally towel dry it and put some anti frizz cream in it so my waves don't frizz out. This time, I combed my wet hair, and sprayed 15-20 sprays all over my hair and worked it in with my fingers. I then blow dried it. Then blow dried it some more. And then some more. I have a lot of hair, and it took me FOR-EV-ER to get it all dry. By the end of the blow-drying session, I looked like Troy Polamalu. No, I'm not kidding. It was for real. I should have taken pics but I was kind of ashamed that my hair looked like that. That's exactly why I dont blow dry my hair. Lol. Anyway, I started to straighten my hair in sections. That also took a REALLY long time. Alltogether, my hair took about an hour and a half to finish up. But when I was done, it was gorgeous. Like, hair commercials gorgeous. Check it OUT!

I officially love that shit. It's now Friday afternoon, and my hair is still relatively straight. The bottle says that you may have to use a flat iron for touch ups, but I dont feel like doing that. I'm rockin' my usual ponytail, and it looks fabulous.

Next up, the Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask. I really really liked it. I'm gonna just copy and paste my review from their facebook page.

It was really watery when I opened it, but after massaging the tube to get the ingredients back together, the consistency was fine.
I applied the mask, which covered my face really well and I didn't have to use a ton of it to feel like I had enough on there. It started out as dark green, but faded to light green once it dried. At one point, I looked like I was going into battle! It was an interesting look for me to say the least.

While it dried, I could really feel it tighten up on my face and it started to crack a little if I moved my face too much. I still felt the cooling sensation the same as I did when I first applied the mask, which was nice.

Once I rinsed the mask off and dried my face, my skin felt so soft! It really feels cleansed and blemish-free! It doesn't feel tight or dry at all. Just clean, moisturized, and super soft.

It does look like camo face paint. :/ 

Next, the Vaseline Men's Spray lotion. Unfortunately the bf is too busy/cool/macho/whatever to use it, so I took it upon myself to use it on ME. I have no problem smelling like a boy if it's for a good cause. Lol. First of all, it smells amazing. It's exactly what you'd want your guy to smell like. And..possibly yourself. Lol. I used it on one arm and one leg, and it did absorb pretty quickly and wasn't greasy afterwards. Plus, the lotioned arm and leg are MUCH softer than the non-lotioned arm and leg. And it does moisturize for at least 24 hours. I tried this yesterday afternoon, and the lotioned areas are STILL soft. The only thing weird about it is the noise the nozzle makes when you press it. Like..a screeching kind of sound. Like a power drill. Yes, that's it. All the more reason for your guy to use it! 

Now, lastly, the lashes. I hate that I wont be trying them, but I am totally uncomfortable putting/gluing stuff near my eyes. I had to get rid of my new mascara because of this. If I happen to get brave enough to try it, I promise I will review it here. Y'all have my word. I'm just not ready to do something like that. A couple of years ago, I got a wicked eye infection in both eyes and I have no idea what from, but the whole experience was frightening to say the least. I'm sorry to my readers, and Influenster. I just cant mess with the lashes. But, I will still share the photo of them. 

All in all, this VoxBox was awesome. I am soooo honored to have been able to try these things. If you guys wanna see a more 3-D view of the products, I've made an unboxing video as well.

And as always..

*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes*

Speak o' the devil! J'Adore time, y'all!

It came!! My J'Adore Voxbox from Influenster. :)

It's so dang big!

I got the email with tracking info on this baby about an hour go. 20 minutes later, the box was at my door. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! And on Valentines Day no less! W00t!

So many goodies!! I cannot freakin' WAIT to try this stuff. I need to do my unboxing video (even though I already opened it) so I can't use anything til I do that. Womp. But I'm still so dang excited! Woohoo!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentines Day. Plus write some more stuff.

I'm REALLY hoping to get my J'Adore Voxbox from Influenster today. It would be the ultimate freebie gift on this day. There are some AMAZING products in this box, and I've counted about 6 items in there so far. Flat iron spray, hershey kisses, false eyelashes, clay face mask stuff, tea, and some mens spray lotion. So exciting!! C'mon mailman!

BES had a free dress down day today, so Rizz got to wear her Valentines Day attire. She looked so cute. They're having an early dismissal today, so I hope it doesn't interfere with the parties at school, and hopefully she got to pass out all her valentines. Unfortunately she'll be gone for the weekend, but I'll get to spend most of  Valentines Day with her.

Also, today is my younger sister's birthday. Happy 21st Birthday, Casey! I hope you and Addie have a great day together!

Normally I go to my mom's every Friday to do laundry and come back home on Saturday. However, I will be staying home tonight to spend V-Day with the bf. Redbox, Left 4 dead, and fancy dip. Ohh yeah.

So I'm convinced that I am unable to use mascara. It just doesn't work on me. I've tried to apply it twice now, and used two different kinds, and it's just not for me. My damn eyelashes are entirely too long, and almost reach above my eyebrows with that mascara on..so it's like they stab my eyebrows. It's weird. And it's really good quality mascara..I just can't do it. It's the mascara that I got in my Rimmel Brand Badge prize box, and I hate that I can't use it cuz it's really a big deal to get it. So I'll probably give it to Casey. She's an expert on that shit.

So Rizz will be home at around 3, then we leave when TJ gets home at 5:30. I packed her bag already, and I pray that it will suffice for the weekend. Someone always has something to say about what I pack and that I should let her pack her own bag. If I were to let her pack her own bag, she'd pack the cocktail dress they bought her and a swim suit or a leotard. But it's whatever. I just hope she has a good time.

That's all for today unless I get something big in the mail. Til then..

Eat up y'all!

Mombie.

I. Am so. Tired.

Last night I didn't end up going to bed until after midnight, because I was waiting for Jazzy to go to sleep. Everyone else is knocked out early, but he's the night owl, and I don't like to go to bed until he's asleep. So once I did, it took me forever to actually fall asleep. Couldn't turn my brain off.

Then, at 3am, the boy wakes up and comes into my bedroom puking everywhere. Just one spew after the other. Covered my sheets, blanket, and one of TJ's pillows. It smelled like the popcorn he had as a snack before bedtime, which is a different brand than we normally get, so I'm gonna blame that crappy popcorn.

So once the puking subsided I get up, put him in the tub, get him cleaned up, then out and re-dressed, and then back to bed. After that, I had to take all the sheets and whatnot off the bed. By this time it was well after 4 am. I'm grouchy. I'm saying stuff that I dont mean. Mostly just calling TJ a diva for not helping me with the puke mess because he's freaking out that it may have gotten on his arm.

Then around 4:30, I lay back down. The only blanket we have is the one I made and it's only big enough for me..but somehow, TJ and I both fit under it. Barely.

We didn't sleep much after that, and had to get right back up at 7. School was running on a 2 hour delay, so Brody had time to eat a big breakfast, take a bath, and play for about an hour. Jazz wont be taking a nap, so neither will I. I desperately need a shower, but I dont see myself being able to stay up long enough to take one tonight. I have entirely too much shit to do, and shouldn't even be sitting here typing this, but it's all I feel like doing at the moment. The living room looks like a tornado of tortilla chips, foam puzzle pieces, and toy trains hit it. And of course there's the random sock and pair of pants.

Dinner is a mystery. I might think of something after I have another 4 cups of coffee. Jazz needs a haircut, but it's too cold to do it now. He looks like Julius Caesar with a bad case of bed head. Lol.

I'm out.

Traffic Jam

Wow.

I really appreciate all the traffic to my blog due to the fact that I mentioned getting the pre-qualification survey for the Influenster J'Adore Voxbox, and TONS of people are googling it for hints. I got the email today that said I would definitely be getting it. I'm anxiously waiting for the tracking number. They've been giving hints out on facebook, and so far there's some John Freda stuff for your hair. It's some kind of straightening serum I think. I can't wait to try that for sure, because my hair is SO wavy, and I never have time to straighten it..so I kinda have to just work with the waves. Lol.

I got some decent mail today. Some Tums Refreshers, SEVERAL awesome Kroger coupons, and some paint swatches. I think I found the color I need to touch up all the spots in my bathroom, plus all the little nicks around the apartment. All the walls are the same color, and unfortunately I can't paint them a different color.

By the way, I acquired a small piece of canvas/mesh type stuff to make a rag rug like the one featured here. I'd really like to buy some scrap fabric, or even some fat quarters, but cotton seems to fray really easily, so I'll probably just use some of the leftover fleece I have from a previous blanket. The only bad part is that it's all yellow..and I'm not that big of a fan of yellow. I thought about using it as a bath mat in my bathroom because it'd go with the suns and stars on my shower curtain, but fleece isn't all that absorbent. Idk. I'll probably go ahead and do it, learn from it, and do it up better the next time.

That's it, kids. I've got last night's episode of the walking dead loading, and I'm gonna watch what I can (IF I can).

Eat up, y'all!

Lanie Buck: February's Giveaway- A set of 6 Kleancolor Nail Po...

Lanie Buck: February's Giveaway- A set of 6 Kleancolor Nail Po...: So as I posted on facebook I will now be doing a monthly giveaway to thank all my reader's for their support in my blog. January's ...

Friday Mail Haul

I got some good mail today! I wasn't expecting to get my PinchMe box so soon since the other ones I've gotten took so long, but mine was waiting for me today. :) AND it was all the samples I requested. None were missing! However, the coffee was busted, so there was coffee powder all over everything in the box.

This is the second time I've gotten a Montagne Jeunesse mask in the mail, free! The other one was from Influenster. I can't wait to try this one! And I love the mini lotion. It's nice to not have to squeeze it out of a flat packet. 

I also got a sample of Oxytrol For Women. It's for overactive bladder. I don't really suffer from that, I just wanted the sample. 

It's a full size sample, with 4 patches inside. Dang!

BzzAgent Kroger TimeSaver BzzCampaign.

As I mentioned before, I was selected for the Kroger TimeSaver Bzzcampaign. In my BzzKit, I received Five (5) high value coupons for laundry detergent, facial tissue, bath tissue, a cleaning product, and paper towels; a shopping bag with a beautiful design of berries and water splashing, and several sets of $2 off coupons for those same products to pass out to friends and family.

The campaign was launched for those who do more than just food shopping at Kroger, and it was meant to help you 'save time' (and money!) while shopping for non-food items.

Since all the items are in the same vicinity (within a two-aisle radius) it wasn't hard to save time getting these items. The only thing that took a long time was deciding which products to buy. With the coupons, I had decided to get some pricier items, and just pay the difference. It didn't cost much more than what I usually spend, except I got better quality and larger quantity products this time.

This is my haul. I saved $22 and spent only about half of what all of it costs without coupons.

I'm not quite done Bzzing about it, and my BzzScore is up to 8.0 (woohoo!!), so once I complete some more of the activities, it'll go up more. I have to Bzz about it on social media, and in person so hopefully I can find enough people to talk to. I know for sure I'll be giving some of the extra coupons to my mom and my sister. If anyone is interested in a sheet of $2 coupons, please leave a comment and let me know. I can always mail them to you. 

Eat up, y'all!

Kroger Freebie Friday Digital Download

It's that time again! Frrreeeeebie Friday!!

Today's Kroger Freebie is a Free 5.3 oz cup of Dannon Oikos Yogurt.

Log into your Kroger account and load this coupon to your kroger card!! It's free! If you're redeeming it at the u-scan, just scan your kroger card, then scan the yogurt, and hit 'pay now'. Your transaction will be complete, and you don't pay a a cent! It's that easy!!

And as always, I will be getting three of these because I have 3 kroger cards. If you aren't taking advantage of this, YOU SHOULD BE!!

Philly Tomato Basil Dip

Ok, so I've made this dip that I've been talking about for 2 days now. It turned out AMAZING. I made some changes to the recipe, so I didn't follow it exactly like it said, but it still turned out great. Here are the different stages.

I used basil that I grew myself. Yes, I washed it before I chopped it. Just wanted to illustrate that it came directly from the plant I grew, and it's the last of it.

I mixed the basil in with 8oz softened cream cheese. The recipe says to sprinkle it on top at the end, but I felt that mixing it in with the cream cheese would have provided more flavor. Also, I only used 1 tbsp of fresh basil at this stage. After mixing this, I pressed it into a lasagna dish. The recipe says to use a pie plate, but I didn't have one. 

Next, I chopped one green onion, and two Roma tomatoes. The recipe calls for plum tomatoes, but I couldn't find any at the grocery store last night. I like Romas better anyway. 

Next, I added 2 tbsp of Kraft Tuscan House Italian Dressing to the tomatoes and tossed it around in the bowl shown. I then spooned that on top of the cream cheese mixture in my lasagna dish. It covered it completely, without any cream cheese showing through. After that, I sprinkled on the green onions, 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 tbsp of dried basil. 

It was beautiful. The photos really don't do it any justice. 

Anyway, the recipe stops there. But that didn't work for me. I don't care much for cold dips at all. It's just..not natural to me. So, I went a step further, and put it in the oven. I baked it, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes (or until the sides were bubbling) at 350. It made the kitchen smell amazing. Here is the finished product. 

I served it with Dill & Olive Oil Triscuts. It was pretty freakin' amazing. 

And now that I think about it, I could make even more revisions to the recipe. I thought about roasting a couple of cloves of garlic, then chopping it up and adding it to the cream cheese mixture, and maybe even adding the Parmesan to the mixture instead of using it as a topping. Also, maybe some mozzarella on top of it. The possibilities are endless!! 

Eat up, y'all!

Snowin' like hell.

So according to BCPS, this is the 9th snow day of the school year. The last day of school has been extended to June 6th. It's probably safe to say that there wont be any school tomorrow either because it's snowing right now. Why even bother having a summer break? Just send em all year round. Fuck it.

I'm not in the best mood. I've not had any coffee. I'm going to try to give it up for a day or two, and see how I feel about it. I dont like it so far, so it probably wont last. I have a headache from lack of caffeine.

So I didn't make that tomato basil dip last night. We got home late from the grocery store and I was too wore out to make it. I'm doing it today though.

Oh, and stupid Mercury is officially in retrograde. TJ was late for work this morning because my phone died, therefore the alarm didn't go off. Grr.

Let's all hope this day gets better.

J'adore

This just in..

I'm getting the J'adore Voxbox!!! DAMN I'm excited!!! The pre-qualification survey was very revealing. These products are going to be awesome! Face masks, moisturizer, hair products, etc. Shit YES!

Sorry for being so vulgar. Lol. I'm just so excited.

Insert witty blog title here.

Today is yet another snow day. I stopped counting how many days they've been out so far this year. It's at least a week, maybe 2. I got an email from the school district yesterday saying their last day of this school year has been extended to June 4th. Since they're off today as well, I guess that makes it June 5th. I really wish they'd use some of these holidays as make-up days. This summer is going to be really fucking short. Can we just have warmer weather already??

Dinner tonight is a total mystery as of right now. I have no idea what to make. I still need to separate the giant log of hamburger in the refrigerator into 1lb sections and freeze them. They last a lot longer that way, and it's so damn handy. I know for sure I'm making the Philly Tomato-Basil Dip tonight, but that's not going to count as dinner. I'm making some adjustments to it, too. It calls for 2 tbsp of fresh basil, and I have only one..so I'm gonna have to use some dried basil as well. Best part about that is that I grew all of it. The bad part is that I've used my last surviving basil plant. Poor thing hung on this long, and all it had left on it was about a tbsp. But as I said before, come spring, I WILL be planting more.

Oh yeah..the recipe.

It doesn't say to bake it, and that kind of bothers me..so I will be baking it. I dont think I have a dish large enough though, so idk. I have a Ramekin that it might all fit into, but I hope it doesn't bubble over. I'd hate to lose any of it. :/ Oh wait..I have some lasagna dishes I swiped from Bearno's like 10 years ago. That will suffice!! :D

Also, I gotta get the stuff to make pizza dip tonight. The BF's been craving it (and so have I) so it's about damn time I made some.

This still doesn't solve the dinner dilemma. Ugh. I'm not feelin' meatloaf at all, or burgers. Totally burnt out on brinner. If I eat any more eggs I"m gonna start clucking. Seriously considering sandwiches. With some nice bread and fixin's. Yep. That's it.

I'll post some pics of how my tomato basil dip turns out. That's the main thing I'm lookin forward to tonight. Til then..

Eat up, y'all!

Ton 'O' Freebies Monday.

I don't normally get anything decent in the mail on Mondays. Most Mondays, I don't get any mail at all. However, today I got the motherload.


My 2014 Calendar from Delallo. Ordered this baby back in December. I LOVE it and it has amazing pictures of food inside!!

I ordered a Mustang calendar for the bf. Normally I wouldn't because it has a bunch of ladies on it that look way better than I ever will, but I figured what the hell.

Zarbees Children's sleep aid.

Two Equate brand pads and four panty liners from Walmart.

My Hada Labo Tokyo Replenishing Hydrator that I won from Allure back in October. I thought it was hair stuff when I first got the email, but upon inspection of the product, it's for fine lines and wrinkles. :) Woohoo!!

My Kroger TimeSaver Bzzkit from BzzAgent. I didn't know they were sending me this cool shopping bag!! I can't wait to use all those coupons! :D

And as always, these photos can all be found on my Freebies post. :D

Kroger Freebie Friday Digital Downloads

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but EVERY friday, Kroger offers a coupon for a free product. I've been collecting their freebies every friday for several months now. I have three Kroger cards, meaning I get three free items from them every friday.

In order to take advantage of this, you must have a valid Kroger card, and have an account set up on the kroger website to access the card. From the website, you can add/download digital coupons to your kroger card. This saves a lot of time, and keeps you from having to use paper coupons at the checkout. Every friday, log into your kroger account, locate the digital coupon, and download it to your kroger card. You don't physically download software to your computer or anything, and it's silly that they call it a 'download'. It's basically just adding a digital coupon to your Kroger card. It's pretty much awesome.

They've offered several awesome, free products. Some of them I have started buying after trying them for free. This past friday, I had several freebies saved up on my kroger cards so I cashed them all in at once. Look at THIS beautiful haul.

Now, the shave gel and the extra Aquafina Flavorsplash water came from other promotions. I got a coupon for a free shave gel with my Schick Hydro Silk Sensivtive care bzzkit, and the Aquafina coupon came directly from Aquafina. So for ALL those items above, I paid .21 cents. Yes, 21 cents. 

Skeet skeet!! Hahaha. I love a good bargain.

Eda's Sugarfree Candies

A while back I got an invite from Swaggable to try Eda's Sugarfree Candies and write a review on them. I was pretty much ready to give up on even getting them in the mail, but then I finally got them Friday afternoon.

I was expecting a full size bag, since swaggable has sent me full size products in the past, so I was disappointed immediately. On the bag it says not to eat too many because the candies can have a laxative effect on certain individuals. That's a little unsettling, so I tried two of them. 

The flavor just wasn't there. If you closed your eyes, and put one in your mouth, you wouldn't be able to tell what flavor you were eating. They just tasted sugary, which was weird because they were sugar-free. I didn't really care much for them, and ended up leaving them at my mom's house for her to try. Maybe she'll like them better than I did.