tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54681402023-11-16T08:25:42.977-05:00One Girl's Opinion"I'm not opinionated, I'm just always right."Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comBlogger316125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-39656566702991215902018-10-17T21:03:00.000-04:002018-10-17T21:03:04.893-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - My Little Pony: Friendship is MagicOctober 17<br />
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Recent Episodes)<br />
TV Show<br />
<br />
So this is kind of a mini-review for the latest two seasons of MLP:FIM, but neither of them as full seasons because of stupid streaming rules and messed up streaming services meaning that it's been actually kind of difficult for me to find the show when I want to catch up. At one point the only way I could watch was to pay $1.99 an episode and I'm sorry, but the show wouldn't have been worth that in the beginning when it was at its best so it's definitely not worth it now.<br />
<br />
Which is the point of this review, now that we're in an eighth season of My Little Pony's revival, I think the holes are starting to show. There are almost 200 episodes and there's really a sense of diminishing returns happening. Characters are learning lessons that they've learned before, new characters are being thrown in and aren't as well developed. For a while there was entirely too much Discord, but that seems to be waning. <br />
<br />
I don't know if it was just that the show started to decrease in quality after Lauren Faust left, but there's really a sense that crept in a few seasons ago that the show was almost buying too much of its own hype and being too meta about it's fandom and fans within the show instead of focusing on good storytelling. The episode I watched today (Forever Filly) was about Rarity not understanding that Sweetie Bell had grown up and while the message was good (if a little simplistic) it just didn't feel right. It didn't make any sense to me that generous Rarity would behave like she did in the beginning of the episode, being dismissive of Sweetie Bell's work, etc. And that's the problem, there's a lot more "we want to tell this story, let's just have these ponies do it" going on it feels like. And the less I say about "The Maud Couple" the better. Even the moral of that episode was bad, it absolutely teaches the wrong lesson. <br />
<br />
One thing I can say though is that the "Young Six" might feel a little contrived at first (a new group of exactly six made up of perfect diversity from the different species that have appeared before because conveniently everybody we've met before has a younger sibling or child? Sure, sure, whatever) at the same time, I'm okay with it. They feel more natural and interesting than the Mane Six do at this point, because they are still figuring each other out and the audience doesn't know everything about them yet either. So they're definitely not on my list of "new characters I'm already tired of."Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-58248226056041037882018-10-17T20:48:00.001-04:002018-10-17T20:48:27.304-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Practical Magic Movie PartyOctober 16<br />
Practical Magic Movie Party at Alamo Drafthouse<br />
Event<br />
https://drafthouse.com/northern-virginia/series/movie-parties<br />
<br />
Like anybody with a film background, I've known about Alamo Drafthouse for a while. I'm not sure if I realized there was one so close to me, but I am lucky to live in an area where even though I'm about 30 minutes from an Alamo, I actually drive past three other theaters to get there. I just hadn't actually looked into it before when I randomly stumbled on an ad for a Labyrinth Quote-A-Long Movie Party. Obviously, my best friend and I had to go, and we were instantly addicted. I've lost track of how many movie parties we've gone to in the two years since that fateful day, but for Halloween they were doing a showing of Practical Magic. This is one of our favorite movies, so honestly the only delay in buying the tickets after I saw the email was to determine which of the two showings we were going to.<br />
<br />
The movie parties are always a good time, and this one was no exception. You get to see a movie that you love on the big screen (or introduce somebody else to one that they've missed) and they lift their strict no talking rules *slightly* for the event (you can quote along with the movie, or sing in the case of Labyrinth, but no conversations or heckling). The food is always good but a couple we've gone to have had themed drinks just for the occasion. I did not try the Midnight Margarita this time around, because I'd already picked out a shake on their Halloween menu that I couldn't wait to try (The Sacrificial Shake, it was amazing). You also get props to use during certain parts of the movie, and this time we had a scratch and sniff card to smell at certain moments too (like sage to help cast the spell on Jimmy). The movie party props are sometimes better than others, and this was one of the best sets I think. Practical Magic is just such a fun movie to watch at any time, but seeing it on the big screen again was awesome. And as the host pointed out before the movie started, it was apparently the 20th anniversary of the film's release. I came home to check my book of ticket stubs, and it turns out we saw it in the day after it came out back in 1998. And yet there was STILL a moment where I realized something I'd never noticed before.<br />
<br />
If you've not been to an Alamo Drafthouse before: always arrive early. The 30 minute pre-show before the movie isn't one of those obnoxious "shows" full of ads pretending to be entertainment news or whatever, but an assortment of weird semi-related video finds from who knows where. Trailers for old movies, music videos from who knows where...it's always a weird, fun mix of stuff.<br />
<br />
You can't talk about Alamo without mentioning the food. I didn't get anything from the special menu, but I just have to say the chicken & ricotta meatballs are always amazing. I still mourn the loss of the fish and chips (still the best ones I've had in years, haven't found any as good in another restaurant yet) but the meatballs aren't a bad go-to. Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-91196348378392982752018-10-17T20:30:00.000-04:002018-10-17T20:30:00.682-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Reply All: The Crime Machine Parts I & IIOctober 15<br />
Reply All: The Crime Machine Parts I & II<br />
Podcast Episodes<br />
https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/127-the-crime-machine-part-i<br />
<br />
I've been a fan of Reply All for a while, but I have to admit it took me a bit to hit play on the two newest episodes. For one, because they dropped both parts of a two parter in one day, meaning that there was a lot of extra minutes added onto my queue at once and I'm really against that. I have an idea of how long each thing takes to listen to and specific times I like to listen to them, throwing that apart by doubling the length suddenly makes me grumpy.<br />
<br />
But this episode was worth every minute they spent on it. The amount of research and effort it must have taken for them to produce it really shows, and it's extremely admirable that they went looking for an answer and actually dug until they found multiple angles on that answer. It's one of the best kinds of stories because while it's very local (specific to New York City in a specific time frame) but the issues that it touches on are ones that are plaguing communities around the United States. Specifically, they're looking at how a computer system and crime statistic reporting is causing police in NYC to engage in procedures that are racist and unethical. I don't want to spoil any part of the story, they unroll the different pieces of it at a really good pace. It's well worth a listen. Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-7678072623503009642018-10-17T20:17:00.001-04:002018-10-17T20:17:43.171-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Science UpdateOctober 14<br />
Science Update<br />
Podcast<br />
http://www.scienceupdate.com/podcasts/<br />
<br />
I randomly stumbled on Science Update a year or so ago, and it's quickly become one of my favorite podcasts because it has a format that it follows and it doesn't feel any need to stray from it. Every weekday morning it has a one minute episode about something new in science news, or answering a listener question. You find out something interesting, and it doesn't overstay its welcome or get too technical. Sometimes they interview the scientists about the topic, so you're hearing first hand how someone is explaining their research. But again, never over a minute. It's actually a blessing to find a podcast that doesn't start thinking that it's so important it needs to get more and more expansive. A minute a day is perfect.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-80727159819839761382018-10-13T22:17:00.001-04:002018-10-13T22:17:15.655-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Dragons and BeastiesOctober 13<br />
Dragons and Beasties<br />
Online Shop/Artist<br />
https://dragonsandbeasties.com/<br />
<br />
I don't actually remember how I stumbled on Dragons & Beasties years ago, just that the first thing I saw of hers was her dice dragon sculptures and I still want one. But since getting one of those requires a lot of money and basically already owning a Luck Dragon to catch the sale when it goes live, that's not in the cards for me. Instead I've bought some of her other stuff, including a hot cocoa dragon mug that is my favorite mug. <a href="https://dragonsandbeasties.com/collections/single-stickers/products/hot-cocoa-dragon-sticker">She sells the design on a sticker in her shop now.</a><br />
<br />
But lately what I've been getting more of are <a href="https://dragonsandbeasties.com/collections/color-d-b">her coloring books and coloring pages</a>. She has a lot of different packs, and they're downloadbles that you print yourself. I ended up getting them printed on thicker paper at Office Depot so that I could try coloring them with markers, but I think they actually look better when done with colored pencils. One of the things I love about them is that there are so many different types to have fun with. Arts and crafts, dragons with pets, fancier dragons like her elemental pack, or simpler ones like in the Summer Dragons pack. They're really high quality illustrations and I think anybody who likes to color should get some. One day I'll buy some of the notebooks and t-shirts with her art on it too, but for now I'll just keep coloring.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-86860999857825742082018-10-13T22:07:00.001-04:002018-10-13T22:07:27.254-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Martha Stewart Halloween Collection at Michael'sOctober 12<br />
Martha Stewart Halloween Collection at Michael's<br />
Party Supplies<br />
<br />
So, I don't normally do a lot of themed parties or party planning, mostly because I don't throw a lot of parties (kind of a long story) but this year I was hosting a brunch with a Halloween theme as a not-a-baby-shower for a friend. I'd gone into Michael's for something else and saw the various Martha Stewart collections there and figured that was probably going to be what we went with for decorations and stuff. When we went, we sort of accidentally ended up with a specific theme with red and black spiders, and not everything we picked up was from the Martha Stewart stuff, but enough of it was.<br />
<br />
Overall, for the price point with the sense of design it was a really good deal. I like kind of a more subtle Halloween thing than a lot of decor goes for (not the super bright colors, not a ton of cobwebs, etc.) and so this fit the bill for me quite nicely. Most of the stuff was really good quality too, though it's hard to mess up paper plates and napkins. There are only two real points to make about what we got. We picked up these little treat boxes that came with their own matching "forks" and I can't for the life of me figure out what you'd put in a cardboard treat box that would use a fork. We just used them separately. The big thing was a two-tiered tray that we used for the cupcakes, which somehow came with the wrong pieces. It had two interlocking-tower pieces, and then the two flat trays. Or it should have, our two tower pieces were exactly the same, which means they didn't interlock at all. We had to actually cut a notch in one of them and force them to fit because checking online, our local store had sold out of it and it was the night before the party anyway. So really, next time, I'm definitely going to check that it comes with the right parts. I guess you get what you pay for? Anyway, otherwise it was a sturdy serving tray and looked cute as a centerpiece. Just check your box and you should be good to go. Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-76982214335630695962018-10-11T21:05:00.001-04:002018-10-11T21:05:54.604-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Panera Baked Potato SoupOctober 11<br />
Panera Baked Potato Soup<br />
Food<br />
<br />
This review is kind of cheating, for two reasons. One, because I had this soup yesterday so it's not a review of something I did today (sorry, but I went to the mall and found absolutely nothing I wanted to buy, which I guess is it's own review of that mall...) but also because if you've known me for longer than like a week you probably already know that I love potatoes and I love potato soup.<br />
<br />
The reason I'm calling this one out specifically though is that since I love potato soup so much, I've had a lot of them. Like a lot. And I've had Panera's soup a lot, I used to go there once a week to meet up with friends, for years. And end of the day, Panera still has my favorite potato soup of the ones you can get at restaurants, and it's different than the one I make at home but probably better. For one thing, a lot of "baked potato" soups like to have some kind of earthy flavor in it that I think is from leaving some of the skin on the potatoes. Nobody needs that. Sometimes they include too much bacon, or it's too crispy/crunchy and it ruins the mix of textures. But a lot of times it boils down to the soup itself is too thick or too thin. Or they add too many green things. Or somehow there's not enough potato, I mean, who does that?<br />
<br />
Panera's baked potato soup is the Goldilocks potato soup, it's just right. The really weird thing though is that the kind you can buy in the store to heat up at home isn't actually as good, so I really don't know. But one day maybe I'll find a recipe to make at home that's like this one so I don't have to always remember what day of the week it is to make sure I get my soup.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-27391012299217188662018-10-10T21:13:00.000-04:002018-10-10T21:13:03.242-04:00#OpinionatedOctober Home Chef One-Sheet Pretzel Crusted ChickenOctober 10<br />
Home Chef's One-Sheet Pretzel-Crusted Chicken<br />
Home delivery meal kit<br />
<br />
https://www.homechef.com/invite/NLYn4yT6VarVl<br />
<br />
Note: This link is a referral link. Bonus, you'll get $30 off your first order! <br />
<br />
I decided to join the hip crowd and get a meal delivery box about three weeks ago, and I did a ton of research before I picked which one I was going to go with. The prices all seemed pretty comparable, so it really boiled down to who had the most items on their current menus that I thought I would eat. Home Chef won out on that one. Plus, they had pretty good reviews.<br />
<br />
I got my third box from them today, but this meal was actually from a previous box. See, I'm just one person trying to eat these meals and they make usually 2-3 meals each so you know, it adds up. Anyway, today I decided to make the One-Sheet Pretzel-Crusted Chicken, which also came with broccoli to roast on the same sheet pan. It was really good, I enjoyed it more than I actually thought I would considering I wasn't feeling well today. I don't always go for this particular kind of crunchy topping thing but it worked. I also wasn't sure I'd like the roasted broccoli but it was really good. I'm sure the Parmesan cheese helped.<br />
<br />
The only thing I'd say negative about Home Chef so far is it creates a LOT of dishes and cleaning up work, which I guess is par for the course with any cooking, but that's part of why I don't like cooking. I guess I have to get used to it though.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-73139977692585905942018-10-09T20:50:00.001-04:002018-10-09T20:50:25.166-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - GoodKnitKisses Cast On for BeginnersOctober 9<br />
GoodKnitKisses How to Knit Cast On Beginners<br />
YouTube Tutorial<br />
<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nWJQvsZ6kT0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
I've been loom knitting for about a year and a half now, and I love it. It's really versatile and there's a ton you can do with it. But I've been kind of curious to go back to looking at the technique for needle knitting again now that I understand the actual process more through watching the fabric come out of the loom. I also not so secretly want to try those really big knitting needles that can knit up fun stuff with super bulky yarns. You can get looms that do that (notably, the Zippy Loom from Authentic Knitting Board) but the big needles just look so fun. So when my best friend ended up with a pair of needles and trying to learn needle knitting, I thought I'd give it a try too. We'd both watched GoodKnitKisses videos before because she does a lot of loom knitting tutorials too.<br />
<br />
Tonight I watched the cast on video, and I have to say it really is a great video for beginners. She uses a bright yarn that's easy to see, she goes slowly, exaggerates her movements so that you can see what she's doing, and does it enough times that you can watch her go through it more than once. And she doesn't ramble on for a minute and a half before she even gets started on the technique, which is my biggest pet peeve in knitting tutorial videos. Just show me what I came here to see! Anyway, in her cast on video she says to practice casting on a lot and don't jump to the knit stitches, but I don't follow directions well and watched her knit and purl stitch videos next, and I've knit five rows now...Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-8599545421930596382018-10-08T19:30:00.001-04:002018-10-08T19:30:34.087-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Plants vs. Zombies 2October 8<br />
Plants Vs. Zombies 2<br />
Mobile Game<br />
<br />
Do you ever have those games that you're not sure you even like and yet you're still playing them for some reason? Yeah, most mobile games end up like that for me, and PvZ2 is no different. I loved the first full Plants Vs. Zombies game, but this second one designed specifically for mobile devices is just a microtransaction hellscape, like you'd expect. There's a ton of super useful plants from the original game you can't get without paying $5 _each_ for them, and it's ridiculous. The game itself also gets to a point where you actually just can't beat it without "leveling up" plants which takes forever if you don't spend cash. So far I've managed not to spend any money on it, but it's been difficult, at this point I basically can only play the daily special level because everything else is too hard.<br />
<br />
That's how they keep me playing incidentally, the daily special level. And this really poorly implemented PvP thing called "Battlez" that for some reason I've gotten sucked into actually trying to be vaguely competitive in. The daily levels are fine, they're usually relatively easy and kind of fun. Battlez are the same map for a week at a time, and they're often so hard that the only reason you're not losing is there's no real "losing" in Battlez, you just play for two minutes and whoever has the higher score wins. The level I played today was ridiculous, I can't figure out how in the world you're supposed to really get anywhere with it, and even if you can't get your brains eaten, it gets really disheartening to be losing so badly but you can't quit because you'll lose your rank on the leaderboard.<br />
<br />
If you haven't played PvZ2, then don't. Don't bother downloading it. It also runs like junk on all my mobile devices, but I can't make it work on my Android emulator so that I can actually play it in a way that's more enjoyable. <br />
<br />
Two detached thumbs way down.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-29204176265029251732018-10-07T14:22:00.001-04:002018-10-07T14:22:37.676-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes MixOctober 7<br />
Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Mix - Buttermilk<br />
Food<br />
https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/collections/flapjack-waffle-mix/products/kodiak-cakes-buttermilk-power-cakes-flapjack-waffle-mix<br />
<br />
We're still staying at the cabin we rented for our vacation, and they have a waffle station set up that had a box of Kodiak Cakes mix with it. I've tried some Kodiak Cups so I was familiar enough with the brand but hadn't tried this mix before. It was really simple to make, just add water and a bit of oil for waffles. Luckily it wasn't too hard to use the waffle maker either (I don't have one at home and so I have rarely used one). What came out was a big fluffy waffle of just the right density. It's a whole grain mix, which I've never really used before and so I wasn't sure what to expect but it was quite tasty, and very filling. I accidentally didn't use enough mix for my waffle but it still filled me up despite not being full size and I ended up not even wanting a snack until lunchtime rolled around. I don't have a waffle maker at home, and I'm not allowed to make pancakes, so I'll be keeping an eye out for their flapjack cups because I am becoming a fan of the brand.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-37630203041956915002018-10-07T14:13:00.000-04:002018-10-07T14:13:38.528-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Shepherdstown, WVAOctober 6<br />
Shepherdstown, West Virginia<br />
Town<br />
<br />
My best friend and I always take a vacation in October, and this year we decided to do something small and nearby and rented a cabin in West Virginia. The cabin is about ten minutes from Shepherdstown, so we decided to go into town and walk around a little before having dinner. While we did get really lost on the way there (Google Maps is very hard to use when you have no signal) so it took a half hour instead of ten minutes, it was a really nice and small downtown area. I grew up in a small town, so some of the atmosphere was really familiar. But what it really reminded me of was Brevard, North Carolina where we went to see the solar eclipse last year. It's a town with a lot of character and plenty of neat little unique shops and restaurants. And oddly enough, a university that we didn't know existed until we parked next to it.<br />
<br />
We ended up going into <a href="http://wvbakery.com/">Shepherdstown Sweet Shop Bakery</a> first, and that was kind of unfortunate timing because we hadn't had dinner yet so we didn't want to ruin our meals. But we both got some sweets to go, I ended up with a cream horn and some black forest torte and she got a chocolate whoopie pie. They also had some delicious looking fresh bread. The cream in the cream horn was especially delicious. The whoopie pie was very chocolaty but in the best way.<br />
<br />
Then we stopped in at <a href="http://www.mountaineerpopcorn.com/">Mountaineer Popcorn</a>, where we picked up both caramel and then some garlic Parmesan popcorn. They did say they would let us try any flavor we wanted to try, so I probably should have gotten a sample of the loaded baked potato because what does that even taste like on popcorn? But either way, both flavors we got were very delicious and I recommend them both.<br />
<br />
The town had so many other things to offer, and I could see how it would be easy to spend a whole afternoon shopping and walking around, enjoying the historic buildings and the unique little shops. Town Hall was a really great looking building too, with a mix of sort of a modern and antique style. Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-18325485140614700652018-10-05T21:20:00.001-04:002018-10-05T21:20:30.922-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Fizzy Fairy Fandom BoxOctober 5<br />
Fizzy Fairy Fandom Box<br />
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FizzyFairyApothecary<br />
Subscription Box<br />
<br />
I first noticed Fizzy Fairy Apothecary because she does some really fun fandom themed bath bombs and soaps, and I was looking for an Etsy seller that did high quality bath bombs that wouldn't ruin my budget. She definitely fit the bill, her prices are reasonable especially considering the enormous size of the actual bath bombs. I know it's a humble brag, but I actually have a really large soaking tub (it was one of the biggest draws to buy our house if I'm honest) and it just needs a bit more than the average tub. And I like bath bombs a lot more than bubble bath because it has a lovely scent and color, but none of those comically sized bubbles that just take a year and a half to rinse out.<br />
<br />
I'd ordered a few things from her Etsy shop when I noticed that she had a monthly subscription box. Now, I've actually tried very hard not to fall into ordering too many subscription boxes after I finally broke free from Birchbox and Julep (both of those ended badly) but what can I say, I really love bath bombs. I can't remember what the theme was the first time I ordered, I know that was basically what kicked it over for me so it's a shame I just can't recall. Her subscription system makes it easy to skip if you're not into the theme, but I have definitely gotten the box more often than not. I think there's only been maybe two themes I didn't think sounded amazing. The only drawback is sometimes it's hard to find a place for that many bath bombs if they start to pile up a bit. Her themes are always fun (next month is the Wizard of Oz). <br />
<br />
My favorite theme so far has been Labyrinth, not just because it's one of my favorite movies of all time, but because the bombs themselves were gorgeous and smelled amazing. Though there were some problems with the Jareth bath bomb and the copious amounts of glitter it included. I've had glitter bath bombs (even ones from Fizzy Fairy) before, but nothing compared to Jareth, drama queen that he is. So. Much. Glitter.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-46523947985706836142018-10-04T18:27:00.001-04:002018-10-04T18:27:50.960-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Spooked PodcastOctober 4<br />
Spooked<br />
Podcast<br />
https://spookedpodcast.org/<br />
<br />
One of my favorite podcasts is Snap Judgement, they have some of the best audio storytelling I've heard. They always would do special Halloween episodes each year, with people telling real stories of weird happenings and ghost stories from their lives. Last year, they spun off the special episode into it's own once a year special edition podcast called Spooked. I wouldn't say I'm a ghost hunter or anything like that, I'm not going to go out of my way to vacation at a haunted hotel or anything. But I do enjoy a good ghost story, fiction or not. So far this year, they've released ten episodes, though I've only listened to the first nine. I have to say, this season is a bit more hit and miss than last season, there have been more stories where instead of just going along for the ride, I've not really been able to buy in. Perhaps the best episode this season is 37 seconds, about a woman who has a vision that she'll die in childbirth and no one believes her. But other stories have ended up almost revealing too much, which drains a bit of their power. In a two story episode, "The Perfect Tenant" both stories end in a kind of unsatisfying way because you get enough information to know there should be more to the story that's just left out. <br />
<br />
Overall though, I have to say that it's still well worth it, and a perfect addition to anybody's queue if they're wanting to get into the mood for Halloween. Just be prepared for some episodes to chill you more than others.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-53911836377973271712018-10-03T14:08:00.001-04:002018-10-03T14:08:39.232-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Extra Ordinary by Li ChenOctober 3<br />
<br />
Extra Ordinary by Li Chen<br />
Webcomic<br />
https://www.exocomics.com/<br />
<br />
Honestly, I can't even remember how I stumbled across this webcomic a few months ago. But I've by and large given up on webcomics in general. I'm tired of how they take literal years to tell an hour worth of story sometimes, and how a lot of creators are only using their freedom from constraints in ways that make it harder to engage rather than to really push themselves creatively. But this comic immediately charmed me because it really does do a lot of fun and creative stuff because the writer doesn't have a ton of constraints (or seems not to). She's not trying to tell a specific story or be narrative in some particular way. She's not trying to do large arcs or chapters. She's just drawing incredibly charming pencil-shaded style art with a very distinctive look that is all her own, and being exactly as weird or nonsense as she wants to be. Her art is adorable, and she regularly does these <a href="https://www.exocomics.com/530">large format, gorgeously colored pieces of art</a> (I think once a month? I've not been paying attention). I binged through her entire archive a couple months ago, over 400 comics, in like two days. I highly recommend adding this one to your feed, if only to bring a smile to your face.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-57288840816504714802018-10-02T18:14:00.000-04:002018-10-02T18:15:10.522-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Authentic Knitting Board 32 Peg Basic LoomOctober 2<br />
32 Peg Basic Loom<br />
From Authentic Knitting Board<br />
Crafting Tool<br />
<a href="http://www.knittingboard.com/32-peg-basic-loom/">http://www.knittingboard.com/32-peg-basic-loom/</a><br />
<br />
About a year and a half ago, I decided that I really wanted to try a new craft because I wanted to spend my time making things rather than playing dumb games on my phone. Years ago I'd read about "knitting boards" and I decided to give in. I got a kit from Authentic Knitting Board that included yarn, instructions, and this fabulous little wooden knitting loom. <br />
<br />
I absolutely love it, and I highly recommend it. I've made a couple dozen projects since, mostly scarves because that's the easiest thing for me to make, but I've branched out some and I'm about to try my first pair of socks. I especially like this loom because it's small, and easily held, but it's perfect for making double-knit scarves with worsted weight yarn (and AKB has <a href="http://www.knittingboard.com/videos">a ton of great videos</a> telling you how to do it). I recommend starting with double knit, because that's what I did and I found the transition to single knitting a lot easier than others have said going the other way tends to be. Plus, a double knit scarf is very warm and winter is almost here. One hint: <a href="http://www.redheart.com/yarn/super-saver">a skein of Red Heart Super Saver</a> comes out to a great scarf length if you use the whole skein.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-38259626422738993062018-10-01T18:17:00.000-04:002018-10-01T18:23:33.117-04:00#OpinionatedOctober - Zenni OpticalSo, I'm trying to get back in the swing of writing after kind of losing my mojo for a long time. For that, I'm going to attempt what I'm calling #OpinionatedOctober: write one short paragraph review of something that I watched/read/listened/did that day each day in October. The key word is short, 500 words or less usually. I'm not going to get bogged down in a lot of detail, just get to the heart of whatever it is.<br />
<br />
October 1<br />
Zenni Optical<br />
Eyeglass manufacturer/website<br />
http://bit.ly/2xQPnar<br />
<br />
*Note: This is a referral link, so I will get a credit if you purchase from it.<br />
<br />
It's been a quite a few months now since I had to get glasses, and I really balked at the price of the first pair I ever bought even after insurance covered parts of it. Then a friend mentioned Zenni Optical and I thought, why not? Their website is pretty easy to browse, though it can be a bit of a learning curve for how much your glasses will <i>really</i> cost, as it's based on a large number of options you choose as you go. The hardest part is measuring the distance between your eyes, which seems to have worked fine for me using their directions. They've got a large variety of frames, but I definitely have to say when you put the expensive pair next to the Zennis, you can tell the difference in the price points. Zennis feel like cheaper glasses, for sure. But the lenses are the same strength, and I only wear them at home while I'm using the computer so I don't need them to be incredibly sturdy. If you're pretty active or hard on your glasses, you might want to consider that you get what you pay for. Just in the case of computer glasses, maybe you don't need to pay for so much. Also, the Zennis I have on now are way cuter than my expensive "professional" glasses.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-71289734805782938332017-01-22T12:57:00.000-05:002017-01-22T12:57:20.653-05:00Hidden Figures (film)<table><tr><td valign="top"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Figures-American-Untold-Mathematicians/dp/0062363603/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1485107035&sr=8-1&keywords=hidden+figures&linkCode=li2&tag=ceruleansunco-20&linkId=fdac645f9378e835ddffddda0d14274d" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0062363603&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ceruleansunco-20" ></a><img src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ceruleansunco-20&l=li2&o=1&a=0062363603" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /></td><td valign="top">This time last year, I was about a month into a project to do a podcast episode every day about women in STEM. And I'd recently discovered <a href="http://introductionsnecessary.com/2016/01/15/katherine-johnson/">Katherine Johnson</a>, and through researching her I discovered <a href="http://introductionsnecessary.com/2016/10/17/dorothy-vaughan/">Dorothy Vaughan</a> and <a href="http://introductionsnecessary.com/2016/04/27/mary-jackson/">Mary Jackson</a>. I immediately added these women to my list of who I wanted to feature on the podcast, along with a few other African-American NASA engineers.<br />
<br />
Then not long after that, I saw the first news report about Taraji P. Henson joining the cast of a movie about Katherine Johnson. I found out about the book Hidden Figures, and I was incredibly excited. As the casting notices came in, I only became more interested in the film. I read excerpts from the book in my research (it hadn't been released by the time we'd done our episodes on each of the women, but the author's research was invaluable to our own).</td></tr></table><br />
Suffice it to say, this was a highly anticipated movie for me.<br />
<br />
I was sad I wasn't going to be able to see it during it's limited release right after Christmas, but now I'm incredibly glad that I got to go on it's "opening weekend" because my ticket helped it become the top box office draw that weekend. Which is just amazing on so many levels.<br />
<br />
But I'm here to do a review, so my review:<br />
<br />
Go see this movie. As soon as possible. Preferably immediately.<br />
<br />
The acting is amazing, the story is compelling, the art direction and design are perfect. As a historical drama, it hits all the notes it needs to. It felt to me like it didn't pull any punches, but it didn't set out to tell a tragic story but an inspiring one.<br />
<br />
A true one.<br />
<br />
And it accomplishes that with a skill and style that stories like this are rarely afforded.<br />
<br />
It is above all an emotionally affecting movie. You <em>feel</em> for these women and you <em>care</em> about what's going on. In the theater I was in, there were cheers and applause throughout the movie, and a huge round of applause at the end. I've heard similar reports from people around the country, in many different demographics and regions. Audiences care about this movie, and it's easy to care. These women are inspiring, and not just because the actresses who play them are inspiring, but because they actually were inspiring. They've been inspiring me for a year now.<br />
<br />
Even though I know exactly what the outcome is of the historical events in the movie, I still was caught up in the tension. And it was amazing to see a piece of history we've lost a piece of, a time when people came together to create science and math that didn't exist before. And the movie acknowledges that we did this because of fear of the Russians, but it also reminds us how much benefit we got from these geniuses, including the African-American women of the West Area Computers, being allowed to do what they do best. And they got us to the moon.<br />
<br />
The movie challenges us to wonder what they could do now if we made that kind of effort again. <br />
<br />
So go, just go. Go see it. Please. And take any kids you know to go see it. Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-76373021086059749022017-01-19T17:28:00.000-05:002017-01-19T17:28:31.464-05:00Harry Potter rides at Universal HollywoodSo, this last week my best friend and I did a whirlwind tour of some of the theme parks around LA, including a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood. There's more than enough to fill several posts, but I thought I'd start with just a quick review of the two rides that are part of the new park addition, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.<br />
<br />
Most of the point of this park, which is done up like Hogsmeade, is the ambiance and the shopping. Plus, Universal Hollywood isn't really as much of a theme park with a ton of rides and things anyway. So there are only two rides to speak of, and we eventually did them both.<br />
<br />
As you might recall <a href="http://www.onegirlsopinion.net/2014/10/special-busch-gardens-im-afraid-of.html">from my coaster review from Busch Gardens</a>, I'm not actually a fan of roller coasters or certain types of thrill rides. So I actually hesitated to ride either of these at first. <br />
<br />
As I mentioned in the article on Busch Gardens, I do a lot of research before I go to parks because it helps my coaster anxiety. But with these two rides, I didn't do that much because I repeatedly saw the same thing: the lines at Harry Potter are absurdly long. All the time. Just super long. At any other park, that would mean I would just say to utilize whatever their version of a fast pass system is. Everywhere else I've been recently has some kind of thing where you can get a ticket to come back during a certain time frame and bypass the longer line, so you spend that hour doing something fun instead of standing around.<br />
<br />
Universal doesn't do that. You can pay almost double the price of your ticket to get a one-time front of the line pass for each ride, or you wait in line. That's it. Which is unfortunate, because we didn't plan on riding half the rides in the park, and didn't have that kind of money. So we both assumed that the Harry Potter rides were out.<br />
<br />
Turns out we were wrong. I don't know what kind of luck we had, maybe it was because it was January and kind of cold, because it was raining off and on for a few days at that point, or because we were there at a different time of day than other people were, but it turned out there wasn't a problem with lines. When we got to Hogsmeade, the line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was listed at 80 minutes. Hard pass. <br />
<br />
But Flight of the Hippogriff was actually only 15 minutes at that point. I passed at first because the butterbeer had made me sick to my stomach. Cyn rode anyway, and said she ended up sitting next to an eight year old who tried to make sure she (my friend, who has been on many, many coasters in her life) wasn't too scared. It was adorable.<br />
<br />
But then later after we'd been wandering a bit I opened the park's app and saw that the line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was under 20 minutes. I couldn't remember details about the ride, because I hadn't researched much, but I decided to go for it. This was both a good and bad decision for a couple reasons.<br />
<br />
First, for the bad thing that really isn't a bad thing, just that I didn't do what I should have. See, the long lines for the ride aren't as much of a problem as they seem because the queue for the ride IS an attraction in and of itself. The line winds around for a tour through Hogwarts itself. We joked that the wait for the ride was 20 minutes because it took that long to walk through it. And that's not really a joke, this video of the full queue is 20 minutes long:<br />
<br />
<iframe width="500" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pCrYLDJwRvs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
The castle is amazing, and we didn't really catch most of it because we were trying to get to the ride before the crowds came. Which was fine, but we totally should have turned around and gone back through the queue just to stop and see it all. It was beautiful.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qeN9d79vDcJ0tKpPlW6nF42yY6qZPsyBdPQaEHFkJsbdAOSWVe1ahYljRvNvBNBbFBKGTLy24BL8QlOVwPSq8vF5ulsjl7vePIWwQSRdvSQZ_Z-GmidmyB2GkHP75J773tdx/s1600/2017-01-13+15.51.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qeN9d79vDcJ0tKpPlW6nF42yY6qZPsyBdPQaEHFkJsbdAOSWVe1ahYljRvNvBNBbFBKGTLy24BL8QlOVwPSq8vF5ulsjl7vePIWwQSRdvSQZ_Z-GmidmyB2GkHP75J773tdx/s320/2017-01-13+15.51.11.jpg" width="320" height="180" /></a></div><br />
I don't have pictures inside the castle proper because I only had my cell phone and the light is too low for it to have worked well, but you can see it in the video.<br />
<br />
What I can't embed a video of is the ride itself. I've watched two or three and none of them are worth it, they don't capture anything about the experience. First, because it's a very dark ride mostly but also because the type of car/restraints mean that a fixed camera POV isn't going to work at all, you'll miss most of what you see from looking around and being actually present on the ride.<br />
<br />
Listen, I had no idea what I was getting into because I hadn't done my research. I was expecting a basic 3-D simulator ride, where you sit in a seat and it bounces around while a video plays in front of you. That is not at all what this ride is. You're in a car that has four seats, and you walk on a moving walkway to get into it. Then it's picked up at the end of the walkway, and your feet are dangling. At this point I'd love to know more about the mechanics, because it must be fascinating. But the ride becomes a mix of a simulator ride, where you're moving along with a 3-D video in front of you, and a traditional thrill ride. There are parts where you're being "tossed" around through the Forbidden Forest and a cave full of dementors, all using practical effects. There were some parts where I got a little antsy, but I would ride it again in a heartbeat. It was a ton of fun, and while I really hate waiting in lines, it'd be worth a longer wait for sure.<br />
<br />
After we got done with that, I decided I'd be fine with riding the Flight of the Hippogriff after all. I mean, I couldn't let an eight year old be braver than me, right? Besides, the ride was less than five minutes.<br />
<br />
The queue for this one is less built up, though you do get to walk past Hagrid's hut. Word of warning: the cars are tiny. I felt very cramped and uncomfortable, just because there was no foot room for me, and I'm super short. I can't imagine riding it if you're six foot tall.<br />
<br />
We rode at sunset, and it was absolutely beautiful, you really get to see the park on this ride. It's also my kind of coaster, if it was a launch coaster instead of a lift hill it would be perfect, though I guess then you wouldn't get the nice sunset.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="500" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2OY5lMZNLrY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
The whole ride is super, super short. And it's not that fast either. Actually, I ended up finding it kind of relaxing almost? It was just really pretty, and I could have ridden it longer. I can see why reviews say it's not worth a long wait, it definitely wouldn't be worth waiting more than maybe ten minutes for as an adult, but it's a fantastic coaster for kids.<br />
<br />
So those are the two Harry Potter rides, more about Hogsmeade next week!<br />
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-75579954633708690732017-01-05T22:11:00.000-05:002017-01-05T22:11:29.939-05:00Moana<table><tr><td valign="top"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moana-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B01MG5L0QM/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1483671080&sr=8-1&keywords=moana+soundtrack&linkCode=li3&tag=ceruleansunco-20&linkId=f056bba7be09b54999d35c4ff83396e0" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B01MG5L0QM&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ceruleansunco-20" ></a><img src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ceruleansunco-20&l=li3&o=1&a=B01MG5L0QM" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /></td><td valign="top">I'm not one of those people who feverishly keeps up with every new development at Disney, but I do pay attention because some of my favorite movies are Disney films. I do have a lot of fond memories of the Disney Princess movies too, though that might be surprising to some who know my tastes. <br />
<br />
But the thing is, I really love modern princess stories. They have a bit of a formula, and a certain set of tropes. But the modern princess story can be really amazing, and thoroughly enjoyable when done correctly.</td></tr></table><br />
Moana is a princess story done correctly, and it is thoroughly enjoyable. It's also a fantastic example of the finest in the "Disney movie" style, as well as just being a really good film on it's own merits.<br />
<br />
I knew that Disney was working on Moana, and I'd seen a few pictures, but it wasn't until the first trailer was released that I started to get really interested. And it didn't hurt that Dwayne Johnson was involved, and posted a video of him recording his lines as Maui as a message on <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.projectrockofficial.rockclock&hl=en">The Rock Clock</a>.<br />
<br />
Plus I just really was looking for a good, optimistic, happy story. I'm just in a mood for more good emotions in my entertainment, and it looked like it would fit the bill. So I made some time about a week after it opened to go to the theater, and I am so glad I saw it on the big screen.<br />
<br />
You've probably read a million things about how amazing and lush the animation is, and those things are all true. Nearly every second is beautiful and inspiring.<br />
<br />
You've probably also read about the songs but I'll take a second to talk about them because I can't believe how much I love the soundtrack to this movie. I haven't been this obsessed with a Disney soundtrack in a very long time, probably since The Lion King. I loved a lot of songs in other movies, but there's only one music cue in the entire soundtrack that I'm not 100% in love with, and that's because it's 90% instead. Honestly, if We Know The Way isn't nominated for best song, then the Academy is officially insane.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="500" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ubZrAmRxy_M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
What you can also see in this clip is one of my favorite things in the movie, and that's the way they show the characters moving. I noticed it at multiple points in the movie the way that they animated dance and movements taken from traditional dances from Pacific Island cultures. I'm not a historian, and I'm especially not a historian of dance styles, but it's something that interests me and I was thrilled to see it peppered throughout the film. I had a similar reaction to the way that the traditional tattoos of their culture were discussed. This was a Disney princess movie where we not only see a character getting a tattoo, but between Grandma Tala and Maui there is a lot of talk about the significant of them. The fact that they didn't leave that out really impressed me, because I could see Disney wanting to sanitize that part.<br />
<br />
The movie is fun, it's paced perfectly, it's got a good message (more than one actually), likable characters, and it elicits genuine emotions. Pretty much every metric I could apply to it, it passes the test.<br />
<br />
I could go through and try to argue with some of the dissenters that have come out to complain about it. I especially would love to spend a lot of time taking apart the inane arguments made by the panelists on one of my favorite podcasts, but I don't feel like even acknowledging it.<br />
<br />
Moana is inspiring, it's enjoyable, and it's just a lovely movie. I highly recommend it.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-68938936729458899872017-01-04T11:58:00.000-05:002017-01-04T11:58:08.813-05:00The Value of "Real Mail"So, probably about a year ago I signed up for the <a href="http://letterwriters.org/">Letter Writer's Alliance</a>. It's a pretty small fee, and you get a cute little membership kit and access to part of their shop that is members only. But the biggest thing I signed up for is they do pen pals.<br />
<br />
I've done pen pal services before and they always kind of faltered, especially because a lot of them seem designed for like a one time exchange. I wanted to actually write back and forth and establish a real connection. So I signed up, and what they do is they send you one address, and they send your address to one person. So you get two pen pals right off the bat.<br />
<br />
In addition, at some point last year I started an effort to send two postcards and one letter each week to friends and family that have said they want to get more snail mail. In part because I like snail mail, and in part because I have literally an entire wooden chest full of postcards, stationary, and stickers and some of them have been in there since I was in middle school which was a very long time ago. And I told myself I couldn't get new stationary and stickers until I used up what I had (I've only kind of stuck to that, but done okay).<br />
<br />
It's been great. I don't get replies as often as I send things out, for sure, but I love putting together everything to send stuff out and it's a nice way to stop and do something non-screen related for a while. I put on some music (I can't do podcasts and write words) and write for a little while. I made a checklist to keep track of where I was in my rotation, so that everybody gets stuff pretty regularly. It's just on the graph paper in the back of my Passion Planner.<br />
<br />
I buy cool stamps, but I also get stamps in big packs so I don't have to worry about it that often. There's no bulk discount for stamps, but if you get forever ones you save some money if you have some when they go up. I've also gotten a few wax seal stamps and wax, but that's another post about how that's going.<br />
<br />
My pen pals from LWA have been great. I've really enjoyed getting to know them, and seeing what all we have in common. They're both very awesome women. A lot of LWA posts make it look like you have to do all this fancy mail art to fit in and that's definitely not the case, my pen pals do all that sometimes and not others. I will put together what I can depending on how busy I am, I figure I'd rather write a letter and send it than put it off until I can make it all impressive. The point is to write in the first place.<br />
<br />
I've been getting more mail, which makes me happy and making connections, which also makes me happy. And I know that I'm making at least a small part of my friend's days nice when they open their mailboxes too. Just remember if you start that it's not about getting replies (you'll get some, I'm sure, especially if you do pen pals) but it's about the joy of sending the mail. If you start from that, it'll be great.<br />
<br />
Send more letters in 2017!Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-57566503026069126432016-09-07T11:50:00.000-04:002016-09-07T11:51:12.520-04:00July 2015 Birchbox plus amazing points haulSo because of how infrequently I was updating for a while, I've fallen over a year behind in reviewing my Birchboxes. So basically what I'm going to do is go ahead and do this one because I'd already set up part of the post, and then next week I'll post about why I'm feeling a little less likely to actually catch up. I might just start up on next month's box reviewing it again, I might not. I'll explain more later.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"><div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"><div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/5QEdMel19B/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">My birthday month #birchbox is so pretty!</a></p><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Elizabeth (@onegirlsreviews) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-07-17T20:43:16+00:00">Jul 17, 2015 at 1:43pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><br />
<br />
This box overall was mostly just okay, as excited as I was about it when I received it, most of that was because of the really gorgeous box design. The items inside didn't leave as much of an impression.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.birchbox.com/shop/mdsolarsciences-mineral-creme-spf-50">MDSolarSciences Mineral Creme SPF 50 Sunscreen</a></strong>: I really disliked this sunscreen, it didn't work well with my skin at all. It had a weird texture (I guess because of the "mineral" aspect) and it felt really powdery and strange, plus I'm pale and it made it way worse. It's ridiculously expensive. I have no idea why Birchbox continually pushes this idea that the more you pay for sunscreen the better it is. You know what I want my sunscreen to do? Protect my skin. You know what does that without all these bells and whistles that do nothing extra? Drugstore brands. Not a single fancy sunscreen I have sampled has done more than smell nice. It doesn't feel less greasy, and it doesn't stop it from burning when it gets in your eye. <br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.birchbox.com/shop/stila-look-at-me-liquid-lipstick-trio">Stila Look at Me Liquid Lipstick</a></strong>: In this box, I got the bright red that I think is called Beso. This is actually quite a nice product, it's got a finish that's unlike anything else I already owned and it's very bright and bold. It's not an everyday look for me, but it's fun and I like it and it really does last a very long time. Somewhere in another box I also got the Bella color, which is pink. It is VERY VERY PINK. It is clown car pink. It is beyond the pinkest pink you can imagine and it's terrible. I've seen pictures online of women managing to pull it off but I have a hard time imagining it in real life. So mind the shade if you order this, but it is a really nice lip color.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.birchbox.com/shop/jouer-luminizing-moisture-tint">Joer Luminizing Moisture Tint</a></strong>: I've probably mentioned before that I can't do any tinted moisturizers because I'm too pale and they don't come in enough shades. This one is a rare product that does come in enough shades for pale girls, so hooray for that. But at the same time it just didn't work for me at all. I don't want things that are "luminizing" or in other words, shiny. When they say they add a subtle glow, they mean there's sparkles, and sparkles don't work for my work environment and generally don't work for me. I also didn't like the texture.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.birchbox.com/shop/liz-earle-skin-tonic-spritzer">Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic Sprtizer</a></strong>: I really wanted to love this one, for a lot of reasons. I like the Liz Earle face wash that I have (a birthday present from I believe the year previous to this box) and I really wanted to switch to using a spray for my toner because I hate swiping it on every day and using cotton balls for it (I tried reusable cotton rounds but it didn't really work as well for me for toner). But the nozzle got gunked up pretty quickly, which was disappointing, and in the end I just don't like spraying my face with this kind of product. Largely because it doesn't really go on evenly and you still have to swipe it with a cotton ball or something to really make it work, so at that point, why did you spray it? Plus how do you avoid getting it in your eyes? It's awkward. So sad it didn't work for me, other people might have better luck. As a toner, it worked really well and I liked it, but the gimmick didn't work for me.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.birchbox.com/shop/amika-undone-texture-spray">Amika Un.Done Texture Spray</a></strong>: This actually is one of the problems I'm having with Birchbox right now. There's a fair amount of hair products, which is okay, but they're almost all entirely geared towards dealing with heat styling or trying to get huge hair. Amika's stuff smells great, but in the end first I'm over aerosol anything, and second, my hair does not need any help being big and "tousled" looking. If I want to get that kind of look, less is more for me. And despite my profile on the site, I keep getting this kind of thing. It left a residue on my hair that I didn't want, and generally isn't something I'm interested in at all.<br />
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<strong><a href="https://www.birchbox.com/men/r-co-atlantis-moisturizing-shampoo">R+Co Atlantis Moisturizing Shampoo</a></strong> and <br />
<strong><a href="https://www.birchbox.com/men/r-co-atlantis-moisturizing-conditioner"></a>Conditioner</strong>: See, more hair products and honestly meh. I don't remember anything about these other than not being impressed. It takes a lot for me to think shampoo is really any different from any other shampoo and these didn't do it. They weren't bad, just not that great either.<br />
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--<br />
Now a slightly depressing look back as a preview to my next Birchbox post:<br />
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"><div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"><div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/5QZxFTl12Y/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">I did not pay a single penny for all of this because @birchbox has the best points program hands down.</a></p><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Elizabeth (@onegirlsreviews) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-07-17T23:49:29+00:00">Jul 17, 2015 at 4:49pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><br />
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This picture is an entire order that I got for free with Birchbox points because I'd been hoarding them for a while and had like $60 worth at the time. For a quick review of the stuff in the picture, the Soap not Radio shower gel smells wonderful and I love their entire line of shower gels. The water bottle became a new favorite very quickly, though it can be a bit hard to use because it's real effort to get the water through the straw. The Paula's Choice face wash is fantastic, and if Birchbox hadn't stopped carrying it right around when I bought it, I'd still be using it (I'll probably switch back after I stop buying as much from Birchbox). The Klorane eye patches are a favorite that I was restocking, and they're really great if you put them in the fridge before you use them. Very relaxing. The Fake Up stick from Benefit I haven't used much since I bought it because I stopped wearing as much concealer and decided people can get over my under-eye circles.<br />
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But as I said, this is kind of a preview for what my next post about Birchbox will be about: a few months ago they gutted their points program and ruined it. It's a shell of what it used to be, and in general this kind of haul will not exist again. It's depressing because I used to fill out surveys for other brands and tell them that they needed to make their points system more like Birchbox because I've found almost no other loyalty points program that was worth bothering with.<br />
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Now Birchbox's really isn't either. And that's kind of a sad day.<br />
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But more on that next week.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-91465582823099040802016-09-07T11:04:00.001-04:002017-01-19T16:12:03.261-05:00The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crow-Trap-Vera-Stanhope/dp/0330518704/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1473260048&sr=8-1&keywords=the+crow+trap&linkCode=li3&tag=ceruleansunco-20&linkId=7c0a91dbd23e4a4a927de41e6384de31" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0330518704&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ceruleansunco-20" ></a><img src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ceruleansunco-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0330518704" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br />
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Years ago, <a href="http://www.onegirlsopinion.net/2013/08/vera-series-one.html">I reviewed the first series of the television series Vera</a>. I had quite a few nice things to say about it, and I've kept up with the show over the years and gotten a few other people to watch it too. It's remained a very good show, and I love the fact that the characters have really grown over the years it's been going. You can see the effects of the things that came before. Especially with Vera, she's almost a different person than she was in the first series, but in a very good way.<br />
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So since I'd caught up with the show and there was a year before new episodes, I thought I'd pick up the first book in the series. Which I ran into a snag with because it's oddly hard to get in the U.S., but I found a used copy eventually. What's upsetting is that I like to buy series of books together to get matching covers and it looks like that will be really difficult with this one, but that's an aside.<br />
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Anyway, it took me a while after I bought it to finally get around to reading it and it was not at all what I expected. Vera doesn't even show up until about a third of the way through the book. I'd waited so long to read it that I'd forgotten entirely about what happened in the episode (a few things came back as I read but not many) and so that was good, I could get caught up in the mystery. As somebody that reads a lot of mysteries, a few plot points were predictable but it was still put together in a way that made it a good story. When I reviewed the show I mentioned that it doesn't fall into the trope of treating the important clue in a way that marks it as the important clue (either by giving it too much or too little screen time). The book does hit that trope a couple times, but I'm not sure how it could have changed that given the format.<br />
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There are a few things that I think are interesting, especially as somebody who came in from watching the show first. Vera's character doesn't have much to recommend her in the book really, though she's very interesting and good at her job, the author goes almost out of her way to talk about how unattractive the detective is (which gets old honestly) and how other characters are a bit repulsed by her. I think if I didn't have Brenda Blethyn's portrayal so firmly in my head that might have changed the way I viewed her. <br />
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The book actually focuses on the women who are affected by the murder case, by using their points of view to explore some of the same events and so you get multiple ways of describing the same characters. That works really well, even if there were some characters I wasn't as interested in, and a few things that still felt a bit underdeveloped or out of left field. <br />
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I was intrigued that DS Joe Ashworth is barely a character here, when he's so important in the series, but maybe that happens in later books. Or maybe he was beefed up for the show, I'm not complaining.<br />
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Either way, the book is good, and worth a read. It'll get you through the waiting for the new series of Vera. I can't wait to read the second one.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-61337821523793960862016-09-05T11:30:00.000-04:002016-09-05T11:30:06.195-04:00Captain America: Civil War<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Marvels-Captain-America-Civil-Blu-ray/dp/B01D9EUNB4/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1473014813&sr=8-1&keywords=captain+america+civil+war&linkCode=li1&tag=ceruleansunco-20&linkId=5b9e3dc4a8cc6aac20b32c31ab14199f" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B01D9EUNB4&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ceruleansunco-20" ></a><img src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ceruleansunco-20&l=li1&o=1&a=B01D9EUNB4" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br />
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If I'm being honest, the moment they announced that the third Captain America movie would be "Civil War" I lost every shred of interest I had in it. Which is really sad because in the Marvel films, Captain America has been my favorite. Partially because of how amazing Peggy Carter was in the first movie, but also just because I really enjoyed the character and Chris Evans' portrayal of him. Which surprised me because in the comics, he's not my favorite.<br />
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But the Civil War storyline in general was one I found boring, and in the context of the Marvel movies it seemed even more boring. It also seemed to be playing into some fan-interpretation weirdness with the characters that I just didn't see in the movies. Ramping up to the release, absolutely nothing made me interested in it again. The trailers, the posters, the marketing hype, nothing drew me in. It still looked boring. I ended up going to see it because my husband wanted to and I figured well, it probably wasn't going to be BAD, just mostly uninteresting. Kind of like Age of Ultron (which I found kind of tedious despite some great moments).<br />
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Reading this you probably think I hate the Marvel movies but the thing is I really don't. I enjoy them quite a bit, and it's revitalized some stories that I'd gotten tired with in the comic books. There's a lot of great stuff in the MCU, and the casting is so pitch perfect that it lets a lot of other things slide.<br />
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Anyway, so Civil War the movie. The movie didn't really end up winning me over. The way I put it to people is that it's the second best Avengers movie, as Black Panther 0.5 it's wonderful. It's even got a few scenes that serve as a great Spider-Man reboot and made me want to finally get around to watching Ant Man. But it was not just the worst Captain America movie, it's very far below the quality of the first two to the point where I don't think it's worth considering it part of the same series.<br />
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It only just barely continues Steve's story, and it twists his character in ways that make no sense except when you think that the Marvel Execs said "we need X to happen" so well, they made X happen. Steve has plenty of faults, but lack of clear communication haven't been on that list until this movie (insubordination, sure, but he says what he means and elaborates on it well usually). Which is infuriating to me because his point of view isn't wrong. The Russo brothers have said that they didn't want either side to be right, which I think comes across actually as a cop-out, but the other thing is that in order to do that they basically had to make Steve have a good point of view and then support it with absolutely nonsensical actions. They've also been saddled with a storyline that has an enormous amount of historical context regarding the efficacy of peacekeeping forces/the UN and ignore that context so thoroughly you wonder if it doesn't exist in their timeline.<br />
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The whole thing comes across less as a "life is complicated and these people have complicated problems to figure out" and more "we wanted interpersonal conflict so everybody stopped talking to each other and acted like five year old's so we could make things go boom and have a cool poster."<br />
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There were amusing bits to be sure, and some great lines. The acting as always was great. But unless they go and put together a "Here, just watch Black Panther's scenes and let the rest fade from your mind" version of it, I probably won't bother watching it again.<br />
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Well, they can include Falcon being snarky to Bucky, that was fun too.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468140.post-9473181682382662802016-09-04T14:29:00.001-04:002016-09-04T14:44:03.899-04:00Dreaming Tree SoapworksI've risen from the dead! I know, this blog has fallen behind on my schedule but I want to get back into the habit so here we are just jumping right back into the swing of things.<br />
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"><div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"><div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/5YHhkWF1ym/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Got my order from Dreaming Tree Soap Works today. All discounted plus some a free sample. Fires At Midnight is so wonderful.</a></p><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Elizabeth (@onegirlsreviews) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-07-20T23:44:01+00:00">Jul 20, 2015 at 4:44pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><br />
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I stumbled on <a href="http://www.dreamingtreesoapworks.com/">Dreaming Tree Soapworks</a> because another indie brand I like had a sample of their soaps and a coupon in my order once. And I'll be honest with you, I can't at all recall which one. Geek Chic Cosmetics maybe?<br />
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Anyway, I checked out their offerings and ordered some stuff to use the coupon and fell in love. <br />
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At first I was a bit cautious because to be honest, I just don't go for solid soaps and that's the main offering at Dreaming Tree. I've probably talked about it before, they're just not my thing. But if they're your thing, the samples I've had are fantastic, and I always end up using them up. The smell is always heavenly, and the sample I have right now (Every Flavor Beans) has this subtle shimmer to it that's really fabulous.<br />
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I go for a couple other things on their website, some of them you can see in my Instagram photo above. <br />
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<b>Velvet Dream Scrub</b>: To just call this a sugar scrub is under selling it. I don't even know how to say how fantastic this scrub is. I've tried scrubs from numerous national brand names, and none of them come close to the Velvet Dream scrub. It really does the job, it feels wonderful while you're using it, and leaves my skin super soft and smelling wonderful. She recently changed her formula a bit, and because I had some already I only just started using a sample of the new formula. It's in a scent called Bombadil, and was a surprise sample in my last order. It's just as wonderful, and the scent is SO good. I can't stand to get sugar scrubs anywhere else anymore, they just don't hold up.<br />
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<b>Silken Reverie Luxury Lotion</b>: This lotion is wonderful, it is easy to rub into your skin and feels great, it's super moisturizing. But that's not the main selling point here, the main point is that it smells wonderful and the smell lingers in just the right way. I have a bottle of Fires at Midnight, which is one of the best scents I've ever smelled in a bath product in my life, and I love using it because of how long it lasts without being overpowering or too much when you first use it. The only problem I have is that I wish she sold travel versions or smaller bottles, because I keep lotion in my purse and would love to have her stuff there too instead of whatever small sample I've gotten from Birchbox lately.<br />
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<b>Magic Stick Body Balm</b>: I got this because I was looking for something that might function kind of like the Julep foot recovery stick that I didn't like that much (bad package design) and I love it. I go for Pure of Heart, though I tried Yeti Foot first. I just like it being unscented, plus several of the scents have lavender (a scent I don't go for, long story) or patchouli which generally doesn't work on me. Nothing against them, just not my style. Pure of Heart is fantastic though, love it.<br />
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<b>Mad Madam Mym's Bath Bubblers</b>: I've only tried one of these, and I'm still really new to using bath bombs and haven't decided really what I think of them in general. The one I tried smelled lovely, and I'll probably try one again at some point. If you like bath bombs I'm sure you'll like them.<br />
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She's also included some of her soy melt samples in my orders before, and I did quite like them. I just have so much scented wax right now that it'll be ten years before I need any more, otherwise I'd fill up on those right now. Her scent formulas are just so wonderful, I've tried so many and they've been wonderful. I think there was only one I didn't love, and it was just not for me because I'm picky.<br />
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Be sure to sign up for her newsletter, she does sales pretty regularly and over on Facebook she will ask for input and advice on what scents people want in upcoming collections. The customer service is also great, there was a recent delay with shipping some orders that was entirely out of her control, and she more than made it up to those of us that were affected. I'm a fan for life.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293278010485513881noreply@blogger.com