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One Local Summer 2016 – Week 9

By Sheetar 22 July 2016 20 July 2016

Well, now I’m really behind, but hey, I’m catching up. I didn’t realize quite how tedious it would be to make dinner for just myself and I’ll admit that most days, the idea of putting all that effort into a meal just for me is just not thrilling at all. I either end up with so much leftover that I’m eating the same meal all week, or it feels like a waste of time to go through all those steps for one or two servings. And to think, I have 3 or 4 more months of this! Time to put on my big girl pants and woman-up I guess, but man.. I’m just suddenly not feeling this at all. And, I’m out of ideas, so if you have a super awesome recipe that incorporates locally grown, seasonal food? I’m open to suggestion! The simpler, the better too.

So, anyway, now that I’ve got my little bitch-fest out of the way, this is Week 9’s dinner. Simple, really, but still good. That’s smoked chorizo with some cheese, grilled zucchini, and pickled (fermented) beets. The beets are white because they were white beets, so no worry about staining everything when I inevitably drip the beet juice everywhere. On the top right is a simple salad with greens, cucumbers, and the first tomato from the garden. Yet again this year, I didn’t get the garden off the ground, having been crazed with everything going on this spring, but I did manage to get three little tomato plants in the ground that the rabbits didn’t completely destroy, so that’s something!

Ingredients:
Smoked Chorizo – Countrytime Farm
Zucchini – Jack’s Farm
Beets – Jack’s Farm
Cucumbers – Jack’s Farm
Lettuce – Charlestown Farm
Tomato – My Garden
Cheese – Birchrun Hills, “Red Cat” cheese
Non Local – olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil

Subscription Boxes

Sephora Play! July 2016

By Sheetar 21 July 2016 20 July 2016

I was FINALLY able to sign up for PLAY! by Sephora just this past month. It appears they’re slowly opening up subscription spots periodically, so if you haven’t gotten an invitation yet, it hopefully shouldn’t be long! Anyway, my first box arrived this week on July 19th. Inside the black and white striped box, there’s a folded insert that shows the products you received as well as a card for 50 Beauty Insider points when you purchase items in-store at Sephora. Underneath that is a bag containing the products. This month’s theme was, “Effortless Summer,” and the bag has a cute pink ice pop design with a lipstick kiss mark next to it. The boxes were apparently a little different depending on your preferences and I know I received the “Dry Skin” variant.

benefit Dew the Hoola – 1 oz / $28 – (Sample size is .16 oz, value of $4.48 by volume) At first I thought, eh, bronzer, because it’s just not a thing I wear generally. I thought the product looked a little dark for my fair skin, but it actually goes on very subtly and makes for a nice summer glow that will definitely work to extend what little natural summer bronzing I pick up from gardening and mowing the lawn. It would definitely be too dark once I fade back to pale in the winter, but this will definitely work for late summer and fall.
First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser – 1 oz / $5.50 – (Trial Size Product) Fragrance free and SLS/ALS free! It foams slightly into a creamy lather and doesn’t irritate my skin or feel drying at all which is rather nice. Definitely going to keep this to slip into my travel bag.
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer – .5 oz / $16 – (Sample size is .25 oz, value of $8) I have a bunch of these that I’ve gotten as free samples on various orders, but it works well enough that I’m not mad to have another one that I’ll use eventually. I really don’t ever do a full-face foundation since I just don’t need it and feel smothered by foundation anyway, but for the times that we’re going out somewhere nice and I do the full dip, this is nice to have on hand.
Ouai Wave Spray – 5 oz / $26 – (Sample is 1.7 oz, value of $8.84 by volume) It smells nice, but it has an ingredient, “Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate,” which is a, “sticky ingredient that can cause hair and scalp dryness, plus strip hair color with repeated use,” according to TightlyCurly.com. I do color my hair with henna and my scalp is already SO DRY, so this is a big miss. Bummer too, because it smells rather nice, but the more I look at ingredients, the more it seems they chose the more irritating ingredients. Plus, my hair is already phone-cord curly, and I really don’t need MORE waves/curls, so this misses the mark in multiple ways. Going to throw this is the trade/give-away box.
Beautyblender Blotterazzi – 1 set / $20 – (Sample is a single blotter, approx value $10) Oh man, peak summer, so I can definitely use this. The little cardboard pack has a single blotter made from the same material as the beautyblender and has a small packet of liquid cleanser inside as well to clean the blotter pad. It’s pink (eew, pink, ugghhh), and I’m not sure how to keep it sanitary while being used since the packaging is cardboard, but I might be able to sneak it inside an old mint tin or something? Still, incredibly useful for summer whether you wear makeup or not.
Nest Citrine Fragrance – 1.7 oz / $68 – (Sample is .004 oz, value of $.16 by volume) Well, I guess it’s good this is the lowest value item in the box because I really don’t like the scent. It’s far too floral for me and in a bad way. One of the scent notes is Freesia and that’s probably what’s turning me off. I like scents that are a little deeper and muskier, with none of the stinky flower shop florals (Jasmine, Freesia, Rose, etc). This is going to the trade/give-away box as well.

The total value comes to $36.98 which is decent for a box that cost $10.60 (including tax). Even when you take out the two things I won’t be keeping, the value is still $27.98 which is above the cost. I’m super bummed about the Ouai spray since it looks like it’s just going to irritate my already sahara-dry scalp, but I may give it a whirl on dry hair and try to keep it down at the ends to see if it helps with frizz. I’m not entirely sure if this box is going to be a hit most months since it’s not cruelty-free and doesn’t contain the hippie-crunchy-granola sort of products I like – it’s more mainstream and popular instead of ingredient-conscious. Still, for $10, as long as the box value keeps exceeding the cost for the items I do keep, it’s worth it! Plus, if you have a Sephora nearby, the 50 points every month add up quickly. Unfortunately my closest Sephora is in the Mall From Hell and between fighting for a parking spot and walking through the mall just to get to Sephora, I doubt I’ll be getting to the store to take advantage of these. Oh well, 4 out of 6 of the items in the box were still worth trying and keeping, so that works for me!

Subscription Boxes

Espionage Cosmetics Nexus – July 2016

By Sheetar 20 July 2016 20 July 2016

It’s that time again! This month’s Espionage Cosmetics Nexus shipment was themed, “Passport to Nihon,” as a sort of tribute to some EC staff who had lived there at one point or another. I had no idea what to expect and this could’ve gone a bunch of different ways, but I was TOTALLY psyched to open the bag and see these two gorgeous designs!

Ukiyo-E Nail Wrap – This is absolutely my favorite wrap between the two and without a doubt the one I’ll be voting and rooting for when it comes time to select which wrap makes it to go into regular sale on the Espionage Cosmetics Website. This one was designed by the ever talented Sam Skyler who really knocked it out of the park.
Neko-Chan – AHHH! How cute! Let’s face it, I’m hopelessly addicted to Neko Atsume, so this is another great design. Little hearts and paw prints alternate with cute little cats all over the wraps. We currently have two dogs, but as a kid we had two cats, and between that and Neko Atsume’s virtual kitties, I’m loving this one and am pleased to see it as part of the shipment this month!

The nail wraps usually cost $10 each on the Espionage Cosmetics website, so the value exceeds the cost of a month-to-month subscription at $15 per month. What’s best is that after the voting ends, you have one fantastic nail wrap that survived the cut and one unicorn of a nail wrap that only Nexus subscribers will ever have which is, not gonna lie, pretty neat. August’s theme has already been revealed too, and it’s, “Bedtime Stories.” I cannot even begin to tell you how psyched I am for that one! In case you’re thinking about subscribing and want to send me some love, hit up my referral link!

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 339

By Sheetar 17 July 2016 17 July 2016

A day late, but I still made it during the weekend for this week’s Sepia Saturday! Our prompt image featured a photo of a cinema, but not having a photo of a cinema in my collection, I went with a photo of a town hall in Philipsburg, PA. We’d probably driven past this town hall a number of times, but once I looked through the trunk of photos found when grandpa passed away, I found this and I KNEW it looked familiar but couldn’t place it. Wouldn’t you know, the next time we drove through that small town, there it was! The building has changed a little since 1951 when my photo was taken, and you can see the current view on Google Maps in Street View. The building was originally the home of the Hope Fire Company, built in 1889, which would explain the big garage doors on the front of the building. In 1960, the Fire Department moved out of the building pictured above and today it serves as the town hall. I’m not quite sure why my grandpa took photos of the building other than that he happened to be thre with a camera. We have tons of photos that he saved and he seemingly always had a camera of some sort or another with him. It’s great though, because even in the somewhat mundane photos that don’t have people in them, you can still find something interesting.

Subscription Boxes

Lip Monthly July 2016

By Sheetar 14 July 2016 14 July 2016

I decided to try out Lip Monthly since they had a special running to get four months for just under $40 which meant the first bag was free. I didn’t realize that the first bag would be a duplicate of an old bag – May’s bag, seen here on My Subscription Addiction. I like everything in the bag, and it’s a really great bag, but I felt like it was a little dishonest to say that my first bag would be free, and instead of sending July’s bag, send out May’s instead as the ‘free’ bag. I can’t say this inspires any kind of faith for the remaining three months of the subscription. But anyway, on to the contents..

Jor’el Parker Fango Mud Therapy – 1 oz / $3 – (Product is sample size) I didn’t even realize that this is a Harvey Prince product until I went to look it up. I do like mud masks, but like all of Harvey Prince’s products, this is HEAVILY scented. Also troubling is that there’s no ingredient list on the product nor is there an ingredient list on the website. I did end up finding one elsewhere and while it’s pretty basic, it’s nothing terribly special either. I’ll still give it a whirl one of these days, but the scent is honestly overpowering. Also! The product card lists the value of this as $10, but I found it on the Harvey Prince website for $3 as the sample size.
Dirty Little Secret Lipstick – 3.8 g / $10 – (Product is full size) On the website, this looks like a perfect scarlet red, but even in the tube it looks more berry colored, almost a little violet. Fortunately, it goes on more towards the berry-red spectrum for me and looks surprisingly great on! It’s not too bright either and is probably my absolute new favorite color which I wasn’t expecting when I opened the tube. Honestly pleasantly surprised by this! The formula is somewhat matte, but doesn’t seem to have a lot of staying power. Still, I like the color that much that this is a big win for me.
So Susan Jello Shot – 4.5 mL / $24.95 – (Product is full size) It’s BRIGHT orange in the tube, but the second I put it on my lips, it turned this sweet shade of pink and stuck around forever. I can’t see using this on my cheeks but it makes for a fantastic lip stain, and yet again, was something that I was a little skeptical about, but ended up being probably the best lip stain I’ve ever tried. It seems like the pink color can vary based on you skin chemistry and temperature, but my pink was a pretty steady Hello Kitty pink-pink.
Manna Kadar Lip Locked Priming Gloss Stain – 5 mL / $24 – (Product is full size) At first glance, the color, Lucky, looks a little bit like a dusty rose tone which never works out on my skin, however, once I put it on, it was basically the perfect neutral for my lips. Most neutrals completely wash me out and make me look like a corpse, but this has enough red/pink in it that it almost nearly perfectly matches my natural lip color. So, score again for a product I never ever would’ve thought to pick up that ended up being a total winner. The formula isn’t a gloss or stain like the name implies – it’s definitely more like a liquid lipstick than anything else, but the website says it contains a stain, primer, and pigment all in one.

The total value comes to $61.95 which is pretty fantastic when you consider this bag cost me just under $10. I’m honestly a little torn.. while I’m a little bothered by the lack of transparency on the website about the ‘free’ bag being a previous month’s bag, I’m honestly super happy with the three lip products and will give the mud mask a go because I do love a good mud mask. On their Facebook page, they mentioned that they chose the May bag as the free bag because it had great customer feedback, and I see why, but I am a little disappointed that I’m not getting the actual July bag though I’ve not yet seen anyone post that one online. I feel like I need to repeat myself because I DO like the bag, but the misleading advertising is troubling. I’ve still got three months left, so we’ll see how things go.

Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 338

By Sheetar 9 July 2016 7 July 2016

For this week’s Sepia Saturday, our prompt image featured a man walking down a street. My photo here is instead of a man standing, but wearing about the same clothes and holding the same sort of hat as the man in our photo! This is clearly taken in the winter and likely near his childhood home – there are no leaves on the trees and it looks like there’s snow or ice on the ground. If I had to guess on a date for the photo, I’d say probably mid to late 1920s. The man in the photo is Waldo Orvis Powis, born 5 April 1906 in Beccaria, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania and died on 3 Jul 1981 in Flushing, Queens, New York. My great grandmother was this man’s sister and wrote on the back of the photo with the handwriting indicative of her later years, “Waldo, Jack the Duke.” I’ve seen Waldo referred to as Jack a number of times, and while I’m not sure how he came across that nickname, I can only imagine he preferred it to Waldo!

Waldo married Irma Catherine McGarvey on 10 April 1926. He later divorced her on 1 October 1934 and married not even a year later on 3 August 1935 to Anna Josephine Capko. He spent two years in the Navy from 1942 to 1944. At some point before 1950, but after his Navy service, he moved to Queens and lived there with Anna till his death in 1981. He had two children with Irma, Shirley and Kenneth, though it looks like the kids went with their mother to Minnesota.

It’s not necessarily a super special photo this week, but a nice one nonetheless, probably taken by his sister, Olga. I’m glad Olga went back and pencilled on a label, though I’m fairly sure I could’ve identified this as Waldo without the label at this point. Looking forward to next week!

One Local Summer

One Local Summer 2016 – Week 8

By Sheetar 6 July 2016 5 July 2016

More than 5 ingredients this week for One Local Summer! I decided to get a little more ambitious after having seen dill at the farmers market and decided to go for chicken pitas (pita recipe) with a tzatzki-ish sauce. Unfortunately, I neglected to run back and grab a cucumber, but managed to cobble something together that worked well enough. The pitas were done on the grill using our pizzaque – they seem to work best this way since the stone gets really hot and a quick open and close of the grill keeps the internal temperature high enough for them to puff up perfectly. After the pitas were done, on went the mushrooms and fennel with the zucchini sliced right beside it and then the chicken with a healthy spring of dill on top. Then on the side is a simple salad with some cheese and more of the tzatzki-ish sauce as dressing. The sauce is a goat’s milk yogurt base with garlic scapes and dill added to the yogurt. It was a really nice meal for a warm summer week, and being able to cook everything outside on the grill made everything easier since I didn’t heat up the house!

Ingredients:
Chicken – Deep Roots Valley Farm
Zucchini – Jack’s Farm
Fennel – Jack’s Farm
Garlic Scapes – North Star Orchard
Dill – North Star Orchard
Cheese – “Pepito” from Yellow Springs Farm
Goat’s Milk Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Lettuce – Charlestown Farm
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Flour – Mill at Anselma
Honey – Our Hives
Non Local – Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Yeast

Subscription Boxes

Kloverbox June 2016

By Sheetar 5 July 2016 6 July 2016

June’s Kloverbox, and my last from Kloverbox. This one arrived July 2nd, but it’s most definitely the rather late June box. I’m going to admit that I’m not all that impressed with this one, in part due to the company’s lack of presence/activity this month on social media, lack of communication about the lateness, and yet again, no product card in the box. I assume that’s going to be emailed just like last month, which is fine, but I would’ve appreciated a heads up on the delayed delivery and the missing product card before the box shipped. It just all leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so I have no regret over my decision to unsubscribe.

180 Snacks Nutty Quinoa Bites – 1 pack / $1.86 – I received the version with Cranberries and rice. It was good, not sure it was almost $2 per pack good, but they were crunchy with a little bit of sweet which was nice.
Harvey Prince Keravegan Masque – 1 oz / $3 – (Sample size product) This is a big nope. I’m really not into anything Harvey Prince, so to see them two months in a row is a real bummer. Their products are just too heavily perfumed and scented and they never seem to be natural scents that I find pleasing. This is going straight to the trade pile.
Lillian Eve Matte Top Coat – .5 oz / $12 – (Full Size Product) This is the only thing out of the box that I really like! I already gave it a quick try, and it’s a nice matte coat. Dries pretty quick, and it doesn’t feel super thick like some other matte coats. It probably isn’t what I’d call completely matte, maybe more pearl or semi-matte, but I do like it and will definitely use it.
Baggu Tote Pack – 1 tote pack / $14 – (Full Size Product) I honestly don’t like the print or the concept/shape and apparently neither did anyone else since this is on sale on the Baggu website for $14 when other prints are priced at $26. I can’t see myself actually using this in public – it’s SUPER bright and it’s just an awful color.. I might use it for carrying stuff when we’re canoeing? Give it to a hunter for high visibility/safety? It doesn’t make for a good backpack since the straps are the closure on the backpack and there’s no way to adjust the straps after closing the pack, and it doesn’t work as a tote bag either since the shape is tapered at the bottom with gussets to work as a backpack. It’s just not my style at all and for being the big ticket item in the box, it’s a big fail for me.

So, the total comes to $30.86 which is really low again for this box that costs between $25 and $22.50 depending on subscription length.. It’s the lowest value yet and again, it’s making me feel rather settled with my decision to cancel. I’m not sure if the owner has something going on or if there are problems with the company, but I’d really appreciate some transparency instead of delivery of really sub-par boxes. They could skip delivery on a month and take the time to regroup and catch up and get back on schedule (their website says they ship between the 15th and 18th of every month, but I’m not sure that’s ever happened during my whole subscription), but at this point, I’m so disappointed that I have no interest in continuing. Best of luck to them though! I hope they work out whatever is going on and come back better than ever.