LolaGeek

A few weeks ago, I was napping with QVC on (it’s great to nap to), and happened to wake up in time to see the Ninja Kitchen System Pulse. I’ve had the Ninja Master Prep for a couple years now, and it’s nice, but shortly after I got it they came out with the 3-blade version, so I’ve had blade envy (the two blades in mine never seem to reach everything). And with all the baking I’d been doing this winter, I kept thinking it would be nice to have something other than a hand-held mixer. This set was on special, so I went ahead and ordered it.

The main difference between this and the Master Prep is that they’ve gone to a more traditional blender/food processor design, with the motor in the base and a pitcher or bowl that sits on top. But there are no buttons on the base. The only thing the Ninja does is pulse, and you do this by pressing down on the lid of the container you’re using. This set comes with a couple different options:

• A pitcher with corresponding top and storage lid, and blades
• A bowl with corresponding top and storage lid, and blades
• Two 16-oz cups you can blend in, with sipping lids; one cup-sized blade
• Two discs with different slicing/grating/shredding options for the food processor
• Dough paddle (for mixing)
• Dough blade (for kneading)

I wanted to try it out right away. Here’s the things I’ve done so far:

• Slicing: I ran an apple through using the slicing disc on the food processor bowl. It was really fast! And made perfect, even slices. The down-side is that you have to cut things into small enough pieces to fit into the slot on the food processor lid. (A quarter of an apple fit perfectly.) So if I were just doing one apple, and I already had the knife out, I’d probably just go ahead and cut the thing myself, rather than dirty the whole Ninja. But if, like GG suggested, I was slicing up a bunch of apples like for apple pie, this would make it go really quickly. I also used it to quickly and evenly slice up a bunch of bell peppers for fajitas. I don’t mind slicing, but I had so much to do, this made it go much faster.
• Shredding: I used the shredding disc on the food processor to grate a bunch of cheese for making mac and cheese. Last time I made this meal, I grated 1 1/2 big blocks of cheese with my box grater, but this made it so easy – just shoved it in, and ended up with a couple buckets full of shredded cheese. This was pretty soft block cheddar, but it went through the food processor just fine. The only problem was that a couple little chunks of cheese ended up getting caught in the nooks and crannies of the lid. To just do a little cheese it wouldn’t be worth it, but to save me 15 minutes of grating time, it worked well.
• “Snow” and Smoothies: One of the features they talk about a lot is the Ninja’s ability to crush ice into “snow.” And something I’ve used my previous Ninja for is to make smoothies with frozen fruit and milk (and whatever else – cram some spinach in there, you’ll never taste it!). So I crushed up some ice cubes, and yes, it made pretty nice snow. It wasn’t 100% even, there were some bigger bits here and there, but for the most part it was very good. To my snow, I added some frozen strawberries and peaches, and a little milk, and ended up with a very nice smoothie.
• Single-Serve Cup: I made a breakfast smoothie in one of the cups, which turned out great. I put in a single ice cube first, and ground it up into “snow.” Then added my fruit, milk, and honey, and blended everything together. The cup actually sits upside-down on top of the base, and you press on the cup to make it blend. There was no leakage or anything. I could have switched to a sippy lid and drank straight from the cup, but I transferred mine to a glass, so I can’t speak to the quality of the lids. I wouldn’t call them “travel” lids, though, because they don’t seal shut completely – there is a little opening to drink out of.
• Mixing: This was the last thing I was waiting to try before posting this review, and it was a little disappointing. I used the dough paddle to mix cake batter (which is on the list of things you can mix), but I would have gotten better results just stirring it in a bowl myself. I feel like a lot was wasted because it got stuck up in the lid of the bowl, or in the little slots of the mixing paddle. The parts that did pour out of the bowl were well-mixed, but it wasn’t worth the time and effort of scraping out all the little bits that got stuck everywhere. I may try this again the next time I make cookie dough, but for just regular mixing of boxed cake mix, I don’t recommend the Ninja.

Based on my experience with this and my other Ninja, here are my main tips:

• Be gentle. Both of these basically work by interlocking plastic gears to attach the components to the motor. If you’re rushing and just cram it together, you’ll strip those gears and break it. So take your time and make sure everything is assembled correctly.
• Start with quick pulses until it seems like everything is pretty well blended/chopped. Then you can do longer and longer pulses to smooth it all out. If you just do a long pulse from the beginning, half the stuff in your bowl won’t get chopped.
• Blend similar-textured things together. If you’re doing ice, crush the ice first, then add your other ingredients.

I ordered the Mally 24/7 Professional 17 piece Gel Nail Polish System from QVC at the end of August. As a recovering nail biter, I have to just keep my nails painted. I usually only have time to do my nails once a week, so usually by the time I put on a fresh coat, things are looking pretty ragged. So I really liked the idea of having a beautiful manicure that lasts for two weeks without chipping. And I liked that this system uses LED lights, rather than UV. The kit was on special, and I justified it by calling it my birthday gift to myself.

The set arrived surprisingly quickly, and I wasn’t ready to try it yet, so I had it hanging around for a couple weeks. During that time, I read some more reviews, and while most people seemed thrilled with everything, some people (who seemed to have actually used the kit) had some complaints about the products and process. There were even a couple horror stories, and I was pretty close to just packing everything up and returning it. But I decided to at least give it a shot.

Attempt 1: From start to finish, the entire process took about an hour. There are a lot of steps and different products you put on your nails to prepare them. Then you do the base coat, two coats of color, and the top coat. I was not really thrilled with the four color options that came in this kit, but ended up using Aristocrat, which is a kind of beige color, similar to one of my favorite regular polishes. There are other Mally brand options you can get from QVC, and of course there are also other gel polish brands out there. The final step is the top coat, and once that’s on, the manicure is supposed to be good to go until you take it off (and you really have to want to take it off). My only complaint about the application process was that the color on a couple nails got kind of blobby and bubbly, and then was stuck like that until I removed it. There were no bubbles when I put my fingers under the curing lamp, so I don’t know what happened there.

I applied it on a Saturday, and I removed it the following Thursday night, only because my nails had grown out so much that the length was bothering me, and the grown out part without polish looked kind of unattractive. But I had spent the week picking labels off of things, cleaning bathrooms, typing, and living my normal life without any thought of protecting my nails, and they remained completely shiny and chip-free. By Thursday morning the tips were just starting to look like they were wearing off.

Removal was kind of a pain. The first step is to break the seal or remove the shininess from the nails by using a nail file across them. I’d heard some bad stories about this step, so to be a little more gentle, I used the coarse side of a buffer. Rather than soak my fingertips in a bowl of acetone for 20 minutes, I used the “cotton ball” method: soak a cotton ball in acetone, put it over the nail, and hold it in place by covering your fingertip with foil, leaving it on for 15-20 minutes. You can only do one hand at a time, since you need the fingers of your other hand to apply the cotton balls and foil. Then you pull off the foil fingertips and use a tool to scrape the nail polish off, and according to the videos I’d watched, it just comes right off. Well, not in real life. This was another area where I’d heard some horror stories of the top layer of the nail coming off, which of course will weaken nails if done on a regular basis. So to be more gentle, I used a wide wooden orange stick, rather than the metal tool that came with the kit. After spending about 15 minutes on each nail on most of my first hand, I finally gave in and used a metal tool (my own, not the one that came with the kit, which seems extra sharp and scrapey). That worked slightly better, but it did sort of feel like I was scraping off the top of my nail. Then I applied a couple layers of nail strengthener, and moisturized my cuticles very well, because all that acetone is really drying.

Attempt 2: I’d seen something called the “gelly sandwich” technique, in which you use the gel polish prep and base coat steps, then use regular nail polish for the color, and then the gel top coat. People use this method so they can use the colors from their existing nail polish collection, or have more of a variety of colors than gel polish often comes in. However, it was really the base/bonding steps that concerned me about gel polish. So I used a regular strengthening base coat, followed by one of my favorite fast-drying nail polishes. The main thing to keep in mind when combining regular and gel nail polish is that the regular stuff needs to be really dry before applying any gel on top. So even though mine was fast-drying, I waited a few hours before then applying the gel top coat. It looked perfect! A couple hours later, I noticed that the polish on one of my thumbs was really messed up – what happens if the layers underneath aren’t completely dry is that it sort of ripples under the gel layer and causes little ridges. When I got out of bed the next morning, I saw that the same thing had happened, but not as severely, on a couple other fingers. I added a layer of regular top coat just to smooth things out, but it wasn’t really that noticeable. I guess if I try this technique again, I would wait even longer before applying the gel top coat, maybe overnight.

I think this method wore even better than the full gel manicure. The very edges of the tips did wear away a little sooner, but I think that’s because I never do that step where you go back and swipe across the tip. I didn’t take any special care with my nails all week, and did just as much cleaning, typing, scratching, etc. as I did the week before. Everything stayed shiny and chip-free for a full week, and probably could have lasted longer if I weren’t so anxious to see how removal went. It was a breeze! Regular nail polish remover didn’t work (I thought maybe it would seep under the edges and remove everything from underneath), but using the pure acetone from the gel kit took off all layers, immediately. I didn’t even do the soaking thing, I just rubbed it off with a cotton ball like I normally would.
[Edit - 10/7] I tried this method again – this time I did the color at night, and the gel top coat the following morning. I think this gave it plenty of time to dry, and there was no cracking or wrinkling. It turned out perfect! [/Edit]

One other technique I’d like to experiment with would be using gel color and top coat over a regular base coat. Maybe next week, as I’m giving my nails a week off right now :o)

Overall, I’m happy with the kit. Yes, you could buy everything separately and save a little money, but if you’re just getting started with gel polish and don’t know exactly what supplies you need, this makes it very easy. As I run out of things, I will most likely restock them from Sally Beauty Supply, rather than ordering more Mally products from QVC. Also, I wasn’t really thrilled with the polish colors that came with this set. It included two very pale pink shades (one of which I believe is sheer), a bright red, and Aristocrat, the brownish one that I used and liked. However, I looked at the selection of Gelish colors at Sally, and there were way more options. Plus, like I mentioned, you could layer it with any regular nail polish. Mally also claims her kit has one additional preparation step that others don’t, but I think it’s just something that dries out your nails a little more. Probably not awesome for you, or 100% necessary. The light is nice and seems to work well, my only suggestion is that I might add some kind of lip to the top of the opening, so the bright light doesn’t shine up into your eyes when using it. Also, you need to cure your thumbs separately from your fingers because the light isn’t that deep or wide, but I know there are larger ones where you can fit an entire hand at one time. And one improvement they made to this kit since it was first introduced earlier this year was to include a zip-up case that everything fits into, which is very convenient for storage.

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment: I do not like adding oily things to my hair. But especially when the weather gets this humid, I am desperate to keep the frizzies away. So I had a coupon for a Garnier product and decided to give this a try. I am so happy with it! It has a nice scent (I’m always kind of particular about scents for hair products, because you end up smelling them all day). There is a little silicone in it, so it also acts as a heat protectant for styling. And it’s made a noticeable difference in my frizz level! Today, for example, the humidity level was about 101%, and usually I wouldn’t even want to think about what my hair looks like, but it actually did not look horrible. You can use this on wet or dry hair, I use about a nickel-sized amount while my hair is wet. It says it will last three days, which I don’t know about, but I try not to use it too many consecutive days just so the oiliness doesn’t catch up with me. But I am definitely a fan!

Too Faced Tinted Beauty Balm: I’ve been hearing more and more about “beauty balm” or “BB cream” lately. I know a lot of dedicated users say the best comes from Korea, where the product was invented, and that they are cheaper, even with shipping, than most of the western brands. But I wouldn’t even know where to begin looking for that and I just wanted to try it out before expending all that effort, so I got the Too Faced version from Sephora. I have sensitive combination skin, and seem to break out at the drop of a hat, sometimes even from products that I’ve used forever with no problems. So I was unsure how this would work out, but it’s really fabulous! I use this in the mornings instead of my usual moisturizer/SPF and liquid foundation. It has a pleasant, kind of powdery scent, and a nice light texture. You do not feel like you’re wearing makeup, it really is more like a tinted moisturizer. So I will actually layer my powder foundation over it if I’m going out (which is something I would do over liquid foundation before, and I think that was like too many layers for my face and I would break out sometimes). I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now and no issues, so I think this is a winner! When I run out, I may try to track down some of the Korean stuff though, just to try it…

Clinique Almost Powder Makeup: While we’re talking about foundation, my new favorite is this Clinique powder. I’d been using a mineral powder made by a girl on Etsy for a few years, but it was getting more expensive every time I needed to restock, and it was also sort of a pain to order from her (lost orders, etc.). Then I tried Bare Minerals, and it made me break out! (I learned that there is an ingredient in it that causes that for some people, even though it’s supposed to be so good and natural.) I’d been wearing just liquid foundation for a while, but in the summer I like a powder. So I asked at Sephora what they recommended, and the girl took me over to the Clinique area. I really like this product! It’s more of a solid, but I apply it with my big brush, which picks up just the right amount. It’s good on its own, or layered over liquid foundation or the BB cream. And my skin likes it! (No picture because it’s just a boring green square, haha!)

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Glass Slipper: This is a fun way to jazz up some nail polish you may be getting bored with. It’s in the Diamond Strength line, but to really see how it looks just do a Google image search. It’s got big chunks of silver glitter, which is exactly what I was looking for, I’m sick of delicate little pixie dust glitter polish. And it distributes really evenly across the nail, which is so important – the last glitter polish I tried was like tinsel bits, and you were lucky if you ended up with two on your nail, and of course they weren’t evenly spaced from each other. This stuff works very well. Seriously, check out the image link above for examples of how it looks layered on top of all kinds of colors! (My favorite is to layer it on top of Sally Hansen Speed Dry in Rose Rush, which is sort of a purple-based hot pink; the combo reminds me of something Barbie might wear.)

Body Shop Almond Nail & Cuticle Oil Pen: I’ve never had much luck with cuticle oil pens, because I didn’t use them faithfully. I purchased this on a whim while using up a LivingSocial coupon at the Body Shop. I picked it up and the saleswoman started gushing about how much she liked it. She was right! I noticed a difference after the first use. It has a delicious nutty scent, and it’s not an overly greasy or liquidy texture. The brush is nice and flexible. And the best part, there is a soft rubber cuticle pusher on the cap, so you can push your cuticles back after applying, no excuses for forgetting. I just used mine up and I’m very disappointed – I have a couple other ones I bought to try, but they’re just not the same. So another trip to the Body Shop is in my future…

I’ve read some nightmare stories about people returning items to Target, but I’ve had to return things there numerous times (purchased both in store and online) and have never had a problem. Today I thought I might have my first problem. I went yesterday and bought a number of items, including three bras. One of them didn’t have a tag, so the cashier just scanned one of the other ones twice. When I got home, I realized that not only was the tagless one a different style, it was a totally different size (it must have been hung on the wrong hanger). I took it back today, not sure if I’d be able to return it since it technically wasn’t on my receipt, but the guy at the customer service desk took care of it in seconds. Go Target!

This has been a weird week because of the holiday on Wednesday. Monday was a crazy busy day at work, and Tuesday felt like a Friday. Wednesday felt like a Saturday all day, GG and I went to the mall and had lunch out, then I played a concert that night. It was extremely hot out. Wednesday night felt like a Sunday, because GG had to go to work the next day, but actually I’d taken Thursday and Friday off. I still did have to do a bit of work these couple days, but nothing too strenuous. Yesterday I went out early to do some shopping, then I had an acupuncture appointment (number nine!), then I made dinner and GG and I hung out until bedtime. Today I returned that bra and did my food shopping for next week.

And speaking of Target, while I was there I picked up a bottle of Garnier Fructis Moroccan Oil Treatment. I’ve only used it for one day, but I’m very pleased! It’s extremely hot and humid, but my hair is soft and non-frizzy! (I won’t go so far as to call it “sleek.”) This also does not smell horrible, claims it will last for three days, and a very little bit goes a long way, so the small bottle will last a while.

As I mentioned last week, I have joined the rest of modern society and gotten myself a smartphone. After a lot of research, I chose the MyTouch 4G Slide, because it’s super powerful (I don’t want to have to upgrade again for a while), and has a physical keyboard. Also, it’s got a pretty amazing 8 MP camera (my actual camera camera is only 6 MP!). The first thing I noticed when I started using it was that it eats batteries. I knew that going to a more powerful phone would mean having to recharge every day, compared to my old feature phone which I could use pretty heavily and still recharge just every couple of days. I know you can turn off various services and functions, or you could just not use your phone, but what is the point of having this powerful device that you’re afraid to use because you might run out of power while you’re out somewhere?

So I started researching about the battery, and found that hardcore users often upgraded to one of two brands of high-capacity batteries. HTC is good at making phones, but doesn’t specialize in batteries, so it’s a good idea to upgrade – plus, I bought my phone used from eBay, so who knows exactly what the situation was with the stock battery anyway? It certainly wasn’t brand new. So after researching, I went with the Anker brand batteries, which are a good brand and a little bit higher capacity than the stock HTC battery. They sell a set on Amazon for like $30 that includes two batteries and a universal battery charger (so you could have one in the phone and be charging the other). I am so happy with them! I have been keeping all the notifications and background synching on, using it what I’d consider a “normal” amount to make calls, send e-mails, check Facebook and Twitter, play Draw Something, take and post photos, etc., and the battery can last over 24 hours.

With the battery problem solved, the other thing I needed to do was get a case. This is highly recommended to protect the phone in case you drop it, of course, and also to protect it from dust. Apparently, dust can get under the screen and this can be a big issue (I had no idea!). There are a few options and styles, but the one I kept seeing mentioned as the best is the Trident Aegis. I ordered one, and meanwhile I kept looking, just in case. The other case I saw a lot of people mention was the Fishbone, which was less than half the price of the Trident, so I ordered one of those as well and figured I’d choose in person and send back the other one. The Trident arrived first. It is very bulky looking, and there is a large logo on the back. It’s supposed to be better because it covers more of the holes on the phone (speaker, various jacks and ports, microphones, etc.), but that makes it look very hardcore. When the Fishbone case came, I put it on immediately and have been very pleased. It has the same two-layer padding that the Trident does (there is softer rubber against the phone, and then a hard outer shell over it), so it seems pretty protective. It doesn’t cover over the front of the phone so much, covering the speaker and all, but I prefer this look. Also, there is no logo on it – the logo, I guess, is just the “fishbone” design on the back. It goes on and off pretty easily, but it’s not like it’s going to fall off. All the holes and cutouts are in the right place, and the slide mechanism still works smoothly. So I am going to keep the Fishbone and send the Trident back.

My other accessory is a stylus, which I pretty much got just to play Draw Something. I’m not even going to mention the brand, because it was like $5 and it sucks. My main problem in Draw Something is trying to do detailed things on my little phone screen with my big fat finger. The stylus is basically like a fat finger in pen form. I should have sprung for one with a finer point. Oh well, I guess it helps slightly…

The phone itself, I love. I’m not going to bother with a real review because I don’t know all the technical stuff well enough and I still feel a little dumb trying to figure out how to do things, but for the most part I’ve got it set up the way I want and have the apps I need, etc. I feel like I’ve caught up with everyone else with smartphones (and even surpassed everyone with iPhones, since there’s so many things they can’t do, like play Flash).

When thinking about writing this post, I just kept thinking of Tally Hall’s “Natural Ketchup” sketch. “Can you put it on French fries?”

Anyway, this post is about shampoo. As I was running out of my normal shampoo and surprisingly did not have any more stockpiled away, I thought maybe I should switch to something more organic, and less likely to give me cancer with all the chemicals. There are a lot of options out there, and I didn’t really want to waste time and money trying a bunch of stuff, so of course I turned to my friend J for advice. She has been doing the all organic thing since her kid was born a few years ago, and recently announced that she has switched out all her chemical-laden beauty products for natural ones. (Except I think she still gets acrylic nails? Whatever, I’m not judging.)

J recommended the shampoo and conditioner from Organic Excellence, which are also highly recommended by one of her favorite bloggers, The Glamorganic Goddess. This stuff is not cheap! But, they all said it is the best. J even gave me a couple almost empty bottles so I could sample it for myself. I tried it out for a week. The first day or so, I didn’t really notice a difference. After that, my hair started feeling dirty when I was fresh out of the shower. Like it was second-day hair. By the end of the week, I just felt gross. I considered using this stuff every other day, alternating with my regular deadly shampoo, because even 50% less chemicals would be an improvement, right?

But I decided to try one more option. When I asked for shampoo recommendations at my favorite green living message board, someone suggested Nature’s Gate. Guess what – there are about a million Nature’s Gate options, I learned when I got to the store. The first thing I noticed is that there is a second line, Nature’s Gate Organics, so I decided to just look at these products. I ended up choosing the Lavender and Aloe “for all hair types” shampoo and conditioner, and I’ve been using it for several days now. I love it. It was rated a 5 in the EWG database, and its score comes mostly from the fragrance it contains, but it is the last ingredient in the list. And I’m sure this product is still better to use than regular shampoo. Anyway, if it kills me, at least my hair will look good…

Well, here is yet another review of eShakti by a blogger, though it’s probably not what they had in mind. If you were not aware, eShakti is an India-based clothing company that offers the option to customize almost everything they sell, either by creating pieces to your personal measurements, or by customizing things like sleeve length, skirt length, or neckline. Sounds like a great idea, right? They seem to have offered every female blogger on the internet a free item of clothing to review, and all the reviews are glowing. But if you just search a little deeper, you’ll see that non-compensated reviews are quite negative, complaining about the experience and the quality of clothing, and there are also quite a few BBB reports on them. So I always read those compensated reviews with a skeptical eye.

So imagine my surprise when “Jennifer” from eShakti e-mailed to offer me the opportunity to select a free item of clothing to review! They must have finally come to the end of the internet! I wrote back the next day to accept the offer and see what information they would need from me and how this would work. She said that I could select any item from the site, and could try the custom sizing if I wanted. I deliberated for a couple days, trying to decide what item to choose that I would actually wear, that I could also take advantage of the custom sizing, so I was looking for some kind of button-down shirt or something (I always have a problem with those, hmm). In the end, I ended up writing back four days after I received that initial e-mail, with all my measurements for a custom jacket.

The next day, the jacket was gone from the web site. That seems to be a common problem – items appear and disappear from the site all the time. I understand that if they just have small quantities or are creating custom items, they may not have a ton of stock, but it would be nice to get some warning (e.g. posting on the item’s page when there are only 5-10 left, or leaving the item posted for a time with a “sold out” note, rather than having it just mysteriously disappear).

Since then, I received no communication from Jennifer, even though I followed up again with an e-mail a week later, asking if I should select a different item. I still hadn’t provided my address, so you’d think they would have at least wanted that piece of information.

Meanwhile, I created an account on the site and placed my own order. Per the web site, orders are shipped the morning of the fourth business day after they are placed (even custom orders), and received within seven to ten days. Though I did get an e-mail after a few days from “Gina” advising me that my credit card had been charged, looking at my account on the web site, the status was “Processing at ESHAKTI,” as of the evening of business day seven. What does that mean? Has it shipped yet? Have my custom items even been produced? Finally, the morning of business day eight, I received a notification that my order was shipping, with a DHL tracking number.

I came home on the evening of business day twelve to see that DHL had been here and wanted my signature. For clothes?! I signed the back of the form they left and stuck it on the door. Finally, on business day thirteen a small box arrived. Surely this couldn’t contain a dress, shirt, and two scarves..? But it did! Each piece was packed in its own plastic bag, and for some reason the order also included a tape measure (I sent you my custom measurements, so obviously I already have one, but whatever, I’ll take it). The scarves were in good shape, but the shirt and dress were horribly wrinkled. I’m going to have to work some major steam magic on those pieces. The fabrics were also much stiffer and rougher than I was expecting. However, thanks to the custom sizing, for the first time ever I am able to wear shirts that have a defined “area” where your chest is supposed to go, and have things actually fall in the right place (for the most part). I love the shirt. The dress has some other issues, as I can’t really move my arms, but I’ll have to deal with that because it’s otherwise fine and I don’t really want to return it. So here’s my piece-by-piece review:

Surplice Shirtdress

This dress is cute and fits like a glove. I used the custom sizing to fit it to my measurements, and with the custom styling options I kept the neckline and cap sleeve as shown, but changed the length to knee length. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are pockets! However, the skirt is a bit fuller than I’d expected, so I don’t know that I’d be able to pull off wearing it so casually. The fabric is very stiff, and it was a little tight getting on and off, despite the side zipper. Also, I can’t raise my arms with the little cap sleeves, I wish I had gone sleeveless.

Knot Front Tee

I liked this shirt as soon as I saw it, because it reminded me of another shirt I have that I like, even though it’s kind of blobby on me. Thanks to the custom measurements, this one fits perfectly. I also customized the sleeves to elbow length. The neckline is pretty deep, though, so it definitely needs a camisole or something under it. The color is beautiful, but the “cotton jersey knit” is rougher and stiffer than I expected. Also, it was really tough to get on. It wasn’t until after I’d tried it on and taken it off the first time that I noticed there was a small side zipper – I used it the second time I tried the shirt on, and it was a little easier.

Ruffled Row Scarf

I’m not a fan of this scarf‘s pom-poms, but I love the color. Today was the first really cold day we’ve had in a while, and I wore this scarf as part of my bundling and it kept me warm. But because of its bulk, I don’t know if I’ll ever end up wearing it just as part of an outfit. I have no clue how to drape it to look like the picture on the web site. Also, the texture is a little rough and it has kind of a smell to it (plastic?).

Fin-de-Siecle Loop Scarf

I really like this circle scarf. It’s completely not my usual style, but it was fun to wear out on New Year’s Eve (and a very cool-looking girl outside a tattoo shop took a break from her cell phone call to call out “Cool scarf!” as I walked past). Doubled up it’s a little awkward looking, and draped just once it’s a bit bulky, so it definitely calls for wearing the right clothes underneath. And I wouldn’t wear it for keeping warm (it was warm, but not for cold weather).

My verdict: I am not a fan of the customer service, and especially not with being led on with the promise of a free item to review. The fabrics are not what I was expecting. But if you want a really custom-fit piece, this is a reasonable option (if you consider the cost of buying an item of clothing and having it tailored). There is also no reason to pay full price, they are constantly having sales and special offers, or you can easily find a discount code via a blogger who’s partnered with them, and if you use eBates, they will give you 10% cash back. I probably would order from them again, if there was something I was really interested in and there was a good sale or discount code available. But take those compensated reviews with a grain of salt, because the experience and products are not as amazing as they make it sound.

[Edit - 1/5] The day after I wrote this, “Jennifer” e-mailed me, thanking me for my candid review, and apologizing for overlooking my last message to her. She offered to still send a sample item for me to review, so if she doesn’t lose my e-mail this time, I may still do the sponsored review. She also mentioned that people are more likely to complain on the internet than to take the time to write good comments, which I agree with, and assured me that sponsored bloggers are not provided text for their reviews, which I was not insinuating at all. I just find it fishy that all the sponsored reviews are very positive, and all the non-sponsored reviews are negative. So I’m glad to have had the opportunity to share my non-sponsored, unbiased opinions, both positive and negative. And watch for a future follow-up review from me, I hope. [/Edit]

[Edit - 1/16] The other morning I got an e-mail from my credit card company saying there was a potential security issue. When I called, they said someone in China had tried charging over $500 on my card, so when I verified that I was not buying anything in China the day before, they canceled the card and will be sending me a new one. How did someone in China get my credit card info? The last place I used it … was Amazon. But the last place before that? None other than eShakti! Now, I’m not saying they leaked my info, but… I’m not saying they didn’t. [/Edit]

I took some notes shortly after I finished the book, but that was over a month ago now, so I figured I should get this published before I forgot everything.

A Love That Multiplies: An Up-Close View of How They Make it Work, is the second book written by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. This one has more words and less pictures than The Duggars: 20 and Counting!, but it’s not written any better and still has a lot of the same annoying traits (e.g. switching between narrators without warning, and including random photos and recipes in the middle of often serious stories).

The book is basically like reading a written version of “19 Kids and Counting,” their TV show, starting with Josie’s birth at the beginning of season 4. It covers all the hardships of spending time with her in the hospital, moving the family to Little Rock, and caring for Josie once they finally move back home. They also talk a lot about Grandpa Duggar’s illness and death, and how this affected their family. But there is really nothing here that we didn’t see on TV, except maybe a little more about the timing and specifics of what went on – if you believe it. I had a feeling that a lot of what they said was sort of backpedaling and re-framing things to make them seem better.

Much of the rest of the book seems to be a “shut up, Internet!” response to a lot of criticisms people have about the family. For example, it’s common knowledge that the Duggars only ever eat canned and processed foods. “We try to have veggies and fruits for snacking. …Our goal is to encourage eating veggies and fruits, low-fat proteins, and whole grains,” they reply. (Meanwhile, almost every recipe in this book, much like their previous one, includes almost all processed foods and nothing fresh.) Another common impression is that the Duggars don’t care about educating their kids, especially the daughters, who they only want to go on to breed large families of their own. They write, “We are totally supportive of our daughters deciding to become firefighters – or just about anything else they feel the Lord is leading them to do. Our goal is to provide all of our children with a solid scholastic education so they’re prepared to pursue whatever additional training or education they feel led to do.”

In addition to discussing the major family storylines that were already covered on their show, there were also lots of references to mission work and service, but mostly only what’s been shown on TV (mission trips to El Salvador, the telethon, donating blood, etc.), leading me to believe that that’s all they’ve done – otherwise, wouldn’t they have written about something their fans might not have already seen? There was also some story about how Josh bought 125 Big Mouth Billy Bass toys on clearance and made a profit by selling them back to other stores and individuals.

The book includes lots of recipes, again on pages where they are totally unrelated to the story (e.g. premie Josie is in the hospital, fighting for her life, “Apple Dumplings!” or, talking about two grandfathers dying and Josie being born, “Tortilla Soup Grandioso!”), with almost no fresh ingredients. Some of the grossest are the Corn Dip (butter, cream cheese, frozen corn, pureed jalapenos) and Layered Salad (head of lettuce, eggs, bacon, canned peas, small chopped onion, mayonnaise, sour cream, cheddar cheese). I don’t think I will be eating Duggar-style anytime soon.

Overall, if you love the Duggars or love to hate the Duggars, you would probably enjoy reading this book.

As a sort of early birthday present to myself, maybe, I bought a Lug Puddle Jumper Overnight bag, which I have been wanting for a long time. I was worried that it would look like a diaper bag, but it really doesn’t, especially in the dark gray color I got. And I was worried, based on the pictures on the site, that it would be overwhelmingly huge, but it isn’t at all. In fact, I sort of wish it were a little larger – especially if you’re using that shoe compartment for shoes. I’m happy with it overall, though. It’s really well made, the zippers seem super sturdy, and there’s tons of pockets everywhere. Can’t wait for my next trip so I can strap it onto the handle of my rolling luggage..!

Last night was our first night back to band practice. As usual, after almost two months off, I did not feel like going back. But I had a fun time. Usually there’s at least a couple pieces that I’m really excited about playing, but I didn’t feel like that about anything we practiced last night (and we played through all but two of our fall pieces). We do have a couple weird ones, though: “Roosters Lay Eggs in Kansas” (Sousa’s favorite encore); a Lady Gaga medley (one old guy to another on the way out of practice: “Who is Lady Gaga anyway? Is she a movie star?”); some stuff from the World of Warcraft soundtrack (we didn’t play it, and I have no clue what it’s like, but video game music is often cool); and a Michael Buble medley that includes “Moondance,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and “Save the Last Dance for Me” (never expected to play Van Morrison in band).

In other news, I will be leaving work early today so I can go home and check on our basement, because I’m so worried about all the flooding! Apparently, I shouldn’t have even come to work today, as officials have asked everyone in the county to stay off the roads! I had no problem getting to work, though, and a lot of other people are here today, too. Here’s a little of what they’re dealing with a bit further west. (The thing about the bison is so sad!) We’ve got rain on the forecast for like the next week, so… awesome.

A few new things I’ve been trying…

Hylexin Eye Cream: I’ve seen ads for this stuff for years, and of course didn’t believe them because they just seemed so fake, and anyway, I’ve had dark circles under my eyes since high school (no matter how much sleep I get, and I don’t have allergies), and nothing has made them go away. But then a friend of mine posted on Facebook how amazing this product was for her, and with a non-compensated review from a person I actually know, I decided to suck it up and give it a try. (Shop around, because you do not have to spend $60 on this little tube.) It’s been a number of weeks now, and I can say: this stuff works! No, my circles are not completely gone. But they are significantly lightened. Once I put on a light layer of my regular concealer, you really can’t see any darkness. I’m very happy with it!

Pretika SonicDermabrasion Facial Brush: As I mentioned when I wrote about this before, I got this as a much less expensive alternative to the Clarisonic brush. I wrote to the company asking about the “gentle” brush head I’d heard about, because I couldn’t find them for sale anywhere, and the brushes it came with were a bit harsh. So they just sent me a pair! The gentle heads are definitely better for me. I have been using the brush once a day, and have noticed some improvement with my dry spots. And I haven’t experienced any negatives like the “purging” some people write about in their reviews of the Clarisonic and other brushes. I charged it when I first got it and haven’t have to do it since. Also, I like that it runs for 1 minute at a time, beeping every 20 seconds, so you can keep track of how much time you’re spending on each area of your face.

Lip Stain Pens: Lipstick doesn’t last more than a couple minutes on me, so I’ve been trying lip stain markers again. I have been a fan of Mark Kissink since it came out, but its latest incarnation comes in only two colors and seems to dry out the minute you open the pen. So I picked up a couple new options to try the last time I was at the drugstore. First was CoverGirl Outlast Lip Stain. It’s pretty horrible. I mean, I guess it’s a true “stain,” but there’s no “play” to it. So wherever you draw it on, that’s where it stays. And no matter how smooth and well moisturized your lips are when you start, it will seep into and emphasize every little line and crack. One good thing I can say, it does smell nice. The other one I tried is Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain. I am definitely more of a fan of this one. I like that it comes with a lip balm built in – that’s just handy. It works better, and I like more of the colors. I would use this again for sure. The only negative is that, like the Kissink, it feels very dry like it’s running out already. (Handy tip – no matter which brand you use – layering a little gloss over the stain finishes it off nicely.)