Birchbox Home Sweet Homespun Limited Edition Box

Happy Thanksgiving week! I'm enjoying this much needed time off. Today I've been lounging around the house with my girls-it's very much "Home Sweet Home" here today! And what better way to kick off the holidays than with a review of the Birchbox Home Sweet Homespun box?

I ordered two of these boxes; one for me and one for my sister's birthday. I ordered them separately, used a 20% coupon on each order, and added a mystery sample pack to each shipment. That meant each box was $32. This box got to me super quick. I ordered it on a Monday and it was here on Wednesday. Doesn't the box look gorgeous!?

Here's what it looks like when you open it up:

And here's what you get inside and what I thought about each item: 

*Askinosie Chocolate Single Origin Sipping Chocolate-There is enough for two small servings. I added whole milk to the chocolate. It is a little bitter; might need some sugar. Very rich and definitely better than the powdered stuff at the grocery store! 

*Meri Meri The Little Garden Treat Kit-These are cute handcrafted labels and gift bags. Sadly, I'm not much of a treat or craft maker, so I passed these on to my mother in law. She loved them! 

*Illume Mini Tin Soy Candle-I can never have enough candles. The label on it is so pretty with the red and gold accents. I've got it burning right now-the sugar and spice fragrance is so nice and makes my bedroom smell great. 

*Momofuku Milk Bar Cornflake-Chocolate chip-Marshmallow Cookie Mix-This is the only item  in my box I haven't been able to try out yet because it needs a special type of mixer that I don't have. My husband has been begging me to make them because they sound so delicious! The directions do sound a little complicated to make which is why I haven't done them yet. I'll have an update on them soon! 

*Soak Handmaid Luxury Hand Creme-This lotion has a light fig smell to it. I can wear it alone or with my perfume and it's not overpowering. It has a shea-butter formula which makes my hands so soft. Great addition to the box.

*Cowshed Lippy Cow Natural Lip Balm-I love the smell of this lip balm. It has orange and rose essential oils and leaves my lips feeling soft. It has a sheer color so I save this balm for the evenings and weekends (I prefer my lip products to be tinted).

*Makerskit Hanging Photo Clips Complete Project Kit-This was the only item that seems a little "cheap" to me. It's some twine, a few pushpins and a few clothespins. I had a student hang it up in my classroom and even she asked me where I got it from due to the quality. I wouldn't put this up in my house. The clothespins are a little too small so  you have to attach at least 2 per photo. I didn't like the card stock it came with-it's way too tiny and I didn't like the design.

*Richer Poorer socks-Normally I'm not a sock person but these socks are way too cute to not enjoy. I've been wearing them around the house and love the way they feel-not too thick that your feet sweat, but not too thin that your feet get cold. I sound like Goldilocks haha. I love the design on them! 

So that's the Home Sweet Homespun box! For $32 (with a coupon) you get 8 different cozy and cheerful items. I would definitely recommend stocking up on a few of these for Christmas gifts! If you received this box, what did you think about it?

Now the question is...do I splurge for a Vanity Affair box??? Or wait until after the holidays?

The Sound of Silence

All I can hear right now is silence, and it's a strange yet beautiful thing. 

Justin is out of town on a guy's trip and my three babies are with his parents so it's me all by myself this weekend. I feel guilty for admitting that I've been looking forward to this weekend for a while. You see, I pretty much get no alone time. I'm a wife, a mother, and a teacher-I'm surrounded by people all day every day. It's fulfilling but can get overwhelming and demanding. 

So what have I been doing with my free time? Yesterday I went out to dinner with my dad and then went to see Interstellar with him, my sister, and her boyfriend. Talk about a mind trip of a movie. I'll have to watch it a few more times to gauge if I truly like the movie or not. I loved Inception and had high expectations for Interstellar. I'm not a Matthew McConaughey fan so it was a little tough watching him for 3 hours but the visuals made up for it. I know; it's a little shameful for me to be a Texas thespian and not support McConaughey, a fellow Texas actor. 

Today I went and got my hair done at the salon and then went shopping at Target, Nordstrom Rack, and Khol's. Justin is going to wish he had never gone out of town when he sees the receipts for my shopping trips. I never have the opportunity to shop and I took full advantage of my free time. Heeeellllloooo new winter wardrobe! 

This evening I went and saw the play "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." One of my students is in the play for a community theatre and his mom invited me. We went out to dinner before hand. She is so thoughtful to invite me. 

Now it's 11:30 on a Saturday evening and I'm sitting alone in my room listening to a Phantogram/Foster the People YouTube mix. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself! Saturday nights when you are married with kids look so much different then they used to. I wouldn't change it for the world, but it has been a nice change of pace this weekend. I'm re-charging in preparation for the holidays. Speaking of the holidays, I am hosting Thanksgiving this year for the first time ever. If anybody has any advice to give, be it hosting, cooking, or emotional advice, please feel free to share it with me! 

"Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain 

Still remains

Within the sound of silence" 

September Birchbox

Special delivery! Look what I found in my mailbox on Thursday-my September Birchbox AND our ACL tickets! I felt like it was Christmas or my birthday :). My Birchbox took super long to get to me-turns out USPS lost it for a little bit. I was so jealous seeing other people's blogs and just waiting to get mine. I contacted Birchbox about the missing package and one of their awesome customer service people sent me out a new box in the meantime. I told them they didn't have to do that once we found out where the package was but they insisted and said I could always give it to somebody who doesn't get Birchbox to try out. How awesome is that! They were celebrating "Customer Appreciation Day" yesterday and I did feel appreciated as a customer when they did that. Thanks, Birchbox! 

The products I received were: 

1. Laura Mercier Full Blown Volume Supreme Mascara

Meh, another mascara. I had received a mascara in this month's Ipsy bag and had ended up giving that one away. I just love my DiorShow too much. I'm not a fan of the applicator that comes with this sample. The mascara had a nice color to it but didn't lengthen or make my lashes fuller. 

2. Cynthia Rowley eyeliner-silver

This was the product I was most excited about and the reason I chose the Fashionista box. I love the color! I wasn't quite sure how it was going to show up on my fair skin. I've used it on my bottom lid and love the extra sparkle it brings to my eyes. Now, it says its smudge proof and lasts all day. I've never had any issues with smudging when I use my black one on my top line. However, on my bottom line, when I used the silver color it does smudge a little which makes the silver color go everywhere. I also had to reapply it (and honestly my eyes don't really water that much). It just takes me a little bit of extra time to do my eye makeup but I love the end result! 

3. Naobay Body Radiance Lotion

This was the product I was least excited about. I had gotten this in my July box! Just too soon to be given this product again. I'm not a fan of the earthy smell. It does make my hands and arms soft but I like a more floral scent. I gave this to my best friend-I think she will enjoy it more. 

4. Macadamia Professional Flawless Cleansing Conditioner

I was super curious to try this product out. It is a no suds shampoo and conditioner all in one. It smells nice and my hair felt soft after I towel dried it. However, it did not leave it as soft as my normal conditioner does and I noticed my hair felt coarser than normal at the end of the day. I also noticed more frizz in my hair, though it claims to cut down on the frizz. It did leave my ends looking better than my normal shampoo does. It's a great size and I would definitely bring this with me while traveling or whenever I want to cut back on the amount of shampooing I do. Some other reviewers had the same complaint and so I used a leave in conditioner along with this product and my hair feels so healthy! 

5. dr. brandt pores no more vacuum cleaner 

Both my husband and I tried this one out. I don't really have blackheads; he does. It didn't work for either one of us! It is supposed to have a cooling sensation and neither of us felt it. Bummer. I'll add it to my weekly routine though. 

Overall, this box was good. I did enjoy the Ipsy bag more than the Birchbox this month. However, in the grand scheme of things, I am more loyal to Birchbox. In fact they are running a promo right now-if you sign up to receive 12 boxes they will only charge you for 10 AND they will credit your account 100 points (which is $10 store credit) AND they will send you a Cynthia Rowley gift AND you can add on a mystery sample pack (usually valued at $10). I went for it and subscribed for a year and I know I'm not going to regret it. Use promo code UPGRADEME and tell them I sent you ;) https://www.birchbox.com/invite/crystalking

Now I just bet you are dying to know who I am most excited about seeing at ACL. My top 5 can't miss acts are: 

1. Outkast

2. Foster the People

3. Phantogram 

4. Lana Del Rey 

5. Fitz and the Tantrums (I've seen them before here in Dallas but I was several months pregnant with the twins and didn't enjoy the show as much as I would have liked.)