My Week June 23-29th

This week has been an overall great week.

This week I started acupuncture for fertility.  The hubs and I have had a couple of road bumps with trying to get our family started.  All our tests come back OK so before we have the doctors really intervene we thought we would try a couple 'natural' remedies.
I had heard good things about acupuncture so I thought I would give it a try.  My first impressions is hmmmm ok, let's see what happens.  I am not totally sold on it, but I am going to give it a few months and pray for the best outcome.

My office building had their tenant appreciation BBQ lunch this week.  Last year I was off so I missed the BBQ and was really excited to try it this summer.

A veggie burger, Greek salad and potato and bacon salad

 I have to say it was pretty tasty and a really fun way to break up the day.

This was the first weekend I spent in our new house.  Last weekend I was away celebrating my good friend's last few nights of singleness.  While I was away the Hubs unpacked about 80% of the boxes.  While it was great to come home to a semi done house, I really wanted to spend a day hanging out in my house.

To kick off my first house weekend the Hubs did up some BBQ.  He had a grilled steak and I decided to try some grilled Marlin.

Grilled Marlin with cabbage salad and tomatoes

It was pretty tasty I will have to give it ago again.

My plans for a lazy Saturday in the new house were not exactly fulfilled.  After a relaxing massage and a semi-stressful trip to the grocery store.  I came home and unpacked a few boxes.  However after all that excitingness the Hubs and I decided to swing by the apartment for one last passover, to collect the last of the mail and to give it a bit of a tidy.

Well weren't we surprised when we showed up and the locks had been changed.  Seemed like a funny thing since it was only June 28th and the management people had made it clear that we were paying a full month of last months rent (when I said that we had movers coming in the middle of the month), to which I replied that was fine I would keep the keys and return them at the end of the month.

We managed to get the building super to help us, and he shows us a email he received on the 24th saying that our apartment was "officially" ready to go.  Now we did not sign anything or receive any compensation for vacating early therefore my understanding is that our old apartment managers just illegally entered our unit and "evicted us".  Of course this doesn't surprise me with all the other issues I have had to deal with from them since telling them we were moving.

But after that stress full event (the Hubs is going to follow up this week and I sorta feel like filing something against them, because it's just not right what they did).  We went on a bit of a shopping trip for the new house.  After a trip to Home Outfitters, Target and Ikea we ended up with some pretty fun and much needed stuff for the house.

So much stuff

I can't wait to see it all assembled (it's what the Hubs is doing while I am writing this).

With Canada day right around the corner and us having plans right after work on Monday I used this weekend to make a peach pie to take.

I had a couple dough issues but pie dough has never been my strong suit.  It looks so good I can't wait to cut into it.  I am actually going to make another one on Tuesday for our Canada Day BBQ.  The original recipe can be found here.  I will post my version of it in a little bit.

How was your week, have you had a mix of good and bad also??

Weekly Advice:
Pray. Relax. Let Go and Let God Take Over

June TopBox

This is not my photo credit goes to Lindsay

Every month I get a little surprise in the mail.  It's my monthly Topbox. 

Topbox is a monthly beauty service that delivers " luxe box of beauty samples for you to try out in the comfort of your home."

For about $15/month I get to try out about 5 sample and quite often full size products.  I have been signed up for a little less than a year and I LOVE getting my little present every month.

For anyone who is interested in checking out what they are all about go to Topbox

This month I got some great products:

 China Glaze Nail Lacquer - Wait N' See

What TopBox Says: 

"These unique lacquers contain China Clay as real hardener, the same material that gives porcelain its shiny finish" - $10-12 for full size

What I say:

I LOVE quality nail polish and I was really excited to try this colour out.  It was a little bolder than I normally wear on my fingers but it's still a fun summer colour.  I was also really excited that I received the full size product in my box.  I wore it to a bachlorette I was going to and I am happy to say it took a couple of days for it to chip noticeably.  I have really soft nails so normally polish chips within a day.  This had great coverage and shine.  I even skipped the topcoat.

Would I buy: Yep but in a different colour

Barefoot Venus Lip Fable - Bazooka

What TobBox Says:

"Keep your lips nice and hydrated with our 99.9% natural lip balm" - $7.50 4g

What I say:

This was super soft and smelled great.  It smelled just like the gum which was really fun.  And another bonus it was also a full size product.

Would I buy: Yep, I am always looking for good lip balms

Vasanti Cosmetics Brighten Up! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator

What TopBox Says:

"Mimics effects of microdermabrasion for a bright and smooth complexion" - $34 for 120g

What I say:
I really really liked the scrubbiness (yep I made up a word for this product).  Just before my wedding my esthetician in  Hamilton made me a personalized face scrub.  I LOVED it, with was really scrubby and made me feel like my skin was smooth and polished.  However I ran out and moved 6 hours away, and have been searching for something similar.  With this product I have finally found something on par with my custom made scrub.

Would I buy: Yes, I would save up and splurge for this product.

Bioderma Atoderm Gentle Shower Gel

What TopBox Says:

"Soap free foaming cleanser suitable to daily hygiene for dry sensitive skin.  Cleanses, softens and protects." - $14.95 for 500ml

What I say:
This smelled really good, and cleaned OK.  I would use it as a travel product but I will stick to my very large bottle of Lever 200 body wash in citrus sent for only $4.

Would I buy: No

Bagel Storage

I spend a ridiculous amount of time on Pinterest, seriously I will come home from work and just mess around for hours.  

Some of the things that I have tried have been a great success and some have been a  spectacular failure. 
So to help others with my mess ups I thought that I would post my success or failure with Pinterest here, just look for the tag Pinterest Test for the complete list.

For the first test post I thought I would do the one that I have seen a few times under "Life Hacks" which is using a CD or DVD spindle case to store and transport your bagels.

Where I work we use A LOT of CD's and DVDs, it's how we deliver information to our clients, so we always have these cases laying around.

Large spindle (holds 100 DVDs) holds 4 bagels perfectly

Small spindle (holds 25 CDs) holds 1 bagel perfectly

I have to say they are working GREAT!!!  The small one is perfect for transporting my daily bagel to work and the large one (I just got it this week) hold 4 perfectly.  I was finding that the plastic bag they come in sits against the bagel and makes them a little soggy.

I think that if you have access to the CD spindles and like bagels you should give this a try.

Plus it's great to find a use for something you would normally just throw out.

Have you every found a alternative use for regular office supplies?

Test Results = Success

It's been a while...

Hi Guys, wow it has been a long time.  Things over on my end have been a little crazy, but crazy in a good way.
The hubs and I have officially moved into our first home and I am LOVING IT!!!!!

We had a couple friends come over the other weekend and help us with some painting.  We didn't do too much just the hallway, guest bedroom and master bedroom.  It was great to have friends over to help.

The hallway, we painted it grey

Upstairs hallway, this is a better shot of the grey

We painted the master bedroom a light blue, sorry this is a bad picture

The guest bedroom, the stripes were a little tricky but it's only on 1 wall.

Then the next weekend it was my friends Bachlorette party.  It was pretty far away (6hrs) but I am the Matron of Honour so into the car I go just a couple of days after our move, and it was a great time.
 
Nothing too flashy just out to dinner and then drinks at the brides house.  But it was a good time with other ladies and I hope K had a good time also. 

Only a couple more weeks till the wedding.  I can't wait to celebrate this happy occasion with K.

Between all of this excitement the hubs even had time to fit in a new tattoo. 

So that's it.  A really short post about why I have been so MIA.  Hopefully things will slow down a little and I will be back.  But not too slow, I still need to have stuff to write.

See you all soon.

May TopBox

Every month I get a little surprise in the mail.  It's my monthly Topbox. 
Topbox is a monthly beauty service that delivers " luxe box of beauty samples for you to try out in the comfort of your home."
For about $15/month I get to try out about 5 sample and quite often full size products.  I have been signed up for a little less than a year and I LOVE getting my little present every month.

For anyone who is interested in checking out what they are all about go to Topbox

Each month before they ship you your monthly present you get an email asking you to review your box from last month and they show you the "special" boxes that are offered.  You can choose a special box or stick with the regular box.  The special boxes are not guaranteed but I can say if I choose a special box I usually get it. 

For May I choose a "special" box and was happy when that is what I received.  I picked the Cake Volumizing dry shampoo and Brilliance finishing spray

What Topbox had to say about it:
"Instantly cleanse, volumize and glamify hair!
use on your second day, or freshly washed hair, our unique PRISM ­ SHINE TECHNOLOGY will leave your locks shimmering with a luminous finish and stand­out shine" - $22 for full size.

What I have to say about it:
I wash my hair every other day and so I use a LOT of dry shampoo, so when the oppurtunity to try something other than the Tresemme dry shampoo I was pretty jazzed.  The smell was great, a vanilla sugar smell.  But the actual product didn't do anything for me. I used it on my bangs and within an hour they looked all greasy, and were splitting apart into 3 chunks.  Not really a look I was going for.  I think I will just use the product right now to make my hair smell yummy, but I will be sticking with my Tresemme for a dry shampoo.

Would I repurchases: No