Ore-Ida Tots aka #OreIdaTotchos #contest & Review

 I wasn't sure about this whole idea of totchos. I have actually never heard of it, until I received my voxbox and saw that it was one of the campaign items.  So, I went in and got my free bag, (thanks to Ore-Ida & Influenster for my complimentary bag) of Ore-Ida tots and tried to think of ways to make my totchos. I know there are a lot of recipes but I wanted to do something my own.

This is what I came up with.....

 

This was my simple recipe for two people:

 

1/2 bag of Ore-Ida tots

 

1/2 can of Wolf canned Chili

 

1 cup of cheddar/monetary jack shredded cheese or any you prefer.

 

It takes about 15 minutes and this was more than plenty for two people.

 

My husband and I thought these were great. It was a hit! What I did was just layer the totchos on a small baking sheet and cooked them, per the instructions on the bag. I then heated up some canned chili and got out some cheese. When the tots were cooked and ready to eat, I put them in a small dish and then I layered some chili and cheese, until we thought we had enough. They were delish and so easy to make! This would be a great party food too. I recommend making totchos. You can use a different recipe or come up with something off the top of your head. The sky is the limit. Here is the link for the Ore-Ida Totchos Hub , where you can find many recipes!



My husband and I love Ore-Ida products. We always buy their fries and tots. They are always so crispy and fresh. These were extra crispy and I just loved that. I know that sometimes it depends on how long you cook your fries/tots. These didn't take that long and they were perfect. Great brand and great product!

#JingleVoxBox - Love this one!

I was lucky enough to receive a Jingle VoxBox this holiday season. Well... I received it the week of Christmas but I was out of town. So, I didn't really get to dig into the box, until the next week. Anyways, I'm really surprised at how much they can fit into such a small box! My box is pictured below.

These are the following items:

 

Kiss Strip Lash adhesive in black  0.25 oz

 

Kiss Lashes 

 

Pure Ice nail polish in Home Run

 

Cetaphil moisturizing cream 1 oz

 

NYC CityProof 24HR waterproof eyeliner in Dark Brown(932) .042 oz

 

Three packs of Biscoff cookies

 

Hallmark IttyBittys- Rapunzel

 

 

I was so excited to get this because it had been a while since my last one. I love the ittybitty because Tangled is one of my favorite movies. Not the favorite, that will always be the Little Mermaid. Too bad, I didn't get that one! I actually have it sitting in one of my vases for my eye pencils.

 

 

 I have not tried the lashes yet, I will be doing that this weekend with the eyeliner. I am really excited. Lashes are huge right now and I didn't have any to try!

 

The nail polish is gorgeous and I've always liked Pure Ice. I can't wait for my nails to heal after the gel manicure to put that polish on. It's a perfect color for winter.

 

The cookies are long gone. They are so good. My husband was so excited and I definitely had to share.

 

The Cetaphil has some pros and cons. For example, it has this weird smell. It's not really bad but it's not really good. Hard to explain. I guess the good news is that it doesn't stay around too long. I don't like that it's in a little pot type container. When I have to dig out lotion it gets underneath all my nails. I typically have longer nails, so that's not fun. Now, I can overlook those issues, they are quite small. I think it does a great job of moisturizing my hands and it does not leave a greasy residue, At All. That's my biggest issue with moisturizes. I can't have greasy hands after because then I can't touch anything without leaving residue. So that's a major plus and I loved how it felt on my hands.

 

Overall, this is a great box. I haven't tried a few things but I've been wanting to try them out. I love when I get a box that I will use everything. Thanks @influenster !

Give Me Some Nude Lip! Swatches!

So... How funny that as I was posting my blog about coming back, UPS threw a package on my porch. Yes, I literally mean, he threw it on my porch. It's sad that they never ring the doorbell but I know when they are here because of the loud thud on my porch. Okay, done with UPS ranting... Now, I ordered the last "Give Me Some Lip" set and I really liked it. I found some favorite out of it and the box is just ... so cute! When I saw someone post about this, I had to order it right away. I also got 8% back from Sephora using ebates. If you want more info on ebates, let me know in the comments. It's amazing and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone. I did get a bag of samples with the code FOLLOW. It is literally a plastic bag, I don't even know why they feel the need to mention a free bag. You can see it a little under all the samples. I laid it all out because the one thing that is great about Sephora, is the samples. That's a lot of samples. I also got three samples with my order, in addition to the 8 in the bag. Notice the sample of the Bite?? It's soooo CUTE. I don't ever want to use it because it's the cutest. lol Now.. onto the lip products and swatches.

If you are not signed up with ebates, you are missing out!! You get a % back on most online purchases. Here's the link to sign up:

Ebates Sign up



Just a warning: This is my first swatch blog and I'm so pale!

 

Nars in Dolce Vita 0.12 oz (swatch below)

 

 

 

Nudstix lip+cheek pencil in Whisper ).088 oz

 

 

 

Tarte- Tarteist lip Paint in Namaste Nude .10 oz

 

 

 

 

 

Marc Jacobs long wear lip pencil in Primrose .01 oz

 

 

 

 



 

Laura Mercier Crème smooth lip in Milkyway .07 oz

 

 

I've used some of these and they are gorgeous but really nude. I'm not sure how these would look on deeper skin tones. The Nars went on so light, it almost looked like a gloss and very sheer. The tarte was beautiful and goes on so smoothly but doesn't have the longest staying power. I will update as I use the rest of them.



Back from Hiatus!

It's been a while and I've been so busy. I haven't had time to blog or read. Reading is a huge hobby of mine and my last book was in September of last year! So my beauty/personal blog has also been affected. The holidays are such a crazy time. I have a ton of make up that I purchased and got a new vanity. I'm going to be updating with reviews of some of the new makeup, new vanity and other things. Yay for 2016!

Eternity Now by Calvin Klein VoxBox

I am so excited that I was picked for the Eternity Now Voxbox. I don't get many, so I was glad to get this regardless. It's a bonus that I actually like Calvin Klein fragrances! I am extremely picky when it comes to perfumes and hardly wear them. The only fragrance that I own is Euphoria by Calvin Klein. I'm glad that I can now add another CK fragrance to my repertoire.

I didn't get much of a fruit smell from this. I know that's what is advertised and what people are saying. I think it smells more like a light flowery scent. It's not overpowering and just is nice. That's my opinion of the women's scent. The men's scent, on the other hand, smells a bit like others. I don't know if it's just me but I feel like a lot of the men fragrances are similar. I think my husband said something about feeling that way too. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot that are awful but this isn't one of them. This one smells good!

I think that these fragrances go well together. So if we are both wearing them, they compliment each other and are not overpowering. Overall, we both really liked these two fragrances!

One of the best parts of this Campaign, is that it came with a fragrance for my husband too. We both really liked them and will be purchasing them in the future. Christmas is coming up, so it's actually perfect timing.

Bzz Agent Campaign: Coca Cola Life

 

 

I want to thank Coca Cola and Bzz Agent for a bottle of this to try. Even though, I received this for free, it in no way, influenced my opinions.

 

I love Coke products. My absolute favorite pop/soda is Coke Zero. I was really excited to try this because of my love for Coke. I am sad to say that it was a miss for me. I didn't feel like it was as refreshing. You know when you open up a pop and you take the first taste? It's the "Ahhh" moment. So refreshing, right? Unfortunately, this didn't do that for me. In addition to that, I didn't like the taste. I don't quite know what it was but it had a bad after taste. I know it's not the cane sugar. I grew up on Mexican pop in the bottle and that's cane sugar. It's actually the best pop.

 

Speaking of Mexican pop, my absolute favorite thing about this was that it was in a glass bottle. I love the glass bottles. I grew up with them and it's just a blast from the past, to have this pop in the glass bottle. I really wanted to like this but it was just okay. I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it because it is pricier than the regular Coke products and doesn't taste as well.

Bzz Agent Campaign: Special K Cereal & Breakfast Bars

I just got this in the mail. This is by far one of the best kits. I thought I was going to have a coupon for either the cereal or bars. I got boxes of both and a lot of coupons. I think it was the most coupons I have ever received in a campaign. Anyways, these are my thoughts on these two item..

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crunch Cereal:
             - I could not finish this box. I even had my husband try to eat some and he disliked it more than I. It tastes a bit like eating cardboard with a dash of cinnamon added for flavor. It's such a light addition, you can barely taste it. So... overall, this was a huge miss. I didn't like it and I will not be buying it. I'm honestly, pretty nervous to even try the other flavors of their new cereal. It's strange because I've had their cereal in the past and didn't think it was this bad. It was always just okay, not my favorite, but good enough. This was just way off for me. I didn't like the taste at all. 

Chocolate Almond Chewy Nut Bar:
                  -AMAZING! These were so good. They had the right amount of chocolate, nuts and a bit of the sweet/salty taste. They are chewy, which are my favorite type of bars. It was so hard for me to just not sit there and eat the whole box in one sitting. Not only does it taste like a dessert, it's full of protein and natural ingredients. I started taking these to work as a mid-day snack and it's just what I needed. It's pretty good at cutting that mid-day hunger and picking you up a bit. I would highly recommend these. I've tried a few of their other flavors and they are just as good!!