three thoughts for thursday.

Three quick things for you today.  Starting soon, my hope is to review local food establishments weekly, add a subscription box review in the mix and keep this weekly three-bee a regular part of the blog.  But for now...

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subscription boxes. kloverbox

Although I received my Kloverbox two weeks ago, I didn't want to post my thoughts on the box until I had time to try each of the products.  Oh man, this is such a great box!  (Disclosure:  I have purchased a three month subscription to Kloverbox, so all reviews are my sole, unsolicited opinion.)

As stated on the Kloverbox website, "Join Kloverbox and every month we will send you the best natural, cruelty-free and organic beauty, health, nutrition and home products. You'll get to try affordable eco-friendly products, handpicked by our health conscious curators, so you can incorporate better products into every aspect of your life."  Since turning the big four-oh last year, I've been doing what I can to find the fountain of youth.  Pretty much every beauty magazine out there tells you that you MUST TAKE CARE OF YOUR SKIN.  Taking care of the skin on my face has not been a priority, but it is now.  Kloverbox is a perfect subscription box for me to learn about eco-friendly products to finally get into good skin habits.

Photo cred - Kloverbox instagram

March's Kloverbox was my first. I was excited to see it had a 'green' theme for St. Patrick's Day AND had a great personal touch - who doesn't love a box of goodies AND a handwritten greeting? My box had six items.  There was a handy insert describing exactly what I received, as well as coupons for full size items.  (Two items came from etsy stores, how awesome to be supporting small businesses!)

The first two items were a Baggu Small 3D Zip bag (in mint stripe) and Marley's Monsters Resuable 3" Facial Rounds (4 pack.) These are two great eco-friendly items that will be used again and again!  I love the cotton facial rounds.  They are made with a durable cotton and held up nicely after washing them.  (I stuck them in a small garment wash bag so they didn't get lost in the dryer.)  The Baggu gets really big when you open it and has tons of space!  The Marley's Monsters facial rounds work really well with makeup remover and I love them.  These items were both wins for me!

I have been using the White & Elm Pomegranate Renewing Eye Serum (FULL SIZE!) every night since opening my box.  The tube has a roller ball at the end which makes application really easy.  I love the ingredients in this serum and the oils work their magic overnight.  I've been complemented recently on my skin glowing!  It feels really great to put natural ingredients so close to my delicate eye area and the roller ball is just fantastic making application quick and easy. 

The Pelle Beauty Balm (4 oz sample) is another feel-good product that I've been using on my lips and cuticles at night.  I tried using it on my face but it felt too heavy for me.  However, as a lip balm, my lips feel hydrated and so luxurious!  Pelle's Balm is has an earthy, vegetal scent that I love sniffing right before sleep.  It absorbs quickly into my lips and cuticles, and the sample is just enough to get a feel for the balm. 

Jillian Wright's Double Surface Exfoliator (3.7 ml sample) was a product missing from my skincare routine, and I was SO excited to have it to try!  As described by Kloverbox, this "natural microdermabrasion exfoliator contains bamboo stem powder, which is a natural cleanser that draws pollutants out of pores and leaves your skin feeling hydrated and smooth."  New to products like this, I found the exfloiant a bit harsh, so I did my best to clean my face gently.  My skin felt really, REALLY clean after and I was surprised that my skin didn't feel beat up, considering the creamy cleanser was filled with granules.  I will continue to use Jillian Wright's exfoliator once a week as part of my cleaning routine.  I'm still on the fence whether to buy a full size of this specific exfoliant, but I love the line and will look into more of their products. 

Finally was Urban Organics Rosewater Toner.  Unfortunately, there was a supplier issue with this toner and Kloverbox asked everyone to stop using it.  Kloverbox was very forthcoming about the issues and sent multiple emails about the problems.  It looks like anyone who received the March box will get an Urban Organics product replacement in their April box, or one specific product if March was a one time box for you.  Kudos to great customer service!  I can't wait to see which UO product I get in my April box.

My final thoughts:  Kloverbox is a great value for anyone who wants to try out new, eco-friendly products.  The monthly subscription costs $25/box and gets marginally cheaper if you order a three month or six month subscription.  (This box had around a $60 value!)  Did you get a Kloverbox in March?  What did you think?

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wednesday whispers.

This week I bring you a new beauty bag, some local gossip and fun new things to do with a banana?

It is well known these days that I'm a sucker for a subscription box, so I went bonkers when I found out (too late, I might add) that Whole Foods is now putting together a beauty bag!  This past Saturday, across the country, Whole Foods rolled out their first ever curated beauty bag.  I thought this was going to be a new subscription possibility, but after digging deeper, it appears this will be a promo they sell in their stores.  The March bag was sold out at our local Fairfield Whole Foods, but the nice lady at the store says the next one for purchase will be available in August.  All those natural beauty samples and a cute bag, I'm IN!  More information later this summer when I get it.

Trumbull readers:  Recently there has been a LOT of digging and new construction in town!  Our friend PA is on her way to opening Pure Poetry on lower Madison Avenue sometime this spring (along with some other stores TBD) but there is some massive digging going on next to Marissa's on Main Street.  Our First Selectman was at a groundbreaking ceremony at the lot on March 16th and the Town tweeted that it will be called 'Long Hill Marketplace' - you can see my questions to them here.  Does this mean we might get a new restaurant?  Coffee shop?  Exciting!  If you have any info, leave it in the comments below!

Just for fun, here are 10 Uses for Banana Peels via Real Simple/Prevention Magazine.  Who knew?

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I'm still figuring this blog out.  Are you enjoying it?  Should I keep going?  Do you like the content?  I'm hoping to review my Kloverbox over the weekend.  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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subscription boxes. dottiebox

Anyone I've been around lately has to listen to me go on and on about my subscription box fix these days. After the luck I had with my Stitch Fix box and the fun I had receiving my Birchbox, I was on the hunt for another box to try.  I hate to admit it out loud, but I am on Liz's blog My Subscription Addiction FAR too many times a day.  After reading one (or more) of her Dottiebox reviews, I decided this was the next box for me! 

Dottiebox is a subscription box for women who love handmade items and indie brands.  I love Etsy and the concept of supporting small businesses made this box a perfect fit for me!  Dottiebox comes in two sizes - regular and mini.  You can prepay for a regular size Dottiebox three month subscription, or subscribe monthly.  Either way, the regular box is $20 plus shipping.  The Mini Dottibox has the same subscription options but the box price drops to $13 plus shipping.  If you follow Dottiebox on twitter, they send out notifications to allow you to skip the subscription and just buy the monthly box, but the non-subscription boxes sell out quickly!  I was able to get my hands on a non-subscription Dottiebox for March.  As of publication, the March Mini Dottiebox was still available.

Each Dottiebox comes with their signature stamp on the outside cardboard box, and the contents are wrapped in a pretty tissue paper nestled inside cute crinkly papers (which is way nicer than bubble wrap or Styrofoam!)  There is a card describing the contents, which includes the name of the company, a description of each item and how much it is worth.  Not all boxes include the price of the items included, so I really like that Dottiebox does this with theirs.

My March Dottiebox included a Totally Tish 'Inspire' Necklace ($10), Harvest Co. Sparkle and Shine pencils ($4), Life in Mint Vintage Bottle Cap Magnets ($7), Itty Bitty Bubbles & Co Bubble Bath Cup in 'Unicorn Tears' scent ($2) and Dottiebox Chalkboard Labels ($10). 

My final thoughts on this box are mixed.  My daughters have been fighting over the 'Inspire' necklace, so this was a big hit.  My personal favorite item was the Bottle Cap Magnets, simply because they are super cute and are useful for all the papers that come home from school.  We are not bath-takers in our house due to skin issues, so the bubble bath cup is lost on all of us.  In addition, we are up to our ears in pencils.  The bubble bath and pencils are misses for me.  The chalkboard labels are adorable and will go to good use, but I have a hard time believing that 6 stickers and a piece of chalk are worth $10.  If all the items truly are worth what the Dottiebox card states ($33) then I did well with this box.  I enjoyed more than half of the items, but I will not be buying this box on a regular basis.  I think it is a great box for gifting, though, especially for those 'hard to buy for' friends and family members that we all have in our lives. 

Did you get the March Dottiebox?  What did you think?

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subscription boxes. try the world

Ego check:  This is my walloping THIRD blog post.  Numero tres.  #3.  How could I have possibly thought that the world of subscription boxes, or anyone for that matter, would care what I need to say?  I mean, it is only.the.third.blog.post.  I got this big reality check on Friday.

A little background here:  I haven't written about the February Birchbox that I received about a week ago,  but I really liked it and I am really enjoying Birchbox as a subscription box option and as a company.  (For those of you who live under a subscription box rock, Birchbox is a monthly box that comes filled with beauty goodies, including hair, skin and makeup products.  It's only $10/month and a great introduction to the SB world.)  After I received my February Birchbox, I started getting emails from Birchbox about deals they were having, including a big winter sale on items in their store.  I decided to buy myself a new pair of tech gloves and a BB/SPF facial cream duo. (I've never tried a BB cream before, so it was a good excuse to get over $35 for a free mystery pack.  I had also heard a lot of great things about Dr. Jart's skin care line and wanted to try it out.)  My Birchbox order arrived on Friday along with another box addressed to me.  I wasn't expecting anything else, so imagine my surprise when I had a SECOND subscription box to open!  Huh?

So, here's the ego check:  I thought, oh my gosh, someone read my blog and thought my writing was SO GOOD that I could be getting boxes for free to review!  HAHAHAHA, yeah right!  Silly me - after a little digging, I found out this latest box was a lovely gift from my bestie Tara.  Well, with my dreams of being a big-time blogger on hold, I sent T a thank you text and decided to use this fun gift as an excuse to review the box anyway. 

The box I received is from a company called Try the World.  It was heavy!  The box was a pretty Tiffany blue color and the inside is filled with crinkled royal blue confetti.  There was a pamphlet and a note card describing the box - which was filled items from Paris.  The pamphlet was a description of the box, ideas about how they chose the items, how Parisians would eat the food they chose, as well as movies and music from Paris.  It was a cute concept!  The artwork on the front of the pamphlet was really nice, a pretty watercolor of the Eiffel Tower and the city.  The note card's description of the items also states if the food comes from a family business, if it is an antique recipe, if they support the local community and if they are organic/sustainable. This is a really nice touch! The items in the box included sweet and savory French treats.  There were seven items in all, the 7th being a 'surprise' item that I can only assume varies from box to box. 

Here are pictures of the items I received.  (Not my best photo work, but you can at least see what was included.)  The first item were butter cookies called Palets made by La Mere Poulard (est. $1.85) that were tasty, but they got beat up in the shipping process.  There were two cookies in the box but most of it was crumbs, a little disappointing.  The second item was a jar of Arnaud nicoise olives marinated in Provence thyme leaves (est. value $19.10) which are my favorite olives, so I will really enjoy this item.  I ate a quarter of the jar with dinner!  The third item was a Les Delice du Luberon Aioli spread (est. $6.90) which I will enjoy with chicken or fish as a fancy spread.  Fourth was a jar of Dijon mustard by Domaine des Vignes (est. $2.25) which will never go to waste in our house.  Fifth was a jar of fig jam by Charles Antona (est. $4.59.)  Fig jam is a staple in our house with all the cheese we eat, so I'll look forward to seeing how this product stacks up against the fig jam we usually use.  The last two items were candied fruit bars made by Francois Doucet in a bilberry and raspberry flavor (est. $2.60) which will make for a tasty sweet treat.  Finally, the last item was a full size 72% dark chocolate raspberry bar made by Flagrants Desirs (est. $4.00) which was also broken because of shipping.  Broken or no, I will enjoy this dark chocolate bar!  I don't usually buy dark chocolate with raspberry, so it will be a decadent treat. 

Try the World has three subscription options.  Boxes come once every two months.  Their cheapest option is on a two-month at a time basis at $39/box.  If you purchase their six-month option, the three boxes will be $35/box and their annual subscription drops the box price to $33/box.  All come with free shipping.   Based on the values of the items I found at various internet shops, I valued my box at roughly $41.29, which makes this box a par value.  Certainly, this is a fun concept for the foodie in your life and makes a great gift.  The next box in queue is from Venice.  Past boxes have included Rio and Tokyo.  They also have a cool tumblr blog with pictures of the boxes and great travel advice.  My final take on the Try the World box is that it was a very fun gift to receive, but it wouldn't be a box I would subscribe to on a regular basis.  Do you subscribe to Try the World?  Is this a box you would be interested in?  Let me know.  I'm off to eat some more olives. 

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subscription boxes. my first stitch fix box

I cannot remember where I first read about subscription boxes.  It could have been a magazine or a passing conversation, but I was intrigued.  I loved the idea of a little present each month, filled with items that I wouldn't otherwise buy for myself.  The world of subscriptions boxes is exploding of late, with boxes catering to all types of consumers.  Want a box of specialty products from Oklahoma?  There is a box for that.  Do you like to spoil your dog?  There is a box for that, too.  However, my very first subscription box was NatureBox, which is described on their website as a box that "delivers a world of carefully sourced and nutritionist-approved foods right to your door. Each snack contains wholesome ingredients - with no artificial sweeteners, flavors or colors. Snacking has never been so deliciously fun and naturally easy."  I really enjoyed a few months of these boxes, filled with lemon tea cookies, dried fruit and trail mixes, but I realized that these were snacks that I could pick up myself at the local Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.  Heck, I could even get them at Stop & Shop, so I cancelled my subscription.  That was that.  Until I saw my neighbor's facebook post one night about StitchFix.

Me: 'Stacey, what the heck is StitchFix?'
S:  'It is a clothing box!  You fill in a questionnaire about they types of clothes you like and where you'll be wearing them, and a personal stylist chooses a box of clothes for you.  I'm getting my first box in a few weeks!' (Or something like that.  I'm not good with past conversation details.  Also, Stacey is very chill, she doesn't talk with explanation marks much, that is part of her charm.)

Anyway, a few weeks later, Stacey comes down to the bus stop in the cutest sweater.  It was long with these cool folds and mystery pockets.  I just loved it.  When she said it was in her StitchFix box, well, it made me even more interested in this little world of subscription boxes.  However, I still didn't sign up for one.  I'm lazy.

Flash forward about six months and I saw another facebook post about an ipsy box.  Naturally, I clicked the link and wow, hello, a cute little box that has makeup, skincare samples and every month they come with a cute makeup bag?  This sounded like fun!  As I am ever the skeptic about unknown things, I decided to research the ipsy box and see if it would be worth my money.  With just a quick Google search, I found a super website called My Subscription Addiction which is an amazing resource to all things boxes.  Liz, the writer of this blog, even has a page describing everything you need to know about getting started with monthly subscription boxes.  I read through this intro and on her advice, signed up for Birchbox.  I received my first Birchbox this month and it was really fun!  I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!  A cute little box filled with a lipgloss, an eyeliner, a face wash, a deep hair conditioner and an eye makeup remover.  It was a bit of a rush getting this little box, I am not going to lie.  I wanted more.  So I also signed up for a KloverBox (much to my disappointment, I was too late for the February box, but can't wait to get my first one in March.)  On a roll, I figured why not finally fill out the StitchFix profile?  So I went for it.

When you get started with StitchFix, you fill in a profile about how you like to dress, what style of clothing you like, how much you want to spend and others, and then your stylist picks out five pieces of clothing for you based on this profile.  The more details you pass along (like sizing, etc.) the easier it will be for the stylist to find clothing that is right for you.  After filling out the profile, you agree to pay $20 for the styling fee, of which will go towards any clothing pieces you decide to keep.  If you like all five pieces, they will discount the total amount 25%.  They send a prepaid envelope with the box so you can send any items back, free of charge.  After filling out the forms and making my payment, the turn around for the box was about two weeks.  My first box arrived on Saturday.  I was so excited!

So my box that this super cute wrap dress:


A cosy blue top:


A so-so tank (I'm holding out hope for this one.)


Plus this excellent asymmetrical sweater in a light brown.  What I love most about this sweater is that it looks so great on, but I never would have bought something without straight lines OR a zipper.  This is a really fun piece that I'm excited to add to my wardrobe.



The last piece was a pair of basic black pants that fix perfectly and will work with cute flats once the snow is gone.  The box also comes with a handy insert, showing the pieces with possible outfit ideas (these were the pictures I posted above.)  Although the box isn't cheap ($350-ish total, roughly $260 after the box discount) it is a fun quarterly splurge for a few new items each season.  Ironically, I would have sent that patterned tank back, but it was cheaper for me to keep it than only send that one item back.  I'm sure this is deliberate because StitchFix claims they do not send people items that have been tried on.  What happens to all those cast offs, I wonder?  I have already scheduled a second box for May to arrive on my 41st birthday.  (Happy birthday to me!!!!)  I think this box is a good fit and I'm looking forward to the next five items.  I think with the feedback I provided when I 'checked my box out' and the other notes I've passed to my stylist, each box will be more and more a fit for me.  Exciting!

Are you thinking about signing up for any boxes?  Do you already get one?  What are your favorites?  I'd love to hear from you.

I'm hoping to keep up with this blog and pass along any other nibbles that come my way, be it food, cheese, books, wine, boxes... be sure to come back soon for more!  jj

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