May was a pretty fun month for me in trying out new things. There weren't too many new things this month, but I ended up loving most of what I did try. I haven't been able to try too many new things that weren't apps in quite some time and my favorite 'things' was getting a little stagnant, but there are some new additions this month. Let's get started!
NYC 24-hr Eyeshadow in Brooklyn Mocha, Pond's Dark Spot Correcting Cream
I got the eyeshadow in my Blossom VoxBox from Influenster earlier this month and it was easily one of my favorite products in the box. It was my first time trying out an NYC product other than the eyeliners, and I was very satisfied with it. I've gone to get ready a few times with a planned eye look in my head, but then I look over at that crayon sitting in my makeup caddy looking so tempting and immediately scrap my prior plans so I can use the crayon instead. lol I like the color payoff, I like the longevity, and the versatility when combining it with other colors. If you have a CVS in your area, you can pick this up for $2.99.
The Pond's correcting cream is an old favorite; I used to use this all the time in the small travel size container until my local Wally World stopped carrying it. With consistent usage, it evens out the skin tone and gradually fades dark spots on the face. It did everything it said it was going to do; it kept my face moisturized, was great underneath my makeup, evened out my skin tone and within a month or so, the dark spots on my face had all but faded completely. I found it again last month and I've been using it since. I started using a new scrub with salicylic acid a couple of weeks ago that's supposed to get rid of blackheads, but I'm guessing I'm in the 'worse before it gets better' stage because I've been breaking out like crazy ever since. The cold cream is helping my skin stay moisturized after using the scrub, it doesn't clog my pores or leave a greasy feel behind, and it's already starting to lighten up the dark spots left behind by my breakouts. Other than my sunscreen, it's the only thing I use on my face. I love it. If you're interested in picking it up, you can find it in the section where all the trial and travel sizes of products are located at Wally World for about $1.50. It's a small container, but a little goes a long way so it should last you a good couple of months.
Caveman Cookbooks series by Angela Anottacelli
I had to review a series of Paleo-themed cookbooks for LibraryThing not that long ago and even though I don't know much about the Paleo concept in general, it has interested me for awhile so when I got the opportunity to review a few of them I was intrigued. There were 4 in total that I received by this author and while they all had different themes, they all integrated the Paleo diet in a way that maintained some sense of normalcy. One reason why I don't like themed diets is because they feel restrictive, and I'm more of a 'everything in moderation' kinda gal myself, so diets and I just don't mesh well. But the Paleo diet doesn't seem like a 'diet' per se, and through these cookbooks you can see that it's actually not so hard to implement if you aren't a purist or very strict on yourself when following diets. It can provide a healthier way to eat without robbing you of the good stuff, which I like. These cookbooks were well-written, I love that the diet principles were integrated into recipes that made it fun for children to eat, and still provided variety in terms of meal options. There are four separate Caveman Cookbooks, so I won't waste your time with posting where you can find them on all the book sites.
Amazon: Paleo Italian Recipes ($0.99) | Paleo on a Budget ($0.99) | Paleo Mexican Recipes ($0.99) | Paleo Kids Recipes ($0.99)
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
The third series of this Australian-set crime drama premiered at the beginning of the month, and even though it's on my favorites list I have yet to see it. Now that my Thursdays aren't as packed since my shows have since gone on hiatus, I have even more time to lament that I'm not in Australia, where it would already be Friday and I'd get to see the new episode later that night. lol From what I read in the few previews I've checked out, MFMM has picked up right where it left off for the third series. I can't wait until the original run is over and Netflix picks it up.
WWE Immortals, Skyrim
A new challenge began in Immortals in May, with the grand prize being a rare cyborg Brock Lesnar immortal card. Each challenge is about three weeks long, I think, so if your cards are properly leveled to handle your opponents you should be able to get through the various challenges in time. I'm about halfway finished with 4 days left in the challenge but I don't have two of the cards needed to fully complete it so I know that I won't be able to get the grand prize. I did the ones I could complete and decided to just work on getting some of the minor prizes and leveling up my other cards. Long story short, I'm still addicted; the challenge just provides some legitimacy to my constant need to log on.
I go through cycles with games quite often; if it's a long-term kind of game like Skyrim, I'll have stages where I play to the point of obsession, followed by periods where I won't do so much as look at the game. The latter cycle is usually prompted by my buying a new game and drowning myself in that one, but I digress. lol My poor PS3 is about to quit me so I've been trying not to game too much, but Skyrim has this irritating addicting trait that keeps drawing me back in so here I am. lol
These apps are the ones I use to edit any photos I add to my posts here (I'm growing as a blogger. LOL) or on Instagram. If it's a photo where I'll need both product shots and close-ups, I'll start out with Photo Grid and go from there. If it's just one photo though, I'll start with Aviary, do all of my cropping, editing and border additions, send it to Phonto so I can add my font and finish the photo off in SquareDroid, where I'll upload it to IG from there. Phonto and SquareDroid are new apps for me, but Aviary is a returning app and I've been using Photo Grid for awhile.
Of these apps though, Phonto is probably my favorite. This is a great app to use if you like adding a variety of fonts to your photos. There's a pretty good selection of fonts already in the app but if you'd like to add more, the instructions are easily accessible from the app and simple to follow. Everything about the font can be customized, from size to alignment, its position on the photo to the color(s) used. If I need to add a font to my photos, this is usually the last app in the line before I send it through to SquareDroid if I'm putting it on IG or prepping it for a post on here.
Speaking of SquareDroid, this app is simply for customizing the size of your photo to make it IG ready. There are basic editing options, but I've already edited my photo by the time I get it here so unless I want to add my last filter, I usually don't use them. Aviary is a very solid app for editing your photos and I've been loving it since I re-downloaded it a couple of weeks ago. I had it before, but I wasn't really into editing blog photos back then so not only did I not understand it, I didn't have much use for it so I got rid of it. I just needed to learn how to edit photos without using GIMP. lol It's an awesome app.
Finally, Photo Grid is a great app to use if you need to do product collages. There are tons of options here; you can use this for the obvious collage creation, you can use it as a selfie cam and edit it there, you can simply edit your photo from there, or you can bring in a video slide. After selecting your photos, then you go into the collage menu, where you get to choose the layout you need for your photos. It, like Aviary, has tons of options for customizing your creations so it can function as a standalone app if you prefer. I don't prefer it though lol, but I think I've found a combination of apps that works to give my photos the effect that I want.
Of these apps though, Phonto is probably my favorite. This is a great app to use if you like adding a variety of fonts to your photos. There's a pretty good selection of fonts already in the app but if you'd like to add more, the instructions are easily accessible from the app and simple to follow. Everything about the font can be customized, from size to alignment, its position on the photo to the color(s) used. If I need to add a font to my photos, this is usually the last app in the line before I send it through to SquareDroid if I'm putting it on IG or prepping it for a post on here.
Speaking of SquareDroid, this app is simply for customizing the size of your photo to make it IG ready. There are basic editing options, but I've already edited my photo by the time I get it here so unless I want to add my last filter, I usually don't use them. Aviary is a very solid app for editing your photos and I've been loving it since I re-downloaded it a couple of weeks ago. I had it before, but I wasn't really into editing blog photos back then so not only did I not understand it, I didn't have much use for it so I got rid of it. I just needed to learn how to edit photos without using GIMP. lol It's an awesome app.
Finally, Photo Grid is a great app to use if you need to do product collages. There are tons of options here; you can use this for the obvious collage creation, you can use it as a selfie cam and edit it there, you can simply edit your photo from there, or you can bring in a video slide. After selecting your photos, then you go into the collage menu, where you get to choose the layout you need for your photos. It, like Aviary, has tons of options for customizing your creations so it can function as a standalone app if you prefer. I don't prefer it though lol, but I think I've found a combination of apps that works to give my photos the effect that I want.
Pinterest
Pinterest is an oldie but a goodie. I've been on there a lot for my posts over on All Things Vintage for May's theme, and I ended up getting stuck there. lol The Pin Palace, much like Etsy, is where my to-do lists and blog post schedules go to die. Picnics were the theme over there last month, and I spent a little too much time there researching material to use. That turned into looking for new fonts for both this site and ATV, which then turned into fonts I can download to put in Phonto, that evolved into a search for photography tips which turned into DIY photo studios (which I'm going to get to later) and that turned into dos and don'ts for blog photography. It was a goal of mine this year to step my game up with both blogs, but with limited resources I'm going to have to be the queen of DIY. That's what usually leads me to Pinterest, but then days later umpteen Pin tabs are open and I haven't done what I was supposed to have done. lol It's a problem.
Nerd decor, blog calendars, in-home photo studios
I love me some nerd decor. A few of my smaller goals are/ to eventually have a tattoo somewhere on me in Dovahkiin font, to integrate the skill charts somewhere into some glow-in-the-dark decor (that I'm going to put on here when I do it), and to have some homage to Pac-Man and Super Mario somewhere in my home. I am a super geek and proud of it. I'd really like my space to reflect my interests, however uncool they may be. I love how creative you get to be with 'geek-' related things, how it can really put some personality into your atmosphere.
One thing that has helped me to stay at least somewhat on track has been establishing a regular blog post schedule for myself, but having a physical calendar that I can actually look at and make additions--or subtractions--as necessary has done even more to help me stay on track. I like my stuff to be personalized though (because of course), so I've been looking into options to create my own blog calendar rather than just buying a stock one. The longer it takes for me to get something up though, the longer I stay disorganized, so time really is of the essence with that. lol
Like I mentioned earlier, part of my Pinterest party led me to DIY photo studios because I'd really like to learn how to take better blog photos, even without owning a DSLR camera. If I take better photographs, I can feel better about uploading them, which makes me more confident in the content of the reviews that I post. I'm also a YouTube groupie, and thanks to the creators on there I now understand the importance of good lighting and how to properly display a product. So I'd like to start improving those pictures, and some of those home photo studios and hacks are really easy to implement.
Subscription boxes, workout tips, healthy snack ideas, breakfast & snack foods, photography hacks and tips
Hey, I didn't include inspiration boards on this or the DIY section for once! I am growing. LOL Anyway, it's always bothered me that I had to put the SBS on hiatus last summer, so I was really excited to get Urthbox for this month's edition. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in the intro to the Urthbox post, it's gotten a lot more difficult to find boxes within my budget. So unless there is a bit more money or more cheap boxes hit the market, there won't be any more SBS entries again for awhile. The genre itself is still really interesting though, and as the world of subscription boxes explodes it's fun to see the different kinds of boxes that people come up with.
Unlike last month when one of my entries was 'fitness(wtf?),' I have since come around to enjoy working out again, if it's done in a way that isn't boring. I work out for strength and light toning, not because I'm trying to be a health nut, so I don't put too much pressure on myself. Now that the 30-Day Wellness Challenge is over (and I actually completed it!), I don't have to continue working out if I don't want to. But the thing is that I actually do want to, which was as much of a surprise then as it is now, a week after having this revelation. LOL I'm always on the hunt for good workout tips and tricks, small workouts that give me a good burn and don't take up too much time.
Although I didn't change my diet during the challenge and still have no intention of doing so, I found that I don't mind changing up my snack habits and am up to the challenge of finding some that are easy to make but taste good. I eat small portions throughout the day and I snack a lot, so finding snacks that have more to offer since I eat them so often wouldn't be such a bad thing. With the plan to start a food truck solidified, I've been kicking my background work into high gear, figuring out the business climate for another food truck in the area, ways that I can set my truck apart from the others, but more importantly finding innovative ways to serve breakfast dishes. It's easy to pigeonhole yourself into your breakfast routine, and it's my goal to break that routine and provide other options for morning commutes and pre-school meals that aren't potato chips. lol
After several years of blogging, I'm finally learning the importance of a good visual impression. I was a photo snob when I first started out because I allowed myself to be convinced that filters of any kind were deceptive, so I'd just take a photo and post it because I wanted to show the products I reviewed accurately. Wanting to take an accurate photo is fine, but you still have to put some effort into polishing the photos you put out because they're a representation of the quality of your posts and the attention you pay to details. Which leads me to photography hacks and tricks. I'm always on the hunt now for what I can do to improve the quality of my photos, what filters enhance the product without misleading the reader, how to sharpen my eye in terms of photo angles and be more creative. I'd really like to improve the quality of the photos I put up here, but it took me awhile to figure out that 1-your skills will show no matter what equipment you use, 2-if you have the wrong idea about photography in general, you can't improve, and 3-blogging is a multi-faceted job and if you're not good in one of those areas, it will definitely show. Now that I'm aware, I can't stop looking up new things to try.
That does it for me this month. Sorry the "Things" portion was so lengthy, you know, again. lol It's been a month of really fun favorites and new things to try out, but I'm looking forward to what I can get my hands on this summer. I'm finally....finally getting around to all of those old app reviews from when I was on hiatus now that I've got my blog schedule back up and running. I'm still a bit behind on my LibraryThing reviews, but I'm even more behind here so I can put the book reviews away for a little while. There should be another review here in a few days or so, so keep a look out for that. See you soon!
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