Christmas Cookies Week 2 - Chocolate Chip Cookies - Foodie Friday

In preparation for making chocolate chip cookies I purchased a bag of chocolate chips a couple of weeks ago. My sister and her boyfriend decided they wanted to make chocolate chip cookies and I gladly lent them my chocolate chips to use on the condition that they shared their recipe and I was able to photograph the cookies to share with all of you. These are the cookies they made and the recipe they followed.

It's worth noting that instead of using pecans they used chopped walnuts. This was better for me as I prefer walnuts to pecans, but feel free to choose your own favorite.

Ingredients
3/4 c. butter flavor Crisco shortening
1 1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 T. milk
1 T. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
 1 t. salt
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. coarsley chopped pecans (optional, though if omitted, add another 1/2 c. chocolate chips)

Directions

• Heat oven to 375*F.
• Combine Crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat egg into creamed mixture.
• Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into creamed mixture just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and pecan pieces.
• Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake one baking sheet at a time at 375*F for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Cosmo VoxBox 2012 - First Impressions/Unboxing

I was beyond excited when this came in the mail the other day! I LOVE getting new products from Influenster! The products are ALWAYS great products to start with and the sample sizes never disappoint - in fact I've found that many are full sized products or travel sized products. That's a bonus for everyone since I get more product to test out it means you guys get a better review!

I did film an unboxing video the day I got it and before I peeked inside. You can find it on my YouTube channel, which I will link here or at the bottom of the post. The rest of this blog will be basically the same things but may have a bit more information since I'm not just typing this on the fly.

Ok, so what IS the Cosmo VoxBox? According to the info card it came with, it's full of products that a modern gal needs. Great! Let's see what's inside!

Gillette Venus Embrace - Razor and Venus and Olay blade refills
I'd just like to start by saying that I forgot to snap a picture of the Olay refill. If you're interested in seeing what it looks like, check out the YouTube unboxing video.

I'm not typically one to use razors that have refills. Yes, I'm a disposable girl. However, I've heard great things about these razors and I'm excited to see if they can get me to change my mind. According to the info card, the refills cost $3.50-$4.50 per month - I have no idea how they figured that up but that's not too awfully expensive. However, it is more than I currently spend per month for my disposables and I don't buy the cheapest disposables either.

FriXion by Pilot Pens
These are erasable gel ink pens. I can honestly say that I haven't really used erasable ink pens since I was required to in late elementary school/Jr. High - and then they only came in blue I think. Obviously there are more color choices here. They actually come in 8 different colors according to the website, which is pretty impressive!

I'll just post a couple of pictures showing how they write and erase and save my thoughts on how they do both until I've had a chance to use them more.

Top row: Left - writing, right - erasing
Bottom row: Left - erasing, right - writing

Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk Sea Salt Escape
You can hardly go wrong sending this lady chocolate - and Ghirardelli chocolate to boot! According to the info card, this particular flavor has sea salt and roasted almonds in Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk chocolate. I'm so excited to try this and my only wish is that they had sent two!

Forever Red Eau de Parfume from Bath & Body Works
According to the info card, this fragrance has a blend of pomegranate and red osmanthus with a bit of vanilla rum. First, I'm not sure what red osmanthus is or what it should/does smell like. While I'm being honest, I'm not even sure what a pomegranate smells like - it's been years since I've had one. On first whiff, and even second and third, I just smell my mom. It's very much a fragrance she would wear and I'm not sure if it's something I would wear. I tend to lean more toward fruity, floraly scents but sometimes warmer smelling ones grow on me. We'll have to see where this one goes.

So that's all that came in my Cosmo VoxBox 2012. It's a pretty diverse mix of products I think - everything from pens to razors. I can't wait to test everything out and see what I think. Keep checking back for individual product reviews!

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

COVERGIRL Blast Flipstick Lipcolor in Vixen Review

I really don't know where to begin with this one. Maybe I should start at the beginning.

I was so excited when I got notification from BzzAgent that I'd been selected to receive a sample of COVERGIRL's Blast Flipstick Lipcolor. For some reason I have a deep love/hate relationship with lip products. I think they always looks so great in their nice, shiny packages at the store but when I get them home it's like they morph into something I hadn't meant to buy. I think part of my difficulty is that my natural lips are pretty pigmented and so when I try wearing a lip product, be it lipstick or a deeply pigmented gloss, it just looks strange.

Now I bet you're wondering why that makes me happy to try a lip product that I had no say in what color(s) I would receive. Well that's because I wouldn't have a choice. I hoped it may force me outside my comfort zone a bit and at least try a different type of product even if I ended up with a color I would have chosen for myself anyhow. What I wasn't really expecting when I opened the box was to see not one, not even two, but THREE full sized products at my disposal to try!

Before we get into my thoughts on the lipsticks, I'd like to share just a little information about the product itself. These come in 13 complementary shade duos - everything from berry shades to taupe, brown, red and even gold. I think there is probably a shade duo for everyone somewhere in the mix. They retail in the $8 range.

I don't know about anyone else, but when I was younger I used to try mixing lipsticks to get new and exciting shades. It usually didn't work out so well. The lipsticks were hard - literally - and didn't mix or blend well making everything a clumpy, lumpy mess. These, however, are supposed to have a very blendable, moisturizing formula that encourages mixing and won't leave your lips feeling heavy or dry. One end of the tube has a creamy color and the other is more shimmery.

So I received the shade duos Minx, Stunner and Vixen. For this post I will primarily be talking about Vixen as I'm giving Stunner to my sister as part of her Christmas gift - she loves new make up! - and I've put Minx aside to be part of a giveaway I'm working on - so maybe you'll be the one getting to tell me all about that shade duo.

Since I won't have any color swatches to share of Minx and Stunner, I'll just share the pictures I snapped of the tube and the colors through the tops.

Minx has a deep brown on one end and a gold shade on the other. It seems like it could create some interesting looks!

Stunner has a bright pink on one end and gold on the other. Actually, those color descriptions are according to the info booklet I received with the samples. In person, to my eyes at least, I would call the "pink" shade more red. Perhaps it swatches pink, but I won't know that until sometime after Christmas.

So now on to the color I can share a bit more about: Vixen.

Vixen has burgundy on one side and a pearlescent pink on the other. I went through a big phase in high school where I was really into the dark, vampy burgundy lip - though I never actually wore it out of the bathroom - so this duo was right up my alley.

So now on to my thoughts on Vixen.

Darker burgundy end

Pearlescent pink end

As I hope you can tell from the swatches above, the burgundy end is quite bright, though more sheer than I was really expecting. It gives good color to the lips and covers them completely but it's much more sheer in color than I was expecting and really creamier in texture than I was expecting. The lighter, pearlescent pink end is quite sheer as well - more so than the burgundy - but just as creamy and very blendable.

The pictures above show how they look next to each other. The picture on the left shows the colors better, but the picture on the right shows that there's a bit of sheen to both colors. By sheen I don't mean glitter and I don't mean sparkle. It's more of a satin type of sheen to me

These pictures show how the colors look layered. I don't think there would be any benefit to putting the darker color on top of the lighter color, so I'm just showing how the light pink looks on top of the burgundy.

I think that putting the pearlescent pink on top of the burgundy gives it some great depth. It adds a bit more shine since it's lighter and really draws attention to the lips. You can use the lighter color all over - as I did in the swatches - or just as a highlighter color in the center of the lips. It really looks beautiful both ways.

One of the best things about these flipsticks is that it's pretty much like getting BOGO lipsticks. You're paying for one lipstick and getting two colors - two complimentary colors at that.

Have you tried any of the Blast Flipsticks? How have you been wearing them - together or alone? Feel free to share your thoughts/comments below!

Disclaimer: I am a BzzAgent and samples of this product for free

November 2012 Hits and Misses - Beauty, Craft, Food and Lifestyle Favorites

I'm just going to skip the whole "I can't believe November is over" stuff and get straight to the good stuff. Hopefully you can find a few new products to add to your rotation too!

Hits
Beauty:

Boscia Soothing Cleansing Cream
I got this in a Birchbox a few months back, but didn't really start using it until this month. I've used it nearly every night to remove my makeup and I love it. It comes out as a creamy, somewhat thin lotion and quickly morphs into an oil of sorts once you apply it to your dry face as the directions indicate. However, I have to say that while the texture/slipperiness makes it seem like an oil, it does not leave a greasy feeling behind once you've rinsed it off. For me, it just leaves behind soft, smooth feeling skin. I typically follow this with either another use or I use another face cleanser to clean my face. This works great for removing my makeup before actually cleansing.

Jouer Lip Enhancer Conditioning Lip Treatment
I was really loving this lip treatment this month because it was so moisturizing. As the air got colder, my lips got more chapped and because I didn't catch it in time they ended up cracking in one spot. I put it on after I applied my facial moisturizer and by the time I got to doing my lips in my makeup routine, they were much softer.

Craft:

Christmas Stickers
These made putting many Christmas cards together a snap. I'm so glad I was able to snag them when they were $0.10 or $0.20 a couple days after Christmas last year. I think I was able to make 10 or so cards using just the stickers I found on these two sheets.

Food:

Potato Chip ChocoPod

This curious little thing showed up in my Birchbox this month and let me tell you, I loved it. I wasn't sure what to expect when I read that it was potato chips and sea salt all covered in milk chocolate. Actually, I expected it to be essentially a chocolate covered potato chip. I was partially right. While this wasn't a whole potato chip covered in chocolate, there were definitely potato chips in there. I would describe the texture as more of a crispy rice covered in chocolate ala Nestle Crunch. I couldn't really pick up on the saltiness, but maybe someone who doesn't have a cold would be able to. At any rate, I loved it and would love to try some of the other flavors they have too.

Thanksgiving Dinner
Who doesn't love a good Thanksgiving dinner? I mean, there's mashed potatoes, delicious turkey, cole slaw...the list really does go on. This year I had the pleasure of cooking most of our Thanksgiving dinner myself. Have I ever mentioned how much I love cooking big meals for lots of people? Well I do. All the food turned out wonderful - unfortunately I only got pictures of the main dish and side dishes, no desserts.

Lifestyle:

Uno
My sister and I have recently rediscovered this childhood favorite and we play it nearly every weekend. It's such a simple game, but yet it's a game of strategy, which makes it so much fun. We can play for literally HOURS and it doesn't matter who wins and who doesn't, it's just fun.

Misses
Beauty:

Herbal Essences Drama Clean Shampoo and Conditioner

I am by no means one who sticks to a specific shampoo/conditioner. I jump around amongst various brands and sometimes have to choose my shampoo/conditioner based on what's left at the store when I go shopping. That said, this month I ended up with this Drama Clean shampoo and conditioner from Herbal Essences. It's supposed to be refreshing and lightweight, leaving you with soft, manageable hair according to the bottles. Yeah right. I think this was entirely too lightweight for my hair and I ended up with a head full of tangles and snarls. I had to use quite a bit of stuff to detangle my hair and make it do anything but knot up. I will not be repurchasing this particular shampoo/conditioner.

Craft:

I didn't have any craft misses this month.

Food:

I didn't have any food misses this month.

Lifestyle:

Call of Duty Black Ops II

The latest COD came out this month and for at least a week - I kind of lost track - I was once again a video game widow. My husband would get home from work, take a shower and head upstairs to play until dinner was done. After dinner he disappeared again only to be heard - he's a loud, very loud, gamer - and not seen until bed time. Lather, rinse, repeat. I'm pretty sure this went on for at least a week, possibly longer.

Products mentioned in this post:

ThankVember Week 4

Every day this month I'm sharing something I'm thankful for on Facebook/Twitter. If you'd like to know what these things are daily, you can become a fan on Facebook here. Otherwise, you can read the weekly posts I'll put up telling what I was thankful for the week before. Week 1's post can be found here, week 2's post here and week 3's post here.

Day 22: I'm thankful that I have and want. So many people need things - legitimately need things - and I have things and can want things. At this point there isn't anything I need that I don't already have.

Day 23: I'm thankful for flannel pjs! My house was freezing and they kept me nice and warm.

Day 24: I'm thankful that this month of thankfulness is almost over. I'm thankful for so much every day that choosing just one thing to say each day is hard. I tend to over analyze my answer far more than necessary and it almost defeats the purpose.

Day 25: I'm thankful I've been able to start my Christmas shopping and not spend a penny of my own money - paid for everything with gift cards and points I've earned from random websites.

Day 26: I'm thankful that one of the cards left on a car for my 30 random acts of kindness back in October made it to someone who really needed it at the time. They have appreciated it and continue to talk about how it brightened an otherwise not so great time they were having.

Day 27: I'm thankful for small miracles - though no miracle is really small. They make days brighter, frowns into smiles and so much more.

Day 28: I am thankful for cold medicine. After a 1/2 does of the nighttime stuff I felt so much better.

Day 29: I am thankful for the sun! Sunshine days are always much better than gloomy ones - except if you get to stay in bed all day on the gloomy ones

Day 30: I am thankful I now have a job!