Current Snack: Sunny Select Mountain Trail Mix

It took us only a week to finish off this 48oz bag of Sunny Select (Safeway brand) Mountain Trail Mix! Michael, myself and Madilyn have been loving this trial mix non-stop! Madilyn is addicted to the raisins, and she even sneaked a couple chocolate bits. I have been enjoying this trail mix a lot, much better than snacking on chips or sweets. The nuts are meaty and the raisins are big and chewy - plus I can have a handful and not feel the need to eat the whole bag! Using the MyFitnessPal app and website, this snack gives me all good points PLUS it helps bump up my calories which I've been struggling to keep up with while breastfeeding Jamison regularly.

50 Shades of Grey

I'm not exactly sure why 50 Shades Of Grey is the hot talk right now. I had learned it's an erotic book trilogy, and after reading some reviews on my Kindle I understand it's "like Twilight for adults". Based on the reviews, I was firmly standing on the opinion that I'm not interested in reading the series. Well, after chatting with Nikki on Twitter about it and seeing how much she liked it I decided to download it onto my Kindle - until I saw that I could download a sample of the book for FREE. The sample is about a chapter and a half, and I already have my thoughts on it.

Ya... I won't be buying this trilogy. I have no problem with erotic novels, I used to read Anne Rice's work back in High School, but there's too many reasons why I cannot stand E L James' style of writing. My main issue, I feel passionately annoyed with this Ana character. The first chapter portrays her as self conscious, immature and crushing on some big wig, I told Michael that if I knew Ana in real life, she'd by the type of girl I'd hate on for being weak. Real Talk. Now for the author's writing style. WHY does she repeat words and phrase sooo many times? That bugs the hell out of me! Who says "crap" anymore?! Ok, I know people say crap, but it's just weird to read it being said over and over and over. Oh, another phrase that I never want to hear again, "ghost of a smile on his lips" - it sounded cool the first time, why kill it by burning it into my brain? My irritation with these repetitions might stem from my pet peeve of people verbally repeating themselves, so E L is probably pushing the wrong buttons with me.

Ok, so I'll just stop there before I begin to sound like a harsh book-snob ;)

International Delight: York Peppermint Pattie

Last month Michael bought me 4 different flavored creamers. I've been a coffee fiend ever since Jamison was born, usually I enjoy my coffee black, but just the past year or so I've really enjoyed experimenting with my coffees. During Christmas I was craving peppermint coffee from Starbucks, but being pregnant I didn't want to drink all that caffeine. I ended up brewing my own decaffeinated coffee, added a teaspoon of sugar, a splash of whole milk and a tiny bit of peppermint extract. It tasted PERFECT!

One of the flavors that Michael bought was International Delight's York Peppermint Pattie, and let me just say - my homemade peppermint coffee tastes just the same! YUM!

The only difference is that International Delight is a lot sweeter, the more you use the sweeter it gets. But, for the most part they are exact. Unless this creamer is on sale or free (I wish!), then I'll probably just stick to my homemade version ;)

La Croix Sparkling Water: Coconut

Last week I attended Shecky's Girls Night Out in San Francisco with a couple friends. In my goodie bags, I received a couple cans of La Croix Sparkling Water (in grapefruit and lime, they both didn't taste good to me). When Michael went to the store this weekend to pick up some food and snacks, he also picked up a case of the La Croix Sparkling Water in coconut for us to try (I think it was on sale from $5.99 to $2.99!). After not liking grapefruit and lime, I wasn't expecting to like this - and I DO! I love all things coconut, and this sparkling water smells like coconut and has a hint of sweet coconut to it. These waters are refreshing and healthy. It's slightly salty (well, saltier than plain water) but still really good! I've been adding half a can to my juices and teas, and I've already told Michael that we're replacing our soda with this stuff! SO GOOD!

Chocolate Dipped Fresh Strawberries

Last night for dessert, Michael decided to bust out some Dolci Frutta dipping chocolate and dip some fresh strawberries. I love this chocolate! We've only used it on strawberries, but I really want to try other fruits and nuts and make endless amounts of treats :)

Vote for Jamison!

I entered Jamison in a little contest on PetiteOne's FB page... If you have a couple seconds, click the link below and vote for Jamison :)

http://bit.ly/JPaUjn

My Mother's Day

Mother's day was nice and relaxing. We stayed home and played in the backyard, played with the kids, I got McDonald's for breakfast and take out BBQ from Emil Villa's for dinner. Michael even surprised me with a few cards from him and the kids, it was a GREAT day!

VLOG: MAC Hey, Sailor Preview Event

Here's a little vlog from last nights journey to and from MAC's preview event of the collection Hey, Sailor! in Concord, CA

More photos from the night:

Influenster: Stash Tea Herbal Tea Sampler

I have been a long time lover and consumer of Stash teas. I'm currently working on a box of English Breakfast Black Tea (which tastes even more delicious when you add some whole milk and cinnamon). Since I already love Stash tea and I can easily recommend this brand to my fellow tea lovers (and even those who aren't big on tea, they have a lot of mild flavors), I thought it would be fun to review the flavors individually. It is a sampler box, so why not tell you what I think of each flavor!

Acai Berry

Tart hibiscus flowers combine with natural acai berry, blackberry and blackcurrant flavors for a delicious tea.

MY THOUGHTS: It smells really fruity, like berries, but it doesn't taste as berry as it smells. The flavor is pretty tart, and I LOVE tart! I liked this tea hot, but I liked it even more cold. I let it sit in the fridge for a while, added a little sugar and some ice and it was a nice, refreshing iced tea! If you like tart, berry flavors, you'll enjoy this a lot.

Blueberry Superfruit

A bright blend of fruit flavors takes this tea to a whole new level of refreshment and enjoyment.

MY THOUGHTS: This tea smells faintly sweet but mostly tart, and tastes really tart and almost on the verge of sour. I was surprised at how sour it tasted compared to how sweet and berry-licious it smells. I didn't really enjoy this tea because of how sour it tasted, but when I drank it iced with some sugar it tasted much more tart and easier to enjoy.

Chamomile

Since ancient times people have enjoyed the soothing aroma and apple-like flavor of Chamomile.

MY THOUGHTS: It has that typical Chamomile scent, soft, sweet and calming. The taste is very mild, almost "neutral" for a tea. I never drink Chamomile cold, I always prefer it hot, but drinking this chilled over ice with some honey is actually a really refreshing drink.

Cinnamon Apple Chamomile

Spicy cinnamon and juicy apple perfectly complement each other in this tempting blend.

MY THOUGHTS: This tea is pretty decent, it smells really good but it tastes nothing like cinnamon or apple. It tastes like your everyday tea, so I was a bit disappointed.

Lemon Ginger

This lively tea offers wide-awake flavor with a piquant, lingering bite of ginger.

MY THOUGHTS: This tea smells very refreshing, and has a tiny bit of spice to it from the ginger. It's not an overpowering tea, so it's easy to drink and enjoy. This would be perfect for those tummy-ache days.

Licorice Spice

The naturally sweet dessert-like qualities of Licorice Spice make it a perfect after dinner tea.

MY THOUGHTS: I'm a huge fan of black licorice, but I didn't care for this tea at all! It smelled and tasted faintly of licorice, but it has a sweetness to it that makes it too sweet - at least for my liking.

Mango Passionfruit

Take a trip to the tropics with the sweet, tangy flavor and aroma of this delightful and refreshing herbal blend.

MY THOUGHTS: This tea smells so delicious - but the taste is more of a citrusy, tart flavor rather than a mango or passionfruit flavor. With a spoonful of sugar and some ice, it's a pretty nice iced tea.

Peppermint

Clean, refreshing and aromatic, our Peppermint is superb hot or iced. Excellent after meals.

MY THOUGHTS: I LOVE this flavor the most! It's only ingredient is peppermint leaves, it smells and tastes like sweet peppermint! It's refreshing, cooling and if you have a cold like I do, it really helps open your sinuses! :)
(I lost the photos of this one, pretty much it takes on a typical tea color, lol!)

Wild Raspberry Hibiscus

Brew up the taste of fresh picked wild berries.

MY THOUGHTS: This one is tart like most of these fruity teas, but it tastes really good! I decided not to drink it hot, rather make a big pitcher of cold tea. I put two bags in the pitcher, let it sit in the sun for a few hours, added a tablespoon of sugar and let it chill in the fridge for a while. With ice and a glass, you have a delicious, fruity, sweet tea! LOVE IT!

You can check out all the other items I received here: Krystal's Influenster Love VoxBox!

You can learn more about Influenster here: What Is Influenster?