Down Under Part 2 It's Gettin' Hot In Here

Our flight from Las Vegas to Hawaii was filled with a lovely Benadryl induced sleep.  It was much needed after our early travels to Vegas and then not flying out of vegas until 1am.  We got into Honolulu Airport a little before 6am on November 2 2014.  That was just enough time to grab our bags and head over to the shuttle pick up area to get to our rental car.  The guy who picked us up on the shuttle was great.  He was friendly and made sure we knew where we were headed and how to return the car when we were done.  Awesome customer service.  Then when we got to the rental car place they were super rude.  As soon as you told them you didn't want their "gas refill" option (which means that you can return the car back with half a tank and they will pay to fill it up at a lower rate, but they charge you for half a tank no matter how full you bring it back...this isn't a good option for a one night layover on Oahu) they became terrible and snappy.  Then they saw our luggage and told us we had to get a bigger car and pay an extra $10 a day.  We explained we had done this in another similar car before.  They didn't care.  Terrible customer service.  For reference this company was Advantage womp womp.

We took our car (we named Chandler) and went Kailua to put our toes in the ocean on Lanikai Beach and then to Cinnamon's Restaurant also in Kailua.  So far it's been my favorite breakfast ever.  I got my usual Red Velvet Pancakes, but I also had to get the Guava Chiffon Pancakes too.  If I can swallow my pride gulp I'll admit that the Guava Chiffon ones are better.  I would love to have those every sunday morning.

Next we headed to the North Shore to enjoy some beach time.  Luckily it was early enough in the morning that we got a great parking spot at the Waimea Beach Park.  It was glorious there.  We played in the ocean, soaked up some sun, and took naps.  I love naps.  A couple of us ended up a little lobster like from this excursion, but totally worth it for me.  I could do relaxing beach days like that frequently.

For lunch I wanted to go get food from food trucks.  I had seen a special on the Travel Channel about these little food truck areas on the North Shore and wanted to give it a shot.  I had actually eaten at one of them before.  Giovanni's Shrimp Truck.  Oh my goodness.  It was better than I remembered.  I had a half order of the lemon butter with a side of their hot sauce.  If I lived there I would probably eat that daily.  I also got an Acai bowl with granola and honey and banana.  Caryn lived in Brazil and ate those before and said the ones they have there were legit.  I was not disappointed.  I wouldn't mind that for breakfast every day (except the day I get my pancakes).

 

After lunch I dropped Bri and Caryn off at Pearl Harbor to go out to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.  I had already been so I used this time to drive to Waikiki and check us into our hotel.  I forgot how terrible the traffic was in Waikiki.  It's bad, and there are so many one way streets that are allegedly two lane, but seriously should only be one lane.  HATE IT.  Then the hotel elevator only worked when you scanned your card.  Unfortunately I didn't get this memo so I just kept riding around because other people were requesting the elevator on other floors.  I had too much luggage, there was no air conditioning in the common areas of the hotel, it was hot, and I was frustrated.  I was almost in tears when I made it back to the lobby and someone explained it to me.  I got the luggage up there and then went and picked up Caryn and Bri.  It was a glorious 86 degrees that day.

We headed back to the hotel, changed, and walked to Waikiki beach.  We walked around there for a bit and spent some time in some of the stores and then headed to bed for sleep in an actual bed.  It was a pretty good day in Hawaii.

The next morning we got up, repacked, and headed to the airport.  I got to stop by a store that the company I work for owns which was neat.  I met people I had talked to over the phone, but had never seen before.  It was neat.  Then we went and got gas in the car so we didn't get charged the bajillion dollars they swore we would if it wasn't "completely full" and "filled up within 2 miles of the rental car drop off".  In case anyone (or future me) needs to know here's the address for the nearest gas station to the airport:  Chevron Honolulu, Valkenburgh Street, Honolulu HI.  You're welcome.  Just say no to their stupid half take gas fill up program.  We returned the car and got to the gas station and then got shipped out to the nether regions of the airport where there was no food, no shops, one vending machine, and, according to the crazy lady, only one outlet.

Short little story:  We got to our gate pretty early for our flight from Honolulu to Auckland, New Zealand.  Because we were some of the first people there we found a spot in the corner where we could set up all of our bags, plug in our phones, and just chill for a couple hours.  This middle/older aged lady came and sat practically right next to us.  Now this was a huge gate...huge.  And if you saw how it was all set up you would realize it wasn't in the main part of the airport so it's not like random people not on the flight were taking up seats from another gate.  This was just our gate.  She could have sat anywhere.  We were watching videos and a little loud which is why we picked a corner of the airport so we wouldn't bug anyone.  She acted all annoyed and then came up and said she wanted one of the outlets because we had the only ones in the whole gate.  Rude.  There were others.  So we packed up our stuff and moved next to the completely empty outlets.  I hope that lady's phone somehow fell in the ocean.  end of story.

We got on the plane to New Zealand and mentally prepared for our 9 hour flight.  We watched movies, chatted, read, laughed, and ate the whole way.  I might have also taken a small nap.  We got into Auckland around 10pm. on November 4th local time.  This was 20 hours ahead of our home time.  They made us sit there while they sprayed us and our baggage down on the plane.  It was weird.  Then we walked off the plane into NEW ZEALAND!!

Down Under Part 1 The Journey Begins

Isn't there a quote that says something like, "A thousand mile journey begins with a single step"? Well the single step on this journey began when Bri, Caryn, and I got our tired selves up before dawn on November 1 2014 to catch the shuttle from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Salt Lake City, Utah.  It was mostly an uneventful "sorta bus" ride.  They had the heat up to about 1000 degrees and my feet got a bit burned.  We had good weather, and by the time we got to Salt Lake it was in the 60s and sunny.  Pretty nice for Utah/Idaho in November.  We were dropped off right at the airport so we didn't get to do our usual mall/food trips in Salt Lake that I love.  Honestly I was just antsy to get on that plane because I felt like that was the real start.  Then I saw the plane...it looked like a pretty sketchy start.

Do people seriously still fly in things like this?  Guess so because we did.  I loved the fact that the plane was fairly empty.  We each got our own row and the flight attendant (let's call him Stove) was pretty entertaining and didn't seem to care too much about any safety shenanigans which I appreciate since this was not my first rodeo (flight).  We made it to Vegas alive around noon.  I was grateful.

We had rented a car in Vegas, but the rental car place wasn't right at the airport.  We had to take a shuttle to a rental car mall where they had tons of different rental car places and then from there ours was even further so we got on another shuttle (luckily free still) and rode to our rental car place.  It was fairly quick and easy.  Once we paid and probably signed away our first born children to them they gave us a number and pointed out to a lot where our car was waiting with the keys in the ignition.  It was behind a truck so I didn't see it (from here on the car will be known as Beverly) yet.

I'll explain first that we were traveling internationally.  I had a huge bag to check, a carry-on suitcase, and a backpack, Caryn had the same, and Bri was just missing the checked bag.  We also had a couple neck pillows on top of all that.  Basically we had a ton of crap plus the three of us.  When we walked past a truck and saw the car they had rented us I thought we were going to have to strap Bri to the roof. Meet Beverly.

Well we ended up getting all our luggage and ourselves in this little car and headed out for the strip since we only had about a 12 hour layover there.  We parked at the Paris hotel and headed for the Bellagio Gardens.

We also saw the lovely chocolate water fall they have there.  Next we hit up the Cosmopolitan to eat at Secret Pizza.  It's this sweet pizza place that really doesn't have any directions or signs to get there.  You just have to know where it is...or google it.

 It had really good pizza and a neat little hallway to get there.  Not super pricy either for Vegas.  After a little time on the strip we went down to Fremont street.  We got froyo, watched a ceiling light show thing, and saw some people that barely had clothes on.  Neat.  We played $1 each at the slots there since you can still pull the little handle to play them.  Nobody walked away with enough to pay for this trip sadly.

Once we were done down at Fremont Street we still had some time to kill before we needed to be back at the airport so we parked down at the MGM Grand and hit up the M&M store and the Coke store.  The Coke store ended up being the real star of this leg of the journey.  On the second floor they have a little cafe looking area and for about $8 they have a "Coke Tastes of the World" where you get 16 little cups of different Coke products from around the world.  It was so much fun.  I would have to say the highlights were the Fanta Pineapple from Greece and the Bibo Kiwi Mango from South Africa.  The low and by low I mean pretty close to hell would be Beverly from Italy.  Which is how the rental car got the name Beverly.  Beverly is terrible.  The best way to describe it would be to mix bitter with death and add carbonation.  Bri said if she was ever rich...or bored in Vegas she would love to just sit all day watching people taste each drink one by one and wait for the moment they drink Beverly.  I bet that could be a great youtube video montage.

                              

Once we were done there we returned Beverly, made it through security, and camped out until we loaded up for our next flight to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Fast Relief Review

I was lucky enough to receive a free sample of FASTRelief First Aid Shot Therapy from Influenster.  It's like an energy shot, but a pain reliever.  I used it the day after I went boating with some friends.  The boating was a little rough on my shoulders and back.  To be honest the taste was not the greatest.  It was berry flavored, but tasted a bit chalky.  Once I used it I did feel like it helped a bit.  My biggest complaint would be that it isn't easy or practical to carry around.  I'm fine taking pills rather than a shot to help with pain. I think this would be ideal for someone who felt they couldn't swallow pills.  Overall I probably wouldn't use this product again.

Not Your Mother's Beach Babe.... #NYMBeachBabe

I was lucky enough to get the SurfsUpVoxBox from Influenster.  It was pretty awesome and had some pretty fun things in it.  One of the things I got was a sample of the Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Shampoo and Conditioner to test.  While they gave it to me for free my opinion is my own.  I loved it!! The first thing I noticed was the smell.  It smells amazing, kind of like coconuts and summer all in one.  I would probably want to use it for that reason alone.  Then you wonder how it's going to do with your hair.  I have shorter hair, sort of normal thickness, but a lot of hair.  I like to use my flat iron to actually curl my hair.  I used the shampoo and conditioner and it seriously gave my hair so much volume.  It was great.  My only complaint has been that I have not been able to find it anywhere to buy.  I've found a beach spray, but no shampoo or conditioner.  I've checked here in my home town and even when I was on vacation in Las Vegas.  I'm guessing amazon will have it.  Doesn't seem to be too expensive either...try it out!!

Stitch Fix June Review

Want to update your closet but don’t know how?  Enter Stitch Fix.  What, you may ask, is Stich Fix?  Stitch Fix is your own personal styling service.  You create an account with them, fill out a detailed style profile of what kind of clothes you love and what you hate, tell them about how much you would want to spend, and set up a fix. Fixes can come as often or as little as you want.  You can even have it set up to come monthly if you don’t want to think about it.  I have mine set up monthly and have even shared my Pinterest clothing board with them so they can see the types of items I love.  Once it’s time for your Fix a stylist will pick out 5 items that they think will be a good fit for you based on your style profile.  Once you get them you have 3 days to try items on in your own home, decide what you want to keep, and send the rest back in a pre-paid bag they include.  To tell Stitch Fix what you want to keep you just log onto your account at Stitch Fix and they will list out your items and give you an option to include feedback as well.  Each time you leave feedback they are getting more information about how to style you better.  If you decide to keep all 5 of your items you get a 25% discount on your whole fix...awesome!  You can see my previous posts about my experiences with Stitch Fix here and here.

Now onto the clothes…

Oxmo Jayla Front Twist Sweater in Pink $78.00

This one would have been awesome to get in September when I’m getting excited about fall.  I live in Idaho so as soon as it gets warm enough I like to NOT see my winter clothes for as long as possible.  I wasn’t really a fan of the color of this one, but I still feel like I would have been more in the mood for it when I’m also getting in the mood for pumpkins, hot chocolate, bright colored leaves, and all the goodness of fall.  Unfortunately this one was not a keeper.

Pixley Bettina Enamel Crescent Bib in Fuchsia $34.00

I love big jewelry.  Like statement pieces.  I think this one semi falls into that category.  I think the pink color threw me off on this one.  I don’t mind color in my jewelry, but I’d rather see it in gem form.  I have loved the last two jewelry pieces I got from Stitch Fix so I was a bit bummed when I didn’t fall in love with this one.  I ended up sending it back.

Pomelo Klara Embroidered & Striped French Terry Top $34.00

This one was the first item I’ve gotten from Stitch Fix where I had to say, “What were they thinking”.  So far I have liked every item I’ve gotten.  I haven’t kept everything just because some things don’t always fit how you want or I didn’t think the cost matched the item, but this shirt was way off.  For one I thought it looked boxy in shape.  I really like more shape to my clothes.  I don’t mind the stripes, but the yellow stitch detailing was a bit weird with it.  Like I think I would like them on two separate pieces…not together.  The final kicker with this one was the fabric.  It was a type of terry cloth material.  It had no stretch at all and couldn’t fully get it on my arms (thanks swimming for giving me more muscular arms).  Of course this one did not find its home in my closet.

Kensie Jeans Kaleigh Ankle Biter Skinny Jean in Navy $88.00

I was pleasantly surprised by the pants I got.  I’m not a big pants person I guess you could say.  I love tops, jewelry, jackets, purses, and shoes, but pants just always seem to be pants.  I’m happy to have them, but I don’t fall in love with them.  When I saw these pants I was extremely happy to see that they were navy blue (weird I know).  I don’t own navy blue pants.  I felt like I could wear these at work or out with my friends.  They are a stretchy material which I appreciate.  The only thing that could have made these better would have been a higher waist.  I’m a fan of the higher waist pants, I feel like they stay on better, I’m not pulling them up all night, and I don’t have to wear a belt if I don’t want to.  I ended up keeping these!

Daniel Rainn Drake Snake Print Cross-Front Blouse $68.00

Immediately when I saw this shirt I had mixed feelings.  I usually love prints; however, I’m pretty sure my grandma had a shirt that kind of looked similar to this one.  Not snake print, but the same color scheme.  I did like the fit of the top, it was something I would for sure wear usually.  I really would have loved this in a different color.  Maybe blacks, whites, and greys with bits of red.  I really almost kept this one, but I texted a picture of me in it to a friend and her first reaction (without any prompt from me) was that it kind of looked like a grandma top…so two votes for a grandma top and I just couldn’t keep it.  Back it went.

I left feedback to Stitch Fix about all my items and that next time I would love to see summer clothes and maybe even a maxi skirt if they found one that was fun.  Even though I ended up with only 1/5 items I still am totally on board for this service.  You can’t win them all right?  It’s really fun and addicting to get clothes picked out specifically for you.  I love the surprise element of it.  It’s so much more fun to get it and try things on at home, then going to a store and just seeing it on the rack.  Plus you get a fun personal note with it.  I can’t wait to get my next fix.  I’m excited to see what they have in store.

Want to get your own Fix?  Check it out here.  When you get your first Fix I’ll get a $25 credit and when you get your Fix you get your own personal link to share with all your friends so you can get credits too!  It’s a great way to get all your friends involved.  And maybe even sharing closets??

MKGlam VoxBox Review

I was super excited when I found out I would be receiving my very first VoxBox from Influenster to try out and review the product.  I love make up so I definitely got the right box for me.  I waited and waited (ok it wasn't that long I'm just impatient) and finally it arrived!!  I was expecting to just get small samples of the products, but I opened my box and to my surprise these were full size products!  Woo hoo!  Here's what I got:

MKGlam VoxBox

Mary Kay® Bronzing Powder

I don't usually use bronzing powder, but in Idaho it certainly doesn't hurt to use it considering you don't get a lot of sun in the winter. I thought it was a nice color and added some "sun" to my face. My only complaint is that when I used the powder brush it scratched so much off that I ended up with a lot of powder other places.

Mary Kay® Translucent Loose Powder

The translucent powder went on nice on my skin and seemed to add a pretty glow. I loved that the inside has a turn dial so the powder doesn't get everywhere when it's thrown in a make up drawer or in a bag while traveling. I also got this powder brush. Great brush and a new one...who doesn't need another brush?

Mary Kay® Mineral Cheek Color

This color has a gold base to it...so I loved it. This color is a pretty cheek pink. It didn't break apart and make quite a mess like the bronzer did. I could really wear this color every day.

Mary Kay® Cream Eye Color in Apricot Twist

I'll be honest, the last time I wore a cream eye shadow was in 8th grade when it came in a little candy shaped container and it was a bright sparkly blue. So this one made me nervous. I love love love the color. Again it has those gold undertones. I probably wouldn't buy a cream eye shadow on my own, but this one worked out fine. Also I got this great concealer brush.

Mary Kay® Lash Love® Mascara

I'm pretty picky about my mascara. I have what I use and really don't stray from that too much. This was not bad though. I liked that a huge clump did not come out with the wand (mine does that) and it seemed to hold up on my eyes fairly well throughout the day, even though my eyes water a ton (dang Idaho wind).

Mary Kay® Gel Eyeliner with Expandable Brush Applicator in Jet Black

Once again I had something to try since I had never used a gel liner before. It really stayed on well and wasn't hard to use like I thought it would be. The little brush is small enough that it worked fine.

Mary Kay® NouriShine Plus® Lip Gloss in Mango Tango

I love the bright color of this. It's so fun for spring and summer. I thought at first it would look way to orange/ridiculous on me, but since it was a gloss and not a full matte lip color it looked just fine. I really ended up liking this the most.

The Final Look

I was really glad I got a chance to try these products out. It really made for a fun time testing make up I had never worn before.

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. However these views are completely my own.

Stitch Fix May Review

Woo Hoo! I got my second Stitch Fix this month.  I was so excited for it.  Stitch Fix is a clothing styling service where you tell them the kind of clothes that you like, your sizes, and about how much you want to pay and they send you a box of 5 items that you get to try on at home and send back what you don't like or want.  They do all of this for a $20 styling fee and if you keep at least one item the $20 goes towards that item.  If you end up keeping all 5 items you get a 25% discount on the whole box.  It's pretty much amazing...and addicting.  I just couldn't wait to see what they picked out for me this month.  My friends, after seeing what I got sent, figured the people styling me knew me personally.  They don't, but because they see my pinterest board they probably have seen enough of what I like and don't like.  Anyway...onto the clothes this month!!

Pixley Page Chain Collar Necklace $36

The first thing I got was this beautiful statement necklace.  I love jewelry like this.  It's bold and not a tiny chain that I feel like I might break if I catch it on one thing.  It looked like so much fun so I kept it.

Liverpool Vinny Ankle Length Colored Skinny Jean $78

This color caught my eye, it's definitely springy and fun and I had asked for more color, but they just didn't seem to fit me how I wanted.  I also thought they were a little pricy for a pair of colored skinny jeans so these got sent back...

41Hawthorn Toshi Contrast Detail Longsleeve Blazer $88

So I had seen this blazer in someone else's Stitch Fix box and I was super excited that I got it.  I asked for work appropriate clothes and this for sure fits the bill.  It was little more than I would want to pay, but I ended up keeping it.  It's a classic piece that I'll be able to use for work and it's hard to see, but at the sleeve there's a little edge of polka dot detail that I love.  It was a keeper.

Leota Melony 3/4 Sleeve Chebron Print Wrap Dress $138

I wanted to like this one.  I've been looking for a spring dress and I do think it's cute, but honestly I didn't feel the cost of it fit what it was.  I specifically asked for dresses that were knee length and they really got this right spot on.  Stitch Fix really listened to what I needed...it was just too much.  I think for this dress I probably would have wanted to pay more around $50...so back it went.

41Hawthorn Ivy Abstract Triangle Print Tab-Sleeve Blouse $68

And last, but certainly not least I got this top.  I LOVE it.  I love fun prints like this and thought it would go perfect with the gold collar necklace.  I feel like this is dressy enough for work, but also really fun for a night out with my friends.  It's something I see myself wearing often (probably too much).  Needless to say I kept this one.

So overall I kept 3/5 pieces.  Not bad!!  I think the stylists do an excellent job of really listening to what I want and picking things that I might not pick up in the store, but end up falling in love with.  This time I changed my style profile a bit so I'm excited to see if my next one is a bit different.

Want to learn more about Stitch Fix??  Check it out here.