Stella May I know the main dishes you've made?

10:30 AM Unknown 0 Comments


Of course you may. It's Fiddle-Faddle Friday and it's also National Lasagna Day and National Chicken Wing Day, so why not round up all the mains on Stella May I? Here we go: Above is my favorite chicken wing recipe. I can not tell you how many times I have made it and each time I come back to this recipe and it is always just as successful as my first time. 
 Cream of celery soup. So simple, so quick, so tasty!
 Juicy Lucy Cheeseburger. The cheese just oozes from the middle of the burger, no more cheese stuck in the pan.
Lasagna. Another super simple scrumptious recipe.
 Hot soba noodles. A lighter option.
 Crawfish Boil. It may not be in season anymore, but still so much fun to make and eat.
Pan-fried Dumplings. One of my first recipes I posted.

Those are all the mains so far. As I have round them up, I realize that I don't have a lot of them. I am going to try and make more and share them. So look out for them soon! (& I know that links don't always show up as prominently on SMI, for the coordinating post on each main just click on the name of it below each picture.)

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Stella May I know why the hedgehog crossed the road?

8:00 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Yesterday, Mister spent the better part of the day with Popcorn outside. We set him loose in the front yard and watched him (very closely) explore the newness. The last time we did that was when I made him the flower crown, which was months ago. Now it's summer and I'm sure he enjoyed the warmer weather. He was frolicking on the side walk and the grass. He became a lot more active. We keep the air on all day in the home, so he's not getting the full effect of summer. (& we also tried this with Oswald, I think he likes the cooler air. He sleeps pretty much in front of it all night.)

We don't set him loose in the home as there is a lot of furniture and refrigerators to crawl under, but I think we will be taking him out more. Currently we just carry him in a pouch and let him freely run whenever we see a spot open, but I was thinking is there some sort of hedgehog harness out there? How would that even work? The best idea I've come up with is to just set a little border to make a play pen. (&yes this is during our Pokémon hunts) What do you think?

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Stella May I know what lippies you keep in your purse this summer?

7:30 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Of course you may. I fall into the category of those that carry way too many lip products in my purse. I was looking through my purse today and I counted 6! Then I looked at each one and decided that every single one was a necessity and they will all be staying in my purse. For today's At First Blush post I wanted to share with you what (&why) lippies I keep in my purse. (Can you spot Oswald's curly tail?)
 Top-down: lip liner, lip balm, plumping lip gloss, sparkling lip gloss. These first four are ones that are in my purse all year round.
 Surprisingly, I only had one lip balm in my purse. considering this is the product I have most of. This is the Dior Addict Lip Glow Color Reviver Balm. Although it's a soft pink color, the balm reacts to your ph level and changes to a pink color. It's a very light wash of pink. What I like most is the SPF 10. You've got to protect your lips! That's the one thing I always need when we go road tripping. For some reason it's my lips that get burned and then I spend the rest of my trip trying to heal it. Oh and it has a rosy scent! (The scent doesn't linger for long though.)
 Next I have a plumping lip gloss. I'm not trying to achieve massive lips, but it's nice to smooth out the lines. Especially when I haven't been drinking enough water, my lips start having deeper lines. This is the Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme Turbo Power Supreme Plumping Lip Gloss. It's definitely one of the more intense plumping glosses as it stings a little applying it, but the sting goes away after a few minutes and the plumpness lasts for a few hours on me. This one also has a very strong red bull scent. So strong,that Mister always knows when I whip it out. There's a subtle shimmering sparkle running through it. You can't feel it and you can barely see it.
 This is the Dior Addict Gloss in 343 Spring Ball. It's a very everyday, anytime color. It's a soft pink color with fine gold shimmer. It's actually very hydrating and just slightly plumping. This one has a brush tip, while the Too Faced one above had a sponge paddle tip. I also really like that it matches the lip balm.
And then when I feel like I need a little more definition, then I use this tarte tarteist lip liner in latergram. It's the one I got in my Play by Sephora box and it's still going. I don't use this very often, but it's so small and such a good nude color, I don't mind carrying it with me. It's a deeper rosy mauve color that is just a tad darker than my natural lip color. The nib on this is very tiny though, so I like to line my lips then blend in the color with my finger. 
Since we are in the middle of summer, I like to add a little bit more color. Both of these products are from Revlon. On the left is the Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Atomic Pink and the right is the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Sweetheart. Revlon's lip gloss formula is only of my favorites. It's not stick and it's also pretty hydrating. The color is very sheer and it's more like a light wash of color with a lot of shine. The balm stain was one my favorite releases a few years ago. So much so I have nearly all the colors! It is what it says, it's a balmy feeling with the staying power of a stain. It's one that I like to wear to add a little hot pink color to my lips and something I like to swipe on especially when I know we are going out to eat. It always bugged me that lipsticks come off so easily when you eat. 
L-R: Dior lip balm, Too Faced plumping lip gloss, Dior pink lip gloss, tarte lip liner, Revlon balm stain, Revlon hot pink lip gloss
As you can see everything is sheer. If I am on the go, I am not going to go full on with very pigmented lips. More than likely, I will be applying these on the car, so something that I can swipe on very easily and is very forgiving on the lips. How many lip products do you keep with you in your purse?

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Stella May I know why your fridge shelf is different?

12:30 PM Unknown 0 Comments

 Of course you may and that's because our fridge didn't come with a middle shelf. So Mister made a makeshift one that has been holding up surprisingly well. It's been a few months!
 Surprising because it's made of cardboard! This one is from the bins at Costco. I love looking through there for storage solutions.
 All he did was cut up a couple of pieces for the shelf ledge size, paint, and install.
He chose acrylic paint to help prevent moisture from softening the cardboard in the fridge.
 It was a couple of layers until it was an opaque layer.
Then seal up the edges with some tape. This is black duct tape.
The last step was to hot glue the little painted/taped cardboard piece into the fridge. We already had a shelf, it was just not usable since there isn't a ledge to hold things in. This little makeshift piece really expanded the storage. I know this is probably not useful for most of you, but I still wanted to share it. Since I was so skeptical that cardboard and hot glue would last! When Mister glued it in, he did wait for the shelf to warm up a bit. That way the glue won't immediately set. He also used hot glue since it can easily be removed with some alcohol. (Note: don't put alcohol in this shelf!)

The little acrylic edge piece would have cost upwards of $100 to buy the replacement. This little DIY'd shelf was super easy to make and just cost pennies to make. I hope you enjoyed today's Tutorial Tuesday!

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Stella May I know what fascinating fruits and vegs you saw at the farmer's market?

10:30 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Of course you may! This is no ordinary farmer's market sightings. The market I went to is a supermarket that calls itself a farmer's market. So it's not that outdoor type or going from one vendor to the next. However the market does have different varieties of fruits and vegetables! Here are just some that I have spotted this weekend.
Watermelon. These are the darkest, greenest ones I have ever seen. They barely have the distinguishing stripes!
Rambutan. These are in the same family as the longans that I had earlier this week. Just spikier and red. After peeling the outer shell, there is some juicy, sweet fruit!
Enjoya Peppers. These are the bell peppers from the first picture. It reminds me a lot of the striped candies! If I was a bigger fan of bell peppers we probably would have picked one of these up to try.
Can you guess what these are?
Hawaiian Plantains! These are so big! They almost look like squashes. This is the only one that we picked up. I think I want to try to make plantain chips with these. We just picked up one so finger's crossed that they work! Of course I'll update you with the results.

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Stella May I know how Pokémon has consumed your life?

10:00 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Of course you may. I am still on this Pokémon train and I have noticed people have stopped playing. I can't really see when I might stop playing, but I have a feeling the novelty will wear off after I have collected one of each. The above quote is so true for me these days. I catch so many Pidgeys, Rattatas, and Zubats that they are just taking up room in my little storage. One thing I used to do was to transfer back to the Professor (it's on the bottom of the individual Pokémon page), but now I save them up to evolve them. That way I get more xp points and level up faster, especially when you use a Lucky Egg. So that's a little tip if you are trying to level up. Some benefits of leveling up? Higher cp value from Pokémon you see in the wild and you unlock the Great and Ultra Balls.

The above picture is from an artist called thousandskies and her designs are so cute! She has an Etsy shop and a tumblr. link to her post here.

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Stella May I know your excuse to snack?

9:30 AM Unknown 0 Comments

Well of course you may. Today happens to be National Junk Food Day and it's the perfect cheat day. Here are some of my favorite junk foods I have shared on SMI.
Chocolate cupcakes.
 Mac n Cheetos.
 A Jucy Lucy Burger. 
 Donuts.
 At Home S'mores.
 Chicken Wings.
 Dessert Dumplings.
 Kettle Popcorn. 
 Classic Corn Dogs. 
Chocolate Candy Bar Crescent Rolls.

Have you tried any of my little creations? Are you as big of a fan of snacking as I am?

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Stella May I know what you got for July's Play by Sephora box? July 2016

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Of course you may! Today is the first official At First Blush post and it's going to be what is in Play by Sephora's July 2016 box. Mine arrived late yesterday, just in time for today's post! As usual, I received 5 samples (+1 bonus fragrance) in the same stripey box and drawstring bag as the first two boxes. So let's dive straight in:
In this month's Play box: 
Too Faced Soleil Matte Bronzer in Chocolate (Medium/Deep) 0.08 oz worth $6.86 (full size 0.35 oz, $30.00)
Smashbox Photo Finish Oil Free Foundation Primer Pore Minimizing 0.25 oz worth $9.75 (full size 1.0 oz, $39.00)
beautyblender blotterazzi 1 sponge (full size includes compact $20.00)
Ouai Wave Spray 1.7 fl oz worth $8.84 (full size 5 oz, $26.00)
First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Deep Cleanser With Red Clay 1.0 oz worth $5.11 (full size 4.7 oz, $24.00)
NEST Citrine tiny vial (full size 0.27 oz rollerball or 1.7 oz spray, $25.00- $68.00)
Total worth: $30.20 + sponge + fragrance 
This month's box samples from basically every category offered at Sephora. First two we have hair and skin care. The Ouai wave spray is probably the product I am most excited for. (& good thing it comes in such a nice size!) As we are in the middle of summer, I want to be spending little to no time on my hair. Like last month's box with the Don't Blow It from Bumble and bumble, but in a lighter spray form. It also smells so good! The First Aid Beauty cleanser is supposed to be good for more acne prone skin. I've had lots of luck with FAB in the past as it's very kind to sensitive skin. This one is also a very good size, I think it will last quite a while.
Next comes a primer and the fragrance. Again they've included a primer. Last month's was a glowy one and this month is a pore minimizing one. It is purple tinged, so I wonder if that will have some sort of brightening effect. The description doesn't mention anything about brightening, but it does claim to prolong your makeup to an 8 hour wear and hide the look of pores. This and the cleanser are aimed for oilier skins, which is basically all us of in the summer no? This time fragrance comes in a little spray bottle. It smell floral and pretty.
And why not bronze up your skin with bronzer? This Too Faced one is one of their hero products and it smells of chocolate! It's infused with cocoa powder. It comes in some sturdy plastic packaging, but the pan size is a little small.
I have the full size one, so I though we could compare! I almost always use bronzer with a bigger, fluffier brush. I would say it's the size of a bigger eye shadow pan. This is one of my favorite bronzers, but it is a little dark on my skin tone. Too Faced also offers a lighter shade of this bronzer. I also use this as a eye shadow color.
Lastly is a makeup brush product. It's funny I just recently mentioned this in my last Sephora purchase. I was so excited when this product came out. It comes in a cute teardrop compact and you can reuse the sponges. Sadly, the sponges don't do anything with my shininess.
The reviews on Sephora are pretty mixed. Some say that it works well, while others are on the boat I am in. I say the easiest way to know if it'll work for you (if you didn't get this box) is to use your beautyblender sponge dry and see if it helps your shine. It's basically a slice of the cult favorite sponge. I have my sponge here to show you the size comparison.
Not only do we get the one sponge (the full size includes two), we also get a little sample of their cleanser. Normally I just use castille soap to wash my sponge. This is nice to travel with since I like to wash my sponge immediately after I use it.

From skin to hair to makeup to tools, we all really all over the place in this month's Play by Sephora box. It's like we got to try things from the entire store. Oh and you get the 50 extra bonus points with an in store purchase and the poster with descriptions of all the samples. It doesn't include the full size price. Have you received your boxes? I am still pretty content with this $10 subscription service so expect to see one next month!

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Stella May I know how you pack for a Pokémon hunt?

11:00 AM Unknown 0 Comments

 Of course you may. Today's Tutorial Tuesday is all about how I pack for a Pokémon hunt. This game has basically consumed my life these days. So much so I need to have a sort of go bag for whenever a Pokémon comes into sight.
 Here is my little pack all stuffed with the necessities. I am using a little field pouch from Mister's camera bag and the camera strap as the strap. It's a good little one with a lot of pockets while being expandable.
 First and probably the most important is a battery pack. I mentioned that this is a battery drainer! Especially if me and the Mister are doing a hunt for a couple of hours, we really need to refuel on power. I've secured the cord with a hair clip and some hair ties. (If things get serious or it's just a little too hot, obvs.)
 Next key things to bring? mosquito repellent. I haven't gotten a chance to pick up the Victoria's Secret perfume (honestly, I am waiting for the inevitable sale), so I am relying on my trusty Kids Herbal Armor. I am not the biggest fan of DEET as it makes me itch, so this stuff has been a lifesaver. Also included are the Honest Company hand sanitizer gel and Nivea Milk and Honey lip balm.
Lastly comes the snacks. Mister is a big fan of candy, specifically sour candy, so I got to pack one of those. I will take it out of the box since it is enclosed separately in a plastic bag inside. Then some classic Rice Krispies Treat and Nature Valley bars. 
If it's a day hunt then I will add in my sunnies and sunblock. The sunblock are sample sizes, so they are perfect to touch up with. These two were included in my Sephora Sun Safety Kit (post here).
Add in my water bottle and I am ready to go. Of course my phone is already in hand, so no need to picture that in the bag. Lately there has been a problem with the step feature that show you how close certain Pokémons are, has that been happening to you? It's a little disappointing to since that's probably my favorite part about the game. I want to catch them all!
What's in my Pokemon Go Pack all listed out: 
battery pack, cable, hair ties/clips, mosquito repellent, hand sanitizer gel, lip balm, candy/snacks, sunglasses, sunblock, water.

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