Influenster: Sprout Voxbox

I got some great products in my latest Influenster voxbox!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you probably know by now that I often get free product samples from Influenster. My latest voxbox had some exciting new products that I'd never tried before!

The results of my shampoo/conditioner sample!

One of the products was a shampoo and conditioner sample by Hair Food. This was not a brand I was familiar with, but I enjoyed the sample enough that when I was at Target next I bought this brand. I was using a product that I tried as a sample from a previous voxbox, but conveniently I was almost out of shampoo and Target happened to have the Hair Food products on sale. Perfect timing!

I also received a sample of EatSmart chips, which were really good! I’m not a big fan of really spicy salsa so I usually buy mild. However, in this case the CHIPS had a bit of a kick which was a nice compliment to the mild salsa. I could see them being really good with queso or guacamole as well. I didn’t save any for my brothers since I enjoyed them so much, but I could see them really liking a spicy chip to go with the scorch-your-mouth salsa they like. I’ll probably buy these again in the future, although I haven't noticed them at my grocery store. I'll need to look for them next time I go shopping for groceries.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Curate bar I received, but I’d be willing to try different flavors. I do typically have a granola bar for breakfast during the week, so that’s when I tried this one which was Balsamic Fig and Hazelnut flavor. It was ok, but didn’t make me want to run out and buy a box like I did when I tried a sample of the ? bar from a previous voxbox.

I was somewhat skeptical of the ECOS detergent sample I received, but I was impressed. I usually wash a large load of clothes when I get around to doing laundry, and the sample I received was more than up to the challenge. I’d have to consider the price before deciding whether to buy this in the future, but if it’s comparable to other detergents on the market I would definitely use this product again!

Generally, protein drinks aren’t my thing. However, I tried the Orgain sample I received and enjoyed it! I mixed it up in the blender with a banana, berries, ice, and some milk so it was a bit like a smoothie. I probably won't start buying it since I don't typically drink these, but it was nice for an afternoon snack.

Influenster: Sally Hansen #AirbrushPerfectLegs Voxbox

My Sally Hansen #airbrushperfectlegs voxbox

I recently received an Influenster Voxbox with Sally Hansen's Airbrush Legs cream. I was a bit suspicious of the product having never used anything like self-tanners or similar products, but with law school starting I had several events where smooth, flawless legs would be a nice perk.

I applied the cream on Saturday evening before going to a mixer at a upscale bar downtown. I wore light-colored capris and it was already evening, so I'm not sure the difference was that noticeable. I wasn't sure I liked the product (it felt like it left a light residue on my skin), but I definitely noticed the difference when I applied it. When I got home I was also impressed to see that the product had not rubbed off onto my pants.

Right leg done, left leg bare

The package directions said to apply the cream (lightly near knees and ankles) and let set before dressing. My first leg was dry before I even finished with the second, but I gave it another couple of minutes before dressing. According to the package the color comes off with soap and water, but since I had another event Sunday afternoon I decided to see how well the product would hold up overnight.

On Sunday I wore a skirt to the reception I had in the afternoon. Since the product didn't rub off or smear overnight I didn't reapply the cream. At the reception I was sitting and talking with a friend and she asked if I was wearing hose! That's pretty impressive.

I did wash the product off after the reception and it came off fairly easy with soap. Overall I'd say this is a great option if you need something to smooth out your skin for an event, but aren't willing to commit to hose. I'm not sure I'm worried enough about my legs looking "airbrushed" to go buy this product, but it works great.

The only other thing I would say is that I didn't worry overly much about blending the cream above my hemline, but if you had seen my thighs the difference between "airbrushed" and natural skin was obvious. If you're planning on wearing this with a bathing suit or want to create a more gradual transition from the cream to your natural skin color you may need to stop closer to your panty line rather than mid-thigh like I did.

A Little Breeze

My dad came over this weekend and helped me install a birthday present from a couple years ago.

The finished product in action!

There was a light fixture on my back porch, but I really wanted a ceiling fan out there so the outdoor eating area is more usable during the summer months. We purchased an outdoor ceiling fan and light kit several months ago, but hadn't gotten around to installing it until today. Of course with the weather really cooling down I won't have much use for it until spring.

Getting Started

After removing the old light our first step was to put the brace in place so the new fan had something to connect to. Then my started connecting the wires to the new fixture. All you needed was a pair of wire cutters to connect the wires from the house to the ones in the fan and electrical tape to insulate the wires once they were connected. Everything else was included in the kit with the fan. The wires are color-coded, but luckily my dad has done this before and knew what he was doing.

Once all the wires were connected we screwed the main fixture into place and started putting on the fan blades. That was all pretty simple, mostly just a matter of making sure we put the right screws in the right place.

Then came the light kit (which we had to purchase separately from the fan). The light kit had more wires that had to be connected which my dad handled. Then we added a light bulb and I began screwing more screws in!

See it in Action! 

Does it help you finally understand why cats and babies find fans so fascinating? (Me neither, but I do like the fan.)

The Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains

I just experienced my longest power outage since the ice storm Oklahoma had in 2007. A little over a week ago a storm with 76 mph winds swept through, took out limbs, whole trees and power to over 100,000 home in the Tulsa area.

The main downside to this storm happening in the summer is that it is warm out so you can't even put your groceries on the back porch to keep them cold. On the positive side though it wasn't miserably hot like it usually is this time of year so it wasn't impossible to be in the house without power. My house never got warmer than 80 degrees, which while not particularly comfortable isn't unbearable.

The neighbors camped under their carport.

Luckily both my parents had power so I loaded up Ollie and a whole refrigerator worth of groceries and headed south. Of course, I never expected to be a nomad for almost five days.

The storm was pretty impressive, my giant maple tree was bowing under the pressure of the wind. I was pretty lucky. My tomato plants are all twisted, but I only lost a few small limbs (none of which were the dead ones that need to be taken out of course). In contrast some of my neighbors lost whole trees.

New Start

I was without power from Tuesday until Saturday night, during my first week at the new job. Which I love. If you're ever in the Tulsa area you should check out Gilcrease Museum.

The museum was founded by Tulsa oilman Thomas Gilcrease and purchased by the City of Tulsa in the 50s through a bond issue. Gilcrease collected art, historical documents and artifacts from the western hemisphere which means the collection includes some of the most impressive items of American history from Canada to South America and the east coast to west. We also have a certified copy of the Declaration of Independence and a huge collection of art by Thomas Moran.

I'm working in the development department which means that I'm using both my work experience AND my history degree. What are the chances?

Another Year

August is also the time of year that I celebrate my homeownership anniversary. I moved in on Aug. 1, 2009 which makes today the start of year four. I've made a lot of changes over the past several years. Including refinancing, building a deck, planting (and killing) things in the flowerbeds, painting the bathroom, installing pendant lights and so much more. Love this place!

Warmer Weather

This month has finally seen the temperature creep into the upper 60s to 90s with fewer freezes. Which meant I could finally get serious about planting things in my new flowerbeds!

You may remember me posting about Dad helping me build flowerbeds with landscape timbers and re-bar. Until now they've sat empty except for some dirt and weeds.

This weekend I went to Southwoods Nursery with my mom and grandmother and they bought me some azaleas to plant in the flowerbed against the back wall of my house. Of course, the planting couldn't be done without hitting a few snags. Apparently my sewage pipe is located in the flowerbed. Right where my perfectly spaced azalea needed to go. So instead of perfectly spaced plants I adapted my plan and planted the pink azaleas closer to the azaleas on each end.

I've heard that azaleas are hard to maintain, but the one I planted two years ago couldn't be happier and has required practically no work. To plant them I just dig a hole a little bigger and deeper than the plant. Fill it up loosely with peat moss (azaleas like acidic soil which is what the peat moss is for) and add water until the hole is filled with a soupy mixture. Then you plop the plant in, cover the edges with dirt and you're done.

The next flowerbed we built is at the end of my deck and I haven't gotten it filled yet, but my grandmother did bring me some jasmine from her house that I planted in it. Eventually it will grow up the side of the deck.

Before I could plant anything though I had to line the edges of all the flowerbeds with landscape fabric. Because we used landscape timbers to build the beds the soil can wash out the spaces between the timbers without something holding it in. Since the plants need to root deeper than the beds I couldn't cover the bottoms which made cutting the fabric to size a little tricky.

The last bed we built is in the sunniest corner of my yard and is for vegetables. It's funny that this is the sunniest area since when I moved in there were bushes growing along the back fence that made that area one of the shadiest parts of the yard. After cutting down the bushes and finally digging up the roots to prevent them from growing back the bushes are finally gone for good. I want to plant something else along that fence eventually, but something that won't destroy the fence.

This was actually the first bed I planted anything in since I went to one of the local herb festivals and stocked up on tomato and pepper plants. We have a lady in Tulsa that grows and sells heirloom tomato and pepper plants, The Tomato Man's Daughter. She has a great selection and I almost always buy my tomatoes from her.

Once I had everything planted the tricky thing was rigging a fence that would deter Ollie from jumping on the plants while he barks at the neighbor dogs. That corner is where my yard meets up with the others so Ollie likes to race through it, which may not matter once my plants are bigger than him, but for now I don't want him stomping on my plants.

I barely got my tomato and pepper plants in the ground before we had another freeze though! I cut the bottoms off of some milk jugs to cover the plants overnight so they didn't die. It actually didn't get as cold as the weathermen predicted which was good.

I'm excited to get everything growing, here's to hoping I actually get tomatoes and peppers and even blackberries this year! The last few years were so hot and dry so early in the season that everything dried up too fast.

In the front yard I bought some bushes to replace those that died a couple summers ago and Grandmother bought me a couple of new plants to go in the pots on the front porch with my silver sage.

Hopefully they'll survive, I think it looks pretty nice all together!

Other pictures from this spring:

St. Francis looked pretty nice with my tulips
blooming this spring. Irises and dahlias
are starting to come up now.

The garden bed has some sort of purple flower
that grows along the fence. Lovely (and invasive).

Ollie thinks he's a rabbit.
Or at least runs like one.

Titan, my brother's cat, enjoying
geraniums at my mom's house.

I know dandelions are weeds, but don't they
look pretty making a path to the forsythia?

I hate to mow, but Ollie loves a freshly mowed yard.

Balmy

Over a month of 100+ degree weather might be too much even for me. I commented the other day that I'll admit it's too hot outside when walking from the building to my car results in my earrings getting so hot they burn my skin.

So imagine my excitement when after five days in Colorado (with summery weather in the 80s and 90s) I return home to our 109 degree weather. And a broken air conditioner. Oops.

What Happened
My main mistake was not having the HVAC repairman come out for regular maintenance. Then I compounded that mistake by putting off scheduling a check up when my A/C started having trouble cooling the house a few weeks ago. In the end the breaker for the A/C unit gave out. At one of the most inconvenient times, of course. I came home to a house that was a balmy 95 degrees.

When the repairman came out last week his first look at the unit automatically sent the bill racing over $100. As he investigated further the news only got worse. Not only was the A/C breaker burnt out, but it appeared that the coiling unit was shot too. A significantly more expensive fix.

I ended up getting lucky. Once the breaker was replaced my coiling unit began working again. But the experience taught me an important lesson about proactive HVAC check-ups.

HVAC Maintenance Tips:

• The easiest fix is replacing the filter in the A/C units regularly, about every 1-6 months.
• Cleaning the evaporator and condenser coils a couple times a year will help prevent dirt build up or mold/fungus growth. One website suggested a product like BBJ’s Power Coil Clean. You should always treat the coils with an antimicrobial treatment after cleaning.
• Clean your air ducts once every other year.
• Seal leaks and check for standing water around air ducts.
• And have the repairman come do a standard check up around May and October every year.

Cooling Down
A few days later my A/C is working great, we've gotten a "cold" front with several heavy rainstorms that have cooled the temperatures to the 90s and (while I could do without driving in the torrential downpours) my plants seem happier. I'm glad not to need to water, plus I sleep great when it rains.

Do any of you have some A/C tips or stories to share?

Living Near a Swamp (No Longer)

I've posted before about the swamp next door that breeds mosquitoes and makes my yard miserable. I've also posted about possible solutions on my part for eradicating pests, especially mosquitoes.

Can you then imagine my excitement when I came home from Arkansas a couple weeks ago and saw my neighbor in her back yard CLEANING THE POOL!?

Apparently during my week vacation she had someone drain the yucky water, replace the broken pump and was busy sanitizing the walls so she could refill the pool with sparkling chlorinated water. Ok, so maybe the water isn't a sparkling blue, but it is chlorinated which should help keep the nasty bugs at bay.

This was the second time I've met this neighbor. The house has gone through three owners since I moved in nearly two years ago. I guess I finally lucked out and got a neighbor interested in fixing up the property. I didn't get an invitation to come swim, but wow from my level of excitement you would think I had. Maybe my yard will actually become bearable in the next few years!

So check out the new view:

Eventually I plan to dig out these
crazy bushes that are destroying the fence.
Maybe I'll add a gate too...

Asking you...
What pet peeves or eyesores do you wish your neighbors would fix?

Is your house cool?

This month we have experienced mind-blowing heat in Oklahoma--as well as many other areas of the U.S. Until this past weekend the temperature in Tulsa had been well over 100 degrees for almost three weeks straight. It's amazing how nice 90 degrees can feel.

That said, 90 degrees really only feels nice when you're outside. When it's 90 degrees INSIDE all you want to do is collapse naked in front of a fan. My A/C is blowing cold air, but just can't seem to cool the house sufficiently when it's so hot. Of course, I should call the repairman. However, with summer coming to a close and a break from the extreme heat, I'm finding it hard to justify the cost and time away from work.

Just in case you are in a similar situation, here are a few ideas of ways to help cool your home.

• For starters, it's amazing what a difference fans can make. I have a fan in each bedroom and one in the eating area. The living area was the main room I was having trouble with so I finally bought a portable fan. Even when the thermostat says 90 the rooms are bearable with fans.
• PSO says that "almost 40% of the heat that builds up in your home enters through the windows." One suggestion they made was reflective window coatings (plastic sheets treated with dyes or thin layers of metal). These deflect up to 97% of infrared heat away from the interior of your home. I've also read that double-paned windows are more weather resistant so your home is less susceptible to outdoor temperatures. 
• While on the topic of windows, creating a cross-breeze by opening windows in the cooler parts of the day will help with your home's ventilation. During the afternoon shut all windows and doors and crank up the A/C. I mainly do this in the spring and fall when A/C is more of an option than a necessity.
• Insulation is another important house feature that will help maintain your home's temperature. Good insulation will keep the heat out in the summer and keep it in during the winter. Make sure that exterior walls, attic space and areas around air vents are well-insulated.
• Shutting blinds and curtains during the sunniest parts of the day will keep the sun from heating the house as quickly. Cultivating shady plants near your home will also help.
• Using appliances such as ovens, dryers or dishwashers causes the air around them to warm. Avoiding use of larger appliances during the hotter parts of the day means the A/C won't need to work as hard.
• As a last note, make sure all your expensive cold air isn't escaping through poorly sealed doors and windows. Many energy companies offer efficiency screenings, but often you can find places that need to be caulked on your own. For example, I know my decorative front door has a few paper-thin cracks (I just haven't had a chance to seal them).

Hope you all are enjoying our cooler weather! Have to say--warm house and all--I'm a summer girl. I'm hoping that we still have a couple months of beautiful weather before the drudgery of winter.

Searching for a Deal

So I've been thinking since I started planning to build a deck that I should buy a table for my patio.

However, I wasn't willing to spend $200+ on a furniture set and I didn't find anything I wanted to buy on Craigslist or at any of the stores I looked at. Then I went to Target (one of my favorite stores) and I found this table for half off.

You can see a sneak peek of my new deck in the pic!

The table is part of Target's Alexander outdoor collection it was the very last one (they were using it as the display). It was only $57! Now I just need to find chairs to go with it. The ones that came with the set still cost over $150 for four and I didn't even like them much.

Oh summer!

So I came home on Thursday and found this waiting for me:

I finally broke down and bought a hammock for my backyard last weekend, less than a week later there it was! So I ran outside, put all the hammock stand pieces together and then came back in and cracked open the box.

That's when I realized the pieces that attach the hammock to the hammock stand were missing. Grr...no enjoying the hammock that evening!

After a trip to Lowe's with Lydia, and some repeated trial and error with getting the chain the right length, here it is!

Ollie also likes the hammock...

This area still needs some work. I'm planning to go buy some mulch and create a "retreat" area around the tree. Mom got me a birdbath for my birthday so that is going out there too. I'll put up another post about it once I've finished that project!