julep maven.

Mail order makeup?  Mail order nail polish?  ALL IN A LITTLE BOX?  Sign me up!  One day at work I decided to sign up for Julep Maven because I saw a little ad online for a free Maven Starter box.  I love nail polish, makeup, and beauty products... so I figured why not?!  The way it works is you sign up, take a quiz to find out your style, sign up for their monthly boxes.  They're pretty pricey at about $20 a month but you do have the option to skip months if you're not impressed with the monthly offerings.  You also have tons of beauty products at your fingertips at a discount.  

While I found their online help isn't very effective--they don't answer you at all (so far) other than on Twitter... their Customer Service phone line is incredible.  Both times I have called with questions they've been friendly, helpful, and exceeded my expectations.  

My Maven box came in the mail today and I am so very excited.  It took a week to ship which is better than I expected.  Cute packaging, and they send a few free little gifts as well. When I took the Maven quiz I was told my style was "Bombshell" and so we're just going to roll with that.  

I received two nail polishes...the orange is called "Kaylen" and the gold is called "Oscar".  They're cute.  I was especially excited for the orange.  Nothing extraordinary that I haven't seen before, but definitely not two colours I own in my 60+ nail polish collection.  Sadly I painted my nails last night so my review on the polish will have to wait until another day.  

I also received a full-sized Glycolic Hand Scrub which Julep boasts is a "facial for hands".  They're not kidding.  I used a tiny amount and my hands feel a-ma-zing.  No joke.  I have such dry, sensitive hands and they feel incredible right now.  Julep says you can also use it on your body and your face but I am scared my hands will get jealous and they need this scrub. I'm hooked.  

I am definitely hoping for a better polish round-up next time but I must say I am fairly impressed so far.  I am disappointed I missed out on the May Bombshell Box but perhaps June will have a fun surprise in store for me. If you feel like signing up, feel free to use me as a referral: Julep Website.  

DISCLAIMER:  I have not been paid with cash or products to review Julep.  (Wouldn't that be nice though?)  Also, an apology to my favourite reader who probably has no interest in anything I've been babbling on about in this post. 

may heatwave.

I do not have air conditioning right now.  Luckily, I also live all alone and therefore I can sit around with the fan just on me in boyshorts and a tank top.  

A friend of mine is stuck on nights and on a boring rotation at work and so I decided to humiliate myself via text to give him a laugh: 

"Nothing screams forever single like eating Honey Bunches of Oats with vanilla soy milk in your underwear while watching Seinfeld reruns you've seen 100 times.  With PECANS!  This kind has PECANS!"

I successfully made his night.

And I need to obtain some air conditioning.  This weekend will be an A/C adventure if I don't melt in the humidity that is on its way tomorrow.

honey cashew chicken.

I wanted something quick and easy for dinner and for lunch leftovers this week and so I threw a bunch of stuff in a pan and hoped for the best.  

I used half of an Arctic Gardens stir fry veggie mix and also added more broccoli and bamboo shoots.  


ingredients

• 1/2 bag of stir fry mix, added broccoli, bamboo shoots (You can really put whatever veggies you want in this.) 
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
• A couple of cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 handfuls of cashews (Make them big handfuls)
• 3 tbsp. honey (for sauce) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce (for sauce)
• A couple of dashes of sriracha (optional, for sauce.)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. corn starch 
• Noodles or rice for serving

directions

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet or wok.
• Add chicken, browning until the pieces are no longer pink.
• Add veggies, extras, and garlic and cook according to directions for the veggies. 
• For the sauce:  Add all sauce ingredients and mix.  I like simple.
• Halfway through cooking the veggies add 3/4 of the sauce mix into the wok and stir regularly.  
• Add cornstarch just before the veggies are done and stir to thicken the sauce.  
• Serve with rice or noodles, using the reserved sauce to top over the stir fry or the noodles or rice. 

Easiest meal ever and I swear it is better than take out.  Absolutely delicious.