Weekend Roundup - Junk Food, Conan the Barbarian, Wings!

Happy Monday and Happy Almost-Fourth-of-July! I hope everyone had a great weekend. 

On Saturday morning, we went to a Junk Food sample sale! Junk Food is a clothing brand that specializes in pop culture related graphic tees. Their office is only a couple miles from our apartment, so we hopped on over to check it out. They had 4 rows of boxes set up, full of t-shirts for 5 bucks! They were in no kind of order, so we ended up spending nearly an hour sifting through almost every box. We ended up with 13 shirts total, since they had a 'buy-10-get-3-free' deal going.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the final season of Wings, since it's being removed from Netflix at the end of June!

That evening, we went to Boardner's in Hollywood for a quick meal and drinks, and then went to the Egyptian Theater for my boyfriend's special screening of Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer, with a Q&A with special guests Sandhal Bergman (Valeria) and William Stout (production designer)! After the movie, we went to Miceli's, a nearby Italian place that's become our usual post-screening spot.

Sunday was a super lazy day. I pretty much just lazed around on the couch, and watched A Million Ways To Die In The West on HBO Go.

I'm glad it's a short week this week! I have Friday off, and I'm really looking forward to the long weekend!

How To Get A Good Night's Sleep

Getting a good night's sleep is a challenge for me. My mind races and it's hard to shut off when it's time to sleep. I've come up with a few ways that help me unwind, relax, and ultimately get a better night's rest.

• Go to bed at a set time every night. Resist the urge to stay up just a little longer, for just one more chapter, one more game, one more internet.

• Try reading a book first -  a real book, not your Kindle.

• Get off the computer an hour before bedtime. Yeah, right!

• Consider using an eye mask to block out the light that's keeping you awake. I can't sleep without mine now.

• In order to slow your mind and body down, take a deep breath for 4 seconds, hold it for 7 seconds, and then exhale for 8 seconds. Do this a few times.

• Take melatonin supplements. I like to put on this melatonin lotion called Maxasorb from Vita Sciences before I go to bed. 
  

• Take a natural sleep aid, like this one, Restful Sleep from Healthy Directions. It helps you relax, and it prolongs your sleep cycle so that you don't keep waking up in the night. The key ingredient is Astragalus, which helps quiet your mind and support nerve function. I've been using it for the past couple weeks, and it really does help me feel sleepy and get a better night's sleep. YOU can get your very own bottle of Restful Sleep for 20% off with this code: SAVEREST. Click on the link above!

Disclaimer: I was given a bottle of Restful Sleep for review purposes. My views are my own.

Things I Love Thursday - Astronaut Wives Club, HP Phone Case, CoverGirl Powder, Sriracha Ketchup!

The Astronaut Wives Club!

This show is a limited run (just 10 episodes), based on a book about the lives of the wives of the astronauts involved in the race to the moon in the 1960s. Their lives seem pretty typical on the outside, but they are in actuality, of course, full of drama. The women are bitchily supportive of each other, and competitive over who's husband will be the first in space or on the moon. It's kind of like The Right Stuff meets Mad Men. It's great!


Harry Potter Phone Case from Vista Case Cover!

I needed a new phone case since my old one started to crack, but choosing one from the millions of phone cases on Amazon, eBay, and Etsy is SO hard. I found this seller who had a few dozen different designs. This one, above, is one of the 3 I picked out! It's a reference to the Very Harry Potter Musical; there's a song that talks about going to Hogwarts and how "it's gonna be totally awesome!" So of course I had to get it! It fits my phone perfectly and every time I look at it, I get that song stuck in my head.


Cover Girl Ready Set Gorgeous!

I've been looking for a new powder to wear over my foundation, and randomly picked this one up at Ulta last week. It's proven to be pretty great. It immediately makes my skin look flawless, and my face doesn't get oily halfway through the day (which was the case with the old powder I was using. It comes with a little sponge, but I just use a regular brush to smooth it on.

Heinz Sriracha Ketchup!

I know a lot of people are like HUGE sriracha fans, but I've never really tried it before. Sue me! I got a bottle of this to try from Influencer and wasn't super excited about it, until I actually tried it. I was shocked by how good it was! It was like a slightly enhanced ketchup that was also spicy! Somehow, combining ketchup and sriracha worked really successfully! I keep thinking of ways to add this to more of my food!

My First Stitch Fix Box Review!

I recently subscribed to StitchFix, a subscription box that delivers clothing tailored to your taste profile. I love clothes, and I love shopping, but I often find shopping for clothes difficult, for some reason. I have a hard time spending a lot of money on clothes, even when they're better quality than the $20 tops I can get from Forever 21 or wherever. I also feel like I don't know what my style is anymore. When I read about StitchFix, it seemed like a good way to jumpstart being able to spend more money on quality clothing.

First, you fill out a style profile, which includes not only your sizes and your shape, but also what kind of clothes you tend to like, what you're looking for, etc. They send you a box of 5 items, and charge you a $20 styling fee. You try on all the clothes, and then decide what you want to keep and what you want to send back. If you decide to buy something, that $20 goes towards it. If you buy all 5 items, you get a 20% discount. 

Liverpool Anita Skinny Pants - I actually like these pants a lot - they fit perfectly and, though they were fitted, they didn't feel tight. However, they were a smidge too long, and looked a little too much like jeans for me to be able to wear them to work, which is something that I requested in my style profile. That, combined with the price, means I have to send them back.

Renee C Berham Blouse - This blouse is just not for me. It fit weird in the chest, gave me armpit fat bulges, and was just overall really unflattering. It's a 'no' for me.

Crescent Sage Dress - I like this dress in theory. The pattern is pretty, and so is the lacy part on top. However, it's so huge it's like a muumuu. I could belt it, but I think it would still be really unflattering. Definitely not for me.

Market & Spruce Talia Printed Pencil Skirt - I like it! It's a pretty pattern; not one I would normally pick out, though, which is kind of what I wanted, since I tend to buy the same things over and over. It's really soft, and it fits really nice. Keep!

41Hawthorn Benson 3/4 Ruched Sleeve Blazer - I love this blazer!! It's soft, like it's made out of sweatshirt material, and I love the lining that you can see when you roll the sleeves. It's a definite keeper!

I can't wait to see what's in my next Stitch Fix box!!

BTW: I need new poses. How do the fashion bloggers do it??

Home Stuff: New Kitchen Shelves!

I've been trying to do a little redecorating around the ol' apartment here and there. We have this long counter separating the kitchen and the living room that's kind of hard to decorate. I like it because it makes the living space seem more open than if there was just a solid wall there, but it's so much flat space I just haven't really been sure what to do with it.

It started to get pretty cluttered with various things, both useful and aesthetic. I purchased these cool shelves on Amazon, and my boyfriend manfully installed them. They were the perfect size for these Disney mugs and Mickey balloon-shaped popcorn bucket that I got the last time we went to Disneyland. I think the mini wall-o-Disney looks pretty great!

I also got this hurricane glass candle holder thing to dress it up a bit, and added these little bird figurines and black candlesticks (both from Target), and voila! I think it looks quite pretty, and a lot more organized.

Weekend Roundup! Inside Out, Target, & TV!

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty nice - relaxing but fun! 

On Friday, after work, we walked over Playa Vista Runway, an outdoor mall near our apartment that's been under construction for quite awhile, and has only recently started opening up businesses. We had dinner at the Astro Pub at the brand new Whole Foods. 
They had a lot of food options; you could order food from the menu in the restaurant, or order other food from various counters and then bring it into the restaurant. We tried the Classic Burger, Rainbow Roll, and Pork Belly Mac & Cheese, along with a few drinks, since it was happy hour ($2 off drinks, 4-7pm everyday!). It was all very delicious, and I can't wait to try some of the other food they have there!

Then we went to Cinemark to see Pixar's newest venture, Inside Out. I loved it (even though our theater was full of kids)! The voices were all so perfect, and I wish I had a Joy making my decisions for me! My favorite part was when they showed other characters' guiding emotions; it was interesting that the mother's main emotion was Sadness, and the father's was Anger, although those emotions weren't as strong as Riley's, the main character, seemed to be. In a way, everyone has an emotion that they fall back on, I think. If only all of our Joy's could be as strong!

Saturday morning, I went to Pacific Eyecare Center to pick up my glasses, because I was having new lenses put into my old frames. We went to Chocovivo after (where we went to the Chocolate & Bourbon Tasting), since it was right next door, and got a frozen hot chocolate. It was a vanilla coffee base, with some ice cream. So yummy!


On Sunday morning, we went to Carl's Junior for a nutritional, healthy breakfast. In the afternoon, we made a Target run. I could seriously spend an entire afternoon there. Later, we played Marvel Ultimate Alliance on my Wii. We hadn't played in a while, and I was itching to punch some bad guys as Iron Man!

In the evening, we watched the season premiere of True Detective and the series premiere of Ballers on HBO Go. I've never see the first season of True Detective, but this season seems like it'll be pretty interesting. Plus, Taylor Kitsch is in it, so, you know, clear eyes, full hearts, etc. Ballers is basically Entourage but for football players, and also The Rock is there. 

Things I Love Thursday - Dead Sea Salt Scrub, Tupperware, Lifetime's Unreal

Here are a few things I'm loving this Thursday!

Adovia Exfoliating Dead Sea Salt Scrub!

I love a good exfoliating scrub. I just love exfoliating in general. This dead sea salt scrub, from Adovia, not only exfoliates your skin, it also infuses your skin with moisturizing oils. It's really nice and soothing, because while you're scraping off the dead skin cells, you're immediately also making the new skin soft and pretty. It smells really luxurious too.


Tupperware Bowls!

Tupperware is the best! Most of the ones I have are vintage ones from my mom, but I wanted to get a new set that I could put my lunch in to bring to work. I found this set of bowls that are the perfect size. And they're pretty, too!

Unreal!

This show, on Lifetime, is basically a behind the scenes look at the real drama on dating shows. But totally not The Bachelor *coughcough*, definitely not. The main character is one of several producers on the show, and she's awesome at manipulating the contestants she's assigned into basically being their worst selves, so that they can get good footage, but then she's also kind of conflicted about how good she is at it. Her personal life is completely screwed up, and her desperation to set it straight usually winds up blowing up in her face. Everything is such a trainwreck, and it's as fun to watch as The Bachelor!


Disclaimer: I was given a free product from Adovia in exchange for my honest review.

Tammi Reads Books!

I've read a few great books recently, let me tell you about them!

Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle

One of my favorite types of stories is apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic kinds of things. I heard about this YA book, Vivian Apple At The End of the World, from one of the blogs I read, and it sounded like just the kind of thing I would enjoy. The story takes place right after what seems to be a Rapture has happened. Various people who had joined a new sect of super religious Christians have disappeared with no trace. Vivian Apple's parents are among these, and she teams up with her best friend and a mysterious cute guy to go on a trek to figure out what really happened to them. As they travel across the country, we get more glimpses of how this cult, the Church of America, has changed the country. The cult hilariously claims that Jesus loves America, capitalism. It's pretty much what I would expect to happen in real life if evangelical Christians took over.



Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five is considered an American classic, but I had never read it before. I have to say, I didn't really like it. I just couldn't get into it. It's about Billy Pilgrim, a war vet who becomes unstuck in time after being abducted by aliens who exist in all time simultaneously. He time travels to random moments in his life and relives them for a while, jumping around to the past and future randomly. I have a theory that he wasn't really time-traveling; rather, he was just vividly reliving memories. If you remember a moment in time vividly, doesn't it sometimes feel like you're there again? Anyway, the story was definitely original, but I just didn't particularly enjoy it.




We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

This book is about the mother of a teenage boy who goes on a killing spree at his high school. It takes place after the incident, and is told solely through letters to her estranged husband, which made it actually really interesting. She attempts to explain to him, and herself, how Kevin ended up that way - if it was her fault for not being nurturing enough (she hadn't wanted kids), or if he was simply born evil. It's a nature vs. nurture thing, and the dial goes back and forth between the two as the story progresses. It's kind of a disturbing story, but really compelling.



Lamb by Christopher Moore

The untold story of Jesus' years, as told by his childhood friend Biff. The Bible doesn't cover a huge chunk of Jesus' (or Josh, as he's known in the book) life - from childhood to age 33. This book hilariously posits that he spent those years traveling around with his BFF Biff, trying to figure out his purpose in life, exploring spiritualities, amassing followers. But this isn't a religious text, by any means. It's really quite hilarious.

Things I Love Thursday - Portofino Shirt, RFID Blocking Wallet, Beauty Blender, Tiny Hamster

Express Portofino Shirts!

My new job is strictly business casual, and I've kind of been struggling with it. I have a lot of tops that are nice, but I'm not sure if they're office-nice, and it makes me feel kind of out of place sometimes. I got a couple Portofino shirts from Express a couple months ago because they were on sale, and they've quickly turned into my go-to tops. They're comfy and colorful, and they look totally professional. I pair it with a pair of Editor pants and just throw on a few rings and a bracelet, and I feel totally like a grown-up. I've bought a few more since then, and now I literally want to just get one in every color and pattern.


RFID Blocking Leather Wallet!

I've been wanting to get a new wallet for a while, so I was happy when they offered me this one to review. It comes in several vibrant colors, and I picked light blue, since I have very little of this color in my closet (and also because purple wasn't an option). I love the size, it's perfect for my more compact purses, and it holds my credit cards and cash easily. It's made of leather and very soft. Also, it protects your credit cards from those scammers that walk by with whatever tech thing that somehow captures the number and then they steal your identity. I didn't even know that was a thing I needed to worry about. I mean, I don't now, so that's a plus.

Beauty Blender!

I bought a Beauty Blender a few months ago after seeing a bunch of makeup YouTubers rave about it. I tried it and was immediately disappointed. I kept trying it and I kept hating it. Eventually, I put it away, saddened that I had wasted twenty bucks on this stupid useless sponge. But then! I read a how-to on the MakeupAddiction subreddit that included gifs, and suddenly, I understood how to use it and it's been great ever since!! Here's a breakdown of what to do:
1. Wet the sponge under water. Seriously, soak that sucker. Squeeze it and then get it wet again. It's gotta be completely full of water, and it'll increase it's size 10x (allegedly, more like 2x).
2. Wring it completely out. I like to also squeeze a towel around it to make sure it's not wet, only a tiny little bit damp.
3. Put the foundation directly on your face. I feel like less gets sucked up by the sponge and wasted that way.
4. Stipple the sponge on your face. That means, like, bounce it on your face. Just tap-a tap-a tap-a it all over. Don't smear it, just bounce it.
5. That's pretty much it. Wash the blender afterwards. 
I use it to put on concealer as well, since concealer is more effective when it's stippled on, too, instead of just smeared on.


Tiny Hamster YouTube Channel!

Tiny Hamster is the most adorable YouTube channel possibly ever. I actually just went to their book release party at YouTubeSpaceLA the other day and saw the premiere of this video, which is also the same title as their book, Tiny Hamster is a Giant Monster. All their videos are pretty much just the tiny hamster and friends doing cute hamster-sized things, like eat a hamster-sized burrito, have a hamster-sized Thanksgiving, and throw a hamster-sized birthday party.

Disney California Story Tour at California Adventure!

This weekend we took the Disney California Story tour! A relatively new Disney Resorts tour, it's basically the California Adventure version of the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour. Where that one went over Walt's history of forming Disneyland, this one was more about Walt's early years in Hollywood and the film industry.

We met at the Chamber of Commerce near the front of California Adventure 30 minutes before the tour started. The tour group hung out in a private lounge while we waited for it to begin, and, as with other tours, they gave us pins with our names on them, took our lunch order for later on, and gave us our audio devices.

Charity, our tour guide, took us all around California Adventure. Starting out on Buena Vista Street, where she explained the significance of various things, like how the number of buildings and street names correspond to certain years, or places of importance to Disney. The level of attention to detail is pretty crazy!

Elias is Walt's middle name, and his father's name

We got to go into 1901, the lounge next to Carthay Circle that's exclusive to Club 33 members. It was pretty cool (though not as cool as Club 33) and had a ton of pictures of Walt and his animators that I'd never seen before! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, unfortunately.

We got to skip to the front on 3 rides - Soarin' Over California, Radiator Springs Racers, and Toy Story Mania. We had just gone on Soarin' before the tour started, but that's okay because it's a pretty great ride. We were in the row with the perfect view - B1. We'd also tried to go on Toy Story Mania before, but the line was too long, so I was pretty excited when they announced we'd get on it during the tour!

Three and a half hours later, it was time for lunch! I got the Roasted Turkey sandwich and a brownie, and my boyfriend got the Roast Beef sandwich and Mickey cookie! They also had some salads available. While we were eating, they gave us our special tour pins, as well as a pass to ride on any ride (sort of like a Fast Pass), as a consolation for not getting to do the Animation Academy class where they teach you to draw Mickey.

'Tanmi'?! Really?!

After the tour was over, we went over to Disneyland to check out the castle decked out in 60th anniversary decorations. We used our free pass on the Matterhorn, since we hadn't ridden it in a long time since the lines are always so long. It's been updated for the 60th anniversary with some new surprises!