A Mama with Flavor

Blogmas Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 03:36:00 +0000

Today was a lazy Sunday that consisted of me paying bills, and playing "eenie-meenie-minnie-maybe-next-week with others. Before that I did make mini bacon egg and hashbrown "frittata". For some, I put bread on the bottom and others I didn't add bacon. They were so yum. I shredded my own potatoes because it's so much cheaper than buying hash browns. Just be sure that you wring the excess water from the shredded potatoes.

I also bought a bulk of my children's Christmas presents. The older they get the less they want, but what they want becomes more expensive. Gah. I'm also trying to figure out when I will decorate my house for Christmas. See, I have a toddler, and she is a tiny tornado. I am holding off as long as I can. It'll be more special, at least this year, to decorate closer to Christmas knowing that most of the decor will be intact to use next year.

I wouldn't have such an issue, because I've had toddlers with trees, but our space is so small and she is a todnado. Not a good pic but had to put her in the sink so I could mix in peace haha.

I also did day four of my yoga challenge after having to spend 75% of my paycheck to become more "onenier" with the universe haha.

I made key lime bars, crab macaroni and cheese, and baked chicken tenders. I was going to do a whole recipe on the macaroni and cheese, but I haz a crazy baby and don't have the time to take pictures as I go. I will probably make this again in January. I can not wait to share the recipe. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I can record my recipe process.

I no longer have my fancy cameras, but I think the iPhone will do for now. Like the last blog, I said I am not the same woman I was before, my cooking skills are better than ever. However, I can cook a great meal in no time and I am not used to the picture breaks here and there. I am brainstorming on how to document the process quickly, yet concisely.

The family loved dinner and dessert. I just love having sundays back. I've been in school for two years straight, I am exhausted.

My mom stopped by and gave me my baby book. I love it. I also found that I am a Sagittarius sun, Pisces Rising and Virgo Moon which explains a lot. I thought I was a Virgo rising, that didn't seem right at all. I feel like my life would be more structured if I was a Virgo rising as well as a Virgo moon haha. In my house we have four people who are pisces rising, crazy huh? Pretty emotional lol.

Well I have to go. I have some meditation to do before bed so I can get relaxed and carefree like this little cat wanna be haha.

Day One of BLOGMAS- Where Have I been? Spilling the tea..

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 05:40:00 +0000

HIIIII Everyone. I am back.

I just finished my MASTERS program, while working full-time with four children one being only 2 years old. It was a challenge, but now I have more free time. I've been doing yoga and meditation to rid myself of all the extra stress and negativity.

If you don't know, I now live in the United States and I am no longer married. This is a whole new world I've been adjusting to for the last three years. You'd think I'd have it down by now, but I still learn everything the hard way. I believe I learn things the hard way in order to help others in a empathatic, non-judgemntal, caring way. I find myself to be very wise although I also feel very naive. Oh well.

I've tried several times to create a new blog, but I just couldn't. I wanted to leave the past in the past, but the past is what has made me the woman I am today. The woman I was then is much different than the woman I am now.

I am still totally a foodie, a beauty junkie, traveler, and lover of photography. It's all about finding time and saving enough money. All these things I will continue to share along with my family and other aspects of being a working mom doing the damn thing. There are many things that makes my situation quite unique that I will not elaborate on right now. However, when I hear or read about women in a similar situation as mine, I get so giddy- haha. But we are so damn busy to even spark up a proper greeting or at least I am. I am too busy for anything especially with older kids getting into everything outside the home and a baby who gets into everything inside the home.

So why did I decide to do BLOGMAS? Well, I am kind of a youtube junkie and I love when my favorite vloggers do vlogmas. It's where they vlog everyday. I know some people find it trivial to follow "regular" people, however, I love it because I am nosy and look for inspiration everywhere haha. I feel like blogmas is a way to get back to blogging, but also hopefully inspire that mom who doesn't think she is doing enough- which is me almost 100% of the time 65% of the time hehe.

Day 1 was a day at home. I work all week so I enjoy my rest. My son had a soccer day that my boyfriend who is also his coach took him to. I stayed home and did my yoga as well as meditated, played with the babies.

I also decided to dust some old cookbooks off to use. My kids ask me why I don't use them anymore. Well it’s sad, but I thought I didn’t need them and the internet is so much easier when I need to tweak a recipe or find one quickly. After going through them I didn’t realize how much I missed them! So this week, I am cooking straight from the books. I did my meal plan and as I work 40 hours plus over time- which is an additional 10-20 hours a week- so the more simple the better.

This is the very first cookbook I bought over a decade ago. I look at it now and when they say basic it's truly basic haha. But the recipes are easily tweakable and we all enjoyed it then, so why be boujee about it now haha.

Also we haven't done any decorating for Christmas yet, but Elf Skywalker has decided to pay a visit today.

The kids were cautiously excited. The baby just wants the candy haha.

I also to bring some christmas cheer in this home, I decided to bake cookies every weekend and everyday during the 12 days of Christmas. So that may mean making some dough in advance haha.

I made Ina Garten's Pecan Sandies. I also added Hershey kisses to some because.....why not?

The kids and the elf enjoyed them.

Thank you for reading and see you all here tomorrow <3 p="">

HONG KONG WITH THE FAMILY

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 08:28:00 +0000

Hello guys! So school's out for me and the children and I am FINALLY feeling refreshed and myself again. The last three weeks of the last semester took a lot out of me. I finished the school year with all As and one B. And right after school ended I went straight to driver's ed. I lost my stateside license in Germany and since I was there for 9 years, I am completely out of my state's system. So I had to take a driver's ed course as my USAEUR license (the license I had in Germany) is invalid here in Okinawa. So I was pretty overwhelmed. After I got my license, me and the kids literally drove all around the island looking for fun. I kinda lost myself. My house was a MESS and my cooking has decreased significantly compared to how much I cooked when I had down time before. Luckily back in April, we planned our trip to Hong Kong. We booked our tickets and hotel way back then. After traveling on a whim in Germany waiting nearly 4 months to go on a trip was a killer! But I had plenty to keep me busy!

We spent 4 fun-filled days exploring Hong Kong. We stayed at Nathan Hotel which was very nice. Clean room, friendly staff, and a great location. We were close to the famous Hong Kong skyline, close to the MTR which was very easy to use and very crowded! Most things in Hong Kong are in English, though we ran into a lot of people who didn't speak english or speak it very well, but we got our point across fortunately

The first day:

We just walked around. We checked out the street food including the curry fish balls. So many food shops with goose and duck in the windows- was quite appetizing for food lovers like myself and my husband. I didn't have any the first night but i did others and I am addicted! I've always loved duck and goose, now I love both even more. We also went to the skyline's laser show.

Second day:

The second day was spent almost entirely at Ocean Expo Park. A theme park and learning experience. There were aquariums and places indoor exhibits where kids are able to learn about everything from seahorses to sharks. The exhibits were also a great opportunity to hide from the hot hot sun! The park is great for kids, but better for children 8 and over. My youngest couldn't ride many rides. My daughter got to ride quite a few though. My son was able to ride almost all of them, however along with a height limit, there is also an age limit. Weird. We went to amusement parks in Germany and the kids were able to enjoy most of the rides which is why they were a bit more frustrated. But for the most part they all had a great time. All of them were able to ride at least one roller coaster. It was either Disney or Ocean Park and they chose the latter. I'm happy they did! We all had so much fun!

Day 3:

Day three was spent exploring the Hong Kong Island and eating from various street food vendors and checking out huge markets. They were a dream. Fresh produce, seafood, meats....everything and anything you could possibly want!!! Then the Temple street Market had everything from clothes, toys, selfie sticks! It was great! We bought a painting and they do encourage "haggling"/negotiating! We also went to the Hong Kong Space Museum. A great escape from the heat and plenty of interactive areas for kids to learn! Of course the famous Chinese bakeries were not a let down! We also ventured to the Avenue of the Stars similar to the Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

On the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island

Day 4:

Day 4 was spent in Ngong Ping where we went to see the famous Big Buddha (Tian Tan Buddha). We spent most of the day there. To get there we took the MTR with one change from our hotel. There, we lit incense and made wishes, we climbed more than 200 stairs to go inside the buddha where no pics were permitted, and walked alongside dogs, cats, and cows. After climbing up the stairs to the big Buddha, we experienced the true beauty of Hong Kong. It's just not a concrete jungle, there is raw beauty and peace in this city amongst the craziness and millions of residents and thousands of tourists.

We also went to the grocery store taste. Though I love grocery stores in Japan and even France. That was the best grocery store I've ever been to!!!!!!!! Even if there weren't any speculoos, there were however dried seahorse and moss antler...

I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED!!!!!!!

Homemade Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 05:02:00 +0000

<3 100="" 28="" 5k="" am="" and="" can="" challenge="" check="" definitely="" distances="" far="" farther.="" gave="" has="" how="" i="" im="" in="" inspire="" instagram="" it="" june.="" ladies="" longer="" me="" middle="" miles="" my="" myself.="" of="" on="" out="" p="" progress="" proud="" ran="" run="" second="" so="" some="" sommerjeezy="" spoke="" the="" they="" this="" thought="" thus="" tips="" to="" ve="" week="" whom="" with="" would="" you="">
I love stir-fries! They're quick and easy to make- even homemade! Use whatever veggies you want/have on hand.

I also made this last night without meat and it was so good. My daughter and I got seconds! LOL. I have more left so I am going to make Japanese style battered chicken with it for Thursday night dinner :-) Tonight is pancake night. #teamtired

This recipe is inspired by Ellie Krieger's Teriyaki marinade which is basically the same as stir-fry sauce! Serve with rice or noodles or with nothing else.

Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

2/3 cups soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mirin/sake/or rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1-2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1/4 cup red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon cornstarch/potato starch
1 tablespoon oil of your choice (veg/canola), divided
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil, divided
3-4 chicken breasts sliced thinly or diced
1 green pepper (I used about five japanese green peppers)
1-2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets
1 cup carrots, sliced thinly
1 half head cabbage (optional) sliced thinly
1 onion (size depending on your taste) sliced thinly
4 cloves of garlic sliced thinly

Directions
Combine the first 7 ingredients in a small bowl and stir until evenly combined. Pour half of the marinade over the chicken, and mix until evenly coated. Marinate for 15 minutes or overnight.

Heat the 1/2 tablespoon of the oil of your choice along with 1/2 tablespoon of sesame seed oil in a non stick pan or wok over medium heat. First cook broccoli and carrots for about a minute and then add the rest of the vegetables. Stir often. Cook about 5 minutes then remove from pan and set aside. With the empty pan still on medium high heat, add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of oil and sesame seed oil. Cook chicken until nearly cooked through about five minutes, add the veggies back to the pan and remaining stir fry sauce. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Lower heat and allow to cook about 2 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. If the sauce looks too thick add about 1/4 cup water.

Hope you all enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Thu, 15 May 2014 05:45:00 +0000

Random Tuesdays! And a Bonus Recipe for Protein Mango Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 04:51:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

I am super late with this Tuesday post! I still have a few minutes of Tuesday left on the East Coast at least!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a late Psychology class and I am so tired on Wednesdays and Fridays. Last night after class I cooked a bunch of homemade sausage(I made these on Friday night and froze them) for easy breakfast for the rest of the week, I did my workouts, got the kids stuff ready for school, and did other little things around the house. I was super tired by the time I was done at 1am!

This morning I woke up, packed the kids' lunches, threw on some booty shorts and a sweatshirt ha!

My goal was to finish Week 4 Day 2 of my Couch to 10K run! I can't do it tonight as my husband is working the late shift. The kids and I (only my oldest 2) walked to school and then I went for a run. I started pretty well and then I started getting really hot. Damn sweatshirt. I wanted to take it off (i had a regular workout shirt underneath), but I didn't want to carry it. According to my RunKeeper App I burned more calories today than I have on any run I've done so far this year. I was a sweaty mess when I was done, and I was so happy to be done! But as I made my smoothie, I was so happy that I did run though I was dressed the part I didn't feel the part.

I prepped some dinner, made breakfast for my youngest, made/drank my smoothie and then took a nice nap.

That's why I am so late with the post. It's already Wednesday afternoon here, I usually do the daily posts the day after (here).

So let me share with you all a quickie recipe for the protein Mango Smoothie I made today! It's soooo good!

Serves 2

I didn't really measure so I guessing based off feel here LOL. I did take a picture of the ingredients in the blender so that kind of helps me get a feel.

3/4 cup frozen mangoes

1/3 cup cottage cheese

1/3 cup or one container of vanilla greek yogurt like chobani or yoplait

about 1/2-3/4 cup coconut milk

and a splash of vanilla extract

It's so good and filling!!!! Try it after your workout or breakfast….lunch…dinner

Have a great day!!!!!!

#MakeupMondays #Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick! Plus quick demo!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 03:30:00 +0000

Hello everyone welcome to a very late Makeup Mondays! So as you read in my last blog, my time is short these days. I'm back in school full-time and back on my exercise routine on top of EVERYTHING else that goes on!

I had a coupon for this Maybelline Fit Me Stick Shine Free Foundation, I've heard RAVE reviews about this product, so I decided to try it. Especially as I had a coupon for it. BTW, there are SO many great coupons for drug store make-up! OMG. I am a make-up junkie, so me AND my husband are happy about that lol.

Anyway, I bought the Toffee/Caramel number 330 and it matches my skin color perfectly! It applies super smooth and has a nice satin finish and feels so light almost like "second skin". I love this foundation so much.

It's only .32oz about .68oz less than your normal liquid foundation, however you don't need to roll this stuff all over your face. This product normally cost $8.99 according to the site. http://www.maybelline.com/Products/Face-Makeup/Foundation/fit-me-shine-free-foundation.aspx

I like to use it in areas of my face where the skin color is off from blemishes. The coverage is phenomenal and a little really goes a long way. It doesn't look cake or like you have any make up on at all. The coverage is about medium but it's certainly build-able (you're able to layer it on) if you need to.

Before! Excuse my hair I put it up in a ponytail :-)

Applying. I just dot it on and blend with my fingers!

If you want to just quickly even your skin tone and run out the door, this product is perfect. It leaves a perfect skin finish. No powder needed. I've noticed after maybe 6 hours I may have to retouch on blemishes, but this item is perfect to carry around in your purse and not have to worry about liquid or powder foundation spilling all over the place! I hate that!

IC Olive Styling Gel Quick Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 01:15:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Life is super busy lately. Between family life, school, and working out, my hair is what I want to spend the least time on. So I've opted for wash and goes!

I had to go shopping for some new hair products because I was completely out of conditioner and creams. Yes, chile, I am no longer a product junkie! Since I've been opting for wash and goes I needed a product for some hold. So I bought IC Olive styling gel. There were 4 kinds of Eco Styler gel available at the Base Exchange (I live overseas as a military dependent) but none with any added oils. So I decided to try IC. I saw it feature on many blogs and youtube videos, so I was excited to try.

I had great results with this product. Great hold, shine, and not flaky!

First Day Hair

Here are the results from last week! I had 4 great days with NO additional products needed after the first day to retain the style including water!

Second Day Hair!

Third Day Hair!

Today I had to wash my hair early in the morning and go! I washed, added about half a palm full of gel for three sections, shook each section, and finished my morning routine with the children. I couldn't diffuse because we were running behind. However when I came home I was able to diffuse and here are the results! I like this gel. It's slightly more costly (about a dollar) than eco styler, but I prefer the results of this gel the best. I love that there is NO flaking and my hair still feels soft but there is a slight hold that keeps my wash and go nice for a few days- even with my workout routine! It also works amazingly well for my daughter's super soft curls!

I hope this was helpful!!!!

Fun Beauty Tag!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 13:40:00 +0000

Today I am just going to do a fun Beauty tag that I found via Google. I am a beauty junkie so this should be fun. I tag anyone who reads! If you do it, please let me know in the comments so I can read and comment on your answers!

1. EEK! You’ve got five minutes to do your makeup for a date. What’s your minimum?
Fill in my eyebrows. Even my skin tone with a bit of concealer and set with powder, wear a pop of color on my lips and go super neutral with the eyes with brown shadows and a cat eye with some kick ass mascara.

2. Pick a trend—crazy cat eyeliner, super hot pink blush, or feathered false lashes?
Feathered eyelashes because they're so fun!
3. If you had to either give up all makeup for two months or give up your skincare for a week, which would you pick?
Probably make-up for two months. That would be a long long week without washing/moisturizing.

4. What beauty products are always in your purse?
Lipstick/gloss.
5. Are there any beauty products that you keep coming back to throughout the years?
I go back and forth with Shea Moisture Products. I prefer their body line to their hair line.

6. Smokey eyes or red lips?
Red Lips! A gorgeous matte lip and even skin tone.

7. Lipstick or lip gloss?
Matte lip stick.

8. Are there any products that you never expected to like but ended up loving?
Bronzer. I thought you wouldn't be able to see it on my skin tone, however it's quite incredible and gives me a great glow. Though I live on a tropical island, it get chilly here and I've become quite pale this winter. So the bronzer has brought some life to my face. I use Physician's Formula Dark. However in the summer, it's pretty useless lol.

How to Make English Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 16:28:00 +0000

Egg McMuffin. Pizza McMuffin. Eggs Benedict…McMuffin…?

I love English Muffins, though I prefer English Muffins slightly toasted, with bacon or sausage with good ol' American cheese and a little grape jelly. Mmm Mmm. How do you like your English Muffins?

Once you make homemade, you'll never buy store bought again. I had every ingredient on hand, which was good as I decided to make this pretty last minute. I wanted to keep my promise that I will share a recipe post once a week.

Even though I have loads of homework to do. That's OK though! I love you guys. You guys have stuck by me for 4 YEARS. Well a lot of you have. That's crazy. So let's celebrate with MUFFINS!

Please check out the tips at the end of the recipe instructions!

This recipe is from the lovely Laura Vitale of www.laurainthekitchen.com. She has a video and instructions on her website if you love videos!

Laura Vitale's recipe for English Muffins

Makes 18 muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups of Whole Milk, scalded (i used 2% as it was all I had)

5 cups of Bread Flour
1 Egg
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tbsp of Vegetable Shortening, melted
2 ½ Tbsp of sugar
1 ½ tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Baking Soda
1 Envelope of Active Dry Yeast, (2 ¼ tsp) plus 1 tsp of sugar
Cornmeal

1) In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar over the milk and allow it to sit and foam for a few minutes. Add the shortening, butter and egg to the yeast mixture and whisk together to combine. I used 4 tablespoons of butter. However you don't need to use butter or shortening, I forgot both the first time I made this and they turned out very well and less fat!

2) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and milk mixture. If you do not own a stand mixer just add the flour mixture to the milk mixture.

3) Mix the dough on low until the flour is incorporated, turn the speed up to medium and knead for 3 to 4 minutes or until the dough is smooth but still sticky.

4) Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, place it in a warm place and allow it to rise for about 2 hours.

5) Dump the dough on a floured surface, knead it together and cut it into 18 equal pieces (if you like smaller English muffins, cut them into 22 equal pieces). Roll each piece into a ball, press them down with your hand to form a patty and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the top of your patties with a little more cornmeal, cover them with a kitchen towel or spray the boules with cooking spray (to prevent sticking) and put plastic wrap over boules, and let them rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

6) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

7) Preheat a griddle pan or a skillet to medium heat, gently lift each round with a spatula, place it on the hot griddle and let them cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown on both sides (do them in batches). Place them back on the baking sheet, then place them in the oven for 10 minutes.

Allow them to cool a bit before serving. Then using a fork, Laura suggests to prick muffins opened with a fork to get extra nook and crannies.

Some tips!
In my opinion, the key to a kick ass muffin is the size (besides taste of course). If you have a kitchen scale, make sure each boule (ball) of dough is about 2.5-3.0 ounces. If you do not own a kitchen scale, please make sure the ball fits in the palm of your hand at least. If this helps I made 18. So make 18 equal boules. Also, I was hoping this would be vegan for my non meat-dairy friends, but freaking forgot this recipe calls for milk. I think this recipe will work if you substitute a cup of warm water and a cup of soy milk a room temperature for milk. And the first time I made this recipe I used neither butter or vegetable shortening (rarely have that on hand anyway) and it still worked! And lastly these muffins keeps well in the freezer!!!! So the night before just thaw as many as you want to use for the next day and you have muffins for your family. I like to cook a lot of sausage patties to make it a bit more rounded.

ENJOY!

#ThrowbackThursday! Children Grow Up So FAST!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 03:48:00 +0000

Hi Everyone it's Thursday here so here are some pictures of my little ones when they were really little. I hold on to them so much I don't want to think of the day when they won't need me as much. Them showing independence is great and shows they're developing well, however it still makes me a little sad. My three promises that they will never leave the nest. I think my husband and I will be like the Cosbys where they want their grown kids out, but they always welcomed them back if they needed somewhere to live for a week or year…but I think I will secretly happy about it :-)

Question: How do you cherish every moment? I try to do little fun stuff with them. Do things as a family A LOT so they know the importance of family. Sometimes I take some time alone and think about what I love about them all and individually. They really made my life so much better!

My daughter as a newborn

My oldest as a newborn

My daughter is a day old

My youngest as a newborn

As you can tell I couldn't choose just one!!!!!

My Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 10:36:00 +0000

I can not count the number of times I've made a post like this. But here we go!

I think I've explained before that the direction I'd like to take with this blog is to turn it into an everything blog as it was before. So I'm back at it. I have so many ideas running through my mind.

I also would love to blog because, I need to work on my writing. I haven't taken a writing class since I was in college a decade ago! YES! A DECADE ago! I can say that!

A lot of you follow me on instagram and I sometimes share on my Facebook page. I just hate to bother you all with my randomness, but you guys wouldn't follow me if you didn't like me. If any of you have a page or blog you'd like me to follow, PLEASE let me know. I would love to follow like, love whatever endeavors you're looking to get out there!

I get surprised when I read my blog statistics. The things people are interested in is so fascinating and I am very happy they found my blog! I need to update more often so they will stay around!

Well, for the rest of month from now on, I'd like to try a different daily theme.

Starting tomorrow I will do:
#throwbackthursdays: pictures from the past

#foodiefridays: where I will write recipes or write a dish I really can not get enough of

#sillysaturdays: In my household there is always something going on! Or blog tags!

#productjunkiesundays: where I share my favorite hair products

#makeupmondays: where I share my favorite makeup of the previous week

#talkingtuesdays: gratitude and attitude

#wordlesswednesdays: Just pictures of the day or from the week

And of course if (it will be difficult) travel I will share pictures and/or vlogs!

Thank you all for sticking around so long! See you all tomorrow!!!

This Week's Favorites: Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 11:12:00 +0000

HEY! So I finished the first half of the semester last Saturday. I am so happy that it is over. It was stressful especially since my husband was gone for 3 weeks. The classes I took while very challenging was very interesting, but having so much work to do while juggling everyday task can take its toll. During that time I still did a good amount of cooking and my love for all things beauty didn't wane. Except the week of finals, my hair was bunned up and I put on minimum make-up so I can get my school work done before Sunday.

So, I decided to do favorites posts because I have so many things from beauty to food that I am just LOVING! Instead of boring my friends on Facebook, I thought I'd have more chance to interest someone in the blog world. This is the reason I blogged to find other people who can relate to my likes and I to theirs'. This blog didn't begin as a food blog it was more of a everything blog and at this point I think it's pretty much still the same way.

So let's get into it!

My first favorite is my Con Air's Hot Clips Multi-Sized Hot Rollers

These rollers are amazing if you want va-va-voom hair whether your hair is curly or straight. I used these rollers in my daughter's hair, which is curly and it helped stretch her hair and give it loads of body. For my natural hair, I like to use it to add body to twist-out as well as stretch them a bit. I will have a pictorial of how I do this. I love the results. It's quick and beautiful!!

The clips and rollers heat up in seconds. The clips are the hottest so expect little to no damage with these rollers.

Next is my NARS Sheer Glow Foundation! I LOVE this foundation. A little goes a long way and the coverage is light to medium so redness is covered but freckles are not. It's quite buildable so if you want those freckles covered, add another layer. It will not feel heavy, just like second skin.

What I really love about NARS products is their wide range of color choices. In Germany in the winter it was so hard to find a good foundation. They were all too dark because I was so pale. Only foundation that worked was my Chanel and the others were either too light or too dark. I bought Barcelona by NARS and it was PERFECT. I was so happy. While I was at the counter recently I was surprised by how light I was in Germany. It was so dreary last winter (2013) so not that surprising! Only thing is the pump is not included but put a little on your hand a little really goes a long way.

Now on to my e.l.f shimmer palette. It's inexpensive and it's great if you love the dewy, fresh look!

The hues are amazing, and I use them ALL (not at once)! Apply using your fingers along the bridge of your nose, above your cheekbones, and on your cupid's bow. This will be great in the winter months when your skin tone can look more drab than fab. If you have oiler skin, you should use the powder. This is a creamier version if you cannot tell.

My next favorite is L'Oreal's 8hr Infallible Lip Gloss in Undeniable Mauve

This color in my perfect is perfect for fall. It looks great on my skin tone. Does it last 8 hours? No. But the color is beautiful. It's not sticky and it goes on like silk. I am turning into a big L'oreal fan!

Next favorite is Revlon's Nail Art Expressionist!

I love this nail polish because I love to be fun with my nails. i also paint my nails like a 5 year-old so the thin brushes help me stay in the lines a little better. I love the vibrant colors, one coat is enough. But I use two because I clean a lot. So far I have not experienced any chipping.

Any gaps in color is due to my impatient dry style. I can't sit for 20 minutes while my nails dry, I always have something to do! I bought these stateside and haven't seen them at the BX here in Kadena yet.

This is my angled brush from my Too Faced Teddy Bear Hair Professional Brush Set

I love to use this to apply shadow as a liner, my gel liners and to apply my eyebrow powder. It picks up a lot of product and is soft and flexible.

Like the other brushes from this set, it washes easily. Which comes in handy when using gel liners. Gel liners can be hard to clean from brushes.

Now on to my FAVORITE! I can not remember which youtuber mentioned this life changing brow palette, but I want to thank them. I LOVE it. Actually I think it was a make-up blog. It's a dupe of Bobbi Brown eyebrow palette I believe. I love this so much. It's the Wet n Wild Ultimate Brow Kit.

I use the top is a clear gel that sets the brows. I use the darker brown on the bottom define my outer brow and the lighter brow to define my inner brows. When I am being lazy I use one or the other for the whole brow. If you're using two colors, use your angled brush for an eyebrow brush to help blend it all! I love this kit!

OK that was my favorites this week! These favorites will not be all about beauty. It will be everything from snacks, foods, favorite household items, clothing items, and more!

Thank you for reading!!!!!!!!

Husband Tag! Plus Questions!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 04:03:00 +0000

Hello everyone, I told you all back at the end of 2012 that I wanted to vlog lol.

And one of the first vlogs I wanted to do was the husband tag! Me and husband finally did it last week! It was fun lol! Reminiscing and wondering, if he knows me. He kinda does as you may see! LOL. If you want to do it, too, the questions are below.

The husband tag is a fun tag going around youtube. I am a weirdo who loves to hear about other people's lives. In a way it helps avoid drama in my life. Kind of like reading blogs!
Thank you for watching!

I didn't ask him all of the questions.

Questions:

1) Where did we meet?

2) Where was our first date?

3) What was your first impression of me?

4) When did you meet my family?

5) Weird habit of each other?

6) How long have we been together?

7) Do we have any traditions?

An animal that resembles one another?

9) What was our first roadtrip?

10) First thing you noticed about me?

11) What pisses him off?

12) Favorite feature about each other?

13) 3 things I am good & not good at?

14) What do we argue about the most?

15) Do I have PMS?

16) Who wears the pants in the relationship?

17) Do I have any weird obsessions?

18) Nicknames for each other?

19) What is my favorite restaurant?

20) If I am watching TV, what am I watching?

21) What is one food I do not like?

22) What drink do I order when we go out to eat?

23) What size of shoe do I wear?

24) My favorite kind of sandwich?

25) What is one talent I have?

26) What would I eat everyday if I could?

27) My favorite cereal?

28) My favorite kind of music?

29) My favorite sports team?

30) What is my eye color?

31) Who is my best friend?

32) Something you do that I wish you didn’t do?

33) Where am I from?

34) What kind of cake would you bake me on my birthday?

35) Do I play any sports?

36) What can I spend hours doing?

PLEASE ASK THE QUESTION TO THEM

FLASH BACK THE MEMORY WITH YOUR PARTNER/BESTIES.

THANKS

Make-up Mondays: A Frankie Stein Monster High Make-up Tutorial With a Special SPECIAL Guest!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

HI ALL!

My daughter loves make-up. She's loved it since she was about 3 years old when she asked Santa Claus for a make-up kit. I think every Christmas after she got make-up.

Every time we go to the BX we have to go to the make-up counters and check out the bright colors. In fact, she picked out my first bright lip color when we were at a make-up counter in Germany, A Fuschia color by Maybelline and I love it!!!

So my daughter recently got into Monster High and thus she watches videos on youtube about Monster High and ran into a tutorial about a little girl about 6 doing her own makeup. Since then she's been OBSESSED with this girl. One day we were watching her family vlog together and she asked if she can have her own youtube channel. She loves fashion make-up dolls, and all things girly, but she also loves ultimate frisbee and Marvel comics already knows more than me (not saying much LOL).

I thought, why not? I believe in feeding interests of my kids. I want them to be happy with themselves and know they can do ANYTHING if they have the resources and it's positive. So why not?

We bought her costumes last month (August) and she's been itching to wear her Frankie Stein costume since it arrived within a WEEK of ordering!

We purchased her costume from www.buycostumes.com
http://www.buycostumes.com/p/801226/monster-high-frankie-stein-child-costume
We also purchased the wig and make-up there too. The wig is probably a wear once deal. Make sure you buy a wig cap and keep the wig on with bobby pins!

Hope you enjoyed!

Back to School for Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 23:13:00 +0000

Hi all!

I start school today!!!!! It actually felt like forever due to the move. I stopped going in Europe back in mid March. I am excited and super nervous. I actually missed my school routine and now that I am somewhere new and still adjusting it's really nerve-wrecking.

The schedule I have is pretty intense and there is a lot I must do schoolwise. Not mention at home. I have birthday parties to plan, I have a guest from Germany coming, I have a husband who will be TDY for 3 weeks and of course normal day to day mom stuff. EEEK. So it's really hard for me not to feel overwhelmed.

I hope to continue to blog. Another thing on my plate, but it will help me plan and structure things as odd as that sounds. When the kids go back to school, I hope to have some freedom. My youngest will not be in school which will be a little hard, so I have to plan and plan to keep him entertained as I dedicate 40+ more hours to school on a weekly basis.

Any moms in school who reads my blog?

I did have a pretty awesome break. 6 countries 3 continents and a big move. I think this was the best school break I've ever had so now it's time to work hard! Because when I do, my kids do as well!!!

Happy back to school!!!

Makeup Mondays: The Evolution of a Beauty Junkie and The Color of the Rainbow Tag

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 15:00:00 +0000

The secret is out. Over the last 6 months or so, I think I've gone through a 'oh shit I am turning 30 soon crisis'. Along with that came all things beauty that I thought was too stupid and 'girly' to try for many years.

My makeup routine was and still is beyond simple. But now I love to add color! Before my makeup was pretty neutral. Then back in December when I was in Switzerland I wore a bold red lip color. I've worn red lips before but mostly stains that isn't so bold. But this lip color was a fire engine red and in your face. I was only bold enough to wear for a couple hours LOL.

Bold and Cold at a Technical Museum in Switzerland

After watching and reading about caring for my natural hair, I watched and read more and more about beauty. From chemical peels to hot pink lipstick. After reading about an orange lipstick, I was HOOKED. I bought orange lipstick, then fuschia, then a deep deep purple, and I loved them and I wore them confidently.

Bare Face in the Morning---no filter! lol

I am not great with make-up---yet, but I have stepped out my comfort zone with different eyeshadows, nail polishes (don't get me started on those) and just looks in general. I have tried the whole "Kim Kardashian-style highlight and contour schtick, but it was too much. Plus I did it during the day, so I wasted a lot of makeup that day because I washed my face with a quickness.

Well that's the back story and I want to share my new love with a post! I watched these tags all over youtube and thought it was super cute. You can use makeup, beauty products, clothes, accessories, and even little things around the house. Since we still do not have all of our stuff (furniture clothes etc), I didn't have much to work with except for beauty items even then it was hard to find yellow and green. I did have some but it was kind of hard to choose from a small amount of things. That's weird huh? And Indigo? NO CLUE. I hope the shower cap was a proper choice.

Lets get started!
For RED

Rimmel Lipstick: Lasting Finish by Kate Moss. It's moisturizing, smells nice and lasts for a while I LOVE it.

For ORANGE

L'oreal Color Riche Orange Magique. It's nothing like this color. It's more of a reddish orange. My makeup look with an orange lipstick is similar to mine with a red lip. Eyes, cheeks are toned way down. But always make sure your skin tone is even with a lil powder or foundation or you can look really washed out. Not bold enough for orange? Try coral!

For YELLOW

Clean and Clear's Morning Burst in Lemon and Papaya. I love this because I use it in the mornings in the showers and honestly it does give me a boost. I tried their other scents and this is my favorite one. I need to get some more soon!

For GREEN

Garnier Fructis Anti-Puff Eye Roller. I love to use this in the mornings. It's so cooling and soothing under my tired eyes! I also follow up with another eye cream with sunscreen etc because the sun is NO JOKE here in in Okinawa!

For BLUE

Rimmel's True Union Jack Palette I chose the blue from this palette, because there is some stigma against black women wearing blue eyeshadow. However, I believe if worn right anyone can pull off any color and I LOVE this color whether it's on my lid or anywhere else on my eye. It takes a mean strategy, though to get it just right.

For Indigo (?)

Japanese Shower Cap. It;s snug without giving me a mean headache. Does the job and doesn't stretch. Which is good because I have a biggol head. Best shower cap I've used....ever. May buy another one for when I deep condition.

For VIOLET

Revlon Berry Haute Lipstick. WOW. I LOVE this color! Wear it while it's still summer because it's absolutely PERFECT! It's not too purple so you won't look like you and Barney the Dino....well let your imagination finish that. It may beat Rimmel Kate 01 for my #1!

Included in this tag is the color pink and multi colors!

For PINK

VO5 Pomegranate and Grapeseed Conditioner. I LOVE this conditioner. Not only is it effective it is amazing for my hair. I love it so much. I use it as a rinse-out and leave-in conditioner. It doesn't leave white flakes and is incredibly conditioning. I can seriously go on and on and on and on. Go see for yourself. It's amazing!

For MULTICOLORS

I chose two Too Faced- Return of Sexy Palette! I love to play with this palette and my favorite is the purple!

and

CURLFORMERS!

I love the results of these babies. They get the kinks out of my kinky hair heat free and gives me pretty curls that I can style in a fro, a bun, etc after a few days wearing the curls. I love how silky my hair feels. However with the crazy humidity here, this style doesn't last but only two days.

Hope you all enjoyed the tag! AND EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO TRY IS TAGGED! CAN NOT WAIT TO READ MORE!
Thank you for reading!!!!!!!!!!!

Random Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 05:00:00 +0000

HELLO EVERYONE!

I cut my finger pretty bad last night. I was chopping green peppers for stir fry and SLICE. It hurt more than normal and bled a lot more than normal. I put the chunk of fingernail back on and the husband bought me some band aids--he was out when it happened. He brought home about 12 different bandages. He's such a sweetheart. My kids kept their distance as they get woozy pretty quick. They usually place a band aid and neosporin on a cut for me but this was too ugly for them lol. They are too funny to me. So I am typing with my middle finger instead my index finger lol. I type with two hands so it's no big deal.

Didn't take a pic, but here's a pic of my cute little man :)

I am addicted to soundcloud. I found so much great indie music there and mainstream music i never heard. I discovered Kendrick Lamar there. I've read several status updates with people talking about him, but I never heard his music before. I am happy to have discovered him. Looking forward to buying his album now. I also discovered The Stuyvesants, Akira Shelton and a few others. Actually the last two I discovered watching natural hair videos on youtube with their music played in the background. So I did my own research which lead me to soundcloud and now I am addicted to the site. And I am definitely supporting these artists on iTunes. Check them out. Here's a great song from Akira Shelton feat Jasmine Jones:

I love love lovvvve make up lol. I don't wear it all at once but in the last few months i've learned a lot and gotten better. Thanks to youtube. I follow so many beauty gurus there it's crazy. Look out for make-up posts here soon. Not tutorials, but stuff I am loving. Was thinking about having make-up mondays.

I am homesick for Europe. Not just Germany but Europe. But I LOVE it here in Japan so far.

If you don't follow me on youtube, instagram or facebook I froed out my hair last week. Just for a day and I loved it. I gotta find a heatless way to do it. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_L-mfPV_hYyZ6j1-wHMNaQ

I GOT MY IPAD BACK. I haven't really used it since I got it back, but I am looking forward to using it for editing vlogs etc.

Tips For Buying Halloween Costumes for Military Members Overseas

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 12:40:00 +0000

Well folks, it's August so it's about that time to start thinking about Halloween. Yes, Halloween. When you're overseas you have to prepare for holidays well in advance. My husband and I were shopping at the commissary and we noticed that there was Halloween candy out! So yeah it's time to get on it.

I've lived overseas for 9 years and of 5 of them, I and the kids went trick or treating at Halloween. What I learned is that if you're not so crafty (like me), you must buy your Halloween costumes well in advance. If you're one of the lucky ones who can sew and make their kids' costumes from scratch.....GOOD FOR YOU :P lol I'm not hating, I promise. Ok, maybe I am.

I made my son's costume when he was 5 and whilst trick-or-treating, he made me promise to never ever make another costume for him again. My daughter loved her cat costume and still remembers it to this day. My son has nightmares about his however.....dang where did I go wrong.

As I am scouring through pinterest looking for costume and decorating ideas, it struck me that maybe I should share with my fellow military families, the newbies at least, my experiences with Halloween costumes. I had plenty of time to get things totally WRONG. So learn from my mistakes! Trust me. Living here in Japan now hopefully we learned our lesson!

TIP #1

Make sure your kids are totally sure who/what they want to be by early-mid September. There aren't a lot of great choices at the PX/BX and if there are any they're whisked away with a quickness like anything else that's awesome overseas. And people often buy multiples of the same dang costume and they only have one kid!

So look online now in August, like me. My daughter wants to be Frankie Stein from Monster High and my boys want to be Mario and Luigi.....again. But of course they outgrew last year's costumes and they wore their costumes all day everyday so they look too tattered to wear this year anyway if they were to fit well.

(www.buycostumes.com)

TIP #2

In the last couple years I've lived in Germany they extended their costumes choices from clowns, 'indians', witches, princesses, and cowboys to way more mainstream choices. I saw a few different costume choices at stores, but there aren't nearly as many choices as there are in America. They don't really do Halloween like Americans do and I am sure the Japanese don't either. Though in Germany it's definitely becoming bigger and they have the AWESOME Fasching in February.

(I bought my son this Iron Man costume shortly after the Ghost-Gate 2010 to get a head start on Halloween 2011, however he wore this to his Kindergarten's Fasching Party)

TIP#3

Order before mid September because even online they run out of costumes and the orders may take longer because the high influx of orders coming in! If you live off base you can order from costume sites from stores in that country. For example, while I was living in Germany, I used amazon.de and amazon.co.uk often but there aren't a lot of choices, even if there are, it's still extremely expensive from my experience.

TIP#4

If you don't want to buy a costume, make your own. There are a lot of websites to get tips from. My daughter was a cat in 2010. I just bought black tights, a black tutu, a friend of mine made ears which she glued to a headband and my daughter loved. www.parents.com have a lot of tips that I've used. From cakes to costumes they have a lot of fun easy DIY projects that I like. I love when easy and DIY are in the same sentence, don't you? But if you want something a bit different, make sure you know what you're going to do and buy any missing supplies in advance, because crafty things also move fast at BXs/Craft stores on base. Look off base but make sure you know where to go. You can also buy accessories online, but again, make sure you plan ahead.

(my daughter going for seconds on treats)

TIP#5

If ordering from Amazon and you're ordering in September or October (eek) make sure you order from Amazon and not another company. It'll take alot longer. Just order from the outside company directly, it's usually faster unless stated otherwise.

TIP#6

Walmart, Party City, BuyCostumes, Target (it depends sometimes they do not ship some costumes to APO addresses for whatever reason) and Amazon ships pretty quickly. But shop around because there often deals where'd you wouldn't expect!

(Costumes purchased from www.walmart.com however the boys want to switch it up this year and it's ot available on walmart this year so far. Keep looking out, though!)

TIP#7

Have FUN!!!!!!!!! And make sure your kids know you get 10% of the candy loot since you're doing all of this work and all.

Hope this was helpful! Have a great Halloween!!!

Stressed Much??

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 03:56:00 +0000

We're over here in Japan trying to settle and it's kind of hard. We are still waiting on our furniture. I wish had put so much more in my unaccompanied baggage. For those who do not know what that is, it's basically what you ship ahead. I thought that we'd have our furniture by now so it's turning into a drag. I would like to have our house nice and settled in and comfy before we (the whole fam!)start school. Having boxes all over the place/unpacking while trying to keep a clean/normalish house, happy kids, a relaxed husband, and going to school is going to be so hard. The rate things are going I think our shipment will arrive during finals!

I also have another problem..........I don't have a LICENSE! My husband is going to TDY soon and I will have no way of getting around. IE the japanese grocery stores. I could just take a taxi but that's $$$$$$$$$$.

There will be a lot of budgeting going on right about now.

Did you know it's really expensive here. Well at least the grocery is. Even on base the commissary is expensive. So we have to do a lot of budgeting.

Besides that......I LOVE IT. I am thankful every single day that I am here. Did you know that I wanted to move here since 2004? I wanted to be on a base overseas that my (late) brother and I could be stationed at together. While filling out my 'dream sheet' (military for where you'd like to go) when I was an Airman. Japan was on the top of the list. I remember envisioning blue skies, clear waters, and palm trees, and no it wasn't Hawaii. It was Okinawa. I never even heard of the place but for some reason Okinawa drew me in. My time in Germany was incredible and I thoroughly appreciated the experiences, the good, the bad, and extremely ugly that went on there, but I am so happy to be where I feel I was meant to go now, not years ago when I really wanted to be here. So. Yeah.

After a move the first 6 months are hard, so I am hoping and trying to stay very positive about it all.

Anyone else live/lived in Japan? Please share your experiences in the comments!

Konnichiwa from Japan!

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 02:17:00 +0000

We just moved to Japan from Heidelberg Germany.

I miss Germany, but man I am loving Japan so much.

Right now the balmy hot temps doesn't bother me at all. I love it in fact.

I love being so close to the beach. There are so many here and they are so beautiful. I hope we get some visitors here.

I had some great food here so far, just simple roast pork with ramen blew my mf'ing mind. The dumplings were insanely amazing. I loved it when we ate in Paris an Germany, but it doesn't compare to eating it in the country of its origin. I feel so happy and blessed. The kids love it too. They still love Paris, England, and America the most though. But they love it so much here, they even commented on the amazing food. I am hoping to take advantage of all that Japan/Asia has to offer. I still can't believe I am here. I've wanted to live here for a very very long time. So I am going to hope to live it up. I do have to finish my degree here, but I hope to have loads of fun still.

I bought a new camera to capture our lives here when carrying around the dslr is too much of a pain. I am still learning it, the nice man at the BX here recommeded this camera. And it's pretty cool. He took the time to show us every feature the Lumix has to offer, its been on my drool list forever. The HD video camera is amazing and I plan to use it and vlog a bit, can not wait to share with you all!!!!!!!! I just need better video editing software because the Windows Movie Maker on Windows 8 is crappy. I tried to vlog in Germany but couldn't. Oh well.

A few photos

Thanks for reading!!!

Moving and Trip to England

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:53:00 +0000

GW move in a couple of weeks!!!! Omg so stressful. Taking care of the last of everything is so stressful. My stomach is knots, my phone is constantly ringing and my home is steadily emptying. However the emptier my home becomes the messier it seems to get. I don't get it. Ooh nevermind, I have kids.

We are so ready to see our family stateside. Last weekend we went to England. To visit my sin and nephew before we go. So happy to do that. I miss my brother so much. And it was wonderful to spend time with my nephew. Next up is planning our trip to America along with all the other things we have to get done here! Hotels in America are so expensive! We are a family of five and I don't want to put anyone out especially during the week so the hotel plan is the best. We will hopefully figure something out. Anyone have any hotel recs?

England was a wonderful trip. The sun shone the entire time, the weather was amazing. A welcome break from the dreary weather we had here in Germany. Parts if our city became so flooded due to the rain. It was ridiculous. Made me happier to be so far away! In England, I cooked for my brother and wasn't so concerned about being a tourist but making England a home away from home. It felt so amazing. I loved it. We shopped, ate, talked and relaxed. We did go to Cambridge and it's a gorgeous town. I feel so honored and blessed to have seen so many different places and now I am addicted. The kids loved England so much. We want to go to be more city before we leave in a couple weeks, but we are not sure where yet. Somewhere CHEAP preferably and close.

From trip to sainsburys

Taken by the nephew

Well wish us luck with the move! Will reveal location with an Instagram pic when we get there.

Maybe Leaving May Not Be More Bitter Than Sweet

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:56:00 +0000

So, I have this law firm on back about paying a bill that my insurance should have taken care of a year ago. I have no clue who is at fault here but it is getting on my freaking nerves.

Not to mention this end of year bill. SIIIGGHH!!!!

This is making me want to leave faster. Of course pay the bills first and get everything taken care of first.

I really just want o fast forward to the part where everything is OK.

Oh did I mention that we have a car to sell. I am so stressed. I just want a small glimpse of an okay future.

Moving Day Diary 5/22/13 : Organized Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:59:00 +0000

This is our unaccompanied baggage. Well most of it. We also have clothes, the kids' bikes, hair tools, powerwheel more kitchen appliances and other things. Tomorrow the guys come in whatever time they can and pick it all up an put it on a truck, then a ship and then another truck to our next destination.

I made sure to pack my favorite cooking supplies so it'll be ready for me to use within a few weeks as it will take months for our large shipment of household goods to arrive. Our house is becoming more and more empty. I can hear my echo in more and more rooms.

Tomorrow I have to make sure our travel plans to see our family are squared away, and also I have to clean and do more laundry, but most of all play the waiting game. Mil moves...so fun.

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Sommer) — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:35:00 +0000

We were at the end of a rainbow a week and a half ago. Was so cool.