Lauren of all Trades

That time we did a photobooth...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 01:43:00 +0000

I love photobooths.

There's a jukebox thing at this bar in my town where we went for the afterparty of our friends' wedding that has a photobooth mode that lets you email the resulting photos to yourself. We were there a couple weeks ago.

Anyway. I saved the photostrip to my desktop and didn't know what to do with it so I decided to put it here.

I'm glad we're not really short.

That Time I Saved A Paper Plate...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 13:49:00 +0000

I didn't just save a paper plate. I saved two paper plates, several plastic utensils, and two plastic-lined paper cups and plastic lids.

And, no, I didn't save them as in "kept them as a keepsake." I saved them from being used...

I love staying at extended-stay hotels. They're often just as nice as midscale hotels but usually less expensive and with bigger rooms... and sometimes full kitchens!

And this isn't the first time I've used this paper/plastic-free strategy, it's just the first time I photographed it with Plastic Free July in mind. :)

What's weird about these hotels, which usually also have a free breakfast, is that while there is a whole set of reusable in every room, the plates, bowls, cups, and utensils in the free breakfast area are disposable. I do understand why. But it's frustrating for me because of how I am.

So what I do is I take plates and bowls with us to breakfast and use those instead of the ones provided on the buffet. We like to take our breakfast back to our room to enjoy at our private table, so I don't have to bring silverware with me.

You probably noticed that the coffee cups are tiny, and I didn't list them in what I'm taking out to the lobby with me. That's because I use my travel mug! I strategically use my travel mug for coffee because I can put the watertight lid on (note: not all travel mugs are created equally watertight) and tuck it under my arm so it's easier to carry my other items.

I can then either drink from my mug or pour it into the little ceramic ones upon return to my room. It's good exercise to go back for refills if when I need them.

And, you're right. We can't keep going back for seconds and thirds using our limited supply of ceramic plates and bowls. And. Well. That's probably for the best. :D

That Time I Was Finally a "dot.com"...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:19:00 +0000

It happened. Finally.

Every few years I would go on a domain-sellling site and search for "laurenofalltrades.com" and see if it was available to buy.

And then because it wasn't available, I would visit laurenofalltrades.com and see who/what was keeping me from having my custom url. I was laurenofalltrades everywhere else. Instagram, Facebook, Gmail. YouTube. Probably more I'm not thinking of. I couldn't be laurenofalltrades on Twitter because it's too long. But no one can be laurenofalltrades on Twitter.

I settled for ".blog." Bleh.

But then this year, I randomly checked for laurenofalltrades.com when I was reviewing a renewal of a different domain. And then it magically. didn't say. TAKEN.

And it wasn't ridiculously expensive.

So welcome, FINALLY, to laurenofalltrades.com!

laurenofalltrades.blog links and bookmarks will redirect here for the next year, and then they will stop working. Sorry in advance for that. Although, it's unlikely you will be able to read this if you don't notice your bookmarks not working until its too late. Whomp.

That Time I Decided to Recommend Products...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 14:24:00 +0000

Since I started my YouTube channel and pretty much stopped blogging about my adventures, I've been struggling with what to use my blog for. I really like my blog and keep paying for a custom URL, so it feels like a waste to not be writing ANYTHING in it.

Well. Recently I've come across some products that I was just hands down thrilled that I purchased, so I thought that could be something that I can impart to the world...

So today, I bring you Lauren of all Trades approved product: Metal Claw Clips! (Specifically the large ones, but I like the smaller ones too.)

I have thick hair and always want plastic claw clips to work. I keep buying them. I bought the Scunci ones that have rubber grippy stuff on them. But they just don't hold my hair up. And they get broken.

I don't remember what I was searching for, but Amazon showed me these metal claw clips and I had to give them a try. I liked the idea that they wouldn't bend because they're metal and that the claw part is flat so it wouldn't dig into my skull (no, I don't mean "scalp." I mean skull.).

On all points, for me, these were a win. They hold my hair up all day, they don't hurt my scalp (okay fine, I DID mean scalp...), and they don't break. I've bought more after the initial set I bought so that I can stash them all over my house, car, and office because I never know when I want one (like when my last hair thing snaps).

One of the big differences in the design compared to the plastic ones is that there is more room for hair without the clip being truly enormous. Also, I'm guessing that the spring is probably stronger which the metal clip allows for as opposed to a plastic one.

The only one I haven't absolutely loved is this squiggly one:

I swear, this "woman" MUST be a child. The clip is just not that big.

The pictures make these look just as big but they're just not. I think it will work in my hair once it's shorter (because of my layers). My hair is VERY long right now because it's waiting until at least March to be donated again.

See. And I don't even have a large head.

Finally, they're metal, not plastic. So you know, save the turtles and all that! (They do come wrapped in plastic, unfortunately, but I'll take my wins where I can find them. Also, warning, they may set metal detectors off.

If you have thick hair, I HIGHLY recommend giving these a try. If you have thin hair... I have no idea. Maybe get the squiggly one.

actionfiguresetc.com

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 04:27:00 +0000

This is a special message...

About a year ago... I watched something that referenced "actionfiguresetc.com" in a joke I think? Because of reasons, I had to look up if it was a developed site or not. On a whim, I then decided that people might mistype the URL and I bought "actionfigureetc.com" (note the omission of the "s" in "figures") and redirected the URL here.

Today I discovered that I started getting page views from people trying to visit "actionfigureetc.com," managed to remember why.. but cannot for the life of me remember what the thing was that it's from.

It's driving me crazy. I know. I did this to myself. It was a social experiment okay?

So if you got here because you just watched said thing, and are still reading this post, PLEASE let me know in the comments, what it is that we both watched. Yes. I'm expecting revenge comments with false information. I have no control over if you choose to do that to me or not.

Sorry internet. I had to do it for science.

That Time That Hard Work Actually Paid Off For Me...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 17:08:00 +0000

I did it. It only took ~~forever~~ three years, four months, and 16 days... but I am at last monetized on YouTube!

I think it's actually impressive to have been able to get monetized that quickly, but it felt like so long and so much work. (SO much video editing)...

First I thought getting 4000 watch hours in a 365-day period would be hard. But then a couple of my videos did really well and I knocked that out of the park.

So then getting 1000 subscribers became such. a. grind. There aren't really any good ways to get more subscribers than to make good content that is search friendly. Oh and by guilting your family and friends into subscribing on your birthday.

But now it's done. And my channel brings me 1s of dollars per day. And I love it.

Subscribe!:

That Time I Made Candied Ginger...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 16:59:00 +0000

When Husband and I went on our first cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), he fell in love with one of their cocktails: The Matador. He loves it so much that we now have to get the drink package for every NCL cruise we go on. (Skip to end of the post for my Making a Matador video.)

When covid happened and our Alaska cruise on NCL was cancelled, I decided that I needed to make him one (or three) at home. This required possession of candied ginger. I realized after-the-fact that it can probably be purchased in a store.

Instead, I bought fresh ginger and looked up a recipe. I found one by Alton Brown (from Food Network) who's recipes and techniques are spot-on. You can use his recipe for your ginger, or if you want my Amateur-Tips (like "pro-tips," but more like "hacks"), essentially the same recipe is below with said tips.

Let me know if you try the recipe and how you liked it in the comments!

Candied Ginger:

Ingredients:
Ginger
Water
Granulated sugar

Equipment:
Saucepan
Parchment Paper or cooling rack

Non-stick cooking spray

Kitchen scale

Directions...

1) Prepare your cooling station.

If you have the kind of cooling rack with the little squares, that works best. If not, go ith parchment paper. Whichever one you use, put it on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.

2) Peel your ginger.

Cut off any "nubbies" and use a small spoon to remove the skin from your ginger. Yes, a spoon. I used a paring knife the first time I peeled ginger and ended up with stitches. A knife just isn't necessary. Trust me.

3) Cut your ginger.

Alton recommended use of a mandolin. If you have one, go for it. But if you're like me, you'll have to use a knife. Just cut it as thin as you can without driving yourself crazy. Aim for ~1/8" thick. I recommend first cutting the ginger in half length-wise so that it sits on your cutting board better.

4) Weigh your ginger.

Alton's recipe calls for 1lb of ginger. That's a LOT. So instead, I buy and prepare the amount I want and then determine how much it is by weighing* it at this point (and writing it down because I'll probably forget).

5) Boil your ginger.

Pick a saucepan based on how much ginger you're making. If you're making a whole pound, you probably want a 4-quart saucepan. For less, adjust down accordingly. Put you ginger in the pan and fill about 2/3 of the way with water. Set over medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 35 minutes or until the ginger is tender.

6) Strain your ginger.

First scoop out 1/4 c of the water you boiled your ginger in and set it aside (or pour into a bigger vessel to avoid spilling. Then pour the rest into a strainer.

7) Just add sugar.

Return the ginger to the pot and place on your kitchen scale*. Tare the scale and add the same weight of sugar that you recorded earlier.

8) Candy the ginger!

Return the pan to the stove and add some of the reserved ginger-water to the pan. Use the whole 1/4 cup if you did a whole pound. Scale down appropriately for less ginger (hint: a pound is 16oz and 2 TBSP = 1/8 cup). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar syrup looks dry, has almost evaporated and begins to recrystallize. This can take up to 20 minutes depending on how much you're making.

9) Cool your candied ginger.

Transfer the ginger immediately to the cooling rack or parchment and spread to separate the individual pieces. It will look slimy until cool. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

9) Enjoy!

Candied ginger can be enjoyed as a snack/treat or used in the aforementioned Matador cocktail!

Pro-tip (From Alton)

If you used a cooling rack, save the sugar that drops beneath the cooling rack! You can use it to top ginger snaps, sprinkle over ice cream, in coffee, etc.

*If you don't have a kitchen scale, use measuring cups to estimate the volume of the ginger. It doesn't have to match the sugar volume precisely, so this method will suffice.

That Time That Malcom in the Middle Was Incredibly Relatable...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 21:08:00 +0000

Pretty much sums up my personality exactly...

That Time I Nailed It...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 12:14:00 +0000

Intrigued? Watch the video! https://youtu.be/uoIZrSn4ef8

That Time I Rode a Roller Coaster on a Cruise Ship...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 22:42:00 +0000

Guest column: Riding Bolt, the First Roller Coaster on a Cruise Ship

And I also have a video on YouTube! (Watch it now! I mean it! NOW! or don't... that's okay too...)

On my cruise on the Mardi Gras, I was so excited to ride the onboard roller coaster. Until I found out that it cost $15 per person and per ride. I was ready to boycott it due to the price, but decided to do it JUST SO I COULD MAKE YOU A VIDEO AND TELL YOU ABOUT IT... and get to go on it also.

I did actually love it and just wish it was a bit more affordable. Check out my video above and/or ready about it on Cruise Radio.

That Time I Made Pumpkin Pie Parfaits...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 13:30:00 +0000

For Christmas last year, I decided I wanted to make a dessert with my parfait cups I'd specifically picked out to replace different parfait cups I had that took up too much room in my cabinet... and then never used. I held off on posting this until this fall, because it would be an excellent mini-dessert for Thanksgiving or this Xmas.

And, no. I'm not going to make you scroll past paragraphs and paragraphs of I-don't-even-know-what sprinkled with photos and ads, making your phone practically freeze from all the memory use it takes, till you get to the recipe (I may have a beef with recipe bloggers who do that. They are the worst.)...

I'm going to get to the recipe immediately! The parts for these are layers of graham cracker crumbs, pumpkin cheesecake filling, and whipped cream frosting.

Oh except a quick word about the parfait cups pictured. I specifically picked out my parfait cups for their low-profile stacking for the sake of my cabinet. I like them except that they are supposed to be disposable, so I have to tell everyone up front that they're "not disposable" so that I can reuse them. I was able to top-rack dishwash them, but they're a bit flimsy. I since replaced them with these ones.

Mini Pumpkin Pie Parfaits

(Printable Recipe)

Makes 6-8 mini parfaits

The pumpkin and graham cracker crumbs can be made a couple days ahead of time; the frosting and subsequently assembled parfaits should be made the day you will be serving them.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling

4oz (1/2 8 oz package) cream cheese, room temp

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/4 c light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 large egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp pumpkin spice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c canned pumpkin

1/3 c half-and-half or heavy cream

Graham Cracker Crumbs

4 Graham crackers (store-bought, or make your own)

1/4 c granulated sugar

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 c heavy cream

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 teaspoon Kahula, Baileys, or vanilla extract

Directions:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling

Preheat oven to 350º

1) In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugars and blend until smooth again.

2) Add remaining ingredients to bowl and blend until evenly mixed and smooth.

3) Pour mixture into a small baking pan. I used two Pyrex storage containers for this.

4) Bake for 15 minutes, rotate pan 180 degrees and continue baking for 15 minutes, until the top is slightly puffed up. The center may be wobbly but should no longer be soupy.

* If using two smaller pans, reduce bake time to 20 minutes, and you don't need to rotate.

5) Let cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour.

Graham Cracker Crumbs

1) Break graham crackers into several pieces and place in blender or food processor. I used my Ninja chopper bowl.

2) Chop until they're about bread crumb size.

3) Transfer to a bowl and toss with sugar.

Whipped Cream Frosting

1) Chill a small bowl and beaters in freezer for 15 minutes.

2) Beat cream until frothy.

3) Add flavoring then powdered sugar gradually.

4) Keep shipping until light with a buttercream frosting consistency.

Assemble Parfaits

1) Scrape pumpkin mixture into a bowl.

2) Use scraper to stir up the mixture until smooth.

3) Fill parfait cups, alternating graham cracker, pumpkin, and frosting, with a small spoon. Use small layers of graham cracker and larger blobs of pumpkin and frosting.

4) Refrigerate until served.

5) Serve with espresso spoons. I also garnished with graham cracker pieces.

6) Enjoy!

That Time I Had Funtimes on Carnival's Mardi Gras...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 03:18:00 +0000

Here are all the daily schedules for Carnivals' Modified 7-Day Eastern Caribbean Mardi Gras cruises (San Juan, Amber Cove, Nassau)....

I don't know if this change is permanent or temporary, but they did not give us printed Funtimes every day for this sailing. It's all in the App! But, they did have a 1-page printed version at guest services available, which I got each day so that I could have it here for you!

Enjoy! (Click to enlarge)

Day 1, Embarkation Day

Day 2, Sea Day, Formal Night

Day 3, Sea Day

Day 4, Port Day, San Juan

Day 5, Port Day, Amber Cove

Day 6, Sea Day, Formal Night

Day 7, Port Day, Nassau

And more...

Debarkation Day Info

That Time I Cruised on the Mardi Gras...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 00:21:00 +0000

You may have noticed that I don't write in here a lot anymore... Sorry about that.

But, I did make some videos on my cruise! So that's kind of the same right?

Click for playlist!

Enjoy!

That Time I Tried Bright Cellars...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Sun, 20 Jun 2021 23:50:00 +0000

I did it again. I fell for a box subscription promo.

This time it was Bright Cellars which is a wine subscription and I fell for it because of a YouTuber's promo code for $50 off. (Good news: because I became a customer, I now have a code I can share with YOU too!)...

But here's the thing, though. At $20 per bottle, minus $50, plus shipping, tax, and fees and it was $42.

That's just a little more than I wanted to spend on 4 bottles of wine (I know it's a good price for good wine, but that's just how I am).

But after not pulling the trigger two reminder emails from Bright Cellars later, they sent me a third email this time giving me a 5th bottle free!*

I went back to their website and to check out and it was legit. 5 bottles for $42.

I gave them my money and 100% planned on canceling the subscription, but here's what it's like:
(Oh and in case you missed it above, here's the link again to get $50 off your box, and don't forget to wait until they bribe you with the free bottle before making your purchase!)

The quiz has you pick what kind of flavors you like and your preferences for wine consumption and then they give you your 4 matches.

If there are any you really don't want, you can request a swap before ordering. I did this for one bottle and it was easy.

The one thing I didn't notice/expect/think about was that someone 21+ has to sign for the box. This became an issue for me, and long-story-short, I recommend not ordering your wine right before going out of town.

And order on a Monday so that you're not potentially waiting until 9pm on a weekend night for it to arrive.

But I got my box and we can finally look inside!

I actually also had my box held at the Fed-Ex store in town, which I suggest doing, but is complicated enough that I'm not going to try to explain exactly how to do that.

But they'll only hold it there for 5 days, so plan accordingly.

And ta-da!

Right inside the box is an insert that holds a "wine wisdom" card and the wine trading cards for each wine in the box.

They're not really trading cards... but that's effectively what they are.

The wine wisdom card will teach you about wine over a series of 4 wine wisdom cards.

Unsure if I'll ever get any more (have to get to the 4th box for the second card, 7th for the third card, and 10 for the last card).

I just can't see myself spending $80 on 4 bottles of wine, so it kind of depends on how good the rewards program is.

Under the insert is the wine!

I got suckered tricked into adding a wine opener at check-out, and tbh, it's decent for $8.

My other three bottles were of course layered under the first two.

The trading cards have the label on one side and info about the wine on the other.

There are food pairing suggestions, characteristics, and a section for rating the wine for future reference.

Husband picked the Meet Cute Zinfandel to go with cheeseburgers (with aged cheddar per the pairing suggestion).

I poured us each a glass and was excited to try it.

We didn't end up liking it all that much (hence the already shown 3-star rating).

It got better after letting it breath a lot (the first glasses did, but not as much as the rest of the bottle).

So, what did I think overall?

We'll first of all, if you wait even longer before your first box, you'll get another email giving you not only an extra bottle, but also a FREE bottle opener (Husband wanted to get a box with his matches, but we were more patient on this one).

The free opener offer actually does seem to expire, so don't wait on ordering after getting that email.

For science, I did another quiz (from a different browser, with a different email address) to see how much free stuff I could get. The wine opener was the best offer and I only got that offer once. The free bottle offer never stopped. I should unsubscribe,

Another recommendation is that you should log in and randomly pick ratings right away, and delay you next shipment (if you want to) right away. You get more reward points for rating yoru wines in the first 7 days. That's a lot of wine, even if it was only 4 bottles. And you can go back and change your ratings.

I missed the 7-day window, so I didn't rate mine yet.

You can then order more of the wines you like. But you have to buy either 4, 6, or 12 at a time. You can't mix-and-match.

And there's no discount for buying larger quantities.

Buy you do get reward points for every wine you re-order (per-order, not per-bottle).

As of this post, there are just two rewards. There's no indication that more rewards will be added, but I don't know that there won't be more.

For both rewards, you would receive them with your next shipment of wine. You can't just get one or the other as a standalone item.

I haven't decided if I officially want to cancel my subscription completely yet, so I don't know how difficult that process is. Supposedly, you can just use their Contact form, but we'll see.

So that's Bright Cellars! If you're going to try it, make sure to use this link to get $50 off your box! (or 40%, 50%, or 60%... it keeps changing and I can't keep updating what it says.)

Check back or subscribe to find out how I like the rest of my matches!

That Time I Tried Dunkaroos Cereal...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 12:39:00 +0000

I can't stop buying weird cereals.

Like some of the other cerals I've tried, I found this in my grocery store's clearance section...

So, I have no idea if this will be back in stores again in the future and that this post was sort of a waste of all of our time.

No, I didn't think it would taste exactyly like Dunkaroos, but I love Dunkaroos, so I had to buy it.

I tried it dry and it was okay. I could eat it that way. I thought I'd like it better with milk.

With milk was also fine, but it somehow got crunchier? Like, the cold milk made the sugar coating harder?

I'm not sure which way was better. Husband said he liked it with milk. Ultimately it was nothing like Dunkaroos, because the whole thing is that its cookies and frosting, and I'm not willing to let it get soggy enough to see if it would reach a frosting consistency.

I'm pretty sure it would just be gross.

Did you try Dunkaroos cereal? Are you sad that you didn't? Let me know in the comments! I'll keep my eye out for if it comes back and let you know if you can pick up a box!

That Time You Subscribed to My Blog...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 12:00:00 +0000

...or didn't. But if you were subscribed, the product that was sending you emails won't be working soon (or already, but I just today found a new solution), so you'll want to subscribe again to keep getting emails of my posts!

Follow again by putting your email in the box on the left (if you're on a computer), or by clicking this link.

That Time I Went on a Staycation...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Fri, 14 May 2021 03:02:00 +0000

I'm not actually sure if it counts as a staycation as we went to a different city, but the majority of our plans included being at our hotel, which feels like a staycation to me.

The main goal of our trip was literally just to stay at the hotel for a series of days without it costing a lot of money. This is officially my new favorite thing to do...

We originally just wanted to go to the nearest town that has a Chili's and an AMC theater as we had gift cards for both. I thought it would be fun if we stayed overnight.

Until Husband happened to get an email from Marriott advertising a promo they were running... which isn't really important, but the promo plus Marriott reward points plus low points/price rates equaled the evolution of our one-night staycation 45 minutes away into a 7-night trip in Pittsburgh.

"But how is this useful information?" you ask. Great question! Because Marriott has hotel brands (Townplace Suites and Residence Inn) that have nearly-full to full kitchens in every room.

So, yes, there's a catch. This might sound not-like-a-vacation, but if you buy groceries and make most of your meals in your room, your hotel stay is dramatically less expensive overall. Which we did!

Also, weirdly (and there are some exceptions, many Residence Inns and Townplace Suites-es are the lowest-cost Marriotts in a city.

We stayed at the Pittsburgh Airport Townplace Suites, which was a great location while not being in downtown Pittsburgh (I'll get to our activities later). It has both an indoor pool and a hot tub (requirements for the conversion from the 1-day to 7-day vacay).

There was an Aldi very close by and a Walmart not far down the road for anything Aldi didn't have (like brand name tomato soup??). We brought some groceries with us and shopped for everything else locally.

In anticipation of our trip, we planned out every meal (cereal for breakfast), and made a list of every ingredient we would need and any kitchen supplies we thought our room wouldn't have.

We knew that our room wouldn't have an oven (bigger rooms do) so that was a little limiting.

One important item was in-room coffee. To save on waste and to make sure we had coffee we liked, I pre-measured ground coffee into filters, stacked them, and stored them in a large "wonton soup container." (And made sure it stayed upright at all times.

I was able to fit 7 filters in a container which allowed us to have one pot per day and one extra in case we needed it.

Yes, the hotel does supply coffee, but like I said, coffee and plastic. We brought our own salt and pepper just to make it easier to cook with.

We were very happy with the supplied plates, etc... kitchenware

...and pleasantly surprised to see a toaster.

For the sink, a small container of dish soap and a sponge was supplied (found under the sink). We brought our own soap so we wouldn't have to ask for more if we ran out (we realistically wouldn't have because we used the dishwasher).

Also under the sink was a dustpan and brush that we never used.

The garbage was in the closet, and wouldn't fit under the sink, so we put it just past the drawers so it was accessible from the kitchen and the bed/living area.

The dishwasher was adorable and surprisingly not annoying. Its small size made us feel okay about running it with just one day's dishes.

There was one dishwasher packet supplied for us, and I'm sure we could have asked for more. We chose to pack 8 dish packs so that we didn't have to worry about asking for them, and they weren't individually wrapped.

Utensils left a little to be desired, but we made do. We just had to run the dishwasher every night which wasn't a big deal.

We could have done with a bigger frying pan, but there was a nice variety and Husband said they were better quality than he expected. He's pickier than I am/most people so that's saying a lot.

There were 3 empty drawers that we were able to store all our extra supplies in. We brought two small cutting boards which was a good choice because we didn't like the one they supplied and it meant not having to wash one much except in the dishwasher.

The things we wish we had (and weren't willing to buy) were: spray cleaner (counters), metal tongs, and a rubber scrapper. I think that's it!

We didn't take advantage of any of these, but there was a list of kitchen stuff on the fridge that was available by request. Since we didn't ask for any, I can't attest to the availability.

Our menu included: cereal, sandwiches, grilled cheese + tomato soup, spaghetti + meatballs, chicken marsala, and tacos. The lunch sandwiches did get a little boring by the end of the trip, but were nice and easy. The rest of our dinners were purchased.

The hotel does have free breakfast for all guests, but we weren't sure if they'd be serving it because we were there during the COVID pandemic. They did have breakfast available, but it was only stuff like milk, yogurt, ummmmm.... and mystery grab-and-go bags.

(The mystery was if the bagel was any good, what kind of granola bar, and if the apple was-or-was-not a red "delicious".)

Which brings me to what we did all week! So yes, we did watch a fair amount of Netflix. But we also did at least one fun thing per day, went to the pool/hot tub several times, and spent the rest of our time cooking which felt less like a chore because we weren't at our house. I guess also because we picked things that were all easy to make.

Day 1: Mini Brewery Tour

This was inspired by my wanting to find a brewery that takes those plastic can holders. Not the flimsy, cut-through-all-the-holes-before you-throw-them-away kind. the thick, colored ones.

The closest one to our house is 2 hours away, so we collect them until we go to a city and then pick somewhere to take them.

Husband picked Dancing Gnome Brewery on this trip.

Once there, he discovered that Hitchhiker Brewing Co. was nearby so we went there too.

The downside to this plan was that we ended up with a small collection of them again because of the beer we bought. We did get to go home with this adorable 1/2 size can box (I don't know what they're called), so that was fun for me.

Day 2: Applebees

We had a gift card to Applebees so we went there for dinner. We wouldn't normally eat there tbh, but we had a gift card, so it allowed us to not have to cook a meal and have a cheap meal. I indulged in the $5 giant green drink they had for St. Patrick's day (yeah, we went all the way back in March. whoops.).

Day 3: Goodwill Outlet

I know, this sounds like a really boring activity but delving through a warehouse of weird things is one of Husbands favorite things to do.

There's a Goodwill Outlet in Pittsburgh that just has bins and bins of stuff. Not shelves. Bins. The only sorting that is done is: furniture, clothes, everything else.

So we sifted through all the "everything else" bins for about an hour and left with two pairs of boots for me, a weird book, a plastic wine glass (I didn't think to pack one), a weird version of Monopoly, and some file folders. Day 4: Movie night

As was 1/2 of the original inspiration for this trip, we had a gift card for AMC Theaters. I found the AMC 22 Waterfront which has the fancy reclining chairs and saw Nobody (I recommend it). Not all of the theaters there have the fancy chairs, but it's a beautiful theater if you want to see a movie not showing in those theaters.

Day 5: Ikea

Our hotel was really close to the Pittsburgh Ikea so we spent at least two hours looking at everything. We managed to leave without spending too much, but we did make a sizable wish-list.

Day 6: Pizza Party

We already happened to have tickets to a virtual pizza-themed comedy show, so the menu planned itself. We ordered delivery for this one. If we had an oven, we might have bought a frozen pizza to cook, but we didn't... so we didn't.

The show was affordable because we only had to buy one ticket per computer instead of per person and it was so much fun. Also, we had leftover pizza for lunch the next day!

Day 7: Game night

This one was serendipity. Some of our friends wanted to have a virtual game night. We attended from our room. So we had free entertainment that night.

Day 8: Chili's

No, we didn't forget about the other 1/2 of the original inspiration for the trip. We planned to use our Chili's gift card on our route home so that we would have a cheap meal en route and not have to worry about cooking when we got home. (Yes, I'm aware of the irony of that). It was a surprisingly great vacation. I thought it would be annoying to have to make so many meals, but it really wasn't. And I thought it might be boring to spend most of our time at a hotel. But it wasn't. At least not for us.

Room Photos:

And just in case you want to see more of the digs for this particular room (because Marriott has limited photos on its website)...

We had a King Studio room which is why we had a smaller kitchen without an oven. The one- and two-bedroom suites have the oven and more space.

Moveable desk

For dinner, we rolled the desk over to the couch as a dining table. Worked great.

Pull-out sofa, rolling ottoman and tray

There wasn't much room for luggage, so we unpacked into our dressers and the closet and stowed our empty luggage.

End table/dresser (one on each side)

There was just one TV but it pulls out from the wall and can be rotated towards either the bed or the sofa.

Just be careful about coming out of the bathroom and not walking into it at night when the lights are off...

The bathroom was great. I want a shower like this at home.

There was also a lot of sink storage which was nice for stowing our bathroom bags.

So that was our staycation! It was really fun and would definitely do it again. I assume other hotel brands have similar extended-stay hotels, but we're working the Marriott loyalty specifically. I'd love to hear if other people do this and what tips and tricks you have for making it fun and affordable!

That Time I Made a Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 03:36:00 +0000

If there's one thing that everyone misses from Carnival cruises, it's the chocolate melting cake.

Carnival has the recipe online, and it always sounded easy enough, but I never took the time/effort to try it...

Until I wanted to make it for my video blog! (video at the end of this post.) The original recipe is by weight (ugh, yeah, cause EVERYONE has a kitchen scale??) and for 4 servings.

I converted it to volume measurements and for 1 serving (though frankly, that's plenty for me and Husband to split). But I also put it on BigOven for 2 servings so that you print it and/or can adjust it for more servings.

Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake
(Printable recipe)

1.5 oz semisweet chocolate
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg
1.5 Tbsp flour
Cooking spray
Optional: vanilla ice cream

Directions:

1) Put the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.

2) Stir the butter and chocolate and microwave for 15-30 second intervals until the chocolate is fully melted.

3) Whisk the egg and sugar together until combined in a medium bowl.

4) Whisk in the flour until just combined.

5) Whisk the chocolate into the egg mixture a little bit at a time (you don't want to cook the egg).

6) Pour the mix into one-or-more greased ramekins (depending on the size, mine is 6 oz/175ml). Note that the cake doesn't really rise at all.

7) Bake at 390°F for 11 or 14 minutes depending on if you use two ramekins or one.

8) Serve immediately, optional: with vanilla ice cream

9) Enjoy!

Note: For resizing the recipe, 2 Tbsp = 1/8 of a cup; 4 Tbsp = 1/4 cup; etc.

That Time I Cruised With A Group...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 15:28:00 +0000

Booking multiple cabins with your friends or family is not automatically "booking as a group" on a cruise. There are additional steps, but then you get some extra stuff if you have enough cabins booked.

The extra stuff and requirements to get it are different for every cruise line, so that's why I wanted to make this post!...

I'm going to generalize a lot, with some specifics that I am very familiar with, but all cruise lines do groups so whether you're celebrating something or just going on an adventure, if you've got a lot of people going with you, you should look into it, or ask me about it!

Cabins Needed

Most cruise lines require at least 8 cabins to be booked into a group to qualify for the freebies and benefits. This is also true for Carnival with the exception of if you book through a travel agent - then you only need 5!

Free Stuff and Benefits

Each cruise line sets these up differently, but they can include free bottles of wine, onboard credit, souvenirs, parties, photo packages, and so much more. One of the most appealing benefits is a "free berth" which is a cash rebate for "one person." I put that in quotes because the amount is based on the average price of all guests' cruise fares. It can be applied to one cabin or distributed as you wish. This is usually one free "person" per 8 people.

Onboard Experience

Aside from getting some free stuff or maybe having a party to go to, your cruise experience will be exactly the same. You aren't forced to do every activity and spend every meal with those booked in your group (you of course could all stick together if that's what you want, but it's not a fixed schedule). It doesn't turn your cruise into a middle school field trip!

It's worth mentioning that if you choose "assigned time" dining then you will want to specify whom in your group should be sat with whom else in your group. There is a max size of about 10 guests per table, and the majority are fewer.

But, how?

Unfortunately, a group booking is something that you cannot book for yourself online. You have to call the cruise line or use a travel agent. Some travel agents (wink wink) will be happy to chat with you online and have you send them your info online, but that's as close as you can get to doing it yourself (unless you are a travel agent, but then why are you reading this...? jk, I'm sure you have your reasons). This also means that no one can go to the cruise line's website to make payments, they have to either be called into the cruise line, into the travel agent, or again, some agents will let you send the info digitally so you don't have to call.

The steps are:

Selecting a sailing

Selecting amenities

Picking your cabin

Getting your friends and/or family to book too

Making payments

Cruising

Optional:
Booking excursions as a group

Booking onboard events as a group (there is a minimum of around 20 attendees for this)

So, if you are cruising with a medium to large group, I do recommend booking as a group, even though it takes a little bit more effort. If you're not sure you'd make the minimum cabin threshold for your group, you should still do it in case you do, because the worst case scenario is that you don't get extra stuff. Your cabin will still be safe, it just will cease to be part of a group at a certain point.

If you have questions, let me know or post in the comments, I'm happy to help!

That Time I Unboxed My Misfits Market Produce...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 14:00:00 +0000

It's here! Well, it was here Saturday. But today I'm telling you about it!

My Misfits Market box has arrived. Let's crack it open!...

From my past experience with this product, the produce usually isn't all that ugly. With the exception of stuff that got crushed during shipping.

(Click to get $10 off your first box!)

It only happened to a couple of items and I submitted a request for a partial refund once. They gave me 10% off my next box and no money back which I felt wasn't really sufficient. I wasn't even sure I wanted to get another box at the time, then felt like I had to.

But do report damaged food and also demand money back. I think they'll probably do it if you keep asking.

So here's my final order. I got the Large box which got me 14 items, and added on two things from the "Marketplace."

And... here we go!

I got an email as soon as my box was delivered. I was able to grab it before it would be affected by the below-freezing outside temperatures.

I opened it up and saw lots of paper which is good-ish because little plastic!

The stuff on top was an advertisement for Marketplace stuff, a flyer for how to cook veggies (I guess some people might want that for their fridge?), and a recipe card I won't use. So a little bit wasteful, but all recyclable at least.

The topmost layer of packaging was for insulation. I ripped it open to see what was inside - which was filled with some kind of fiber-y filling.

Under that was some corrugated paper, for cushioning. There was another layer of this at the bottom. This is recyclable with office paper.

And then was all my lettuce! I selected three kinds of lettuce for my order and because I got the large box, I got two of each. I will not be getting this much again. Next time I'll pick 2 kinds at most.

The romaine lettuce was in excellent condition, but the leaf lettuces were a bit wilty. More on that later.

And everything else I got! I was disappointed but not surprised that the mushrooms were in plastic. I won't be getting them again. Also, I only got two of the three I ordered and contacted them today for a refund.

Everything else was in great condition.

My tomatoes were packaged in paper boxes which I can recycle with paper.

One package had 5 tiny Roma tomatoes, the other had 4 larger ones.

And now to deal with the lettuce. I wanted to try to revive it right away.

I sliced off a bit from the bottom of each head and submerged them in bins of water for several hours.

It mostly worked which is good, but I wish it wasn't wilted in the first place. If you order from Misfits and don't want to deal with this issue, stick to romaine.

Overall I was happy with the selection offered and most of the produce I received. I like that I could have canceled still if I didn't like the selection.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions!

That Time I Bought My Produce From Misfits Market...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 23:30:00 +0000

I decided to try out Misfits Market over the summer. It's is a subscription box service that sends less-than-perfect produce to you which reduces food waste. They use almost all non-plastic packaging which makes it even more appealing to me.

(Click to get $10 off your first box!)

And I was generally happy with it. I did start to eliminate certain products from my selections based on how they held up during shipping...

Until winter started coming and all the veggie options were ones I didn't want. So I put my subscription on pause until April.

I got a monthly email from them last week, and I clicked into the "what's in this month's boxes," and decided to unpause my account get another one again. They were claiming it's citrus season.

I'll be unboxing in another post when the box comes, so until then... some more info for anyone who might be interested (and if you missed it above, you can use this link to get $10 off your first box! You can cancel right away if you don't want another one).

Delivery date

You can choose any day between Tue-Sat so that you can try to be home when it's delivered. The box comes with eco-friendly insulation, so it's not a big deal if you don't get it right away, but you wouldn't want to have it sitting outside all day long.

Frequency

You can pick Weekly, Biweekly Even Weeks, or Biweekly Odd Weeks. You can skip any shipment you don't want to make sure you don't get a delivery when you'll be out of town or so you don't have too much food.

Size

There are two box sizes. I got the small one the first time and then started getting the large one and only getting one every 4 weeks. The small one was a better size for me and my Husband, but you get a bigger discount on the large box.

Price

The price doesn't include shipping ($) and the "discount" is probably based on organic veggie prices. I assessed this by weighing each item (just the first time) and building a matching order (non-organic) on Instacart. The price came out about the same as the price of my box.

Selection

You are able to pick your items as soon as 6 days (at 4pm, put it on your calendar) before your selected delivery date. Just go to https://www.misfitsmarket.com/account and wait for the countdown to end.

At exactly 4pm you'll be able to make your selections. The choices are different every week.

Items do sell out so it's best if you make your order as soon as possible. There are 3 categories of food in which you must choose the specified number of items (varies by week and box size). You cannot select any item multiple times. If you don't pick, you get a random selection.

I know it's tiny, it was the best way to capture it quickly for you and not risking missing what I wanted!

If you really don't want that week's selection, it's not too late to opt-out. You just have to cancel three-or-more days before your delivery date (for me, I could have canceled by Wednesday for my Saturday order)

You would just follow the same process for skipping any other box.

Marketplace

Following your regular selection, you can pick some premium and pantry items. I usually don't because of the organic pricing. But this time I picked a couple of items for my convenience.

(2 avocados and 3 1/2lbs of mushrooms)

You can easily add/remove items from the marketplace until you're billed, but items might sell out.

Changing items

I did try to change my items once. I expected the system to pull up what I'd already picked and I could make changes. Instead, I had to start from scratch.

This could mean some items might suddenly not be available anymore. So, I don't recommend making changes unless it's right away.

And then you wait!

I think that covers it. Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions! Stay tuned for the unboxing!

That Time I Got Married... Again...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 00:01:00 +0000

You may recall from a previous post that I selected "Leap Day" for my wedding anniversary date, but got married on a non-leap year. With those decisions, Husband and I booked a vow renewal on the Carnival Pride for Leap Day 2020, at which time our anniversary date would officially not be March 1 and would instead be Feb 29.

Unlike this post, we were very fortunate to not have our renewal canceled by COVID (my heart goes out to everyone who did in 2020)...

In case anyone reads this for info and tips and less for entertainment, I first want to talk about the ~~hell~~ inconvenience I went through to secure 2/29 for the day of our renewal.

And this inconvenience was not for lack of research, planning, or communication. I knew that renewals are only done on Sea Days. I knew that renewals are subject to the Captain's schedule. I knew that, quote, the time, date, and location are to be scheduled on board. So before making any payments, I had an extensive conversation with Carnival's Wedding department to ensure that I could have my date, with the understanding that I might have to be flexible on the other components (having the Captain perform the ceremony, the location, and the time). The person on the phone assured me that with these concessions from me, I would be able to have my date. Oh. And I selected an itinerary for which the 29th fell on a sea day.

Cut to 2 months before sailing (two years later) when the wedding dept called me to go over other details and when I brought up my required date needs, she told me "no." I'm remembering that I actually ended up emailing her back and that it was many emails later and some phone calls before she finally agreed to work with the on-board wedding people to schedule my event on the date that someone else at Carnival had promised me literal years ago.

I had to agree to have the ceremony at 10:30 am. Ugh. Fine.

Moral of the story: I discourage anyone from trying the same method if the date of your ceremony is the most important part.

I deduced that the actual issue with my wanting my event on the 29th was that they didn't want to do it on a Saturday. Not that the captain didn't have more availability. But that the staff photographer needed time to retouch the photos and edit his photos and video capture into a photo book and video that he would try to sell us for 1000s of dollars.

Pro Tip: We bought a handful of photos, limiting ourselves to a $200 spend and had the forethought to have a friend take photos at the ceremony and with just the two of us in a nice spot on the ship while we were still dressed. (None of my friends are photographers so I picked the one with the fancy 3-camera iPhone).

I bought this dress in 2017 for the purpose of wearing it either to this wedding or the first one. I really wanted to wear it at the first one, but decided I might regret not having the iconic photos with a white dress.

Okay, boring part out of the way. And keep in mind that my experience was a Vow Renewal and I don't know how a legit wedding differs.

So we board the ship. I brought my bouquet of paper flowers I made and used in our first wedding to use again. I was sad that I didn't have my flowers in basically any photos bc I'm dumb and didn't carry them around with me except down and up the aisle at the ceremony. Keeping them from getting beat up was no easy feat. I used a combo of styrofoam, a plastic pitcher, and a bag from flowers that Husband gave me earlier in the year (I knew it would be useful for SOMETHING) to hold/carry them.

The only other extras were our wedding attire so the flowers were the biggest challenge. People on Facebook have said that they use fold-up carts for all their extra wedding stuff they can't check with the porters.

And we started our cruise, which I might one day write about separately, but not in this post...

There was nothing special in our cabin from Carnival.

Anniversary decorations set

Two of our friends/family sent us decorations and a cake which was really nice, but we only got them bc we had nice people cruising with us.

"HA..." For "Happy Anniversary" smh.

I feel like there could have been a little something from Carnival, but oh well.

I think the next day (might have already been there day one) we got a letter from the onboard wedding person aka "Wedding Lady." It said to call to set up a meeting. It became clear that it was a standardized letter used fleet-wide because the phone number was for the Main Dining Room (where she works during the rest of the cruse). and when I said about scheduling a meeting, we confused each other because she said to just stop by the dining room during dinner to meet with her (which felt awkward since we'd be dining with friends and family every night), and I thought we were supposed to schedule a time and place (you know that was convenient for all three of us and quieter and not surrounded by hungry people). The question, "you want a private meeting?" was asked at me. Whatever. It just wasn't convenient to break off from our group on the way to meals to sort out details with her three times.

Not required, but I brought Minifigures of Obi-Wan and Amy Pond for our cake toppers, which I just delivered to her one of the times we were at the dining room. (I had to Frankenstein Amy together out of a generic Minifigure and something specially selected. I forget what exactly. I could look it up if you really need to know).

Our guests all got invitations to their cabins with the date, time, and location of the ceremony. Husband and I did not get a confirmation in our mailbox which was weird to me, but not actually a big deal except for not having the letter as a memento.

What was odd about this was that Wedding Lady expected Husband to just know that he was supposed to be at the Piano Bar by a certain time (I think to take photos before I got there?). I wanted us to walk there together so this concept didn't occur to me, nor did it occur to me to inform her of. I got a phone call telling me he was missing which of course was comedically not actually true. So then she brought the photographer to our cabin to take photos of me "getting ready" (holding my eyeshadow brush and mascara brush up to my face) and then of us walking to the ceremony. I was happy with my choice to do this.

I also intended for us to walk down the aisle together. I know this was a second wedding, so it was a strange idea, but I'd gotten quite attached to him over the past two years.

Wedding Lady didn't put together that this was part of the "we walk to walk there together" plan and she rushed him inside ahead of me. at 10:30am, I didn't have the energy to fight her on this one.

She then told me when to enter the bar and I was glad that I hadn't fought her on that last bit. It was as exciting to see Husband at the front of the room with the Captain as it was the first time. Maybe more so since I wasn't expecting that to be the situation all along. IDK.

To recap, I don't regret walking through the ship with Husband, but am happy he was in the room before I was.

The print of this looks better than it looks here.

I'm sure I wouldn't have regretted the latter not happening, as I wouldn't have known the difference. But I wouldn't do it differently if I could do it again. Except that, for science, I probably would do it differently, but I wouldn't time travel so that I could do it differently the first time. Right.

Anyway.

The ceremony was short and sweet, but I do recommend reading over the vows (they'll send them to you, you don't have to ask) beforehand. Like, a ~~couple~~ lot of times. You see. The Captains are all Italian. From Italy. And you have to repeat some of the words they say which is hard if you have no idea what it was that he said.

To be fair, there was only one phrase that was troublesome, but it was awkward for me to be like "wtf did you just say" and then he didn't know which words I didn't understand and he didn't even repeat the right word that I didn't understand, and this was AFTER he had said the phrase for Husband and after Husband repeated it. (Husband chose to repeat the syllables he heard rather than asking for clarification as to what said syllables actually were supposed to be).

I forgot to steam out the wrinkles. Whoops.

I say syllables, plural, because the captain made the word "heart" a two-syllable word. "art-ah." The phrase was "...into my heart," which even, when prepared because I'd heard it once and couldn't figure it out that time, could not figure out on the second go of "...into my art-ah." I thought Carnival was trying to sell cruises to Majorca.

So, yeah, learning/practicing the vows beforehand might be worthwhile.

After the ceremony, there was a champagne toast and a cake for us and our guests. I picked the $800 Vow Renewal package, the $1400 one also includes some canapes and open bar for an hour. The cake is way bigger than it needs to be if you have a small group, and you have to pay more beyond a certain number of guests (differs by package) just for them to have one glass of champagne and be served cake.

My and Husband's champagne was in pretty "Carnival" logoed glasses which, no, we didn't get to keep. A big yikes for the amount of money we paid for the event. I guess a lot of people wouldn't really want them? They could have offered to sell them to us for like $5 each. Oh well.

And then they wanted to send the remaining cake to our cabin or have it served to us at dinner. But it was the last night of the cruise and this was the one dinner that we were going to eat separately from our group. So we had the top sent to our cabin and the bottom sent to our group's table at dinner. Oh and we were able to select the cake flavor and filling ahead of time.

The photographer then took us to a few spots on the ship to take photos.

I also requested to have a table ready for us all to have Seaday Brunch together after the ceremony. Almost all of our guests understood without specific explanation that this was part of the wedding experience for me and Husband - like a post-ceremony reception type deal. Wedding Lady made that happen with no issue.

Because it was our anniversary the last night, and I indicated it as such in my booking, we did get a tiny HA cake at dinner with a candle at dinner. It was a teenie version of the one that was in our cabin on day one (the one our friend bought us).

And they sing "happy anniversary" to the tune of "Happy Birthday"

And that was it. As mentioned before, we had a friend do photos with us so we wouldn't get emotionally roped into buying a ton.

(She had to hand her phone off to be in this one)

One last thing to mention is the certificate. It comes in a holder with a photo of the ship you're on (we replaced the ship photo with one of the photos we bought).

Earlier in the week when we met with Wedding Lady, we filled out a form with (I forget what) and how we wanted our names to appear on the certificate. I did not know that the ampersand was pre-printed, so I don't like how it looks. I think the default is "Mr Husband's full name & Mrs Lauren Last-Name." I specified: "Husband & Lauren Last-Name" which looks weird with the pre-printed ampersand - so I advise not making this choice.

If we do a Carnival Vow Renewal again, I would have it read "Husband's Full Name & Lauren Last-Name" for balance.

I do discourage anyone from having their ceremony in the Beauties Dance Club, or as my cruising group affectionately called it, the Nipple Room, on the Pride.

Photo Credit

It is literally full of nipples. Naked busts are used as general decorations, as table supports, barstool supports, some are even on the ceiling.

And who would want that in their photos?

So that's it. Let me know if you have any questions. I might be able to answer them!

That Time I Grove-d...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 23:48:00 +0000

Okay, Grove, you got me.

I'm never interested in these box subscription services, but Grove put out a commercial about all of the plastic-free products they have (ones that I had yet to successfully replace in my home) and I had to check it out.

They really got me with their "get a bunch of free stuff with your first order!!!" promo...

I put my email address in and let the games begin! Okay, it wasn't that exciting.

I got to choose which kind of free stuff I wanted.

So, what's important to know, that I deduced, is that Grove offers both plastic-free and "natural" (containing only natural ingredients) products. So if you're JUST interested in the plastic-free stuff, like I am, you have to look out for plastic stuff.

I picked the Grove Beyond Plastic Starter Set, not because it was "worth the most money" but because it didn't show anything plastic in the picture. Also because it seemed to have the most items that I was interested in getting free-or-otherwise.

(See end-of-post for details of the other free offers)

Then they showed me a slide show of what I "needed to know."

After clicking through the slide show I was taken to my cart. I was able to see all my free items and a variety of other stuff that added up to over $38 (more on that later). I was easily able to remove the stuff I didn't want (almost all of it).

I missed that this is a monthly subscription situation before ordering, BUT it was easy to pause my subscription so that I can pick out more stuff when I need it.

Or you can pause it like I said? I just got my first box, and paused it already, (I got an email that made me realize it was a monthly thing and paused immediately),so I don't know what this experience is like.

This is also true! The extra thing for me was one of these bottles with a blue sleeve and glass cleaner concentrate. It requires buying $38+ of other stuff. I wanted the free thing so after deleting all the stuff I didn't want, I replaced it with stuff I did want.

It's useful to notice that you can change the quantity of the free items in your cart and you only pay for the extra items... and that you can change the color of the free bottle. I regrettably did not notice this. Oh well.

Before getting to the unboxing, I also want to mention the VIP membership thing that gets you free shipping. They give you a trial of the VIP membership for two months, but if you're like me, and don't want to accidentally get charged for something because you missed an email, you are able to cancel that in your profile and easily. And you can get free shipping on future orders by spending $40 each time.

Okay. So my box came today!

There was a handwritten note on the top! It was a nice touch.

I opened it up and on top was a little pamphlet further explaining how the subscription service works. I didn't really read it since I'm never going to let them send me stuff automatically.

I removed all the paper from the top and, so far, no plastic to be found!

I took everything out so you could see it.

First I opened the hand soap bottle box. Bubble wrap. Bummer.

I didn't even really want the hand soap or dispenser (I like bar soap), but I couldn't remove them since they were the freebies. Maybe I can sell them?

Then I opened all the spray bottle boxes. They didn't have bubble wrap, I'm guessing because of the silicone sleeve. The bottles are very nice and I hope the sprayer works well and hold up a long time.

The box says that the bottle and sleeve are dishwasher safe; hand-wash the sprayer. Btw, The cream color is fine, I just would have liked a different color since I had the chance to change it.

Then I opened up the mysterious envelope. It had all my concentrate bottles (glass, tub & tile, and all-purpose) and my sponges.

Sadly, the sponges came in plastic. The sponges themselves are not plastic, but I guess it's important that sponges stay moist?

They were not a "Beyond Plastic" item, but I was in the market for more sponges.

The wrapper specifies that it's not recyclable.

My Tub & Tile cleaner was packaged together in a two-pack and had no plastic!

The bottom of the box specifies that the box can be recycled with paper and that the glass can be recycled with glass and with the lids (???).

And finally, the envelope. The envelope itself can be recycled with paper...

But you'd want to remove the pull tab and paper strip, if the envelope isn't sealed like mine wasnt.

The Meyer's hand soap. I picked it to reach the free item threshold and because it was wrapped in paper.

But the paper is coated in plastic. Bummer.

The tissues (made from bamboo instead of trees) have no plastic! (Most tissue boxes have a plastic flap inside.)

The Dish and Hand Soap Refills were obviously metal recyclable, but the back does specify that you can also recycle the cap when recycling (once the bottle is empty).

And that's everything!

I'm definitely going to add labels to the bottles for what type of cleaner each is. I know that's what the colors are for, but I'm not going to remember that.

Tbd how much I order from Grove going forward. All of the cleaning products are things that I haven't been able to find a good plastic-free replacement to previously. (I replaced liquid hand soap with bar soap.) So I'll probably order at least one refill for the cleaners.

If you want to try it, you can get the free gift set here! And let me know how you like it!

As promised, here are the other free gift set details! :)

That Time I Tried Dunkin Donuts Cereal...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 22:51:00 +0000

I couldn't stop myself from buying both of the Dunkin Donuts cereals.

I don't even like Dunkin Donuts coffee that much, but they sounded weird and worth trying...

Oh, yeah. It's just called "Dunkin'" now.

First I tried them dry. I really liked the Caramel and the Mocha was pretty good too.

Very sweet.

Obviously.

I then tried them with milk. I actually like them better dry. Though the cereal-milk is pretty good.

With milk, I also liked Caramel better. I might be biased b/c I also like Caramel lattes better than Mocha.

Let me know if you've tried the Dunkin cereals and what you thought!

That Time I Cruised on the Carnival Paradise...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 00:24:00 +0000

I apparently lost my ability to write about my adventures... or maybe it's more the sifting through all my photos so that I can then write about them... but I did finally edit my video footage from this cruise and got ~~all~~ most of them on my YouTube Channel! I posted them all below for you, or you can go to my playlist and watch them on YouTube. Likes and subscribes are deeply appreciated!

Embarkation, Cabin, & Pizza Pirate

Tour of Interior Cabin G26

Sushi at Sea

Room Service

Tea Time

Back to Back Cruising