New Year- A Fresh Start

I thought 2013 was a bad year, but 2014 was worse. So much misery and death.

I started this blog as a way to concentrate on fun things. Anything from Geeky goodness, to trying out new recipes, failing at crafts and everything in between.

I have used this blog to make myself focus on the good.

I want to continue this into the new year.

It's a cliche because it's true

Something I learned when I was studying Psychology is how important certain days are to setting realistic goals. The biggest day is almost always New Year's, but the first of any month or any Monday can be a start date for beginning something new.

I have quite a few goals this year.

Healthy Eating and Exercising:

This is the go to New Year's goal and this year my mom and I are on board too. In fact we started this Monday. Why does food that is bad for you taste so damn good. Whereas healthy food makes me sad. We are trying to cut out as much processed foods as possible and include a lot of fruit and veggies. All this and staying within a pretty small budget. Three days in and this is already looking like a very long uphill battle.

A skinny broccoli cheddar soup. Not bad, but not good either. Just sad.

Stop Wasting Time:

Sometimes I find myself playing really boring and pointless games online ie Farmville, Angry Birds...anything on Facebook really. Or wasting hours on Tumblr. I don't know how I managed to do that. Why? WHY?!

Blogging Goals:

I want to write interesting posts and create a visually appealing site. I just lack most tech skills. This is just something I am going to have to carve out time and work on.

Life Goals:

There are things I have been held back from doing for years because mundane life gets in the way. I have made so many sacrifices because I keep telling myself that it is the right thing to do. This year I have decided to go for the things I want. I may have to be a bit selfish and say "This is what I want to do."

I don't think any of my goals this year are unattainable. And each one would make me a happier person. So I will try my best because that is all I can do.

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A Brief December Wrap Up

Presents!!!

This year's holiday haul!

PJs, socks and Cheshire cats Yay!

The Bride of Frankenstein is from my cousin. Pretty great choice especially considering that she was overwhelmed by the wall of Funkos at Hottopic. It glows in the dark. : )

And mystery minis

A duplicate Tyrion. That's okay.

Doctor Who's Jackson. Out of all the ones in this series I ended up with this one...I wanted Jack, the Master or Rose. Still want Amy and Rory from another series.

But the highlight is GoT's Arya. This is the one I really wanted.

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Happy New Year!!!!

5 Fandom Friday: New Years Blogger Resolutions

Trying to get out of the December void and hook back into The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick's 5 Fandom Friday posts. This week's post is about Blogging resolutions for the next year. Since I have the over eating hangover and too much to clean up syndrome this will be short.

1. I need to figure out how to make my blog look professional instead of looking like an old Xanga page. Unfortunately I lack the skills to do so at this time. My goal is the figure out the layout and maybe even add some fun graphics. No clue where to begin with that.
2. Get some sort of set schedule for posts. Twice a week. Wednesday and Friday maybe.
3. Branch out on the topics of posts. One of the reasons why I enjoy blogging is that it gives me an excuse to try new things. I really like my "I Wanna Be" food series that I have been trying to do once a month. I would like to work on some new things.
4. Network more with other bloggers
5. Continue with the first resolution because that one will take time 

Loot Crate: Anniversary

Lately I have been in what I like to call the December Void. Where the holidays, cold weather and countdown to the end of the year send me into a procrastination rut in which all I want to do is curl up in an electric blanket and watch Netflix or nap.That is my only explanation for my sporadic or non existing posts. 

Luckily my subscription boxes arrive and remind me to write something.

With that being said... this month's Loot Crate has arrived.

Loot Crate is a monthly subscription box for the geeks and gamers. Each month has theme and for December the theme is Anniversary in honor of a couple of big fandoms having their anniversaries this year. Ghostbusters turned 30, Batman is 75, Marvel turned 75, Simpsons turned 25 and Tetris has been around for 30 years.

Anyone else feel ancient?!

Let's get started with the best of the crate

Loot Crate announced that this crate would include an exclusive Funko Pop. I love this Pop. It is a Joker-Batman hybrid. This is my favorite item this month. Just look at the Joker grin on Batman's body.

My other favorite this month is some Baby Groot socks from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm going to give these to my mom for Christmas because she will love them. 

Sticking with Batman again is an exclusive variant cover of a Batman Endgame comic. 

For the Tetris anniversary we got a pack of Tetris stickers. I will use these. 

Another Marvel item is the Captain America air freshener in vanilla. It's nice, pity I still don't have a car : P

Since the Simpsons turned 25 this year Loot Crate included a Mighty Wallet with every Simpsons character on it. This will go to my dad for Christmas.

Also included this month is a 30 trial of Crunchyroll for Anime. The monthly button and a candy cane.

I must admit I am disappointed in the Ghostbusters item. I love these films and really hoped for something a bit more than a door hanger.

Loot Crate is keeping up with its box designs reflecting each month's crate. This month they turned it into the Batcave.

The Joker-Batman Pop alone makes this a pretty good crate. I also managed to get a few Christmas gifts out of it too. I would go with a 7/10. I just think they missed out on a great opportunity with the Ghostbusters anniversary. I would have liked a small tub of pink slime or marshmallow goop. 

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Did you get this month's Loot Crate? What did you think?

December Birchbox and Ipsy

I have been a tad bit MIA for over the past week. I have actually been overwhelmed at all the little things I have been needing to do, mostly holiday related. Basically I have been in full procrastination mode and I really should just get my crap together.

Since my Birchbox and Ipsy subscription boxes arrived I figured it would be a good time to write up a blog post review. At least I feel like I am doing something.

 Since I share these subscription boxes with my mom the products in blue are the ones I kept.

Birchbox

• Number 4 Hair Care Hydrating Shampoo and packet of Conditioner- A decent sized sample of shampoo and a packet of condition. I really don't like shampoos or conditioners in packets like you see at the top of the box.
• Embryolisse Lait-creme Concentrate- This is a rather small sample of a French moisturizer. I haven't tried this out yet but I do love getting samples of products like these. I just wish it was bigger.
• Ruffian Nail Lacquer in RUFFIAN red- This is a cute bottle of polish. The color is vibrant. It is my favorite out of this box.
• Beauty Protector Protect and Oil-  A vial of hair oil that is supposed to protect against UV ray, heat and breakage. I like the Beauty Protector brand but neither me or my mom are fans of hail oil.
• Mirenesse iCurl Secret Weapon 24hr Mascara- The design of this mascara is great. The bottle has an attractive shape and the brush is really curved.

Ipsy

Ipsy's glam bag includes a makeup bag every month. This month's bag is shown in the top picture.

• Bumble and Bumble All-style Blow Dry- A good sized sample of hair creme for blow drying. 
• NYX Cosmetics Butter Lip Balm- The lip balm in my bag was Red Velvet. Really pretty color that goes on smooth. Somewhere between a lipstick and a chap-stick. I liked this alot.
• Tarte 4-in-1 Mascara- Even though it is a small sized sample it works great for keeping in your purse for touch ups.
• Crown Brush Shadow/crease brush- I have very little in the way of makeup tools so getting a duel eye shadow brush in this bag was pretty great.
• Nourish Organic- Renewing Eye Creme- A good sized sample of eye creme with avocado oil, Moroccan Argan oil and Shea butter  

Pretty good selection of products this month. Each of these subscription boxes cost $10 a month including shipping. My favorite products for the month are from Birchbox: The Ruffian nail lacquer and from Ipsy: a toss up between the eye shadow brush and the NYX lip balm.

5 Fandom Friday: My Favorite Holiday Songs To Spread Cheer

This week's 5 Fandom Friday is all about Holiday songs. Check out amazing ladies behind Fandom Fridays: The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick 

After spending one holiday season as a retail worker, some holiday music can cause physical pain to me. For example; Wham's Last Christmas makes me grind my teeth. I still have horrible flashbacks of my time on the front line of seasonal employment. Bad holiday music on repeat, the stench of too many lotions and candles and the cruelty of customers. There were tears.

Finding five holiday songs that I like takes a bit of effort but here is what I still enjoy.

1. Bing Crosby and David Bowie- The Little Drummer Boy/ Peace on Earth

It's not so much the songs that I like but that it's David Bowie. I have been in love with him since I can remember, literally. Anything he sings I will like. Amazing voice

2. Bobby Helms- Jingle Bell Rock

The reason I like this song is that it is featured in one of my favorite movies from when I was a kid. Casual Sex? Before you gasp and think "you watched a movie called THAT as a child?!" you need to know what a funny and oddly sweet movie it is. Don't let Andrew Dice Clay throw you off, he is rather good in it. 

My mom and I still play the "There's your boyfriend" game.

3. Judy Garland- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Just so pretty. Her voice is sad but strong. A classic

4. Josh Groban- A Christmas Song

Basically he could sing anything and it would be amazing. I almost went with Believe from The Polar Express but that one is a bit sad after seeing the movie. Also I love his version of Charlie Chaplin's Smile

5. Christmas Is All Around- From Love Actually soundtrack

It was this or the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation theme. I choose this one because despite my jaded heart this movie makes me have all the feels. And picturing the brilliant Bill Nighy dancing makes me happy.

I Wanna Be French: Easy Pain au Chocolat

I was flipping through my copy of Joy Of Cooking, looking for a simple sweet recipe, when I saw the Pain au Chocolat recipe and I was taken back to my High School French class. I wanted to make these. It called for making croissant dough from scratch. As much as I like made from scratch baked goods and such, time can be a bitch.

Thus I made a few substitutions for Easy Pain au Chocolat.

Ingredients:

About a cup of chocolate chips

Croissant or Crescent rolls

An egg and water for an egg wash

optional: Plain or Vanilla sugar 

First I chopped the chocolate chips into smaller pieces. I used a knife and a cutting board but it would have been a piece of cake with a chopper.

I then rolled out the can of crescent rolls. The can makes 8 rolls but for this I left two crescent rolls together so they formed a rectangle.

At one end sprinkle a line of the chocolate. Then roll it over and add another line of chocolate. Before rolling it all the way to the end I used an egg wash to make sure it would stay together while baking. 

I also brushed the egg wash over the tops after they were rolled up and added a sprinkle of vanilla sugar. Plain sugar would work fine, I just happened to have vanilla sugar.

The result: A flaky pastry with a gooey chocolate center. 

My mom said they were better cold.

The roll itself seemed a tad too buttery for me but the bit of sugar on top helped to cancel it out.

I believe I would try this again. They looked great and didn't need a lot of ingredients.