Fall!

I’m a few days late but it’s finally officially fall! We’ve had a few cool nights where I have slept with the window open and it’s been so nice. Tomorrow, I’m getting out the rest of my decorations, the ones that are mostly Halloween. 

I took today off work and my sister and I took the kids down to Fan X. It’s early out for school so we caught the 1:07 train down to Salt Lake and went to pick up our wristbands. The kids are still free, which is nice. At that time of day, there is no line to get inside. I don’t know why I like going. I mean, I can totally get behind getting excited about things you like. I don’t recognize most of the costumes, but they are always so fun to see. The kids got a picture with some K-pop demon hunter girls and also saw a bunch of some blue haired girl that they love. 

I guess I think it’s just fun to be part of the geekery and fans. I still can’t justify getting a celebrity picture but I don’t judge those that love to do that. I still really want to get to some of the panels one year. I say that every year and I mark them on the app, and then just don’t go. This year we got there too late for the ones I was actually interested in. We did hit up a K-pop dance party, but I left quickly. There were way too many people in the room and I wasn’t dancing. The kids wanted to try it though. We got to some vendors and artists and I bought a trilogy of books from a UT author that I have been meaning to try. She was really nice to talk to so I was happy to support her and buy her books. ha ha Now I have to actually read them. 

Then we walked over to the mall food court and got dinner and we were able to catch the 6:25 train back home. I get peopled out pretty quickly in those crowds. I think what I would like to try for next year is getting a 2 day pass and going down in the morning one day just to explore exactly what I want to. And then I could go back for a half day with the kids and be happy to do what they want. I’m absolutely fine with what we did today. There’s just so much more going on that we didn’t even get to experience. But more than 4 hours at a time is kind of a lot for me. I guess we need to figure out how to rest up and get out of the crowds and then maybe go back in?  Anyhow, I’ve already blocked off 2 days at work next September. While I don’t want to travel to a bigger con, I love having one in my backyard that I can get to pretty easily. 

Indie Book Day

Saturday was Indie Bookstore Day. I went with my sister and the twins. Even if I had gone by myself, I knew I wouldn't get that many stores in, so I did not print the map for the book crawl. And that's ok and we totally had fun. I got a couple books for the twins and a couple books for myself. I had a list of books that I wanted to purchase, hoping that would make me not impulse buy a bunch of books, but I didn't need to worry. It was too crowded and I was distracted with the kids so I didn't do a lot of browsing on my own.

Our first stop was The King's English in SLC. I only get there about once a year or less and it's just so much fun. Lots of people there and the space is small so we spent most of the time in the kids section. I did find a book on my list and got a few things for my sister-in-law's birthday. 

Then we went to Weller Bookworks in the old Trolley Square Mall. Even if there's not many retail shops in there any longer, it's still a fun, old building. I did not find anything I wanted to buy in there, but my sister got a few books. I did find a store with stationary and fancy soaps so I finished my sister-in-law's gift shopping. 

We took a break and ate lunch at Liberty Park. It was such a nice day to be outside. 

After lunch and playing around outside, we started for home and made our last stops. The first was the Bountiful D.I. because the kids love going there and getting cheap toys. Then our final bookstore was The Book Garden. It's actually one of my favorites. Again it was busy and I didn't get to browse a lot, but I did get one more book and a candle. I want to go back there soon with a bunch of books I've purged from my library and see if they will buy them. You get store credit and I do like to shop there. 

And then we came home. It was after 5 when I got home so a very full day, and we didn't even get to the indies in our own city. It's ok and they are on my list and I will get to them eventually. 

And today I stayed home to work. I didn't sleep well, but also its raining and I'm loving sitting where I can see and hear the rain. Even if it got warm really fast a couple weeks ago, we've had a few cold days as well. Spring is really glorious. Maybe this coming weekend, I can finally plant flowers!

I'm Home

I've spent the last 10 days in Europe and now I'm home. I'll have to put some details here later, but for now this will do. 

I went to Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium. The stops in France (Milhouse, Colmar and Strasbourg) and Luxembourg (Luxembourg City) were my favorite. 

Now I'm home again and sick. LOL at least it waited until I got home to feel actually sick. I've lost my voice and have a terrible cough. And a few sinus problems. I don't feel great, but not truly terrible either. 

Luxembourg on a misty morning. 

Fan X

I had a fun time at Fan X last Friday. I went down to SL on the train with Spencer and Livi and a few of her friends. They were dressed up as Berdly characters. I didn't know who/what that was until they showed me and then I actually saw quite a few of them that I could recognize at the con. 

I only made it to 1 panel and that one was about Snow White and the influence the cartoon has had in 75 years. I wanted to go to others but then my sister came down with the twins and we just hung out and people watched and wandered the vendor floor. It was still fun. 

I've decided next year I may buy a 2 day pass and go to more panels on my own one day and then have fun with friends/family the other day. Or, I talked to one of the volunteers and I might consider volunteering as well. We'll see. 

I didn't spend much money, but I did get some fun chocolate at one of the booths. I ate the Han Solo and it was mint chocolate cookie truffle and very tasty. 

It's cool and feels like Fall this morning. I love it.

Cedar City - Part Two

So besides the house, we actually went down there for the theater. This year I saw 4 plays: As You Like It, MacBeth, The Importance of Being Ernest, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

All of them were well done, but I probably like Gentleman and MacBeth the best. The younger kids didn’t go to the theater but we did catch a Greenshow with everyone and we all got to wander around the grounds a bit. I love the whole setup they have there. 

Besides the theater, there were a couple other things that made the trip especially fun. We didn’t plan this because we didn’t know about it, but they have a Renaissance Festival every 3rd week of July and it’s free to go to. So we got to wander around that and see the booths and the kids played in some bounce houses and there was entertainment and food. It was a fun way to spend a couple hours one morning. 

Since we didn’t have a hotel pool this year, we checked and they have an aquatic center and we tried it out and we are never going back to hotel pools again. Ha ha in Cedar City, at least. It was so fun and not expensive for what you get. I think adults were $5 and kids were $4.50. The pool has a big kids playground and then a slide and a lazy river. Plus there is a hot tub and an outdoor pool. Kids and adults had a blast. The lazy river was my favorite part, but the kids playground with the buckets that dump water every so often was also pretty fun. 

The weather was also great. I had thought it would be super hot down south, but it was actually cooler than home. They had some monsoon rainstorms a few of the afternoons, but it never interfered with our plans and it was so nice to see some rain and have the cooler temperatures. 

Since this year was a big year with the house and all the kids and 4 plays, I thought maybe I would take next year off… but then I saw what’s going to be on and have to think about it. I can probably be talked into doing a trip like this again, maybe with even more of the family. But I could also just go down by myself and see a few plays and go home.  So I won’t rule anything out. We for sure want to do this again though. It was truly a great vacation.  

Cedar City - Part One

We did our trip to Cedar City and the Utah Shakespeare Festival this week. It’s one of my favorite things and I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. This year it was me and my 2 sisters and all their kids (minus one and then plus one from my brother). So nine of us. We decided with the price of 3 hotel rooms, it would be easier to rent an AirBNB. It was a good decision. The house was in a different location than where we are used to staying, but it was actually really easy to get places and close enough to everything we wanted to do. I had a really good time. 

The house was little pricier than we had wanted to spend, but my very frugal sister had love at first site and we talked my other sister into it. The entire house has every room decorated like a different movie. Pictures just don’t do it justice. 

Barbie Room - the twins favorite

The Up room - this was my room

The Star Wars room - one of my sisters stayed here 

The Harry Potter room - one sister and a couple kids slept in the 4 bunk beds -(one bed for each house)

The Pirates of the Caribbean room - my 2 oldest nieces slept here

Then there was the Home Alone bathroom and the Raiders of the Lost Ark living room. Plus a Napoleon Dynamite game room, and a movie theater room that was not even on the listing. Adults and kids alike had so much fun. One of my sisters is planning her own family trip there already and I’m pretty sure we will try to go back. 

I think we counted 8 tvs and then there were games of all kinds and a trampoline in the backyard. As soon as we saw the house, we knew we didn’t need to spend a lot of money on entertainment. 

Truly an experience that was worth a little extra money. 

Another Fun Vacation

This week I did a quick trip to Cedar City and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. I didn’t go last year so it was fun to go back. It was a little bit different this year because mom wasn't with us. The day we left I did let myself have my moment to feel sad. She would have had fun with all of us. This year my sisters wanted to come so I had Anna and her girls and my other niece Katya for the theater. My other sister came with her 5 year old twins as well. They just did other things while we were in the theater but they had fun sitting on the grass with us to watch the Greenshow.

This year we went to The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, and The 39 Steps. I didn’t know much about The Winter’s Tale, but they did a great job and I understood what was going on. It’s kind of a crazy story and it’s labeled as a “Romance” but you wouldn’t know it from the first act. I knew I would love Much Ado About Nothing, and I did. It was fun to see it on stage. The 39 Steps just sounded fun and it was probably my favorite because I laughed almost all the way through.  

All 3 of my nieces want to go back next year and the season has been announced and they are doing some good ones, so I will probably be planning out that trip as well. 

While I have been on some really great trips, this is probably my favorite vacation. I get to spend time with my favorite people and go to the theater. 

And now, I'm out of things to look forward to. Except for autumn coming. But all this year during the hard stuff, I've had my Canada trip, this trip, and a day at the Uintah's with family as the things that I was looking forward to this summer. I still have some time off coming, but nothing planned for it. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the holidays this year, but I do love autumn and now that school is back it's the one thing I'm anticipating...even as it's still 90 degrees outside. Ah well...

Roadtrip!

I spent the weekend on a mini road trip with my sister and her 4 year old twins. And her dog. 

We drove down south and stayed at a hotel in Richfield. It wasn't expensive and had an indoor swimming pool. I'm not a -sit by the pool- type of person. For one thing, I don't like to sit in the sun because I burn so easily. And I'd rather read indoors. But I do find it very relaxing to play in the pool once in a while. So we took the twins to the pool both Friday and Saturday nights and it was a lot of fun. 

On Saturday, we spent the day at Capitol Reef National Park. It wasn't too crowded and I had not been there since I was a kid. I loved it. 

Plus, I really love looking at the wildflowers. 

We managed a small hike before the rain started. We were going to tough out the rain, but it lightening and thundered once and the kids were kind of done and I don't blame them. It was still such a nice little hike. 

We stopped at Fish Lake and Pando on the way back to the hotel so that's another bucket list item checked off - Pando, not Fish Lake. 

Of course, the drive home took forever and we had to stop a bunch of times for bathroom breaks but I still had a great time, even if I was happy to sleep in my own bed again. 

Presidential Barbie

So it’s only been about 2 years or less since I started following SharonSaysSo on Instagram, but I like her content and it’s one of the places I get my news from. She also does a paid book club that I’ve done 2 “semesters” of and have really enjoyed. I only do them when she picks books I’m interested in reading or meeting the author (online, of course). Anyway, I saw that she was coming to Utah to speak. My sister also follows her and texted me to see if I wanted to go. She was able to get us tickets and last night we drove down to UVU for the event. She’s a great speaker and I had an excellent time. I just love the idea that no matter what your political beliefs, everybody can get involved in making the government and communities in which we live better. That normal, everyday people can make a difference. That was the gist of her message last night. Anyway, well worth the trip down there on a “school” night and worth only getting 6 hours of sleep last night. :)

This is the only picture I took. She said she was dressed as Presidential Barbie, which is hilarious. 

Fun Weekend

I started my weekend on Friday and took my nephew to Fan-X. He's starting his mission and we won't be able to go again for a couple years if everything goes according to current plan. This was my second year going with him and even though it always sounded like something to avoid for crowds, I have a good time. I'm not a cosplayer myself, but I do love seeing how creative everybody is. Plus, he has a good time with his costume. 

In a couple years, I'd like to go again and take some of my other family. Maybe I'll brave going on Saturday instead of Friday. This year, I got my geek satisfied when I found a Spy-X Family t-shirt to buy. Although funny thing is, I was wearing my Edward Gorey t-shirt and somebody stopped me to talk about it. Most people don't know who he is anymore, but he's a writer and artist and I've been to his house turned museum on Cape Cod.

When we got back to my house, we got busy watching Attack on Titan. We had about 13 episodes to finish season 4. Normally, I'm the person that says enough! so I can go to bed. But this time I made us stay up to 2 AM to finish them. LOL The funny thing is, we aren't done. There is still a 1 hour special to watch, plus another longer episode not yet out. I'll be watching those on my own to see how it ends. It definitely isn't my favorite anime, but we've had a lot of things to discuss over the course of 4 seasons. I have to say it has been a lot of fun.

And the primary program was on Sunday so that is over and I can relax about the songs now. I did make a few mistakes but not terrible ones and the hardest songs to play went off really well so there is that.

Next up, I still have some travel weeks coming up for work and in between I'm trying to enjoy the Autumn. The leaves are starting to change and the days are getting shorter. I'm loving it. 

Road Trip UT-CO

I’ve had the week off. I went on a road trip with my sister and her 3 year old twins. My sister is my favorite travel buddy and we haven’t been on any trips like this since the twins were born. She’s been a few places, and I’ve been a few places but not together. It was really fun. We did have to cater to the kids a bit but it wasn’t a problem. And if they had a few hard spots, she got to deal with them. I only got impatient a few times when I was tired or hungry, and I didn’t get tired of being with them, which made it even better. 

We started by dropping the dog off at my other sister’s house (Thanks Anna!) and headed south. 

By the time dinner came we were in Moab and found a food truck park. The kids had corn dogs and Amy and I split a falafel wrap and a gyro. Both were excellent and it was a nice break. 

We spent the night in Monticello and in the morning headed to Mesa Verde National Park. I had reserved tickets for the guided tour to Cliff Palace 2 weeks earlier and we had the 2 pm tour so we had time to get there and explore a bit beforehand. 

Spruce House

Cliff Palace

We didn’t walk/hike too far since we needed the kids to be able to do the stairs and ladders on the tour, but still had fun looking at the sights.  The Cliff Palace tour was good and I’m glad we were able to do it. The kids thought the stairs and ladders were an adventure. They got antsy as we listed to the ranger but after we got to a certain spot, we were able to leave when we needed to. Strangely enough, I thought the ladders and stairs would be in the “palace” itself, but you don’t get to do anything but walk by it, which makes perfect sense because it is a sacred place to the people and their ancestors. But there are very steep stone stairs and a few ladders to get in and out of the place. 

After Mesa Verde we headed to Durango, CO. The kids fell asleep in the car and didn’t wake up until we got to the hotel. We had a great time in Durango. Again, we did things the kids would enjoy as well as checking out the town. We spent some time every day at a park so the kids could play. It was just so nice to be outside. Plus, we had fun in the hotel swimming pool. And we got to see the Silverton train leave the station. We had already decided that even the shorter train ride would be too much for the kids at their age but they had fun watching it leave. 

Then when we left to drive home, we went up the mountains to Silverton. The San Juan mountain range is really beautiful. They still have snow and we saw a bunch of “waterfalls” as the snow was melting and running off the cliffs. 

Storefronts in Silverton

Of course after the fun in the morning, the rest of the drive home felt super long. I got home just before 10 pm and got to sleep in my own bed again. But it’s been a great week and I got to mark another place off my travel list. We would totally love to do it again one day when the kids are older. 

Fairy Garden

Pinterest finally got to me and I broke down this year and made myself a fairy garden. The plants are supposed to flower as it gets hotter so I'm hoping I choose well in that regard. It was fun to do. I have it on my back porch because I thought it would be fun to look out my kitchen window and see. And it is. The only problem is I'm too short to see that angle very well. LOL so if I stand at my kitchen sink and get on my toes and try real hard, I can see it. 

My Library

I think my library is finally at its endgame. There will probably be tweaks to the plants and random things on the shelves in the future, but I think it's set up exactly the way I want it and has all the shelves it is going to get. My last piece came in the mail today and it's a painted sign that says Library. I got it from a shop on Etsy and I love it. LOL I had a gap on the wall and needed to fill it and now it's perfect.

Don't mind the snow outside. It's coming down like...well I don't even know. It's been snowing since sometime last night and hasn't stopped. I'm guessing another 6-8 inches where it's laying. It's pretty wet. 

Look at that empty shelf space, though. :) Plus, a couple stacks are being purged, I just haven't done it yet. 

I've got a picture of Anne and Diana, a quote from Jane Austen (both also from Etsy), and JW Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott on my walls. All literary references. A comfy chair and foot rest. Minky blanket. Plants. I especially love the teacup plants I have scattered about. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with it. I foresee some happy evenings spent there in the future. 

Theater

I spent half of last week down in Cedar City going to the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This was my 4th year in a row. I really love going to the theater there. This year I went with my mom and a niece (but a different niece than the previous 2 years). We had a good time. The shows were fantastic. We saw four: 

The Sound of Music

I must admit I only bought tickets to this one because my niece wanted to see it. I might have skipped it and I’m so glad I didn’t. I just figured I’ve been exposed to it so much, even though I knew the theater production is different than the movie. It was fantastic. The actress who played Maria brought so much joy and exuberance to the role. All of them did so well with their parts. My least favorite was Captain Von Trapp and I figured out to myself why. I was expecting a slightly deeper voice. He sang beautifully but the timbre of his voice was just higher than I liked. I saw him in another play also and it’s just his voice, there’s nothing wrong with it at all. It’s just a personal preference. 

Clue

I was so looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint. I love the movie so much and this stage version was very similar. They hit the comedy right on and the characters were also spot on. It was so good. I had so many laughs. A favorite part was when they were searching the manor for other people and two of the characters were using a Clue board game for the “map” of the house. So funny. 

Sweeney Todd

This is one of my favorite musicals. It’s one of the rare instances where I love the dark themes and not happy ending. I love the music and the cleverness in the lyrics and how the harmonies all work together. This was my mom and nieces’ least favorite and I can see why. I think you need more exposure to it to really appreciate it. Making meat pies out of people is not for everyone! But it is for me and they did a great job.

The Tempest

Our last play was finally some Shakespeare. This one was in the smaller theater that I had never been in before. They set it in the 1990’s and Prospero and Antonio were played by women. Oh my gosh, it was good. I had some good laughs and really enjoyed seeing what they did on a small stage with very few props. I would love to see it again. Plus, I had forgotten it is the play that Mary Stewart used in her book This Rough Magic and I’ve been re-reading it since I got home.

I thought four plays might be a bit much but it was not. I loved them all and really could have gone to 1 or 2 more without any problems. 

So it was a great time. Right now I’m actually not planning to go next year because I’ve already seen the only play that actually appeals to me but I may change my mind later on. You never know. 

Birthday Subscription Boxes

My birthday presents to myself this year were mostly subscription boxes. I wanted to try a couple new ones. The first one was a bit of a bust. I got 1 month of Finders Seekers, which is a type of mystery game where you look for clues in the items in the box. I thought it might be fun to play with my family. We’re not that kind of family, I guess. We used the hints on every clue and did solve it, but we did it mostly to just get it over with. It’s similar to the Outfoxed board game, which is more for kids and my family loves, and prefers, to what this box had. Oh well, we tried it and now we know. 

The second box was from Introverts Retreat. I did this one on a whim at the last minute and had very low expectations. Book subscription boxes always look fun, but I am very picky about my books and rarely read mainstream or literary fiction. I absolutely loved this one. I got to choose my drink (hot chocolate) and genre (romance, which I picked because I figured it was a throw away book anyway and mysteries I don't pick myself never work out). The book they sent was a Georgette Heyer that I don’t have and will absolutely read. And the treats and candle are just fun. I was only going to do one month of this one but I’m going to do another one because I liked it so much. A win, for sure.

 

And finally, I got myself a 3 month Succulents Monthly subscription. I get a little plant in the mail along with a pot and soil. The first one came and it looks like it might be a fun little box that I will be happy to get. However, the succulent was frozen and all of the little leaves had fallen off. Are they even called leaves on a succulent? I contacted the company and they are sending me another plant. That’s really great of them. Now that I’ve seen the type of plant I’m supposed to be getting, I really want it. I’m hoping for better weather in March and April so hopefully my next couple months of plants survive the shipping. 

So another great birthday month is over for the year, but the presents will still be coming. Ha ha ha

Another One

So I finally joined the cool kids and caught up with the Lore Olympus webtoon. I tried it once or twice before and didn’t really love it right off. I wasn’t sure about the art because my personal preference is more realistic looking characters, but it really grew on me and I can really appreciate how well drawn they are and how realistic their expressions are. Her version the underworld/Olympus/mortal realm came alive in the artwork. Plus, a big part of the story is dealing with trauma and I probably wasn’t ready to read about that when I tried it earlier.

One of the reasons I had a hard time getting back to it is because there are so many episodes out and I figured I was way behind on the story, like starting a series with 10 books already out. But I forgot this is a webtoon and even though it’s been years since episode 1, it hasn’t been that long in the story. Reading it all at once (most of it anyway) was actually really nice because the story is really tight and when the scenes jump around, they always come back together and it was fun to be able to see that. In other webtoons I read, I sometimes have to re-read to put a story arc together.  

 

Yep, I guess I’m a fan now. It’s a very good comic and deserves the praise it’s getting. Plus, with it becoming more mainstream now, it can only be good for other webtoons that I love. I’m really hoping a few of my other favorites get printed.

Lights

 Yesterday I got out to see some Christmas lights with my brother and sister and their kids. It was kind of nice. It was the last warm-ish day we are having according to the forecast so it was a great time to go. 

I haven’t put up a tree this year and so far have no plans to do so, but I did get some lights hung up in a window.  Lights and my nativities will be my decorations this year, unless I get super motivated about a tree. 

Now I’m having a little bit of a lazy Sunday after church, sitting in my library with a blanket and book and Christmas music playing. It’s a good day. 

Theater

I spent a few days last week in Cedar City for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This year I went with both my mom and my niece. We saw The Comedy of Errors and Pirates of Penzance. Both were excellent, although Errors might have been my favorite. I’ve seen Pirates twice before but decided if my niece is going to do theater, she needs some exposure to Gilbert and Sullivan. In the play orientation before Errors started, the guy had said something about you won’t have any problems understanding what’s going on because they speak English. He was correct. I didn’t have any problems understanding it at all although I feel that’s partly due to the great acting. I borrowed the ebook before we left but didn’t get past the first page. LOL I just wasn’t in the mood to fight my way through the text. It’s much more assessable in the spoken form for some reason. It was nice to get out and it was so nice to be back at the theater. I didn’t mind wearing the mask at all if it meant I was back.  We already plan to go back next year for sure.

A very old poster from the festival on display at SUMA. 

I’m super tired of the news and COVID and problems this morning. I guess that means I’m taking a break from some online stuff for at least today. I was listening to an online Sunday school lesson yesterday and the guy talked about how there were sunflowers everywhere he didn’t see, even in his own backyard. So this week I’m going to try and focus on how God is already in my life, I just have to see Him. I know that will help me get my balance back.

Olympics

I am not a sports fan at all. I hate watching on tv, although I have enjoyed live hockey games before. In most cases if you name a team, I can’t tell which sport they play and I’m perfectly happy this way. The exception to this is the olympics. When it comes to the olympics I will watch any sport. Needless to say, I’ve been glued to my computer for the last however many days watching all kinds of sports and crying with them over wins, losses, and upsets.  Yes, my favorite moments are always when the underdogs come up first. To me, that is the olympics, not the politics and other crap that is always there. I have to say some commentators can’t be bothered to report on the actual race, just the person they think is going to win. I mean they are right a lot of the time, but still. I can’t really complain since I’m not paying for any of it. Anyway, this is one of the few times where I am a sports fan. I’ll enjoy it for a few more days and then go back to my old ways. 

I Bought What?!

I was laughing with some coworkers over bad Covid decisions that we’ve made over the past year. I must admit that I’ve made a few, mostly in the form of purchases. LOL There were those scratch off travel maps that I thought would be fun and then they just took up space and were actually not easy to scratch and just annoyed me. The giant outdoor connect four game that was fun once or twice and now sits in my garage and takes up space.  The little shade tent that I absolutely didn’t need and will be lucky if I use once a year. The Hallmark movie channel. I hate Hallmark Christmas movies and Covid didn’t change that. I watched most of the good mystery movies the first week during the trial. It was a total waste. I could go on…

 

"plant animals" I didn't need

Not all of the purchases have been bad. Early on in the pandemic I decided I suddenly couldn’t live without a stand mixer and bought myself a compact Bosch mixer. Mostly, it takes up space on the counter (especially now when it’s too hot to bake), but I have used it and will use it in the future. I definitely didn’t need it but I’m glad I have it. I now have 4 air plants in my house. Didn’t need those either but they are kind of fun to have.

 

The thing I’ve probably spent the most money on is subscription boxes. I used to look at them and think they might be fun but included a lot of junk and were a waste of money. I wasn’t wrong but not exactly right either. There are pretty much subscription boxes for anything you can think of. I’m kind of amazed. I’ve come to realize that yes, they are a waste of money, but they are still fun, and I can usually give away any of the stuff I won’t actually use. The trick is to get a box that you like and will use.

 

My first and still my favorite is the quarterly box from Margot Elena. It’s full of bath and body items, make up, perfume, and candles. Yes, there is always something I probably won’t use at all, but for the most part I love it. The products are so much fun to try and I can usually give the few things I don’t want to my nieces and they are happy to have it.

 

My second favorite is probably the chocolate subscription box I got from Jackie’s Chocolate. I did 3 months of that one for a birthday present to myself. It was so much fun getting chocolates in the mail. They were tasty! I will probably do that one again for a few more months in the winter. They say they pack for every weather but I’m not going to find out how well they pack for the summer heat.

 

I finally broke down and did the famous FabFitFun box. I’ve only had 1 so far and I got the annual subscription so that I could customize everything. It turned out to be a fun box and because I could choose what I wanted, there was very little I got rid of or won’t use. I probably won’t continue it after my year, but it should be fun while it lasts.

 

Let’s see, I did one from Cloth & Paper and that was a bust. Mostly because of me. I love paper products/notebooks, etc. but don’t have their brand of planners or anything and the pens from foreign countries were just ok, nothing to get excited about. That was canceled early.

 

I did the Candy Club box for 3 months and overall, I’d say that was not worth it because I don’t enjoy the types of candy they sell. It’s mostly gummy types in both sweet and sour flavors. I hate sour candy and am not a fan of licorice laces. I shared this box with my family and it was fun to try everything and pass around the little containers, but not worth the money.

 

And finally, the last one is the TokyoTreat box and I have nothing to say about it because I haven’t received it yet. My nephew really wants to go to Japan and we sometimes go to the local Asian market to buy fun things so I thought this would be fun for the family to try for a couple months. We’ll see.

 

There are other boxes I’ve looked at and said no, but I’m sure I will find others I decide to try. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been spending money on over the past 12 months.