Unboxing The April BoxyCharm Box

Heck yes, it's always nice when fun mail comes. Mail that ISN'T bills. Enter BoxyCharm. It's a monthly subscription box full of beauty products. It's only $25 a month and you can cancel at any time. You usually get items worth over $100 so it's a fabulous deal. Order your own box or learn more about BoxyCharm here.

Here's what we got this month:

This Ayana Eyeshadow Palette ($48) has some lovely colors. I especially like the greenish shade at the end. This is cruelty and allergen-free. 

The Tinted Moisturizer from Studio Makeup ($38) works well with our pale skin. It's not too heavy, which is a plus.

The Get Gleaming Body Glow ($38) is fun. If I want to be extra sparkly when I go out, I'll be using this. 

Look how pretty! I'll feel like a Kardashian when I wear it.

I took the 008 Reddition Body Cleanser ($22). Not only does it smell incredible, but it makes my skin soft. 

The Monarch Lash Pack ($38) belongs to Natalie. I wouldn't know how to apply them. She's pretty good at figuring lashes out. 

You can order your own BoxyCharm box here. There are different options. We're on the regular monthly BoxyCharm box which is $25 a month and as you see, the items we got are worth so much more than that.

What is awesome is that you fill out a form before you get your first box on what you'd mostly like in it. For example, Natalie wanted mostly makeup, so I made sure to write that down. You also can pick what colors you prefer.

If you want your own box click here or use the code Amber-AREMLXCK at checkout! We'll get charms if you do this so we can shop at the store on the BoxyCharm site with them. You can cancel whenever you want.

What was your favorite item this month? Mine would be the Reddition Body Cleanser since it smells incredible and Natalie picked the lashes! 

Hey, It's Okay

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

HEY, IT'S OKAY....

.....to be opting Natalie out of the STAAR test--it's the standardized tests in Texas are a complete waste of time. I truly wish standardized tests would be tossed out. (I wrote why I think they are ridiculous here.)

.....to be making a lot of strawberry pie. The strawberries are so delicious right now. I top mine with lots of whipped cream.  

.....to be excited about the new season of The Handmaid's Tale. It's comes back Wednesday on Hulu. 

.....to currently be reading Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano. It's a pretty humorous read so far. It's about Finlay who is divorcing her husband since he cheated on her. She's broke and someone mistakes her as a hit woman and asks her to get rid of her husband. Finlay reluctantly does it (she could use the $50,000 offered!) and hilarity ensues. 

......to think it's amusing that Ruby gets so worked up over the birds outside. She'll meow at them from the couch and she looks irritated that they exist. She's an indoor cat so she won't ever get to them. 

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Brasserie Mon Chou Chou Lunch Review

I took French in high school and sucked at it. My teacher was an old French woman who seemed irritated with Americans. Or maybe she was just irritated with me since I said je nais sais pas often when I was called on. You know how Anne of Green Gables called cranky people gimlets? Well, this woman was a gimlet who would slam her wrinkled hand on my desk and screech VITE VITE (hurry hurry) and I'm sorry, a person cannot think in another language in the morning when someone is shouting at you. 

Anyway.

Despite the fact that I never grasped the French language, I do love French food. I can even order myself cheese (fromage) and chocolate (chocolat.) A new French restaurant opened at The Pearl in San Antonio called Brasserie Mon Chou Chou and I knew I wanted to try it out. Mom and I decided to go for lunch.

It's not huge inside and is set up nicely. There is outdoor seating as well. 

You don't just get water handed over in a cup. Nope, they pour water from a fancy bottle for you. I also ordered Diet Coke. 

I knew I wanted to get the Sandwich Au Fromage Raclette which is where they scrape melted raclette cheese on a baguette. I'm serious. Look:

I don't think I've even had raclette cheese before. It sort of smells like feet but DOES NOT taste like feet. It had a rich flavor that paired wonderfully with the fresh baguette. I got mine with the Bayonne ham which basically tasted like prosciutto. 

This is actually considered an appetizer. I saw many tables sharing it. However, my poor mom is lactose intolerant so she couldn't have any. This is why it was my main dish.

I also got a side of fries because when I lived in Belgium I remembered the glorious fries wrapped in a cone.  These fries weren't quite as good, but still scrumptious and fresh. They were well salted and served with garlic aioli (love) and ketchup. 

Mom got the Coq Au Vin. I had a bite and the chicken was tender and well seasoned. The mashed potatoes tasted creamy (which is why mom didn't have much of them to be safe) and were flavorful. 

Oh, and in between taking these photos, I accidentally dropped my phone because I am a total klutz. It made a loud crash and mom was slightly embarrassed. Sorry. 

There are tons of different wines and cocktails to try but I decided to get dessert instead. Behold the creme brûlée. 

I would have ordered a dessert Mom would have too but sadly there weren't any. However, she was able to eat the fruit. My dessert tasted fresh and had that perfect crack when you break the sugar on top. 

I would recommend Brasserie Mon Chou Chou for sure. There's also a Sunday Brunch that I'll have to try at some point. To check out the menu and see the hours, go here. It does get busy so I recommend making reservations which you can do from the site. 

Do you love French food? 

Blue Hair, Don't Care

So.

My daughter gets bored often and decided she wanted to dye her hair. I was like, "fine, just don't get the dye all over the house." (She didn't but got tons of it around the bathroom.)

She did research on a dye and found one mentioned by Maggie Baird, which is the mother of Billie Eilish. Maggie is vegan, so she was a fan of Good Dye Young.

You can buy it at Sally's Beauty Supply so I placed an online order and picked it up. Simple. 

I know nothing about hair, so I wasn't any help. Natalie did it all on her own.

I think it came out awesome. 

I have shared on social media and a few asked if I allowed it. Well. Yes. Why not? I guess some don't like the idea of their kids with bright colored hair. It doesn't bother me. Let kids express themselves is my motto. I get that it might not be for everyone though.

Natalie also loves her hair. 

I am not as adventurous but I think it's neat that she is. It's semi-permanent dye so it will wash out eventually.  Oh, and she totally cut her own hair. She decided she was tired of it being long and took a pair of scissors to it. Again, it didn't bug me.  

She might try another color when this one washes out. 

I guess we'll see what she goes for next. 

Do you dye your hair? I do, but a boring brown color to cover my grays. 

Hey, It's Okay

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

HEY, IT'S OKAY....

.....to think it's fine that Natalie dyed her hair blue. Some people are all, "You allowed that?" Um. Yes?

......to be excited that I get to go out to lunch with my mom this week to try out a new French restaurant. I LOVE French food. 

....to be taking Natalie shopping on Friday since she has the day off of school. It was scheduled for a day off thanks to Fiesta over here. There's usually a Battle of The Flowers parade but Fiesta was canceled due to COVID. However, they still get the day off. So I told her we could go to Panera Bread, Target, and Goodwill. 

.....to have tried the new Chicken Avocado BLT Salad and Sandwich at McAlister's Deli. Both were delicious. If you like avocado and bacon, you should try them! I paired mine with a peach sweet tea.

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Unique Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is coming. And yes, you can do the flower and chocolate thing. But I always like the unique gifts. I have several ideas I wanted to share in case you're struggling on what to purchase. 

A gold personalized necklace is always a wonderful gift idea. You can either have the letter be for mom's name or a child's. 

You can get mom a beautiful custom canvas print from Family Gifts Co. I had an anniversary one made for my parents--my mom is a huge fan of horses. There are so many designs to choose from. You can save 15% with the code AIRING15. Buy your own Family Gifts Co canvas print here. 

If you have a mom who loves Disney, pick up some NuiMos. I know I love mine. There are tons of outfits and accessories to dress them up in. Plus lots of characters! They just released some Winnie the Pooh characters. You can buy them from ShopDisney here.

Books are always a hit if your mom loves to read. I do! I'm always excited when I get a new book or a gift card to buy books. The book I'm holding here was an entertaining one and you can buy it here. 

I needed to have something to prop up my phone for zoom meetings and this holder from Amazon worked out. It comes in a variety of colors. You can buy one here. 

Is your mom a traveler? Or does she hope to one day?  Pick her up this push pin world map from Conquest Maps where she can keep track of all the places she's been. She can also show where she wants to go! You can pick one up in a variety of styles here. 

Does she love Disney World? Get her a trip to Disney World. I mean. Okay. It can be pricey, but if she's a Disney fan like I am, I'd LOVE it. If my husband were like "I'll pay for you to go to Disney World solo," I'd TAKE it. People might be like, "But it won't be fun without your family." Yes it will be. You can do what YOU want and not have to worry about eye rolls or whining. 

I hope the list was helpful. When it doubt, ask your mother what she wants. I always tell my husband I'll take a trip to Disney World. I haven't gotten a solo one yet, but he does allow me to go with the kids each year without complaint. And I am always happy with books. 

Do you have any Mother's Day plans? 

Seven Seas Food Festival Eats and Adventures

Food. I love it. So I am always a huge fan of food festivals when I can try a bunch of it. We recently went to the Seven Seas Food Festival at Sea World San Antonio. It's runs until May 31st, so you have time to check it out. There's not just food there. If you like booze, there's plenty of that as well. 

I made sure to pick up a booklet so I could keep track of everything I tried. There are different booths from various parts of the world set up around the park. 

I also picked up a 15 card sampler package--since I'm a pass member, I got 3 free, so I had 18 in total. This was $75 which works out to be cheaper than if you just bought dishes or drinks individually. 

Our first stop was The Gulf of Mexico:

We decided on the braised beef tacos. They came with braised beef, queso fresco, pickled red onion, radish, serrano pepper, and micro cilantro. Let me tell you, the flavor was THERE:

We also picked up the Deep Fried Elote Con Queso and oh my gosh, yum:

We headed to France next:

Here we picked up the Chocolate Cherries And Cream which is a chocolate crepe filled with cherries, topped with powdered sugar and vanilla whipped cream. It was delicious! I also need to get back and try the Cuben Crepe which is roasted pork, ham, pickles, swiss cheese and yellow mustard.

I am a sucker for creme brûlée so when I saw there was a CHOCOLATE creme brûlée, I knew I needed to try it. Holy crap, it tasted like a rich chocolate mousse. I would bring home so many of these. 

Not only does the Seven Seas Food Festival had food, but there are also photo ops. This one was set up by France so I had fun much to the horror of my teens:

Natalie was like "why am I here?"

Next stop was Germany. I love German food. There was also a man playing the accordion so I had Steve Urkel vibes while we ate. 

We got the Braised Beef With Spaetzle which was tender braised beef served on buttered egg noodles. The beef was tender, the noodles were tasty:

We also got the Beer Cheese Spatzle With Sauteed Onions. This was incredible. Natalie said it tasted like the cheese we get at The Melting Pot:

The Beer Braised Bratwurst With Caramelized Onions had a weird consistency for me. I wasn't a fan, but my son gobbled it up:

We stopped off at Greece next:

At this point we were starting to get full. Mind you, we each shared a dish, but you'd be surprised how fast you fill up. At Greece we got the Gyros With Tzatziki Sauce which is a mixture of lamb and beef served on pita bread topped with sliced onion, tomato, and tzatziki sauce. The flavors were all there and the pita bread was fresh:

Stomaches were getting super full at this point, but I had to pop over to Italy which was nearby. 

I just picked up the Chocolate Chip Cannoli Siciliana because I am a sucker for cannolis. This one was scrumptious. I hate when the shell is soft, but this was firm and I loved the chocolate chips:

There's a fun set up in Italy, so I had my kids get in the barrel. It is TOUGH to get a good shot of teenagers. For some reason Tommy decided to pray and Natalie just gave me the typical irritated glare.

I thought, okay,  I should get some shots with the kids and my daughter was not keen to touch me in public even though she used to follow me into the bathroom when she was small. But whatever.

Tommy was just being odd and shouting something about fake grapes, so I basically gave up after that:

We took a break on eating for a bit and the kids went on some rides. Then we returned to the food. 

Some booths are combined at the moment. For example, Korea and Japan were at the same booth.

So from Japan we got the Chicken Yakisoba which had chicken, cabbage, carrot, ginger, onions, scallion, soy, garlic, and sesame. The flavors were fab. The only flaw was it seemed they gave us the smallest scoop. I wanted more! I found the other portions to be generous, but this one seemed lacking.

The Chicken Gyoza went fast. They are fried chicken dumplings and cabbage slaw served with spicy ginger soy dipping sauce. I LOVED this sauce so much. 

From Korea we went with the Bulgogi Bowl which had rice, marinated beef, carrots, cucumber, radish, scallion, cilantro, mint, sesame seeds and red chili aioli. This was another dish that went quickly. I think these booths were some of our favorites.

The Beef Short Ribs are marinated for 48 hours in a sweet and spicy sauce, then grilled. The sauce was fantastic. I just wish the ribs were easier to chew. I prefer ribs that fall off the bone, but because the flavor was stupendous, I pretended I was a caveman and gnawed on this. 

Hawaii was another popular booth and there's a hula dancer set up with someone playing music:

I was excited to try the Spam Fries, and they did not disappoint. They were deep fried Spam, aged red chile, and fresh garlic aioli. That sauce was the best!

We also picked up the Salmon Poke Bowl which was sesame-soy macerated, sticky rice, jalapeno peppers, cucumber, wakame salad, edamame, grape tomato, pickled ginger and masago. I don't like seafood, but I tried a bit of the rice and enjoyed it. The kids ate the rest, but left the edamame. 

I absolutely LOVED the Pina Colada Sorbet. It was hot when we went, so this was a refreshing treat. 

Oh, and if you want to try any of the alcohol choices and use your card, they come in sample sizes. This works out for me since I don't like to have a lot of alcohol. I picked up the Frozen Hawaiian Pineapple Express which was ocean organic Hawaiian pineapple vodka, pineapple juice, lemon juice, mint and honey. I figured I deserved a small taste since the kids weren't cooperating with photos. This was the perfect drink to sip on in the heat.  I mostly tasted pineapple. If you want the big size, it came in a hollowed out pineapple.

Our final stop was Brazil which is currently combined with Jamaica. 

I picked up the Spicy Beef Empanada with Chimichurri Sauce. I didn't find the beef to be spicy, but I was all about the chimichurri sauce. 

There was a pretty set up in the area and I asked Natalie for a photo. She was like "no" so I just took this shot:

Then I took a photo:

We ended up having an enjoyable day. I highly recommend stopping in to try all the different foods and drinks. Even with two teenagers the 18 sampler package filled us up. There's also a 10 sampler package. Or you can just pay for each item regularly but you end up saving with the packages. 

Our hits was the Korea and Japan booths. Plus that chocolate creme brûlée. I might have to go back and get some more. 

The Seven Seas Food Festival runs Friday, Saturday, and Sundays until May 31st. Happy eating and drinking! Bring me back one of those chocolate creme brûlées please. I'm not even joking.