Joy, Life and More

In my previous post  I reviewed the first to two beauty boxes Target came out with earlier this month. Target does not offer a beauty box subscription so you need to subscribe to beauty blogs or groups to find out when these come out and grab them as fast as you can since they sell out quickly! This beauty box, the Target Refresh Beauty Box (please note this box is sold out but I provided a link in case you were curious), came with nine items total and cost $7. The box also included a card with a description of each item and a coupon to use in-store or online for $3 off of a $15 beauty purchase. I love when they provide a coupon but it usually expires within a short amount of time, in this case by February 14, 2016. Here are the items I received in the box (front row, L-R): Simple Micellar Wipes (full size!!!!) - Retail price: $6.99; Clear Men Scalp Therapy2-1 Complete Care Anti-Dandruff Shampoo (sample size) - Cost: 71 cents; Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy Total Care...

I got my January 2016 Birchbox before I even got my notice it shipped! Maybe it was because I opted for the guest editor's box instead of the regular Birchbox . I really didn't like any of the choice samples offered, so I decided I'd go for the Korean beauty box since I have tried some Korean products in the past. This month's box was put together by Charlotte Cho, founder of Soko Glam and a skincare guru. It came in a bright yellow box (sorry but my camera made it look green) with cute little drawings on the cover. There were six items in this box, which was nice since some boxes only come with five products total. Here are the items I got (clockwise starting left): Goodal Waterest First Essence, RE:P Bio Fresh Mask with Real Calming Herb, IPKN Flash Cream Radiant Primer and TONYMOLY Delight Tony Tint. I also got the Manefit Beauty Planner Cucumber (left) and Goodal Phytowash Yerba Mate Bubble Peeling. I haven't tried any of these item...

Target came out with two beauty boxes this month, and I jumped on both of them as soon as they came out. I missed the last beauty box and seeing what items it contained, I was bummed. Target does not offer a beauty box subscription, so it can be hit or miss getting one. They generally tend to be better than other beauty boxes and sometimes are more expensive but never more than $10 so far. I received one of the two beauty boxes offered in the mail within a few days after ordering (the other is on the way). I got the Target Renewal Beaty Box  (please note this box is sold out but I provided a link in case you were curious) first. The box cost just $7 and was a great value for the items it contained. The box comes wrapped in clear plastic with a mailing label on the side. It fits nicely in my mailbox, so there was no need for the mail carrier to leave it on my doorstep. It was quite heavy, and I was excited to open it. As soon as I took the cover off, there was a car...

Most people find the holidays daunting, and why not? It seems like the fall and winter brings the best eating holidays:  Halloween candy, Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie and Christmas dinner, chocolates and desserts plus so much more! Having diabetes during this time of the year is no fun! I have Type 2 diabetes and thankfully I can control my diabetes through diet and exercise. I can only speak from my perspective, so if you take medications or insulin, there may be different restrictions. To be completely honest, I didn't overthink too much about the upcoming holidays. With children in the house, it would be hard to completely avoid candy and other goodies, and I did not want to deprive my family or even myself! I also wanted to enjoy the holidays and not make anyone uncomfortable especially since we were spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with relatives (side note: my relatives knew about my diabetes diagnosis and was very mindful of asking me how they could accommo...

I didn't post about the November 2015 box because I was too busy and forgot to take pictures. Sorry! The December 2015 box came really early, and I didn't even get a notice from the Love With Food folks my box was on the way. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the box on the 9th. I order the deluxe box which comes with approximately 16-20 snacks which works great for me because as a diagnosed diabetic, I need to make sure I have appropriate snacks on hand. I am a big snacker, and I want to have great tasting snacks on hand. Many of the snacks in the box fit within my dietary needs for carbs, sodium, fats and other nutrition. I also want to point out how great  this subscription is because you are not only getting a bunch of snacks but you are also helping feed. On the inside cover of the box, it will tell you if the box you purchased helped to donate one or two meals. The smallest box (Tasting Box) is filled with 8+ snacks and donates 1 meal. The Deluxe Box ...

It's been about four months since my journey toward better health and beating diabetes began. So where am I now? At the end of October, three months since I took the A1C test which diagnosed me diabetic, I retook the test. This time it was a simple finger prick and a small amount of blood. I was lucky that the lab in my doctor's office had a machine which didn't require them to send out the sample. The phlebotomist was nice and told me I would get the results in a few minutes. In all honesty, before I took the test, I told myself there was a chance my results might even be higher than 6.4% despite all the things I had been doing to get it down. The problem with diabetes is if someone in your family has the disease, the chances of getting it goes up, and someone in my biological background had diabetes (side note: I was adopted as a baby but my mom told me my biological grandmother had diabetes). Of course, this is not an excuse why I have diabetes. I know my lifestyle...

This is a late review as I am about to get my November box but I wanted to post it just so you have an idea of what this subscription is about! Let's be honest. There are so many subscriptions out there ranging from beauty to food to clothing to just about anything you are looking for in a monthly box. Sometimes it seems like all the subscription boxes are the same except for the different ranges of price. It takes a lot for a box to fill a niche and to me Love With Food is just that kind of box. Love With Food is a monthly subscription box which contains organic or all-natural snacks. In a word or two, it contains healthy snacks! But these snacks are great if you are looking for healthier options and it gives you a chance to try out a variety of items without having to purchase a whole box or bag of one snack. There are three different options with this subscription. The first is a tasting box which contains about 8+ snacks and can cost about $8 to $10 if you purchas...