Popbasic Frankie Collection October 2014

I felt the need to post something about one of my favorite companies, since I wasn't able to snatch one of the collections last month. This month Popbasic is offering the Frankie Collection which will go on sale Wednesday, Oct 22 at 10 am PST. I am very excited for this collection!

It will include a long sleeve grey marl tee shirt, a white leather belt with rose gold hardware, and a pin dot scarf. The price of the collection has not been released yet, but last month's collection sold out in record time, so if you want this month's collection, be prepared to buy it on the 22nd. I know I will be buying it!

All 3 of these pieces I know I'll get so much wear out of. I can't wait for the belt. I loved the belt included in the Rubi Collection. I wear it all the time, and I'm even more excited for a white belt! And remember if you haven't signed up for Popbasic e-mails yet, you'll save $15 on your next purchase by clicking any of my links in this post and signing up.

Citrus Lane October 2014

Rating: Love It!!!!
Cost: $29/month

My 28 month old daughter's Citrus Lane box came yesterday. This month's box included items geared towards spending more time inside as the weather gets colder and toys to stimulate budding imaginations. I was definitely excited to see what was in the box. This month's box was also pink for Breast Cancer awareness month.

Here is the first look.

And as always, Citrus Lane includes an information card describing everything included in the box. Ours was a bit crinkled from it's journey here.

The item we were able to choose this month were Leg Warmers from Ooh La Leggings. I chose the polka dot style for my daughter. I have a weakness for polka dots! These are adorable and have really cute ruffles. I really should schedule pictures and plan her outfit around these!!!

We also received Taxi Story City Set from Janod. This is adorable! These encourage young imaginations by playing "city" and are compatible with standard train track sets. My daughter was zooming these cars around right away.

The Pink Car Story City Set from Janod was also included. This is also adorable! Really, what little girl can resist a pink car?!? Plus it goes along with Breast Cancer awareness month (not sure if that was intentional). But this set was made exclusively for Citrus Lane. I like that they included 2 sets in the box, so they can be used together and create more of a "city" setting. 

The final item included was Maracitos from Hohner Kids. My daughter loves these instruments and has quite a few. She immediately picked these up and started shaking them all around. And these really do sound great!

My daughter and I really enjoyed everything included in this box. Citrus Lane has been sending 4 items for quite a few of the past months. They used to have more variety in their boxes, where some months there would be large items included and others a few small items. Now it seems like they are trying to be very consistent in what they include each month. I enjoy what we get, but I think I'd like them to add more variety back. It's starting to get a bit predictable, where as before you really never knew what you would find inside the box.

*This subscription was purchased and financed by me, unless noted otherwise. Posts may contain referral links and I totally appreciate it when you use them!

BarkBox October 2014

Rating: Love It!!!!

Cost: $29/month

We just started getting BarkBox for our under 20 lb Shih Tzu. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had looked at previous reviews and was happy with all the boxes, so we decided to give it a try. It arrived today and I felt the need to review it immediately. I always love opening a new box!

Please excuse the bad pictures. It was dark when I took them, so you see the glare of lights. Sorry about that. 

And here is the first look. I love the tissue paper!

As with most subscription boxes, BarkBox included a card with the theme for the month and on the back it described everything included in the box. They also included prices and codes, so you could reorder the items. I love that feature! They also included a Scout's Honor card, which explains their promise that if your pup doesn't love something in the box, they'll replace it with no fee. Wow, when I saw this I knew this box was going to be amazing! Honestly, I was a bit worried about subscribing to a box for our puppy because he is quite picky about treats, but this policy takes all the worry out of it. And I'm not sure I knew this before subscribing, so I thought I should mention it.

Ok, now onto what was included in the box. This is what I saw when I opened up the tissue paper. And it looked good! I knew my puppy was going to love what I was seeing.

The first item that caught my eye was the GoDog Mopz Rhino. This is a bright orange rhino toy with a chenille belly and it has a squeaker inside. This is completely adorable and my puppy loved it immediately. First item I pull out and the box is already a hit with everyone!

The next item was Barkworthies Hickory Beef Treats. This is a generous size of chewy dog treats that are wheat, corn, and soy free. He hasn't tried any of the treats yet, but these look like treats he'll enjoy.

He has tried the Clear Conscience Pet Chicken Tender Stikz. This is completely free of preservatives and is high in protein.  It was a chicken and cheddar flavor. I wasn't sure if he'd like it, so we decided to try this one first. He loved it! I gave it to him and looked over a few minutes later and it was already gone and he was licking his lips! Also included was the Etta Says Duck Chew. This is a large chew, so we figured we'd wait to give him this one. He's never had anything like this, so I can't wait to see what he thinks of it.

We also received the Simply Fido Ghost. This is an organic cotton toy that was custom made for BarkBox. I always enjoy when subscription boxes have items made exclusively for them. And this is perfect for Halloween! It's crinkly inside which our puppy loves. His favorite toys have always been the flat ones like these! As you can see he loved both the toys and started playing with them immediately!!!

The final item included was a Barkworthies Odor-free Bully Stick. BarkBox describes this as the best canine "candy" bar around, so we're saving this one for a special occasion (maybe Halloween). I'm pretty sure our pup is going to love this one too!

The quality of the toys and treats we received was much better than I had expected, so I'm very excited with this BarkBox and will definitely continue subscribing. I love that all the items are made in the US also. And it was a hit with the pup, so definitely a great box to start with! We received more than I expected. I thought we'd get one toy and a couple treats, but this seemed like a great value. Using the pricing on the information card it totals $34, which is more than what I paid for the box, so I'm extremely happy. And they are all new items we've never tried before! I can't wait to see what we'll get in November!!!

*This subscription was purchased and financed by me, unless noted otherwise. Posts may contain referral links and I totally appreciate it when you use them!

Hello Fresh September 2014

Rating: Loved It!!!!
Cost: $69/week

I have a different review for you all. I subscribed to Hello Fresh, when I received a promo in a magazine that I couldn't resist. Normally, Hello Fresh costs $69 per week for the Classic Box that includes 3 meals for 2 people. They also have a Veggie Box for $59 per week for 3 meals for 2 people. Hello Fresh is flexible as to when the boxes arrive and are now delivering coast to coast. You are able to skip weeks when you don't want to receive shipments right from your account online, so it's very convenient.

We tried one Classic Box that included 3 meals for 2 people. I wasn't sure what to expect.  I didn't know what the portions would be like or what the food would look like when it arrived. I also wasn't sure if the recipes would be difficult to prepare. So, I thought it was important to review to let you know my thoughts and try to give more detail, so there are no surprises if you decide to subscribe. 

The box arrived as expected, during the delivery time stated. And it was a large box that was quite heavy. I couldn't wait to open it up to see how everything was packaged. I took quite a few pictures to show everything. When I opened the box the recipes were right on top and there was a foam cooler holding all the ingredients. Everything was wrapped in bags labeled with the recipe the ingredients would be used for. There were also packets of seasonings in a separate bag from the veggies. Everything looked fresh and in great condition. Nothing was spoiled or stinky. We even waited a couple days before we prepared the meals and everything stayed fresh in the refrigerator.

The meat was packaged at the bottom of the cooler, under multiple ice packs.

We were able to choose from 5 recipes for the week we had our delivery. The first recipe we cooked was the Short Rib Lettuce Wraps. When we were making these, we thought this would not make a complete dinner and would be more of an appetizer. We really thought we would be making more food in addition to this meal.

All the ingredients arrived fresh and looked and tasted great! It was all packaged in bags with the name of the recipe, so we knew what went with what. The recipe card was easy to follow.

We received everything we needed to make this recipe. The only items you may need to complete a recipe are items you would definitely have in the kitchen, such as salt and pepper. I was excited to try this recipe because it wasn't something we would normally make, but looked like a light meal that would be easy to prepare. It made so much more than we expected and filled us both up. We were very happy with the taste of this meal and will be making it again in the future. I showed both plates, to show how much food it made and a close up of one plate. We even had some extra lettuce and other ingredients including spare ribs that weren't shown on the plate. So, this recipe definitely made enough to fill up at least 2 bellies!

The next recipe we tried was Seared Swordfish with Warm Potato & Bean Salad. I was interested to see how the olives worked in this dish. And I was hoping I would love the potato and bean salad.

Here is a picture of the ingredients for this dish. I loved how everything was portioned, so we received just the right amount to make two meals.

This was delicious and probably our favorite meal of the bunch. The flavors together were great! And it was quite filling. We will also be making this again, especially the potato and bean salad because it was yummy! This meal also looked as delicious as it tasted, so it'd be a great meal to serve when entertaining guests.

The final meal we chose was something that wasn't too out of the ordinary for us. It was the Pork & Chinese Eggplant Stir-Fry. I liked that this stir fry had eggplant and squash in it, and I knew the whole family would eat it.  

Here is a picture of the ingredients for this meal. 

This meal was very good also. We did under cook the brown rice slightly and may have added a bit too much salt to ours, but otherwise the flavor was very good. And this made the perfect portions also. We even had extra, so our 2 year old shared this with us. And enjoyed it as much as we did!

I was very happy with the quality of ingredients and the shipping process and most importantly the delicious meals we prepared. Hello Fresh is a great service for busy families that don't have time to think of what to prepare for dinner every night! And looking at these pictures makes me hungry. The meals were seriously so good, and we kept all the recipes so we can make them again!

*This subscription was purchased and financed by me, unless noted otherwise. Posts may contain referral links and I totally appreciate it when you use them!