Q. How many subscription services is too many?

A. You can never have enough!  I * only * have 6.

1. Graze: $11.99 for 1 box of 8 snacks each month.  And they are seriously all SO DELICIOUS!  Here’s my reward code, if you want to sign up! DLLP3WF5P
   

   My favorite so far = Dark Chocolate Rocky Road

2. Stitchfix: $20 styling fee for 5 items every quarter.  Styling fee goes towards purchase of any items.  So, it’s really free.  I reviewed my first fix here.  That necklace has entered the daily rotation, I love it so much.
3. Blue Apron: $70 for 3 meals to feed 2 people each.  This is a weekly service, but I only get it once every few months.  Reviews here and here.  Comment with an email address and I’ll send you free meals through the website.
4. Ipsy: $10 per month for 5 or so sample beauty products chosen based on your wants and needs.  High/Low mix of brands, sometimes erring on the side of low.  Reviewed in half of my Makeup Mondays.
5. PLAY! by Sephora: $10 per month for 5 or so deluxe samples from Sephora.  Good mix of brands; quality products.  Just started this one, and loved the first box.
6. Barkbox: $19 per month for 12 months for themed dog treats and toys.  If you have a dog and you buy them toys and treats, this is awesome.  Each box is enough for 2 dogs.  We actually save all the new toys until we’re traveling, so she gets something special in the car.

Five Thing Friday

1. Runner’s World posted this article, The Surprising Reason You’re Not Losing Weight, to their FB feed the other day.  Of course I clicked on it, because I’m not losing weight.  I don’t find that surprising, per se, due to things like beer and Hershey’s candy bars, but the click bait title was too good to pass up.  As it turns out, “skimping on sleep can lead to weight gain, an increase in injuries and a decrease in testosterone levels, which is often associated with depression and bone density loss.”  Between my knees and my hips and past bouts of tendinitis, I feel injured all the time.  Like, not really injured, but injured.  I also feel tired every day.  Between the dog and the FH, even when I get in bed on time, I don’t fall asleep.  I’ve “tried” to go to bed early before, but I have to try harder.  Whatever it is that I have to do at 9 or 10pm (last night, it was the dishes), can wait until the next day.  Trying harder means not just saying, “I’m going to go to bed earlier.”  It means taking steps to enable that.  My first 2 steps are to wash my face and brush my teeth at 8pm and, if I have the late walk, walk the dog at 8:30pm.  The goal is going to bed by 9pm and getting 8 hours of sleep.
2. I came across this program for running with dogs: Ruff Tail Runners.  It’s in Texas and, basically, runners can sign dogs out of the shelter and run with them.  Every runner has to take a training about how to get the dog out of the kennel, how to put on their equipment, how to run with them, etc.  The more training you get, the more difficult dogs you can run with.  I say, can, not have to, because the more socialization and exercise these dogs get, the more adoptable they are.  Even though running with my dog is a pain in the ass, maybe when I have some more time on my hands, I’ll look into starting a program here.  It would be easier if the organization we used was a shelter, but it’s a foster organization (also better for the dogs).  Anyway, it’s just a super cool thing and if you live anywhere near it, you should do it!  Or start one where you do live!
3. Something, I’m LOVING right now = new Fitbit bands!  I had always yearned for the cute, bracelet-style bands they sold on Fitbit.com designed by Tory Burch.  I mean, who wouldn’t want this?   It costs $175!!! So yeah, I guess I wouldn’t want this.  My plain black band was close to breaking, so I figured I’d check out Amazon for replacements.  That’s where I found a set of 2 super cute, patterned ones for only $8.  No, they aren’t silver with a watch buckle, but they look adorable and I can change them to match my outfit.
4. OH boy, homeownership woes.  First of all, our condo’s master insurance needed an inspection of our fire system to keep our insurance.  There’s one inspector on this side of the state, who is also the main installer of such systems (what a fuckin racket).  He says we need emergency fire alarm pulls at every exit (currently we only have one at the front door).  Guess how much that costs?  Did you guess $2500?  If you did, you’d be right!  THEN, our neighbor below us tells us something from our floor is leaking through their ceiling.  Enter the most annoying plumber of all time, who has told me about wax seals more times than I can count and asked me if I splash a lot when I get out of the shower.  No, fuckhead.  Me splashing out of the shower did not soak through my tile floor, subflooring and their ceiling.  He has now seen as much and is expected back to cut through their ceiling since he can’t find the source of the leak in my bathroom.  Buh bye, tax returns!
5. Does anyone watch The Bachelor?  I started thinking about who the presidential candidates would be as bachelor contestants on this season.  I really only got as far as Donald Trump is Olivia.  Bragging, boastful, full of shit, a complete liar, obsessed with looks and insulting people.And now, I leave you with this, “I know words.  I have the best words.” 

New York Christmas Recap

This year, I get 3 Christmases!  Actually, every year I get 3 Christmases haha.  The first one was last week, on actual Christmas, with the future-in-laws.  I realized that I never do weekend recaps, but I love reading them when other bloggers do, so I should at least do travel recaps.

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We were on Long Island from Thursday through Monday…with the dog.  They also have a dog named Casey who is about the same age and SUPER hyper.  He’s a lab, boxer, Australian shepherd mix.  Super cute and gangly, but relentless and jumpy, too.  He wanted to play fight the whole time and Reba wouldn’t engage until she got really fed up and would snap back.  Luckily the weather was nice and they have a fenced in backyard, so we let them duke it out (no, they weren’t really fighting or baring teeth or anything) outside.

Inside, there are approximately 15 picture frames and knick knacks covering every surface, so…yeah, not puppy play friendly.  It’s also not exactly guest friendly.  We sleep on a pull out couch in the living room.  Between his parents going to bed late and his brother getting up for work at 4am, this was 5 days in a row of very little sleep, which made for a very cranky Briana.  We’re considering a hotel next time.

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Onto the holidays.  

In the morning we all opened gifts, which they do very differently than I do.  First they dole out all the gifts, so that everyone has a pile.  Then they go around, in no particular order and open one at a time.  FH tries to delay his turn the whole time so that he’s the last person to open a gift.  I have no idea why…I always wanted to open my gifts as soon as possible.  My favorite was a really soft, warm, plaid flannel shirt from Bass.  So in love.

Christmas dinner is spent with family on his mom’s side in Queens.  At my house, my grandmother cooks the main dishes and my aunt and dad make most of the sides and desserts.  At his family’s house, his aunt cooks EVERYTHING, except for like, 2 appetizers.  It’s unbelievable.  This year it was beef wellington, scalloped potatoes, french onion green beans, pecan sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, corn, carrots…I know I’m missing something.  Basically, it was like a 5-star, 10-course feast.  My house is also very quick about the holidays.  We all live on the same street, so we can come and go as we please.  We stay for dinner for an hour or two, visit later for dessert, but that’s mostly it.  His family is together for 10+ hours.  This year, though, since the dogs were crated back at the house (and Reba’s not used to being crated at all), we left after about 8 hours.

The dogs did not sleep well, if at all, that night.

The next day, his dad’s family came over for presents and food.  A little Christmas party.  With no pre-planning, we exchanged beer from local breweries (respectively) with his cousin, received some gifts off our wedding registry, and introduced everyone to our dog.  Who, by the way, was a fucking angel.  Seriously, it was nice to have her be the “good” dog for once, and not spitting out an endless stream of apologies.

Sunday was the Patriots @ Jets game.  They play each other twice a year, usually go 1-1, and somehow, 3 years in a row, I find myself in New York with a bunch of fucking Jets fans the time the Pats lose.  UGH.

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That, in a nutshell (if you can call this a nutshell) was Christmas #1.  Friday I fly out to Texas for Christmas #2.  Look forward to the recap next week!

Five Thing Friday

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday week (and having a lovely Christmas day, if that’s what you celebrate).  Here are 5 pictures of my dog.  Because who doesn’t like pictures of dogs?  Serial killers.  That’s who.

1. 

   snuggle bucket

    

2. 

   enjoying the beach

    

3. 

   yep, this is how she sleeps…has to be close to people

    

4. 

   really, really close to people. like, on top of them.

    

5. 

   last, but not least, christmas pjs