Beauty Box 5 November Spoiler!

Beauty Box 5 has released a spoiler for November's box, a bottle of Hask Macadamia Oil Revitalizing Hair Shine Treatment!

I've never used their Macadamia Oil, but I have used Hask's argan and keratin oils (review here) and they are amazing!  I'm really excited to try this, what do you think of this spoiler?

You can sign up to get November's Beauty Box 5 here!  It will ship on the 21st of the month.

*Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Beauty Box 5. No press samples or compensation were received.

Special Holiday Packages from The Tasteful Pantry (Plus Coupon)

The Tasteful Pantry is a great food subscription service that caters to people with special dietary needs, such as gluten-free or vegan diets.  Back in March I reviewed one of their boxes and was thoroughly impressed by what was inside.

We're only a few days into November, but it's a good time to start thinking about your holiday shopping.  The Tasteful Pantry has some excellent packages available, and they've created a special 10% off coupon code just for readers of this blog!

Their Gluten-Sensitive Holiday Package costs $35 and contains a selection of tasty gluten-free snacks and sweets!  Even if you don't follow a gluten-free diet, this box is still sure to impress.  It's a collection of holiday favorites, boasting delicious, savory light bites and mouth-watering sweets.  The box also includes The Tasteful Pantry's eco-friendly reusable tote (pictured above) that is stylish and practical for daily use.

They also have a Gift Subscription Duo option available for $98, which includes a three-month subscription to their snack box and a two-year subscription to Simply Gluten Free magazine.  The Tasteful Pantry's boxes can be customized for anyone in your life, whether they have diets that are free from dairy, nuts, or other allergens.

Both of these options are available now at The Tasteful Pantry's website, and you can get 10% off of the Gluten-Sensitive Holiday Package with my unique coupon code: SSL10.  Enter it at checkout to get the discount!

*Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by The Tasteful Pantry.  No press samples or compensation were received.

October Arcade Block Review

My boyfriend, Pete, is a big gamer, so when I saw that Nerd Block was coming out with a new box that was video game-themed I knew he would love it!  Arcade Block boasts licensed merchandise that's hand-picked by the Nerd Block team.  Even better, each box comes with a t-shirt, just like the original Nerd Block.

Arcade Block ships from Canada and costs $19.99 a month.  After shipping costs to the United States ($9.50), the box cost $29.49.  Considering all of the items inside, I still think it's a pretty good deal.  Since boxes ship on the 25th of each month, my reviews will usually be posted during the month after the box was sent.

Here's what the box looked like when we first opened it up.  The boxes don't have a specific theme, but they release a few spoilers each month about what will be inside.  For example, for October Arcade Block advertised that this box would be "Da Bob-Omb (Super Mario Brothers)" and would have a Street Fighter item.

Here's everything that was inside.  All values are approximate based off of Google searches, and the two with question marks are ones I had to guess at.

• Flying Squirrel Mario Plush (~$20) - I thought this was cute, but I wasn't sure how Pete would like it because it's a plush toy.  He actually liked it quite a bit, though, because Squirrel Mario is one of his favorite characters.
• Street Fighter Pixel Bricks (~$12) - This building block model contains 188 pieces and is the character "Ken."  This is the one item Pete said he probably won't use, but it's still fun.
• Super Mario Pull Back Racers (~$10) - I used to love toys like this when I was a kid; you pull back the car against the floor and then it zooms forward.  I thought my cat would like chasing it so I opened it up and let it go, and I was right.
• Portal Key Cap (~$5?) - Portal is one of the few video games I've actually played myself and is also a favorite of Pete's.  This key cap is fun, and ours is the "Companion Cube" design.
• Notes from Hyrule (~$8?) - These are two magnetic note boards with erasable markers.  One has Zelda on it and the other has Link, from the Zelda franchise.

The t-shirt for this month says "Freeman's Crab Shack" ($15?) and is from the Half Life series.  I didn't know anything about it, but Pete told me that there are crab things in the game that look just like the design on this shirt, and they latch onto peoples' heads.  Nice!

Bottom Line: We were really impressed with this Arcade Block box and are looking forward to getting more!  Assuming that my price estimates are right, the value of the box is about $70, which is well worth the $30 price.  Next month's is going to have an Assassin's Creed item, and Pete is really excited for that because it's one of his favorite games.

*Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.

Tasty Tuesday

I'm going to try something new.  I have tons of recipes on my Pinterest account, so I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorites here each week.  I'll post a few that have caught my eye every Tuesday.  Feel free to comment with some of your favorites, too!

Photo by Justin Kern

This week's theme is caramel!  I love caramel everything--in my drinks, in my desserts, with salt (especially with salt!)...and I can't wait to try these few recipes!

This Toffee Caramel Latte, posted at A Spicy Perspective, is better known as the "Carl Sandburg" at the Battery Park Book Exchange.  Learn more about it and get the recipe here!

This Salted Caramel Frozen Hot Chocolate, courtesy of A Night Owl Blog, is super easy to put together and sounds delicious!  Get the recipe here.

I've never made my own caramels before, but these Pumpkin Spice Caramels from Mom On Time Out certainly make me want to try!  Get the recipe here.

I'll definitely have to save these Salted Caramel Sticky Buns from Averie Cooks for a cheat day, and what a glorious cheat day it will be!  Get the recipe here.

Last but not least, here's something a bit unexpected.  This savory Braised Pork Belly with Caramel Miso Sauce by Manu's Menu looks so amazing!  Get the recipe here.

What are your favorite caramel recipes?

My Sleep Number SleepIQ Experience

There's nothing that I love more than a good nap, except for maybe full sleepy time.  When I'm tired, I'm tired and I feel no guilt about sleeping for as long as I need or want to (mostly on the weekends, since, you know, jobs and the real world interfere during the week).  When I found out that Smiley360 was hosting a program with Sleep Number SleepIQ, I signed up right away, since this was clearly relevant to my interests!

The main part of my Smiley360 mission was to visit a Sleep Number store and try out the SleepIQ system.  I was really excited to learn more about the technology and to relax on one of their comfy beds, but my experience was much less positive than I was expecting.

Photo courtesy of Sleep Number

First, the only Sleep Number store near me is a 30 minute drive away.  I didn't mind making the trek, because the mall it's in also has a few other stores I wanted to hit up.  My boyfriend and I made the trip this past weekend, and I printed out my Smiley360 materials to share with the Sleep Number associate so they would have more information about my mission.

When I got to the store all of the associates were occupied.  One of them did walk past my boyfriend and I and said hi, but that was the only interaction we got.  I could tell that they were obviously busy, so I didn't mind waiting.  I did start to mind when every other associate looked at us but chose not to acknowledge us otherwise.  A simple, "Hi, thanks for coming in, someone will be with you shortly" would have been fine.  Or even something like, "It's going to be a 20 minute wait before someone can assist you."  But instead, nothing.  I felt so embarrassed.  It wasn't even that they were busy, what got to me was that they all saw us there but didn't help us.  I've never felt that way in a store before.  Part of me thinks it's because they saw us, a young couple, and figured we weren't actually going to purchase anything, so we weren't worth their time, but I can't say that with any certainty, but it's definitely how their actions made me feel.

Since it seemed like no one was going to help us, I decided to try out one of the mattresses by myself.  I couldn't really do much except lie down on it, and it was super comfortable, but without an associate's help I really didn't learn anything about the product.  I also checked out the pillow section because I had gone in with the idea to maybe buy one, but at that point I had zero interest in giving them my business.

Photo courtesy of Sleep Number

I left the store disappointed and without any information about SleepIQ.  At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to complete the Smiley360 mission, but the point of the mission is to report on your experience in the store, which is exactly what I'm doing here.  I may return to the store at another date before the mission ends in December, but since it is a little bit of a drive I won't be hurrying back.  I also didn't think to take any of my own photos for this post because I felt so awkward inside of the store.

I'm willing to give Sleep Number another chance, and they did reach out to me on Twitter and apologized for the service I received.  I really appreciate that, and it makes me feel better that at least someone was listening.  Maybe the associates were just having a bad day that day that I went, but I've worked in a few customer service jobs and the first thing I learned at all of them was to always greet the customers so that they feel welcomed.

What I can tell you about SleepIQ (which I gathered from their website) is that it's a new Sleep Number bed that has sensors inside of it that track your sleep habits.  All you have to do is sleep--the technology records all of the information (total time spent in bed and breakdown of sleep quality) so that you can make adjustments to your routine as necessary.  I think this is a really interesting idea and hopefully if I return to the store I can learn more!

• You can learn more about Smiley360 and my mission by clicking here

Bottom Line: I had a bad first experience with the Sleep Number store, but overall I think the SleepIQ technology is really great.  Having the information tracked and in front of you can point out detrimental sleep habits, or reinforce good ones.  I certainly would like to learn more and hopefully I will get the chance to.

*Disclaimer: This post was powered by Smiley360. Mission included the possibility of receiving a Sleep Number® CoolFit™ Foam Contour Pillow.