Day Trip to Cambridge, MA

A couple of weeks ago John's parents came up to visit. One of the days we took a day trip up to Cambridge to see Harvard and to check out their natural history museum. The building was a lot larger than we thought it would be and held some pretty interesting stuff. If you enjoy flowers, there was a whole room filled with replicas made out of glass.

The natural history museum is attached to the Peabody Museum which "engages in, supports, and promotes the study and appreciation of ancient and contemporary peoples from around the world."

There are so many interesting buildings in Cambridge. On our walk back to the train station, we passed the gorgeous Memorial Hall.

George B. Parker Woodland

A couple weeks ago, John bought a book about local hiking trails throughout New England and we decided we'd hike each one throughout our time here in Providence. The first hike we chose was the George B. Parker Woodland. It's located in Coventry, RI and we thought it was the perfect way to start our hiking adventures. I enjoy trails that are surrounded by woods where you feel like you're exploring rather than following several people around a walking path.

Along our hike we stumbled upon natural deposits of quartz. Because they were shaded by the trees, these two rocks were cold to the touch and a pleasant surprise.

One of the reasons we picked this trail was because of these rock structures called cairns. No one knows why they were built or even when. It was even crazier to learn that parts of the woodland was once farmland. It's amazing how quickly a landscape can change in the course of a couple hundred years.

July Birchbox

Most people who know me, know I'm not a beauty expert. The most I use is concealer, eyeliner, maybe mascara, and maybe lip gloss (when I remember). So why did I join Birchbox three months ago? Because I am one of those people who would actually like to update their beauty regime but are essentially clueless when it comes to buying products. That's why I like having someone (something?) telling me what's cool or what I should try. It's also nice to try out a product before buying it, which is my biggest issue with buying beauty products. I hate to buy things without knowing if I'll like it or if it'll actually do anything for me.

So what is Birchbox, you ask? According to their website it is:

...the best way to discover new grooming, beauty and lifestyle products. Sample top products from high-end brands, get expert advice, [and] buy new favorites...

Birchbox also likes to come up with themed samples (May was Gossip Girl and June was flying/travelling) which is kind of nice instead of just random samples put in a nice box.

This is (sort of) what the box looks like when opened. The theme for July was the five senses, thanks to Glamour magazine.

Birchbox always includes a card with a list of everything inside the box and a description of each item. On the other side is usually a message from the co-founders and the Birchbox team explaining each month's theme.

Boscia Green Tea Blotting Linens // Full-size: 100 sheets/$10

I'm actually kind of excited to try these out. It's summer. It's hot. I live in a desert. I'm bound to sweat buckets for the next couple of months, so these will come in handy. They're also small enough to fit in practically any purse so they're easy to carry with you for fast touch ups.

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner // Full-size (included): $15

My eyeliner came in olive. Not sure how I feel about the color since I hardly ever stray from black, but I love how much it feels like a marker than a liquid liner. I'm looking forward to trying this out and possibly buying this in black (unfortunately Birchbox only has olive and turquoise available in their store; black is available at Sephora though).

Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint // Full-size: $38

I'm interested in trying this. It seems like a lot of folks over at Birchbox like Jouer, so it must be worth trying. They say it's an award-winner (of what, I'm not sure), so that must mean something...right? Plus I'm always looking for new moisturizers and I've never tried a luminizing one before, so we'll see.

Oscar de la Renta LIVE in LOVE // Full-size: $25-78

Can I just say how picky I am when it comes to perfumes? There have only been one or two that I would consider ever wearing (ie. citrusy scents and the Burbury that my old roommate used to wear). This is definitely a floral scent. Not my kind of perfume but I'll at least give it a shot.

LÄRABAR über in Cherry Cobbler // Pack of 16: $27.95

I've seen these bars all the time in grocery stores but I've never actually tried them. I'm always looking for tasty yet (somewhat) healthy bars for post work-out snacks or something I can quickly snack on on my way out the door. I saw some people got a bananas foster flavor and I'm a tad jealous, although you can't go wrong with cherry cobbler (and a little ice cream...er). I like the fact that the ingredients are simple and not unpronounceable chemicals that I don't have the faintest idea what they are. They're also gluten free, non-gmo, and kosher for those of you who are curious.

Birchbox Earbuds // Not for sale

These earbuds also came in the box. They're pretty typical looking and since I lost my Skull Candy ones a while back, I've been in need of some nicer looking earbuds other than my generic Apple ones. Maybe one day I'll actually invest in a nice pair of headphones. Maybe. I also heard some people got these in pink and blue (hey, I like blue). You can also go to Glamour's website and listen to playlists that they created on Spotify.

FINAL VERDICT:

All in all, I'm very happy with this month's selection. While I would have liked to have also sampled the AHAVA Purifying Mud Mask or one of the Juliette Has a Gun scents, I can't complain. This was definitely the best box so far. Good job, Birchbox! I can't wait to see what they have in store for next month.

Warrior Dash...Can You Handle It?

This Saturday I'll be attending my first ever Warrior Dash. It's a race involving "3.28 hellish miles" filled with crazy obstacles that have names like Storming Normandy, Warrior Roast, and Muddy Mayhem. I'll be climbing over walls, crawling through mud, and trying not to catch myself on fire (just kidding about that last one...sort of).

All joking aside, this is also my first race, ever, so I'm a little nervous about it. I'm a little nervous about running outside since most of the time I run is either at the gym or at home, and the few times I have run outside were usually early in the morning when it was still cool (aka my favorite time to run outside in Arizona). Even though we're running at 9:30 in the morning, it'll probably already be fairly warm (and it's supposed to get in the low 90's that day). And if we're being honest here, I haven't actually ran anything longer than 2 miles. But I'll be running with two other friends so I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.

To get some idea of what to expect the day of the race, I did a little Google searching and came across an old post on Back to Her Roots that I thought was pretty helpful. There were a few things I didn't think of but should have (like a towel to wipe the mud off and one for your car). Plus the pictures were fun to look at. I'll hopefully have an update on how things went after this weekend. Bring on the mud!

P.S. Did I mention you get a fuzzy viking helmet just for participating? You can't be a good warrior without your helmet (duh).

"I'm shipping up to Boston."

I went to Boston in January with John for a math conference. Going from 70 degree weather to 20-30 degree weather was a major change. Luckily I still own a jacket and scarf that I put to good use while I was there.

Guest at the Joint Mathematics Meetings

We stayed at the Westin at Copely Place which was attached to a mall and the convention center that the conference was held at, which allowed us to avoid most of the cold and windy weather.

Taken from Cabot and Company

Not far from the hotel/mall is Newbury Street. Shops and restaurants line the street and is a hotspot for shopping. I walked along the street during one of our last days in Boston, enjoying the warmer weather and the neat little shops that lined the street. John and I later went to dinner at Stephanie's On Newbury. They're noted for having "sophisticated comfort food." It was delicious!

Boston Public Library

Inside the library:

One of the hallways:

There were two stone lion statues at the end of the staircases:

John and I also visited the Museum of Fine Arts. It has three levels and a ton of art that you can't truly look at all in one day.

I took the above picture for John. It was the first thing we saw walking into one of the rooms and we couldn't help but laugh at this baby. Poor thing.

Pennsylvania Dutch artwork

I wonder why this artwork never caught on... (face at the end of an arm chair)

And then we reached the modern art section. Honestly, this was probably my favorite section of the whole museum.

Don't Hate the Game, Hate the...Vamplayer?

I was on Goodread's website this morning and noticed the above ad in their sidebar. Do they really think this is my kind of book? I read a page or two thanks to Amazon and I can safely say this is not going to happen. I also saw that the author has another novel in this "series" called Zombies Don't Cry.

Yeah.

Flying Cats & Bats

Tonight I'm on a cute/funny animal theme. Baby animals are cute (especially this little one) too. Sometimes you just need a little cuteness at night.

I've had this photo saved on my laptop for quite some time now. And every time I look at it, I can't help but laugh at the poor cat. Hopefully whatever was happening in the photo, the cat is fine now. It's face, on the other hand, is priceless.

A friend at work showed this video to me. According to the owner, the cat didn't like the daughter of their one friend. I feel a little bad for laughing so much at this cat, but you will see why when you watch.

This video is about a bat that was rescued from a zoo that was closed and whose mother abandoned him. Apparently it's not uncommon for this to happen when a mother bat is stressed and unsure about their own safety. Bat World Sanctuary rescued and hand-raised the little guy. And in case you want to (which I suggest you do), you can watch the first video here.

For more cuteness, you can check out Cute Overload.