Monday, August 7, 2017

That Time We Went To Coolirpa's 1 Million Subscriber Celebration...

It just occured to me now that I haven’t actually written any event recaps for this blog—Adri wrote briefly about when she went to see a live taping of a few upcoming episodes of Marlon. So, to keep it organized I’ve thought of a few questions for Adri and me to answer about the experience we had at the event.

For those of you who haven’t heard of her, Coolirpa is a youtuber who takes thrift store finds and literally gives them a new lease on life. Her designs are cool, and I highly recommend checking out her videos (Click here to get to her channel). You can also find her on FacebookInstagram, and Twitter. Recently, Coolirpa’s youtube channel reached 1 million subscribers, and she hosted an event to celebrate. Even though the event has been over for a while, you can still check out its webpage here: Coolirpax1Mil.
What were you overall thoughts about the experience you had at the event?

Breana: This was truly a family friendly event. I went with my mom and sister, and we had a great time. There was music provided by a DJ. There were also a couple of cool things to do like: getting a necklace made; and drawing fashion sketches and distressing denim with instruction.

Adri: It was pretty fun there, and I enjoyed the drawing station. Overall, this was one of the most positive events I have gone to.

What did you think about the venue?

Breana: I thought the venue was pretty nice. It was hot on Saturday, June 17th, but it was nice since you could step into the mall and cool down for a few minutes. Also, there were benches around the fountain, so there were plenty of places to sit. I thought the event was set up in a good way, because there was space to walk around and check out all the booths with enough places to stand and watch the fashion show from almost every angle. Adri, what did you think of it?

Adri: I agree with everything Breana said. I have to add, it was nice having an event like this in Temecula.

What about the food?


Breana: I loved the free samples. The salad samples they were giving out happened to be the perfect thing to eat on a hot day. There were also cupcakes from Truly Madly Sweetly being given out. I know that it’s a bakery in my area, but I’ve never actually been to it before. However, after tasting one of their cupcakes at the event (chocolate cupcake with chocolate and vanilla swirl frosting), I definitely want to go back and see what else the bakery has to offer. Another thing I thought was great were the drinks. There were a lot of them. Between samples and unlimited lemonade, there were plenty of options to stay hydrated. However, my favorite drink was actually the Suja Strawberry Balsamic Drinking Vinegar. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, but I enjoyed it as much if not more than the lemonade. I think it had more to do with the fact that I don’t really like to drink sugary drinks when it’s hot like that, so, that’s probably why I found the drinking vinegar extremely refreshing.

Adri:
I also tried the Drinking Vinegar. I wasn't sure about the taste, but now, I feel the need to buy more. The cupcake I had was like a vanilla cupcake that kind of tasted like cream cheese. I'm not sure which part of the cupcake the cream cheese taste came from—it could have been the cupcake or the frosting. The color of the frosting was pink and cream colored. I couldn't tell where the flavors were coming from, but it was the perfect combination between cream cheese, strawberry, and vanilla.

Breana: The cupcake you tried sounds delicious too.

What was your favorite part of the event?

Breana: The whole fashion show was a lot of fun to watch. There were so many cool and creative designs including prom dresses made by students from a local high school. However, I think my favorite part was to be getting to see Coolirpa’s designs on the runway. I’ve seen them in her videos, but they’re even prettier in person. My second favorite part was the people. They were super friendly, and the atmosphere was lively. And of course, I can’t forget the photo booth. The photo booth was also a lot of fun, and I thought it was cool that they printed the pictures with a cute border customized for the event. (Pictured to the left is a picture I took during the fashion show.)

Adri: My favorite part was Everything! Clothing transformations, giveaways, and food. What else can I say?

What are your thoughts about the T-shirt and swag bags?

Breana: To get this, you had to RSVP before the event, and I’m glad we did because this has to be one of my favorite swag bags, ever. The passion planner is probably my favorite thing—second only to the adorable Snoopy airplane snow globe. (Pictured to the right is what was in the swag bag including the T-shirt I got.) Adri, what did you think of the swag bags?

Adri: Although I liked everything in the swag bag I really like both the scissors and the nail polish. I like the scissors because they are easier to take my hand sewing on the go. As for the nail polish, it is LA Colors Color Craze, in the color cocktail (542) and is glittery. It is a little lighter than portrayed in the picture, but it dries well. Compared to other cheap glittery nail polish I have tried this one drives smooth rather than textured.

Breana: Oh, I almost forgot about the scissors. I occasionally do embroidery, and my current pair of scissors don't work well for anything other than paper. The ones we got in the swag bags actually cut the floss really well. So, I'm going to get a lot of use out of them.

Adri: Finally, I want to mention the Galaxy Lollipop by Sparko Sweets. Like the cupcake, I couldn't distinguish the flavor between the two sides of the lollipop. But, it tasted really good, it wasn't too sweet, and it had a really smooth texture and flavor.

Breana: I can't believe I forgot about the Galaxy Lollipop. I pretty much agree with everything you said about it and would consider buying more, since they have a lot of different flavors.
Have you gone to any interesting events this summer?

Monday, July 24, 2017

Music Monday (28) Halsey

   Rules:
  • Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 
Breana:  A couple of weeks back, I mentioned that Halsey’s new album came out, and since then I’ve been pretty much listening to Hopeless Fountain Kingdom on repeat. I really love the look and sound of this album. So, I don’t have any new artist to talk about today, only a couple more of my favorite songs from Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. 

My first pick this week is Now or Never. Oh man, I love this song. There’s something about it that just speaks to me. Then again, I feel that way about the entire album so my opinion about the song is clearly biased.

 

My second pick is Bad at Love. I won’t waste time by explaining what I like about this song. All I have to say is: give it a listen.



What are you listening to this week?

Friday, July 21, 2017

The Friday 56 (110) & Book Beginnings: The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE
Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.
26869762Synopsis from Goodreads...

Aventurine is the fiercest, bravest dragon there is. And she's ready to prove it to her family by leaving the safety of their mountain cave and capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when the human she finds tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, Aventurine is transformed into a puny human girl with tiny blunt teeth, no fire, and not one single claw. But she's still the fiercest creature in the mountains -- and now she's found her true passion: chocolate! All she has to do is get herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she'll be conquering new territory in no time...won't she?
Beginnings: "I can't say that I ever wondered what it felt like to be human."

56: "I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees and stepped onto the sidewalk, gritting my teeth in determination."
Comments: I've read a couple of books by Stephanie Burgis before and was really excited for her latest novel, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart. I loved this book! It was a fantastic read.

What are you reading this week?

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Review: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library, #1)Title: The Invisible Library
Author: Genevieve Cogman
Source/Format: Blogging for Books; Paperback
More Details: Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Roc; June 14, 2016

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author...

One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself. Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself...
The Invisible Library is one book I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I mean, it sounded like the kind of book I would enjoy anyway since its main theme is a mysterious library, librarians who double as spies, and of course books—lots and lots of books. In a lot of ways this one reminded me of The Librarians (the movies and TV series). Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that comparison in a bad way, because I actually enjoyed this book.

The Invisible Library was a pretty interesting story. It had a lot to do with one librarians search for a “particularly dangerous book.” This book was heavy on the mystery aspect. The majority of the book was spent building up the characters and the mystery surrounding the books’ disappearance and ultimate fate. Another thing worth noting was the library. I liked the fact that the library wasn’t just a library, but a place that connected to a lot of different realities. The individual realities were kind of interesting in that they could share common features and names, but were still different at the same time. So, there was a bit of a time-travel-y element to the story. I also found the librarians themselves to be a point of interest, because of how the library affected them and the roles they took on. Because hey, it’s just part of the job description, right?

Now before I end this review, I want to talk about the characters. The librarians were already kind of mysterious, especially the more higher ranking ones above where the MC, Irene, currently worked. Irene was pretty cool. I’m always a sucker for characters who are librarians—but Irene gets bonus points for working for a magical library, and being a spy. She was intuitive and had a love for books, and honestly, it was just kind of fun to read about the adventures she had. In the synopsis it’s mentioned that Kai—Irene’s assistant—had secrets. That part was alright, but I found his secrets easy to guess. However, I still have some questions about his character. So, guessable secrets aside, Kai was still interesting.

So, The Invisible Library was entertaining, and I look forward to seeing what comes next in this series.

This copy of the book was provided by Blogging For Books (publisher) for this review, thank you!
About the author...

Genevieve Cogman got started on Tolkien and Sherlock Holmes at an early age, and has never looked back. But on a perhaps more prosaic note, she has an MSC in Statistics with Medical Applications and has wielded this in an assortment of jobs: clinical coder, data analyst and classifications specialist. Although The Invisible Library is her debut novel, she has also previously worked as a freelance roleplaying game writer. Genevieve Cogman’s hobbies include patchwork, beading, knitting and gaming, and she lives in the north of England...

Monday, July 17, 2017

Favorite Recipe: Baking Powder Pizza Crust

Typically I share recipes I’ve recently tried whenever I have a new Weekend Tidbits post for the blog. However, I’ve decided to try a different approach by dedicating an entire post to whatever recipe I want to talk about, instead of just mentioning it. In light of that, today I’m here to talk about one of the best recipes I’ve come across online: Baking Powder Pizza Crust. The recipe I use (with some minor adjustments) is The Bake-Off Flunkie’s Baking Powder Pizza Crust. It’s my go-to recipe for baking powder pizza crusts.

Now, before I get more into all the little changes I’ve made, I just want to mention that you shouldn’t approach this crust and expect it to be a carbon copy of a yeast crust. If that’s what you’re expecting, you’re essentially setting yourself up for failure. Baking powder isn’t the same as yeast, and I don’t expect it to behave the same. I appreciate this recipe for its easiness, texture, and flavor. I just consider it to be its own thing rather than trying to compare it to the traditional method. If you’ve made a yeast pizza crust before like I have, then you know it takes some time for it to rise and all that. I don’t mind doing that, but sometimes I don’t feel like having to wait as long. And that’s where this recipe comes into play. It takes less than half the time to rise. Trust me when I say that this is actually a very simple recipe to make. I’m not going to talk about toppings because that’s one of the more subjective parts about pizza. You make it how you personally want it to taste, with your favorite toppings. (pictured below is just cheese (right) and a ground turkey & pepperoni pizza (left))


Adjustments I’ve made…

The adjustments I make start with the dough. I don’t double the recipe but I one and a half it, which is the perfect amount of dough for the two rectangle cookie pans that I always use because they fit in my oven side-by-side. (Pictured to the left) I also add seasoning into the crust, rather than brushing it on with more oil. One of my recent favorite combinations is 2 tsp of minced garlic & 1 tsp of thyme. Another major adjustment is that I cook the pizzas for a little bit longer. So, instead of 6-8 minutes, I normally set the timer for around 10-13 instead. I think it has more to do with my oven, and I recommend sticking to the recipe and adjusting the cook time as you see fit. But remember to check the bottom and if it's lightly browned then it’s definitely done. I personally like to cook the pizzas until the cheese is a little crispy.


What do you think? Is this a recipe that you would be willing to try? Also, do you add different flavors to your pizza crust?
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