Part 4: Tracking Growth Through a Blog/ePortfolio

Solotica Hidrocor Mel Giveaway

Ameture Baking & Cooking Adventures

As I am writing this blog post, I am preparing a Penettone  :)

I have mentioned somewhere in my blog that I am a foodie. I enjoy cooking and baking. Way back when I was in high school I took a cooking class and it was then that I actually pondered about studying to become a chef. It was not something my family supported because they wanted me to pursue either nursing, teaching something along those lines. Because I enjoyed teaching, I decided to pursue that later. So cooking has instead become my hobby, and heck I've even taken a course at the undergraduate level called Feminism and Food. My oh My, my love for food sure runs deep !

Here are some baking adventures by me!

The first time I made Panettone

 

Cinnamon Rolls

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

An Extremely Groovy Butterfly Cake :P

I will never forget the time I made brownies in that cooking class in High school,  it was for a teachers & staff event. I totally messed up because I did not cut the brownies in "perfect" squares. My instructor saw and was a little bit upset with me because they were meant to be served at an event. Crazy thing was, the next day, she came up to me to let me know that a person commented on the brownies being different unequal sizes. Saying "thank god, I can never finish one entire one and glad to have preferences to pick a size" They were glad the brownies were erratically shaped. I learned, that in life you're gonna make mistakes, and there is always a greater outcome and a lesson to be learned. So don't sweat the small stuff.

My mom is a great cook, so are all my aunts from my mother's side and so was my grandmother. I grew up hearing praises from relatives, friends and anyone that is lucky enough to eat my mothers delicious food. She has always been a housewife, she lives breaths and literally eats food. On a typical day you will find her doing groceries, cooking a meal, making snacks in the evening for us and at night watching her cooking show lineups. I think her devotion to cooking good food has rubbed off on me.

Having said that, my mother loves whenever I bake since she was never a baker. She requested for me to make her Penettone. In Canada, we get Penettone bread sold at Walmart stores but only during Christmas time. This is one recipe I do not enjoy making because it takes over a day to make and lots of patience, but the end result is delightful and my mother loves to have this with tea. I just love home made bakery.

Do you enjoy Penettone? Do you love to cook and bake?

XOXO
Moureen

iherb.com order and experience !!

Hello :)

It is a rainy day here in Toronto, and not to mention, its back to school day! sigh... What I miss the most about being in school is socializing with friends and making new friends and actually being in class...I'm strictly speaking about high school and grade school not uni. I def miss the younger days of my life.

Anyhoo, on to what this blog post is actually about. iherb.com

iherb.com is a great site to find a wide range of organic health and beauty supplies. They carry products that are hard to come by unless you have a health food store near you. After browsing the site for a while I decided to pick up couple of items...

www.iherb.com

Neem capsules $8.80 CDN
I recently traveled to Bangladesh and had clear flawless skin. As soon as I returned, my skin went haywire. I should mention, I have always suffered from mild to moderate acne. I wanted to try Neem capsules because while I was staying in Bangladesh, one of my cousin had mentioned Neem has helped her clear her acne. Himalaya Neem Herbal Supplement at iherb was affordable and I just wanted to try it to see for myself. I will post a review if I notice any changes with my skin. 

Real Techniques miracle complexion sponge $6.00 CDN (I used the sponge, hence why it looks a lil dirty.)

I wanted the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge as it's been called a dupe for the beauty blender. I refuse to spend $ 30.00 dollars on the beauty blender, anyone else out there with me on this?. The miracle sponge is dirt cheap! and I am pleased with it.

Shampoo Bar $4.55 CDN
Lastly I ordered the J.R Liggette's old Fashioned Shampoo bar, reason that I am really turned off my drugstore brand shampoos. Whether you realize it or not, 90% of drugstore brand shampoos i.e Pantene, Garnier Fructis, Loreal or what have you, all contain parabens and are loaded with toxins that strip the natural oils from your hair. I've once heard that all brands you see at your drugstore all perform the same. No one brand works better than another. They are all shipped from the same manufacturer company more or less, and are just packaged differently. I feel my hair is worst when I use drugstore shampoos. I came across a video from Farah Dukhai on youtube who spoke about this product working well for her so I had to try it out.

iherb.com shipping and experience 

After placing my order I started reading reviews of iherb.com, and I was frightened. Firstly, there were so many negative reviews and complaints. Mostly on shipping taking long, orders not arriving at all, and their customer service. I chose the least expensive method of shipping which was international airmail, 4 dollars. I am pleased to say my package arrived in expected time and without any issues whatsoever.

My order was placed August 14th, shipped August 16th and arrived today September 2nd. So it took roughly 2 weeks. My total for this order was $18.35 CDN and that's with a $5.00 automatic discount code they had at the time I ordered. Overall, they were all priced lower than what I would expect pay at a store.



I hope this helps you if you are looking into buying from iherb. Also hope this was a great back to school day for all you mom's dad's and students out there. Remember kids, stay in school!

XOXO 

Moureen

Sonia Kashuk 15th Anniversary limited edition brush Set | My honest Thoughts

Hey! Hello... Welcome !


For my first blog post, I thought I would share a first impression on these beautiful brushes.


Available only in Target USA & Canada and www.target.com

Sonia Kashuk 15th Anniversary brush Set

On to my review of the Sonia Kashuk 15th Anniversary Limited edition brush set.

These brushes are flying off the shelves over in the states. This is my first time purchasing Sonia Kashuk. Until only last year, Sonia Kashuk was not available in Canada since it is exclusive to Target.(We only had target in the last year in Toronto) I'm not sure why they have not branched out internationally considering they have been around 15 years!. Right, so After calling 2 different location, I hunted them down,drove up and picked one up for myself, to see what all the hype was all about.

Overall I would rate this one 4/5

Pros - Good value for money $39.99 CDN + Tax for 15 brushes That comes down to 2 dollars and some change for each brush

Pros - Visually appealing, deep plum with purple bristles and golden farrel and gold Sonia Kashuk engrave

pros - Good quality; performs well; for point of reference, I would compare these brushes to QUO or Sigma brushes.

Pros - They are soft... not the softest I own but very good for everyday use and/or back up


Cons - They shed a bit right off the box, and I am sure they will shed more once they get used and washed...

Cons - They stink. I washed them to try and see if the smell goes away only to find that the smell appears more pungent when brushes were wet. I know that some of the brush, well many of them are made from goat hair. So the smell is from that. Usually companies will use chemicals to remove the smell, but I guess Sonia Kashuk decided to skip this step.

Cons - this is a personal preference, but I think colored bristles just throws it off making them appear cheap. However I know some love it because it looks great in your vanity.


Would I recommend these brushes? why yes. If you are in need of a brush set, get them. If you want some back up brushes, get them. I have already seen them on Ebay selling for 60+ dollars!

Have you purchased these ? let me know your thoughts.