Crio Bru: Chocolate rain or feel no pain?

Crio Bru Chocolate rain or feel no pain? As a bona fide chocoholic, I succumbed to the many ads showing up in my feed for this curous substance they called chocolate tea… with the brand name of Crio Bru. One thing that drew me especially - aside from the chocolate, of course — is the lo-calorie idea. I like the thought of filling up on a chocolatey liquid so I would not be so tempted to snack in the afternoons. So how did it work out? Deliciously! Crio Bru is easy to amoe - just pop a filter into your coffee maker, add some water, and brew. And it tastes like a liquid brownie — just not as filling. I tend to like strong coffee, and dark chocolate, so I probably put more of the chocolate "tea leaves" into the filter than most would. So my only quibble is that I go thruogh a Crio Bru bag pretty quickly, getting about 4-5 cups out of a full filter. So the cost of the bags for every day use could add up, if you like it strong like me. But for an occasional lo-cal chocolatey treat, Crio Bru is a delicious alternative to heavier beverages like milkshakes or protein drinks.

Color Wow Pop n Lock Finally Tamed My Frizzies

I'm loving the Color Wow Pop 'n' Lock serum! Just a little dab works for one styling. Here's a pic of my hair after blow drying with Pop n Lock:

You want to se how it looks without the serum? On a summer day...here it is in all its frizzy glory:

At only 20 bucks "pop," it's a great deal! You can buy it via my affiliate link below, if you want:

Why I Love These Game-Changing Comfortable, Stylish Shoes by Vivaia

I decided to take the leap and order a pair of low heeled mules by Vivaia, a company that advertises its shoes as comfortable and stylish at the same time. Boy do I love these shoes! The pair I got is a wondeful fuzzy fabric top, and a cushioned bottom with a low heel that gives me just enough extra height. They're casual, but dressy enough for work. I got the square toe style, which I recommend if you have issues with toe crowding, like I have since I got older, which can lead to bunions.

These particular mules are called the "Margot" style..you can also get them in a plain fabric and in different colors. Check for any discount codes or specials...as a first-time costomer, you'll often get a special break on price...or check sales at different times of the year such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. (They're normally $97, but I got them on sale for $79).

I'm starting with a couple pairs of Vivaia mules, because I've also had trouble with heels rubbing against the backs of my feet and causing blisters. But I plan to try some of their boots and closed-heel shoes too, and see if the comfort factor prevents that from happening. For now, I'm loving these fuzzy open-backed wonders!

How to Make Money While Growing Your Nest Egg with Acorns

Want to make money doing things you already do? And have that money automatically go into investments — without even thinking about it?

Set up an Acorns account, and you can make money with cash back from buying things you would anyway, and you can also set an amount to automatically go regularly into your investments.

To make money just by using the Acorns debit card, you just need to shop at Acorns’ partner businesses. (And even when you’re shopping at different businesses, you can put chunks of change away with “Round ups,” where Acorns will round up your total to the nearest dollar, and invest that extra amount in your account. A no-brainer!).

A good way to make money with Acorns partner businesses is to shop for things you were going to buy anyway, using your Acorns link to that store’s website.  You just need to navigate to the Acorns web site, and then click into the partner web site form there. Also make sure to use your acorns debit card as the payment method at checkout. 

Partner businesses include:

(I’ve put them in alphabetical order, below, for your convenience). 

1-800-Flowers 15%

Adidas, 4%

 Apple, 1.5%

Chevron, $.50 

Chewy, 5%

Expedia, 3.5%

Groupon, 2%

HelloFresh, $40

Hotels.com, 2%

Instacart, $2

Lowe’s , 1%

Lululemon, 2%

Macy’s, 1.5%

Nike, 3%

Old Navy, 2%

Petsmart, 2%

QVC, 4%

Sephora, 3%

Survey Junkie, $10

Ticketmaster, 1%

TurboTax, 8%

Walmart, 1%

What I suggest is to check out the list of all the Acorns partners. Then, if and when you need to make a purchase, you can check it out and be sure to buy via clicking a link from the list.

Above: Some of Acorns most popular shopping partners.

If you’re going to buy something with the Acorns partners, you need to first login to the Acorns site with your account, scroll down until you see the logos for the partner businesses, then click on the one you want to shop.

In my case, I bought cat litter and food, which is something I buy regularly anyway. Why not get some money back while doing so, especially if it will be invested?

Clicking on the round blue Chewy icon on the Acorns site, then, takes me to their web site. (You will need to create an account with each partner web site, if you haven’t already).  A “shop now” icon appears, and I click on that. 

Next, go to your settings on the site and put in your Acorns debit card as the payment method. Now your purchases will automatically earn you the credit.

For example, I spent $58.69  on the Chewy site, buying cat litter, wet cat food and dry cat treats, which I need anyway…and with the 2% back I earn $1.17 to my investment account.

Of course, the more you spend, the more you get back.  Let’s say you spend $200 at Macy’s on new clothes you needed. $200.00 worth of clothes will get you 3% back, or $6.00. It may not sound like a lot, but if you do this for all the purchases you make anyway, it adds up!

According to Acorns, customers have earned $20 million plus from these hundreds of brands.

In order to earn points from shopping on the with the partner brands, you just need to go to the Acorns site or app and tap the shop now button under earn, and the partner that you wish to shop with.

Note: Acorns charges a flat management fee of $3 - $5 per month, so if you put very little in, this may eat away at your account. But if you’re putting away even as little as $20 every couple weeks, this shouldn’t be an issue. 

If you want to take the plunge and start earning, I’d appreciate f you’d sign up with my affiliate link, below…you’ll get a free $5 investment:

Join me and you'll get a free $5 investment! As a perk of referring users, I can get a reward too. Learn more and see terms here. https://share.acorns.com/juliawgal?advocate.partner_share_id=1667679327053102767

 Now start earning!

End

When Beautiful People Kill Themselves: Supermodel Stella Tenant's Suicide and Vogue Magazine's Tribute to Her

 When Beautiful People Kill Themselves: Supermodel Stella Tenant's Suicide and Vogue Magazine's Tribute to Her

Suicide. If it isn’t one of the infamous seven dirty words, it sure seems like it is. It’s often absent from obituaries, conversations, people’s everyday chatter.

When I was leafing through my brand new copy of Vogue magazine, my gaze paused at a full-page “Tribute,” with a  photo of a beautiful tall woman in a fur coat and tweed skirt, and I saw it was to the supermodel Stella Tennant.  I had no idea Tennant had died.

I remembered Tennant from earlier years - the 90s, the early aughts, or thereabouts - an impossibly statuesque, thin, and beautiful model with sky-high cheekbones to die for and a sassy short brown haircut.

What I didn’t know was that Tennant had, just last December 2020, sadly, killed herself. Committed suicide. Etc. (One school of thought doesn’t like the word “committed” because it implies a crime).

As I read Hamish Bowles’s tender and anecdote-filled tribute to her, I learned she was actually real British nobility: she was the granddaughter of the 11th Duke of Devonshire and his wife, Deborah the Duchess of Devonshire (could a more alliterative and aristocratic name exist?).

Tennant may have been born into a lofty noble bloodline, but she was down to earth. Eventually she moved to a house in the Scottish Lowlands, according to Bowles, not far from the sheep farm where Stella had grown up — her parents, the second Baron Glenconner and Lady Emma Cavendish, the Duchess of D’s daughter, had eschewed London society for quiet farm life.

So what would make someone so beautiful, famous, presumably financially secure, with four beautiful children, want to end their life?

Well, this is the age-old question many people are left with. But if you read more closely, as I did, scouring the web for details, you can learn more about why. Tennant had apparently struggled with mental health issues for years, as have I. I cannot say what anyone else’s experience is, but depression is not for the faint of heart.  It can be a living, breathing Hell; a catwalk in Dante’s Inferno where you must kept strutting, exhausted, all day and night, with no end in sight.

She also apparently worried that, having turned 50, she was going to be considered too old to model. On top of that, she had recently gone through a divorce. Those things are stressful enough. Being isolated on an farm may not have helped. Ultimately only that person knows.

But, the point I’d like to make here is, I think we should, as a society, be able to say “suicide” is a cause of death just like cancer, heart attack, a car crash, or any other disease or misfortune. So often, it's simply not listed. No cause of death is listed.  That's the clue. 

And really, often with suicide, it’s the depression that kills. The person who takes their own life simply cannot take it anymore. They died from a disease called depression.

Unless you’ve lived it, I say, judge not. Tennant’s family did disclose her cause of death, but asked for privacy. That I can understand.

I’m probably not helping the latter cause, but I think the bigger cause is that society should not cringe and whisper the word “suicide,” but speak it out loud without shame,  so it can see the light — and maybe with seeing the light, it will get more attention and treatment than it has in the past.

Bowles’s tribute also focused on Tennant’s remarkable life, not her death. “Initially, Stella, a 23-year old art student when the “London Girls” shoot took place...” —  [where she was “discovered”] — “...was wary of fashion,” he wrote.

“I thought it was a big, shallow world, and I wasn’t sure if I really liked the look of it,” she had said.

She did of course go on to have a great modeling career.

But, “she didn’t care — of course, that was part of the appeal,” milliner Philip Treacy had said, according to Bowles.

“The truth is,” wrote Bowles, “Stella didn’t have to try: she not only possessed but she defined the indefinable It.”

So there you have it. People of all walks of life kill themselves if they’re in enough pain. The “It” girl. Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Robin Williams, that kid you saw around your neighborhood; somebody’s cousin/uncle/daughter.

Maybe if we hear more about it, it will be treated more like the public health crisis it is.

Acorns: What I Made in Two Years with the Acorns Investing App

What I Made in Two Years with the Acorns Investing App

I've found the Acorns app to be an easy, fun way to save and invest money.  It's not my only investment account, but it's the one that has me putting money away without thinking about it.  I'll tell you how I did with Acorns from about February 2019 to February 2021.  

But first, just to throw an extra incentive out there for you (and me), if you sign up for Acorns with my affiliate link: 

https://www.acorns.com/invite/JE4L58

...I'll pay you $50, as long as at least four people or more sign up.

Grow Small Change into Big Investments with Acorns

If you’ve ever done well in the stock market, you know how satisfying it can be to watch your money that is invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other, grow over time.  But what if you don’t have enough money to even open a brokerage account, and don’t know a lot about stocks or the market?  

Not to worry! That;s where the app called “Acorns” comes in -- which will automatically take small amounts of your money from your bank account at recurring intervals (mine is every two weeks; I believe that's the standard period) and invest it for you.  

How does it work? Well, after your initial sign-up, linking it to your bank account, it does things like “round-ups,” where if you make a purchase at a store, and spend $24.50, for example, Acorns will round it up to the nearest dollar and put that 50 cents in your investment account. And then, of course, it invests the money it grabs from your bank account regularly.

How Well Did I Do in Two Years?

I started with a very small amount, about $20 or so, back in March 2019.

As of this week, the week of February 8, 2021, that small start has grown to $2754.04. (Note: I did withdraw a small amount of cash at one point, so the amount I actually have is less than that, but that's the amount it grew to in that time).

Today I got a note that I was up in the market about $380.

ETFs

Acorns invests in what’s known as “ETFs,” or exchange-traded funds. But you can also set your portfolio to how safe or aggressive you want to be.

I have mine set at moderately aggressive.

Make "Free" Money When You Refer People 

Now, another fun way to make money with Acorns is to earn bucks by referring people to them. 

Every so often they will email you with an offer like “Make $400 if you get 4 of your friends to invest with us.” (See image above).

You can then click on that link in that email, and it will give you another link you can use to email someone, post on a blog (like I’m doing), tweet, etc. 

We all know there are more than enough ways to “share” things these days, with social media!

They also have a deal where you can get $5 for any friend or person you direct to them who deposits $5 themselves.

So, that's my review of the Acorns app. Two thumbs up! ;) 

Thanks for reading. Now go grab that free money! :) 

Julia 

Kin Euphorics "High Rhode" Drink Review: Will It Make You Mellow and Happy, or Will It Just Taste Crappy?

 

I got a lot of online ads for this funky new non-alcoholic beverage, or rather line of beverages, called "Kin Euphorics."  Since I'm always noodling about for a new product to review, I said "what the hey" and ordered not only "High Rhode," but also "Dream Light."

I'll be reviewing "High Rhode" here.

First, it does come in nice packaging...a bright yellow box. There was even a free little wrapped gift, which I'll show in the "Dream Light" review.

The beverage says on the front of the bottle, "Lifted Mind, Relaxed Body, Kindred Spirit."

I took the drink around 4 p.m., which, granted, is not happy hour, but I wanted to see how it affected me before happy hour.  Also granted, I was alone and in my studio -- not with a bunch of people -- well, we can't be with a bunch of people these days anyway -- but next time I'd like to try it with a few close friends and see if the experience is different.

I liked the light taste, which is not very sweet but more on the dry side, but I mixed it with a non-flavored plain seltzer water.  If you wanted something sweeter, you could mix it with tonic water or diet tonic water, say.

I did the suggested 2 oz. serving size, and added enough seltzer to make a drink of about 5 oz. 

I felt a little bit mellower after about 15 - 20 minutes. 

However, I was not socializing with other people at the time but working in my studio. So I'm not sure if the drink would have affected me a different way if with other people.

I put the suggested serving size, 2 oz., in a glass with ice and added some seltzer water. I personally liked the taste of this purple-colored beverage, but if you don't like bitter tastes, you may want to mix it with something like a sour mix or something sweet. 

One of the ingredients is "bitter orange extract." so it's not surprising it had a slightly bitter taste,  Another ingredient is orange peel extract, which should add something nice and fresh to the flavor; and also GABA (Gama-Aminobutyric Acid). 

So, how else did I feel while drinking it?  I felt pleasant, and I don't know if it was a placebo effect or not, but as I said, I felt a little mellower.  However, I would not say it has anywhere near the mellowing effect on me as a glass of wine.

I did also feel a mild tingling in the left side of my brain...however, I cannot say you will feel the same thing. It should be noted that I take a couple of medications; I don't know if this is something that would affect the, well, effect. (Maybe I'll go into my medications in my next review, of the sleepy Kin beverage, or "may delete later," as they say on the interwebs). ;) 

Again, I would like to try this drink with other people, as well, to see if it affects me differently; if socializing has any effect.

All in all, it has a pleasant taste, in my humble opinion, though again if you don't like bitter, you may want to add mixers accordingly.  

I am giving it a four out of five stars review. After I consume it with friends, I'll do a separate review and average the two numbers. ;)

I will add that the cost is a wee steep: it cost me $33.15 (marked down from $39 on the invoice) with free shipping. That's for a bottle of about 10 oz.  The gift with purchase, which I see now on the statement, is actually "edible glitter" -- hmmm...that may be a whole blog post in itself -- is also free.

So, there you have it...if you're curious about an alcohol-free alternative and it won't break your budget, I'd check it out.

Julia Reviews: Kin Euphorics "High Rhode" beverage: **** our of ***** (4 out of 5) Stars.