Why I've Decided to Live Digitally

I, like many of my generation, am lost without technology.  Let's face it without the almighty grip of social media some of us may never find a way to interact with other human beings.  I've been told I'm quite social and that in all honesty I have no reason to be as lonely as I often am, however here is where it all stems from.  I am an extrovert when there is a stage, however I tire easily of people and there is a longing to return to a world of pics and keystrokes.  I would much rather spend a night in a café sipping coffee and tapping out a piece on how we as humans are slowly coding ourselves into the internet.

Everything is there for you on the web.  Everything can embrace or delete you.  This fascinates me.  In fact I'm more interested in people I don't know then the ones I sit with in real life sometimes.  The not knowing gives you a twist of intrigue, not seeing gives you that forth wall so that you can simply be whomever you want.  In short your short comings are nothing and you are free to roam about being the person you truly desire to be.

There is someone for everyone on the net.  We are magic here.  Every corner offers it's nooks and crannies so that you are never really alone.  It's a sense of calm to think that someone will "see" the real you, and even better that they will up vote or press like.  This validates your precious sense of self, not in a rude sarcastic way... but in a real human sort of way.  Someone took the time to read a thought and agree with it.  That's actually really cool... We as a species don't do that in face to face conversations.  You can go out on a date and talk for hours about life and get a mild sense that this person agrees with you, but online you can condense it to a single statement and have your point appreciated by several people in a matter of seconds.  To me it's the same freaking sensation.  That being said, I'd rather live in the world where I get to make up who I am instead of people who I don't care about attempting to define me.  Digital life is freedom... It's anonymity... It's a way to protect myself from people who look down on me... It's a life that I design.

Sparrow's Chuncky Veggie Dip

Last night I made something amazing, so amazing that I felt it necessary to share it with you today.  After a tasty trip to my local Grower’s Direct, if you’ve never been I suggest you look into it; I had a refrigerator full of fresh veggies that were just begging to be munched on, but what to eat first?   In truth they all looked amazing and it was all I could do to keep from eating it all on my way out of the store, so now that I was home I wanted it all!  I craved fresh and crunch, also I really just wanted to chop something, and thus “Sparrow’s chunky veggie relish salsa thingy” was born!

So what’s in it?  Well here’s what you’ll need:

1. ¼ a white onion
2. Half a large cucumber
3. 1 medium vine ripe tomato
4. 4-5 radishes
5. A few dashes of lemon juice

Now please take out your aggression by chopping the crap out of each tasty morsel!  I took the time to get out my issues with my credit card bill being due and the fact that it was going to be Monday in a few hours.

Next place all of these in a container with a lid.  I chose our “Mr Lid” tall container because the lid is built on.  Amazing invention, horrible company… That’s a stink for another day…  Placing a dash or several into the container you may now close and shake.  Shake with the vigor of a thousand suns!

Once you have shaken the life out of that container, open your bag of tortilla chips, I recommend the Have’a Chip corn chips because the salt in the soy treatment give it a real pop!  Scoop and enjoy!  

Dirty Dogz: A Great Take on an Old Favorite

As I venture out into the world in search of new fun and exciting activities I found myself once again at the last Arcade on the Planet for another night of 80’s vintage arcade play and a little surprise that was the Dirty Dogz Hot Dog cart.  Relatively new to the cart game opening March of this year, they’ve created a bit of a stir in Long Beach.  I’m not one who really likes hot dogs, it’s a texture thing, but I was really surprised by tasty selection.

When we walked up I was a bit confused due to the simple signage and lack of posted menus but was greeted quickly with a clear lay out and vast select ion via laminated menu.  Being as I’m near sighted I was really happy to see this because I hate not knowing what I want and then being pressured to make a snap decision.  I’m a Libra weigh like to weigh the options.

Speaking of options, this cart doesn’t skimp on selection with several options from chili to a garden option.  Starting with the “dog” itself offering selections like a 100% beef dog to a polish sausage, you immediately feel like you are in control of your hot dog destiny!  After that they have quite a few different options as far as put together combinations some even involving everything from buffalo sauce to chopped cucumbers.  However, if you cannot find one that you’d fancy, no worries for they have the option of building your own.

So for the two of us, that is adorable Adam and I, we settled on trying each side of the spectrum.  First mine, I selected the garden dog with a polish sausage, no pepperchinies or feta cheese.  What I received was a polish sausage covered in cucumbers, diced tomatoes, onions and red wine vinaigrette on a king’s Hawaiian roll.  To say that it was a glorious dog, from someone who generally hates dogs is no easy feat, but I’ll be damned… it was good!  What I was most impressed with was the amount of fresh toppings, they make sure you get what you pay for and in today’s food truck world that’s nearly nonexistent.  The only draw is the vinaigrette soaked the roll so that it was soggy and didn’t hold up under the weight.  Perhaps if the roll had been toasted, it would have held together a tad better, not complaining… more of suggesting.

Adam settled on the “Dirtier Dog” which was a chili cheese dog with Fritos chips crumpled on top.  It’s a classic staple in the hot dog world.  Not really much to say , it was a well-cooked dog with a lovely element of crunch.  Once again however, the soft bun had little support and it seemed soggy and cold at the end.

In the end, I have to say it was a pleasure doing business with them.  As for the value, for the two dogs we paid 10 and a 2 buck tip which was more than fair.  The speed of service was proof enough that this outfit is going places, and I hope to see them again real soon.

Ipsy Vol. 5

It’s been a long month and that mean’s I’ve had more than enough time to try out the products sent to me in the “Fresh Picks” Ipsy bag.  May is the beginning of summer is right around the corner which translates to the Ipsy team as the season of skin care apparently as that was the ultimate theme of this bag.  Funny how the month following a full makeup bag they give us a bag devoted to taking it all off.  To say that I was kind of let down by ipsy this month was a bit of an understatement, in truth my love of this company took an arrow to the knee.  I understand that its sample based but they insist on sending me things that in all reality mean very little to me no matter how many times I retake the survey, at this rate I may switch to birch box next year.  To help you understand let me dissect what I got this month.

First out of the bag was yet another exfoliator scrub.  This month I received the derma e microdermabrasion scrub.   When I first opened the scrub I got all kinds of excited because it had the wonderful scent of lemon but as I pulled it closer the scent turned sour and over powering.  Oh my god, who in their right mind wants to scrub their face with sour lemons?!  As for the scrub itself, for a micro scrub the beads were pretty macro and the texture was so thick on my face that it made me long for the scrub they had sent me previously!  Once it was removed I saw the harsh truth, it had done nothing at all.  Nothing, except make my skin red and patchy… This was a onetime use item… get it away!

After that fiasco I pulled out the “Hey honey” take it off peel mask.  This was a tiny sample with instructions to go online for instructions.  Okay I was already pissed off at that point.  Then I read that it takes like 15 min and I have to moisturize before and after?!  Aint nobody got time for that!  As for the results, getting the damn mask was a pain in the butt, but I did it and to my surprise, after all that waiting the results were far from amazing.  Ugh… Next!

Next out of the bag was the Eva NYC Therapy Session hair mask.  This is probably the only product that I actually liked, even if it was remotely.  It’s no secret that I have been looking for ways to revitalize my hair and condition the ends.  This seemed to at least awaken the dream of moister and for that I’m grateful, but I just can’t see myself using it very often.

Then it was time for a product greasier than the name of the company it was made by, ladies and gents, the Jersey Shore Sun companies “Sans Tan.”  Oh my god, there is not even words to describe the putrid smell that came from the tube.  Fighting the smell is the oily finish that it leaves… Is that why you sent me all the exfoliation garbage?!

There was some makeup though, in the form of an eye shadow duo by Pacifica.  It was a nice neutral color in a soft brown and white combo but, in true Ipsy fashion, they sent the matte girl a shimmer.  Wow Ipsy.  So I did go ahead and try these anyway and they do not stay well at all.  The color was gone within an hour and I was left with a betrayed feeling as it took forever just to get them to make a proper look.  Yeah, my 4 year old niece will love them. 

In short the best part of this bag was the bag itself.  While the insides where crummy the bag was a wonderful canvas which has become a keeper of essentials in my purse.  So I guess, thanks for the tampon bag ipsy…  

The Nom Box: #7

It’s Graze Box time!  Or I should say it was last week, I’m a little behind so please forgive me for not telling you about the delicious box that this company knocked out of the park for me.  I’ve grown used to having at least one cube that I end up throwing out after a slight nibble, so to have an entire box of snacks that were not only more healthy than my than my preferred method of snacking, that usually is contained in packaging with extra artificial color and flavoring, to have it also taste better was such a relief.

This time they really went with more of the mix idea overall with 3 out of 4 cubes being various seeds and nuts, but they also included my favorite snack of all a flapjack.  There is truly something magical soft and chewy rolled oat bars.  This week was the summer berry flapjack which was the traditional flapjack but with the added pop of berry infused cranberries.  As soon as I read cranberry I kind of got upset because the cranberry has such a strong flavor already, with a really harsh zing.  These cranberries, however, were seriously pumped with a massive flavor of strawberry and raspberry.  It was a perfect pop of freshness when compared to the warming flavor of the oats.  Please feel free to keep those flapjacks coming!

Next up was the pear tartin, a combination of pear, raspberry, cranberries, yogurt coated seeds and almonds.  The real hero in this mix were the seeds that carried the tart flavors of the berry while fighting the blandness of the almonds, proving that it’s not about size but more about flavor.  The surprise had to be the pear, despite the chewy soft texture it still managed to be flavorful.  There is just something about dehydrated fruit that just doesn’t gel with me.

Then there was the savory member of the bunch, the Brooklyn Bites.  The mix was composed of poppy seed pretzels, cheese cashews and roasted pumpkin seeds.  After all of the sweetness in the box it was nice to have something cut through the sugar, unfortunately what this mix needed was salt.  Graze box is trying to be healthy and I respect that, but damn it sometimes you just want salt.  Now as for what it did have, the poppy seed pretzels were well done, but I have no idea what the poppy actually did for the flavor.  There wasn’t really much different to a plain pretzel, still perhaps my pallet needs more sophistication…  Now the cheese cashews where definitely not lacking in flavor, but the cashews have a naturally sweet kind of finish which seemed to combat the hints of cheddar, think sweetened stale Cheetos.  The pumpkin seeds where the nice strong finisher in the mix, but that’s probably because they weren’t over dressed with failed flavors.

The last cube was the apple crumble.  This mix was more semi soft and chewy apples, raisins (because every freaking mix needs them), and honey cinnamon almonds.  Now there is no love loss at all with the apples, for god sake the texture still baffles me.  The really confusing part was the almonds.  They were thickly coated in honey and then dusted with just a touch of cinnamon, which generally sounds amazing but then you go to eat it and it’s a chewy sticky mess in your mouth.  Kind of a letdown, but there has been a lot worse.


Through it all, still a stellar selection of snacks that delighted me.  I can only hope that the great team at Graze box can keep up the great work.

In the Mix: A Trail Mix Review

While expanding my tea tasting I've also been busy expanding my desired snack of choice, trail mix!  Sadly my attempts to quell the sirens call of this truly spectacular mistress have yet to prove productive as I actively sell my soul for a bag of mixed treats weekly.  Is there perhaps a correlation between trail mix and crack I don know about?

Anyway this week I stumbled upon yet another archer farms mix, between the cartwheel app, the mobile coupons, my shop kick and the red card… I spend a lot of time at Target.  This time the mix of choice was a tad less healthy than last times “hand full of everything” as I decided to go with the “Black and White.”

The black and white consists of peanuts and raisins with chocolate and yogurt flavored coating.  Basically, there is nothing overtly healthy about this mix unless you are comparing it to a snickers bar.  It is delicious, and it ought to be, because it’s a mix of goobers and raisinettes.  It actually made me feel guilty eating it.

I’m going to put this in the party mix category because the melt factor is off the charts and that makes it unpack able during warmer climates.  I can however see it replacing candy snacks in a home that is used to sugary treats in an attempt to scale down.  Much on trail mix lovers… Munch on!  

The Tea Diary: Box #5

This time on “The Diary” I decided to go with a black tea blend from Twinings Classic collection called Irish Breakfast. I’ve never had tea from this company so I was a tad apprehensive to buy a full box of a tea I knew nothing about. Still how was I going to get a feel for what I like if I didn’t try it? Sometimes you have to go with that warm feeling in your gut.

Right out of the box, as it were, the bags are individually wrapped and that’s huge with me. I love wrappers because it allows me to throw a bag in a purse just in case… yeah I’m one of those. After opening the package I totally understood why. Irish tea is apparently synonymous with peete moss, or at least the smell of it. Ah the aroma of alfalfa.

Letting that first cup steep the cynic in me was steaming with doubt, and my office smelled like a cottage. Pros and cons in the tea world I suppose, but with the first sip it was clear the pros vastly out weighed the cons. Despite it’s over baring smell the taste was light but warming. The small bites of black tea seemed to mellow with a beautiful balanced finish. There wasn’t really a strong note, more of a soft hum through out the body of this brew.

Overall I approve of the Twinings brand, it’s a strong brew that doesn’t over power the pallet. In addition the pricing was modest and the added bonus of the packaging made it a strong contender.