Diamond Candle Review - Hawaiian coconut

A candle? A ring? A ring in a candle? BLING and Bliss in one sitting!

I randomly ran across Diamond Candles a few months ago. Apparently they are all the rage. They come in a variety of scents. I have tried Coconut and Carnival. The carnival scent was a bit too sweet for my liking, but the Hawaiian coconut takes me back to Hawai'i! Here is the ring I got from the Carnival candy a month ago.

The only thing that could be improved is that you cannot order the candle knowing what size ring is inside. It would be nice to have a one or two size range to order from. I wont know if the ring fits my hand.

I ordered another and waited impatiently....

ITS HERE!! Wrapped extremely well!

Hawaiian Coconut in its full glory.

First lighting.. Smells WONDERFUL

After about an hour of burning and still far away from the gold foil containing the ring.

I couldnt wait so moved the wax around and dug the ring out!

SUCCESS!

 Unwrapped foil to see my ring in a bag

Once you get your ring out you can determine its your Diamond Ring Value here.

NOW For the fun stuff! You have a chance to win these rings!!  Fill out the rafflecopter below! :) This runs from 6/26/12 to 7/05/12 and 12:00pm.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review of the ZOKU popsicle maker

Summer is here (technically not literally)! What a perfect time for this post as the temperatures begin to rise. Most of us strive to stay cool, but what about healthy? We are examples to our children and we need to set these habits in motion early.

We avoid food dyes and High Fructose corn syrup and were looking for a way to make popsicles HEALTHY. I ran across the Zoku Popsicle Maker.

We use it a couple times a week for little B to make yogurt-sicles. We use Wallaby Yogurt most of the time because its a bit thinner and easier to pour into the mold. We also have a juicer and I have make fresh pineapple mango juice and watermelon lemon with a bit of kale juice... then froze that. However you cannot use carbonated liquids or liquids with sweetener in the mold.

This was by far one of the best purchases of the summer. Two yogurts will make 3 to 4 popsicles. Be careful to fill them up all the way to the fill line or they dont pop out of the mold.

Take a look.


We froze the container 24 hours and poured in our yogurt and added the sticks.

 Wait 12 minutes and took the orange knob and insert into the stick.

Twist knob until the popsicle pops and pull out.

Happy Monday

I was able to snuggle with a sweet two month old baby boy this weekend. He was so sweet and perfect. As I stood in the kitchen I felt myself instinctively start swaying. I started feeling a surge of hormones and remembering when my little B was born.

This got me thinking that I need to be even more aware and thankful. I cannot take a single day for granted.  I look at my daughter, who just turned 4, and wonder where the time has gone. As I edit the pictures each week I see her growing up before my eyes. I often flip back to her baby pictures and relish those sweet memories of baby cheeks, sleepless nights, and naps on my chest.

Today I am thankful for.
-Fun filled weekends with friends
-Quiet evenings at home playing Hello Kitty memory games
-Wine after 9pm
-A job
-Husband
-Kids

What are you thankful for TODAY?

Water Leaks And Our Crazy Remodel

So for the better part of the last 11 months we have been repairing ALOT of damage from water leaks.

Leak one - little B's bathroom. Her toilet overflowed instead of cycling for TWO hours while we were at a birthday party. Good think we didnt go shopping after the party!! This leak took out her closet, bathroom floor and hallway. It leaked through the a/c vents and ceiling. The a/c vents were right above my work laptop. The ceiling leak was above the dining table 5 feet away.

 About 3 weeks later
Leak two - 6am we hear a POP and went back to sleep after listening to see if it was our imagination. Turns out it was the garbage disposal short circuiting from the backed up sink that drained into the dishwasher. The plumber said we are lucky we didnt have a fire.

Leak three - 6pm the SAME DAY - Master toilet overflowed. I heard dripping noises so I ran upstairs to see what it was. Sure enough water EVERYWHERE. Luckily the water had stopped about 12" from our new flooring we were having installed.

After the second set of leaks we lived without a kitchen for 6 weeks

I washed dishes in this tub for 6 weeks. We had to get new cabinets and counters which took 4 weeks to order and another 1-2 weeks to install.

Its one thing to have a remodel and be able to plan for it. Its another thing to have a remodel happen to you and throw your life into living craziness. :)

Its been awhile since Ive blogged. We had MAJOR water damage to our house 11 months ago and honestly.. I just havent thought about this. I have so much on my plate with working full time, Husband traveling for work, and little B growing up so fast. She just turned FOUR! Oh where does the time go? We had a wonderful Hello Kitty blowout at a community rec center while letting the kids run wild for an hour. Now that summer is here, and things have died down a bit, I hope to be posting more.

Let me know what you would like to see! I can do craft projects, reviews, or just share things I love.

Cheers!! :)

Reboot #3

2 toilet overflows,a sink/dishwasher backup later, and a week in a hotel....WE ARE HOME.

We really have no kitchen to speak of since the last overflow took out the cabinets and flooring. FUN TIMES.

I bought Naked juice and only ate one meal a day during this fiasco. I am up about 3 pounds. Our scale may be off since it got flooded in the latest water damage.

Today Day 1 of reboot 3
Total weight loss since Reboot 1 = 10 pounds.
Had mango pear juice for breakfast and about ready to make some mean green... OH how I missed you!

Day 2
down .2 = 10.2 loss total
Yesterday was much tougher than all the other reboots. PMS and having no kitchen = CRAZY. I ate a bite of brownie, and a homemade small ham/cheese croissant from my daughters plate. Hoping today will be better.

Day 3
Down 1 pound - 11.2 loss total

Day 4
Down 1.3 pounds - 12.5 pounds total!!
Yesterday proved tough for me. I did have some carrots and grapes to try to ward off any food, but the Gluten free crackers kept calling my name. Luckily I came to my senses and drank some mean green after a couple.

Day 5
Had a huge salad with no nuts, dairy or dressing yesterday. felt the need to eat. Up 1 pound today, and my juicer wont work. A small plastic tab on the bottom of the pulp container snapped off, so off to the store to exchange.

Day 6/7
my scale shoes me up 5 pounds. Strange. Waiting for my new scale to get here from Amazon. I think its been acting up since our water damage. Will be interesting to see what the new scale says. I ate a salad out with the family yesterday. No dressing, dairy, nuts, cheese, etc. Just spinach, mushrooms, onions, etc.

Day 8
Still up 3.5 pounds from this weekend... total loss to date (according to the wonky scale) 9.5 pounds. Will report back in the morning with my loss according to my new scale that is supposed to get here today!

Day 9
down a total of 14 pounds! I am not sure if its the new scale or the old scale was really that wonky after the water damage! I havent been this weight in a few years. 9.5 pounds to go until goal weight! YEAH BABY!

Day 10
no weight loss. Could be the crackers I "had" to eat. PMS gets me everytime while juicing.

Day 11/12
no weight loss. I think its due to the drop in water that I tend to drink on the weekends. Im drinking a TON of green decaf today. I did cave and had 1/3 of an avacado.

day 13/14
No weight loss. It is most likely due to the fact that i am sick. My 3 year old germ factory got me sicks. Thanks sweetheart. I am not drinking the amount of juice and water I should be. Got myself up and to a restaurant and ordered a salad. I have no energy and I sound like a man man baby. UGH

Day 15
Going back on micronutrient foods for awhile. Bye Bye Reboot. I will still juice the majority of my food. I just cant get enough juice!!

Vacation and Reboot #2

We had a WONDERFUL vacation in Hawaii for a full 7 days. I am up 2.4 pounds. Not too bad. I tried to stick to the micro nutrient diet on vacation. I had coffee a couple times, but not every day like I used to. I am hoping the first 3 days of the 5-5-5 isnt as painful as the first round.

http://melanieandbeau.blogspot.com/2011/07/reboot.html

Day 1
Down 5 pounds total (after 2.4 pound gain of vacation)
Mostly lean green with spinach salad and roasted acorn squash for dinner from wwww.jointhereboot.com. Wish me luck!

Day 2 (starting upon wakeup)
Down 1.4 pounds (6 total since rebooting)
A little frustrated with this low number, but highly likely that its due to not drinking enough water since I totally forgot yesterday and not being prepared mentally. Stuck with mainly the mean green today after an pear fennel for breakfast and tea.

Day 3 upon wakeup
Down 1.5 pounds
YES!!! Drinking tons of water DOES help! ;) Made a pear/fennel/pineapple today for breakfast following a cup of decaf green tea with lemon. SO GOOD. I have realized my need for snacking on empty calories is gone, and I dont crave my daily morning coffee with milk and Torani syrup! The second reboot has been easier on my body this time around. My pants are loose so I can actually dry them in the dryer now! :-P.

Day 4 upon wakeup
down .2 pounds
I cracked and had a bite of hubbys dinner, a bite of daughers cookie, and 1/2 avacado last night. I drank a boatload of water and stayed true to the juicing until evening. Having done reboot before vacation, I find the second time around more difficult.

Day 5 upon wakeup
Down 1 pound (total of 9 pounds for both rounds)
I had a bit of avacado last night and some tomato. I was starving. I drank a ton of decaf green tea with lemon. Green tea is the only thing equivalent to water from what I read. Its a bit slow going on the weight loss a total of 16 days on the juice fast and only lost 9 pounds. 9 is better than nothing though. 14 pounds until goal weight!! YEAH! I need to kick up the exercise but its been difficult with working full time, a 3 year old, her classes and tantrums. I need to use the elliptical downstairs thats just screaming my name and get out on more walks as a family. **Its mid day and Im trying to drink less at "meal" time, and leave some for sipping when I feel hungry (like now). I am hoping that helps.

Day 6 upon wakeup
no weight loss. I think its due to PMS. Staying strong! Though I did eat some mushrooms and a veggie or two yesterday.

Day 7 upon wakeup
no weight loss (total weight loss 9 pounds)
I think it is still PMS. Looking on Fat sick and nearly deads facebook page for a screenshot of a juicebar menu. There was a juice on there for that.
I had a small revelation last night. My migraines have disappeared, as well as the ringing in my ears from the inner ear problem I have (Menieres). AMAZING!

Day 8 upon wake up
No weight loss
Frustrating, but I know its due to water retention. Feeling the need to chew something so I might gnaw on some celery today.

Day 9 upon wakeup
TWO pounds (11 pounds total)
I made a new juice instead of just drinking pear fennel for breakfast and mean green all day. I also had 1/2 acorn squash with mushrooms and onion for dinner. Whatever is was, im down 2 pounds!! My jeans no longer hurt! I am so excited. 12 pounds to go!!
Great video on self sabotage -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qmf8ewQ67Ig

Day 10 upon wakeup
.2 pounds down.
Well thats still a loss, so im going to be happy! 2 pounds to go until I see single digits to lose!! Until then, I will be happy with my loss of .2.

Day 11 upon wakeup
Up 1 pound (total loss 10 pounds)
I think its the few bites of mac and cheese I had. Made it from scratch for my husband and daughter. I knew better but still did it. I am kicking myself. I also didnt drink a ton of water yesterday. At least it wasnt 2 pounds. Back on track today! Ive drank 4 glasses of water and 2 juices. Breakfast was pear nectarine. Lunch was mean green. Off to get more decaf green tea with lemon!

Day 12 upon wakeup
Down 1.4 pounds (total loss - 11.4)
Lost the pound I gained! YES!! I am officially at my new low weight. I have 12 pounds to go! Just about half way there. I had a headache yesterday night. It had to be from not drinking enough water/green decaf tea with lemon. I had a mango, kiwi, pear, spinach juice this morning. SO good. The kiwi had an aftertaste which was awesome! Making a tomato, cilantro, lime, celery and bell pepper juice for lunch.. then green juice the rest of the day. *CHEERS*
_ Just donned on me that i havent had a breakout in about 3 weeks, and any flakiness in the scalp is gone.

Day 13, 14, 15
up 1 pound.
Yesterday I did not plan well while working a booth at a local fair for my daughters dance class. I cracked and had a few bites of rice/meat. ARGH!! I forgot my fruit! Tomorrow is a new day.

Day 16
no loss
Back on track and hopefully will see a move downward on the scale!

Day 17
Lost the pound I was up. Down 11 pounds total
Have a bit of a headache this morning, off to drink more water!

Day 18
Down .6 pounds (total 11.6)
I am so excited! 11 pounds to go!!! Forgot to drink alot of water yesterday, but back on track today. Doing a garage sale and its supposed to be 90 out! YEESH! I will hopefully sweat a pound off and will NOT eat the snacks. I have lost my cravings for any of the crap now. Its so nice.

Day 19
DOWN TWO POUNDS (total 13.6)
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!! I am SO Excited!! :) Drank a TON of water yesterday due to the 90 day and I hit a new low!

Day 20 - 27
Up three pounds (total lost 10.6)
Due to overflowed toilets in our house and living in a hotel for a week so far, I havent been able to juice. I am up 3 pounds but trying to focus on eating mostly fruits and veggies and buying naked juice to supplement until we can get back in our house. Once I am able to juice again (hopefully tomorrow) I will start Reboot #3.