Oh my lard
Aug. 29th, 2016 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Got an email from Birchbox today to ask me what my September box preferences are; I now have a lot more clarity on how the customization works. On a monthly basis, you get one of three choices:
1) Total surprise box - You don't know what any of the 5 samples are going to be, but they will tailor it based on your beauty profile.
2) Surprise + 1 box - You get to choose one sample from a selection they give you, and the other 4 will be based on your profile.
3) Know all 5 samples - They tell you what the 5 samples are.
I'm not too crazy about this month's "known" samples, so I'm going to go for the full-surprise box.
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I've done something probably crazy, considering how my first experience turned out, but I have 3 more paintings from Afremov coming. I don't know what they look like; it'll be of their choosing. All I know is that they are original paintings.
Here's my thought process: I clearly like his original work more than the recreations, and these were reasonably priced. I specified that I preferred landscapes and flowers over people and music. If I don't like them, I can return them at their cost. So I feel like there's very little risk involved; they clearly pride themselves on their customer service. The worst thing that would happen would be that I would have to get some unwieldy paintings mailed back; since FedEx should be able to pick up, I'm willing to see what comes of this venture.
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Football season is around the corner, and that means fantasy football is starting up again, too. I can't even remember how I did last season. I seem to recall that while I didn't win any of my leagues, I also wasn't too terrible. That could alllllll change this season.
Edit: Apparently I actually placed 3rd in one of my leagues! Well, that's exciting.
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OH LARDY, LARDY.
I have a lard issue. This weekendadelagia went with me to Chef Shop, a local artisan food shop, so that I could pick up some rendered Mangalitsa leaf lard. I'm subscribed to their newsletter, and the latest issue was all about pie baking (mmm). I've actually rendered my own leaf lard before, but it was a long process and it made my house smell like pork for days, everything I used to make it was greasy for a long time, etc. This lard was reasonably priced and high quality, so score!
There was some confusion with the front counter people about the lard -- which one it was, the size, etc. They asked if I was planning to bake that day, and I said no (the lard was frozen solid, so how could I?!), I paid, and we went on our merry way.
Well just now I got a call from the shop, very apologetic, saying that they had given me the wrong lard. They had given me just regular lard, not the Mangalitsa leaf lard, and hoped I hadn't baked my pies yet. I said that I hadn't (thank goodness). The plan now is for me to go pick up the right lard sometime this week, and they said I could keep the lard I had. (On the one hand, I was glad they said this, because for sanitary reasons alone, that should be the case. They would have no way of knowing if I'd kept it at the right temperature, etc., so if they'd taken it back to sell to someone else, I would feel really skeptical of them as a food store operator. On the other hand, I have zero use for regular lard, especially four pounds of it, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it. I feel bad just throwing it out, though.) Also, apparently, they have new pricing on the leaf lard, so I'm actually going to get a credit on my credit card for the difference in price. So, other than the pain of having to go to Seattle twice, it's worked out OK.
======
I forgot to mention in my LA post that I tried Lyft for the first time! I've added those details now, in case anyone's interested.
1) Total surprise box - You don't know what any of the 5 samples are going to be, but they will tailor it based on your beauty profile.
2) Surprise + 1 box - You get to choose one sample from a selection they give you, and the other 4 will be based on your profile.
3) Know all 5 samples - They tell you what the 5 samples are.
I'm not too crazy about this month's "known" samples, so I'm going to go for the full-surprise box.
======
I've done something probably crazy, considering how my first experience turned out, but I have 3 more paintings from Afremov coming. I don't know what they look like; it'll be of their choosing. All I know is that they are original paintings.
Here's my thought process: I clearly like his original work more than the recreations, and these were reasonably priced. I specified that I preferred landscapes and flowers over people and music. If I don't like them, I can return them at their cost. So I feel like there's very little risk involved; they clearly pride themselves on their customer service. The worst thing that would happen would be that I would have to get some unwieldy paintings mailed back; since FedEx should be able to pick up, I'm willing to see what comes of this venture.
======
Football season is around the corner, and that means fantasy football is starting up again, too. I can't even remember how I did last season. I seem to recall that while I didn't win any of my leagues, I also wasn't too terrible. That could alllllll change this season.
Edit: Apparently I actually placed 3rd in one of my leagues! Well, that's exciting.
======
OH LARDY, LARDY.
I have a lard issue. This weekend
adelagia went with me to Chef Shop, a local artisan food shop, so that I could pick up some rendered Mangalitsa leaf lard. I'm subscribed to their newsletter, and the latest issue was all about pie baking (mmm). I've actually rendered my own leaf lard before, but it was a long process and it made my house smell like pork for days, everything I used to make it was greasy for a long time, etc. This lard was reasonably priced and high quality, so score!There was some confusion with the front counter people about the lard -- which one it was, the size, etc. They asked if I was planning to bake that day, and I said no (the lard was frozen solid, so how could I?!), I paid, and we went on our merry way.
Well just now I got a call from the shop, very apologetic, saying that they had given me the wrong lard. They had given me just regular lard, not the Mangalitsa leaf lard, and hoped I hadn't baked my pies yet. I said that I hadn't (thank goodness). The plan now is for me to go pick up the right lard sometime this week, and they said I could keep the lard I had. (On the one hand, I was glad they said this, because for sanitary reasons alone, that should be the case. They would have no way of knowing if I'd kept it at the right temperature, etc., so if they'd taken it back to sell to someone else, I would feel really skeptical of them as a food store operator. On the other hand, I have zero use for regular lard, especially four pounds of it, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it. I feel bad just throwing it out, though.) Also, apparently, they have new pricing on the leaf lard, so I'm actually going to get a credit on my credit card for the difference in price. So, other than the pain of having to go to Seattle twice, it's worked out OK.
======
I forgot to mention in my LA post that I tried Lyft for the first time! I've added those details now, in case anyone's interested.
