It Started with a Journal

I'm in the middle of my second fantasy football draft, and I'm feeling OK about it. Last night, T. and I went to BJ's to do the draft for the league we're both in, which was fun, except also not because I hate hogging a table at a restaurant for hours, and BJ's was way busier than I thought it would be on a Tuesday night. >< I did/do not feel so good about that draft. I dunno, it's not like I actually have a great sense for these things, but mentally I don't feel all that great about the players I got, maybe because there isn't a standout superstar that I feel excited to have gotten. Not that superstars never disappoint, but they sure make you feel good about having them! It was nice to have had you last year, Odell Beckham Jr. *sob*

Anyhow, I'm feeling okay about tonight's draft. The guys in this league seem really fun, so I like the league more, which is weird because I don't know them, and I only got into the league because T.'s friend, who runs the other league, knows this guy, who is also in the other league, and last year he needed more players. T. doesn't even know him! LOL. Also, I like the Yahoo interface/FF experience much more than the ESPN one, especially their summaries of the matches. Last year, Yahoo predicted that I would finish first in the league; I ended up finishing third. We'll see what it says about my draft this year!

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I've now used all the items in my first Birchbox and I remain a fan. Although, I'm a little confused about whether that was just my first box separate from the monthly box (I ended up subscribing for a year), because I got a notice today that my box had shipped, but I was like... I already got my box though. So...? Very odd. Anyway, ( my verdict on the products! )

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My Gravity Falls Journal 3 has arrived! I wish it were shorter and fatter, like the one Dipper uses on the show, and I wish it didn't say "Gravity Falls" on the front (does DIPPER'S say that? THEN OURS SHOULDN'T EITHER), but otherwise it seems pretty awesome and true to the real thing. :D

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I'm really anxious to make my first batch of soap, but I still haven't gotten the lye, so can't do anything until it arrives (ETA: Monday). :/ Meanwhile I'm poring over books and watching YouTube vids. I haven't made a single batch of soap yet, but I've done so much research that I feel like I already know more than some of the amateurs who have posted soap-making vids on YT. :)) This one woman bemoaned how soap ash had ruined her colors, and I'm like, "Duh, you could have easily prevented that by spritzing on a 91% rubbing alcohol solution after molding the soap." Also, given how much the colors faded, she probably used some coloring mediums that were light sensitive.

( Meanwhile, I bought this mold to make little specialty soaps with. Isn't it cute?! )

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My nail art templates arrived! They came all the way from Singapore, which is why they took so long. But there was a problem: I ordered 13 plates and they only sent 12. I either wanted a refund for the missing plate or for it to be sent out; to my surprise they chose to ship it to me. I can't see how they could possibly make any money doing that, but I think that about a lot of eBay businesses.

Anyway, the templates are really cute and I'm glad I got them. I even got a Halloween-specific one that I can't wait to use once we get into October!

I am not, however, thrilled with my first attempt. :( Has nothing to do with the templates, or the stamper, both of which seem great. I chose the wrong color to stamp with, unfortunately. Or rather, it was the wrong texture. I thought it was going to be a thick nail polish, but it wasn't... It looks more like I drew with marker on my nails than looking like a really nice paint job. ><

I love watching nail stamping ideas on YouTube... people are so creative! That reminds me, I need to get a really opaque black polish.

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 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.

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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.