My May box arrived today, and though it was a far cry from last month’s Mystery Box, it was still fun to dig into. This is the second (I think) in my 6-month subscription. BUT I have a lot more coming, since I recently won a contest on their Facebook page for a 1-year subscription. Woo!

Okay, onto the review…

The box.

First look… The box inside a box.

The box, unveiled.

Second look… Pretty flowers and dreaded foil packet samples. Boo.

“Nap time, nap time. Time for sleep, time for sleep.”

Dream Water in Snoozeberry – I guess this is the opposite of an energy drink? I’ve never had a Red Bull, or anything along those lines, so I’m kinda unsure about taking these. I DO have trouble sleeping, so I spose it wouldn’t hurt to try it out on one of those nights that I find myself staring at the ceiling fan at 2am.

For yo’ dishes.

Ecover Automatic Dishwasher Tablets (2) – With two babies, we go through a LOT of dishes/bottles. These eco-friendly dishwasher tabs will definitely get put to use. Only thing about this that kinda bugs me is that it says “Free Sample” right on the package. Sorta sucks the fun out of it, being that I paid for the box/samples I received. Ah well.

“Snacky-snack-snack! Snack-snack!”

Graw Bar Original – This looks tasty. All natural/raw/gluten-free food bar. Snacks are usually my favorite part of these boxes. Sadly, this month was lacking in that department.

Tiny chocolate, boring drink mix.

Sacred Chocolate White Passion – This sounds like a title of a porno, but it was actually a piece of chocolate. A teeny, tiny heart-shaped one. It was delicious, and I want more. What a tease.

Ultima Replenisher Supplement Powder – Again, I don’t really use supplement drink-type things, so I’m not too excited about this. Though I did just look at the back of the package & it says you can drink it with hot water. It has a ton of Vitamin C, so maybe I’ll drink it like a hot tea when I’m on the verge of a cold. I dunno.

Foil packets. Meh.

Yes to Cucumbers Natural Sunscreen – I’m looking to start using more natural skin/body products, so I was happy to see this in the box. However, the size of the sample is pretty weak.

Veria ID Innerdosha Shampoo & Conditioner – Again, foil packets suck. I don’t even get excited when I get foil packet samples in the mail for FREE. So yeah, I’ll use these, but not too thrilled to get them.

Natural toothpaste & butter cream salve… In foil packets.

Earthpaste Amazingly Natural Toothpaste (2 packets) – I was excited to hear that I was getting natural toothpaste in this month’s box… Until (you guessed it!) I saw that they were in the form of foil packets. Ughhhh. At least there’s 2 of them (peppermint & cinnamon). The package says that they’re “safe to eat”, so if teeth-brushing isn’t your thing, eat away!

Suki Body Butter Cream Salve – This is scented with organic lavender extract & organic cocoa butter. Sounds nice. I seem to be getting lots of salves/moisturizers in boxes lately. More snacks, please!

Fennel pollen & “exotic” tea.

Pollen Ranch Fennel Pollen – I could smell this stuff as soon as I opened the box. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s pleasant. Apparently this is used as a seasoning. There’s a recipe for pork stapled to it, which doesn’t make much sense for a vegan box, but what can ya do. There was already a lot of hoopla over it on Facebook, so I’m kinda over it now. The spice(?) itself is vegan, so whatever.

Bija Lemon Ginger Echinacea Tea – I’m a fan of tea and an even bigger fan of ginger, so this gets a thumbs up. It’s also organic/caffeine-free. Nice.

Filter thingy.

GAC (Granular Activated Carbon) Sports Bottle Water Filter – Eh. I use my Brita pitcher to filter my water. I guess this is more for people “on the go” who fill their sports bottles with tap water. If I were someone “on the go”, I’d just fill it with my Brita pitcher water. So… yeah.

zzzzzzzz

Herbamare Original Seasoning – Organic sea salt infused with organic herbs & veggies. I rarely use salt, so I’m not too excited about this one.

The last 2 things were just offers on business cards. Not sure why I bothered including them in the photos. But there they are.

Conscious Box also included a little blue ticket that will be used in some Facebook giveaways in a few days. Hopefully the prizes will be snacks.

Disclosure: I purchased this box with my own money. I was not reimbursed by Conscious Box in any way. All opinions are entirely my own.

Mike drew this for me for Mother’s Day. (Missing faces are kind of his thing.) Creepy, but sweet.

It’s Mother’s Day. And for the first time, it’s my day.

Although I’ve held the title for more than 9 months now, it still seems so hard to believe sometimes. That I’m a mom. A mother. I have children. All of those “Yo mamma” jokes are about me now.

As I’ve mentioned before, growing up I was always so terrified of having kids. I had never been a “baby person”. I just didn’t see the appeal. Everything babies did made me gag. All that drooling, spitting up, pooping… No thanks. I didn’t want any part of it.

Yet here I am. A mother — of twins no less — and enjoying the hell out of it.

Sure, there are days that really test my patience. Days where I wish I could just stay in bed and let the girls fend for themselves. Hell, I don’t exactly love getting spit up on. Or changing poop-filled diapers. Or getting sneezed on by someone with a mouth full of pureed peas (totally happened the other day). Yet despite the unpleasant messes it brings, motherhood has been an amazing experience so far.

Looking at those little faces and knowing that I made them… That they came from my body and here they are now… these little people, laughing and playing. It’s beyond incredible.

I feel so lucky to have been given this gift of motherhood. As sappy as that sounds, I truly mean it from the bottom of my heart. It really is a gift, and I hope that I always embrace it — split pea sneezes and all.

This is a new subscription for me, so I was super pumped to see what was inside. The boxes are $15/month (shipping included) and contain “samples of natural, organic, green, Eco-friendly and vegan products to your door in attractive earth friendly packaging”. Yay!

They sounded a lot like Conscious Box to me, so I was curious how the two would compare. (You can see my review of my last Conscious Box [the April Mystery box] here.)

So much gold!

What I saw when I opened the box — it matched my dress! Neat.

Goodies!

My first real “look”. I was pleasantly surprised with how much stuff was packed inside the box. Definitely a good sign.

A… shoe?

I’m not a fan of heels, but I suppose this is more of a flat. Zing! Aaaanywhoo… This here is one of those paper seed dealies that you plant and (supposedly) watch purty flowers grow. Cute, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Poppy’s powder.

Poppy’s Natural All Purpose Cleaning Powder Whenever I see “Poppy” I think of that episode of Seinfeld where Poppy pees on Jerry’s couch. Perhaps if Jerry had some of this cleaning powder… Ahem… So I’m actually kind of excited about this product. It smells minty and I’ve been looking for something “greener” to clean the bathroom sinks with. This may just be exactly what I need. Woohoo! Thanks Poppy!

mmm… chocolate.

Health Warrior Chia Bar Chocolate? Peanut butter? VEGAN? I’m sold.

mmm… more choco—soap?

Valenti Organics Dark Raw Chocolate Bar Soap Totally thought this was another edible treat at first. But nope. Soap. It definitely smells chocolate-y, and there’s even a chocolate chip poking out of the side of the thing. I’m just not so sure about using it to wash with. We’ll see.

Yep, lotion.

Be Natural Organics Aloe Leaf Lotion No subscription box is complete without a sample of lotion. This is that sample. I do appreciate the pretty little bag it came in though.

Stuff for yo’ face.

Aletheia Skin Care Products A teeny pot of exfoliant & a tube of tea tree face wash. I already have a face wash that I use religiously, but I suppose I could give these a whirl.

They really want me to exfoliate.

7th Heaven Moroccan Clay Exfoliating Mask & Bee Organic Body Butter I haven’t used a facial mask since high school, so it’ll be fun to try one out again. Plus this one is all natural/organic. Gnarly, dude. The body butter suggests using it on cracked heels. Heck. Yes. I have some seriously rough heels, so I hope this stuff does the trick.

A little something for the kiddos.

Circle of Friends Chocolate-scented Shampoo & Melon-scented Conditioner A weird combo, but I guess kids wouldn’t mind. Of course, my girls are only 9 months and VERY lacking in the hair department, so hopefully these don’t expire(?) before they have a use for ‘em.

So that’s my first Daily Dose of Green box! Not bad for $15 (actually, I snagged a promo code & got mine for $10). I like that they sent such a nice variety of products and that most of them will get used. I also really like that they send you a profile to fill out to help them choose products that will better suit you and your family (Do you have kids? Own a pet?). Oh, and major points for the products being vegan. Saves me a lot of label reading.

Want to check out Daily Dose of Green for yourself? Click my handy little referral link below!

Disclosure: I purchased this box on my own. I was not paid to review it. All opinions are entirely my own. Post includes affiliate links.

In early April, I (er, my babies) won a free month’s subscription for coming in 4th in Stork Stack’s “Cutest Baby” contest on Facebook. Now, I’d like to think that we won based solely on the irresistible cuteness of my kiddos, but that totally wasn’t the case. I could have submitted a photo of my left pinkie toe & still came in 4th. The truth is, it was all just a matter of which moms could bug the crap out of their Facebook friends the most. The moms that mercilessly begged for votes on a daily basis, to the ire of their followers, were the ones who came out on top. Trust me, I (and my Facebook friends) know this firsthand. I am freakin’ RELENTLESS.

So with that said, here’s my review!

What I saw upon opening the box. It’s Stork Stack’s 1-year anniversary! Par-tay!

The goods are unveiled! Ooooh!

Books! Little teeny ones!

Little Learners Baby’s First Stroller Books* The first item I pulled out of the box was this cute set of stroller books. They have a built-in strip of Velcro that you can loop around your stroller (or anywhere else you’d like to hang a book… NO not THERE, don’t be gross!). The books are pretty sturdy and the illustrations are super cute.

Turtles!

See? Super cute!

Why can’t you be a bunny?

Two-Dees Cat by North American Bear Co. Next up was this orange cat from North American Bear Co. I had read other reviews that featured a pink bunny, so I was kind of hoping for that one. I’m not the biggest fan of cats, but eh, it’s soft and I’m sure the girls will like it. I mean, this box IS for them and all… Oh, and I looked it up on the company’s website and it sells for $16.00. Kinda pricey, so it MUST be good, right?

mmm… Paint!

Wee Can Too Veggie Baby Finger Paint* This looks like a fun product… Edible finger paint! Fruit & veggie powders that turn into “paint” when you add water. Of course I like that it says “vegan” right on the label. Major points for that one. I think I’m going to save this for the summer. It’ll be interesting to see what the girls think of it.

What do we have here? Oh, it’s shapes on a sphere.

Rubbabu Foam Ball Yep, it’s a ball. An orange, rubber (foam?) ball. With a velvet-y coating. Sorry, I can’t muster up much enthusiasm for a ball. Perhaps the girls can?

This one’s “Just for mom”. Says so right on the bottle.

Susan Brown’s Baby Naturals Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer* A little something for the mama. It smells nice and promises to moisturize. Also states that it’s not tested on animals and doesn’t contain any animal ingredients. Works for me.

More for mama!

Deep Steep Moisture Stick I’ve never heard of a “moisture stick”, but I’ll give it a go. I have some dry spots that could use a little moisture. (I’m talking about my feet, get your minds outta the gutter already! Geez.)

A tiger and a Winkie.

Stephen Joseph Tiger Bank & “Wee Willie Winkie” from Child’s Play The final items were a little ceramic tiger bank and a board book. I had seen other reviews that showed a pink owl instead of the tiger, and was really hoping to get that one to match the nursery. We already have a good collection of banks, so I’m not sure what to do with this little guy. The board book is a nice size, though the “story” is pretty lame. With my luck, this will end up being a favorite that I’ll have to read night after night. Damn you, Winkie!

So that’s what I got in my May Stork Stack. I do need to note that the items marked with an asterisk were NOT included in the regular May boxes (as far as I know). The folks at Stork Stack told me they would send me some extra products with my May stack because I have twins (score!). The 5 items without the asterisks are the ones that were exclusive to this month’s box.

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Disclosure: The products above were given to me for winning a contest. I did not receive any other reimbursement for writing this review. All opinions are my own.

The next couple of weeks are going to be exciting for me, mail-wise. (Yes, I consider good mail days “exciting”… That’s my life, folks.) I have 4 subscription boxes coming my way. Woo! I’ll be getting my May Conscious Box, my first Citrus Lane box (got the 1st month for half off), my first Daily Dose of Green box (got 3 months for the price of 2), and the May Stork Stack box (won a free month for 4th place in their “Cutest Baby” contest!).

I’ll post the box reveals/reviews as they arrive. I love reading box reviews on other blogs, so it only makes sense that I write my own too. Well, as long as I can afford to get some boxes. I have no clue how people can afford multiple subscriptions… shizz can get expensive!  (Thank you, promo codes!)

Alright, enough box babble… Here’s the late April video (made with Vine, as always):

Note: This post contained a few affiliate links. Click away!  

This time I’m gonna skip the “oh my god they’ve grown so faaaast” junk & just get right to the photos. Cos there’s lots of ‘em. (I may have taken 259. So yeah. Lots.)

There’s a fan up there, and it is VERY interesting.

The fan is no longer interesting.

“Um, you are NOT pointing your butt at me, Chloe…”

“Raaaaawwwrrrr!”

Chloe is really pushing it…

Someone is NOT in a pleasant mood…

“I think Chloe needs a timeout, mom.”

…

“Uh… Why are we on the timeout chair TOGETHER?”

“I don’t even BELONG here… Chloe was the bad one… This is crap…”

“Get OFF me Chloe…”

“I need a nap. Being your sister is exhausting.”

I’ll stop myself here. I assure you, there are a LOT more I could post… but I’ll spare you the other 200+ photos. That would make for one mighty long blog post (and many, many unfollowers).

Sure, I put kid-friendly shows on Netflix for them too. Well, mostly Yo Gabba Gabba (tell me those songs aren’t catchy!). But nothing holds their attention more than a thrilling episode of Judge Joe Brown or an obnoxious commercial for local personal injury attorneys.

I think it all goes back to the womb. When I was pregnant last summer, I was stuck on bed rest and spent my days sprawled out on the couch watching daytime TV. Being that we don’t have cable, daytime TV = non-stop judge shows. Judge Mathis, Judge Alex, Judge Judy, Judge Marilyn Milian, that divorce court judge, and good ol’ Judge Joe Brown. I guess it’s only natural that they feel a connection to them now. Um… right?

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to make them their own little attorney ads to get them ready for their inevitable future careers. (Too soon?)

Hopefully the statute of limitations will have run out on this before they turn 18.

If you’ve watched any judge shows, you KNOW this shit happens ALL THE TIME. I don’t get it.

Chloe is shocked that someone would punch you in the nose. She will FIGHT to get you the results that you deserve! (Ev is kinda confused by the whole thing.)

I doubt someone would sue over a stolen hose, but hey, it rhymes with “Rose”.

I LOVED swings when I was little (hell, I still do today), so I was looking forward to seeing the pure joy on the girls’ faces as we pushed them through the air for the very first time. The giggles of delight as they excitedly swung higher and higher…

Soooo you can imagine my disappointment when things ended up looking more like… well, this:

Weeeee?

“Why am I in a rubber bucket with leg holes?”

“Mom, this thing smells like other babies’ butts…”

“So… Is this supposed to be fun or something? I… don’t get it.”

“Hey Chloe! Does yours smell like other babies’ butts too?”

Ah, babies.

Perfect temperature. Perfect amount of sunshine. Perfect lack of wind.
All of my ideal walking conditions were met and then-some. Bravo, mother nature! You’re alright!

We walked past big, beautiful old homes (that I plan to occupy in my next life).
We came across birds and squirrels and scary dogs.
We smelled flowers and soil and Nyquil (well, Mike smelled that one).
We took in all of the sights and scents that springtime has to offer.

It was a beautiful day and all was right with the world.

Then we saw her.

Standing right in our path, arms outstretched, grinning with delight as we hesitantly drew closer…
There was no escaping her. She had us in her sights. We were trapped.

Yes, the time had come.
The time that every parent of twins surely dreads…

Our first encounter with a baby-touching crazy lady.

There she stood, in all her white-haired, stroller-lovin’ glory.
She quickly descended on our babies like a ravenous vulture.

Mike and I nervously watched as she crouched down on the sidewalk in front of the girls and wasted no time touching their cheeks.
She went on to tell them how she has a granddaughter their age and how they would love her house(!?).
Both girls kept looking up at me as if to say “Who the eff is this lady and why won’t she shut up?”.

Soon I heard a whimper. And poor Everly was in tears.
I thought this would be a good cue for the lady to step the hell off, but no…
She concludes that Ev is crying because she wasn’t talking directly to her enough. (Um, not quite lady. She’s crying because you’re talking to her.)
So she continues to yammer on at her and Ev cries harder.

I finally say “What’s wrong Ev, do you wanna keep walking?”, and we hightailed it the eff outta there.

She continued talking as we walked on, telling us that she has 8 kids.
And to enjoy them now because they grow up fast. (Which must be true, cos we get this a LOT.)

I suppose when all was said and done, she was a pretty low threat on the Crazy Old Lady scale.
I just didn’t like the touching. It made me super uncomfortable. Who knows where her hands have been? I don’t know what strange old ladies do with their hands. Do they forget to wash after they wipe? Old people are forgetful, no?

I suppose most people probably would have told her to keep her creepy old lady hands to herself, but alas, “most people” we are not. Mike & I are both super introverted and painfully awkward around strangers. Needless to say, we are not well equipped to handle this kind of crap.

And so the adventure begins…

What’s a subscription box, you ask? Welp, basically it’s a box that you receive in the mail (usually monthly) that’s chock full o’ goodies. They can range from $10/month to $50+, depending on the company/products offered. Some will tell you what will be in the boxes before they ship, but most don’t (which is the fun part!). Nothing beats a good mystery box… Well, unless it totally sucks. haha

There’s a TON of companies doing this now, so you’re bound to find something that tickles your fancy. I’ve seen boxes for moms/babies (Citrus Lane, Bluum, Stork Stack), for nerds (Loot Crate, Booty Bin), makeup lovers (Birchbox, Beauty Army, Pop Sugar), for pets (Barkbox, Pawalla), foodies (Love with Food, NatureBox), etc, etc… Subscriptionboxes.com is a good resource to browse a lot of the more popular boxes out there. A good tip is to Google reviews of the boxes that you’re interested, to see what past boxes contained and whether or not it seems like a good match/value for you.

The only box that I currently subscribe to is Conscious Box. (I’m hoping to add to my addiction soon!) It’s currently a top-rated box on Subscriptionboxes.com and is $20/month, including shipping. They offer eco-friendly products, including household cleaners, healthy snacks, eco-conscious gadgets, baby products, etc. Each box contains 10-20 samples/full sized products. There are 3 different box options: Classic, Gluten-Free, and Vegan (yay!).

The last couple of boxes from them have been a little… underwhelming. However, they recently offered a “Mystery Box” that they promised to be jam-packed with goodies. So I crossed my fingers and ordered one. It arrived today, and holy guacamole, is it AWESOME!

The Mystery Box, in all its glory.

As promised, the box was PACKED with awesomeness. When I caught a glimpse of the macaroons, I knew that ordering this was a brilliant call on my part. Go me.

Holy mother of macaroons! These are AMAZING.

I might as well start with these babies, since they’re most definitely the highlight of my box. I’ve gotten them in a previous month and absolutely fell in love. Vegan, raw, chocolately macaroons that melt in your mouth. Need I say more?

mmm… clusters.

I’ve also received these in a previous box. Light, crunchy *natural* fruit snack. “Apple Crunch” was decent, but the berry-flavored ones were a lot more interesting (better).

Aw, nuts.

Almonds & soy nuts. It looks like the Soy Nut Mix is vegan, but the almond one has honey in it. Boo. Oh – the Mystery Box couldn’t be customized, so some non-vegan items were included, but I’m okay with it. Most of the things I got were vegan anyway. Woo!

Brownies n’ coffee.

Microwaveable brownies! Sadly, they have honey in them, but they look tasty. The chocolate coffee looks pretty fantastic though!

Ooooh… decadent!

This looks very promising. AND it’s clearly labeled vegan. I’m down for anything chocolate. Or cocao nib-y.

What? I can’t eat these?

And finally, the non-food stuff… Green laundry detergent that promises to “get rid of built up minerals and leftover detergent” and a lid that converts a regular mason jar into a travel mug. The detergent I’ll most definitely use, but the lid thing… eh, no. I don’t have any mason/canning jars laying around, so… Really no use for it.

So that’s my haul. Considering I used a discount code and only spent $10 on this box, I’d say that I made out pretty damn well!

If you’d like to check out Conscious Box for yourself, please use my referral link below. Happy box-ing!

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Click away!