Adventures of Herman

Birchbox: January 2016

By sarahheiman

In Beauty

January 11, 2016April 13, 2018

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Last month I mentioned that I was having a bit of Birchbox fatigue. Well, my interest has been renewed because my first Birchbox of 2016 is the most exciting one I’ve received in quite some time! For January, subscribers were given the option to pick an Eyeko liquid eyeliner, a TONYMOLY lip tint, an IPKN radiant makeup primer, or a K-beauty box curated by Charlotte Cho, certified esthetician and co-founder of Soko Glam—a popular online Korean beauty shop. Beauty blogs have been raving about Korean beauty products for a while now, so I selected the K-beauty box to see for myself what all the fuss is about.

Before I talk about my samples, I have to say that I absolutely LOVE the January 2016 Birchbox design. Bright colors and delicate botanical illustrations? So perfect.

Friday Five

By sarahheiman

In Books&Friday Five&Nerdy&TV

January 8, 2016April 13, 2018

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1. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks: back in October I bought the second book in the original Shannara trilogy, thinking it was the first due to the confusing “Book One” text on the redesigned MTV edition. Turns out The Sword of Shannara is actually the author’s debut novel and the first in the trilogy, so I bought a copy and have been reading it for the past couple weeks. It was a little slow going at first and man, I would copy edit the shit out of the overused passive voice, but the story has picked up. MTV’s show just premiered this week and I’m curious to watch it (hello, Manu Bennett!), especially now that I’ve begun reading the series.

New Year’s Eve 2015: Rent the Runway + My Makeup Look

By sarahheiman

In Beauty&Style

January 4, 2016April 2, 2021

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As I mentioned in a Friday Five a little while back, I rented a jumpsuit from Rent the Runway to wear to a New Year’s Eve party…and it worked out very well! I rented the Halston Heritage Navy Ri Jumpsuit in two sizes: my regular size and a free larger backup size just in case. I decided to go with a long size instead of standard because I’m 5’8″ and RTR recommends a long size starting at a height of 5’6″.

I unfortunately didn’t manage to get a full-length photo of me 100% decked out, but I do have a full-length photo taken as I was getting ready:

Halston Heritage Navy Ri Jumpsuit - Rent the Runway — Pardon my bare toes with super chipped polish.

Friday Five

By sarahheiman

In Books&Friday Five&Movies&Nerdy&TV

January 1, 2016April 13, 2018

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Happy New Year! I’ll kick off 2016 with my first Friday Five of the year.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: my husband and I saw this box office record-breaker at a theater in Connecticut on Christmas Day while we were on our mini getaway…and I loved every second of it! (Zero spoilers ahead.) We saw it in 3-D, and by pre-purchasing reserved seats we also unintentionally bought tickets for D-Box, which are “immersive” theater seats that tilt, bump, shake, and vibrate in concert with the film action. I’d never heard of these seats before* and at first I thought all the motion would be annoying, but I got used to it quickly and it turned out to be fun. My husband and I both managed to completely avoid spoilers and I think doing so enhanced our enjoyment of the film. Now I totally want to see it again! Also? John Boyega is the best.

Carpeteering at Mohegan Sun

By sarahheiman

In Nerdy&Random&Travel

December 31, 2015April 13, 2018

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I’m going to close out 2015 with an oddball topic: carpeteering. I had my first taste of carpet mania when my friend told me about the fervor over the original PDX carpet, which I had the opportunity to see for myself when my husband and I flew to Portland in June for a wedding.

Then after Comic-Con I was reading an article about the intense Hannibal fandom (Fannibals Forever!) and it linked off to an article about Hugh Dancy’s hobby: carpeteering. Hugh’s friend had launched an online database for airport carpets called Carpets for Airports that allows people to submit photos and reviews of airport carpets around the globe. Because Hugh was traveling quite a bit to promote his projects he started submitting his own reviews (Isle of Man, Edinburgh, Dublin, etc.), and one time his interest in a Boston airport lounge carpet even got him kicked out “for security reasons.”

My Top Three Posts of 2015 + Other Stats

By sarahheiman

In Random

December 30, 2015April 13, 2018

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I thought it would be interesting (probably only to me) to see what my top three most viewed posts were this year. Right now you’re probably like…

It’s fine, I’m totally cool with being Sam in that gif.

What I found in my site stats was surprising in terms of numbers. To be fair, I was probably only surprised because I’ve hardly been paying any attention to my blog’s traffic at all. So! My top three most viewed posts of 2015 were…Continue Reading…

2015 Highlights: My Year in Review

By sarahheiman

In Random

December 29, 2015April 13, 2018

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2015 has turned out to be much better for me than 2014 was, and for that I’m grateful. Because I love making lists, I’ll share with you some of my highlights from this past year. In no particular order, these are some of my personal highlights of 2015:

Seeing my first wild orchid in the Oregon forest this past June (orchids attached to trees as decoration on hotel properties in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Florida don’t count).

Friday Five

By sarahheiman

In Friday Five&Nerdy&Travel

December 25, 2015April 13, 2018

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1. Merry Christmas from Mohegan Sun! My husband and I spent Christmas Eve here two years ago and had a great time so we decided to do it again this year, for two nights this time. I’m not much of a gambler, but this place has a lot going on so it’s always fun. And they have a life-sized gingerbread house in the middle of the shopping mall! Clockwise from top left: me inside the gingerbread house, Vista Lounge at Wombi Rock (a fun bar), Christmas tree in the hotel lobby, and the main atrium that connects the mall, hotel, and casino with restaurants and more (love the glass sculpture!).

Friday Five

By sarahheiman

In Friday Five&Style

December 18, 2015April 2, 2021

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1. Friday Night Dinner at Natural Gourmet Institute: apparently, this plant-focused cooking school has been hosting these dinners for the past 20 years, but it’s all new to me. My husband and I attended our first NGI FND last weekend and it was amazing! For $45 per person you get a three course vegetarian meal (though our Dec. 11 “Root to Sap” edition was vegan), and each course contains three discrete mini dishes. I almost never do tasting menus because 1) I don’t like meat or fish, and 2) they usually offer WAY too much food for me. But the type and amount of food served at this dinner was just right for me. NGI’s dinners are BYOB, so you can bring wine or beer for yourself or to share with your table mates. The food was beautiful and tasted great: I think my personal favorites were the beet tartare “chevre” dish and the kale chips…OMG, those kale chips. If you’re a veggie lover in NYC, I highly recommend you try Friday Night Dinner!

Birchbox: December 2015

By sarahheiman

In Beauty

December 13, 2015April 13, 2018

2 Comments

My December Birchbox review is a bit delayed—this box arrived three days ago! The December 2015 Birchbox design is a winter white with a silver metallic knit pattern (the metallic sheen doesn’t really come through in my photo):

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