Norwegian Jewel First Cruise!

We ( my mom, boyfriend and I) decided on the Norwegian Jewel because it was the cheapest price for the locations it was going to. We live in Oklahoma and decided that we would drive to New Orleans. The ship went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Getting on the boat was simple enough and our room was not ready until about 1pm and that was fine because we went and ate at Tzars Palace.

Food
Our first thought on the food was that it was pretty good. The desserts on the other hand were weird and it seemed like every single dessert item was made with gelatin. The first dessert we tried was chocolate mouse( the best of the three), some sort of berry cheesecake( did not taste anything like cheesecake), and Panna Cotta (very rubbery and tasteless). I love dessert and I love to try new desserts, but the ones on this boat were just plain strange. Even the chocolate cake we had contained weird jelly balls throughout the slice. The only good dessert we had was in a pay restaurant( we tried the hot pot) and it was a green tea cake with green tea ice cream and it actually tasted like what it was supposed to. The food was pretty good and we actually has our room a floor below the buffet which was nice because that was out favorite place to eat on the boat. Each day in the buffet they would have a different theme and the food would change to be a part of the theme such as when we were in Mexico there was mexican food or when we were in the Caribbean they served Caribbean food. We decided to try the pizza delivery for $5 and it was the most disgusting pizza we have ever eaten. It did not taste like real cheese and the "cheese" was about an inch thick. So if your thinking of trying the pizza delivery, think again and just go to the buffet and get a slice or two there. The pizza at the buffet was actually good. They also served food by the pool, but be careful because we saw them making what looked like stir fry noodles with vegetables so we went over and each got a plate. My mom and I do not eat seafood and my boyfriend is allergic to shellfish. This dish was filled with shrimp and clams and all sorts of seafood. I'm glad we saw it because that could have been bad. There was no sign letting people know what it was.

Room
Our room was great. We had the mini suit which we paid about $900 per person. We had a giant balcony and it was nice to be able to relax on the balcony. The couch in our suit folded out to a big bed which my mom slept on and our steward Orlando pulled out and put up each day. He was such an amazing steward! The bathroom was not as small as I thought it would be. Our room was nice and quiet and we were not around any of the clubs or anything so it was a good spot.

Entertainment
I'm not sure why everyone seems to like the entertainment on this boat. I'm actually kind of baffled by what they call "entertainment". We tried several times to go to shows but the shows were so dumb that we left. I was really excited about the Cirque Bijou or whatever it was called. We got to the show early and got some great balcony seats. The show started and my boyfriend and I were looking at each other and laughing because it was so childish and they were not even doing anything that was interesting or fun to watch. The first act was a girl that stood on the shoulders of a man and all she did was hold two hula hoops and twirl them around her arms. The audience sure love that for some reason because there were cheers and applause ?  I was expecting something similar to cirque du soleil. Boy were we disappointed! We decided to give it another chance to impress us. The next act was a few people on stage dancing? it seemed like they were trying to do some sort of Indian dance with their arms or something but it just looked like something that a kid could come up with. We tried to stay for another act before we left but as soon as we saw adults doing cartwheels and a few flips we about died of laughter and had to leave. Don't expect anything professional if you attend these shows. We were really disappointed with the entertainment onboard and I feel like the only entertainment we liked was going to the art auctions on board to watch people get suckered into buying "art".  I won't lie the auctions were very engaging and were pretty fun and you get free art just for going. We went to the newlywed not so newlywed game show which was pretty entertaining to watch.

Pool
The pool was pretty small and was cold almost the whole time so we did not really get to swim unless we wanted to be freezing while doing it. We did get in the hot tub twice, but it was not really as hot as other hot tubs I've been in. They were not bad though, but they were always crowded.

Fitness Center
We only went in there a few times but the machines are really nice and have touchscreen monitors. You can play games on the monitors while exercising or even watch the ocean through the widow or from a camera on deck. When we first booked I thought that they were going to have free zumba sessions, but you have to pay for those and the only free stuff in the fitness center were not very good, mostly seminars about fitness.

Random
In the daily newspaper thing we noticed that the actives with a star are pay activities. So when we saw a martini tasting with no star we got excited to finally see and try something you don't have to pay for. When we got there they told us it was $15 per person. What a crock. For the price we paid there should be more free things to do on the boat. We went to a pastry making seminar, but when we got there it was retarded. There was already a cake made and they just got a random person from the audience and had them put icing on it and some berries... I'm sorry but this is not a pastry making seminar. I did not pay to come on this cruise to watch some woman try her hand at decorating a cake.

My mom got sick with food poisoning the day before our last port. The nurses in the infirmary were very nice and kind to her. If you go down there for food poisoning you don't have to pay, which was nice. Originally my boyfriend and I went to the shop to see if they has any medicine for sale, but they didn't, so we went o ask if they had any in the doctors and when we asked they said we should bring her down and there would be no charge. It's a good thing we brought her down because my mom ended up having to be taken down there again to get an IV for dehydration. They were very professional and treated us like family. They gave my mom Gatorade packets and medicine and even called to check up on her for the rest of the trip.

Sneaking alcohol on board
To save money we snuck our own alcohol on board. We used those plastic collapsable water bottles and also those travel size shampoo containers and we ended up with almost all of our alcohol on board minus the two liter bottles my boyfriend tried to bring on. They got taken away but returned to us at the end of our trip haha!

Overall
It was not bad, but I feel like all the seminars on the ship were there only to get you to buy something. The entertainment was lacking in professionalism and uniqueness. There are more pay restaurants than free ones. I feel like everywhere you go on the ship they are trying to get more money out of you. WE are never going to book on a Norwegian again.

Dehydrated Apple chips

I love trying new things and recently I signed up for a monthly subscription called goodies taste box! In it, I received some apple chips and it got me thinking that I could make my own!! I bought 5 or 6 Fuji apples and used a mandolin to cut them 1/8th of an inch and placed them in a bowl of water with lemon juice to prevent browning. Next I placed them in my dehydrated and it ended up being about 26 hours until they were done. Here is the finished product!! They are crispy and taste sweet and delicious! They taste exactly like the sample I got in my goodies box! 

There are some empty areas from us taste testing them :) 

Yummy and cheap find of the week!

If you are looking for a filling breakfast that's super cheap and is not just plain oatmeal, then you are in the right place! 

Better Oats Oat Revolution!

! It's amazing and each costs less than $2. They come with 5 pouches in each box. What is neat about these packages is that each one is its own measuring cup. 

Also, there is a mix of different oats. It's not just rolled oats in there. It also has flaxseed, which you can see from the ingredients below. This is from the blueberry muffin flavor. 

I like to add fresh banana and strawberry slices to mine! It's great alone, but even better when you add in fruit! 

Baked marbles !

I saw this on Pinterest and thought I would try it since I have lots of marbles around the house. We baked it at 500 degrees for 20 minutes too them out and put them in an ice bath till cool! Turned out great! Thinking of making them into jewelry ! 

Healthy frozen treat!

Yes, I found this on Pinterest, but made a few additions! This is great when I'm craving some ice cream or sweets! It is so good, my boyfriend even loves them!

1. Take some bananas, I took 3.

2. Start mashing until smooth.

3. Add in peanut butter, but I added in powdered peanut butter because its healthier and it doesn't add any more bulk to the mix and stir it up.

4. I added in some unsweetened cocoa powder. Maybe a spoon full or so. Mix.

5. Break graham crackers in half and spoon the mixture to fill the bottom graham cracker, place the other half on top of the mixture and repeat this process.

6. I placed mine in a large cake pan covering the bottom of the pan. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and place in the freezer! 

A few tips: 

let them sit in the freezer about 30-45 minutes and try them half way frozen. The outside is frozen and the middle is still creamy! 

Add in other ingredients such as nuts, berries, or chocolate chips.

Before freezing roll the edges in colorful sprinkles for kids or holidays. 

Hope you enjoy my version of this frozen treat! Let me know!

Walgreens haul

I bought some stuff on Walgreens.com recently and I thought I would share!

This Olay fresh effects system makes my skin feel really soft and is super easy to use! I got it on sale for around $12

This Rimmel BB cream was on sale for half off so I bought 2 of them and this is my first time using this product. I really like it because it is a moisturizer, had SPF, and tons of other crap lol! 

August Ipsy products!!

Let me say that I got my bag late and I when it finally arrived I was so excited. I have tested almost all of my products. 

The Michael Todd face scrub was really nice. At first I was confused by the directions because it did not say to rinse it off and it said to apply after cleansing! I asked some people on ipsy and thank goodness they told me that you wash it off. I know some of you are probably thinking what a dork! But I usually just use Cetaphill cleanser and that's it. I was happy when I saw other ipsy users asking the same question! 

I really like the Noya lip balm I got. I received the cherry one and I know a lot of people were complaining about not getting the Urban Decay instead of the lip balm, but I am glad I got it. It seems like the only color lipsticks we have been getting has been reds and hot pinks. 

I also received the Chella eyebrow pencil which I like because I have dark brown brows and it fills in nice! 

I also got the pixi mascara which works like any other mascara. It's nice. 

I have not yet used my Pacifica bb cream.

Pantyfly.com monthly panty shipment!

I love getting monthly surprises in the mail and when I searched for a monthly panty subscription, I was  happy to have found pantyfly.com.

They have a few different options when it comes to picking youe underwear.
First you can either choose to pre-pay for 3 months for only $15  and get 3 pairs a month for the three months or you can sign up for a month to month fee which is 3 for $7 a month.

I opted to pre-pay!

You also get a choice of what style of panty you would like.

The barely there choice i=will include thongs, string bikini, bikini.

The sleek and sexy option which include modern brief , hipster, and high cut.

The mix and match is the last option, which can include any of the styles mentioned above.



I love a good surprise each month and although this is only my first month getting my pantyfly panties, I am already looking forward to getting my next months!

They seem to be very high quality and are so cute!! I really like them. If you want more information on pantyfly, please go to their website pantyfly.com

Loseit iPhone app

This app is really neat! It lets you keep track of all the calories you take in during your day and also your exercises! If you want all the features you have to pay a yearly fee of, I think, $39. You can either scan the barcode of that your eating/ drinking or you can type it in the search bar. It also keeps a log of all the things you eat so you don't have to retype it again. Instead you can pick from your food list. I give this app a B!!

Healthy banana ice cream

One of my favorite healthy treats!

A few frozen bananas
Blender
Non sweetened cocoa powder

Blend the bananas until they're creamy smooth
I topped mine with a spoon full of cocoa powder and mixed it in, the result is a creamy ice cream like treat!!!

Miso soup with Kale and Tofu

I just made some yummy Miso soup for a snack and I used miso paste with water and added firm tofu and a handful of Kale. I can't find my seaweed so I improvised and it was so yummy! What do you like to add to Miso soup? 

Miso is good for you too! I read an article on Yahoo and it said a bowl of miso soup a day can help reduce the risk of breast cancer in women! Miso has many great health benefits from the soy bean paste!

I made bagels!!!

I made bagels a few days ago and I am so happy with the results. I've been baking different breads but I was worried that bagels wouldn't come out very good or would be too hard to make, but they were so easy. Maybe it was just the recipe I found that made it so easy and yummy.

I don't have the recipe with me but I will load it on here later.

Chia seed pudding

I recently made chia pudding! If you have never tried it before I highly recommend it. I used 2.5 cups hazelnut,almond, cashew milk and a few squirts of agave necter you shake those ingredients up in a jar or Tupperware with lid and then you add a half cup of chia seeds. You can get these at Whole Foods Market in the bulk section. Thy are kind of expensive. After you add the chia seeds you shake it again until it is all mixed. Put it in the refrigerator until it has thickened up , usually a few hours, and enjoy! You can add fruit to it or more agave to make it sweeter! It is so yummy! Chia seeds keep you full for longer. It makes your body think its full because of the seed soaking in the water and getting bigger!

Chia seeds also have a healthy does of omega-3 oil!
It's also a great source of protein, so eat this for breakfast before you go and work out or eat it after so you won't want to snack on unhealthy stuff.

Not Your Mother's

Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves Curl DEfinition Hair Cream:  $6.00. This smells so good and makes your hair super soft and shiny!! HElps with the curls too!

I use this after I get out of the shower and it makes my hair smell like heaven and keep its curl! I really like this product!

I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

Palmolive Fresh Infusions

Today I received three full size bottles of Palmolive Fresh Infusions in the mail. I have already used the lime basil and it smells so amazing. My whole kitchen smells great by just washing my dishes! OIf you haven't tried these yet, I highly recommend them!

They all smell so yummy!

The three scents are: Ginger White Tea, Lemon Thyme, and Lime Basil.
#PalmoliveFreshInfusions @influenster

They are 16 oz and each of the scents are naturally inspired!

I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

Buy a watch and help a cause

http://1facewatch.com/

I just came across this awesome watch and when you purchase a watch, depending on the color, it helps either :

• Aids
• Cancer
• Hunger
• Environment
• Water
• Breast

The watches are actually pretty cool looking. So, if you're looking for a new watch and want to do some good, check out their site for more details.  $40.00 each.

Pixi primer

I just tried this pixi face primer before work today and I just used it by itself. You can use it alone or you can use it under or even over makeup it says! It definitely gave my face a "glow".

This can be bought at Target stores and here is more information I found on the website:

Flattering golden peach pigment suits all skin tones; formula contains powerful anti-aging and skin fortifying benefits
Suitable for all skin types; primer is water based and completely oil free
Features truffle extract, a luxurious additive rich in amino acids and minerals to tone and hydrate; features pearl extract for revitalization, protection and anti-aging
Contains humectants that reduce skin dehydration
Silica, a natural mineral, gives a luxurious, silky feel


$29.00

It's too expensive for me, but if it was cheaper I would definitely buy this product.

There is a before and after application picture. Also, a picture of the rest of my makeup.