link love

I'm a summer hater, and this article about how weather affects mood was interesting and spot on for my feelings of warm weather and sunshine.

We cracked up at this video of a guy who'd apparently been bitten by a bug.

This moose is gorgeous! I love nature photography.

Check out Omo the rare white giraffe over on the Animal Hearted blog (which is where my dog sweatshirt came from!).

This felt flower wreath is stunning.

As a diehard Yankees fan, I'd totally wear these Keds to a game.

I think I've followed this patch's advice my whole life.

food

Drooling over this shaved asparagus coleslaw.

You had me at white garlic jalapeno sauce in this pasta recipe from Vegan Richa.

One pot pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce. I need this nooooow.

Total heart eyes emoji over this pasta salad.




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TaDah Foods falafel wrap review

On my grocery run to Target, I spotted a new line of products when I was checking out the meatless section. Then I saw the word falafel and knew I had to try out TaDah Foods' wraps. I picked up the Lemony Roasted Garlic Hummus option. Those are all of my favorite things!





The wrap was really good. In a quick minute and forty five seconds, it's ready to eat! I prefer quickly heated items when I take lunch to work. The best part? They're 100% all natural, vegan, and the tortilla is non-gmo. At $3.99 each, they're a bit pricey, but it was more than enough for my meal and I actually couldn't finish it all in one sitting. There was only one true con for me and that was the sodium count - it was a bit higher than I like, but it didn't reflect a lot in the taste.

If you're looking for a quick lunch option, definitely check these out!

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link love

Here is an exclusive first look at images of The Dark Tower movie. I am too excited about this being made.

Buzzfeed has a list of 17 genius websites for when you have nothing to do.

Get a free gift when you sign up with Julep today!

These comics about Dumbledore are hilarious.

A kebab shop owner in New Zealand simply ignored a would-be robber.

I really love this top from Free People.

I'm not a huge planner gal, but I would really love this bat clip and Tardis band.


food

This recipe for hot curry fries looks soooo good.

I love soup and I'm so sad it's summer because this black bean and lentil soup looks amazing.

While I don't have a huge sweet tooth, I think I could manage these chai tea cupcakes. :P

Lemon, garlic, beans, pesto? This recipe looks delicious.

I don't eat a lot of ice cream, but mango cardamom ice cream??? Yum.




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a #bloggerscene rooftop party at the embassy row hotel

Wednesday night, Jess from Writing in Red Lipstick and I hopped the metro and made our way to the Embassy Row Hotel in Washington D.C. for a rooftop cocktail party for area bloggers.

It was a great time! We started off the night with drinks and the PeachE Punch was A+. While I'm not a big mingler, there were some great ladies there that I was happy to have met! There was a great panel of bloggers for a Q&A, the view was gorgeous, and the atmosphere was perfect.



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empties #4

I can't believe I've hung onto my little "empties" series this long, but it's fun! Here are the empties for July.



Simple Pleasures Body Scrub // I hated this scrub. I swear my creamy body wash has more exfoliating power than this stuff did. This was a Target One Spot quick grab ages ago. I'm glad to see it go.

Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm // Pretty sure I got this as a sample in an order from Sephora. It smelled funny, and I didn't see how it was a great cleanser. Plus the full size version of a whopping 1.7 ounces is $110. No, thanks.

e.l.f. Baked Eyeshadow in Bark // cruelty free and vegan // See how this is still basically full? It just wouldn't work. No color payoff, no matter what I tried. Wet, dry, nada. I'm tossing it. Unless someone has tips on how to use this?

Ladyburg Mango Lip Scrub // vegan // This lip scrub is locally made and it smelled and tasted delicious. It worked pretty well! I kept it in the shower so that cut it's life a bit, but I was able to finish all but a smidge. I'm not sure if their ingredients are cruelty free, but I'm going to find out because I'd love to have another jar of this.

Julep Invisible Dry Shampoo // cruelty free & vegan // I didn't finish this one, either. This has been the first and only dry shampoo I've tried that I got in my first Julep beauty box. I don't think I blame this product completely, I just don't think my hair takes to dry shampoo well. I wouldn't repurchase, but if you're a dry shampoo user, I'd give it a shot.

e.l.f. 3-in-1 Mascara in Very Black // cruelty free & vegan // I reviewed this before on a previous empties post (see the brush there, too). It's growing on me. It's an inexpensive ($3) mascara that I use as a base coat/primer for my more expensive mascara. I've decided to keep purchasing this one.

Sephora Full Action Mascara // This was a gift from a friend. I really liked the brush and formula of this mascara, but sadly, Sephora's in house line isn't cruelty free. Come on, Sephora, get on it!

L'Oreal Paris Total Repair 5 Restoring Conditioner // Another couponing snag from probably two years ago that I've just gotten around to using up. This conditioner works pretty well, but L'Oreal sucks and still tests on animals.

As you can tell, I'm still going through a lot of product that I won't buy again. Sometimes I'm hesitant to include those items, but I figure someone might learn something they didn't know and avoid that brand. :)

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