Cupcake Friday - Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcake 09.21.2012

Well, we all know my dislike for chocolate and peanut butter, so again this is not my cupcake but bought for the boy.  The boy's love for chocolate and peanut butter is totally satisfied with one of these cupcakes.  Usually by the time the boy gets this cupcake though, there is no half oreo cookie nor the reeses peanut butter candy half that is the topper since they sort of disappear before they get home.. oops wonder how that happens?

The cupcake oozes the scent of chocolate and peanut butter which makes him cherish this cupcake almost as much as the regular chocolate peanut butter cupcake.  I cant say much about it since I dont like the peanut butter part of this cupcake...

Daily Arsenal 09.27.2012

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Namiki Falcon with SF nib..  I swear i didnt steal anyone's pen... *cough*  I've been wanting one of these for a while, and when I went to Goulet Pens and didnt see the ink that i wanted since it was LE and also sold out, checked out their bottom shelf and saw this... and immediately pounced.  I've just inked it up with Caran d'Ache's Blue sky ink and its gorgeous.. Since i'm using it currently for work and havent had time to play with it -- not entirely sure how well it writes but it does write rather wetly.

Daily Arsenal 09.26.2012

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Daily Arsenal 09.25.2012

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It's been a busy kinda week and its only Tuesday!  workin in the lab today so lots of random pens.. and sharpies..

Cupcake Friday - Orange Orioles Cupcake

This cupcake  was not quite what i thought (seeing hwo i thought it was a chocolate orange cupcake) do you see a chocolate looking cupcake there?  Nope!  But nonetheless it was a yummy cupcake.  The cupcake is an orange cupcake with chocolate butter cream and a orange Orioles O on top.  Why this cupcake?  Well the Baltimore Orioles are having their first major winning season since 1997, so the Icedgems people decided to pay tribute to the O's winning season with this cupcake.  The cupcake is lightly orange flavored and has their regular chocolate butter cream frosting.  I find buttercream frosting a tad sweet so i thought the frosting was too sweet for my liking but the rest of the cupcake?  yum!

Daily Arsenal 09.21.2012

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Daily Arsenal 09.20.2012

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"#dailyarsenal along with my kuru toga pencil"

Daily Arsenal 09.19.2012

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Daily Arsenal 09.18.2012

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"#dailyarsenal yep I caved..."

Daily Arsenal 09.17.2012

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Cupcake Friday 09.14.2012 - Peanut Butter Chocolate

While I dont really care for chocolate and peanut butter (mostly the peanut butter part)  the boy likes it.  So whenever i get some crazy flavor for myself (see all previous cupcake posts)  I have to get a boring one for the boy.  This is a chocolate peanut butter cupcake.  It reeks fragrantly smells of peanut butter.  I've had a bit of the icing and its pretty good if you like peanut butter.  The boy seems to love it since every time i get one of my crazy concocted cupcakes, he gets one of these.

Happy Purple Friday.. Daily Arsenal 09.14.2012

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"#dailyarsenal for purple Friday! "

Daily arsenal 09.13.2012

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Daily Arsenal 09.12.2012

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"#dailyarsenal it's a pilot pen kinda day"

 

 Its a Pilot Pen kind of day...

Daily Arsenal 09.11.2012

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Daily Arsenal 09.10.2012

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Cupcake Friday 09.07.2012 - Victoria Cupcake

 

 The Victoria Cupcake is a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting.. what makes it so special?  There is strawberry jam filled into the cupcake.  This just takes what is an ordinary cupcake and kicks it up a notch.  I like the cupcake, but there are so many other options with Iced Gems. 

Daily Arsenal 09.07.2012

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Daily Arsenal 09.06.2012

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House of Dolittle Planner Review

I received 2 planners from Shoplet for review.  
The following were received: Wirebound Weekly Monthly Planner and Monthly Desk Planner

Upon inspecting the package I received--- at first I thought I would get a smaller package.. since I didnt realize i was getting a desk planner.  I dont typically use a desk planner at work nor at home, so we'll see how this goes.  Its currently sitting on top of my really messy desk (i have to file a LOT of stuff).

I quickly tore opened the weekly planner packet.  Since I anticipate this is the planner I will mostly use, we'll go over it first. The planner is a full letter page (8.5 x 11).  Sadly, its not an academic planner so my anticipation of using it now for classes was a bit misguided, but no fear I'll just use it in January once we get there.  I can use it now for ahead planning purposes etc.   The cover is pretty thick paper?  Per the website, its a embossed simulated leather -- water repellent at least so it'll be good for when i spill coffee everywhere on my desk.  



It has both monthly calendars and a weekly vertical with appointments ranging from 8am to 8pm on the hour -- there are 2 line spaces per hour.   Helpful but not quite what I like in a planner i like my hours broken up if i get an hourly breakdown by the quarter hour -- it just makes it easier for me for work.  It also has a memo section beneath each day of the week.  What i do love about this is that Saturday and Sunday get full spaces, not like most planners that give you a puny space for the weekends -- if you saw my circa planner review, I have very full weekends and this makes it usable for work as well as outside of work.  Holidays are written in at the top of the particular day  next to the date.
  
The monthly calendars are tabbed which i like since I love tabs and it makes it easier for me to find a particular month/date.  Each month is displayed as a full spread (2 pages) with plenty of space for you to write appointments, etc.  Holidays are written out at the bottom of the day.  In addition, there is a notes section to the far right as well as 6 months calendar at top -- 1 month prior, current month and then 4 months in the future. 




In addition to the calendar section, there is plenty of extras.  There is a page after the last week in December with a couple of years in the future (2013, 2014, 2015) with dates of importance (Holidays -- mostly US/CAN) next to it.  The next page shows a time zone map and a frequent call list.  After that comes memos, and an emergency contact page.





Pros?

•  calendar that encompasses both monthly and weekly calendars
•  a lot of room to write notes/appointments
•  breakdown of hours by 30 mins, (2 lines per hr)
•  the entire calendar is printed on recycled paper with soy ink.  Very earth conscious.
• cover seems water resistant -- havent tested this property
• week is broken down vertically --- most planners are horizontal
• looks to be gel pen safe and maybe fountain pen safe -- with the couple of tests that i did, but didnt do a LOT of testing.

Cons?

• i am liable to tear the cover even though it looks to be tear resistant
• the pages stick on the bottom ( rings arent wide enough?)
• i like my day breakdowns to start earlier in the day (6 or 7am)
• I like my  planner if they are vertical week/page for it to have quarter hour breakdowns not half hour breakdowns.

All in all i like the planner, but since it starts in January I have to patiently hold onto it until then to test it out.

Where to Purchase?

• Shoplet - Weekly Planner $21.28

Other Reviews

• Life Imitates Doodles 

House of Dolittle - Monthly Desk calendar review

Shoplet sent me the desk planner for review.  As i stated earlier, the desk planner is not what i use on a regular basis but hey i always need something on my desk because I dont like to write on hard surfaces -- the pages on the calendar will do just fine.  

The desk calendar is rather large -- it can cover my desk being 18.5" x 13".  The calendar itself has a white background with blue-grey writing.  There is again, plenty of space to write appointments, notes, etc.  What i love most about the desk calendar is that it is pretty minimalistic -- enough space for me to write my appointments, with an added note section to the right.   The top of each of the pages is perforated so that you can remove each month as it passes readily. 

It also has a plan forward calendar at the bottom of the calendar.  It has all 12 months, and its written pretty tiny but if you were planning a vacation or trying to look back quickly you could definitely do so.

As I got a planner starting in January 2013, I've not had very many appointments that are scheduled that far ahead yet to start making notes, but I've started to pencil in a thing here and there.  

Where to Purchase?

• Shoplet - Monthly Desk Planner $7.08

Other Reviews

• Life Imitates Doodles 

** Disclaimer:  This product was sent to me by Shoplet for review.  The review is my opinion and does not reflect any influences from them.

Daily Arsenal 09.05.2012

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Dentist today... then car had to get brake lights changed since i couldn't get the fasteners undone had to go to a mechanic... laptop and data.. no pens/pencils for fear of losing at the mechanic's shop

Daily Arsenal 09.04.2012

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Daily Arsenal 09.02.2012

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Daily Arsenal... class readings... with lecture notes.  God this book and the lecture notes are SO not organized the same.

Tom Bihn Swift Bag Review

I was drooling over this bag when i first found it on Ravlery.  So when i finally bit the bullet I decided for some reason that the larger one would suite.  I should have checked to see how the size related on a ruler, because the bag I ended up with was larger than I thought -- oops!  But on the positive side, I was then able to put much more projects into the bag than i originally thought i would be able to hold.   Ordering on Tom Binh's website  is easy.  He has several different options to choose from and you can either get one made of cordura nylon or ballistic nylon. 

The bag came pretty fast, as you can see I ended up with the turquoise swift bag.  It is made of 1000 d cordura nylon.  You cannot customize the bags since the color options are pre-determined (as well as the fabrics) that are available.   The swift bag comes with 1 medium sized yarn bag -- made of ripstop nylon.   The bags are clear on the bottom so that you can see the yarn that you have placed in them.  In addition, there is a small y-hook that allows for the yarn to be guided through the "loop".  On the exterior is a snap hook that allows for me to clip the stuff sack into the swift bag itself.  See below pictures for more details.  If you want more stuff sacks you can order more from the website.. I'm currently lusting for more stuff sacks but havent yet bit the bullet for a 2nd or 3rd one.  I want some in different colors, he has a large variety of sizes of stuff sacks as well as color options.  

Where to Purchase?

• Tom Bihn $90.00