This New Thing Called Subscription Box

I've been trying this new thing called 'subscription box' lately. The idea is you pay the subscription fee and they'll send you a bunch of goodies in a box (duh). Why do I try this? Uh, I don't know... maybe because they place the ads on NYC subway and I have to look at them EVERY SINGLE DAY on my commute to work! So yes, I'm a victim of marketing here. But anyways, I gotta share this to the world because they actually send some good healthy stuffs (this is me trying to be healthy, ordering snack boxes and shit).

NatureBox

Probably the best snack box ever! I'm a foodie and I love snacking! I ordered my first box and didn't expect much but to my surprise, I got a bunch of snacks (crunchy banana granola, fig bars, lemon waffle, taj mahal snack mix, italian pretzels). SO FREAKING GOOD! Oh yeah, did I mention that it only cost me $10 (with SHARE10 discount code) ? No kidding.

ConsciousBox

Also super good healthy snack in a box. Got my first box for only $7.95 with discount code: SECRETCODE - which is super cheap!!

LoveWithFood

This one is actually pretty interesting because they integrate social cause to the business: "for every box sent, we donate a meal to a hungry child". They've donated over 100,000 meals across the nation! Anyways, they're doing a Facebook promo and you'll get your first box for free with discount code: FBFOOD !

Honestly, I love getting these boxes because I have serious problem with my food choice sometimes, especially when I'm craving for sweets or salty food. I'll do my groceries and go straight to the snack aisle thinking "BUY ALL THE CHEAP SNACKS" and then regret it later while munching on my second bag of chips or scoop of ice cream. So thank god for these boxes. I mean, look at that crispy veggie chips! So delicious and healthy!

After my successful purchase with those 2, I did some more diggings on subscription boxes and, to my surprise, found many, many other types of subscription boxes. They have boxes for gourmet food ($100+), kids clothes, baby stuffs, DIY art project, fish baits (!!!), soon-to-be-bride (no kidding), underwear (seriously), and many, many more. I guess they have boxes for everything? Anyways, I found a couple other boxes that are good and cheap.

JulepMaven

Pretty nail stuffs, for free!! (with discount code: FREEBOX - you pay the shipping & handling). All that at Sephora will probably cost you about $40 (maybe more?). It's like Christmas in June. I'm super stoked to get this in the mail!

BuluBox

Also got this for free - and I love the packaging (I love good design!). BuluBox sends stuffs like vitamins, supplements, healthy snacks and fitness gears (like a yoga video!) Like I said, I'm trying to get fit now so this is kind of perfect. Use the discount code: FIRSTFREE

So that's all my findings for the week. Let me know if you decide to try these boxes too! Or if you find anything interesting AND cheap. I'm telling you, I'm living on a dirt-cheap lane.

Cheers!

Jessica

11 DAYS: Give Hope, One Hat At A Time

I know, I know, it's been too long since my last post. Procrastination struck me again. But hey, here I am, there you are, reading this post and I assure you, this is something special.

Remember about the countdown of my blog posts? It's a countdown to my birthday. I'm not the kind of person who celebrate birthdays, because come on, you're getting old and really, who wants to get old? But this year, I'm turning double two (yes, read that as 22) and I want to make this day meaningful. Not to me, but to others in need. Why? Because I think I'm already living in a content life surrounded by amazing people, family and friends. I don't need gifts to make me happy, but they do.

Who are they?

They are young girls, children, women, mothers in impoverished community in Romania. Those who are seeking for an opportunity to live and hope for the future.

What I'm asking for... is not birthday gifts or cards from you. But I want you to give them hope, because that is the most valuable thing a human can ask for.

I'm not going to bore you with this, so I'm just gonna go straight to the point. I'm doing a fundraising campaign and I invite you to join me.

My goal is to get $777 by September 17th (I'm quite obsessed with number 7, by the way). All you need to know about the campaign is on the Indiegogo website. I've arranged some super cool perks if you donate, and some of the items are very limited.

Before I end this, I must say I'm pretty surprised with myself that I'm doing this campaign. This is probably the most meaningful thing I've ever done for my birthday and I just want to say thank you to all of you who inspires me, especially my friend, Arthur Zetes who's the founder of Sperantsa.

Giving is indeed more rewarding than receiving. So give HOPE, one hat at a time.

Cheers!

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29 DAYS: Something Better Than Instagram

About a week ago, I stumbled upon an insanely cool photography technique called cinemagraph. What is cinemagraph, you ask? My reliable source (Wikipedia) defines it as still photographs in which a minor and repeated movement occurs. See them for yourselves.

I don't own this - found them on THE INTERNET, but these photos make me miss Seattle. And here are some more photos!

This cinemagraph concept was actually created quite recently in 2011 by two New York based photographers, Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck (here's their website). You can also see a complete cinemagraph album by Jamie on his tumblr here - unfortunately, you can't really save the pictures to your computer.

Now, I don't know about you, but I instantly fell in love with these photos when I saw them. My first thought was: how in the hell did they do this! So I looked it up on Google (duh!) and there are tons of Photoshop tutorial. It's quite easy but I just don't have the time to do this PLUS I don't own a camera, my only camera is my iPhone 4S camera.

But THANK YOU technology (and Apple), we now have a quick fix to make this cool photos. Let us all now use Cinemagram - it's like an advanced version of Instagram!!! Take a quick video with your iPhone, edit here and there and BAM! Your animated photo is ready. The result will look like this.

It's quite neat, isn't it? Well ok, it's not as great as Kevin's and Jamie's photos but they are professional and god knows what kind of camera they're using. So for now, I'll settle with these photos created by iPhone and Cinemagram app. If you have an iPhone, download this app now (because it's better than Instagram!) and find my profile! Let the Cinemagramming begin!

Cheers!