Tag: black girls blog

Coffee Break

The Booktube Boyfriend Tag!

India

So, I made Eric be in a video with me….

I might have bribed him to do it…

I’m pretty sure he loves me … hahahah

No, I’m just kidding I know he loves because he was willing to do this fun and exciting video with me to see how much he knows about Booktube and what I do over here.

Of course a lot of the pictures you see of me on social media have been taken by him, as he so graciously becomes my photographer for however many photos that I need. Trust me no grumbling there – read lots of grumbling and India we don’t have time for this -and he takes as many pictures that I need.

Here’s the two of us together! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where you get to see more of our Swirly Relationship. The video is here and down below! If you have any questions for us leave them below! Until next time!

Keep Turning the Pages

India

Coffee Break, travel

What To Take On Your Cruise in 2019!

India

It’s time for another cruise! I’ve been fortunate enough to have gone on many cruises in my life so far, so I decided to put some of my cruise essentials in a video! I have linked that video here as well has put it down below. Some of the links in this post might be affiliate links, which don’t change the cost for you, but helps to bring some extra cash (read pennies) my way, so I can keep trying new things and make more videos.

Of course one of the biggest things that I would bring in your bag and not buy it on the boat is sunscreen and bug spray. Everything gets a lot more expensive on the boat and this way you can bring on the sunscreen that works best for your skin. Also if you’re going snorkeling or planning on going in the ocean, try and get some ocean or reef safe sunscreen like this here.
One major thing that I forgot to mention in my video is to take over the counter medications with you! Things like ibuprofen, Tylenol, Alieve, Zantac, Tums, and Pepto Bismal. They have over the counter medications on the ship, but you do’t want to pay $10 for 2 pills. So go ahead and buy that $5 before you go, and that way you can take your ibuprofen first thing in the morning when you wake up with your party hang over.
Make sure to bring a beach bag. This year I will be taking this Muzmm three in one backpack that I have an unboxing for here. I always have some sort of beach bag with me, so that I have something to carry my stuff around on the ship and then I also have something that I can carry off the ship during shore excursions. I like non cloth bags because obviously there is a lot of water around you and just having the synthetic material can make or break having a soaked bag due to splashing. I like having colorful bags as well as having something with my name on it. If you Tiles, it doesn’t hurt to throw one in there.
Something that I found out recently was the magic of towel clips! These magical things help to keep your towel on your chair and keeps them from falling off! They also help to mark your chair as your own and also informs the fantastic staff on the ship that you’re still using your towels and not to pick them up for you. Of course you should drop off your towels at the towel drop off because it helps out the staff.
Seems silly to mention, but bring a hat. My poor boyfriend is as pale as it comes and so I have to make sure that he brings a hat. Me on the other hand, I don’t always have one because half the time they don’t fit on my head with all of my hair.
A reusable water bottle!! This is so big! It’s so easy to get dehydrated on vacation. Being out in sun, drinking, and having fun can lead to dehydration will lead to you feeling miserable, so bring a water bottle. It helps to get you drinking more and then you don’t have to buy water. You also don’t have to get up all the time to get more water. Just don’t put it to the actual machine!! That spreads germs and gets you sick. Use a clean cup to fill your water bottle. Also bring something you won’t be sad to loose. Don’t bring your Yeti’s and Hydroflasks just in case you leave it somewhere.
I love to bring a carry on. Whether that be a backpack or a carry on suitcase. I always have an extra pair of clothes and a bathing suit in there. I like to allow the cruise line to bring my luggage to my room. You can do it on some cruise lines where it just has to go through the security detector and then you can take it on yourself. In it I always have a change a clothes, my makeup, bathing suit, and anything I think I might need for the few hours I’ll be without my luggage. Of course that includes all of my electronics because those do not leave my side.  Depending on the cruise, depends on how much luggage I’m bringing with me. Lately I’ve been traveling very backpack heavy and have been using the Peak Design backpack. There are plenty of unboxings out there, so I did not make my own. I do love the Peak Design set up and how everything goes together. It makes things really easy!
These are some of the things that I think are helpful to have on vacation! You can watch the video below and scroll through to see some examples and what else that I bring! Of course follow me on social media and you can see how I use the items in action!! Have you been on a cruise before? What are your favorite items to bring?
Bookish, Unboxings

April 2019 Owlcrate Box, The Dark Side

India

It May, so that means that it’s time for me to do the box from the previous month because I can never do these on time!! So without anymore procrastination or delay or talking about absolutely nothing before getting to the items, let’s get to the items. You can also find my unboxing video of the items here, or down below!

The theme for April was The Dark Side and featured some of the same books that other boxes have featured before, so nothing new, but some different items.

First off we got a pair of socks all about Six of Crows featuring artwork by Out of Print from the special edition of the book,  I do love their stuff, and these socks look great!

If we’re doing one Leigh Bardugo series, we’ll do the other and so we have a scarf representing the Darkling from the Grishaverse and designed by Bookmar’d Tattoos

Up next there was a hardcover notebook designed by Stella Bookish Art, and we all know that I love her designs, this time her artwork features a quote inspired by Throne of Glass

We also got a pin banner, so that you can show off all of your enamel pins, or any bookish pins that you might have acquired and designed by Michelle Gray

For the selfie lovers like myself a Vicious inspired phone holder – pop socket- was included in the box and was designed by Hey AtlasCreative

This months enamel pin was inspired by a beaded necklace the main character in The Wicked Saints, Nadya, wears to help her communicate with the gods. It is absolutely beautiful and designed by Hey AtlasCreative. We also got a fabric book map that goes with the book for the month!

Finally for the book! Of course it is an exclusive cover and it’s also signed. It seems like a world wind of a book featuring magic, princes, blood mage, and assassination plans. The Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan sounds like it is going to be filled with a fast paced adventure filled with magic.

 

It was a fun box that highlighted some dark characters. I wish that we could get some different series represented in some of these boxes because we get the same fandoms all the time and there are plenty of series out there that people would love to see items for, but these were still fantastic. Did anyone else notice that the art prints have disappeared?! I did! What did you think of the box? What was your favorite item? Let me know down in the comments, but until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India

 

Bookish, Unboxings

UNBOXING BOOKTUBE | March 2019 Owlcrate

India

Here comes another Owlcrate Unboxing! Last month’s box included items from books like Game of Thrones and Nevernight to go with their Murder and Mayhem theme for March. Instead of talking too much about it let’s list out some of the items that are in the box! If you would like to watch me unbox it you can either click here, or you can find it down below!

First up! We’ve got Owlcrate’s first travel mug inspired by Nevernight and designed by Catarina Book Designs.

There an exclusive Owlcrate canvas drawstring backpack designed by Michelle Gray. It has a nifty zipper pouch on the inside, which makes it different than a lot of other “dump” drawstring backpacks

We’ve got a wooden bookmark by the royal wooden bookmark makers themselves Ink and Wonder Designs featuring a Game of Thrones quote paying homage to the Stark Family.

The illustrious candle makers at In the Wick of Time created three different candles inspired by This Savage Song. I got Corsai, which one did you get.

Next up we got a sticker designed by Jamila Mehio inspired by Three Dark Crowns.

The pin was created by Iron and Ink Designs and is an incredible compass pin that helps to represent the book for the month and its four quadrants.

The book of the month was Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte. Four Dead Queens brings total opposites together in a tale filled with twists and turns to figure out who has been murdering the four queens. This definitely seems like a book if you like Three Dark Queens.

 

For more pictures and to always stay up to date, make sure to follow me on Instagram!

 

Murder and Mayhem Box by Owlcrate
Coffee Break

Kelly Moore Wearable Wallet and Gadget Clutch

India

I did it. I bought another Kelly Moore bag. I believe that it is going to be my last one for awhile. I bought the two smallest bags and most affordable ones on the website.  Let’s get into it and talk about the Gadget Clutch first.

First, let’s talk about price. The Gadget Clutch comes in at $69. I definitely believe that there are cheaper and better options out there, like the one here, but if you have a Kelly Moore problem like I do you might want to buy it.

The Gadget Clutch

The Gadget Clutch, GC, can be carried by itself as a clutch, for a night out or an afternoon walking around, but its main purpose is to organize your items. It is best for your extra cords, hard drives, and other items. I don’t really like the loop aspect of the cords, it doesn’t keep them in well when moving it around.

Inside of the Gadget Clutch

If you start to add too much stuff in it, it does get hard to close. It is a good size though to slide into any other bags or backpacks that you might carry around. Because I don’t use it as a wallet I only put business cards in the card slots mainly because I don’t see me just carrying this around on a day to day basis. As one of the more affordable items I couldn’t pass up getting them to try and add to my organization because I do love pouches.

How I stuff my gadget clutch

I’m not very good at looping the cords around those snaps and I haven’t figured out a better way, so everything still seems like a mess to me and doesn’t hold as many cords as I need it to. On top of having my Apple Mouse on one side I often times have my external hard drive on the other. You can see my battery pack hiding in the back that I keep on me as well. It is a good place to store extra memory cards and filters for your lenses as well. As I mentioned earlier I do believe that there are better alternatives that fit my needs that I linked above.

 

Other organizational alternatives found on Amazon

If you like Kelly Moore bags then this might be a great present for yourself or for a loved one. It gets the job done and fits the Kelly Moore aesthetic completely. With its leather and canvas material it is sure to last for a long time.

Now moving on the to the Wearable Wallet. The Wearable Wallet is in essence a fanny pack, an $89 fanny pack. I very nice fanny pack, but could possibly even not be as practical as a fanny pack because you can’t dump nearly as much stuff into it. It looks almost like the Gadget Clutch, but it has a strap that you can either wear cross body or around your waist. I like to wear it around my waist and slide it into one of my belt loops if I’m wearing jeans. The strap is adjustable, so that it can fit any size waist.

Kelly Moore Wearable Wallet

It is made with leather and canvas just like the Gadget Clutch, but it doesn’t open all the way, so that you can keep whatever contents inside of the bag. It just has the top flap and a zipper with an outside pocket that you can slide small thing in as well.

The front of the Wearable Wallet by Kelly Moore

The inside of the fanny pack also has the card slots that we see in so many Kelly Moore bags. There’s a small mesh pocket with a zipper that I have kept chapstick and lipstick in before. The inside is large enough for me to carry my phone and an external battery pack as well as my GoPro and a kindle. If you have any sort of point and shoot camera like a Sony RX100 or a Canon G7X those will fit nicely inside as well.

The inside of the Wearable Wallet by Kelly Moore

Both of these bags would be great gifts for anyone. They’re a good introduction to the Kelly Moore brand and their quality of bags. I would definitely recommend these as gifts or something to treat yourself with. I’m not going to say that they’re the most economically friendly option because they’re not, and there are other options out there, but they are made with great quality and look good while using or wearing them. Below you’ll find an unboxing of these items where you can see them in some more detail. What did you think of these items? Anything to add to your wishlist? Have you tried any other Kelly Moore products? Let me know down in the comments! Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India