Samantha on the Prairie

BzzAgent sent me a set of Dr. Scholl's Custom Fit Orthotic Inserts to try for free. My foot measuring experience was pleasant and easy, almost fun actually. I measured 120 probably because I'm small and don't put a lot of weight on my feet and my feet have normal arches. I tend to stand more on my heels than the balls of my feet when standing still, so I was hoping these would help relieve some of that pressure and disperse it more evenly. I was pretty disappointed and want to speak to why I didn't feel the product's claims matched my experience since this is such a personal product and everyone is likely to have a unique experience. To understand my responses, here's some helpful info: I am very thin and short (low weight) My arches are considered "normal" I wear a size 5-1/2 shoe and have narrow feet  I only own one pair of traditional sneakers  My Experience First, Dr. Scholl's claims the inserts will fit easily into most shoes, in

It's been almost two months since I visited eSalon in Culver City. My hair color still looks lovely. It's slightly faded and I have 1/2" of root growth and some grays coming in, so I figured it was time to order another kit. I couldn't recall how long processing and shipping takes, so I planned to color after an upcoming trip to Fresno. I went online yesterday, uploaded the below photo from just after my eSalon color experience and a picture of me now (it's a goofy picture so I'm not sharing here). We've had crazy days of either insane bright sun or major storms, so getting a realistic view of my hair was tricky. In my order, I wrote that I wanted to maintain the color I had done in May, mentioned the grays and the roots and set my reorder schedule to 10 weeks. Amazingly, the order was processed the same day and went out via DHL. There's a very small chance, but still a chance, the kit will arrive before I leave on Monday. That would be amazing!

It's been a while since I posted about a BzzAgent campaign. One of the more recent campaigns is for Hillshire Farm American Craft sausage, but I couldn't find it anywhere in town. After a few weeks, I finally found them during my weekly grocery trip, so I bought both the Garlic & Onion and the Smoky Bourbon flavors. Hillshire Farm offers a third flavor, Jalapeño & Cheddar, but I don't like spicy food and was pretty sure my daughter wouldn't try that one, so I didn't get it. I have never cooked sausage before. I am not sure if I've even eaten sausage before, don't laugh. We rarely have hot dogs, so I wasn't sure what I'd think of of the Hillshire Farms sausage. I was eager to try them because I do appreciate the handcrafted quality, the slow-cooked small batch process, and definitely wanted to try the Smoky Bourbon first. Grill times were right on the package, so I just cooked them for the time indicated, turning once, and they were cooke

My sister and I have very similar hair, but while mine is just below my shoulders, my sister's is extremely long. Unlike me, she's also not colored in a long time, so the top half is natural medium brown and the bottom half is a light rusty red color. With Kailee about to graduate from college, I offered to do her hair with color from eSalon. We uploaded a couple of photos and worked with one of eSalon's super helpful color specialists who suggested a demi-permanent color that would bring my sister to an overall natural warm brown which is easy to maintain as she goes off to start her post-college career. the color kit from eSalon Kailee needed more product than I would need, so eSalon sent a complementary second bottle to cover all her hair. It's a nice perk just for the first time you order, so you can be sure to get complete coverage the first time rather than ordering a bottle and later realizing you need two. opening the eSalon kit all the essentia

I had some gaps where I could fit a few plants in the bales after a few seedlings failed to transplant successfully. I had lost my remaining seedlings to the sun when my greenhouse hit more than 120 degrees and melted the tray plastic. Next year, I'll put a mesh cover on after April, or just take down the greenhouse when the outside temps hit 70. I ordered two types of peppers and an eggplant through Burpee's mix and match program. The plants were shipped quickly and arrived in this clever container that did a good job keeping them safe. Burpee provided excellent instructions with clear illustrations so I knew to water them a specified amount immediately, place them in a warm but not too sunny location, and wait a day before transplanting. Following the instructions was easy and the plants thrived overnight. Here's a shot of the plants after I took them out of their packaging. Given they were in a UPS truck, they look pretty good. My UPS driver is super nice

My bales had a lot of oat seeds but it's not affecting my plants. I trim as needed, sometimes pull the oat growth, but so far, it's all good. This is two weeks ago, I think. There's an eggplant, some tomatoes, peppers, greens, lettuce, and cucumbers. I've added some flowers around the outside but they aren't growing much yet. I put a weed mat under the bales. It's debatable whether it's needed but it has helped with water retention. At this point, everything is fine. I pull grass growth when I see it and watch for bugs. I'm using a garlic tea spray on rare occasion when I see a pest I would prefer to avoid. It's worked just fine. I also used a urine spray to keep the bunnies and squirrels away and that's also doing great.

After I had my daughter, I vowed to eat as little fast food as possible. I binged on double cheeseburgers during pregnancy in an attempt to gain weight and by the end, was so disgusted. I very,  very rarely eat fast food and it's usually limited to a plain cheeseburger. No fries, no shakes, no nuggets. It's not that it doesn't taste yummy. I just can't stomach it anymore. My daughter doesn't eat a lot of fast food either. We probably visit McDonald's once every other month. She'll get a Happy Meal, enjoy the toy more than the food, and complain there aren't enough fries for her ketchup, haha. Since we now go so rarely, I haven't seen the styling of McDonald's change in a slow evolution. Instead, like a relative you see once a year, it was like McDonald's from my childhood to this weird new, super mod McDonald's aimed at what I think is business people who watch Fox News and read USA Today. I don't mind the trendy look. It gives

For the past several months I have slowly been making a beautiful dress following a  Craftsy  couture sewing class by  Susan Khalje . Before this, I'd never made a fitted bodice for a grownup and had never made anything substantial from silk. I made two muslins, realizing I'm a near perfect size 10 after making significant alterations to my first attempt with a size 12 pattern. With the 10, there were some tweaks during fitting, but nothing major for fit purposes. I altered my pattern so I'll have the sleeves I want, more coverage in the front, a longer bodice, and a higher back and then began by cutting the silk organza. With the markings on the silk, I don't have to mark the fashion fabric. I used the organza as a pattern to cut the embroidered silk dupioni and basted them together. Truth be told, I'm still basting. I was trying to multitask, watching a TV show, and basted to the wrong side for all four skirt sections, so I'm halfway done fixing