Movie Mondays: Southpaw, Ant-man, Trainwreck, and Serena

I go to the movies a lot. So much that it becomes a jumble in my head and I forget the movies that I see, sometimes. That's pretty sad. So since my goal in blogging is to document my everyday and this year I'm attempting to blog more, I've decided to make every Monday a recap of movies I've seen in the preceding week.

And oh what a week to start this! I saw A LOT!

As you know (or not know) 80% of the moveis I see at theaters are via movie screenings AKA FREE MOVIES! Not only am I able to save a butt-load of money, but I get to see them before any of my friends. Something about that exclusivity makes it so special...

Anyways, this past week, I saw Southpaw at a screening and IT WAS INTENSE! I don't know what got over me, but this movie made me an emotional wreck. I wish I had brought a whole box of kleenex with me that day. Jake Gyllenhaul was amazing in it and Rachel McAdams was beautiful as always. By far, my favorite movie this week. Plus the Eminem soundtrack is kickass. Go see it!

Next is Ant-Man with Paul Rudd. Paul Rudd is so adorable and his goofiness made him a perfect pawn for unintentional comedy in an otherwise serious action movie. And thank god for that comedy because how can you take a ant-size hero seriously?

Trainwreck was...literally a trainwreck. The movie was funny for the first hour and a half. I loved Amy Schumer and Bill Hader, and of course Lebron James, but the last half hour really annoyed me. Did it have to be that long? Did it have to end that way? I find it so unrealistic. It's like she kinda gave up on the writing at the end.

Also, on Netflix, I caught Serena. Why does Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper keep acting together? I love the character Jen portrayed - so strong and confident. But then, why did she have to go crazy at the end? Can't some women succeed and own their happiness with what they already have? Definitely not my favorite J. Law/BradCoop Combo.

Swag highlight: Influenster

Living the good life is fun, but very expensive. Living in a big city like Chicago makes the cost even more. But one can still live that champagne life on a beer budget if one tries hard enough. A way to help offset that cost is through swags. Swag stand for Stuff We All Get. And I usually get them at parties, events and the internet. Thanks to the internet, anyone can sign up and get these things mail to them free of charge. If you want small samples, go to the free stuff page of fatwallet and slickdeals and simply sign up. The really GOOD stuff requires an exchange of online work, mostly through Word of Mouth Marketing. Bzzagent, Crowdtap, PinchMe and Influenster are my top three sites for such things. However, I've been slacking on keeping active on these sites. I'm going to try to make more of an effort and I'm going to start with Influenster.

I love Influenster - they provide the members with boxes of sample products based on their area of expertise, and in exchange, members promote these products via social media such as facebook, twitter, youtube, and other blogs such as this one. I've been a member of Influenster since October 2, 2011 and currently have an impact score of 1852, which is high, but not the highest.

I've received 2 boxes since I joined. The last one was a year ago and one of the items- the Rimmel Scandalous Mascara- was reviewed with this blog post. (Sorry about the bad eye-makeup job. I love makeup but am nowhere near professional-caliber yet, sadly.) What I love about the boxes is the variety of items in it. That last box had chocolate, biscuit, insoles, nail polish and mascara. I consumed each of them with such glee!

Influenster RoseVoxbox

Not only do you receive these things, but are enticed to receive more with rewards for doing certain tasks and actions. I loved the eye makeup, so I made sure to win those rewards, and ended up with more Rimmel!

Like I've mentioned, I haven't been using these sites in a while, and since I last used it, Influenster had a site overhaul. I'm still trying to understand it, and had just spent a good hour answering "Snaps" questions. Hopefully those answers bring some more VoxBoxes!!!

Another change to Influenster is their new InfluensterApp, available in both Apple and Android. I downloaded it and perused it for a bit. One major difference from the full web site is the upc product scan capability. I scanned a few makeup items, and 98% of the items I scanned appeared on the screen, showing me reviews, and prices, and where-to-finds info. I can totally see this coming in handy. Like when I'm at a friend's, and seeing an item and wanting to buy it so I'll use it to locate the stores and prices. Also, if I'm in the store and wanting to know how well it works, I can simply scan it and read the reviews. It's so useful! I don't know why they didn't think of this earlier!

Music Perks: A free Ingrid Michaelson Concert

I once sold a pair of 3-day passes to a Chicago Music Fest. For $250. CRAZY RIGHT?!

Concerts and musical performance are great and all, but it still shocks me everytime how much a ticket cost. And don't forget the extra $20 convenience fee you pay to ticketmaster! And the worst part is sometimes, the venue is so gigantic, you end up watching the show from a screen. What's the point in that?

If you look really hard, there are many ways to obtain entry to a show for free. And the best part - most of these free shows are so intimate that you can get real up close and personal with the artists. Best sources are restaurants and bars that host these shows, radio stations, and liquor companies. Liquor companies LOVES to sponser artists.

Over the years, I've been able to see Gemini Club, Walk the Moon, Ne-yo, Lucius, plus many, many more in really great settings. I saw Moon Taxi on a booze cruise. I danced with Janelle Monae. I hugged St. Lucia. And last week I had lunch while watching watching Ingrid Michaelson crooned out a set of 5-6 songs in the dreamy setting of Carnivale. The afternoon was perfect! Carnivale gave us amazing acoustic and Ingrid gave us an amazing performance. Check out my video of it below:

Ramenfest 2014 at Urban Belly

A week and a half ago, on November 18, 2014, I was invited by my bestie to attend the first ever Ramenfest taking place at UrbanBelly, and presented by UrbanBelly's Head Chef Bill Kim. She won those tickets from a facebook contest, so if anyone ever tells me social media is useless, then that person isn't doing it right. It was an amazing good time, and I can't wait until next year event!

We arrived a few minutes after start time, and was astounded to find a long line out the door! So many people are eager to eat RAMEN! Once entered, we were given a voting ballot as well as a complimentary drink voucher. I opted to try the new Marz Brewing What the Pho Porter. I heard about it a few weeks prior at the Tastes Talk event, and have been eager to try it ever since. It was a collaboration between the brewery and Bill Kim, and had essense of Pho spices in it, so it was a guarantee good time! I actually had 2 cups, and the first taste was very mild and more like a normal porter. However, after eating many, many bowls of ramen, my second cup was a lot different. I can defiintely taste the pho spices in this one and I liked it. I'm not sure if this is due to the ramen tastings, or because the first cup was from draft and the second was from the bottle, but either way, I'd defintely get another bottle of this whenever I can.

Anyway, moving onto the ramen (cuz that's what we're here for, right?) 27 restaurants showed up to this Ramenfest. The first one we tried was from Acadia, and we immediately love it! It tastes very traditional, with broth that were so full-bodied, and porkbellies that were so tender that it melted in our mouth! It actually won the Chef's choice award!

Another favorite of mine was the Honey Butter Fried Chicken Ramen, which included a whole chicken wing in each tasting cup. I loved that restaurant to begin with, but this chicken was different. It was crunchy, honeyed, and reminiscent of Korean-style chicken, which has a soft spot in my heart. It's my absolute favorite chicken.

A few restaurants showed up with cold-noodle ramen, and that didn't appeal to me much. Another dislikes were the ones that steered too far off the path, like the pastrami ramen and the cabbage ramen. Those flavors just didn't go well with noodles.

Big thanks to Nico Osteria for bringing variety and having the most fun table. They provided wine to pair with their ramen, as well as cups of Pistachio Gelato and Snow Maiden Sake Affogato, to allow us a break from all the ramen slurpings. 

Overall, we ate 10 different tastings in the first hour because we went a little nuts. After calming down a little, we paced ourselves and only had room for another 5 tastes or so. There was defintely a lot of ramen! Each tasting bowls were about 4-5 scoops, so 15 bowls was a tremendous feat! I wonder if anyone actually finished all 27 bowls...

Pigging out at Ramenfest 2014

We left there full to the brim, but already dreaming of next year's event. Check here for more pictures of the event, courtesy of Raney Images, and consider going next year, like I am!

Bordeaux Wine Match Making Party

I am a huge wine drinker. Especially from a huge glass. But even with all that I drink, I still have a lot of things I don't know about wine. That's why when I was invited to a Bordeaux wine tasting event, (brought to me by the Bordeaux wine council financed by the European Union), I was eager to go.

We arrived at the Posh Gold Coast Public Hotel and queue up outside the Library Bar. Once checked in, we were assigned our wine profile - predetermined by an online questionaire we submitted at the pre-registration. I was assigned table #5, which was mostly red blends. Apparently, my wine profile is Elegant. That's completely true. I like a little bit of everything. We were each given 4 drink tickets, so I quickly grabbed my first glass of wine and then went to catch up with friends. 

Yes, I did like the red blend a lot. No, I do not remember what their name, year, descriptions are. How do people keep up with that? Thank god for pictures to help me memoralize it.

I drank my 4 glasses, then headed over to the sweet whites and tasted 3 more small glasses. I love sweets, but I must remember that I do not like honey in my wine. It doesn't taste like a honey-pot like you would imagine, but more like a thicker cough syrup. yuck.

I'm not sure who the caterers were, but the food was pretty good too. They had a table of cheese and charcuterie, nuts and fruits. Being passed around the room were samosas, empanadas, coconut shrimps, lamb skewers, burgers, hot dogs and truffle balls. OMG THOSE TRUFFLE BALLS WERE AMAZING!! Thanks for dinner, Bordeaux! 

Swag swag Swag

Oh, and there was a prize wheel too! With plenty of prizes to be won, if you can answer a wine question correctly. I had no problem answering a true or false q about whether Bordeaux was own by big corporation (False, by the way), but I only won a pair of sunglasses. With all the other items on the table, I was pretty un-enthused by my glasses. I have about 2 dozens at home. Thankfully, the nice folks allowed me to trade it in for a cooler bag. Now, if only I can figure out how the cooler bag works...But first, a nap. Because these 4-5ish glasses of wine is defeating me.

Craft Beer Week and Craft Beer Cruise (Many weeks later)

Disclaimer: This post was originally drafted at the end of May, but then, life happens....

It was just waiting for me to add pictures, and then hit post. I finally did it!

A Nice Glass of Rev Brew Loganberry

Chicago Craft Beer Week is a 10-Day excuse to drink as much beer as we possibly can. But it's good beer, so it's ok, right? There are so many events to choose from, that at first glance, I was overwhelmed with all the options. Eventually, I settled on some things that I wanted to try out. Last weekend, I attended the Laguinitas Beer Circus, which was a blend of circus acts, punk bands, and of course free-flowing beer. We drank until we knocked out on the grass, and then we got up and drank some more.

We also visited a new-to-us bar - Northdown Cafe and Tavern, in Lakeview. They ran a Craft Beer Week Special and I just had to try the Candi Crushables, which were only $4. It was very sweet, so the name on the lable wasn't a lie. The BF tried Firebird, which left a very smoky taste in my mouth. Pretty wierd- coming from a beer. Overall, I was glad we made that visit. Discovering new things are always exciting!

Another thing I wanted to check out was the Chicago Craft Beer Cruise on The Mystic Blue Boat at Navy Pier. I didn't think I could make it, but at the last second, I entered a twitter retweet contest, and Mystic Blue awarded me with 2 tickets! Thanks, guys! You are so NICE!!

On arrival, I was given 8 sample tickets for me and my BFF. I immedately went to work on sampling the beers. On the first level, there were 6-7 tables from different breweries, and 4 more tables were on the second floor.Although I arrived at 5:45pm and left at 8pm,  it felt like I was only there for 10 minutes. Aside from the beer, there were buffet tables of food and the amazing city view to distract me.

I love this view of Chicago From the Lake

Before I knew it, I had only 4 minutes left before last call, and I still had 5 more beers to try. I didn't want to miss out on any so I ran and grabbed as many beers as I could. The BFF sat at the table while I made 2 trips to pick up these beers. So, good news is I tried them all. Bad news is, I knew which cup was my favorite, but the cups weren't labeled, so I didn't know which breweries it was from. *womp womp* Overall, I had a great time, but wish it was a little longer. Oh, and also a little warmer! But that feeling of beingon the water is just incredibly wonderful and I wish I could do that everday!

Pardon that long hiatus... But now I'm back!

Winter. Wow, that was a hard winter. So long. So cold. So dreary. So miserable.

Add to that a major life change such as leaving a stable job, and it would make anyone crawl under the covers and never want to leave.

Thankfully, I was able to pull myself up by the bootstraps and found work immediately, and worked hard all winter. My bf made fun of me because I didn't even get a chance to enjoy unemployment ;)

However, all these factors made it an exhausting time in my life. I still go out every other day- as is my nature, and did a lot of fun things- but I couldn't motivate myself enough to blog about any of it. My mind was all consumed with thoughts about my uncertain future. Obsessively over-thinking causes a fatigue like no other. Ugh, if only I can control it instead of having a brain that is constantly filled with a million different thoughts, bouncing around haphazardly like a ADHD kid on 10 cans of redbull. That struggle is real.

But things are changing. I started at yet another new workplace 2 days ago, so it feels like a fresh start. Also, spring came back, finally. Today was a glorious day! I actually went out to lunch without a jacket and it was quite liberating! I walked with a spring my step, and that jostled something in my brain.

I WANT TO WRITE AGAIN!

So hang with me and I'll tell you all about my upcoming shenanigans. :)

Cheeky In Miami Burger and Beer Competition

CheekyChicago, one of the best group of people on the internet - check them out at http://cheekychicago.com - hosted a Burger Competition, and the winner received a free trip to Miami! I, myself, submitted a recipe, but wasn't chosen as a top 4. No Sweat! I still got to attend the Burger and Beer party at 25 Degrees in River North, Chicago where I tasted all 4 burgers and drank all the free Amstel Light I can. Shout out to Amstel for being an amazing sponsor!! Also, huge congrats to Brittany for winning with her Bison Burger. And double huge congrats to her for being proposed to just right after winning was announced. Someone had QUITE a night!! And I had fun too. 

*Sidenote: one of the burgers, called the Thanksgiving Burger, tasted just like the recipe I submitted. But I'm not gonna let that bother me. Stay positive, people!

Grand Opening: Vora

Vora is a brand new sushi and Asian restaurant that opened this month in Chicago's Gold Coast. They hosted a 2-day Grand Opening Party that consisted of complimentary food tastings as well as Cocktail Pairings. I got to try a few things on their items, and it is delicious! The best standouts are the soup dumplings, which is so full of flavor, and the shaved ice, which melts in your mouth like no other ice cream can. I tried a Japanese Beer called Asahi - a light lager that taste a lot like Sapporo, and a specialty cocktail called The Autumn and neither of those items disappoint. Thanks Vora, for a great night!

If you're in the area, check them out at 

http://vorachicago.com/

1028 n clark st

chicago, il 60610

DishCrawl in South Loop Chicago

Chicago is a great city to live in if you're a foodie. Just last week, Michelin awarded 25 Chicago's establishments with Michelin Stars - the most ever in the city's history. There are so many good restaurants here that even if I have a favorite, I have a hard time revisited them again, because there's always another new one to try. 

I do tend to stay in the same handful of neighborhoods when I'm eating out. Downtown is for the afterwork dinners. West Loop is for the "treat-yourself" upscale dining. River North is the fun vibe to take out-of-towner who yearns for the bar/club scene. Albany Park is for diverse food - literally can find any ethnic dishes here. Wicker Park/Logan Square is the up-and-coming places/chef. Lakeview/Lincoln Park is the newish places that you have to visit asap or it will close next time you visit.

And then there is South Loop. I hardly ever spend any time in South Loop. In my mind, it's more residential than it is a culinary destination. Thank God for Dishcrawl! 

Dishcrawl is a Food Adventure company who's tagline is "Make Life Delcious. It is like a Bar Crawl, but for food. They partnered with a handful of restaurants, all within walking distance to each other, and lead a tour through small bites, appetizers, entrees. Dishcrawl is a great way to discover dining in a new area. It completely changed MY mind about South Loop! Check them out in your area: http://dishcrawl.com . Tickets go for around $45 but last week, I was invited to a special complimentary Dishcrawl, co-sponsored by OneMedical, a great healthcare service here in Chicago. The theme that night was healthy eating, and it was a delicious healthy night.

Follow below for my Dishcrawl Journey:

I arrived to the first location, City Tavern, half an hour late since I had a previous engagement that same night. The event was to start at 6:30pm and when I got there at 7pm, about 70 people were just milling about on the 2 floors of City Tavern. I quickly and easily checked in and went around to talk with various people I knew in the crowd. I gathered that we were divided into several different groups, and I was placed in the gray group. A few friends were in the green group - the designated group with dietary restriction like vegetarian or non-pork eaters, and tried to convince me to switch, but I'm glad I didn't. (More on why later...) I had fun chit-chatting with people, but I was highly disappointed I didn't get to try any food at City Tavern. Apparently, there were some salami chips and cheese puffs being passed around, but none of it reached me nor my other friends. I feel bad for the people that were there for an hour with no food!

Finally, after half an hour of no eating, we part ways to our respective group's next restaurant. Mine was at Flo & Santos, a Italian place that had the best smelling pizza. Unfortunately, there were to be no pizza for us. We sat down and was immediately served a plate of salad, pierogis and sauerkraut. I'm not the biggest fan of sauerkraut, but I ate the whole plate since it was so amazing. I have to come back again for their pizza.

Last stop was at Weather Mark Tavern. They had an incredibly spread for us here. They certainly did not want us to leave here hungry! I had several sticks of bacon-wrapped potatoes that was just heavenly! I followed that down with stuffed chicken roulade topped with grilled onion. Lastly, I had a giant heaping of candied walnut salad which is my favorite kind of salad. Well, anything with the word candy in it is good. I must have gotten up for the bacon-potatoe skewers 3 times. We all ate until we were in pain, and then tried to put down some more.

As you can see, I had a delicious time just like I expected. But that's because I'm very open-minded about what I eat. My friends, however, can't eat pork for religious reasons, and did not have such a great time. They had notified the Dishcrawl coordinators of their restriction, and was under the impression that the group they were in would accommodate. However, they told me that on their second stop, everything that came out were pork. They got quite frustrated and ended up leaving halfway into their crawl to grab a pizza nearby. So, I was very glad I didn't go with their group. However, I was disappointed that Dishcrawl didn't do a better job at placing them in the right group. Had they gone with my group, they would have been fine. So in that end, if you go on a Dishcrawl, check and check again that the menu would be ok for you before you buy a ticket!

Movie Screening Alert! Mary Poppins And Saving Mr. Banks

I'm a big fan of advanced movie screenings. This typically means I get to see a movie for free, and before it opens to the public. If you live in a big city, like Chicago, New York, or LA, there could be multiple free screenings each week. It's a great way to save money on the entertainment budget, but the big downside is that you have to arrive at the theater and queue up at least an hour before the movie start time. There are a few times where this is the exception, and those times are when the screening sponsors are rockstar, ie AMEX and Freebie App, to name a few, where your seats are reserved, you don't have to wait at all, and sometimes you get free popcorn, drinks, and/or gifts. Nice, right?

Other screenings sponsors/sources are your local radio stations, tv news stations, and Lifestyle Magazines, and Movie Studios. In Chicago, the best way is through the daily commuter paper, The Redeye, which frequently post movie ads with gofobo rsvp codes.

What is gofobo? It's the movie promotors' preferred ticket distribution site. Sign up for an account, and when you have a code, they'll give you a screening pass which you print out and hand in at the screening. If you forget to print it, you can also show it on your smartphone, which I've only done once. I like the security of a paper ticket, in the off-chance their machine broke and they can't look up your gofobo code, and you'd wasted the time for nothing.

The other downside to this screening is that once a code or pass is release, you have to HURRY and get one. They tend to run out within hours. Minutes, even, for the big blockbusters.

On that note, check out this Disney Sneak Peek Double Feature I found! It's for TWO movies, Mary Poppins And Saving Mr. Banks. I've heard of the first, but don't know much about the second. If you're free, or think you're free, sign up quick!

The Deets
Music Box Theatre
3733 N Southport Ave
Chicago, IL 60613
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 10:30 PM (CST)

I just wanted pie...but got that and more!

When I attended the Beerhoptacular Event a few weeks ago, I received a coupon for a free pumpkin pie at Whole Foods.The coupon expired today, and since I was out of town for a week, today was the only day I could have redeem it.  I hate doing things last minute (but I still do. Constantly. I hate it.) because I always end up sacrificing something else to get the first thing done. In this case, I skipped out on a party at Studio Paris and instead went to Whole Foods and picked up my pie. (I was not going to be that person who shows up to a club/bar with a grocery tote bag. That's totally inconsiderate with the crowd and bag-ladylike). I could have been shooting back Grand Marnier Titanium shots, but instead I hurriedly ran to Whole Foods to redeem a coupon. And THIS is what happens:

Can you see what's so great about the picture below??

Do you see it? I got a free pie, AND $1.84 in change back! Back in my extreme-couponing days, this is what we call "Overage". This would have been meticulously planned for but in today case, it was a complete accident! I don't know how it happened, but I did have to wait half an hour for a pie to be restocked, so I will take that as good karma. I almost walked out too when I was waiting for so long, but I had already declined a ride home just to go to Whole Foods, so I was willing to be a bit annoyed, which turned out to be compensated for. I love when things work out like that! 

And it didn't just happen to me. The boy went to get his pie on an separate, unrelated trip, and he got the free pie and $8.99 off his whole grocery bill. He got a better deal, but I'm not complaining.

Makeup Review: Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara

I was pretty excited to receive my November Influester #RoseVoxbox. The box was filled to the brim with lots of great things. However, one thing that stood out was the Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara.

First off, a disclosure: I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. However, opinions are my own. And my opinion is that Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara is great!

Time for eyes!

I normally have absolutely no visible lashes as you can see below of my makeup-free eyes (damn genetics) !!!

So I rely heavily on eyeliner and mascara just to have eyes that pop. Normally, my routine is very basic and natural like so:

But with Rimmel, look how my lashes stands out! I love how it's shape like an hourglass, which gave great ease in angling the wand to get a better coat.

I normally don't go too much crazier than this, but with the influester program, I was inspired to give the retro look a try. I used this video from Rimmel London as inspiration and this was the crazy result. HAHAHA, I need to practice this move a few more times before I can go out in public. Or maybe retro just isn't my thing?

I love this mascara. It stays on for a long time too, which is generally great, but that also means that it takes a lot of scrubbing to get it off. I see that as a small price to pay. It will definitely stay in my bag for a long time! This mascara hits shelves November 2013, so grab it when you see it. 

Grand Opening: Field Bistro of The Field Museum of Natural History

Last Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of attending a Grand Opening Party at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. I jump at any chance of visiting one of Chicago's best museum. And to do so at night when the place is not overrun by screaming children is a big plus. But as a lover of food, I was beyond thrilled that the event was to showcase the new Field Bistro, a restaurant in the Field Museum that specializes in locally sourced food that is good for you AND very good to eat. The food was beyond amazing. Check out their menu here. The service was fabulous at the party. I was asked if I needed anything about 5 times before I could even sit down. I ate leisurely until I was full and then made my way over to the very nice bar in the corner. Since I was a guest of River North Beer, a very fun beer distribution company here in Chicago, I just had to try the beer Tooth and Claw. River North Beer distributes for Off Color Brewing, who makes Tooth and Claw just for the Field Museum. Special, isn't it? Even more special is the unique beer handle which is a Giant Tooth. See the first picture in the set of pictures below. Don't you just love it? It tells it like it is. Also note that in the last picture, we see the glass which states that the beer is made of hops, pulverized dino teeth, and malt. HAHAHA, I love their humor. I checked with the sources, and indeed there are no dino teeth nor bones in that thing, so don't panic! 

But, do panic a little because this beer is great, and yet you cannot get it anywhere else. If you happen to be in Chicago, I highly suggest you visit. The Field Museum is located at 1400 S Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60605 and they are open every day except Christmas. 9am-5pm

BirchBoxMan Presents: Delivery Man!

Today after a very hectic day of work (nothing new there) I ran over to the AMC 600 North Michigan theater in Chicago and attended a movie screening, which I love to do and used to do all the time. However, this past summer was quite hectic, and I hardly sat in front of the big screen.

But, I'm back! Those movie theaters better watch out for me!

Normally, during a movie screening, I like to arrive an hour ahead of start time. But tonight, I was running late from work, and on my walk over, I bumped into a former coworker and chit-chatted for a bit. So I arrived 15 minutes before start time. Thankfully, my friend was already there and she had snagged us seats 3rd row in. Pretty decent seat for a free screening...

The screening itself was great. The movie was Delivery Man, starring Vince Vaughn. He's one of my favorite actor. He's so funny, and so lovable. The movie comes out November 22, 2013, so if you want a feel-good outing, check it out. However, if you want to stay in, I recommend watching Starbuck , which is the original movie that Vince's remake is based off of. I, myself, saw Starbuck a few days ago on Netflix, and I thought it was a very cute, very well made. After watching Delivery Man, I can say that both movies are EXACTLY the same, just in different languages (Starbuck is French-Canadian).

I saw the trailer for Delivery Man first and the whole basis of one sperm donor with 533 offsprings truly intrigued me. I thought this would be a comedy since it starred Vince Vaughn. But while browsing Netflix, I came across Starbuck and gave it a try. It was very emotional and dramatic. Did anyone else shed a tear or 2? I always love a movie with a good ending.

Another good ending for tonight was that since this screening was sponsored by BirchBox Man, everyone in the audience received either a Birchbox for Men or Birchbox for Women box. Birchbox is a subscription-based beauty box that arrive in the mail. Check them out: http://www.birchbox.com/

Having received a Glossybox (another subscription-based box) just yesterday, I can't help but compare the two. My Birchbox had 4 small sample-size items, whereas my Glossybox were full-sized. Birchbox paled in comparison, however, I love freebies and I would never turn away any, regardless of size.


This is what I got:

From left to right:
Beauty Protector Daily Shampoo and Conditioner
Folle de Joie eau de parfum
eyeko London Black Magic Mascara

I can't wait to try it out and let you know how it is. On a side note, I found out on instagram that the DC screening had eyeliner instead of the mascara and additionally have lipglosses. Not fair! Even before I found this out, I told my friend that I am completely overloaded with mascaras, and was hoping for some eyeliner. Oh well, guess I should clean my bathroom and see if I have an extra stick of eyeliner hiding somewhere.