With July 4th right around the corner I thought it would be a great time to discuss some of my favorite Summer Tech Tips. Some of these tips you may already be familiar with, others, not so much, but I keep all of these tips in mind when it comes to the summer because tech, gadgets and the summer time all have a very precarious relationship. After all, no one wants water damage on their tablet or to drop their iPhone off a roller coaster! So, here are my 10 Summer Tech Tips to get you and your gadgets through the summer months!
1. Keep your earbuds safe by keeping them wrapped up in a dedicated cord organizer or in a small contact lens case.
3. Use a dedicated hand cream like my favorite Caudalie or JR Watkins hand creams to prevent smudging on your touch screen devices.
4. Give your devices a deep clean every now and again by using anti-bacterial wipes. I use Wet Ones, and I always may sure my device is turned off before I begin cleaning it and always avoid any openings in the device housing!
5. Use a waterproof bikini bag to store any tech gadgets like phones or tablets when you are going to the beach or too the pool.
6. Use dedicated dust plugs to close up any openings in your device while you are at the beach. After all, sand always finds its way into the most unexpected places!
7. Use a heavy duty case for your smartphone while out and about this summer. Some brands even make waterproof cases that are perfect for those hiking and white water rafting adventures!
8. If you plan to use your devices outdoors this summer, make sure to invest in an anti-glare screen protector for the best viewing on your smartphone or tablet.
9. Pack a backup battery for long days out of the house or away from outlets.
10. Make sure to password protect your devices and activate any device location services you have available. Summer is a heavy season for theft and you don’t want to loose your device to crooks or the casual opportunist!
I hope these tips have been helpful to you! Hope you guys have a great summer and make sure to keep your gadgets safe and sound!
With July 4th coming up, I thought I would take a moment to talk to you about drinking, or rather, how to avoid drinking in social situations. This information doesn’t just apply to July 4th weekend, but can be applied all year round if you are someone who prefers not to drink but finds it had to avoid drinking while others are indulging.
Reasons to avoid alcohol
While you certainly do not need a reason to avoid drinking, there are many legitimate reasons why one would choose not to drink in a social situation. You may be in a recovery program in which you are voluntarily prohibiting yourself from alcohol, in which case you have made a commitment and would not want to stray from that. You may be on certain medications that interact negatively with alcohol, or you may be the designated driver for the evening. These situations tend to have the least amount of pressure from others to drink. Usually, people who know this information will not offer you drinks or try to compromise your integrity or health while out at a bar or a barbecue, but what about other reasons when your avoidance of alcohol is not so clear cut?
I for one, generally do not drink when I am out, even if I am with friends who are drinking. I have no problem defending my position that I don’t like alcohol and the affects it has on my demeanor. I find that alcohol makes me feel tired and gives me a stomach ache, and even if I keep my drink count low, having alcohol in my system usually makes me feel laggy for days. I personally also do not like to drink my calories in alcohol or any other beverage for that matter so that factors in as well.
The Stigma of Sobriety
For me, its not hard to avoid drinking because most people know this about me and will not offer me drinks, but what if you were someone who usually drinks with friends but now, for whatever reason, has decided to stop?
The first thing you have to know is that sometimes people find it hard to understand why someone would not be drinking alcohol if it was offered. People almost take it personally or feel like they are being judged when someone suddenly stops drinking. There is definitely a stigma around sobriety and it usually leads to the assumption that you are recovering from an alcohol addiction (whether you are or not) or that you’re pregnant (if you’re a woman). These questions can lead to a feeling of peer pressure that could cause you to fall off your own wagon in a way and choose to drink just to fit in.
I know some people who end up doing this. They may want to avoid alcohol for one reason or another but when they get together with their group of old drinking buddies, they find it hard to avoid drinking and since they don’t have a strong reason to withhold they end up imbibing. I think this stigma sucks, but luckily there are some things you can do to avoid it!
Tips to Avoid Alcohol
If you feel like you cannot survive the stigma around sobriety, there are a few things you can do to avoid suspicion. If you have an event at a bar or restaurant, I would suggest arriving a bit early before the others and talking to your bartender or waitress. If you let them know you are not drinking this evening, but you don’t want anyone to know, they can make you fake drinks that appear to be alcoholic beverages, but are really just club soda or mixers without the alcohol. Many times, the glasses they use at bars and restaurants denote alcoholic beverages from non alcoholic beverages, so if you arrive ahead of your friends and they see you with a clear glass filled with ice and garnished with a lime, they will just assume its your usual gin and tonic, even if its clear soda or seltzer water.
Just make sure if someone wants to try your drink you keep it to yourself. Its easy enough to make up an excuse like “I think I may be coming down with something so its probably best if you don’t drink from my glass.” And if you can’t make it early to to location, don’t fret, just try to pull your waitress or bartender aside and discreetly let them know your preference for the evening. Bartenders especially will understand this and are usually more than willing to oblige. Just make sure you pass them a good tip at the end of the night for keeping your secret safe, after all, you are saving a good amount of money if your drinks are dressed up sodas without the shots of alcohol!
Now, these tips may work when you are out with friends, but what about when you’re at someones home or a barbecue? Obviously, its a little harder to control this situation, but there are things you can do to avoid alcohol without people pestering you about it. First, I suggest bringing some drinks of your own. Usually, if your attending a barbecue or a party at someone’s house, or at a public place like a camp site or local park, you would bring something like a side dish or a bottle of wine etc. Well, make sure you bring yourself something to drink without alcohol in it.
I suggest one of three things. First, if you are normally a beer drinker, I suggest picking up a 6-pack of a micro brew root beer or ginger ale that you can find at your local grocery store. Often times these microbrew non alcoholic drinks appear to be actual beers as they are packaged like them. You don’t need to say anything about what you brought, but if someone asks you and notices its not a beer, you can say something like “I really love this stuff, its my new addiction!” People may offer you something alcoholic, and you can politely pass on it with the legitimate excuse that you brought your own. I find with situations like this, people aren’t so concerned with what you are drinking as long as you are drinking something that looks familiar.
My second suggestion would be to bring a pitcher of a beverage that looks like a mixed drink. Remember in college when you used to drink “jungle juice” and it was basically Kool Aid with tons of clear alcohol in it, but for some reason you couldn’t taste the alcohol? That’s the concept with this one. Make a colorful beverage and stick to it for the event. If someone asks for a sip, let them have it and revel with them in amazement at the fact that you just can’t taste the alcohol! “Maybe I didn’t put enough alcohol in,” you can suggest. Your not lying and your friends will probably end up avoiding your beverage for something stronger anyway. In the end, everyone wins and you most of all win for avoiding alcohol without feeling the peer pressure of your friends.
My final suggestion would be to use a colored solo cup or your own opaque pitcher to drink from during the event. At parties, the non alcoholic beverages are normally sitting right next to the alcoholic ones, so its easy enough to fill your cup with a soda or juice instead of the hostesses homemade sangria. As long as they can’t see whats in your cup, no one can notice what you are or are not drinking. If comments arise as to the quality and taste of the sangria, make sure you give your thumbs up to be polite to your host. She certainly won’t know you didn’t try it!
Conclusion
Even though you may find yourself in social situations where you would normally enjoy a drink with friends and family, its often tough to avoid alcohol even if you want to. Compound that with the fact that many people find it odd when friends suddenly change their drinking behavior, and certain social events can turn into a pressure filled time instead of a fun event! Although honesty is always the best policy, what your friends and family don’t know won’t hurt them, and its not like your hurting yourself by not drinking. So, with a little forethought, you can make sure you look and feel like you fit in with your crowd while also maintaining your personal integrity. After all, alcohol is a tricky thing. It may be fun to loosen up with a drink, but it can also have short term and long term affects to your well being that just aren’t worth it to some people. So make sure you’re doing what you need to do to get by and I hope you have a great July 4th wherever and however you are celebrating!
I absolutely love my Kate Spade iPhone hard case, but when I first purchased it, I will admit, I couldn’t figure out how to install or remove it! The case did come with a short set of directions, however, I found those to be utterly useless, so I headed to YouTube to find the answer. There weren’t many videos on the subject but I eventually found one that helped me get my case up and running. Recently, I decided to return the favor and filmed my own “How to Install and Remove a Kate Spade iPhone Case” video that shows the best way I have found to deal with the case. Above is the video in case you want to watch it, but I thought I should give a brief written overview in case your not able to watch the video.
To Install the case
The Kate Spade Hard Cases come in two pieces, a front section that includes the front lip and sides of the case and a back section that is just a flat backing with raised grooves that will lock into the front portion. To open the case for installation, simply push the backing out away from the inside out. Make sure to firmly hold onto the front lip of the case and push the back plate out of place. This made be hard to do initially, so don’t be afraid to use force.
Once the two parts are separated, you will drop your phone face first into the front portion of the case and then fit the back plate in behind it to close it up. You will then need to push firmly all around the back edges of the case to get the back plate to snap in. If any sections around the sides seem to be lifting away from the case, push firmly on those side sections while also pushing down with on the backplate until you hear that section snap into place.
On a side note, these cases are so well fitted that you cannot use a thick screen or back plate cover while using this case. For example, I had one of those thick mirrored screen protectors when I received this case and it wouldn’t go on properly so I had to switch my screen protector out for a simple thin one. Just keep that in mind when using a Kate Spade hard case!
To Remove the case
Removing the case is the tough part, especially since you are going to feel like you’re breaking the case, so this next part is not something to rush through without thought. The best way I have found to remove the Kate Spade Hard Case is by pushing the front portion away from the back portion at the cut out for your volume rocker. That is really the only spot on the case where you can get a good grip with your thumb.
So holding the case face down in your hand so that you are looking at the back plate, position your thumb into the opening for the volume and begin to firmly pull it down away from the back plate. You will see a little section pop up away from the front portion and with that you will use your fingers or finger nails to peel the back plate away from the front section of the case. The first few times you do this may be difficult and if you are having trouble definitely watch the video to see how I do it, but this method is the easiest, you just need to do it carefully because you don’t want to break the casing around the volume rocker because it is thinner plastic, so it could break theoretically with too much force.
I hope this information was helpful to anyone out there who has a Kate Spade iPhone Hard Case or was thinking of buying one! If you are interested in the case I have, I have included a link to mine through Amazon where you can buy one pretty inexpensively!
{Click through the image to get to product information}
Okay guys! Listen up because I have some news and updates that I wanted to share! I just got back from The Blogcademy in New York City. In case you are not aware, The Blogcademy is a two day workshop for bloggers hosted by three of the webs greatest bloggers, Gala Darling, Nubby Twiglet and Rock N Roll Bride! Without going into too much detail, the workshop centers around helping budding young bloggers like myself turn their sites into successful internet properties by learning to develop good content, accurately using branding and marketing and learning to monetize.
I learned a lot about some areas I am behind in and also rediscovered my purpose and direction for Strange & Charmed. So, of course, this means over the next few days, weeks and months, you may see some tweaks here and there to the site, my content and hopefully to the overall feel of the blog.
A more complete write up of my Blogcademy experience will follow eventually is some form or another, but like I said, there is a lot of processing I need to do and the fact that I have to go back to work Monday morning doesn’t give me any immediate time to think! So, stay tuned!
Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice, the official start of summer. Something about this time of year always makes me think about the Shakespearean play A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. It is one of my favorite books, filled with Fairy’s, magic, and romance! Whenever I read it, I envision all the characters as though they have stepped out of a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Mermaids, Sprites, Amazonians, Fairy Lords and Ladies frolicking in an enchanted wood all while leading a bunch of quarreling lovers through a moonlit chase to find their true love! Yes, a little magic is needed to cure the love-sick hearts, but in the end each couple is reunited to their hearts content, with only the memory of a fading dream to explain their night.
“Once I sat upon a promontory, And heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s back, Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, That the rude sea grew civil at her song; And certain stars shot madly from their spheres, To hear the sea-maid’s music.”
– Oberon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“Come, now a roundel and a fairy song;
Then, for the third part of a minute, hence;
Some to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds,
Some war with rere-mice for their leathern wings,
To make my small elves coats, and some keep back
The clamorous owl that nightly hoots and wonders
At our quaint spirits. Sing me now asleep;
Then to your offices and let me rest.”
-Titania, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“But all the story of the night told over, And their minds transfigur’d so together, More witnesseth than fancy’s images, And grows to something of great constancy, But howsoever strange, and admirable.”
– Hippolyta, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was.”
-Bottom, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear.”
Have you guys heard about the new Pebble smart watch? Back in April on Kickstarter, the Pebble smart watch became the most funded project to date, raising an astounding $10,266,844, pledged by nearly 70,000 people! By the way, its original goal was only $100,000.
So what does this watch do that makes it so smart? This watch is a quick way to stay connected to your incoming cell phone messages no matter where your phone is. It connects to your iPhone or Android device via Bluetooth and keeps you informed when notifications come in including emails, text messages, calendar alerts, weather updates, and incoming phone calls. In addition to notifying you, the watch also allows you to quick browse your messages, accept or deny calls, and control your music. That is just the beginning though, since in addition to other features, Pebble has released an SDK for developers to start working on even better and specific applications to run with the watch.
So why am I obsessing over it? Think of how many times you have missed a call or important message because had your phone in another room, or on silent, hidden in your bag, or deep inside your pockets. With this, you can always be informed of who is trying to reach you and decide if you should bother pulling out your phone just to talk to a telemarketer. The watch is also useful, if let’s say, you are in a meeting and want to check a missed call or text but don’t want to be disrespectful by pulling out your phone. Instead you could discretely look at your watch.
It currently comes in five colors: jet black, grey, arctic white, cherry red, and orange. It has an e-paper display with a backlight so you can clearly see it day or night. You can download and customize your watch faces and easily change out the watchbands with ones you purchase yourself. It is currently on pre-order, since they are still fulfilling Kickstarter orders, and it is priced at $150.00. You can find out more about the watch, or order one yourself at http://www.getpebble.com.
So, what do you think? Is this watch worth the hype or just another gimmicky accessory? Let us know in the comments!
As you may remember, last month I signed up for the Ipsy My Glam Bag after deciding that I wanted to sign up for one of the many beauty subscription box services. My May bag was filled with awesome stuff, but I did know what to expect, so my June bag was a surprise! I have an unboxing video going up on my YouTube channel, but I mentioned in that video that I would put up swatches on my blog and I have also decided to take some pictures and do a little review.
So, as you can see from the overview, the bag was a wonderful cheetah print, highlighted with a chartreuse zipper across the top of the bag. Inside were five full sized items as far as I could tell from doing a little research. The first was the JCats Sparkling Cream Palette as seen above. It appears to be a glitter eyeshadow palette. The colors are definitely not something I would have chosen or really would wear on my eyes as I usually avoid gold and I didn’t get a good impression of them from the way they looked inside the palette. They retail for about $5 online.
The next item in my bag was a NYX Rouge Cream Blush in the color Boho Chic, a deep nude pink tone. The consistency of the blush was very nice and smooth and it applied easily and evenly to the skin when I tested it. This item retails for $6 on the NYX site and is something I have never tried before. In fact, I have no cream blushes whatsoever and this color is also unlike anything I have. I think it will be a lovely natural summer blush so I am excited to try it out with a full face of makeup. {Color swatch below with the others).
The next items were a lipliner and an eye highlight. The lipliner pencil from Starlooks came in the color Tipsy, which as you can see below appears to be a pinkish nude in the pencil but swatches much brighter. The pencils retail for $12 and definely had a nice consistency that you would expect from a more expensive liner. The Chella eye highlight came in the color ivory lace and I am still not exactly sure how to use it. It is either an eyeshadow highlight that I can use under my brow and perhaps in the corners of my eye to brighten my eye area, or perhaps I can also use it to line my lower water line to get that enlarged eye look. I don’t see why I couldn’t use it that way and I think I would get more use out of it that way. It retails for $18 so thats another higher end brand, however, I have never heard of them or the Starlooks brand before, but that’s is the point of these beauty box subscriptions- to find new products!
This next product was a Cailyn Line Fix Gel Eyeliner. It came in the most interesting packaging that I refuse to throw away because its so pretty!
The eyeliner came in the color Iron, which was basically a dark grey which is perfect for me! I have never used gel eyeliner before, but this packaging was so clever. The top stick actually pops off and reveals the liner brush, so its like an all in one product and it retails for $21! I will definitely get use out of that for sure!
As you can see in this image above, the blush and the lipliner look like they are part of a similar color family, although, as you can tell from the swatches below, they are actually quite different!
The color in the pencil is a bit deceiving as it is much brighter when you apply it to the skin! I still think its a pretty good neutral however, and I tried it with my Mirabella Pixie Lipstick from May’s Ipsy bag and they go together well. I also have a feeling it will work nicely with my Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain in the color Rendezvous as it is a similar orange hued coral. I also think this liner may work well with a nude lip color if I fill in the lips with the liner a little bit first.
Here is a “swatch” of one of the sparkling cream eyeshadows. As you can see, this product is very chunky and basically just straight glitter. I am definitely not going to put this on my eyelids as it is very difficult to apply and its so thick, I worry I may get the glitter in my eyes! The colors were very pretty and perhaps they can be used as some sort of body glitter, but overall the product is not very good in my opinion. The word cream in the name is quite deceiving as there is no cream base to this product as far as I can tell.
Here are the color swatches for the products. I apologize that I swatched these on my arm with my birthmark! Also, my arms are quite hairy since I am Mediterranean descent and I have never been one to bother with shaving or waxing them. Anywhoo, from top to bottom we have the cream blusher, the lipliner which is actually quite a bright coral color, the eyeliner, and finally the eye highlight.
I hope this post was enjoyable for anyone who was wondering about the product in this months Ipsy My Glam Bag! I may continue to do posts like this in the future if the products need swatching and a review! Head over to my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/misstrenchcoat to see the unboxing video if you haven’t already!
Nothing says summer like enjoying a nice fruity drink! Although I am over 21, I am not a big drinker, but I do always enjoy the fun flavors and the delightful look of a summer cocktail so I like to make non-alcoholic versions of these summer drinks, aka mocktails! I am sure many of you have heard of the term “mocktail” but for those of you new to the concept, it is basically a drink made to copy the look and taste of a cocktail but without alcohol. Mocktails are great for the under 21 and sober crowd as they embody all the fun of fancy fruity drinks but without the negative affects of alcohol.
So, on to the drinks! Last summer I fell in love with the Mocktail drink mixes from Crystal Light. Not only did they come in fun flavors and bright summery colors, but they were also 0 calories! I have tried most of the flavors at this point, but I especially love the margarita and mojito flavors. They are just like your standard Crystal Light mixes, just add water and stir and you have an instant drink, but you can take it one step further and dress up your drink to make it a true mocktail.
Frozen Mocktail Margarita
In your blender, mix equal parts of your premade Crystal Light Margarita with ice and blend until smooth. Add salt and lime juice to taste. Taking your margarita glass, rub a slice of lime around the rim of the glass transferring the juice to the rim and then dip the rim of the glass on a plate dusted with margarita salt (if you don’t have margarita salt, you can use a coarse sea salt). Garnish the glass with a slice or twist of lime!
Classic Mocktail Mojito
To a glass, add a few sprigs of fresh mint, sliced limes and a teaspoon of stevia in the raw (you can use sugar in the raw if you prefer, but I am trying to keep this as low calorie as possible). Using a spoon or mixing stick, crush the mint, lime slices and stevia together. Fill the glass with ice and add your premade Crystal Light Mojito. Garnish the glass with some more sprigs of mint and/or a slice or twist of lime!
I hope you enjoyed my quick and easy mocktail recipes! There are many ways you can make mocktails, but I love the instant Crystal Light mixes because they are easy and calorie free. You could add alcohol to these recipes and make them real cocktails but remember, alcohol can make you very dehydrated and so its better to quench your thirst in the summer heat with the alcohol free versions!
I was recently asked to make a YouTube video explaining, from a woman’s perspective, whether or not the iPad is a useful device and to give my thoughts on the matter. Of course, since I have owned a few models of iPad, including a mini, I would say I am very pro-iPad, so I was happy to discuss all the reasons an iPad is useful to a female! Of course, most of the reasons also apply to men, however, I decided to make this video as though I was talking to a girlfriend who was on the fence, so I gave female specific examples. The video is a little long and a bit chatty, but I wanted to cover everything I could think of to touch on situations each and every girl out there would relate to. I hope you find this useful if you too are on the fence about whether or not you want to purchase an iPad!
On a side note: this video does not go into choosing between the models any further than the main difference I see between the iPad and the Mini. This is because I believe its a personal choice that involves a great deal of money and I do not want to sway anyone one way or another on which to choose, its all up to what you can afford and what you think you will need!
![Merbabies [MMXI]](https://www.strangecharmed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Merbabies-MMXI.jpg)
