Rockwell Handmade is now called: From Lebow With Love.

This pretty little winter ballerina is from Rockwell Handmade. A shop started by one of my childhood friends Leah. She makes handmade dolls, bowties & whatever else strikes her fancy, from pretty vintage fabric she finds.

You can even customize your doll orders with what colors you prefer. I wanted our ballerina doll to have black hair. :-) And she is so gorgeous in person! And much larger than you would think. She is approx 17" tall.
 
I ordered the Winter Ballerina for my little one year old niece Zia in the Philippines. (My Sister in law's blog.). So we will be shipping this dolly off in the New Year as a belated Christmas gift.

 

*Krazy Candle is no longer open* 

I've blogged a few times about Krazy Candle before and I've also held a giveaway. Krazy Candle makes all natural soy tarts and they sell warmers for their tarts. They also make all natural soy candles, in many different scents. I've ordered about 4'xs from Krazy Candle and  I've tried many of their scents. (My Favorites: Pumpkin Crunch, Birthday Cake, Lilac Mist, Lavender, Summer Breeze, Apples & Maple Bourbon, Hot Cocoa).

One of my very favorite things about Krazy Candle, is even though they sell bigger 2oz tarts, packs of tarts, mixed box samplers; They also offer single .99 cent tarts of ANY scent. This is great way to sample a lot of their different scents, so later you can buy larger packs of your favorites. This is definitely one thing that keeps me coming back for future purchases.

Krazy Candle is holding a fundraiser this month. Every purchase made on Krazy Candle during November, they will donate 15% of each sale to Star's Rat Rescue in South Dakota. I've blogged many many times about SRR. I've adopted 9 rats from SRR over the years. Currently, I have 3 rats from Star's Rat Rescue; (Aspen, Cherry & Belle). 

Christmas is coming and I know people are starting to shop for gifts, so please consider trying out Krazy Candle and making a purchase that will benefit Star's Rat Rescue. There are so many pet rats in need of a forever home. If you've read my blog, you know I've owned pet rats since 2007. (And if you want to know Why Rats?! Click here!). This is also a great time to support an American Small Business!

Krazy Candle Photo: Hot Cocoa Cups

• Krazy Candle Facebook
• Krazy Candle Etsy
• Krazy Candle Twitter

• Star's Rat Rescue Facebook
• Star's Rat Rescue Twitter 

Star's Rat Rescue is now a registered 501c3 non profit organization. All donations made through Star's Rat Rescue are tax deductible. 

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this blog. This is my heartfelt opinion, after being a customer of Krazy Candle, and adopting 9 rats from Star's Rat Rescue over the years. All links either link to older blog entries or websites/products mentioned in the above blog.

 

Here are some of the newest nail colors I've gotten this month...yes I have a polish addiction ;-)
 

I ordered a few Mark beauty products from my cousin Jessica's e-boutique last week. My ordered arrived a few days ago. And I wanted share what I ordered!

I ordered a snap to it mini & two Mark Metallic eye shadows in Truffle & Goldi Luxe. They are super shiny. My cousin said they were like MAC eyeshadows and they are very concentrated like the MAC pigments that I use all the time. The snap to it mini is pretty neat it has a magnet in it and you can pick or choose which eye shadows to put into the case. I don't like their eyeshadow applicator all that much. I buy extra Cover Girl eyeshadow applicators. But I think an eyeshadow brush would work nice with these shadows too. 



I also got Glossblossom Ripening Lip Tint. It self adjusts. It turned out to be a nice rosy pink on my lips which is what I usually go for when I buy lip gloss. It's not sticky which is nice and it has a nice scent to it. But the tube is also pretty small, so I'll be sad when I use it up. 


And this! Oh my gosh! I love this scent! The Luxe Lemon Sugar Set! I thought it would be really sweet smelling. It has a nice lemony citrus scent to it, but it also has a grownup kind of cologne smell which is really really nice! (It has jasmine scent too.) I love the body spray the best. The bodywash is nice too, it says you can use it as a shampoo- but you better use a separate conditioner with it. (I have straight fine hair and got tangles when I went to brush after my shower- so I put in a leave in conditioner.) I love the thick body butter. I put it on after I showered. And the purple makeup bag is really big and roomy. I have all my makeup stashed in it right now!


I loved everything I ordered, and there are still a few more things I'd like to order soon. I can definitely recommend the products I ordered!



Hope you all like the new design & layout! ♥

F.B. and I ordered a ton of Filipino food and snacks from Phil-Am Foods. It was my first time ordering from them. They pretty much had all our favorites and really cheap prices too! I've ordered Choc-nut from other Philippine markets online and had it cost $3.00 a pack! Phil-Am is selling Choc-nut for $1.69 a pack! Whoo! The shipping was pretty affordable too! Only $12.00 to ship from New Jersey to Pennsylvania! 


I'm a fan of Phil-Am Foods on Facebook. And they had posted that if any of their customers posted a picture of their order, they would send a free gift!


We were really happy with how fast our order arrived, (within 2 days!) so we posted a picture on their Facebook page and they said they would send us a gift! To our surprise a huge box arrived in the mail today from Phil-Am Foods! We definitely didn't expect all of this! Wow! Thank you so much Phil-Am Foods!!! So exciting! :-D

Our Free Gifts from Phil-Am Foods!

Philippine Snack Foods

Foreign Food Cravings

Taste Testing (Asian Aisle)

I've been looking for a pair of plain comfortable ballet flats for 2 years now. I've gotten a few pairs that were very stiff and gave me blisters. I saw these ones featured on The Pioneer Woman's blog and decided to take a chance on them. 

They are called The City Flat, by Gap. I first ordered a pair of plain black ones. I do a lot of walking now that I'm commuting on the train to work every day. I didn't get one blister the whole day I wore these. They are very light and flexible, perfect for warmer weather. They are also 100% leather.

The only thing you will need is a pair of very slim gel inserts by Dr. Scholl's, etc. (I have Dr. Scholl's for her); because you will feel the pavement on your heels every step you take. With the gel inserts it gave me better impact support. I loved the shoe so much, I ordered it in pewter too. (Still waiting for it to arrive!) Gap sells the shoe in a bunch of different colors.

Black

Pewter

I also ordered this plum metallic purse that was on clearance at Gap. Excited for it to arrive!


















(Nope, not getting paid to recommend these products! I just wanted to share them, because I love them!)

I've been doing most of my Christmas shopping online on Amazon.com, Ebay, Bath & Bodyworks, Old Navy, Cafe Press. There's only very few gifts I need to get from the actual store. (Mostly food/candy items to go along with gifts).

I was teasing F.B. the other day that I was going to get him this fabulous sweater from Old Navy for Christmas. I was saying when he finally arrives in the USA then I could easily spot him at the airport, hahaha! He did not agree. :-p
(Sadly I can't even link you to that awesome sweater because people actually bought it!)

I did tell him I was going to get him 2 warm clothes items for Christmas for when he really does arrive. (No new immigration updates, I emailed our lawyer but haven't heard back- he may be away on holiday.) F.B. already knows he is getting these items so I thought I would share.

Men's Logo Thermal Tees

Men's Bonded Performance Fleece Hoodies

 (Navy isn't available in regular sizes anymore- I think I got the last one. :-p )

And I got myself two items as well- (Hey! had to get free shipping!) Do you guys know that if you sign up for Old Navy emails on their front page under 'Sign up & Save' they will send you a coupon code for $10 off that you can use online or print out & take to the store? I didn't, I found it by looking for promo codes online. So I ended up getting free shipping & $10 off!

My items:

Women's Logo Zip Hoodies

(They didn't have the cute dark gray with purple logo one anymore that I originally wanted.)

Women's Performance Fleece Scarves

I'm going to be a darn train commuter starting Tuesday! Ugh! So I figured I might need a scarf to go along with my gloves & hat and winter jacket. Since the weather is supposed to be below freezing next week!

And two very unnecessary items for myself:

Silver Canvas Sequin Tennis Sneakers

I really wanted the neato sequin Converse sneakers they had out a few months ago. But it happened to be just at the time I ordered my $62.00 custom Converse, so I didn't get the black or pink sequin sneakers. Now you can't find them online. Or if you do people are selling them for $80+ on Ebay, etc. *Sad Face*. So I did a little searching and came across these cute $9.99 no name brand silver sequin sneakers that look like Converse. They will be cute for the holidays!

My other cute unnecessary item! It's a mouse/rat ring that wraps around your finger. It's too cute!

Mouse/Rat Wrap Ring

I got this on Ebay as well from a seller in Hong Kong. I've had no problem ordering items less than $8 on Ebay from Hong Kong, I've always gotten them. (And usually free shipping!) It does sometimes take a month for shipping though. I got 2 cute Opal or "Opal" (Not really sure.) rings on Ebay shipped from Hong Kong during the summer. Now the seller I bought this ring from doesn't have anymore available but you can do some sleuthing here- I see other sellers selling the same sort of ring in silver or bronze.

Hoping Old Navy ships fast because I've got to get F.B.'s Christmas/Anniversary gifts in the mail by December 20th at least. He still might not get them right on time even with express mail to the Philippines but at least they will be on their way. 

As for health updates, the steroids are definitely starting to relieve my back. It is not as painful and debilitating as it was before. But... now I have an awful pain from my butt down to above my right knee. I'm thinking it's the sciatica nerve. Not sure if this is due to the fall I took the other night (even though I was told I landed on my left side.) or from the doctor messing with my legs this past Monday to check & make sure it WASN'T the sciatica nerve. Or just because my back hurt so darn bad I didn't feel my leg hurting. Anyhow now that it hurting worse than my back. :( Hopefully I won't need an Xray or MRI though and I still have quite a few doses of steroids to take (ends Wed.) And a doctor appointment on Monday at 2pm. Maybe he can just presribe a pain reliever that doesn't make me pass out!

I've just been resting in bed only getting up for meals or snacks before I take my pills (about 3 times a day). and also bathroom or shower. I've mostly been on the laptop, reading or painting my nails, lol. I've got a new obsession with nail polish blogs! (You can see some listed under Food & Fun blogs on my right side bar).

I have to go back to work on Tuesday (I'll have drained my paid leave, blah). We'll be downtown. I spoke to my manager today and she said it was a good thing I wasn't at work with my back because it's chaos with the move happening. Their last day at our NE Philadelphia campus is Friday. I had to have my coworkers pack up my work supplies for me.

Upcoming Events: 

December 18th: seeing the Nutcracker with my cousin Jessica!

December 19th: 1 year wedding anniversary with F.B.! ♥♥♥

My friend Tiffani on Rat Chatter, has opened up a new store called the Relaxed Rat! She makes hammocks, cuddle cups, cubes and other quality bedding for rats! I recently ordered a new hammock for Fennel and a cuddle cup for Basil and the girls. I love the fabric!

My Cuddle Cup and Hammock:

Here is Fennel enjoying his new hammock!

And Basil, Pepper & Poppy checking out the cuddle cup!

It's been a tough weekend so far. Sage getting ill around 11pm on Friday and passing away 5:30am Saturday. :( I didn't get much sleep that morning after Sage passed. Only about 4 hours. Basil was very quiet all day and was laying next to the towel I had wrapped Sage in when he was ill.

Basil resting near Sage's towel:

My cousin Jessica's 22nd birthday was on Wednesday. We had planned on getting together on Saturday and wanted to spend the day at Peddler's Village, but it was way too windy and cold. Our back up plan was to head to the King of Prussia Mall which is the biggest mall near Philadelphia. I've only been there about 4 times. It's so huge we never really get to see the whole mall.

But first, Jessica came along to help me pick out a new companion for Basil. Basil was very sad and quiet yesterday after Sage passed. I know it's soon but I don't want him to live alone. We went to Petsmart to look at boy rats. They had a wide variety of hooded boys, a white dumbo boy that was so lazy all he did was lay on his back. He was super cute, but way too lazy! They also had hairless rats! Or nakkies as we pet rat people call them! I've always wanted a nakkie!

I believe Basil might be older than I first thought- (he may already be a year old.) So I decided it might be a better idea to get two boys around the same age. I picked a brown hooded boy and I also got one of the nakkie rats. Oh my... nakkie rats are sooo soft, they are like velvet. They are also very very warm blooded! Both boys seem very mellow and friendly and haven't fought with each other.

Please meet Fennel & Barley! Fennel is my brown hooded boy. He is super curious and rambunctious. Barley is my hairless boy. He is very laid back and likes to cuddle and lay on your lap.

Ideally, I would like to be down to 4 girl rats and 2 boy rats. That seems like a good number. Currently I have 6 girls. Ginger is ill and her tumors are getting quite large. I won't be getting anymore girl rats until I am down to at least 3.

Right now Fennel & Barley are separated from Basil. I split the levels of their cage. But Basil was sniffing and climbing the walls of the cage trying to see the boys on the upstairs level!

After the pet store Jessica & I dropped the new boys off at my house. Then we headed to the King of Prussia Mall. We got there around 7pm, so we only had 2 hours before closing. I really wanted to check out the L'Occitane store, it's the only one near me! I was so excited to visit the store and smell some of their other products. I ended up getting a verbena hand lotion and the soap with verbena leaves. I also got a honey & lemon lip gloss.



After shopping, Jessica & I stopped at Starbucks. I finally gave in and tried the dark cherry mocha coffee. I actually loved it. It tastes like a chocolate covered cherry! We also tried their chocolate bloom cupcakes and they are heaven!