11-28-18 haul: bulknation, trader joe's, and ulta

Hello ladies, it's time for a haul. Em and I hit the town today because I wanted a smoothie (Tropical Smoothie Cafe Cranberry Truffle smoothie to be specific, it's delicious and you should all try it asap because it's seasonal) and to get a few food things. I also had to get air in my tires which I no longer do myself because air should be free and at the gas station it is not. So we made our way to Discount Tire and a lovely boy named Zach refilled my tires for me. He was pretty cute too. An average white boy, just my type. He noticed my license plate and asked where in Texas I am from, so I said Houston, and he asked where in Houston. It turns out he is from Spring, which is weird bc that's not too far from my hometown, and is also a pretty nice area. I also got a full tank of gas for under $20 which is a blessing that has escaped my grasp for months now. (I paid $2.18 per gallon at Wawa for anyone who's curious.) We then continued on our journey (this was all pretty much straight down one road) and made our smoothie stop before arriving at BulkNation, or as I like to call it, Bulk. Bulk is in a large outdoor shopping center near me that includes a Hobby Lobby, Payless, Ulta, B&BW, and more.

Naturally, I had to stop at Ulta. I picked up 3 items, all from Kylie Cosmetics (swatches below). I want to do a Kylie Cosmetics brand review and didn't have any of her velvet lipsticks or glosses, so I figured I would pick some up in store. I got one gloss in the shade Literally, which is described on Kylie's site as a neutral mid-tone nude. It's one of her three original shades, one of two cream gloss shades available in store (the other was Koko K and the rest of the glosses were glittery), and was the last one. Her glosses retail for 15 USD. The two velvet liquid lipstick shades I picked up were Basic, a midtone taupe, and Shook, a rich mahogany. Basic looked almost identical to Dolce K, one of the original matte lip kits, but in the velvet formula. If I like this color, I will probably purchase the Dolce K lip kit next time Kylie's website has a sale. Shook was very similar to Too Faced's holiday liquid lipstick in Gingerbread Girl. Too Faced liquid lipsticks do dry down matte and retail for around 21 USD, so if you like the color of Gingerbread Girl but want to save a few dollars (Kylie's velvets retail for 16 USD) or don't like the feeling of liquid to matte lipsticks, this would be a good option for you.

l-r: Shook, Basic, Literally

The next stop we made was Bath and Body Works. Supposedly they will be having a big candle sale ($8.95 for a three-wick) on Saturday, so Em and I wanted to pre-sniff to prepare. The employees gave me snotty vibes. We didn't buy anything. 

After B&BW, we went to Bulk. I had to stock up on my absolute favorite snacks, their aged cheddar quinoa puffs. They also have a salt and pepper flavor that's fine, but nothing special. A new flavor I saw this visit was sweet chili, which is definitely something that appeals to me. I got a small bag to try. I like them so far, but not as much as the classic cheddar. I also got a few squares of their peppermint bark becuase peppermint bark is probably my favorite holiday treat. I have already had a bit of that as well and it is very good. I also got a few different meal mixes because I know with finals next week I will not be in the mood to cook. The first meal I got was Taco Supper, which is a mix of dehydrated black beans, corn, spiral pasta, and seasoning. A little recipe card comes with it, and all you need is water and ground meat (optional). The second meal I got was Haitian Rice & Beans. I have tried the cajun rice and beans before and they were good, so hopefully this version will be as well. The last meal mix I got was Spicy Quinoa Pilaf which includes corn, carrots, and cilantro. This one looked really good as well and I have high expectations. There were several other rice/quinoa/soup mixes I wanted to try but the recipe cards were gone. I think they are available online, but I decided to go with ones that had the card in stock. When I get these mixes I like to keep them in mason jars so they stay fresh. I will post an update once I have tried all of the recipes and let you know how they are. 

cheddar quinoa puffs

sweet chili quinoa puffs

haitian rice and beans mix

haitian rice and beans recipe

taco supper mix

taco supper recipe

spicy quinoa pilaf mix

spicy quinoa pilaf recipe

dark chocolate peppermint bark

After leaving Bulk, we stopped by Starbucks because I have been wanting to try the Chorizo and Tortilla Sous Vide Egg Bites so I could rank and review all three flavors, and also because it sounded good, and luckily they were in stock. You will have to wait for my post to see how I felt about them.

Finally, we got into the car (we had been walking around the shopping center) and headed to Trader Joe's. I am a big fan of Joe the Trader Man and his store. It's not expensive like I used to think it would be, and everything I've tried from them is very delicious. They also usually have samples at the station in the corner of the store, so you should definitely check that out if you have one near you. The reason for this journey was to restock my sweet chili sauce, as I finished the bottle I had. I like to put this over cream cheese and eat it with crackers for a snack, and a bottle is only $1.49. I also enjoy Joe's bibimbap bowls from the freezer section and usually add some sweet chili sauce to those as well. The previous one lasted me most of the semester, which I think is pretty good.

On the topic of sauces, I also decided to pick up a new one called green dragon sauce. It looks like a tomatillo-jalapeno hot sauce, and I am excited to try it. I much prefer green sauces to red for some reason. I think I will put this on fried chicken, as I love serrano pepper sauce on chicken and waffles and I'm hoping this will be similar. I also picked up a couple essentials, like a box of pasta and a pound of ground beef, as well as my favorite butternut squash ravioli. I highly recommend Joe's ravioli, as they have a plethora of flavors for cheap (usually $2.99 but sometimes $3.49 or $3.99 for certain flavors). I really like the lobster, butternut squash, pumpkin, and spinach goat cheese flavors specifically, and look forward to trying more in the future, but it is difficult for me to branch out in the fall because my favorite flavors are seasonal.

I didn't pick any up this trip, but the chili lime chicken burgers are a real hit and I would highly recommend them. I believe they are $3.49 for 4 patties which is a good deal if you ask me. I like to eat them with spinach, sriracha mayo, and a fried egg on top. The last item I picked up from Joe's was channa masala from the frozen section. It looked like my favorite meal from the dining hall last year (their middle eastern and mediterranean stations were my favorite by far) and I plan to eat this over rice. I may add meat, but I am feeling lazy, so we will see. Another perk is that it was only $2.29 and will probably be a full meal. This is probably what I am most excited to try other than the green dragon sauce purely because they are the two new items to me.

Would anyone be interested in a post about my favorite items/all the items I've tried from Trader Joe's and reviews? Do you want updates on the things I bought today? I think I would enjoy doing this and it would also give me an excuse to try more from them. I will probably end up doing this because this is my blog and I want to, but feel free to let me know what your opinions are on the topic. Have a nice evening, -Jessie