Category Archives: Reviews

What Alexa Read #1: Late Fall and Winter Edition

July 16, 2014

Jenny happened to do one of these posts a little while back – so I thought I would do the same! Seeing as I am a Cartoonist, my list will definitely be more on the Comics end of things, which is great! I am excited to share all of these new stories and artists with you all.

These will be in no particular order as far as which I liked most or least, it’s just a list of some of the things that have been standing out to me when I read them.

1. “Saga” by Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Unfortunately I couldn’t take a physical photo of my copy of “Saga”…it is packed away in a box right now. And volume 2 is waiting to be read!

I had been told many times to pick up this series – and holy cow. Everyone who was recommending it to me was 100% correct. I love it. After the first three pages I was completely enthralled. The art is beautiful and the writing is solid. I am new to Fiona Staples’ artwork, but it is breathtaking! I have been a fan of Vaughn’s writing for a little while, so it’s no surprise to me that I am enjoying this story.

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Posted by Alexa in Book Review, Reviews Tags: adventure time, boom! studios, brian k. vaughn, carey pietsch, cartooning, comics, fiona staples, image comics, keepsakes, mini comics, pendleton ward, saga, the snapdragon queen, web comics, what i read

Sailor Moon Crystal Review

July 10, 2014

There has been a lot of buzz about Sailor Moon Crystal, the newest installment in the Sailor Moon franchise. Naturally when the show aired, we both had to watch it, and we naturally had a lot to say.

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If you aren’t a huge Sailor Moon fan, let us explain something about this review.Many people know that in the 90s there was a cartoon called Sailor Moon. It featured teenage girls fighting crime and spawned a resurgence of “magical girl” themed animes. But the show was based on a manga series, named Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon (translating to Pretty Soldier/Guardian Sailor Moon). The story has been reimagined several times, starting as a manga, animated series, musical, and a live action TV series (with a puppet cat).

So what is Sailor Moon Crystal then? 22 years after the first series debuted, the story went under a facelift. The show isn’t a continuation, or re-imagination of Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon Crystal follows the same base storyline as the original animated series – but claims to follow the manga much more closely. But this incarnation uses new animation techniques to appeal to a new young audience. This happens often, just think about My Little Ponies and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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Posted by Jennifer in Movie & TV Reviews Tags: anime, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, japan, Magical Girl, manga, sailor moon, Sailor Moon Crystal, Usagi Tsukino

Oh She Glows Book Review

June 30, 2014

One of the first few blogs I started to visit frequently as an adult was Oh She Glows, written by Angela Liddon. It seemed I kept finding my way back to her blog whenever I googled recipes. I found her recipes reliable and delicious at a time when most blogs had me questioning whether or not the authors even attempt to make the recipes about which they write. When I scrolled upon a post by Angela in which she mentioned she had a book in the works, I became both excited and skeptical. Many bloggers have been published but yield disappointing cookbooks. But of course, I knew I had to get her book. I’ve read The Oh She Glows Cookbook front to back and tried some recipes. I’m ready to share the results! ohsheglows01 Shop on Amazon

Note: All photos are from the cookbook or the Oh She Glows website.

Photos

The bonus of some blog cookbooks is that they are filled with lots of beautiful photos. Each main recipe is accompanied by a photograph. There really aren’t any photos for “how-to” instructions for things like beans, banana ice cream, flours, etc. And that is fine. I don’t think we need a photo of a food processor filled with almonds.

I also liked how her pictures were realistic. Unlike the wax and clay food photography you often find in the professional world, Angela’s food photography looked like I could have made it myself. Granted, my freezer pizza didn’t look nearly as nice as the photo, but that is partially because I didn’t care enough to drizzle the chocolate. Nor did Angela try and bore us with individual photos of each smoothie. She grouped some together and found interesting ways to shoot the teas.

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Posted by Jennifer in Book Review, Food Review, Reviews Tags: angela liddon, cookbook review, oh she glows, vegan cookbook

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Tea Time Tuesday: Booskerdoo’s Rose Petal Green Tea

June 24, 2014

Hurray for Tea! Hurray for Tuesday! At least it’s not Monday, right?

I am still (always will be) on my Green Tea kick, and now that it’s hot outside it is the PERFECT time to enjoy Green Tea over ice! I have only ever gotten tea from Booskerdoo once before and it was quite delicious. If memory serves, it was called “French Lavendar” and was unlike any sort of tea that I have ever tasted. So I figured it was worth a shot to try one of their green tea options.

The Rose Petal has a very floral and earthy scent and flavor – go figure! But it isn’t heavy like some other floral teas that I’ve tried. Sometimes that kind of flavor can make or break a tea for me. I am sure this would taste great on a winter or fall day as a warm tea as well but it was extremely refreshing on my walk during my break. I love the fact that I can also still taste the “green” in the tea. I thought the rose petal portion might be too over-powering, but fortunately all the flavors combine to make one delicious summer drink.

Posted by Alexa in Food Review, Tea Time Tuesday Tags: Booskerdoo, green tea, rose, rose petal gren tea, Tea, Tea Time Tuesday

What Jen Read #1 Winter 2014

May 25, 2014

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I’ve been meaning to post this months ago, when winter ended. Now spring is ending and I already have a set of books that I read and want to post here. I use to read all the time when I was younger. I loved book series like Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, American Girls, and The Chronicles of Narnia. I fell out of the reading habit when school started to assign books during the school year. Sure I did my summer reading, but having to read “x” amount of pages by the end of the week seemed to suck the fun out of reading.

It wasn’t until college that I really enjoyed reading textbooks (seriously). I also became more interested in reading for leisure. I’ve also learned to take graphic novels more seriously. They’re underrated. Many people seem to think graphic novels are just comics and compare them to Spiderman and Superman. But graphic novels can be an effective medium for great storytelling.

What I am Currently Reading

The Handmaid’s Tale – I picked this up after I saw it recommended on A Practical Wedding’s Feminist Reading List. I bought it for my kindle and found out that I don’t like reading novels on it. At least it is a good read.

Persimmon Cup – I donated money to this graphic novel production through Kickstarter. I just got it in the mail a few weeks ago and am very excited to read it. I haven’t come across and web links to share in case someone else is interested in purchasing this book .

The Illustrated Man – I love short stories. I finished up Night Film, which was a christmas gift, and needed something that I picked out to read. I think Jon found this at a book sale and hey! The cover has already fallen off, which is sad because I am fairly certain I started to read it because of the brilliant cover art of a tattooed man.

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Posted by Jennifer in Book Review, Reviews Tags: Art of the Korean Renaissance 1400-1600, art spiegelman, boxer rebellion, boxers & saints, boxers and saints, gene yuan yang, Korean art, korean history, margaret atwood, marisha pessl, maus, maus a survivors tale, metropolitan museum of art, nick bertozzi, night film, persimmon cup, ray bradbury, the handmaids tale, the illustrated man, what i read

Tea Time Tuesday: Rook Iced Berry Tea

May 14, 2014

First off – yes, I definitely missed last week’s Tea Time Tuesday!! Shame on me! Moving on though, this week’s review is about one of the new teas that Rook Coffee Roasters has to offer, just in time for summer!

I just want to start off by talking about Rook as a company. They are based in Monmouth County, NJ with shops set up in Oakhurst, Long Branch and Little Silver. The company was started by two childhood friends (Holly Migliaccio and Shawn Kingsley) who have a passion for specialty coffee. The brews that they make in shop range from fair trade, organic and water processed (a chemical-free way of decaffeinating their coffee).

I usually frequent the one in the Little Silver Train Station as it is on the way to dropping Mr. Ian off at work. The location for it is great, and the staff are really wonderful people! They always make you feel welcome when you walk in the door, and if you are not used to their different roasts they will happily explain them to you.

I decided to try the Berry Tea this week, I have had the Black Tea that they offer and it wasn’t really what I expected. It was just more of a regular “Iced Tea” than an “English Breakfast” blend.

The Berry tea was extremely refreshing! It wasn’t too sweet, and not very bitter. Just perfectly tart after you finish taking a sip. The flavor tastes like there are a few different berries in the blend – raspberry being the most notable (to me anyway…I can’t say for sure what’s in it). I would definitely recommend it on a hot day if you are not feeling like grabbing coffee, but need a little pick-me-up.

Posted by Alexa in Food Review, Tea Time Tuesday, Tour NJ Tags: Berry Tea, New Jersey, Rook, Rook Coffee Roasters, Tea, Tea Time Tuesday, Tour NJ, vegan, Vegan in NJ

Tea Time Tuesdays: Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino

April 29, 2014

It’s Tuesday! Do you know what that means? … no? Well hold onto your butts boys and girls, because I am here to kick off a new segment that I would like to call Tea Time Tuesdays. It’s quite exciting!

I would consider myself relatively new to the “tea scene”, I still only have a few types that I stick to for the most part. Luckily for me (and for all of you lovely readers out there) the world is filled with different types of tea. Or even just different ways to drink each type of tea. That is what I am going to look into in each of these blog posts. Each entry could range from a different type of tea each week, exploring different tea flavors within the same brand, or different ways to prepare and enjoy certain types of tea.

Without further ado, let me introduce –

frapfar

– the Green Tea Frappuccino from Starbucks!

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Posted by Alexa in Food Review, Tea Time Tuesday Tags: green tea, matcha, Starbucks, Tea, Tea Time Tuesday

Celebrating Easter with Cauliflower and Carrot Cookies

April 20, 2014

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Earrings: Target | Shirt: Monteau via Modcloth | Skirt: Downeast via Modcloth | Tights: Target | Shoes: Rocket Dog via DSW

I think my blog should be called “The girl who shops at Modcloth” because it is scary how much stuff I get there. Sometimes I make delusional memories of buying my clothing from Ruche, but I seriously only made one order from there. Eek. Truth is that I like the shoppers that Modcloth has, they have great quality for whatever price range.

This outfit was for Easter dinner. I wanted something that was comfy since my husband and I were driving all the way to Long Island to visit my Grandma. To put in perspective how annoying this is, you have to know New Jersey and New York culture. Long Island is next to Manhattan (what people think of when they say New York City), and is easy to see on a map of New York state. The island is where Brooklyn and Queens are located, but if you hear someone from New York or New Jersey refer to Long Island, they mean everything east of New York City on the island. Part of the distancing of New York City and the Long Island name is probably because Long Island is so freakin long. I mean it is the same length as Connecticut state. That means it takes a long time to and from the island. Commuting to New York City from Long Island could take just as long as some of the suburbs in New Jersey. And it is one of most densely populated islands in the world, making everything congested. Probably half the time I spent in the car was just trying to get through the island. Luckily she lives in Amityville, which is less than halfway in the island. And yes, it is the town in The Amityville Horror.

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But if Long Island cultural perspective is boring to you, maybe cookies and cauliflower won’t be. I had a feeling no one would of made me a vegetarian dish, so made I made a side dish of roasted cauliflower, chickpeas, and olives. I remember making this recipe in the past so I figured I would give it a go. I also knew I should make these yummy carrot cake cookies.

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Posted by Jennifer in Clothing, Reviews Tags: carrot cake cookies, cauliflower, chickpeas, cooking light, easter, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, long island, olives, ootd, review, Terry Hope Romero, vegan, vegan cookies invade your cookie jar, verrazano bridge

Blog Recipe Round Up: Everything Free Edition

March 14, 2014

My goal is to be more adventurous with trying out blog recipes. I know too many people who inundate their Pinterest pages with food recipes, but never actually try any of them. More disturbing is how many beautiful food photos result in blah recipes. I wish that Pinterest would include a “rate that recipe” button, but until that day, I can write reviews.

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First round of reviews goes to the Everything-Free category. Sort of. As mentioned in a previous post, my husband and I have been on an elimination diet that forced us to cut a LOT of foods from our diet. The first two weeks we eliminated gluten, soy, dairy, and peanut from our meals. It’s been a bit of a struggle, especially since I didn’t know which recipes to substitute in to our new diets. But thanks to the invention of tags, I’ve been able to peruse various blogs for help. Of course not everything was a winner.

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Posted by Jennifer in Reviews Tags: a house in the hills, gluten-free, oh she glows, recipe roundup, reviews, savvy vegetarian, soy-free, vegan