Killer Within Book Review

"Arnie Milhouse is a murderer. A millionaire with dozens of kills in his past and no one the wiser. But when his name surfaces in connection with the death of a D.C. call girl, Arnie knows it’s only a matter of time before the FBI puts the pieces together. As he makes plans to disappear and leave his life in Annapolis behind forever, he meets a beautiful, mysterious woman who takes an interest in him. The perfect final victim. He can’t believe his luck. 

Only luck has nothing to do with it. 

Allison McNeil has returned to Annapolis, a city that she promised herself she would never come back to, not while the cruel memories of her time at the United States Naval Academy still haunt her. But she’s willing to do just about anything to get close to Arnie, even if it means having to face down the demons of her past. Her plans work and soon she and Arnie find themselves locked in a dangerous dance of seduction and betrayal. But Arnie isn’t the only one who carries a secret and the dark truth about Allison McNeil makes a final confrontation between them inevitable. Neither of them know it, but they're on a collision course that only one of them will survive. "

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its one of those mysteries where you already know what's gonna happen but the path to get to that point is whats exciting. I think the writing is good. Not one of those novels with pages of boring details and descriptions that aren't critical to the story. It gives you enough clues to keep you turning the page. I look forward to more from this author. 

October Loot Crate

October Loot Crate Theme is FEAR.

Death by Cats Tshirt. I had high hopes for the shirt. The last two shirts I got from LootCrate were great. And with the theme, Halloween time, mention of Walking Dead, boasts of being an epic box... I just knew this month's shirt would be great as well. Man, if only you could have seen my face.

Cats. Why cats? I'm so not a fan of cats. I dont hate them, Im just not fond of them. I would not voluntarily wear anything with cats on it or cat related. So yeah, total buzzkill that shirt was. Besides that, its a girl shirt so it's light and tight. I actually have to wear a size up cause those kinds of shirts run small so they can be tight and form fitting. So even if I liked the shirt, it wouldnt fit.

This shirt was epic alright. EPIC FAIL!

The inside of the box is really cool. I havent tried it yet but I think the box is reversible. I've missed a few boxes so don't know if that is something unique to this month's box or if they do it with all boxes now. They should definitely do it worth all future boxes. It makes the actual box another exclusive collectors item.

LA Girl Glazed Lip Paint

I've been wanting to try the Too Faced Melted lippies but that's way out of my price range. While searching for them, I found these. Almost dupes but slightly different. LA Girl Glazed Lip Paint is liquid lipstick in a lip gloss applicator/package. There are 18 colors in the collection so far. These are awesome. Rich, opaque color that feels weightless and has a minty scent. A little goes a long way. This color is called Coy. It's a soft lavender. It shows lighter on me than I expected but I still like it. I have not found these in any stores near me yet. I purchased it from eBay. I will be buying some of the other shades soon.

July Lip Monthly Box

This is my first, last, and only box from Lip Monthly. And since I only paid $5, its not bad but not worth it to me.

The company just launched this year and has a loooooooooong way to go. I signed up just only price alone. But once I actually researched them, I cancelled. I will say that they responded to my emails in a timely matter, and the box arrived on time, intact, everything included. But I've heard nothing but bad and worse about them. If they can get it together, I may consider resubbing for the $5 deal.

My disappointment lies with the color selection but at $5, you get what you pay for. So far, they just send you a bunch of random products but next month, they'll start have themed boxes. 

The packaging was wasteful, in my opinion. The actual box can only hold 2 items. The box was shipped in a bubble envelope. The rest of the products came in the bubble envelope. Why have the box at all? 

Im just not impressed. 

Ramadan Mubarak vs Ramadan Kareem

As Salaam Alaikum and Ramadan Mubarak.

For years growing up, during the month of Ramadan, Muslims would greet each other with As Salaam Alaikum and Ramadan Mubarak. The response would be Walaikum as Salaam and Ramadan Kareem. Some years back when Imam W.D. Mohammed was still alive, he gave a talk about the difference between the two. I did not hear it firsthand but I think it was brought up during a Jumah khutbah, and my dad (who did hear it firsthand) relayed it to me. According to my dad, the Imam said that he did some extensive research on the life and practices of Prophet Muhammad PBUH and his companions, and while there was plenty of evidence of use of Ramadan Mubarak, he could find absolutely nothing on the use of the phrase Ramadan Kareem. The Imam concluded that maybe the Arabs, who did not have the same respect for other (western) Muslims, came up with the phrase to address them. Amongst themselves, they greet each other with Ramadan Mubarak, but to other foreigners, their greeting would be Ramadan Kareem. Though several older Muslims bear witness to hearing the Imam explain it, nobody can pinpoint which lecture/speech he said it in. I would like to hear it for myself, so Inshallah someone will find it. Google didnt help much either since many of the Imams lectures arent indexed for searching. I did find the following explanation that is somewhat kinda sorta along the same lines.

Imam Benjamin Bilal. Jumu’ah 09/07/07

"Again, we wish everyone Ramadan Mubarak which means, “Blessed Ramadan”. And the most appropriate response to Ramadan Mubarak is Ramadan Mubarak. Now, I know that we have gotten used to saying Ramadan Kareem and Ramadan Sayeed. However, Allah says that when a greeting is given to you, you should reply with a greeting more excellent or at least it’s equal. So, if I say Ramadan Mubarak and you say Ramadan Kareem, you’re giving me less than what I gave you. As predominantly Muslim African Americans, we have to begin taking serious measures towards learning the accuracy in the Qur’anic language or else people will come along and introduce ideas into the religion that are actually foreign to the letter and spirit of the Qur’an and what El Islam represents.

In the Qur’an Allah says that, Ramadan is the month that is full of blessings or “mubaraka”. That’s what Allah says. So, to say “Ramadan Mubarak” is right in line with what Allah says about Ramadan in the Qur’an itself. But nowhere in the Qur’an will you find these other appendages. Therefore, if I’m giving you something that is from the Qur’an and you are giving me something in return that is from some other source, you’re giving me less than what I gave you. That does not represent obedience to the letter or spirit of the Qur’an." 

Since the Imam told us to stop using Ramadan Kareem, I've seen it used less but still see it used by some. Im not here to tell anyone how to be a Muslim or what is right or wrong in their actions. I wanted to know this information for myself and share with anyone who is interested.

May Graze Box

This is my first time trying Graze. I heard a lot of good things about them. It's a snack box subscription. For $6 a box, you get 4 random healthy snacks from their collection of about 90 items. You can view their entire collection and rate the items to narrow the margin of choices for your box.

"Our boxes are filled with delicious and nutritious food. From nuts, seeds, dried fruits, tasty crackers, dips to some well-deserved treats, every Graze snack has a healthy benefit."

My box included:

sweet mustard ranch
mustard breadsticks, sour cream and onion cashews and poppyseed pretzels

These were ok, not bad. I only disappointed that the cashews tasted like regular cashews. I could hardly taste the seasoning but they were still good.

key lime pie
lime infused raisins, sponge pieces, mini meringues and green raisins

I really liked this one even though I'm not a fan of raisins. This has maybe converted me. It's so good.

summer berry flapjack
rustic rolled oat flapjack with berry-infused cranberries

I let my dad try this one and he liked it

jalapeno fiesta
jalapeno peanuts, roasted sunflower seeds, salsa almonds and roasted pumpkin seeds

This was good too. Not super spicy but a lil kick. The almonds were very flavorful. They were the standout in this mix.

Overall I loved my box. This is definitely a keeper. These really came in handy before my workout. I can't wait to see what comes in the next box.

If you want to try Graze, click here to get your 1st and 5th box free, and with that subscription a $1 donation to the Graze School of Farming.

Mary Kay Influenster VoxBox #MKGlam

Playing with some of my Mary Kay makeup from Influenster VoxBox. The creamy eyeshadow is called Apricot Twist. On my skin it looks golden but I couldnt get it to show up in the pic. I also lightly dabbed a little bit under my eye as a highlighter. As I was lining my lid with the gel eyeliner (first time using gel eyeliner ever) the gold and black made me think of the Egyptians. So I tried an Egyptian inspired wing liner. The lipgloss is called Mango Tango and its a red orange. I like the feel and smell of it but I'm not too keen on the color. Threw in my nails cause they're cute and sparkly

I Have Super Powers

The strangest thing just happened. My sinuses were aching a lil and the pain was only around one eye. I put the palm of my hand to my eye for a few seconds, trying to relax and breathe slowly. When I took my hand away, my palm was very warm, which it was not before, and my face no longer hurt. I'm sitting here looking at my hand and feeling its warmth and feeling nothing on my face. So weird...

Sale/Swap (new)

These items are for sale or swap. Everything is brand new. All posted items are available. When they sell, I will remove the photo. If you are interested, send me an email

  

   

     

   

     

     

     

    

 

   

  

   

 

  

 

Deep red/oxblood color (not black)