Sharing some recent food and nonfood things.

1. Before my vacation, I met up with my good friend CC for lunch. Whenever we meet, she always brings me a lot of interesting snacks to try. I love exploring new snacks so it’s always fun to get these food gifts. Here is a quick photo of what she gave me.
overhead photo of packages of different snacks
I was particularly excited to see the Jelly Belly peas & carrots. They are shaped like peas and carrots, but don’t worry, they aren’t like those weird flavors Jelly Belly came out with. Instead, the flavors are green apple and orange sherbet. I’ve seen them in photos before but never was able to find any to try them. These are so adorable!
overhead photo of a bag of jelly bellyclose-up photo of peas and carrots jelly bellies
Unfortunately, they aren’t actually jelly beans. Instead they are mellocreme (think candy corn). Still, these would make really cute gifts and I can see them being great for a party, maybe as a decoration for a dessert too.

2. I’m in love with Skin Aqua UV Silky Smooth Mist Sunscreen. If you are visiting Japan (I’ve also found it in Taiwan) or have a friend that is, I recommend you trying a bottle. I’ve tried nearly every US sunscreen product and none of them are anything like Skin Aqua UV Silky Smooth Mist. I was first introduced to this sunscreen last year when my cousin sprayed it on me in Taiwan.
ovrhead photo of Skin Aqua UV Silky Smooth Mist Sunscreen
I was so surprised. First, the spray wasn’t super cold like some of the US spray suncreens are. It was a pleasant cool spray. The other thing I noticed right away was the sensation on my skin. I felt like she had just misted me with water. The sunscreen was so light, not at all oily, and it absorbed into the skin completely within a few seconds.

When you touch it, it is a little wet, then powdery (it uses Silky Powder technology that is supposed to help with sweat control), and then nothing.

There was no residue, no scent. I couldn’t even tell I had sunscreen on! We immediately bought a few bottles in Taiwan and last month when I went to Japan, I bought several more. I have tried to find it in the US–or any other brand that is anything like it in the US– but with no luck. I have found a liquid version of Skin Aqua being sold on Amazon which I haven’t yet tried. I am thinking of trying it for my face as it’s much harder to get the mist spray onto the face.

This is the only sunscreen I use now. My only complaint is that the bottles don’t hold that much sunscreen and are a little pricey. For some reason, all the sunscreen I found in Japan only comes in small bottles.

3. Have you tried 1893 from the makers of Pepsi-Cola? Mr. K found it while we were grocery shopping the other day. The bottles look pretty cool and they do taste different from the regular pepsi cans, but they are also a bit pricey.
one gold can and one black can of pepsi 1893

4. Honey Nut, Coffee Nut, & Chili Nut Peanut M&M’s
overhead photo of three packages of M&Ms
We tried all three new flavors when they came out in late April. My favorite is the coffee nut, followed by honey nut. There’s a few more days left to vote for your favorite still. I can’t wait to see which one wins!

5. Night Blooming Cereus. My dad has several of these desert plants that bloom some of the prettiest flowers I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, they always bloom at night and some varieties only bloom once a year for a single night! I was able to catch some blooms during my recent trip home.
photo of Night Blooming Cereus

That’s it for now! Have a great rest of the weekend!