Review: GrazeBox

I'm not a big "box" person. Birchbox, Nature Box, Stride Box, Kona Kase... I haven't tried any of them. First, I'm cheap. $20 or $25 a month seems like a lot to spend on stuff that I'm not sure I'll like. Second, I'm a creature of habit. Why do I need to try new stuff? I know what I like.

Even so, I was intrigued to get a card in a shipment from Sierra Trading Post advertising a new "box": GrazeBox. The good part? A box of snacks was only $6 a shipment, and the first one was free.

What the heck, I decided to check out the website, graze.com. There are currently 90 different snacks on offer. You can go through them one by one and flag them to come to you frequently, sometimes, or never. There are also shortcuts to eliminate all snacks containing gluten, or dairy, or non-vegetarian ingredients.

I went through and eliminated everything with dairy and most things with gluten (which still left me with 49 snacks to be randomly selected from), and signed up. You need an invitation code to sign up, and then can share it with others. Feel free to use mine: "ROBYNR8MR".

My first box got here the other day. Here's the details:

GrazeBox, with a quarter for size reference.
It came with a thin plastic sleeve around it to keep it shut.

Turned over...

... and opened. The flyer had information about Graze School of Farming in Uganda, their charity, and my invitation code.

Four snacks, each 1.2-1.3 ounces (about 1/3-1/2 cup total). Nutrition information and ingredients are not labeled on the packages, but are available on the website. These range from 95-200 calories per serving. 

Graze's Chocolate Orange: Belgian dark chocolate, orange infused raisins, and hazelnuts.

Spicy Corn Taco: spicy chili peanuts, roasted corn (think corn nuts), and roasted edamame. (I've eaten about half).

Seedsational: roasted pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds with soy sauce

The fourth snack was "Little Figgy Went to Market": apple, cranberries, and dried figs dusted with rice flour.

So far I've tried the Spicy Corn Taco and the Seedsational. Spicy Corn Taco has a nice texture, with crunchy corn nuts and edamame, and lightly roasted peanuts. The flavoring is pretty mild: it's not especially salty, and not very spicy. Nice, but the texture and the good ingredients are better than the "spicy" flavoring. The Seedsational is pretty good. Nice salty tamari flavor, good nut flavor. I would get it again.

The verdict? Not a bad deal. For $6 a box (and the first and fifth ones free), you get four decent-sized snacks, delivered to home or work, every 2 weeks. There's lots of variety, and there are good gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian choices. Fewer Whole30/paleo options, but there are a number of mixes that are only dried fruit and/or nuts, so that's covered too. The website makes it easy to control what you get, so if I liked the Seedsational, I can put it on the "send again" list; if I'm meh on Spicy Corn Taco, I can request it never be sent.

Oh, a final point: I'm impressed by their customer service. My first box went missing somewhere in the depths of our shipping/receiving department. When I contacted Graze (on Christmas Eve!), I got an email within 20 minutes crediting my account with a free shipment and apologizing for the loss. Thanks!

Want to try GrazeBox for yourself? First box is free. Go over to graze.com and use invite code "ROBYNR8MR". Happy snacking!

[Disclaimer: I did not receive products, services, or anything else for this review. I just wrote it because I kind of like this service.]

Review: INKnBURN tech tube

It's winter in Minnesota, and so far it's been a righteously cold December. Lots of subzero nights and single-degree days, and a memorable 10-miler in -10 degrees. I weighed my running gear recently and discovered I'm putting on 4+ pounds of clothing, not counting shoes, just to stave off hypothermia while running.

So when INKnBURN asked me to write a review of a piece of cold-weather gear, my honest first thought was, "It's too cold for INKnBURN!" This time of year, I'm usually wearing technical merino baselayers and miracle-fiber outer layers. But it occurred to me that my Drifting Petals Tech Tube (like a Buff, but from the same fabric as INKnBURN's tech shirts) might actually be an ideal cold-weather layering piece.

I tested it out this morning. It was zero degrees Fahrenheit, with 10 mph winds on the river, which made for a windchill of -16F. I had a 6 mile run on tap.

Dressed to run! Fleece-lined merino wool hat, Tech Tube as a neck gaiter.

It still hasn't gotten cold enough to need the hood. I think my face would freeze first.

I set off heading into the wind. Two layers of merino plus a wind-blocking fleece gets my core toasty warm, but on previous similar runs, my face had definitely gotten chilly. The Tech Tube kept my neck and chin plenty warm, even going straight into the wind.

Mile 3. Note the ice crystals on my face (and in my hair, sticking out).
I don't know why I have this expression. My face may have been frozen that way.

At mile 3, I crossed the Mississippi River and started heading back. Now the wind was behind me and, by the time I got to mile 4.5, I was actually getting pretty warm. When running in very cold weather, it's never a good idea to break much of a sweat -- if you get wet, then cold again, it's really cold. I unzipped my coat, then both of my baselayers. Still warm. I pulled off my hat. Whoops, too cold! 

Here's where the greatness of the Tech Tube came in -- I just folded it and pulled it up over my ears, and voila: earwarmer! Perfect for the next mile, until I headed back into the wind for the last section and needed my hat again.

Awkward profile selfie...

... and the other side.

So, the eternal question is now answered: It is never too cold for at least a little bit of INKnBURN.

Later this morning, I enlisted my seven year old assistant to help me show off some more Tech Tube tricks.

My photographer (and tech tube model)

As it turns out, his idea of photographing involved taking pictures at wacky angles. And giggling a lot.

Okay, there's a problem with this picture...

Well, at least my head is in the picture this time. Tech Tube as beanie...

... and beanie turned the other way!

Tech Tube as headband...

... and from a different angle.

Why, yes, the photographer was spinning in circles during this one.
Why do you ask?

Scarf/neck gaiter/neck warmer.
Goes great with the Sakura long sleeve, doesn't it?

In conclusion:

1. It's never too cold for INKnBURN.

2. Tech tubes are versatile, comfortable, warm, and amazingly colorful.

3. Use my discount code ("RobynToldMe") at inknburn.com for a one-time 15% off discount!

4. My son has a future in fashion photography. Maybe.

Thanks, everyone!

Gear Review: INKnBURN

My love for INKnBURN's running clothes is no secret. (I'm a newly named ambassador for the company, but all the gear reviewed here was purchased by me, before I had any relationship with them). I initially encountered their clothing in early 2012 through reviews on a number of run blogs (notably Iris's now-defunct Stet That Run), joined their Facebook feed, and fell in love with their designs.

A quick aside here: I am a pathologist. My job, every day, is to look at complex pictures (tissue slides), and recognize patterns (make diagnoses). I love the visual aspect of my job. I love drinking in complexity with my eyes, and finding meaning in frenzied, multilayered, seemingly patternless information. At various times, I've been a quilter. When I was pregnant, I was a hazard in the fabric store -- somehow, I craved colors, not food.

So, you can see why I couldn't get enough of their clothing. This wasn't a screen print. This was an all-over, whole-garment work of art. And once I read enough reviews assuring me that the tech fabric was, uh, tech-y and the clothes fit well, all I had to do was pick out a pair of shorts and give 'em a try.

The purple Run or Die shorts pretty much rocked my world. I loved the slightly textured, woven-but-stretchy fabric. The wide, stretchy, soft waistband. The vivid colors, melting from violet to fucsia. The two slim but capacious side pockets. And I loved the glaring skull on the back of the waistband (Even if my kids think it's an owl, not a skull. Hey, owls are badass too).

After a year and a half of hard wear, they're holding up pretty well. There's a little pilling over one side panel (probably from a run through a field of burrs). One front seam binding is just beginning to loosen, but should be fixable with a needle and thread. Otherwise, they look as good as new. Not bad for shorts I wear on average twice a week and wash in the machine and throw in the dryer (when I don't just wash them by hand so I can wear them again sooner).

I've worn them in temperatures ranging from 27 to 95, downpours, torrential sweating, blackberry canes, and deep mud. They look good even when you're bleeding in them, they always clean up well, and they're basically bombproof.

Not long afterward, I bought a Sugar Skull T-shirt. I've never owned such a flashy piece of clothing (excluding my wedding dress?). I love it. I wear it when I need to feel invulnerable.

I wore it for a 25 mile trail run two weeks after I broke my arm:

"Would you take a picture of me? 'Cause otherwise, even I won't believe I did this."

No, you're not imagining it. That is a GLITTER CAST, people. Gold glitter pressed into the fiberglass while it set. Yow!

In fact, it worked so well that, aside from trading up from cast to robo-arm, I just wore the same thing on race day, at the Superior 50K:

Outbound at the aid station, and feeling great!

And, uh, apparently a few other times as well:

Predawn run start at Afton. Note the merino wool armwarmers - in July!

Endless Summer race at Lebanon Hills. But hey, variety! Check the Lust shorts!

With the arrival of serious summer weather this year, I branched out to sample the tank tops:

Flutter tank top at the Portland Old Port Half Marathon in July

... and camisoles:

Lotus camisole at Endless Summer Murphy Hanrehan trail race (my hottest race ever, by a long shot).

On vacation last week in North Carolina, we even had two generations of duelling INKnBURN:

My mom ROCKS the Drifting Petals tank top, and left me in the dust on the run.

The tank tops were a pleasant surprise -- long enough to cover my waist and hips (and I'm tall), really nice body-skimming cut, and a hint of a racerback to show off shoulders. I wish there were a few more designs available for the tank tops... but do check out the Lust top, which is awesome.

I love the way the camisole looks on other people, but it doesn't work quite as well for me -- I think I fall in between sizes small and medium. Still, I like the surprisingly soft and comfortable straps, the shelf bra with a secret gel-sized pocket, and the wide variety of styles.

Despite the flashy looks, all the gear performs like technical wear should. The tops wick, dry fast, and wash well. The fabric doesn't chafe, shrink, or fade (so far). These are my go-to gear in warm to cool weather and for anything indoors -- basically, anything that doesn't require merino wool baselayers.

Want to try some INKnBURN for yourself? Register on their site and use my discount code (RobynToldMe) to get 15% off your first purchase. It's good stuff!