Some of my favorite things...for pale skin

I've had a recent rush of things I'm finding I'm in love with, and I'd love to share them with you. With beauty products, I'm always on the lookout for things that work with my pale, sensitive skin, and don't make me look like I'm a 4 year old playing in my mom's makeup (however I do remember doing that. How do mom's have so much patience!?). Here's the latest:


Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti and Creamsicle. Pair those babies together and you've got a killer Spring lip. I don't know what it is about Revlon, but they have some nice stuff coming out lately. Maybe it's all those cute pictures of Emma Stone...

L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black. I always thought I couldn't do black because I didn't want to look like a raccoon, but this stuff is AWESOME. And this kind goes on so clean and velvety. I've been using Voluminous for years, but this one takes the cake. I'm glad I listened to Bobbi Brown when she said that everyone should be wearing black mascara regardless of skin tone.

OPI nail color in Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees. Once again-didn't think I could do this because I'm so darn pale! But, I was pleasantly surprised. And really, who can beat the quality of OPI nail color...

Day and Night

Just strollin' last night.

slow mo

I couldn't resist this. One of the many reasons I love ballet is it's ability to constantly make me speechless with it's art and beauty. This is one such example. How amazing is this?! I repeatedly had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Oh and blink. I had to remember to blink.

Lights

Had a great weekend. Had great weather. Probably logged 10 miles of walking.

Hope this continues :)

Downtown is SO much cooler now

We've been so excited to have this huge shopping center open in our downtown area. It's ten walking minutes from us and we can't wait to take advantage of it for summer! We went last night and ended the evening with a milkshake. Not to mention we visited a whole gaggle of stores that have never been in this state before. Tiffany's anyone?

Oh and don't worry. That brooch right there? One hundred thousand dollars. Yep.

I LOVE this lighting...

Quick and Healthy Smoothie

This seems to always be my go-to smoothie. It's so fast that it will take you longer to clean the blender. The spinach is the bonus item in this one. It's full of all the good stuff and you won't even taste it. I inevitably always have these things on hand, but if you have some fruit sitting around that needs to be eaten, throw it in!

1 1/2 cup frozen berry mix (I get the mix from Costco)
huge handful of spinach-seriously just toss a bunch in there
1 small banana
1/4 cup kefir or greek yogurt
a little water

Extra bonus: throw in some ground flaxseed, or! use fresh berries...

Spring Show 2012

Just a little announcement, I was selected to participate in the Beehive Bazaar spring show in May. Yay! I have some really great ideas that I'm super excited about. For those of you that don't know what the Beehive Bazaar is, it's a local craft show where a bunch of awesome, local talent can sell their wares. You'll see a lot of accessories, clothes, art, screenprint, baby stuff... the list goes on! More to come!

Beehive Bazaar
Dates: May 10, 11, 12
Location: Provo, Utah

In which it turns to Spring

Today is the first day of Spring. I'm looking forward to:

warmer weather
brighter colors
longer days
lighter clothes

I'm breathing easier already.

Weekend

I realize that my Weekend Documentation consists of where I ate. I realize I'm probably a little obsessed. Matt and I went to Meditrina-super swanky and yummy. Then the Park Cafe (we LOVE THEM), where copious amounts of chocolate chip pancakes with bacon were (almost) completely consumed. I realize I may have let down my fellow food challenge brothers on that one (those were the short stack too! I have a lot of practicing to do). And then Saturday night was Gob and me, and gluten-free multi grain pasta with basil pesto and goat cheese. I took the easy man's way out on making that one. I figure the green food was an homage to the Irish holiday. I did consume corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, green jello (how very Utah of me), green grapes, honeydew, green rolls, lime water, green cookies and cupcakes, and mint ice cream sandwiches as well... all on Sunday...

Well, I ate a lot this weekend. How embarrassing.

Top O' the Mornin' To Ya

So it looks like my weekend is full. Anybody have $350 bucks? Because that's how much this stuff'll cost. The woes of being on a budget. At least I'll be stuffing my face with Irish Goodness. I'm Scottish... that works, right? I'm practically a native.

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huh.

The past seems so long ago, but yet as I was just looking through all of my old posts (down there on the right side...) I remembered all of my old adventures like they were yesterday. Where does the time go?? I've done lots of cool things in the past few years. I got married, I went to culinary school, Matt's been in movies, we got a kitty, and then got another one...This may sound completely stupid, but this place really is like a documentation of my life! I've got to post more. Bear with me...it may get a little weird around here.

Kumquat

Here, let me help you with that. I discovered these little citrus gems while in culinary school in California. The grounds had a small area growing citrus (and herbs GALORE. Lemon verbena anyone?) and thus my enlightenment began. You can imagine how weird it was when I realized you eat the whole thing. Seriously. You just pop it in your mouth like candy. It totally goes against everything you learned as a kid that says you need to peel any citrus before eating it. I love it! A low-maintenance fruit that still provides all the goodness. I think if I could die and come back as a tree, it would be a citrus tree. They are the most beautiful, aromatic, refreshing things ever. I felt so lucky every day to be living there while in school. Never have I been in such culinary luxury.

Kumquats are awesome, but they are expensive. Like 5 bucks a pound expensive. I saw these in the grocery store and since I don't have gold bars in my basement I only grabbed a few. Ideally, I think I would have made some yummy jam or preserves out of it. I mean, let's think about this, kumquat preserves on a nice artisan bread? Or on a really healthy toasted grain bread? I'm dying right now... Anyway. I decided to slice these up and candy them. Then dip them in chocolate. Dark chocolate. Oh geez...

Candied Kumquats Dipped in Dark Chocolate Ganache
Makes: about 10-15...ish
6 kumquats *when looking for ripe kumquats, follow the same rules as you would for other citrus. Not too soft...
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water

1. Slice the kumquats about 1/8 inch thick or so. (You'll want to break out the nice paring knife for this one people. You'll get mushy slices with a dull knife)

2. Grab an 8" pan and put the water and sugar in (you could use a sauce pan too). Bring to a boil.
3. Turn heat down to medium. Gently place the kumquat slices in the boiling sugar. You'll be one unhappy cook if you get that splashed on you. Sugar syrup burns something fierce.
4.Let the mixture boil on medium heat for about 20 minutes and turn them occasionally. Then, turn down to low heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally. The mixture should be getting thicker. They should look bright and translucent.
5. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon, and place on a silpat mat or parchment paper (you could use wax paper too). Let them cool. They will be sticky, but try not to let them pool too much with excess sugar syrup.
6. Once cool, toss in granulated sugar. They might need a second coat, but they should dry nicely.

*Save the sugar syrup for another use! It has all that citrus flavor in it. Wait until it's completely cool and then transfer to a container. You can store it covered for a while. I've been using it to lightly sweeten my greek yogurt.

Dark Chocolate Ganache: for dipping the candied kumquats
Makes: about 2 cups

8 oz Heavy Cream
16 oz Dark Chocolate, good quality, chopped in small pieces (Ghirardelli works well for this. Check the baking aisle)

1. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer on the stove top.
2. Pour over the dark chocolate and let sit for 10 seconds.
3. Gently stir with a spoon until the mixture is glossy and shiny.


To Dip:

Grab your beautifully candied kumquats and dip half way into the mixture to your liking. Place on parchment or wax paper. Place in refrigerator to set.
*you'll want to place the parchment on a plate or cookie sheet so you can transfer to the fridge more easily.


Enjoy those little suckers.