Some might think of this day as bad luck, but I seem to have pretty great days on this date. Two of my tattoos were done on Friday the 13ths… And what makes it awesome, it’s a Friday!! Fridays are always good.
So this is who I am going to be partying with tonight!!!!What are YOU doing?
Aka the “Travis”. You have heard of the Luther. Meet it's breakfast counterpart, the Travis. Sausage, egg and cheese squeezed between a Krispy Kreme doughnut. This is real. Real delicious. I was nervous about how people would like it, but it was well received! These went fast, as well as some of my other favorite brunch items.
Bacon egg toast cups.
And Mama D's famous challah French toast.
I love hosting brunches, complete with a build your own MIEMOsa bar!
This year has been pretty crazy. In a good way. Lots of personal life changes, with myself and family. It was hard but we are getting through it. A good chunk of this year was spent thinking about this wedding. Now that its over I am a little sad. Yueh Yee, I like to call her Stealth, is my sister. Sorority sister, but a sister nonetheless. Along with our friend Susan, we are the three musketeers. I met them my first year of college, and time and distance never really kept us apart.
After college, she went off to China, then left me again for Miami. Now she's back, and married, to an awesome guy named Eugene. I am super happy for her, and excited that they are back in town and I can be around for the next adventures in their lives!
I've decided that I want to live a healthier, cleaner lifestyle. I've already stopped drinking alcohol for OVER a year now. What? Seriously. Yes. I have. I have moments where I'm like man, everyone is drinking, maybe I'll have some wine…but nope I don't, and I still have as much fun as everyone else. Plus I am happy to drive anyone home safely.
On that note, getting older I'm getting allergies that I never had before and my skin is doing weird things. So I started reading a couple of books on how to live and eat naturally (Kimberly Snyder
After posting that I ordered the Honest Company Products, I noticed that people wanted a review. My first set of products are the fruit and veggie wash, shampoo & body wash, conditioner, face & body lotion.
So this stuff is pretty awesome. I love eating nectarines and apples, but they always have a waxiness to it, plus the thought of everyone else touching it just gives me the heebie jeebies. When used per instructions, the fruit was left feeling clean and I could eat it no fear!It’s all natural and I’m excited to eat more apples in the upcoming season.
This is the shampoo and body wash. As a girl, I always felt those combos were for guys only. But I kind of like having one less bottle in the shower. Being all natural, I was a little worried that I wouldn’t feel as clean. The crucial test? After a wedding I was in, where my hair was sprayed with almost a WHOLE can of hairspray, and my updo was pretty much glued to my head, I was still able to get it all out. My hair was squeaky clean afterwards. Bonus, I could rub in the excess foam to wash my body too. I still added more though because I’m a germaphobe. The conditioner does what it’s supposed to.
This is also a two in one that I appreciate. I usually keep face and body separate, because thats usually how products are designed, but this is pretty gentle and light enough for face and body. I was a little weirded out by the texture at first. It’s not as creamy and thick as I am used to, but then I realized I like this more because it absorbs into your skin pretty quickly and you aren’t left feeling sticky. Which is partially why I don’t lotion up right after the shower usually. The only thing I don’t like is that there isn’t built in sunblock, like my usual face lotion. So I only use this before bed.
So far so good with these products. I’ve had no allergic reactions. The smell is sweet and gentle. I will let you know if there are any improvements on my skin or if anything else happens!
So my little guy is neutered. It was a long time coming. He was supposed to get it done when he was 5 months, but because of his sensitive tummy, he wasn't getting enough iron. He recently was neutered and had a benign tumor removed.
He is 8 months at over 60 lbs, but he's still a little guy. Just compact and strong. He finished his training at petsmart, but we decided against letting him take his AKC good citizen certification before neutering. Once he heals, we are going to work with him again to take that test.
My poor guy after surgery. He got a tumor removed, castrated, and he had an ulcer in his eye. But he's healing up well and still has his puppy energy and playfulness.
So this is the newest crazy food thing. It doesn't seem that crazy to me though. I love ramen, and I love burgers…and now that its introduced together, you know I had to jump on that train! Since its only at the Smorgasbord in NYC I have to make it myself.
Now I can't make my own fresh ramen (yet! I dare to dream) so I had to get cheapie Japanese style ramen packets to start. It was pretty easy to make. I mixed cooked ramen noodles with an egg, then molded it in a wide flat ramekin, and pan fried it.
I am very proud of how it turned out, and taste testers agree, but its definitely way too intense for me to eat regularly. But I would make it again if someone wanted me to!
Yum! It's been awhile since I cooked something during a week night, but this one made this list. I used Shutterbean's recipe and its awesome.
Rosie came over for our monthly dinner/catch up night. She brought all the ingredients, she watches me cook dinner, and washes dishes. Then we eat and she gets to keep the leftovers for the week. That's our deal and I love it. I get to try out new recipes and I don't have to eat it all week! If you need me to do this, I am willing haha!
I didn't get a lot of pictures of the process because I made a video from it, but it smells great. The only thing I would change is use chicken stock instead of water for more flavor. No one else thought it was bland though, just me. Maybe because I was getting a cold when I made this.
Definitely will make this again!
I love iced drinks, with lots of ice. For a bridal shower, I set up an iced tea bar. It was such a hit at the party that I’ve decided to share!
To start I had 3 different types of teas in fun glass gallon bottles. I brewed a ginger peach, and matcha green tea with mango and passionfruit. On the table I set out berries, herbs and citrus. And provided two types of sweetners, raw cane sugar and agave! Guests got to mix and match their teas, sugars, fruits and herbs and create their own fun summer drink! I loved this idea and hope to use it again.
I don't know if you noticed but…I am slightly obsessed with macarons it seems to be the thing to do now when I go on a trip. Find macarons. So on a recent trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, I stopped in at Amelie's Bakery before heading home. This short weekend trip was no different. We went to the “petite” store, which is much smaller than their flagship store I am guessing. It was quite charming and tiny. I loved it. A chandelier made of cooking tools, and french artwork and paraphernalia all around the cozy bakery.
I had their caramel iced latte, a chocolate croissant, the gruyere and ham puff pastry and each of the macaron flavors they had out that day. Puff pastry, excellent, delicious, and I kind of want one right now, just thinking about it. Same goes for the croissant. Macaron flavors were fun. They had mixed berry (purple with a jam in the middle), ginger peach, lime basil, lemon butter cream, and raspberry. To be honest they all tasted about the same…like a sweet chewy cookie. The only one that stood out to me was the mixed berry, which was vibrant in flavor. It was a little chewy, but that's just not a preferable texture of mine. The other flavors were just sweet with a hint of whatever they were supposed to be.
Fast forward 15 years, and here they are again. Same dance moves, same energy, just a little more weight, facial hair, wrinkles. Same smiles though. Brian is still flipping and goofing around on stage. Kevin is still charming, smooth and suave. AJ is still super awesome and cool. Nick is still an attention whore trying to get all the ladies to love his magic mike moves and well Howie’s still just trying to get everyone to love him and notice him.
They were opened up by DJ Pauly D. Who did a fun set, while I was still eating my burger in the VIP lounge. It was a pretty short set. And then I got my teeny bopper squeal on when Jesse McCartney stepped out on stage in a suit and started singing his old hits, sprinkled with a couple new ones…that I DO LOVE. Realistically, Nick Carter and Jesse McCartney aren’t the type of guys I would swoon over in real life…but on stage what is it about the magic there that just wins a girl over?
My friend Megan (who is an awesome hair stylist by the way) got us the VIP package. Parking, lounge and seats. We were in row A. Close enough to make eye contact with them and share smiles. Did I mentioned, I've probably died 20 times that night? I had an amazing time singing at the top of my lungs, hanging out with Megan and friends. I was still a little sick. But worth every bit of it. If I could afford to do it again, I would. Now I feel a rekindled love for my 5 guys. To another 20 years boys!!!
