3/24/12

What to do when your friend gets dumped

You know those awkward social situations where you just really have no idea what to do? I run into these all the time. But, I figured I'd share the knowledge I've acquired about what to do when things like this happen.

The first instance is when a really good friend of yours gets dumped. Now, for guys, I don't really know what to tell you. Basically, I've heard that you listen to them, try to comfort them and then take them out for drinks. You can probably give them things too. I'd say a bottle of whisky or a 6 pack of beer. This is more of a solution for when a good girl friend gets dumped. Or I mean, if she does the dumping and is really sad, that would be an occasion to try and help too.
  1. Be careful not to give too much advice or to be too judgmental. Let's say they get back together and you spent hours bashing the guy or girl. That'd be awkward right? Just listen and then be positive in a general sort of way.
  2. Try to go and do things that will take their mind off of it. That could mean going to a bar, a movie, the mall or just to lunch. It doesn't have to be fancy or anything.
  3. I recently had a friend that this happened to and she doesn't live anywhere near me so I sent her a little "feel better" package. This included cookies, some tinted chap stick, nail polish, a nail file, foot soak and a little note. Simple, and it totally made her day even though I am no where near her.
  4. Come to think of it, even if you are in the same vicinity, making a little care package is a nice little idea. It shows that you are thinking of them and that you care. It'll make them still feel cared about and taken care of.
I really hope this helps, because I know situations like this can be really awkward to try and handle. You want to be there for your friend but you don't know what to do exactly. Well, maybe now you know a little better.

3/22/12

District 9 Sponsor

District 9 Sponsor

Let me explain why I only made a District 9 outfit. I identify with District 9 because I believe, if Panem was real, I would totally be from District 9. It's the grain district, and since I'm from Kansas, I feel like that fits. Therefore, I am loyal to District 9 even though they are really never mentioned in the books, that's OK. Also, isn't this District 9 shirt wicked? I kind of want it a lot.


Giles short cut out dress
£1,099 - farfetch.com

Christian louboutin shoes
christianlouboutin.com

L K Bennett metallic clutch
£195 - johnlewis.com

Vivienne Westwood clear jewelry
$430 - viviennewestwood.co.uk

Kate Spade hardware jewelry
$78 - katespade.com

Safe and Sound

My girl on fire make up look...that I actually wore to work t... on Twitpic

I created a special make up look for the premier of The Hunger Games, and the pictures just don't do it justice. Probably because I can never get the lighting right, but if you saw me in person, when I close my eyes, it does look like fire. It's actually wearable though. I know this because I wore it to work. I like to be able to wear, even outrageous colors, out in public. So it's noticeable but I'm not going to scare people away.

So, here's how I did it. I started off with my regular face routine. That's personal preference what concealer and stuff works for you and what you're comfortable working with. I then brused my bronzer with an angled brush toward my temples. The end for the face.

The eyes are the focus anyway. I put my Urban Decay primer over both lids, and put a little under my eye. Then I used a shadow brush to put a red pigment loose powder shadow all over my lids, yes ALL over my lids. I used Brazen's Cat Call personally. I think the Brazen color Fleet Street would also work well. I used a slightly smaller brush to brush an orange pigment loose powder in my crease. Actually, I put it in my crease and all the way around toward the inner corner of my eye. Think of this as building a rainbow of three different eyeshadow colors. So follow the curve of your red lid color all the way around. I used Brazen's Perfect 10, but Brazen's Frisky would be perfect. I then put Brazen's Pharaoh, a gold pigment loose powder on my brow bone and all the way from the brow bone to the inner corner of my eye - following the outside of the orange pigment. I also put it in a thin line under my eye. To finish off I put a very thin line of black eyeliner and finished off with black mascara.

I know the pictures suck, but in person this really does look good and is just striking enough. All of the shadows I used have sparkles in them and the gold is shiny and metallic. Perfect for the look of fire.

For my lips I put Revlon's Super Lustrous Matte lipstick in Really Red.

You're done! I sprayed my Urban Decay Dew Me finishing spray and was off to work. I can't stress enough that this does look cool. I also have China Glaze's Capitol Colours in Stone Cold on my fingers. It's a matte greyish black.

Did I mention if you want to get Brazen cosmetics you should click on the banner off to the right? Because you should totally do that.

Song Inspiration
Safe and Sound - Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars

My girl on fire make up look...that I actually wore to work t... on Twitpic

One more, ps. I suck at taking pictures - on Twitpic

3/21/12

The Girl on Fire

The Girl on Fire

Kelsi Dagger leather shoes
$48 - piperlime.gap.com

Stella dot jewelry
$49 - stelladot.com

Lancôme lip makeup
$30 - lancome-usa.com

Hunger Games: Potato Soup with Soda Bread

I told you this whole week was going to be Hunger Games, so I made a whole meal that I feel like reflects the series relatively well.

I was originally going to make this meal during St. Patrick's Day week, but I decided to wait since I already had enough food to last a whole week. And when I thought about it, this meal is kind of rustic and reminds me of something you'd find in District 12. It seemed fitting to me, I mean, most of the districts are poor, and they made do with what they have. It isn't a fancy meal, or an expensive one, but it produces a lot of food. Also, just think of buying that big loaf of soda bread from the Mellark's bakery. It turns out a little crusty on the outside but really soft on the inside - delicious. And most of the ingredients in the soup are vegetables I would imagine you could get in the Hob if you swapped the rabbits you just killed for them.

First, the soup originally comes from MyRecipes.com. I added 1 can of vegetable stock to replace one of the cans of chicken stock and my soup turned out to be a brown color as opposed to the typical white colored potato soup, but I felt like that made it more rustic looking. And I would imagine in Panem vegetable stock would be easier to come by.

Now look at this neat potato soup I made yesterday that looks... on Twitpic

District 12 Potato Soup

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 leeks, sliced
  • 3 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
  • 2 cans chicken broth
  • 1 can vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • Optional Toppings: shredded Cheddar cheese, crumbled cooked bacon, chopped fresh chives
  • Preparation
    1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat; stir in onion and leek. Cover and cook 20 minutes. Stir in potato; cover and cook 15 minutes. Stir in broth, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until potato is tender. Remove from heat, and cool slightly.
    2. Process soup in batches in a blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides; return to saucepan, and cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Serve with desired toppings.

  • Just finished baking this huge piece of soda bread. It looks ... on Twitpic

    Now, for the soda bread. It is so delicious I can't even explain to you. It has this kind of sweet taste, and I'm thoroughly planning on dunking it into the soup. I can see Peeta now baking up something like this. The recipe originally came from AllRecipes.com.

    Mellark's Bakery Soda Bread

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 4 tablespoons white sugar
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 cup margarine, softened
    • 1 cup buttermilk
    • 1 egg
    • 1/4 cup butter, melted
    • 1/4 cup buttermilk

    Preparation

    1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
    2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
    3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.


    You could finish the entire meal off with sugar cookies from the Mellark bakery. Of course they say "The Hunger Games," "Team Katniss" and "Team Peeta." If you're from District 12 you have to show support for your tributes. They aren't decorated so that they look rustic, too. The recipe is the same one I used for the St. Paddy's cookies. Except I added a teaspoon of almond extract into these.

    • And I told you I was going to make Hunger Games cookies, they... on Twitpic

    • Does this all make me a huge dork? Yes, I believe it does.

3/19/12

Happy Hunger Games Week

I have to be careful on here because I've read all three books, I don't want to start giving things away. I just want to discuss for a minute the immense popularity of this series. It is starting to overcome Twilight (thank God) and it's bordering on Harry Potter proportions. But why has this trilogy gained such a massive following?

Part of it has to do with the enormous hype for the movie that comes out Friday. Seriously though. They have gone ALL OUT for this. China Glaze has a nail polish series representing the different Districts of Panem for one.

That made no sense for people that are unfamiliar with the plot line... OK, I'm going to summarize quickly while trying to not give anything away. Fair warning. Panem is what North America is called in the future. Instead of state, the country is divided into 12 districts that are just referred to by numbers. Each of those districts has their own special part to play for the country. One produces lumber, one grain, another livestock, etc, until we get to District 12 which produces coal. This is the district Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the story comes from. So the Capitol (technically District 1, they're the ones that run EVERYTHING) has these games called the Hunger Games that has every district contribute a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 to compete in a fight to the death. Basically. I guess I'll stop there. See, I didn't give anything away.

So, the nail polish colors represent every district of Panem. I personally own three of them (Harvest Moon-9, Stone Cold-2 and Riveting-5.) It's genius marketing. It plays to the die hard fans that have read the books and to those that are just pumped from the insanely intense previews. Observe:



Do you get chills? I get chills. Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss and she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Winter's Bone. And although this seems like just another series let's think about the concept for a second. Everyone wants to go to Hogwarts. Even when Voldemort and the Deatheaters are going Nazi on the whole wizarding world, I'd still totally want to go there. I'm sure tons of girls out there want an Edward Cullen to come along and be old-timey and chivalrous (I read the books, I know, I know, and now I see the error of my ways. There's so much wrong with Twilight I could make another post, but I'm not going to give it the satisfaction.) But would you really want to live in Panem knowing that between the ages of 12 and 18 you might be chosen to be killed in front of the entire country? Their technology is incredibly advanced, and they are able to treat so many ailments and injuries. They even have the ability to custom make animals and to mutate them. But all of this is really only available to the Capitol, everyone else is super poor. It seems like the other districts have actually gone back in time almost.

What does this say about this futuristic look at our country? Or even the world in general? It's grim for a young adult book. There's a lot of carnage and bloodshed, political themes and a struggle between what is right and survival. Read the other three, it doesn't get easier throughout them. So, if we don't want to be in that world or that situation, why do we love it so much? It's possibly because we'd want to be strong enough to potentially die for our sister in the same situation. We want to love someone so much we would do anything to keep them alive. Or because it's a cynical look at the world. The heroes are trying to overcome what was thrown at them. They are stuck in a no-win situation, and they have flaws. It makes things more interesting and relatable.

There's a Tumblr completely dedicated to the fashion of the Capitol. Because they control everything they are the only ones that have really nice things and they live in excess. While other districts are suffering and dieing they are having strange beautification procedures done on themselves. And when I say strange, I mean strange. Sometimes they have their skin died a different color. The Capitol Couture, as it's called, is dead serious too. They have contests to get fans excited, they have advice on Capitol couture, what to wear and such based off of the characters. And it really does almost make you want to live there, as disgusting as that is, and when you read or see it, you will know exactly how terrible that is.

But there are Facebook groups representing every district. You can go on Thecapitol.pn and get registered as a citizen of Panem. Have you noticed how the website and Tumblr both have .pn in their web addresses? Get it? PaNem? I think that's neat. See, they made it really realistic.

Do you know why the country is called Panem? It's from the latin phrase "panem et circensis" which means "bread and circuses." The world Panem is all about giving those living in the Captiol everything they want, and then a show (circus.) It's like in ancient Rome. To keep the people from revolting all you needed to give them was food and a good gladiatorial match to the death. In this same way the Capitol is trying to keep the people from revolting. Although, the Hunger Games are really to show the Capitol's dominance over the other districts.

Anyway, may the odds be ever in your favor.

I'll be back with more Hunger Games blogs this week.

3/16/12

St. Paddy's Makeup

My St. Paddy's Day make up look that I'm wearing to... on Twitpic

I wore my St. Patrick's Day makeup to work today because I will not be going anywhere tomorrow night because I'll be at work all night. Yay! That's besides the point. I made this awesome St. Paddy's look, and I have never been happier about a green eye color. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Here we go. First of all, always put primer over your lids. I am using Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original. It made my eyeshadow stay on ALL day even when I was laying out and it was like 80 degrees. Seriously, it didn't melt off my face. So just use a bit on your finger and put it all over your lids. Then, I used Brazen's Charmed green shadow all over my lid from my lash line to my crease. That's pretty enough, but then I put Brazen's Get Lucky along my crease. To finish it off I used Brazen's Pharaoh, this beautiful gold shadow, on the inner corner of my eyes and then I swiped it from the inner corner up toward my brow. It's really really super pretty. I put my black gel liner just on the top lid in a moderately thick line. See the bottom picture.

I used bronzer swiped toward my temples over my foundation and Brazen Hi-Def powder.

Then I put an orangey chapstick on my lips. I used Covergirl's NatureLuxe Gloss Balm in Anemone. Then I put Brazen's Kiss Me, I'm Irish gloss over that. It's a shiny and incredibly glittery gloss that looks clear from a distance but when you look closer you can see little green flecks of flitter on your lips. It's very pretty. It sounds odd, but the whole thing works really well.

Over all of that I sprayed my new finishing spray from Urban Decay called Dew Me. I like a dewey, youthful finish, so this is perfect and worked really well. I went outside and laid out today and was super sweaty and shiny and my makeup looked just as nice as it did when I put it on. I was shocked.

PS. Sorry about the pictures, my cell phone is still my picture-taking mechanism.

My St. Paddy's Day make up look that I'm wearing to... on Twitpic

I just realized I should have taken the picture with the lids... on Twitpic

These are some of my Brazen tools. The bottom green is Charmed, to the left is the Kiss Me, I'm Irish gloss, and the top color is Get Lucky.

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Buttercream

Guinness chocolate cake with Emmett's (cheap Bailey&#039... on Twitpic

This was the best homemade cake I have ever made. It's totally from scratch and just super super easy. I think this would be really good all year around, personally, but I know it has the Irish booze in it so it only makes sense that you would make it around St. Patrick's Day.

In the recipe, it calls for Bailey's in the frosting, I totally just used Emmett's. There's no need to splurge on the good stuff. Then again, you will have a lot left over, so get what you like, I guess. Guinness in a cake sounds gross, I know, but trust me, my coworkers were raving about this cake. So delish.

The recipe has you stacking the cake for a layered round cake, but I just kept them seperate and brought one to work and kept one for myself. They are thinner that way too so no one feels too guilty getting seconds.

The original recipe is from the blog Global Table Adventure (they have pictures that go with the recipe):

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey's Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup Guinness Extra Stout
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs

For the buttercream:

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2-4 Tbsp Bailey’s, as needed

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. In a small saucepan, melt butter and whisk together with Guinness, vanilla extract and cocoa. Remove from heat.

3. While the Guinness mixture is cooling, grease and line 2 eight inch cake pans with parchment paper. Next, whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking soda). Pour the Guinness mixture onto the dry ingredients, then whisk in the 2 eggs.

4. When the batter is shiny and smooth, pour evenly into two prepared cake pans. Lick the bowl when no one is looking.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

6. Meanwhile make the buttercream by whipping together the softened butter and sugar in a standing mixer, then adding in just enough Bailey’s to get it loose and fluffy. The key to white frosting is to whip it a long time – the longer you whip it, the whiter it will become. I whipped this for 5-10 minutes. I just poured some Irish cream in. It's to your own taste, this recipe says 3 Tablespoons should be enough.

7. Once the cakes are done baking, cool completely.

8. Now, assemble the cake. But be very sure it's cool, if you try to ice it when it's warm it will get all crumbly and part of it will stick in the icing and it won't be pretty.

3/15/12

Mini Stout Pies and colcannon

Happy St. Patrick's Day, almost. Today I decided to make mini stout pies to bring to work for dinner and then colcannon as the side dish. Colcannon is just a traditional potato dish with greens and butter basically. It was super easy to make.

The mini pies are delicious, but you have to make sure you have a way to to cute out an 8 inch circle. I mean, most people probably have 8 inch circle cookie cutters but I do not. So, I had to use the lid of a glass which was probably like 4 inches maybe. That caused my pies to be tiny, like appetizer sized. I don't mind that, I actually really like finger foods and tiny pie-like-things. Unfortunately, the recipe calls for just one box of refrigerated pie dough. If you are going to make tiny appetizers, you'll need two boxes instead. I still have a bunch of meat and veggie filling left because I wasn't aware of this. I mean, the filling is good so I'm still probably going to eat it was potatoes or something, but if you are going to have a St. Paddy's Day party these would be adorable additions in the tiny size.

Also, next time I make them, and there probably will be a next time, I would brush part of egg mixture over the little pies to give them a golden color. They were lacking that. It doesn't diminish the taste, but it looks really yummy.

The colcannon is super easy to make, really really easy. It's like mashed potatoes but with more veggies, so it's a little healthier than just mashed potatoes. It's a nice new twist.

Here's the recipe, I originally got this from Pillsbury, but it comes from Inspired Taste:

Made mini stout pies for dinner tonight! on Twitpic

Mini Stout Pies

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 oz lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup Green Giant® frozen sweet peas, thawed
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup stout beer
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Directions

1 In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add beef; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook 3 to 5 minutes until browned, stirring frequently to break up beef. Add onions and carrot; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in peas, thyme and garlic; cook 1 minute.

2 Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in tomato paste. Add flour; cook and stir 1 minute. Add beer; cook and stir 1 minute or until beer thickens. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and sugar. Season to taste with additional salt. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes.

3
Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheet with foil.

4
Unroll pie crusts on work surface. Using 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut 8 crust rounds. Or if you are making the appetizer version, as many as you can with two boxes of pie crust (4 crusts in all.)

5 In small bowl, beat egg and water with fork until well blended. Brush small amount of egg mixture around edge of each crust round.

6 Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons cooled beef mixture onto half of each crust round. Fold untopped crust over beef mixture (pies will be full). Press edges with fork to seal. With knife, cut 3 small slits in tops. Place on cookie sheet.

7
Bake 18 to 24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

If you’re not a fan of beer, substitute with beef-flavored broth - But then you have Guinness leftover to drink, so the beer is totally worth it.
To reduce the fat in the pies, replace the beef with ground chicken or turkey.


Here's the colcannon, originally from Simply Recipes:

Made this calcanon as a side dish - on Twitpic

Colcannon Recipe

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes

For a variation, sub out half of the potatoes with parsnips. Can add chives, leeks, or bacon too.

Ingredients

  • 4 russet potatoes (2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into large chunks
  • Salt
  • 5-6 Tbsp unsalted butter (with more butter for serving)
  • 3 lightly packed cups of chopped kale, cabbage, chard, or other leafy green
  • 3 green onions (including the green onion greens), minced (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup milk or cream

Method

1 Put the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water by at least an inch. Add 2 tablespoons of salt, and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes are fork tender (15 to 20 minutes). Drain in a colander.

2 Return the pot to the stove and set over medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the pot and once it's hot, add the greens. Cook the greens for 3-4 minutes, or until they are wilted and have given off some of their water. Add the green onions and cook 1 minute more.

3 Pour in the milk or cream, mix well, and add the potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium. Use a fork or potato masher and mash the potatoes, mixing them up with the greens. Add salt to taste and serve hot, with a knob of butter in the center.

St. Patrick's Day

3/13/12

Slainte!

St. Patrick's Day cookies! Slainte! on Twitpic

It's the week of St. Patrick's Day, and I have decided to theme all of my posts from today until the 17th about St. Paddy's. If you were unaware, "slainte" is said in Ireland as we say cheers. It literally means health. I love it, my boyfriend is very, very Irish, and is the first person to make me aware of this word and its usage and everything, so I decided to try and be authentic this year. The first recipe I made wasn't authentic but I used authentic phrases! Well....mostly authentic phrases. I made some sugar cookies with the words "slainte," "Graim Thu" (I love you), "Kiss me I'm Irish," "Erin Go Bragh," and "Happy St. Patrick's Day."

I made these sugar cookies earlier this week with the help of my brand new, super cute cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma. They are called Message-in-a-cookie Cutters and although they are kind of difficult to use, I think they are totally worth it. They allow you to make your own phrases to put into the cookies, and they turn out really well. The hard part is getting the little tiles into the cookie cutters provided. I ended up just using the cookie cutters and then pressing the little tiles in by hand because it took so long to slide them in. It didn't actually take long though, so I am still a happy camper.

Here's the sugar cookie recipe I used. The blog Fictional Foods is so fun, and since I'm a complete dork I am totally going to try basically all of them. I am going to make these cookies again for the Hunger Games since that's what she made them for, but I decided, since St. Patrick's Day is sooner than the HG premier, I'd try them out for this first.

Sweethearts

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 large egg

Instructions

  1. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
  2. Add vanilla extract and egg and mix thoroughly.
  3. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add to butter mixture slowly.
  4. Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper and roll the dough out. Dip the cookie cutter in flour to keep it from sticking and cut your cookies, using the leftover dough to roll again.
  5. Press names or messages into cookies.
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees until done.
  7. Cool on rack and enjoy!

3/11/12

The Improvisation Collection

One of my oldest friends, Maggie, over at Improv on the Prairie asked me to create some outfits that could be worn to perform improv in. You know what I'm talking about, right? If you don't then try to remember back to that show Who's Line Is It Anyway. That's what improv is. Basically, it's a comedy show with multiple people in it.

Anyway, improv performers like to be comfortable and covered appropriately (I mean like, not too much cleavage, that can be distracting you know) while not wearing something too flashy. Actors never know what characters they will be playing or what they are going to be doing exactly, I mean, they could be rolling around the stage like a Pokemon or crawling on all fours like a sheep. Who knows. That's why it's called improv. So, outfits need to be easy-going and not the kind of shirt that requires you to stand a certain way for it to lay right. Also, they need to allow for that movement. Flat shoes are a must, and if you are going to be on stage, it's never really a good idea to wear white - it washes you out. Maggie's request was to create outfits that improvisers can wear (which was pretty much following the guidelines I've mentioned) that also look feminine and put-together.

Here they are! They would work for anything really - a day out shopping, a date, babysitting or a family gathering. Enjoy.


3/10/12

Every True Son

Rocking the gold makeufor the Mizzou game even though I'... on Twitpic

Pardon my terrible photos right now of make up. My cameras are both out of commission so I'm forced to use my phone and the lighting is NEVER right. So, this is the best I could get to capture my make up I wore to watch the Big 12 Championship that Mizzou won!

Let me just say, MIZ! SEC!

The whole lid is covered in L'Oreal's HiP Studio Secrets Professional Metallic Duos in Gilded, the gold side. It's by far my favorite gold and has always gotten me compliments from tailgates to parties. I actually put it on the inner corner of my eye, and really close to the lashline under my eye as well. Now, you have a choice. You can either use the dark side of Gilded in your crease or you can use a bronze in there. I like the bronze for a slightly less dramatic look. The bronze I always use is the dark side of Maybelline's Eye Studio Color Pearls Marbelized Eyeshadow in Bronze Blowout. You can use the light side to highlight your brow bone and inner corner of your eye.

Over eye shadows like Gilded I like to use a gel eye liner. Maybelline's Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black is my favorite and is incredibly easy to use. It's good to create a pretty thick line that follows the natural lash line. Then, use whatever mascara is your favorite in black. I actually swiped some on my lower lashes this time even though typically find it unnecessary.

I used Brazen's Hi-def powder powder (click the banner on the right to get some yourself) then I put my own concealer on my face, used the hi-def powder as a finish powder (because my skin is still really bad and the powder defuses the imperfections) and swiped bronzer from my cheeks toward my temples. The bronzer I love is Covergirl's Trublend Minerals Bronzer. I've tried both shades and I can't decide which one I like better, so choose whichever would work best for your unique skin tone.

And for the lips I did a bright, flirty pink to give my face some color. I prefer Revlon lipsticks. I used Super Lustrous Lipstick in Gentlemen Prefer Pink. Then over it I used Express' Lip Gloss in Passion Punch. It smells delicious and is super shiny. I just got it and I love it.

Song Inspiration
Every True Son - Mizzou Fight Song

3/7/12

Rice Bowl with Mushroom Gravy and Kale

Made my first legit vegetarian dish today and my first gravy,... on Twitpic

This is the second all-vegetarian recipe I've tried and honestly, the first turned out so bland and seriously not good. I ended up throwing in all the vegetables from it into my stir fry I made this week. The couscous and yogurt sauce from the attempt had to be tossed. In my defense, there wasn't very much left of it, I tried to eat it...OK I forced myself to eat it. I just couldn't do it anymore. If I'm going to eat I want it to taste good at least.

This second one turned out so so well though! I actually achieved a successful gravy/ vegetarian dish all in one! Oh She Glows had this beautiful recipe, I actually adapted it a bit. Oh She Glows uses millet as the grain, but I have no idea what that is so I just used the left over brown rice from the stir fry. Stir fry was a life saver this week apparently. Anyway, the mushroom gravy could be put over anything from pasta to quinoa, your choice.

Rice Bowl with Mushroom Gravy and Kale

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup brown rice (use package instructions)
  • 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups chopped sweet onion (1 medium onion)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 cups sliced crimini mushrooms (300 grams)
  • 1.5 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (found at a health food store)
  • 1.5 tbsp low-sodium tamari (soy sauce)
  • 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 & 1/4 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 cup fresh chopped kale, stems removed
  • Freshly ground black pepper & kosher salt, to taste

1.
Make the rice according to the instructions on the package. You can have it cooking while you make the gravy, or you can make minute rice and just set it aside.

2. Meanwhile, grab a large skillet and heat oil over medium heat. Add in chopped onions and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for about 12 minutes longer, stirring as necessary. Now stir in the rosemary, nutritional yeast, and tamari. Cook for a few minutes.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the broth and cornstarch until clumps are gone, and then stir into the mushroom mixture. Stir in kale. Cook for another 5-6 minutes or so, until slightly thickened. Portion rice into two bowls and serve the mushroom gravy on top.