Monday, October 22, 2012

Making me hungry...

I may have mentioned this before, but I have a lot of cookbooks that I rarely use. The problem is that I am a visual person, and I usually only want to cook something when I've seen it and it looks delicious.  So cookbooks without pictures are pretty useless to me.  The other thing is that I'm on a computer all day, not at home flipping through cookbooks, so its the recipes I see online that I'm drawn to.  And Pinterest seems to be full of only the yummiest recipes.  I want to try all that I have pinned, but the list is growing faster than I'm cooking! But here are some I'm trying soon:


Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon with Browned Butter Lime sauce, from cookingclassy.blogspot.com. I'm planning this for Wednesday this week (we like to try to eat fish at least once a week, but I'm getting a little tired of our go-to method of cajun seasoning.)

Friday, October 19, 2012

Currently Craving...

Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple days. It's my goal to post daily on weekdays, but the hubby hurt his back the other night and my week got a little out of routine with having to take him to doctors and care for him at home.  He's doing much better now, though will be uncomfortable for probably a few more days at least.  But I'm back at the computer, so here's one last post for the week.

The weather in SoCal teased us last week with cool --dare I say fall?--weather.  We even had some rain. Everyone were pulling out their sweaters and boots. Then it was 90 degrees again this week.  [Sigh.] 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Happy Tuesday to me...

My monthly Birchbox arrived yesterday, with new goodies for me to try. The month Birchbox partnered with Goop.com to offer a special box, or we could elect to recieve the regularly scheduled box. They didn't tell us what was in either box, so we just had to eenie-meenie-miney-moe.  I opted to recieve the Goop box, and while I don't know what I missed out on in the regular box, I'm happy with these samples. I may actually buy a full size of one of these.

October Goop BirchBox:

Monday, October 15, 2012

Looking Expensive: Hair color...

As I had said in a post a week or so ago, I picked up the book How to Look Expensive: A Beauty Editor's Secrets to Getting Gorgeous by Andrea Pomerantz Lustig. She starts off the book dealing with hair: our hair as a "wearable status symbol" and how to get expensive looking color without paying the expensive price tag.  This was relevant to me: I'm looking for a good hair color.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Currently Craving...

I think I'm really digging the (faux) leather legging/skinny pant look right now. 


Thursday, October 11, 2012

Fashion for home...

I think pretty much anyone interested in affordable fashion knows about Zara.  A spanish company that is big in Europe and for a long time was only available on the east coast here in the states, finally opened stores in the west a couple years ago, and started online sales even more recently than that.  What wasn't available in the west coast stores or online was their home department.  I had heard tales of how wonderful it was, but unfortunately don't make it to the east coast often (ok, like hardly ever) and had never experienced their offerings for myself.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Succulent Green Thumb...

Or at least I'm hoping I have a green thumb with my cute succulent terrariums I made this past weekend. I'd been seeing pictures and DIY instructions around Pinterest for these, and I have always liked the idea of living centerpieces (I like the idea of growing my own plants as my personal fight against global warming - I'm sure I'm not making a dent in that problem, but still).  I discovered I had these two large vases left over from floral arrangements in the past, and I thought they'd be perfect for this project, and they are! (But if you don't have any on hand, there are neat glass containers here) I also remembered I had a bag of river stones from some other arrangements I had made, and a baggie of tiny stones from a former fish bowl.  Its like it was meant for me to make these!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Stirring up color....

For someone who doesn't really cook very much, I have a LOT of cookbooks. Some I've never even ventured a recipe from.  I was weaning down my collection when I found a little seasonal booklet from Pampered Chef, and discovered that every recipe in it looked yummy AND easy. My favorite combo.

So last night I tried this recipe for a Sweet & Sour Pineapple and Pork Stir-fry.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Battling the dimples...

While it seems like the beauty industry emphasizes being as skinny as possible, there is no doubt that women are supposed to have a level of body fat for good health.  Women's bodies are designed to bring life into the world, and healthy fat is required for that. The frustrating part is that we can't control where and how that fat is stored (I'd happily carry around a bit more if it meant I needed to buy a bigger cup size! LOL) For most women, it tends to be carried in their hips and thighs.  And with that comes the dreaded cellulite.

Obviously keeping at a healthy weight and keeping toned muscles helps with the distribution and the dimpling, but fitness experts will agree that we can't "spot burn" the fat on just our hips and thighs when working out.  Cosmetic procedures are constantly evolving to provide less invasive options for spot treatment (versus the painful-looking liposuction procedure), but any of those treatments take a toll on the pocket book.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Currently Craving....

Clearly I'm not the only one!  If I had my Pinterest items in my actual closet, I would have no problem getting dressed every day.  Remember in the movie Clueless, with Alicia Silverstone, her character Cher had that computer program that would put outfits together for her? That's what Pinterest is for me ('cept I don't actually have most of the clothes in my pins!) Oh well. That just makes it more of a goal board.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Become a Lucky Lady...

I do most of my shopping on line, for multiple reasons:
  1. between working full time and going to school at night, I have little time to go to the mall;
  2. I find it easier to find items organized on a website than through the racks in a store;
  3. being almost 5'11", I usually need the special Long or Tall sizes, which many companies only carry online (annoying, actually.)
  4. I can always find coupons for my orders online.
So since I'm spending most of my clothing budget on line, how great is it that I can get money back for my purchases?!

I'm talking about Lucky Magazine's Reward program.  If you already subscribe to Lucky Magazine, you can sign up for free, and if you're not a subscriber, you can get a 90 day free trial.  The way it works is that when you are going shopping on line, you log in to the rewards site first and look for the merchant you want to shop from.  When you click to the merchant's site through the Lucky Rewards page, then a percentage of whatever you spent at the merchant gets returned to your Rewards account, and quarterly you will get a check (or shopping credit, your choice) from Lucky to spend however you want!  I made a couple small purchases mid-last-quarter, and got a check for over $20 back.  Not a lot, but better than nothing, and since I'm spending the money anyway, why not be getting some of it back?  You can use it to pay off some of what you spent (if you're responsible), or you can just shop more (umm, yeah!).
And don't forget to search on line for additional coupon codes you can use when checking out for savings or free shipping!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

An Expert Reveals....

It is my goal when I shop to be frugal yet to buy things that don't look cheap.  I also don't want to settle for something if its not EXACTLY what I was envisioning in my mind's eye.  But my mind's eye seems to have expensive taste.  You know those pages in fashion/beauty magazines that show multiple options of a current trend? Like "Oxfords are in this season! Here are 8 different styles all of different prices."  Inevitably, even before I know what the brand or price is, just by looking at the style, my favorite on the page will be the most expensive.  Never fails!  So annoying!

Well, I discovered this book yesterday that I have started reading and I'm hoping it will transform my shopping (and by consequence my wardrobe and style!).

Monday, October 1, 2012

Blazer hunting....

Well, another weekend has come and gone.  I am not a morning person, and especially not a Monday morning person.  Because of that, Mondays are especially hard for me to care about what I put on for work.  'Cept it matters, I need to look somewhat pulled together even if I don't feel it.
Blazers and jackets are a great way to look pulled together regardless of what you are wearing under them. A blazer over jeans and a tee or a sundress can make a weekend look work appropriate (at least in laid-back LA/Hollywood), and as we start to head in to cooler weather, can prolong the wear of some warm-weather pieces and transition them in to fall. (Some ladies who are always getting it right here, here and here.)