Blog

Favorite January Beauty Buy > Tom Ford Black Orchid

2013-01-24T19:00:00Z

My birthday gift to myself this year was Tom Ford's Black Orchid and I'm over the moon about it. I've been using L'eau par Kenzo for years now, but L'eau is a much lighter, floral scent that's better for summer and spring.

Black Orchid is perfect for the winter months, glamarous, lasts forever, and the notes change slightly throughout the day in a really good way. It's sold as a unisex bottle, which makes sense since I tend to love men's cologne much more than the really sweet women's fragrances.

Next time you find yourself wandering through the fragrance counters avoiding eye contact with the aggressive saleswomen, I'd highly recommend stopping for a spritz of this bad boy. Oh, and I know I'm a packaging/marketing sucker - but the black ridged and gold bottle is absolutely gorgeous too, don't you think?

Hoosier Mama Pie > All Its Cracked Up to Be

2013-01-22T12:18:00Z

I don't know about you, but I'd take pie or any fruit-based dessert over the trendy cupcake any day. Lauren doesn't consider anything a dessert unless there's chocolate involved (fair point), but there's just something I love about the humble pie.

I finally got the chance to try Hoosier Mama Pie Company, bringing three huge pies home for Christmas last month. I used the excuse over the holidays to place my pre-order before they sold out for the season and the wait, and price (around $25 a pie), was still worth it. I grabbed a classic apple, coconut cream and a sour cream dutch apple, with the dutch apple being my favorite.

The storefront is teeny tiny with two itsy tables, but it's adorable, friendly, and they offer pie flights!

Happy Holidays and Hello, 2013

2013-01-20T21:18:24Z

After a bit of a break from blogging, we wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a belated happy holidays!

Heading to my uncle's in the burbs has become a tradition for my family and I love to take photos of his beautiful home, my fam, and of course, all the good eats.

2012 was a bit of a rough year for me, but given lots of recent positive changes, let's just say I'm sprinting into 2013 with a big fat smile on my face. I have a feeling it's going to be a great one.

Crispy Parmesan Garlic Fries > Baked!

2012-08-31T23:33:15Z

These aren't the fastest things you'll ever make in the kitchen, but trust me when I say these are amazing and wonderfully crispy. I've tried oven-baked fries before that tasted fine but they never had that satisfying crunch like that of a deep golden browned french fry. These have that crunch - plus grated cheese and garlic oil... all from the oven.

The secret? Soaking the potatoes in a bit of cold salted water to remove the starch and dry them out before they hit the oven. My family gobbled them up. Next time, I'm doubling the recipe.

Recipe adapted from Purple Foodie.

Ingredients:

8 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each)
3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
freshly shaved parmesan
chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 440° F.
Parboil the potatoes about 5 minutes until you can stick a fork in them (potato should still be fairly firm).
Remove potatoes, let cool for a while.
Combine the garlic and oil in a large bowl, warming it in a pan over the stove until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
Transfer 1-2 tablespoons of the oil (leaving the garlic in the bowl) to 1 or 2 foil lined baking sheets, coating it well. I also sprayed the foil lined baking sheets with some non stick spray just to be safe.
Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Set aside. (I may have added in more garlic powder since I love garlic, so don't afraid to be liberal with that!)
Cut cooled potatoes into wedges. Don't worry if some of the spud's skin comes loose.
Secret to making crispy oven fries - do not skip this step! Rinse wedges two or three times in cold water. Then soak the potatoes in ice water with 1-2 Tbs of salt for 5 minutes or so.
Remove wedges and thoroughly pat dry with a towel as much as you can.
Toss wedges in the garlic oil and then the garlic powder mixture to coat.
Place wedges in a single layer on prepared baking sheets. Make sure you don't place them too close together or the potatoes will steam. Use another baking sheet if you need to.
Sprinkle any remaining garlic powder mixture left over from the bowl to the top of the wedges. The clumpier the better.
Shave fresh parmesan to the top of the wedges, as well as parsley if you wish.
Bake in the oven turning once, until deep golden brown and crisp, about 40-45 minutes. Keep an eye on them in the oven and don't be afraid to remove earlier or keep in the oven for longer depending on how crispy you prefer them.
Remove from oven, taste and season with a dash of fresh shaved parmesan or even truffle salt (I love my truffle salt from Dean & Deluca).
Serve with ketchup or garlic aioli!

Cubicle Love

2012-08-17T02:53:45Z

When I recently moved floors to a new desk space (with more natural light, hooray!) I took the opportunity to make my work home a little brighter. Considering I spend most of my waking hours at work and how easily my mood is affected by my environment, it seemed like the perfect time to make my desk be more than just file folders and stacks of papers. Like my happy new digs?

My desk musts:

Glossy white floating frames. A few photos, a bright travel calendar from Etsy, and a stamped pennant from when I climbed Mount Fuji. Nothing says "I can do it!" like a physical "I climbed a mountain!" reminder, right?
Sunny lamp from West Elm
Cubicle wallpaper. I found discounted fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics and hung it up by folding and pinning the borders of my wall with tacks like a hem.
Living things. Nothing brings life to a ho-hum desk more than a cute terrarium from Etsy and my favorite cyclamen plant.
Grass charging station to reign in and tame cords.
Monogrammed mug from Anthropologie, a great Christmas present from a colleague!
Japanese paper trays and boxes to organize pens, paper clips and for me, all my errant bobby pins.
Voluspa candle. Beautiful, and it smells great even if you can't light it.

Something Blue > Bachelorette Gift Idea

2012-06-05T02:31:30Z

One of my friends had her bachelorette party this weekend, so I wanted to post some of the fun I had wrapping her gift. I love keeping an enormous roll of kraft paper handy because you can personalize and spruce it up for any occasion - birthdays, Christmas, you name it. And you don't need to keep a zillion different types of wrapping paper rolls taking up precious closet shoe space.

Since I bought her something blue, I thought it'd be fun to play off the "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" saying by writing it directly on the kraft paper and tying everything up with a few fresh flowers and white ribbon.

I think it makes it all a bit more special, but maybe I'm just a sucker! What about you? Are you a sucker for packaging?

London Eats > Barrafina

2012-05-21T21:53:32Z

Chicken thigh with romesco sauce

This is a long overdue post, but I'll keep it short since the photos do more justice than words. I went to London last month and went to the lovely Barrafina for dinner in Soho. Teresa and I sat outside and went to town on the tapas menu. Every dish was more delicious than the last, and it was made even better with never-ending glasses of wine, sitting outside and people watching. If you ever find yourself in London, Barrafina is a must!

Razor clams

Pan con tomate

Octopus with capers

Classic tortilla

Brill

Chocolate tart

German Pancake Recipe

2012-03-19T00:54:50Z

I'll pretend like I haven't had german pancakes 7 times for the last 2 weeks for dinner. If you haven't had these, you have to try them. My mom, who is not a breakfast or brunch person at all, makes exceptions for this, and it is SO easy to make. They always remind me of her because she always makes these for me when I'm home! They're light, thin, chewy and perfect with simple lemon and powdered sugar. They turn out wonderfully in a trusty cast iron skillet, but I've made them in a pizza pan too. The best part? You can make them with only six ingredients that are most likely to already be in your pantry.

I halve a recipe I've adapted from All Recipes and it's perfect for a single serving in a 15-inch cast iron skillet.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 TBS butter, melted

Recipe:

Place your cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F
Whisk eggs and milk in a bowl.
Add flour and salt to the egg and milk mixture and stir until mostly smooth
Once oven is preheated, add the 2 TBS melted butter to the cast iron skillet and roll the butter around to cover the bottom and sides of the skillet
Pour batter into the skillet and bake for 20 minutes. The sides and middle will pouf up and may be bubbly, but that's ok - it's the best part!
Remove from oven, and garnish according to taste.

To serve, I always opt for squeezing a lemon and dusting with powdered sugar, but butter and syrup, pumpkin butter, mixed berries and powdered sugar all work too!

I Am Voldemort

2012-02-14T19:06:00Z

Hey guys - know I've been MIA for awhile, but oh how I've missed you so. Thought I'd fill you in on some of the things I've been up to during my dating hiatus/winter hibernation from snow and boys.

My beloved Michigan Wolverines made it to the Sugar Bowl and won (don't blame me, blame the BCS ranking system). Michigan Football is back, baby - GO BLUE!

I joined a new team at work (three guesses who the client is) and they quickly found the key to my productivity...easy access to SNACKS!!

I woke up at 6 am on a Sunday to hit up the Jason Wu launch at Target. Picture the running of the bulls, except with women and fashion. I did things I'm not proud to admit, but pretty impressive haul, huh?

Oh you know...TGIF

Another less fun thing I've been dealing with is the rando re-appearance of Harry Potter Boy (HP Boy for short). For those of you just joining us, he's a guy I had a brief summer fling with and then he just fell off the face of the earth - no text, call or explanation. He resurfaced this winter, out of the clear blue, via text message. At first I didn't know who it was because I did what any normal human would do after being screwed over and I deleted his number from my phone.

Try as I might to deflect/ignore him, he kept popping up (ergo my Voldemort reference - why won't Harry Potter boy just die??!!). And I would get messages from him at random times in the morning/afternoon, so he couldn't even blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol. I thought that I had finally lost him until I woke up early on a Saturday to hit up my Dailey Method class to find another one from him..this time, late night. His latest text had me scratching my head again until I realized what holiday was right around the corner (oh yeah, Happy Valentine's Day all!). It was like a light bulb went off in my brain....HP Boy has turned into the Holiday Bandit!!!

As you'll see from the incriminating text chain below (identities have been concealed to protect the guilty), he always texted me before a major holiday, which all of us single folks know can be a breeding ground for crippling feelings of loneliness and seemingly endless despair (oh ok, just me then??).

Members of the jury, I give you Exhibit A:

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, sometime in the am

(Can't tell you when because I had deleted it)

Is it too late to apologize for not getting back to you?

A few days afterwards

(again I deleted it, so don't know exactly when)

I'm probably going to regret asking this, but who is this??

Nov 27, 2011 - 1:22 pm

Should prob just leave it at that but this is [bleeep] from eharmony

Nov 27, 2011 - 2:27 pm

Got it - mystery solved

Dec 10, 2011 - 7:51 am

So Is it safe to say u forgive me for being a dick?

NO RESPONSE, but TC's internal monologue:

Ummm....no - that would NOT be safe to say. Leave me alone, please

Feb 11, 2011 - 3:18 am

Can u at least think about giving me a second chance? I have a pretty significant reason for going MIA on you earlier

****

So now I'm not only annoyed that he just won't leave me alone, but I'm PISSED that he thinks he can just come crawling back to me whenever he's feeling blue. So I do what any self-respecting girl would do...I text him back that I'm seeing someone now (total lie) and tell him to stop texting me/delete me from his phone. Because I do not want to be dealing with this sh*t on President's Day.

How about you guys? Any exes that still try to text you whenever they're alone?!

TC out :)

A Neat Pinterest Trick!

2012-02-08T02:34:24Z

Did you know you can plug in your website into the below to see what photos and content other people have pinned from your blog? I love it! It's fun to see what other people find interesting of yours. And also, it really is embarrassing how much time I can spend on that website. PINTEREST. ADDICT.

Here's ours! http://pinterest.com/source/twentysomethingtestdummies.com

You can check yours by plugging in your blog here: http://pinterest.com/source/INSERTBLOGNAMEHERE.com

"Happy pinning!" :)