To Perm, or Not to Perm?

... That is the question.

This past weekend, while watching yet another marathon of Sex and the City season DVDs (season 4, I believe), my mom randomly turned to me and said, "you would look good with a perm." My mother. The same person who, 5 years ago, said, "why would you want to perm your hair?" After she said this, it got me thinking, do I want to perm my hair? Well, I think I do. I try to curl my hair all of the time. I french braid it when I get out of the shower, I use the curling iron, and I also use hot rollers. All with a can of hair spray with each attempt, only to have my hair go limp and straight after about 20 minutes.

This was an attempt using a curling iron. It was flat 20 minutes later. No joke. 

Now, I don't want a Shirley Temple perm. No. I do however want a perm that will last more than 2 weeks. I have a few friends who have gotten perms and their hair went straight again after a few short weeks. Was it the type of perm they got? I don't know. 

So, would I look good with a perm? I certainly hope so, because I think I may go ahead and do it. Along with coloring my hair a strawberry blond with light honey blonde highlights. 

Lines & Dots

This week I decided I wanted a bright and flirty manicure. The coral pink is one of my favorite shades, especially for summer. Best part is, this nail polish is an Essie look-a-like. Instead of paying the steep $8.00 Essie price, I paid the $1.80-something price for this little beauty. I definitely plan on going to Bed Bath and Beyond to stock up on this one before they discontinue it on me!

P.S. I used toothpicks for both the black lines and the silver dots. 

Colors used:

Sinful Colors - Boogie Nights

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Celeb City

China Glaze - Smoke and Ashes

Orly - Sec 'n Dry Top Coat

Opalescent French Manicure

Every week I ask myself, "Self, how do you want to do your nails?" This week, my response was "french manicure". I did make a little "twist" to the regular french, though. 

Back in May, I received a lovely color called "Ellie" in my Julep Maven box. It is a sheer pink opalescent color that is to die for. It seriously is one of my favorite polishes. Ever. 

Instead of using a matte sheer pink/peach on my little french manicure, I decided to use Ellie. It doesn't change it so much that you notice it right away. You only notice it when the light hits your fingernails at the right angle, but it definitely turns an "oldie, but goodie" into something "new and fresh" :) 

Items Used:

Color Club- French Tip

Julep Maven - Ellie

Orly - Sec 'n Dry (Top Coat)

French Manicure guide strips

(I also attempted to use a Sally Hanson base coat, but the french manicure guide strips ripped off the base coat)

Little side notes:

I tried to find a link for the Ellie polish, but I could not find it on the Julep site. I am unsure if they discontinued the polish or not; however, Emma looks to be similar (I have not tried it, so cannot confirm this). Also, the Orly top coat dries very quickly, but it does cause polish to chip quickly/easily as most quick dry top coats do. If you don't mind having a manicure that chips in a few days, then go ahead and use it (I change my polish often, so I don't mind it). If you want your manicure to stay for a while, choose a different top coat.

Beer Bread

A few months back, my mom went to a Tastefully Simple party and bought two beer bread mixes. One white, and one whole wheat. They were both delicious, and needless to say, were eaten rather quickly.

I wanted to make a "fancy" bread to go with the BBQ pulled pork I made for dinner, and decided to make a beer bread, from scratch. It really isn't difficult at all. Very simple, and quick to prepare (not so quick to bake). So, here it goes!

Ingredients

3 cups white flour 

1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt plus some to sprinkle

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. margarine, melted

1 bottle of beer

dried herbs to sprinkle

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

2. In a medium to large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

3. Mix in the margarine and beer.

4. Pour into a sprayed bread loaf pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt, and some dried herbs.

5. Bake for 55 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown.

6. Allow to cool before slicing.

That's it. Very simple and tasty! You can get creative with this bread in so many ways:

Flavored Beers - To add a little "punch" to the bread, use a flavored beer. I like using Woodchuck Hard Cider (in fact, I used the Granny Smith for this bread). You could try a flavored Sam Adams (like the Cherry Wheat when in season).

Mix-In Ingredients - Stir in some cheddar cheese and herbs, and put in muffin tins! You'll get muffins with great flavor! Or, try adding bacon bits. 

Change Up Flour - Try using whole-wheat, rye, potato, or a mixture of flours. As long as you have 3 cups total. (Don't use self-rising).

Make it Sweet - Beer bread is generally on the sweet side anyway, but instead of topping it with salt, or stirring in cheese, try stirring in some dried fruit and sprinkling some sugar on top. Talk about a unique breakfast bread! (And you won't feel guilty about having "beer" before 5 o'clock).

At Home Spa Day - Face Masks and Body Scrub

What woman doesn't want to have a day all to herself?!

While watching The Chew the other day, Daphne Oz gave 3 DIY Homemade Masks and a Scrub. I thought I would share the wealth right here with all of you! 

You can watch the video if you go to The Chew - Videos. Look for Daphne's Homemade Skin Savers.

Kiwi Scrub

This moisturizes and tightens your skin.

(This can be used all over the body)

Ingredients

2 Kiwis (peeled) - leave the peel on for extra exfoliating

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

~2 T Olive Oil

~2 T Orange Juice (or Lemon or Lime)

Puree the ingredients in a blender. Massage into skin (on face or all over your body) and wait until it dries. Rinse with warm water.

Egg White Mask

This is a firming mask that also helps prevent whiteheads.

Ingredients

2 egg whites

Juice of 1/2 Lemon (optional)

Whisk the egg whites and juice together until the liquid is frothy. Massage into skin, and wait until it dries. Rinse with warm water.

Soothing Banana Mask

Reduces redness and irritation, and also helps with acne.

Ingredients

1 Banana

Greek Yogurt ( 1/2 - 1 Cup)

Honey (eyeball)

Mash the banana, and stir in the yogurt and honey. Apply the mask, and let sit for 15 minutes. 

Rinse with warm water.

Don't these ideas make you want to host a "girl's night in"? You can make some face scrubs, listen to some great tunes, do mani-pedis and have a few (or a ton of ) laughs :)

I can't wait to try the Kiwi and Banana masks, which ones do you want to try?

Chicken & Dumplings

This meal has been particularly fun to create! A few days ago, I noticed that my new camera (a Nikon L105) has a food close-up setting. I was so excited to try it out, and I have had some fun with it! Now, the pictures are not perfect yet, seeing as how I'm still learning how to use the settings on this particular feature of my camera.

On to the recipe...

Ingredients

Chicken and stock:

2 quarts water

1 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

5 parsley sprigs

1 bay leaf

garlic powder (or 1 clove, if you have fresh)

0.75 tsp salt (I use kosher)

juice from 1/2 lemon

fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

canned/boxed chicken stock (if needed)*

Dumplings:

2 C flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

0.75 tsp salt (kosher)

1 C non-fat milk (or whatever you have in your fridge)

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a stock pot.

2. Add the celery, onion, bay, garlic, chicken, parsley and 0.25 tsp salt to the water, and reduce. Simmer uncovered for 2 hours. The liquid will reduce and concentrate.

(Left to Right, Top, then Bottom: ingredients coarsely chopped, ingredients added, chicken added, after 1 hour of simmering)

3. Remove the chicken, and allow to cool.

4. Strain the stock, and throw out the veggies. *You will need 6 cups of stock total, so if you do not have 6 cups after cooking the chicken, add enough canned/boxed stock to bring the amount to 6 cups. 

5. Return the stock to the pot, add black pepper, 0.5 tsp salt, and lemon juice. Allow the stock to simmer.

6. To make the dumplings, combine all ingredients in a bowl, and stir until the dough/batter reaches a smooth consistency. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes for the batter to rise. 

7. Spoon small amounts of dough into the broth, using all of the dough. Allow this to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Stirring very often (about every 2 minutes). This is the time of the cooking process where you want to baby your food. Give it a lot of TLC. No watching TV!

8. When the chicken is cooled to the touch (during the 20-30 minutes), shred the chicken. Add to the dumplings, and simmer until the chicken is warmed through.

 Serve, and Enjoy!

Merry Christmas... Two Days Late.

Merry Christmas all!

Was good 'ole Saint Nick good to you? He sure was very nice to me, too good in fact. 

My mom bought me a new digital camera, which I absolutely LOVE! (I actually knew about it, because I'm the one who found it and stood in the 45 minute line on Black Friday). She also bought me a pair of boots, which are a beautiful cognac brown color (once again, I knew about them, because I had to try them on to see if they fit). My fiance bought me a lovely pair of smoked quartz earrings, which I have worn every day since I opened the box on Christmas. I also got a very comfy pair of penguin slippers from my future in-laws. They have been keeping my feet nice and warm up here in Georgia. I received many other amazing gifts, that I am very grateful for. 

Here's a few photos from my trip so far :

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree..."

Ellis and I at Dave & Busters

Ellis and his friend Justin at Dave & Busters

The earrings Ellis gave me for Christmas - taken with my new
camera :)

Penguin slippers :) SOOO comfy!

He thought he was Paul Bunyan...

Being Paul Bunyan is tiring

Ellis and his best friend Ian at the movies

All decked out for the Falcons MNF game

Lily is so adorable when she sleeps :)

Two kittens chilling out on their condo

My adorable dog Lily actually looking at the camera... this is a rarity