Leave Them D's at the Bar

I'm pretty sure it is in a girl's nature to want to please the opposite sex, but c'mon ladies, you have to not only be able to spot the D-bags, you have to resist the temptation to please them. Our campuses, our sidewalks, our bars have all been infiltrated by men who believe it is their God-given right to 'play' women and act superior to everyone. These specific men have been around forever and have been portrayed in every teen movie growing up, so you know how to identify them - there is no excuse. If you are fooled once, you should not be fooled twice. Plain and simple.

Leave your blinders behind, open your eyes and see past the body, the hair, or whatever it is that draws you to these men. Try to avoid the Steve Stifflers and look for the Christopher 'Oz' Ostreichers (post the Casenova pick-up line incident :: cringe :: ). Believe me, it is very rare for the Stifflers to grow out of their womanizing, narcissistic ways, so it is best to just completely ignore them and avoid any type of contact (because obviously we learned everything we know from American Pie).

If you're reading this and thinking you are the kind of girl who has the skills to change a Stiffler into an Oz, then you are delusional. Been there, tried that - it does not work. Once a D, always a D. However, it is quite possible the guy you have your eye on is a D by association, which is highly unfortunate for him and the women he could actually have a stellar relationship with, but he chose to surround himself with D-bag friends. So, perhaps wait a few years for him to ditch his friends? Who are we kidding, you're not going to wait. You are going to pursue this kid because well, it is kind of fun to have a challenge. But WARNING YOU - don't let him fool you - if he is a dick to you, you best be outta there. It is easy to get roped in by a challenge or an attraction, which is what D's plan on happening, but think about how great love should be - relationships are supposed to be fun and make you happy - no girl (or guy in the case of a girl D) should be treated poorly. Leave them D's at the bar and look for the one who makes you laugh and treats u like a prince(ss).

xoxo

Music Monday

I'm obsessed with this.




"Kings and Queens" by 30 Seconds to Mars

(Also the preview song for "My Generation" which I plan to check out this Thursday)

xoxo

Music Monday

This should have been posted yesterday, but since yesterday was Labor Day honoring workers - there was no computer action in my house :)



Delicious Suprise by Beth Hart

This is one of my favorite songs - Definitely the song I will hands down always singalong with and maybe pop a dance move to. ENJOY

xoxo

Spotlight Thursday

 David Bromstad


My new TV show addiction is HGTV's Colorsplash with David Bromstad. The show has been on the air since 2007 and is now in the first season of their spinoff Colorsplash: Miami. David Bromstad was the season one winner of HGTV Design Star, which allotted him the chance to host and design on his own television show.

This man is genius when it comes to anything creative - his room designs shine before  you with such freshness, whether it is your style or not, you'll love it. He has an incredible amount of energy, which makes him such a pleasure for the homeowners to work with and it makes him an amazing television personality.



If you don't fall in love with this man, there is probably something wrong with you. He is gorgeous, creative, bubbly, and extremely talented! Every episode, he adds a personal painting or sculpted piece of some sort to the room and I always hope to own it some day.

He gathers little tidbits of personal information from each homeowner and tries to incorporate their personalities into the room he is re-designing. The homeowners try to pick a color scheme of sorts or give David some inspiration whether it is a picture or a blanket - he hits it out of the park every time!

The wife's favorite store is Anthropologie and the couple wanted to incorporate the outdoors - SUCCESS

Gorgeous and very inviting! I'd love for this to be my bedroom.

This room is a lot more traditional with some spice - Love it!

David is a real creative inspiration and I can't wait to redecorate my bedroom! Hope you guys all tune in to his television show on HGTV everyday at 3:30pm. Enjoy.

Photos: Bromstad.com

xoxo

Glamtime at the Emmys

I usually wouldn't write twice about an awards show, but I have to include images of these three women because they look extraordinary. My choices for best dressed...

Lea Michele (Glee) wearing Oscar de la Renta

Lea Michele is one of my favorite new actresses and her voice cannot even be explained. This gown looks simply magnificent on her and has won best dressed in my book - she looks breathtaking.

Claire Danes wearing Armani Prive

My runner-up for best dressed is definitely Claire Danes in Armani Prive. Her dress makes her look very elegant and her makeup/hair is a natural, non-fussy, easy look. Incredible. Claire is a pro when it comes to the Red Carpet.

Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries) wearing Zuhair Murad

Nina looks gorgeous!! I may be a little bias because I love her on The Vampire Diaries, but this one-shouldered gown makes her look fashionable and trendy without over-doing it. It was a great choice to wear her hair up - it does not take away from her dress, instead it enhances the beauty. She looks very womanly and I think we'll be seeing her in a lot more films in the future - I think we should keep an eye out for her.

Photos: MTV.com


xoxo

A Glee-Nation

I am a Glee ADDICT. I'm not even kidding, if anyone ever disturbs me while watching Glee, I will bite your head off. It is a drama, a musical, a comedy - it is THE BEST TV SHOW. You cannot deny it - you love it too.

The Emmy Awards were this weekend - hosted by Jimmy Fallon - I sadly did not get a chance to watch it, but I did hear about the introduction! GLEE!



Jimmy Fallon arrives to see Lea Michele (Glee - Rachel), Chris Colfer (Glee - Kurt), Cory Monteith (Glee - Finn), and Amber Riley (Glee - Mercedes) waiting outside the Emmys because they do not have enough money to get into the show. Enter Regionals! The five are then joined by Tina Fey, Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries), the hilarious Jane Lynch (Glee - Sue Sylvester), Joel McHale (Community), Jorge Garcia (Lost), and more, to sing and perform Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" on stage.

Guest appearances by Kate Gosselin, the amazing Betty White, and Project Runway's Tim Gunn.

Hilarious. Entertaining. Perfect.

Glee's intro to The Emmy Awards show only supports the fact that every single person - whether they admit it or not - LOVES Glee. ;-)

xoxo

Bakety, bake, bake

Yesterday was a miserably rainy day and I decided to make a mess in the kitchen. Whenever I bake, I seem to make a trail of ingredients all over the kitchen - flour, cocoa powder, salt - I'm totally the girl you see with flour on her face while stirring and mixing. Go ahead, make fun. 

Anyways, in an attempt to be healthy with my food intake, I recently bought Jillian Michaels' cookbook - The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook - and in it is a recipe for Fudge Brownies - How can these be healthy, right? The strangest (in my mind) ingredients: unsweetened applesauce and pure honey. I thought baking with these types of ingredients would be extremely difficult and hard to judge considering I've never used them in a recipe (that I can recall) and I was really nervous that the brownies wouldn't taste good and I'd be yelled at by the men in my house for making a horrible dessert. While mixing everything together, I have to be honest, it kind of had a funky smell, which made me even more nervous. Anyways, the result... HEAVENLY.

I'd say the total time you need for this recipe is 35-40 minutes (10-15 prep, 25 bake). Definitely make sure you have 2 mixing bowls (one large, one medium) and one glass measuring cup.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil spray for the pan
2/3 cup mild honey, such as clover or orange blossom
1/3 cup natural, unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white whole-wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large egg, at room temp
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square pan with olive oil. Set aside.

2. Place the honey in a large glass measuring cup. Microwave on high power until the honey is runny and just bubbling, 45 to 60 seconds (I tried 47 seconds and it was perfect). Add the cocoa and stir with a fork until well combined. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

3. In a small bowl, place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well combined.

4. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, oil, egg, and vanilla. Whisk together until well blended. Add the honey-cocoa mixture (pictured below) and whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake until the surface looks dry around the edges of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 25 minutes. Do not overbake. Place the pan on a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing into 16 squares.

Make sure you have a spatula handy to get all of the honey/cocoa mixture out!

Fits perfectly in the 8x8 square pan!

Bakes for 25 minutes - Make sure edges are dry and toothpick test has moist crumbs

Right out of the oven - Edges are dry (correctly done) and separated from pan

 Cuts into 16 wonderful pieces (not all pictured - someone decided to taste test!)

The best thing about these brownies are how light and fluffy they are - normal brownies usually leave me feeling a little sick because of how rich they are... these are perfect for that quick sweetness craving!

xoxo

Summer Clothing Crunch

I have an obsession with clothes and shopping, but since I had to you know, go to college and all, I have annoying student loans to keep in mind - thus, I can't buy many new things. So since I do not have new outfits to work with, I have to get really creative with my looks and what I already own - which is really difficult for me because I wore a uniform for most of my life and in college, you could get away with wearing whatever the hell you wanted.

So, one of my favorite things to do is take the beach to the office. Now before you think I'm crazy and inappropriate for suggesting such a thing, follow me for a second. All of those beach dresses and bathing suit cover-ups you bought this summer can totally work to spice up an office outfit. I like to take those 'dresses' and tuck them into my jeans (I'm lucky and get to wear jeans to work) and blouse them. Add a cute skinny belt and maybe a cardigan depending on the weather, and you got yourself a brand new outfit without spending money on a blouse.

Have fun rummaging through your closets!

xoxo

Chef Moi

ALL about the cooking lately. Cooking. Baking. Mixing. It's my new thing. I honestly cannot wait (well, I don't want to get old but...) until I'm older and cooking for tons of people. Running around the kitchen, manning the oven and stove at the same time, cutting and slicing - it is an experience. A powerful experience. It is similar to a pop quiz; you pick ingredients based on your prior knowledge of their taste and texture, then you guess or use instinct to add a few more pieces, and you pray to God that you make the grade!

I cooked dinner for my family using a family friend's recipe. This recipe was legitamately made on a rainy day by throwing random ingredients into a pan and hoping it taste good - it does. It is one of my favorite dishes ever.

Stirrin' it all up!

I do not remember all the ingredients by heart, but I will be sure to do a follow up at some point with the exact recipe - Main: chicken (sliced up) and about 2 or 3 peppers (sliced up). Yeah, I know, I should remember more than that - what good am I without a cheat sheet? Hah.

It's gettin' hotter in there ;-)

Wow, this is making me hungry as I post pictures - I can't even verbalize the glorious smell that fills up the kitchen! I will definitely get this recipe to you because it is just too good not to share.

Add a little penne and parmesean cheese and devour!

xoxo

Owl Obsession

I have an owl obsession. If you are a friend of mine, then you know this. Pretty sure that if I were gifted jewelry, pillows, art... anything that has an owl on it - I'd be in love. There is something so unique, mysterious, and old about them - I feel as though they are one of those creatures that is more or less underrated and forgotten. Owls are creatures of the night and in many cases have been deemed as creatures with psychic powers. I've read that many spiritual traditions of Native Americans believe the owl to represent vision, insight, and wisdom. For some reason, I feel that if I came across an actual owl, he/she would somehow know exactly what I was thinking - it's the eyes; they pierce right through you.

Anyways, I found some adorable owl pieces, that I would totally purchase if I had a new room to decorate, but I don't... sad face. (Although, I'm really considering the print!)

Available at Urban Outfitters

Available at Urban Outfitters

Available on Etsy.com

Stud Earrings Available at ShopBop

 

 

Available at Barney's New York

xoxo