R's Friday Food Porn

In honor of the Royal Wedding, I was inspired:

N's Friday Food Porn

Here's what I'm hopefully surrounded by while you're reading this and I'm lying by the water in Puerto Vallarta.

Salsa Verde

Mango with Chili

Yellow Watermelon Margarita

Splurge Versus Steal

Another one of my favorite articles in magazines is the one where they detail a splurge purchase versus a steal purchase.  I'm going to attempt to do do this same thing.

Pencil Eyeliner:

Splurge:  Dior Waterproof Crayon Eyeliner.  I definitely recommend the black one as one you definitely need.  I use this in my inner eye and it doesn't affect my contacts or sensitive/dry eyes.

Steal:  L'Oreal Hip Chrome Eyeliner.  This lines like a gel liner with a convenience of a pencil.  At 2 for $10 at Ulta, they are a STEAL!  They come in fun colors:  glittery black, gold, silver and violet.  I got the gold, violet and sparkly black.  No complaints thus far.

Which is better?:  For my inner eye, I prefer the Dior liner; for my upper eyelid, I prefer the L'Oreal.

Body Lotion:

Splurge:  philosophy Firming Body Lotion.  So this stuff smells GREAT!  It reminds me of something (can't figure out what) that takes me to my happy place.  Its a great lotion for a summer day as its fairly light and not overpowering.

Steal:  Nivea Firming Moisturizer.  This is my go-to lotion, especially for winter or the days that I swim.  It enriches my skin and sucks up all the dryness.  I like the way it smells and the bottle lasts for quite some time.

Which is better?: For a hot day, the philosophy. For winter, the firming.  Since I use a ton of lotion, I keep the philosophy for "special occassions" where I know I'll be outside and need to smell good :)

What are your splurges versus steals for eyeliner and lotions?

Gravy Train's 35 Before 35

Gravy Train gave us the permission to post her 35 before 35 list on our blog.  So here we are sharing it with you:

1. Learn to Ski

2. Go skydiving
3. Take my dad to New York
4. Take my parents to Lars Vegas
5. Learn to play a song on the piano or guitar
6. Learn to play the harmonica
7. Be able to perform at least one unassisted pull-up
8. Meet Rick Bayless
9. Make premier exec on United

10. Make a 3-course Mexican dinner for my friends/family

11. Ride a San Francisco bus tour

12. Learn to skateboard

13. Visit Chicago

14. Visit Seattle

15. Visit New Orleans

16. Visit Jackson Hole, Wyoming

17. Become a Vice President

18. Go WhiteWater rafting

19. Bake a desert or bread from scratch

20. Take a wine making class

21. Walk or preferably Bike across the golden gate bridge

22. Kayak somewhere…anywhere…with my kayaking buddies

23. Whitewater raft

24. Participate in a charity like the American Red Cross

25. Attend a Gala

26. Go Sailing

27. Do one completely spontaneous thing

28. Learn to tamales from scratch (and unassisted)

29. Make a cookbook with family recopies

30. Shoot a gun

31. Take a self defense class

32. Make a perfect omelet

33. See an aurora

34. Have a boudoir shoot

35. Perform one roll-up/sit-up without straining something 

10 Things You Don't Know About R

As N mentioned, I was just out in the RDU this past weekend.  During my plane rides, I read US Weekly and was inspired by their "25 things you don't know about celebrity x" column, and decided to do one of my own.

1. I talk in my sleep.
2. I love being on the top floor of buildings and flying, but am terrified of heights.
3. Sometimes when I brush my teeth, I stand on one foot.
4. I could spend all day in makeup aisles of various drugstores.
5. I'm easily sold things and believe everything that marketing says.
6. I'm in love with the idea of being a 1950's housewife, cooking in the kitchen while wearing an amazing dress and 4" heels.
7. I love to cook, but have a hard time following a recipe.
8. I am scared of the dark.
9. I get shy when other people can hear me on the phone.
10. Deep down inside, I'm a t-shirt, flip flops and minimal make up kind of girl.

xoxo.

N's Project 365: Week 3 + Bicoastal RoNi Reunions

This was an awesome week because it involved 2 reunions with R (one on each side of the country) and minimal work days. Our weekends naturally revolved around a LOT of food, so most of my photos are of yummy goodness. :)

April 17, 2011: A flight of bubbly was a good way to show the woman at Vintage Wine Bar that I am indeed not a child under 21. Don't worry, the flight was only 3 glasses - the other 3 are R's white wine.

April 18, 2011: I'm obsessed with airplane magazine crossword puzzles.

April 19, 2011: 20 thankful emails were written in 45 minutes.

April 20, 2011: Week 3 and I've already started forgetting to photograph. Oopsie.

April 21, 2011: Enter Target to buy one thing. Leave Target $85 poorer and without the one needed item.

April 22, 2011: After gossiping over wine until 5am the night before, R and I began our foodie weekend. A rainy afternoon was spent with lunch at Fosters, then cozy cappuccinos and an oatmeal cookie at Guglhupf.

Dinner involved cocktails, hush puppies, sweet potato fries, grits, fried okra, and BBQ tofu and pork at The Pit and a creme brulee trio with cocktails and espresso at buku.

April 23, 2011: A food tour of Raleigh? Yes please. First up was bruschetta, tater tots, fried green tomatoes, and local sparkling pear beer at Busy Bee Cafe. Next was pork sliders (soy chorizo taco for me though) at Market, a chocolate-making tour at Escazu, salad at The Mint, and tacos and agua fresca at Dos Taquitos accompanied by cupcakes from The Cupcake Shoppe. The first two stops were our faves in terms of food quality, but The Mint had the best ambiance. We went back after the tour to enjoy cocktails on their patio.

After vegging at home for a bit, we got hungry again and decided on a lazy dinner of basil martinis, spring rolls, drunken noodles, and penang curry at Sawasdee. Yes, the rice is heart-shaped. Random.

What better way to end the weekend than with bubbly, strawberries, tiramisu, and SATC?

Thank you R for being the hostess with the mostest and then catering to my whim of eating our way through Raleigh!

N's Friday Food Porn: Easter Edition

Deviled Eggs Four Ways

Bird's Nest Cookies

N's Project 365: Week 2

April 10, 2011: Walking around Lake Lynn is the best way to gossip with Em C.

April 11, 2011: Girls' dinner at Sitti. I like how their website says "Always food..."

April 12, 2011: Hello, new front axles. Goodbye, tax refund and 3 hours of my life.

April 13, 2011: Apparently the house across the street has been "flocked."

April 14, 2011: I often wonder what my suitcase would say if it could talk. The poor thing has been through so much.

April 15, 2011: Sunsets are amazing at 35,000 feet off the ground. This one was somewhere in TN.

April 16, 2011: It was a beautiful day for a walk by the bay.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Recipes provide a source of inspiration to me.  I take the procedure as guidance and then tailor and fine tune it with the random things in my kitchen.  Yesterday, I saw this Couscous Feta Salad from Trader Joe's and this was my inspiration for dinner.  I ended up making a similar concoction with Quinoa. 

Ingredients:
1 cup of quinoa (I used the red kind because its pretty)
1 can of garbanzo beans
3 stalks diced green onion
4 basil leaves
Handful of feta
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon of onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
italian dressing to taste (i would have been ok with just olive oil and balsamic)

Procedure:
Cook qunioa per the package directions (I substitued water for chicken broth).  Allow the quinoa to cool (I stuck it in the fridge while I showered).  Toss all ingredients together and there you have a light meal.  This was our main meal, but it could have made a great side dish with a piece of grilled meat.

Things I'm Happy About

I woke up in a great mood today.  Surprising, especially since I have an "Over 21" stamp on my hand and got less than 5 hours of sleep last night - but it was worth it.  I had a date with Gravy Train where we ate at a place we've been dying to go to, saw a show at Filmore and just had some good girl time.

But I woke up, in a great mood and loving life.  After all - what's not to love? I'm healthy :)  Here are some things that I'm happy about:

• I have a fabulous husband.  No specific reason, but he's great and I love having him as a companion.
• My bff is coming out this weekend for an interview and could potentially live here.  I've been trying to keep my hopes in check, but how awesome would it be to be able to have weekly dates!  AND the fact that the job is less than a mile from MY office!  Can we say HAPPY HOURS?!  Ok - back to keeping my hopes at a reasonable level :)
• Great time last night - I love having new experiences!
• Work is going well - I like what I'm doing, am challenged and feel like the competition really drives me.
• The sun is out and feels great on my shoulders as I walked to lunch to get a sandwich.

YIPPPPPEEEE!  What are somethings that are bringing a smile to your face?

R's Food Porn

I would love to be snacking on this right now, preferably with a blue from Pt Reyes, a Cowgirl Creamery triple creme, some Acme Bread Company sourdough, and a nice dark zin from Ridge.

That is paradise.

N's Friday Food Porn

Jarlsberg Grilled Cheese with Arugula and Truffle Oil

N's Project 365: Week 1

Yes, it's time for another project!

• Procedure: take a photo every day for 365 days
• Purposes: see with a more creative eye, find noteworthy things in ordinary days, document a year of life

April 2, 2011: Spring has sprung!

April 3, 2011: While I was appreciating the weather and the view out of my sunroof....

...a bee flew into my car. I have a crazy fear of bees. Such is the story of my life.

April 4, 2011: A coworker gave me this postcard. It's so me.

April 5, 2011: I'm a big fan of the hidden hair braid.

April 6, 2011: My nail polish flavor of the week.

April 7, 2011: K-Man introduced me to these cute little things in the gift shop of the kids' museum, because we're random and decided to spend an afternoon there.

April 8, 2011: Ahh, Friday evening.

April 9, 2011: Maybe we should start calling them "random truism cookies."

R's Friday Food Porn

Don't these just look and sound yummy:

N's Friday Food Porn

Sweet Potato Samosa Pops

My Neighbors

So, we all have neighbors...and some of us speak to our neighbors, and some of us don't.  I wanted to share with you some insights and highlights about my neighbors.

Next Door Neighbor:  He seems nice, she is heinous.  She doesn't like me and makes her daughter walk the opposite sidewalk when I am around.  When we had first moved in, she claimed we were loud (at 9:00 pm) and said I was waking up her kid.  I didn't know they had a kid, so I maybe said "what kid?"  I met the kid the next morning.

No Eyes Brothers:  These two kids in college live together.  They're identical twins, with identical cars, with almost identical license plates.  They also squint 100% of the time, so it looks like they have no eyes.  This isn't a racial thing, I promise.  They're white and they squint.  Its weird.

Motorcycle Man with Great Dog:  I'm not sure what this guy really thinks of us.  He sees us leave on Saturday evenings all decked out, and sees us return on Sunday mornings - usually in our jammies or workout gear, half make up on, dragging from a long night out.  He also has a dog Otis, that G$ is obsessed with.

Cute Old Couple:  They are the cutest thing ever - I could just eat them up with a spoon.  They go for a walk every morning around the cul-de-sac.  She wears her orthopedic shoes, they have their jackets and they look so happy while they wave and say "Good morning!"

Crazy Lady Who Walks Her Cat:  Enough said

Awesome Rockstar Lady:  This particular lady who lives in our complex is blind.  She has two beautiful sight dogs (one who's name is Zeus) and just inspires me.  She takes them for a walk around the complex and town, and needs a wonder woman costume. 

R's Friday Food Porn

Damn N for posting pancakes.  I was totally going to post pancakes but she totally read my mind!  NOT COOL!

Because its nice out, I'm going to find food porn that is nice and summery :)

N's Friday Food Porn

Ginger, Coconut, and Ricotta Pancakes