Fall is my Favorite!!

Variable temperatures, boots, reds, greens, oranges, pumpkin (EVERYTHING), hot apple cider, falling leaves, bright blue skies...

WHAT IS THERE NOT TO LOVE ABOUT FALL!?!

I'm sure some of you sun bathers have a few complaints but oh weLL!! I love the fall and everything it brings...oh and flowers...and I like having fresh floral arrangements in my apartment so I try to keep atleast one on my coffee table at all times...This week (or until they shrivel and die) this is my arrangement...

 

I promise to work on my photography but I think that's pretty good for an old iPhone pic...Anywho I love the colors in this arrangement, the wheat and honeycomb (??) things with the two different types of eucalyptus I just love looking at it....AND it cost me less than $10 to make. I reused flowers from last weeks arrangement and purchased a small bouquet from Trader Joe's, placed them in a mason jar and VoiLa!! The gourds came from the Farmer's market...they were 3/$1 so I couldn't pass them up... I hope you love it as much as I do because you'll be seeing it in a few more upcoming pics!!

Note to Self for future posts...

Explain how much I love the farmer's market

Coconut Red Curry for Dinner!!

Looking for something quick fast, easy, cheap and delicious to eat for dinner! How about Coconut Red Curry with Chicken over Rice...I'm gonna work on the names I give these dishes because I don't like the flow of that very well but this meal was easy enough to make.

What I used:

Coconut oil

7 chicken tenders (raw and cut into squares)

1/2 white onion (sliced)

ginger (sliced into strips)

6 garlic cloves

Red Curry Paste

can of coconut milk

large head of broccoli (from Farmer's market)

bag of frozen stir fry vegetables

fresh Thai basil (from my garden)

cooked rice

What I did:

***I put the rice in the rice cooker first so everything would be done at the same time***

1. In a large skillet heat coconut oil over medium heat until it smokes a little. 

2. Add the onion garlic and ginger to the pain and cook until you smell it (about 2 minutes)

3. Add in the chicken breast and cook until the outside of the chicken pieces turns white (some brown spots are ok but you don't want to cook the chicken all the way through just yet)

4. Add the Red Curry Paste (I added about half of the jar, it depends on your taste buds...it can be spicy) and Coconut milk to the pot, cover and turn down the heat (this will cook the chicken through...simmer for about 5-7 minutes)

***During this time I washed and cut up my fresh broccoli***

5. Add the frozen stir fry vegetables and the fresh broccoli cover again until the vegetables are heated thoroughly...and season to taste (I substituted salt with soy sauce and added cayenne pepper...because I wanted it super spicy)

6. Serve over rice and top with Thai basil!!

That's it...let me know if you guys like this kind of stuff...I'll try to take and post more pictures as I'm cooking!

Splurge on a Budget

I'm cheap...I'll openly admit it...but I think I'm a fair cheap person...I won't spend a bunch of money on something I know I can recreate of equal or better quality...whether it be a meal, an outfit or decorations...or furniture now that I think about it (remember my nail polish rack??) That's one of the reasons Ikea is one of my favorite spots...I don't mind assembling my bed frame if I can get a queen size bed frame for $50...I actually enjoy it....anywho I digress...

The purpose of this blog...or segment...once I figure out how to create tabs on this website is to compare a product who's price tag is relatively steep (keep in mind I'm cheap!) to a comparable product which is significantly cheaper but of equal quality...

Let's talk about Macaroons...I'd heard of these little cookies by name before but when I thought of macaroons I thought of these...

macarOOns!

...which I've had before and don't dislike...but I don't love either. But these...

macarOns!

...are macarOns! 

Who knew 1 "O" could change so much!! A few posts ago I told you about my friend and I stopping at the french bakery, she went to pick up a gift and we weren't going to get anything for ourselves but...let's be real...it's a french bakery and since I'd never had a macarOn before...I bought a Passion Fruit MacarOn..and let me tell you...my world was rocked! The macaron is a crisp pillow of chewy greatness that is sweet but not offensively so and the passion fruit flavor that was emitted from the middle of that macarOn O.M.G!

...but that one little cookie cost me $0.85...and I could easily eat about 10 of those in one setting but $8.50 + tax is steep for a snack...so I found (well it found me) a...

SPLURGE ON A BUDGET!!

I just happened to be perusing the frozen food section at Trader Joe's when I ran into these...

...not these exactly but I can't find the picture I'm looking for...the ones I bought had pear cinnamon, gingerbread, chocolate peppermint and a few other flavors that aren't coming to mind right now but O.M.D. (oh my damn) if these things weren't delicious! And at $4.99 for a box of 12...I think score!! It only took me 2 days (one night and the next morning) to finish the box so I will definitely be purchasing them again.

I'm not throwing shade on the french bakery though...you can't go into Trader Joe's and take in the overwhelming scent of butter and chocolate, or peek through a window to watch a real true to life pastry chef cutting dough...the time, energy and patience..the experience is what you pay for when you buy an $0.85 macaron and it's worth it! But if I were to do something like this...

Would you be able to tell that I only spent $0.42/ cookie?? Nope! Not a chance :-) Try out the macarons...I don't think you'll be disappointed...I wasn't!

Until I write again...adios!

Happy Veterans Day!!

For all of the sacrifices you make for our country...thank you!

Still High off of this Weekend....

So I told you guys about Friday night...after being old ladies, my friends and I turned in at around 11:30pm (no judgement...we're all very productive ladies!)

Saturday was fun too...I started with an early brunch (is that redundant?) anywho...my friend made Panettone French Toast with a mascarpone cream topped with almonds...OMG!! It was sooo good...I swear when I start my restaurant said friend will be a guest chef! So yea we did that...sorry I don't have a picture..I was hungry and it smelled so good while she was cooking it I dove right in...then when I thought about taking the picture the presentation was ruined and I wouldn't do her like that so I'll just savor the image of deliciousness and you all can just trust that it was good!

Then we attended the Boulevard of Chic at the Harbor...It was a beautiful day to be outside, walking around, trying hand creams, looking at fashion,  ...on trucks...drinking hot caramel apple cider

SideBar- When did Fashion Trucks become a thing??

I'm not quite sure how I feel about them...on one hand I think it's cool that you can travel around with your merchandise...especially if you are a designer...your store follows you around...but on the down side...it's a truck! If there was another person on it it was hard to turn around without hitting somebody in the face with a hanger or elbow which was kind of a turn off to me but the event looked very successful. I'm not sure how often they do these fashion truck rally's but I'd do it again...

Then we went to one of our favorite stores ULTA just because it's one of our favorite stores..and I was looking for a lipstick to wear with my new hair color courtesy of Kurt...who is an amazing amazing hair dresser (more on him later). I didn't find a lipstick at Ulta but I did discover something...next time you're browsing in Ulta...browse with a purpose...we found a whole line of products that were 75% off. Granted the makeup line wasn't for women of color..it was still 75% off! I found a really nice red lip pencil to go with my Ruby Woo for $5...Score! We also tried on colored mascara (think hunter green, royal blue, purple)...I sense this being a thing very soon...

New Purple hair...finally got a good picture (lighting wise)

DSW was next! I need some new boots and like 5 weeks ago when boots were being stocked I found the perfect pair...but the way my bank account was set up...I had to walk away...and damnit! when I was ready to get them...they weren't there...oh the size 11 wide calf struggle. I did get some cute rain/snow boots that I know I'll be needing in a few weeks (days if the rumors are true)...

I can and can't wait to wear them...PS- DSW is having a buy 2 get 30% sale until midnight...use code 30today We made a few more stops including a French pastry shop, Marshall's and Forever 21...I ended the night with an entire season of Key and Peele and a sweet potato pie from McDonalds lol...it was a good Day!

#OoTd!!

Are we still using #ootd as outfit of the day anymore?? Or are we just not doing those anymore? Oh well...I don't care here was my ootd today...well pieces of it bc I forgot to charge my ipad last night and today I was busy at work and didn't have a chance to take a pic until I was getting ready to leave> ipad +low battery +all day=dead iPad when I remembered to take pics> so I had to use my phone to take them. But my arms aren't long enough to capture entire outfit so I just took what I could...

Trench coat from Target 

Flannel Plaid Shirt from Old Navy

Wide leg navy blue pants from thrift store

Leopard loafer from Target 

On my lips Ruby Woo with Napoleon Liner

Real talk alert: I need a hair cut bad...it becomes seriously apparent to curly girls when they straighten their hair...it's probably readily apparent in its curly form too but less offensive (in my opinion) raggedy ends on straight hair is a no no anywho I digress...because I need a hair cut I choose to hide my ends and did two large twists then tucked and pinned the ends under...then I thought I need something extra...what can I do?! 

A head piece..not band a piece because it's actually a necklace (from a friend Thanks Kelly!!) that I just pinned into place with bobby pins...

I'm pretty sure I wanted to add more to this blog but I messed up and turned on The Weeknd and now I'm vibing too hard to concentrate 🎶Hey there lonely girl...did you have to tell your friends about the way I had you....🎶

Leave me comments guys..let me know what you like and even what you don't...I'll pretend to care but let's be real it is my blog :-p

Back to Blogging

Hey GUys!

So alot has changed and alot is still the same from the last time I was blogging...admittedly I wasn't taking the blog thing seriously. I did it because everyone else had one but now I've got great ideas and I'm so excited to share them with you all! I couldn't think of a better way to do it other than blogging so here it goes!

I had a wonderful weekend this past weekend. It started with the First Friday's in Hampden and ended with a Mac and Cheese and a Raw Kale Salad. I've so much to tell that I don't know where to start soo I'll start with how I started my weekend with Pumpkin Pie Shots!

I knew my friends were coming over and I wanted to have something for them but wasn't quite sure what to make. I know when we get together we are likely going out to eat so I didn't make food. Earlier in the week I made some pumpkin syrup to make pumpkin chai lattes at home and thought hmmmm....Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey and Pumpkin sound like a good combo...then I added vanilla almond milk and Voila! I loved how it looked seperated but you should mix it before taking the shot.

DELICIOUS!! And my friends loved them!!

We sipped as we got ready to go out. Initially we were going to get our nails done then hit up a poetry event but we ended up running to Hampden for Keeper's Vintage Grand Opening, which was amazing! I bought 2 pieces (I'll blog those later) and 2 French perfumes. It was First Friday in Hampden so we went to other shops as well. Although I didn't purchase anything else I had a really good time. We did get free caramel apples from a random lady walking down the street...They were too cute to pass up!! We ended up eating at Cafe Hon...I had the Maryland Crab mixed with Cream of Crab soup..it was ok I wish I had gotten just one or the other though (review to come later)...

 Caramel Apples in Hampden

Beauties in Baltimore

I felt like a rock star!

Cheese!!