Bathing Suits

It is almost that time again...the dreaded bathing suit season. I'm not sure I know of anyone (besides teenagers...maybe...or models) who just loves walking around in a bathing suit. Maybe I'm wrong and just assuming this because I hate it so much. But here's my dilema...I love to swim. Guess I have to get over the one to get into the other. So I've begun the hunt for the perfect suit. I feel like now that I'm an adult and will not be getting any taller it's okay to splurge a little cause the suit will last for a few summers (at least). Here a few sites I've come up with so far.

Eddie Bauer has a suit called the miracle suit that makes you look 10 pounds slimmer. Sounds good to me. I especially like the Secret Support Utopia Suit (what a name!) in chocolate.



Urban Outiftters had this cute suit
and yes I will look just like the model in it.
Athleta features slightly sportier looks which I like also. My favorite from that site was actually something other than black.
FigLeaves which is great for more than just suit, had this great suit in a bunch of different colors and patterns. Hopefully that will get you started. If I find more I'll be sure to share them.

Yummy

I have a new most favorite cookbook called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor.

So far it has lived up to it's name completely. I have tried about 10 recipes and all have been a huge success. I thought I would share 2 of the more simple recipes from it and let you judge for yourself.
1. White Trash Panini (when you stop giggling read on)
Slice Croissants in half
Spread Peanut butter on one side
Spread Marshmellow fluff on the other
Break up some chocolate and lay it on the peanut butter. Put the whole thing together like a sandwich. Press the sandwich in a panini grill until it is slightly flattened, crisp and the filling is warm and melted, 4-5 minutes
Eat immediately if not sooner.

Your thinking of running to the kitchen to try this aren't you?! I encourage it.

2. Grilled Chocolate Pound-Cake Sandwich a la Mode
You will need
1 loaf of pound cake,
1 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate,
3-4 TBSP unsalted butter,
1 Pint Vanilla Ice cream
Slice the Pund cake into 8 1-inch slices. Divide the chocolate into 4 equal portinas and mound over 4 of the pound cake slices. Top with the second slice of pound cake to form a sandwich.
Melt the unsalted butter in a 12-in nonstick saute pan or skillet over medium heat and cook until bubbly and starting to brown. Slip the four sandwiches inot the butter and cook until their bottoms are golden brown and the chocolate is starting to melt about 1-2 min. Flip and repeat, about 1 min. Transfer to cutting board, allow to cool slightly and slice diagonal. Serve with Ice cream.

These are just the easy, quick recipes and the others just get better. I've made both of these plus Heart of Darkness Brownies, Triple-Layer Chocolate Silk Martinis, One-Bowl Chocolate chunk cookies, All-Grown-Up S'mores, Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Hot "Glava" sauce, Devil's food cake with Chocolate Mousse Buttercream (more than once) and a few others. There are more than just chocolate recipes...I just can't seem to get past them since they are in the front of the book and look so delicious. Maybe next time I'll make the Banana Bread Pudding with Hot Fudge and Toasted Walnuts
Why not go the whole way with dessert?

InStyle

I have been getting InStyle magazine since my first Christmas as a married women. Each year someone in my family renews the subscription for me so it just keeps coming.
I really enjoy this magazine of all the fashion magazines. Maybe it's because they don't show clothes on stick thin models but lay them out so you can see everything. Or maybe because it is colorful and they always give a cool way to plan a party. Or maybe because they frequently test tons of make-up and tell me what's the best. In case you didn't know I love make-up. I love going to stores and look at it, putting it on and trying new things. I have my every day, my girls night out and my date night make-up. And I always think I need more. This month they featured an article called 141 Best Beauty Buys. So I'm going to share a few of them with you.
Lipstick
Best Peach- Stila Miranda $17
Best Red- MAC Russian Red $14
Best Berry- Clinique Black Honey $14
Best Nude- Stila Emily $17 (what a great name)
Foundation
Best Primer- Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer $36
Best overall- Yves Saint Laurent Perfect Touch Foundation $52
Best Inexpensive Foundation- L'Oreal True Match $11 (I use this stuff and it's great)
Best Inexpensive Power- Cover Girl Clean Pressed Powder $4
Best Inexpensive Concealer- Max Factor Erace $5
Cheek Color
Best Inexpensive Powder Blush- L'Oreal True Match $11
Best Overall- Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator $23
Lips
Inexpensive Lip Gloss- L'Oreal Colour Juice $8
Inexpensive Lipstick- Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick $8
Best overall gloss- Go light on my Lips $19
Eyes
Best Inexpensive Eye Shadow- Loreal HIP $7
Best Inexpensive Mascara- Maybelline Lash Discovery Waterproof- $7
Cleanser and Moisturizers
For Normal Skin
Cleanser- Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash $6
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- Neutrogena Healty Defense Moisturizer SPF 45 $12
For Dry Skin
Cleanser- Clarins Cleansing Milk $29
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- La Roche-Posay Hydraphase UV SPF 30 $28
For Sensitive Skin
Cleanser- Shiseido Extra Gentla Cleansing Foam $28
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer SPF 15 $14
For Oily or Acne-prone Skin
Cleanser- Aveda Outer Peace Foaming Cleanser $24
Daily Moisturizer with SPF- Clinique Superdefense Triple Action Moisterizer for Oily Skin SPF 25 $40


That's enough for today. Hopefully that gives you a start next time you hit the drug store. I'll post some more of the suggestions later.

Knitting

I love knitting. I have made scarves for a bunch of people and a blanket for my girl. But I've been out of the habit for a while. Mostly because it's getting warm but also because I've been so uninspired by the yarn at the local craft stores. Well welcome to inspiration day. I found Knittydirtygirl and am so excited. She is local and makes the coolest yarns. Once you order them it takes about 1-2 weeks to make but come on how cool is that. You can even order custom yarn. Yes, Please.


This last one is my favorite. I think I NEED a scarf made out of this. Or a blanket.


They also have a club called Yarnie 6 where you recieve a different yarn ever other month for a year. What a great gift idea for our knitty friends.

BBQ

I love hosting outdoor parties. I love having our yard filled with people. But I always feel bad about the amount of stuff thrown away...plastic cups, silverware, paper plates. It isn't a good idea to use my real dishes outside so what to do? Well I stumbled across a site that has outdoor dishes, silverware and cups that are biodegradable. Greenpartygoods has everything a party thrower could want. Not only does it have table top items (including napkins, tableclothes, utensils, cups and plates) but it has party favors, wooden toys, goodie bags made from felt and tote bags. Check it out.

Sorry no photos my computer is acting up.

Spring

Spring is the time of year to hit up your favorite websites and buy their winter stuff on clearance. Just don't look at the new spring stuff or you might fall in love. Today I looked through the clearance of some new sites. The one I'm sharing today is called Modify. They sell a mix of vintage and new items and everything is "green". I really like this shirt on clearance and I forgot to take my own advice and fell for this dress from the spring line I'll do some more clearance browsing and share those sites this week. Also, dinner club has been postponed for a bit cause of scheduling conflicts so once we figure it out I'll start posting menus and pictures again.

Mail

We've lived in our house for over 4 years. That is a good enough amount of time for the previous owners to get their mail sorted out...right?! We still get so much mail for them it is slightly ridiculous. Along with bills, letters from friends and junk mail we get their catalogs. Quite a few of them. I don't have the same taste as the previous owners but there in one catalog that I love looking through. They, of course, have a website. The catalog is called Red Envelope and it is all gift ideas. It is very well organized and has all sorts of neat things. THis time through the catalog I liked the grocery bags. I'm not great at being green. (as Kermit once said "it's not easy being green") but I could definelty try harder especially if it's this stylish. And how nice not to have a million plastic bags under my sink. Maybe I'll give it a try.