Vegetable & Rice Burrito

Our Saturday night was really laid back - we saw The Hunger Games (good movie; haven't read the book though), and I was starving afterwards. Having not thought of what we were going to have for dinner before the movie, I pulled out this month's issue of  Cooking Light. This recipe for Vegetable & Rice burritos was extremely easy; chopping the vegetables and cooking the rice was the most time consuming, but everything else went pretty quick! This is a great healthy spin on the traditional burrito.

prepping

zucchini, tomatoes, corn, chopped onion, garlic and rice

Fat free sour cream w/ cilantro & lemon juice

(added chicken to one)

(without chicken) end result - delicious!

What I Love About Sunday

emerald nails

vegetable & rice burrito - recipe coming in next post

colorful tulips on a morning walk

Friday Favorite

I may start to sound like one of those annoying people who brag about their dog - and if I do - I apologize. But as I was looking out of the window today at work and noticing the gloomy weather, I turned to this picture and instantly smiled.

We were teased about a month ago with 80 degree weather and sunshine, and today, it is now 34 degrees and snowing. That's Buffalo. As I'm internally deciding (yes ... keep your sweaters and boots out), a feel a wave of sadness that summer is farther than ever (even though it's April).

So yes, my Friday Favorite is Brutus ... again.

On Edge

Last night was probably the worst night of sleep I have had in quite a long time. I absolutely loathe waking up in the middle of the night, and not being able to fall back asleep (especially when you're alarm is going to go off at a bright and early 6:30am). For some reason, all of my thoughts and worries love to pop up during those moments, leaving me restless and unable to go back to sleep. Needless to say, I'm a little on edge today. There was an advantage to this, as one of my thoughts was "What should I wear today?"...
Introducing the shoes I have not worn in almost a year.

I got these as a birthday gift last year. I am in love with the detail, and believe it or not - they are from TJ Maxx. Guess you can say I'm being consistent with the edgy-ness today :)

Until 5pm, I'll be dreaming of my bed and praying the Starbucks I had this morning lasts just a little bit longer.

The Remedy

I've had a stubborn blemish on the left side of my face that refuses to go away. It's made itself a home and has been there for about 2 weeks (I kid you not). In all my fury, I did some research on home remedies for pimples and blemishes. I thought I'd share with you, in case you ever have this horrible situation happen.
The best non-prescription blemish-targeted remedies have benzol-peroxide or salicylic acid in them. But if you don't anticipate your skin freaking out, there are things around the house that you can use in a crunch.

Grab a cotton swab and apply an antibiotic cream, like Neosporin - or you could also use a hydro cortisone anti-itch cream.

Don't have either of those? Crush up an aspirin and make a thick paste by adding a few drops of water. Aspirin and salicylic acid are chemically similar.

This one I was surprised by -- Honey. Dab on the honey with a cotton ball or swab and leave it on for a few hours, or even overnight. Honey has great antiseptic properties that will help further infection.

Toothpaste is the original go-to for any blemish. Just make sure it's the original paste. Don't try and be fancy with the swirly mint gel.

Ice Cubes - for the redness. Hold the ice cube on your blemish for a few minutes. It should tone down the redness around the blemish and reduce inflammation.

I hope this helps any future "what-the-hell-grew-on-my-face" moments. :)

What I Love About Sunday

This past weekend was a relaxing one, that mainly involved laundry and reading Fifty Shades of Grey, the controversial book in which I cannot put down. I did take a break from reading to see Disney's Chimpanzee movie with my boyfriend and his niece and nephew, and thought it was adorable. I've secretly been wanting to see it, but felt much better bringing little ones along as an excuse to go.

jeweled out eyelash curler I found while waiting for the movie



skinny caramel latte a local coffee shop is trying out ; free latte for my opinion? sure.

Friday Favorite

This Friday I can't help but appreciate the warm weather and the signs of Spring that have popped up. The week went by extremely fast (can't complain), and I'm hoping the sunshine holds out for the rest of the weekend. Fingers crossed!

A new favorite thing of mine: I've been trying out new lip colors, and stumbled upon mixing these two glosses. O-Gloss and 'Pop' from Smashbox create this baby pink color that goes with literally anything. O-Gloss is a 'lip-intuitive' gloss, which reacts with your natural skin tone and creates your own personal shade of pink. Sometimes it makes my lips a brighter pink than I want, so I mix Pop on top of it to make it a little lighter.

Savior

When I have those mornings where I hit the alarm clock one too many times (i.e. today), or just cannot bring myself to pull out the blow dryer and straightener, I have this little gem that works its magic. BB Texture is perfect for those tousled waves, and appears as if you took the time to do your hair. Simply apply to damp hair, and work it in with your hands. A trick that helps is after applying the cream, to put your hair into a messy bun for a few minutes. I usually keep the bun in while I drive to work, then let it down and re-work the waves free-hand. I've been in love with this product for about a year now, and it hasn't failed me once!

What I Love About Sunday

This weekend, I came to the decision that there aren't anymore excuses. I've been sliding down the slippery slope of eating whatever is in sight; I've had the "I just moved into a new apartment and haven't gone grocery shopping yet" excuse, and the "it's Easter and it's tradition" excuse. Friday night, we made a trip to the grocery store and refused to buy anything that could lure us away from this decision. And, I have to face it, Easter is beyond over and there is now no excuse to continue to eat the delicious peanut butter filled eggs (it pained me to type that). I know that I can do it - I have before - it's just the first couple of days that can be a bit painful.

egg white omelet with spinach and fat free cottage cheese

best picture of Brutus yet - on our daily stroll

curtains for the living room - loving the pattern

Friday Favorite

Nars released their Summer 2012 collection! I love the bright corals mixed with some neutral and cool tones, and can't wait to add some of these pieces to the makeup bag.



My new delicious drink of choice - Skinny Almond Latte. I don't think my Friday's will be left without this.

Caviar Manicure

I'm absolutely loving the new trend by Ciate - Caviar Manicures. This fancy upgrade of a manicure is a big hit in the UK, but is quickly spreading into the US. In fact, when released on Sephora.com April 10th, it sold out in a matter of hours! I'm already itching to have these beautiful pearls on my nails. Here is a demonstration of the manicure being applied - does not look difficult, either. This is a fantastic twist on the typical manicure, and adds a gorgeous texture for a special occasion or just to add a little more glamour to your look.

In Love ...

with One Kings Lane; an amazing site where you can find literally anything for your home. It's actually not a good thing. I can spend hours on this site; dreaming, putting things in my shopping cart. It sure doesn't make for a productive work day, but the finds on here are unbelievable. I have had so many visions for our apartment, of little details and items that I just can't find in other stores. I shared some of my favorite items below, but you should check it out for yourself!

What I Love About Sunday

If you love food as much as I do, then you are feeling the exact way I am after this weekend. After Easter dinner, I slipped into a major food coma and was pretty much useless the rest of the evening. I'm actually looking forward to a week with less carbs and sugar and getting myself back to normal. Here are a few of my Easter highlights:

traditional butter lamb

Easter morning start - funfetti pancakes



beautiful ukranian hand painted eggs

Friday Favorite

Besides that we started our work day with mimosas (an early Easter/we're-so-mad-we-are-not-off-like-everyone-else-celebration), my absolute favorite thing today will commence at 6pm - happy hour. This is not just any ordinary happy hour, though. Two girls whom I have missed dearly (one living in Albany, NY and another in Florida), are in town this weekend and are joining me and my best friend for cocktails. It has been way too long since this has happened.

My second favorite thing - we will finally have a television at our apartment. Pathetic, I know. But try living without a TV for a week, and then you're open to judge! :)

I hope your weekend is fabulous!

Domesticated

Now that I have my own kitchen, you're safe to assume that you'll be seeing more posts about cooking and recipes that I attempt. Last night, I made a delicious (and extremely easy) homemade pizza.

The recipe calls for pizza dough, but I had Naan bread on hand and decided to use that instead. The base is extra virgin olive oil; then, top it with chopped baby spinach, pancetta, parmesan cheese and ground black pepper. Pre-heat the oven to 350. In lack of a cookie sheet, I put the pizzas on tin foil (which made them crispier!) and let them cook for 15 minutes. And that is it - really. Super easy and really quick; perfect for those nights you just don't have time or energy to make a big dinner!

Stuffed Peppers

One of my favorite dishes are Stuffed Peppers - depending on what recipe you're following. There are so many different variations of the actual stuffing, but I prefer a lot of cheese. A co-worker of mine introduced me to this recipe , but instead used large bell peppers. They're delicious; safe to say one of the best stuffed peppers I have had. In addition to being extremely tasty, the recipe is really simple. Just bump up the time in the oven to an hour, and dinner is served!

peas, onions and pancetta

add in ricotta and parmesan cheese

stuffed peppers in a dish covered in cooking spray

yum

Back!

The move is almost over, and I couldn't be happier. Of course, there were times where my need for organization got the best of me - but it all led to a clean apartment and empty boxes :) Although it is too late to write a 'What I Love About Sunday' post, I figured I would share some of my favorite things as of now.

InStyle magazine - and the fact that I'm starting to have time to read it

this tree on our neighbors lawn - so pretty 

Brutus hanging out while we were putting up towel racks