Thanks for your sweet words about Scout. As I was painting my thoughts were turned to him, but mostly I was thinking of my parents and siblings who lived with him all those years, who picked him out when he was a puppy and will be the ones missing him the most. ♥
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I’ve been really stressed the past few days, which isn’t like me. I’m feeling the challenges of getting back into our family rhythm and I’m looking for inspiration. (This can only be a good thing.) What do you do to get back into your routine after the holidays cast a haze over you?
I know one thing contributing to my stress is not feeling healthy… did anyone else overindulge over the holidays? I have to share with you a smoothie that I love to start my day with a few times a week. What I love about this cup of magic is that I feel better immediately after I drink it. I buy bananas in bulk at the market and when they are ripe, slice them up, put them into tons of ziplock baggies then stash them in the freezer so I can whip these drinks up fast. You can add as much or as little ginger as you like – the more the merrier for me. I just eye the amounts until I get a thick milkshake consistency, yum.
refreshing mouth party
1-2 sliced bananas, frozen
about 1 cup crushed ice
1/2-1 cup carrot juice
1 chunk of peeled fresh ginger coarsely chopped (this is the confetti)
Toss ingredients into blender until smooth.
Being a natural redhead, I’ve always been super intimadited with red lipstick. Believe me, I’ve tried a lot of them over the years – and never felt like I could pull it off. But I was recently in Sephora picking up my favorite lotion and decided to try some on, one last time. I walked up to the first pretty shade of red I saw (Leading Lady by Lorac) and boldly put it on my lips with no abandon, just like a movie star from 1940s might have worn hers. And what do you know… it didn’t fight with my hair, compete with my eyes or make me feel like running to the nearest bathroom to immediately wash it off.
I even feel a little bit glamourous wearing it.
(more…)
Leafing through Martha Stewart October issue from 2001, I saw this delicious idea for carving out a pumpkin and using it as a soup bowl…
I can’t wait to live off of my soup and stew recipes as the weather is getting colder. I can read cookbooks like novels and devour the good ones from cover to cover in one sitting, especially if they feature great food photography. I just bought a Nava Atlas cookbook and it looks pretty promising so far. What are your favorite cookbooks? Any that you can recommend?
(image: domino mag)
i loved this tip featured in domino magazine on how to create your own lipstick palette from all your almost gone, barely there lipstick tubes. not only will this make you feel like a backstage pro, but it will spring clean your drawers and all that clutter in your bag, and you might be surprised at how much product you can still use when the tube is ready to hit the trash. simply scoop out the remaining amount and microwave each individual color in a small creamer or pitcher (easy for pouring) until just melted. then pour into a palette compartment, arrange in colors to suit your style. add a lipstick brush and you’re all set!
watch the video tutorial presented by domino beauty editor sophie schulte-hillen right here. pretty blank palettes can be bought at naimies, or you could repurpose a medicine pill box, bead organizer, or an inexpensive watercolor box found at art supply stores (just be sure that the lid is air tight!)
at your request, i’ll keep this series of beauty tips rolling from time to time, you can read them all by selecting the “health & beauty” category in my sidebar —>, enjoy!
silverman furs window at night, polaroid 600
the best of the inexpensive beauty products i love to use
wet n wild nail color in blazed
why: i can’t believe how beautiful and flattering this color is! all the fashion spreads in buenos aires featured this melon luscious coral hue on models and i had the hardest time finding it until we moved back home. in a way, it reminds me of the 1950s, just a few coats on my toes and i’m deborah kerr in an affair to remember. and hey, less than a dollar.
dr. teal’s epsom salts with lavender
heaven must bathe their inhabitants in this every evening. soaking in this stuff is so good, it draws out toxins from your body and soothes skin…especially after a hard workout, and it is just so relaxing! (my husband loves to use it too.) i like the premixed bag, but lavender essential oil could easily be added to plain epsom salts and stored in your own container.
suave professionals humectant shampoo/conditioner
why: hair is truly silky soft mmm mmm. everytime i use it people want to know what perfume i’m wearing. plus, bathing with the faint smell of coconut in the winter takes me back to rio. not bad for less than three dollars, right?
cetaphil gentle skin cleanser
why: i wasn’t a believer of this stuff for a long time because i used to think that in order for a product to be effective, it had to tingle, burn, zap or sting. wrong! this is so gentle, which is especially important for troubled and sensitive skin. (harsh cleanser = dries out skin = more oil production = more acne and dry spots = more harsh cleanser, ugh & etc.) it also doubles as a really nice makeup remover too.
hope you are enjoying these, have you tried any out yet? and what are your favorites? share at least one with us…
silverman furs window shop at night, through the viewfinder photography
okay lovelies, this may possibly the ONLY beauty tip that you’ll ever need. actually, it’s more like a secret weapon.
think of how many times you’ve bought a new lipstick only to find out it’s the wrong shade and you have to chuck it into the garbage, along with your money. (even if we’re talking drugstore quality, how many times has that happened? it really adds up!) the beauty industry knows that we women are willing to pay any amount to find that one product that will do the trick, and they know that we won’t stop at anything but perfection. and so we buy, buy, buy, trying to find that one magic lotion or potion. and can you blame a girl? the lure of glossy advertisements and oh so pretty packaging is hard to resist!
enter the cosmetics cop, otherwise known as paula begoun. she can navigate you through the endless parade of claims and misinformation that every company doesn’t want you to know. every bit of advice i’ve taken from her expert reviews has proven to be golden. she won’t just tell you she liked a product, but give in-depth, well researched, specific explanations rooted in science. she’ll call the company, check with chemists, and give her two cents. she can cut right through all the ridiculous hype and exaggerated claims that so easily seduce a beauty junkie. check out her sensible skin care facts, and her cosmetic ingredient dictionary. ***read her latest report on mineral makeup, you might be surprised!***
i don’t buy anything before searching her beautypedia, a valuable resource indeed – considering we just moved dangerously close to a sephora and let me tell you, once i pass through those doors it’s like a time warp. hours flash by in a blink and i’m still blissfully trying on lipsticks and perfume. with stars in my eyes. all the pretty colors… just like a painter’s palette. just thinking about it right now gets me all excited…
total image beauty salon, polaroid SX-70
just like the previous beauty tip, this one is so inexpensive and surprisingly effective!
as strange as it sounds, phillip’s milk of magnesia can be used as a facial mask for oily skin. simply paint a thin coating all over your face with some cotton balls, let dry 10-15 minutes and rinse with a warm washcloth. just be sure you buy the original kind with no flavor (which is nothing more than liquid magnesium hydroxide) it works wonders on my skin!
okay guys and gals (are there any guys reading?) this can be used for both of you, the first of my favorite inexpensive beauty tips:
it costs under a dollar, but a box of baking soda has so many uses. one use you may not know about is using it for a facial exfoliator! simply pour a tiny amount onto your fingertips and rub into damp skin in tiny circles. i like to mix it with my cleanser. it’s super fine and completely gentle and if used regularly, your skin will just radiate and glow.
bonus tip: i keep a tiny plastic ikea container of baking soda in my shower so i can add it to my morning routine. unlike most grainy and rough stuff sold on the market, it won’t tear your skin up or dry it out – super gentle and so simple. not to mention easy to maintain even if you move to a different country, grin.
fresh hot popcorn, :0) polaroid 660
one thing we learned living outside of the country was realizing that people who enjoy pleasure in their lives are a better contribution to those around them because they are at one with themselves.
but what you might not expect is coming home and seeing the things that you don’t want to keep around. like the way you eat, oh man. what you might not know about the region of south america we lived in is that the people are predominantly of italian heritage. pizza, pasta, milanesas dominated the cuisine, and it was tasty. (and so was all that glorious meat, born and bred and eaten as nature intended, sigh!) when i went to italy at the height of summer and felt the rustic flavor of a tuscan bread soup melting sensuously on my tongue, it was like i had popped new taste buds. i really don’t know if words will describe that bowl of soup, but it was unforgettable! made with the ingredients found in a small radius of the villa we stayed at, it’s ingredients were never written down. that same trip, we would come back from painting in the sun all day and we took literally three or four hours to dine. (uruguayans and argentines know this pace as their own.) and during the break between a course, our group strolled outside to watch the sun dip behind the cypress trees…which was our cue to come in by the candlelight and have more. fact: italians = healthy, enviable relationship with their food. no wonder the slow food movement began in italy. they just get it.
i really like the optimism to be found in the “slow food” movement. the ideas seem intuitive and easy to grasp, and once hearing them i just don’t want to let go. so often causes worth fighting for focus so much on other people’s faults and what is wrong with society that negativity clouds whatever good might be trying to float to the top. and that easily turns me off. but how can loving a heirloom tomato be bad? and how did we get to this point anyway? where did food, in it’s natural state, become a new fangled thing? it’s all in our culture, but i don’t want the focus there. i just like the artistry involved, even as a little girl i would ask permission to bake a batch of cookies with the same eagerness one might ask for her first tube of mascara. mmm, always loved cooking. arranging and having a gorgeous presentation of home cooked meals is a labor of love i give to my boys every single day. i’ve always felt that if i didn’t care so much for the fine arts i would have gone to culinary school. (setup: audrey hepburn as sabrina fairchild in paris. 1, 2, 3…crack! new egg!) but i guess the culinary arts, well, that is still an art, huh?
sometimes it’s hard to find people as deeply interested in the arts, maybe it’s always been that way for me. so i find that food is an immediate bridge that quickly joins people who would otherwise have no connections. last week i blogged about how fashion mattered because everyone has to get up in the morning and get dressed…but that doesn’t mean that everyone cares about what they throw on. do you think that the same is true about what everyone puts in their body? everyone eats, and unlike an outfit, that eating occurs a few times in a day, so it would seem that more care and thought would go into such an occurrence.
like anything worth doing, relearning my relationship with food takes time. especially living in the city, where extra efforts will need to be made. there is a lot of undoing to take place, years of modern conveniences and fast-food prove it to be a challenge, but i’m determined that good, pleasurable dining can be simple. i’m one of many in a delicious revolution, and i find it best to refer to books, because inside their covers is usually where i find inspiration. hopefully you may find something wonderful from them too. and if this strikes a chord with you, please mention your sources too. my appetite for this topic is ferocious. and while i suspect this won’t by the last you’ll hear about it, i thought this next week i’d share some of my favorite and inexpensive beauty secrets with you. now onto the list…
the art of simple food by alice waters
slow food nation by carlo petrini
perfection salad & something in the oven by laura shapiro
super natural cooking by heidi swanson
moosewood restaurant new classics
mindless eating by brian wansink
pears, polaroid 660
10 reasons to buy local, from the cabbage hill farm foundation:
+ freshness: several studies have shown that the average distance food travels from farm to table is 1500 miles. in the delay, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink and produce loses its vitality. local food is most likely picked within the past day or two.
+ health: fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. food that is frozen or canned soon after harvest may be more nutritious than some ‘fresh’ produce that has been on the truck or supermarket shelf for a week.
+ no genetic modification: this is among a number of technologies which slow food proponents believe will diminish food safety and present unacceptable threats to public health with irreversible environmental impacts.
+ preservation: the landscape of crop fields, wildflower meadows and picturesque barns will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. when you buy locally grown food, you support the agricultural landscape.
+ supporting farmers: the farmer is a vanishing breed. local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail value for their products.
+ building community: when you buy from the farmer, you re-establish a time-honored connection between the eater and the grower.
+ preserving genetic diversity: in the modern industrial agricultural system, hybrid varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously, withstand harvesting equipment and have a long shelf life. only a handful of hybrid varieties meet these demands. local farms, in contrast, may grow a large number of varieties. many are heirlooms – old varieties containing genetic material from hundreds and even thousands of years of human selection. these heirlooms may some day provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing climate.
+ the future: by supporting local farmers, you help ensure that there will be local farms tomorrow.
