Creating an outdoor space

I love home reno projects, and although I thought we might reno our guest bathroom this year, we instead worked on two unexpected projects that I love the results of.  Our big project was creating an outdoor space that our back door leads out to.  This area is where hubs grills, and honestly, it wasn't quite the prettiest sight.  It was actually his idea to redo it so that we could spend more time outside.  Once I started really taking a look at the area, the more and more excited I became about the project.  Icky brown fence and dingy concrete just wasn't doing it...

Before

The area where hubs two grills usually are

Our new outdoor space with new fence, paving stones, bistro and chat sets, and solar lanterns

The two grills and deck box for cushions

lovin' these lanterns

We're so happy with the results and have spent a lot of time out here already.  (So much so that we decided to forego our beach pass this year.)  Next plan is to get a portable fire pit so that we can roast marshmallows in the fall.   

:(

Today we learned that Cory Monteith of Glee passed away.  Glee is one of my fave shows, even though this past season wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first three.  He and Lea Michele are my fave celeb couple, and it's just awful that his life was cut short, for whatever reason it may turn out to be.  He is practically our age at 31, so I guess that adds even more to the shock.  I'm usually not as affected by celebrity passings, but I really loved his character on the show, his singing voice, and the type of good guy he seemed to be in "real life."  Condolences to his family, friends, and those who knew him.  The show definitely won't be the same without him.            

Beauty Recs

I am admittedly pretty high maintenance when it comes to skincare.  I use a bevy of products - cleansers, toners, masks, etc.  to make sure I keep my skin in the best condition possible.  At the same time, I'm all about putting on a daily look that is natural but put-together.  Recently with the ridiculous humidity and heat, I've found that my usual foundation, Bare Minerals, wasn't quite doing its job, and my skin would look blotchy and obviously make-up-y.  My guess is because it's a powder-based foundation.

Last Saturday I had a wedding to attend, so with a "free makeover" card in hand that I had received from Sephora, I told the makeup artist that I was looking for a new foundation.  Last year Sephora and Pantone teamed up to create this gadget that takes 3 photos of your skin, and matches you exactly to one of the foundations the store carries tone-wise, and then by skin-type.  She analyzed my skin and voila, I was matched up with Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup.  It looked great after she put it on me, and kept well in the hot weather.  Later when I tried the bottle I had purchased, I was really able to see how light the foundation is, almost like water, but definitely can be built up in terms of coverage.  I did half my face in the foundation to compare to an unmade face, and the color match was uncanny.  It was my exact skin tone, but just perfected without redness, etc.  This one's a keeper.    

She also used Korres Quercetin & Oak Age-reversing primer, which she said lacks the chemical in the primer I had been using that was making my t-zone shiny.  This primer felt smooth and more like a moisturizer, and had a nice natural scent to it too.  And hey, why not the bonus of the age-reversing?

Finally, I noticed on the foundation's packaging that it recommends application with UD's foundation brush, priced at $25.  I did try my initial application with my fingers, but you don't quite get that "buffing" effect.   Fortunately I have a go-to cosmetics brush brand that is not only inexpensive, but also eco-friendly - EcoTools.  I already own the bronzer and blush brushes - super soft and great quality, so I figured their buffing foundation brush would be just as good.  Amazing!  I've never had foundation apply so easily and feel so great.   

 

I'm so impressed with the combination of this primer, foundation, and brush, that I definitely recommend all three.  

Memorial Day Weekend & An Onion Ring Recipe

Oh the irony of life sometimes.  I had been waiting for this 3-day weekend to come for the longest time, and Friday night into Saturday I caught a cold.  It's been a fairly miserable-feeling weekend to say the least.  We did manage to cook a nice dinner at home Saturday night.  It's kind of our goal to try at least one new recipe a weekend.  In a recent Real Simple, there's a recipe for baked onion rings.

I'm not really a fan of ranch dressing, so I skipped that part of the recipe.  The rings are pretty seasoned, so we didn't even need a dipping sauce.  They came out great (and guilt-free!), and definitely a repeat recipe.  We paired them with filet medallions.   

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I definitely used less than this, but you can use this as an estimate)
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla), sliced and rings separated

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450° F. Toss the bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a shallow bowl. Place the flour and eggs each in separate shallow bowls.
2. Rub the remaining oil on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Dip the onion rings in the flour and eggs (letting any excess drip off), then coat with the bread crumbs, pressing gently to help them adhere. Bake on the prepared baking sheets, turning once, until tender, 12 to 14 minutes. 

News Junkie

I feel super guilty that I've neglected this blog a bit.  I keep on intending to update, but something comes up and I just push it off.  I'll try to be better about it going forward...

On my mind right now - the devastation from the tornadoes in Oklahoma.  Hurricane Sandy was bad, but at least we had more than a 16-minute warning to get out of there to safety.  I can't even fathom what experiencing a tornado is like, and hope I never have to.  I wiki'd "tornado" to read up on them a bit, and learned that an area of the US is known as "Tornado Alley."  I had always known certain states were susceptible to tornadoes, but not this specifically.   

I am currently trying to figure out where to make our donation to help those in OK - do I go with the Red Cross, which I've donated to before, or try for a different organization?  I just want to make sure funds are going specifically to the cause that it's intended for.  Red Cross seems to be the go-to organization for this kind of disaster relief.

You know what - every little bit helps, and I can't help but admire when celebrities or sports figures of the sort, whose salaries are basically public, make a donation, in this case, Kevin Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  It's just great to see those types lend a helping hand and make such generous gestures.

I have to admit that I am a self-professed news junkie - I love to know what's going on in the world, even though unfortunately it's more often bad news than good.  I think for the most part it's beneficial to me, but at the same time, it can hurt because I feel myself worrying about the possibility of similar things happening in my own life.  And with Twitter, which I basically joined to constantly get news bits all the time, it's been so easy to keep up with everything, in almost real time.  I need to step back though, and try to get back to some of the other things I enjoy doing.   

Throwback Smoothie

One of my favorite all time drinks is the "Orange Julius."  It's basically an orange creamsicle flavored drink that's frothy, light, and delicious.  This a chain/brand that used to be at my local mall growing up, but it went away, and the last time I came across one was 3 years ago during our honeymoon in Hawaii.  I started subscribing to Food Network Magazine when it first came out a few years ago, and one section is dedicated to doing copycat recipes - replicas of famous restaurant dishes.  When I saw the recipe for "Orange Julius," I had to try it, and it was pretty good.

It's still cold out, but it's also technically spring, and I had a random craving today for this smoothie.  Below is my slightly modified recipe for 2 servings: 

Ingredients

1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup milk (I used Skim Plus for a healthier version)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup crushed ice

Add the orange juice, milk, vanilla, both sugars and ice to blender and blend until smooth and frothy. Divide among 2 chilled glasses.

the ingredients

dump everything into the blender

blend until smooth and frothy

serve & enjoy

Iceland!

Well, it's been a while since I've had a chance to blog, with the craziness that was year-end at work, and then getting ready for my girls' trip to Iceland.  It was definitely perfectly timed in the sense of getting away from the hustle and bustle of here and enjoying mother nature.  Granted it wasn't the most relaxing of vacations since it was basically nonstop activity on a 5-hour time difference, but the views and experiences were totally worth it.

We flew out of JFK on Thursday night, and then landed in Iceland 5 hours later at about 6:30am in the morning their time.  We couldn't check into our rooms yet, so we ate at the hotel restaurant.  Then we napped for a few hours before exploring Reykjavik.  Later that night we had dinner at "Fish Market," with it turning out to be "Food & Fun" week in the city, which I suppose you could say is the equivalent to New York's Restaurant Week.  After dinner, we went searching for some nightlight, and ended up in a club that played great music.  It was funny to see how non-judgemental Icelanders were in their clubbing - you had all ages on the dance floor and dancing like nobody was watching.  But we definitely were!  It was kinda refreshing though - to see that they can let loose and just have fun.

The next day begin all the excursions we came there for.  First, a glacier hike that lasted about 2 hours, and while snowing at that.  It was a beautiful site, but a little tricky with these metal contraptions tied onto our hiking boots, a back pack, my SLR, and an ice pick!  We then went searching for the Northern Lights, but unfortunately it was too cloudy, so we weren't able to see anything.  Most of the girls were pretty determined to see it before we left, so the next night, we paid for another Northern Lights-specific tour.  Thankfully it was a crystal-clear night, and we had great, albeit freezing, views of the natural phenomena.  I didn't bring a tripod, which supposedly a requirement for photographing the lights, but I just stood as still as I could for 30 seconds so that the slow shutter speed could do its thing.  My shots were more than I could've hoped for!

Before seeing the Northern Lights, we snorkeled at Silfra, where the water is the clearest and stillest you'll ever experience.  Unfortunately there's no underwater life, just volcanic rock formations - still beautiful though.  After that we continued on the Golden Circle tour with Gulfoss (Golden Waterfall) and then the Geyser Park, where there's activity about every 10 minutes.  Such beautiful sights, and the sunset too - loved it.  The next day, our last, before heading to the airport, we went to the Blue Lagoon, a spa where there's geothermal pools to relax in.  It was about 25 degrees and snowing and windy that morning, but once you get into the water, instant relaxation.  Really nice - wish they had that here in the States.   

View over Reykjavik from the church.

On the glacier hike.

Over looking Silfra (snorkel/dive site)

Gulfoss

Geyser - inactive

Geyser - active

Steam and sky

Northern Lights

My fave meal of the day - breakfast!  (Because I eat most of the food)

What our tour guide called a "small" waterfall

Fish & Chips

Blue Lagoon - unbelievably relaxing

    
I'd definitely recommend checking Iceland out - a quick 4-day, not that expensive trip, with sights you'll never see anywhere else.