Bright Lips For Spring

I sang the praises of my favorite lipgloss, Loreal Infallible Lipgloss in "Sunset" here. I'm wanting a little something brighter for the spring and have seen lots of coral and fuchsia lipstick featured in all the fashion magazines. I want to try the brighter look, but want to avoid looking like this.

 

Last week's Sephora finds are the perfect compromise. I'd never tried "Korres" brand cosmetics, and stumbled across their Lip Butter Glaze. I love the fact that it contains no sunscreen (burns my lips), parabens, or sulfates.

I bought 2 tubes--the colors "Quince" and "Pomegranate". I am in love with the texture and color of this lip glaze. It's more opaque than a gloss, and it's the most moisturizing product I've ever had on my lips.

(I've already started doing coral on my nails. 

It's OPI "Cajun Shrimp".)

The only downside: This isn't a long-lasting lip color. It's moisturizing & it's a gloss, so don't expect to have lunch and still have color on your lips.

My favorite bright coral lipstick of all-time is Tom Ford's "True Coral". The lipstick container is unbelievable. I bought this color last summer based upon reading Temptalia's wonderful review. Two problems-it's expensive ($45 a tube!) and.....I can't find my tube. I love it so much that I plan on ordering another tube if my old one doesn't show up soon. "True Coral" is a longer lasting lip color, and I'm anxious to try my Korres "Pomegranate" gloss on top of it.

Will you be trying brighter lip color for the spring?

Sunshine Smiling At Me

For some reason,  79 straight months of snow I'm really excited to wear yellow for spring. However, with red hair, I can't wear full-on sunshine yellow. My best bet to not look like "Daffodil Debbie" is to incorporate "pops" of yellow into my spring wardrobe.

Seychelles "Harlow" Espadrille Sandal

I ordered these this morning. It's only in the 30s here today, and we're expected to get more snow this week. So what do I do? I order yellow sandals. HA!

The Limited Piped Strapless Dress 

I love the print on this dress. Very versatile!

Burberry London Woven Technical Taffeta Jacket

How can you go wrong with Burberry?

J Crew Ballet Flats in Sour Lemon

I'd wear these with gray or with a navy/white striped top and narrow, cropped pants.

Charlotte Russe Striped Floral Graphic Top

So cute! Best part.....it's only $15.

Forever 21 Tri-Striped Scarf

Only $7.80!

Hoping for the REAL sunshine soon!

Smokey Vegetable Quiche

I have a thing for quiche. It's my absolute favorite thing to have for breakfast. Is it healthy? Um, not my version. My goal is to work on my recipe to lower the fat and calories.  Enjoy!

Smokey Vegetable Quiche

*makes (1) 9 inch and (1) 8 inch quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 package Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust
• 3 pieces of smoked bacon
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 8 oz fresh spinach, washed
• 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, washed and quartered
• 1 can of artichokes, (not in oil)-drained and chopped
• 8 oz light sour cream
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder (in the spices' aisle)
• 7 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 8 oz of Swiss or cheddar cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

*You can omit the bacon if you want to make this dish vegetarian. Simply use a tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil to saute the vegetables.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Unroll pie crust and place in a 9 inch pie plate. Press edges and prick bottom of crust with a fork.

• Place crust in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Don't expect it to be brown.
• Place bacon in a skillet and cook over medium heat until done. Be careful not to burn. 
• Put cooked bacon on paper towels. Keep the bacon grease in skillet to cook onions, red peppers, and spinach.
• Add chopped onions and peppers. Continue cooking until done.
• Add spinach and cook until it is wilted and all liquid is cooked down.

• Whisk together eggs, half and half, sour cream, chipotle pepper powder, and baking powder. Don't use a hand mixer for this.
• Add Swiss cheese to mixture.

• Fold in spinach, onions, and red peppers.
• Add tomatoes and artichoke hearts.
• I use one piece of crumbled bacon. Add all 3 pieces if you want.
• Pour egg and vegetable mixture into pie crust.
• Don't overfill. **This recipe makes enough for one 9 inch and one 8 inch quiche.
• You can also prepare these crustless in ramekins sprayed with cooking spray.
• Carefully place in preheated over and bake for 20 minutes. 
• Turn oven down to 350 degrees.
• Remove quiche from oven, and place strips of aluminum foil around edges of pie crust to prevent over-browning.
• Return quiche back to oven and bake for about another 20-30 minutes or until the center is set. (If it wiggles, it's not done.

Slacky Slackerson

Just call me Slacky Slackerson, blogger extraordinaire. 

Lately, I have lost all interest in blogging. 

Sure, I can try to round up some fashiony-type blog posts, 

or I can whip up a recipe to photograph. 

But....... 

Quite honestly, that's not what I had intended to do when I started blogging. 

I hoped that I could share more of "me". 

That's scary though. 

The few times I've put myself out there, I've been judged.

More often, I found acceptance. 

So for now, I'll just give you a "brain-dump" of what's happening in my life.

• I've been really busy with trying to get the yoga training completed. 
• I taught my first two "real classes". The kids were wonderful. I LOVE teaching.
• The weather here is STILL wacky. We had snow just last week. Two days later, it was 70 degrees.
• Parent-Teacher conferences went well. 
• We still don't know where we're going for Spring Break. It may end up being a "staycation". 
• I'm in love with "The Republic of Tea" brand Daily Green Tea in the Ginger Peach flavor. So good!
• I've found a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant that I plan on frequenting weekly. The tofu/veggie spring rolls are so yummy!
• My skin has gone cuckoo. Breaking out again. Derm appointment tomorrow. He'll ask "Have you been stressed?" I'll say "Yes."
• I ordered some cute yoga clothes from Athleta using the Give and Get 30% off coupon code. My current work out clothes won't cut it. 
• Sassypants brought me this when I asked her to bring her dirty plate to the sink for me to wash. So sweet!

• Bookworm is making a musical instrument for school. Doc helped her cut out the wood, but she's doing the rest. It should be done by today.
• I'm trying to figure out how to be a part-time working mom. I really need a sister wife. HA!

That's pretty much it. I can't complain, but I'm also not feeling like myself right now. I know the weather has a lot to do with what's going on with my energy level. 

Hope everyone is doing well. 

I promise to write some more "intriguing" posts soon!

Kimono-Sleeve Tunic Dresses

I absolutely love kimono-sleeve tunic dresses. They're truly one of the most versatile pieces of clothing. Put on sandals, and you have a day dress. Put on tights and heels and you have a great outfit for dinner.

And.....they cover your food baby and winter arms until you're ready for summer! What a deal, huh?

No one does kimono-sleeve tunic dresses better than Diane von Furstenberg. My friend Pretty in Pink Megan has several of the DVF "Tabalah" tunic dresses, and they're all wonderful prints. I recently bought this one.

And have my eyes on these other brands:

Dress by Halston Heritage

Trina Turk "Casablanca" Tunic

Love the necklace too!




Lilly Pulitzer "Anders" Dress

Is this a trend you'll try for the spring?

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Saturdays....

Yes, I eat relatively healthy, and work out with a trainer 3 times a week. Yes, I will be teaching yoga to kiddos. But.......I had a first-time breakfast request this morning from Sassypants. She came up with this combo all by herself.

Pancakes with grated semi-sweet chocolate, 

real butter, bacon, and maple syrup on top. 

Do you feel your arteries clogging? 

We WILL be taking a walk or bike ride on the trail today. HA!

Happy Weekend!

Yoga Muffins

Last week I completed my yoga teacher training for children. It was an intense week. You say, "Yoga is intense? Yeah right.", but we were there for 35 hours for actual classes, hands-on training with children, and classroom time. We had a wonderful "snack fairy" bring us snacks two times a day. There's something so wonderful about eating fresh, organic foods that others have prepared, right?

All us students went crazy over these wonderful muffins, and I'll forever call them "Yoga Muffins" because they bring back memories of such a wonderful week.

These muffins are adapted from this recipe.

Yoga Muffins

Makes 16-24 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 cups Flaxseed Meal
• 3/4 cup Oat Bran
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Splenda
• 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1.5 cups Grated or Finely Chopped Carrots
• 2 whole Apples, Peeled, Cored and Chopped
• 1/3 cup Raisins
• 3/4 cup chopped Pecans
• 1/4 cup Organic Agave Nectar
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 Whole Eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Raw Sugar to sprinkle on top

Instuctions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl, making sure to break up lumps of brown sugar.
• Add carrots and apples. Note: I peeled the carrots and put them in the food processor, but finely chopped the apples by hand. Otherwise, the apples can end up too "liquidy". 
• Mix in raisins and nuts.
• In a small bowl, mix the wet ingredients together-agave nectar, milk, eggs, and vanilla-and pour into the dry ingredients bowl. 
• Mix well.
• Start by putting 16 muffin liners in a muffin pan. Spray one spray of cooking spray just in the bottom of the liner. The muffins have no oil in them, so they really stick to the paper.
• Fill each liner up almost to the top. They don't rise like typical muffins.
• If you have batter left over, add more liners & fill. I was able to get 16 muffins filled to the top.
• Bake 15-20 minutes.
• Immediately after removing from oven, sprinkle raw sugar on top of muffins. It gives them a nice, sweet crunch.

**Once cool, store in the refrigerator in a Ziploc with a paper towel to absorb moisture. They will go rancid quickly, probably because of the flaxseed meal.

**They freeze beautifully.