Celebration Shopping

After the law school acceptance packet on Monday, I thought a little celebratory spending was in order.

Although my original intention for the trip to the mall was to return a few things for my mom, I ended up in a few stores, spending much more than anticipated.

My most exciting purchases:

Glee Nail Polish - Sephora by OPI

I am a GLEEK.  i love love this show, and although I recieved an email about some glee nail polish, I didn't actually look that much into it and therefore was completely shocked when I arrived at sephora to see this on the nail polish display.  I also recently became nail polish obsessed - I never painted my nails before last spring, but now I'm sad when they chip or are bare.  Although suzi skis just made its way onto my nails on thursday morning, I'll be doing one of these babies (either miss bossy pants, the rachel berry-esque pink or the gleek out lime) tonight.  don't worry, I'll post pics!
This mini-pack comes with 3 exclusive colors (the glittery topcoat - celebacy club, the navy blue - sue vs shue, and the coral - express yourself to yourself), and there are also four other colors to complete the collection - a pink, purple, glittery grey, and peacock green.  I didn't realize that I was missing 4 colors when buying the little one, so I might have to go back for more.  We'll see ;)

Reebok EasyTone Reeinspire

I'm always interested in things that claim to do this thing for your health or that thing for your health (see PowerBalance bracelets) (also if you really want to buy one of these, order it from amazon where they are WAY cheaper.  dont be dumb like me).  I always take their claims with a grain of salt, but I'm still always drawn in, just enough to justify the purchase if its something I want.  So now, see the EasyTones.  Luckily these are pretty cute for tennies, and a steal of a deal (1/2 off at von maur!), and I think that their weird circles will at least help with my balance, even if they fail to actually shape my buns.  and with the power balance band, I should be a yoga queen. 

Things I love Thursday - 1/27

Things I Love Thursday

 Acceptance packets from MICHIGAN LAW

Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees 

this is technically a charcoal grey, but in certain light its blue-ish, others its deep deep green, and i even get purple sometimes and i LOVE it

 (oh and thats me!  i dont think i've introduced my face to the blogging world yet, but there i am!  hi blogging world!)

source

broccoli

apparently this cruciferous veg is in season?  whatever i love it.  esp dipped in humus or ranch.  

trader joe's has bags of it in organic form, already washed and cut.  LOVE IT.  

Pretty Little Liars

hello guilty pleasure.  i want to have ezra's babies, spencer's wardrobe, and creepy anonymous texts

(here)

  lululemon wunder unders

holy cow, most comfortable piece of clothing EVER.  i am so not a proponent of leggings as pants, but i will do anything to work these babies into my wardrobe.  i've worn them with dresses, under pants - i've even branched out into long-sweater + leggings wearing.  look at me, living on the edge.  they rock.  so worth the price tag.

Things I've learned 1

Things I've learned...

 - asking your boyfriend if they have dual flush toilets in the engineering buildings is a silly question

source

 

 -the best way to get into law school is to submit your  letter of continued interest.  your acceptance packet will have been mailed 2 days before.

-sometimes working on the cancer floor of a children's hospital takes its emotional toll

-gorilla pose is incredible

source

  
-donate your baby's cord blood.  the chance that someone with cancer will need it is greater than the chance your child will need it. 

-outback salmon + sweet potato is a pretty awesome celebratory dinner

-i love "all those pretty lights" by andrew belle

-working out consistently is its own reward

-attempting to not get sick when your roommate is sick is tough work. 

-it is possible to have super delicious "dessert-like" foods.

plain greek yogurt, frozen organic wild blueberries, organic dark chocolate chips + a touch of honey

 

Crochet Motivation

I was on etsy the other day looking up narwhal things. because lets be honest, narwhals are pretty freaking cool animals. a lot of my love stems from mr. narwhal of elf fame, but I've always loved whales, and narwhals are some of the coolest (along with belugas, humpbacks, and porpoises). etsy is honestly the best for little animal crafts. 

And I came across this...

These two esty patterns are the motivation for me to become better at crocheting:

narwhal!!

manatee!

These crochet pattern are available from needleNoodles, on etsy here!

How adorable would they be on a keychain?

These little animal patterns along with the huge desire to make one of these:

pattern can be found here: hooks and knives

will hopefully be enough motivation to get crocheting to the point where I can handle the single-crochet!

Also this:

makes me wish I knew how to knit as well.
looooove cable knit
pattern here: winter knits kit

So hopefully I can get my act together, and find the time to make adorable craft-y things.

Dry Hands Cures

I work in a Children's Hospital, and am constantly hand washing with harsh soap, purell-ing, and cleaning with nasty chemical cleaners.  So toss that in with some cold winter air, baseboard heating, and terrible water, and you've got a perfect combination for dry painful hands!

I've been especially careful with hand washing lately because one of the little ones I adore at work is severely immuno-compromised, but I'd still like to visit him.  So that means hand washing after being in public places, before eating, etc.

There are two products that are lifesavers for my little winter hands and they are as follows:

method moisturizing hand wash in cucumber and aloe (here)

i am certifiably method-obsessed.  they are always my go-to company for cleaning products

and although this soap does use sodium coco sulfate, a chem that some people have qualms

with, its one that i'm currently okay using.

This soap is super moisturizing, and its all that I use at home. 

Method products are also available at target, but maybe not this one.  I feel like I bought

it on clearance.

+

L'Occitane Shea Butter (here)

This is the best hand cream.  Super rich, natural, and perfect for my winter hands.  

I always buy the little bottle because it fits so nicely in my purse/bag, and its recommended shelf life is 6mos,

Sephora always has these in stock by the registers too if you'd rather buy in store.

So there you go, some natural ideas for keeping those dry hands at bay in the cold winter months.

Note: I am not a cool enough blogger to receive product samples, so I bought these babies with my own money.  :)  

Things I Love Thursday - 1/20

Things I Love Thursday

Annie's Organic Snack Mix Bunnies

These babies are my go-to salty snack.  They are SO satisfying

Kate Spade 5th Ave Earmuffs

I've been dying for earmuffs ever since I realized the futility of hats when I wear my hair up.  

Earmuffs are the perfect solution.  And these ones are SO adorable.

(also when I googled for a picture of these I typed in earmuffins.  clearly I have muffins on the mind.  but also, how cute would earmuffs shaped like muffins be?!)

Kindle + Apple Green Cover

I love love love my kindle.  It's perfect for on-the-go reading, no eye strain, and I feel like I read FASTER on it.  

Is that possible?  regardless, I love it.

Google Demo Slam

Found this in a HuffPost re: time wasting sites.  Love it!  And definitely a time waster.

+

Arc Trainer + Women's Health

this is how i've been getting through cardio workouts lately.  

And I'm learning SO much from women's health.  LOVE IT.

What are you loving this week?

More Muffins

So I tried the other muffins again this morning and I REALLY liked them.  They're definitely more healthy/less sweet than the banana muffins, but I really liked them. I must have just been muffin'd out last night.

So I present:

White House Honey Oat Muffins
adapted from the recipe by Spike Mendelsohn

3/4 cup old fashioned oats

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

2 tsp baking power

1.5 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp corriander 

1/2 cup honey + 2 tbsp 

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup "homemade buttermilk" = 1/2 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk + 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

2 large eggs

mix together all dry ingredients

wisk honey, canola oil, buttermilk, and eggs together in a separate bowl

combine 

pour into muffin cups, 2/3 full

bake at 375* for 18 minutes, or until golden and test stick comes out clean

makes about 12 muffins

Not very sweet at all, but perfect with just a little bit of earth balance buttery spread and some tea in the morning.

just crumbs leftover

Alos, muffins always make me think of muffin films.  Especially The Muffinless.  Love Amy Winfrey!  Don't be muffinless!