Guess what we're doing today?!

shark vs the universe
$LAYYYTER
trying on a metaphor

Love Begins
Not today Justin
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH

PR's Tumblrdome

oozey mess
almost home
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Peter Solarz
art blog(derogatory)
No title available
taylor price

Andulka

roma★

No title available
Stranger Things
Xuebing Du
tumblr dot com
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from India
seen from New Zealand
seen from Indonesia

seen from Ireland

seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States

seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye

seen from United States

seen from Australia

seen from Malaysia
seen from Indonesia

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from Romania

seen from France

seen from United States
@mrsveratalks
Guess what we're doing today?!
Heaven on Earth for kids and parents 💦🌞 The twins love our neighborhood aquatic center. It's safe, clean, and well run. The lifeguards here are attentive and plentiful! All kiddos have to pass a swim test before zipping down the water slide. Hours of fun here! What's the best part?! I get to chill on my beach towel reading the latest In Touch magazine. Total spoiler alert! The Full House Secrets & Scandals are really such a bummer! Really, Angelina and Brad on the outs? So sad! 😱 What's your favorite summertime spot with your kids?
Get Your Apron On!
Girl’s Night In with Blue Apron
Last Saturday, a good friend of mine invited me over for a Girl’s Night In. She has been using a service called Blue Apron for the past few months and was raving about it. She gets pre-packaged, FRESH ingredients for meals 3x’s per week. There are many options on Blue Apron to fit your lifestyle. She uses the 2-Person Plan and finds that there is more than enough food for her dinner meal and lunch the next day! The cost rounds out to be about $60 per week. This helps cut down grocery shopping because dinner (and lunch) is now covered!
We decided it would be fun to cook up a meal together! The menu was Seared Steaks & Mashed Potatoes with a side of Sauteed Radishes & Snap Peas. I will say, cooking together was totally fun! I can see how Blue Apron can get you excited to cook even if being in the kitchen makes you nervous. For couples and families, I definitely think this is a great bonding opportunity. It was like playing restaurant! The quality of the ingredients was awesome and I loved how her fridge and freezer were stocked with labeled baggies and containers of ingredients for the week’s meals. *Calorie count was also on the card. The meal we cooked was 700cal per person.
The menu on the Blue Apron web site is updated weekly. My girlfriend says she jumps on the site to check what meals she’s receiving. If there are a few planned that she isn’t interested in trying, she skips that week. You can also tailor meals based on dietary restrictions and preferences.
Here is what we mastered:
What I liked...
1. The recipe card was easy to follow and included pictures. The level of difficulty was also listed on the card. I am OKAY in the kitchen, but this card was pretty helpful explaining techniques step-by-step.
2. The ingredient quality was great. The potatoes and other veggies were fresh, the steaks were wrapped nicely, the herbs and seasonings were included. You didn’t have to think. It was all there for you!
3. I loved how Blue Apron included ingredients that I’d never normally use. This recipe included a lemon/tarragon sauce. I would have never paired that sauce with a steak on my own. It was adventurous and DELICIOUS! I’ve also never sauteed radishes. I’ve always thinly sliced them raw. For this recipe, you quartered each radish and sauteed them until soft and brown. This was YUMMY tossed with the snap peas. This is a side dish I will now make on my own when I’m cooking!
4. It was FUN! Cooking together was filled with a lot of laughs! We had a plating competition after our food was cooked. We plated a dish for one another following the picture on the card... of course we took photos! ;) Blue Apron is perfect for exploring your inner chef! Perfect for a Girl’s Night In, Date Night, or family cooking.
Down side...
1. Butter and heavy cream?! There was some decadence. Everything in moderation, right?
2. I don’t have mad skills... I’m not the best at chopping. I did notice that my lemon/tarragon sauce (which had all the butter, ha!) was chunky compared to the picture. What I learned is that I should have finely chopped the onion and herb. This is a down side for those with time constraints when it comes to throwing together dinner. You’re definitely taking your time when preparing these meals. Each meal will vary in time and level of difficulty.
3. Portions... this might not be a downer for some. I felt like there was A LOT of food. I felt really full afterwards. I think even with the 2-person option, some recipes will leave you with leftovers.
Blue Apron was perfect for a night in with a good friend. We enjoyed being in the kitchen together and actually preparing something delicious! I’ve heard a lot of great things about Blue Apron. It is worth considering if you want to spend time in the kitchen. Remember, this isn’t a delivery service with meals you just warm and serve. You’re COOKING! You’re doing ALL of the dicing and the slicing!
Grooving to some Damian Marley while I clean out our spare room. The “what is this room?” room. Still no vision for it... but I have good music! It’s also spotless! #summerchores #summertodolist
🐾 We adopted an 8-wk old Brindle BullBoxer (Boxer and American Pitbull mix) from our local SPCA. We’ve been spending a lot of time learning more and more about this breed. There is a lot of hype out there and some stories we have taken super seriously. Rescuing Saber was an important decision and we know he is the perfect family dog for us! 🐾
Yesterday was ladies day in Livermore, Ca! Underdog Wine Bar at Concannon Vineyard for a light snack after a day of tasting :)
We had guests for dinner tonight! Menu: Seafood pasta Insalate de arugula Predator Old Vine Zin
Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself.
Anthony Bourdain
02/2015 ipsy Unbagging!
I am an ipsy subscriber. A monthly beauty mailer, ipsy sends cute makeup bags filled with tailored beauty items for $10 ea. a month. I have been a member for one year and I always look forward to the hot pink, bubble wrapped package in my mailbox. Here's what I was sent for the month of February:
1. City Color Creamy Lip Stain in the shade "Flirtini"
2. eva.nyc Up All Night Volumizing Spray
3. Model Co Blush Cheek Powder in the shade "Cosmopolitan01"
4. Emite Make Up Eye Lash Curler
5. Mitchell and Peach Fine Radiance Face Oil
Overall, I am super happy with this months goodies. They mostly fit my beauty profile. I am on the fence about the face oil - I'll have to investigate more about the product and the company before I try.
A Good K-Cup
I am obsessed with coffee and I love my Keurig! It is so convenient. The best part is trying a variety of different K-Cups. I’ve waited a while for my local Trader Joe’s to begin joining in the fun and developing coffee pods for the Keurig.This weekend while food shopping, I spotted some! I picked up a 12 pack of Trader Joe’s Medium Roast 100% Arabic Coffee Cups. The price was $4.99! Here is my review:
1) The packaging is wasteful. I was so bummed by this :( Each pod is individually wrapped in plastic, making for unnecessary waste. The pod has a mesh casing. The individual wrapping keeps the coffee fresh, but I am wondering if a lining in the box would help this? Other brands, like the Safeway Select French Roast, have a wax bag lining to lock in freshness without wrapping each individual pod. Another downside to this packaging is that I can’t unbox the coffee pods and stock them in my K-Cup storage holder. With these Trader Joe’s coffee cups, I need to keep the box on the counter. Eh!
2) The taste is smooth and delicious. We purchased the Medium Roast. It was not too bold and was the perfect lazy Saturday morning cup of coffee. However, this isn’t going to be my go to for a work day morning. On a Monday, I need something STRONG! Hehe!
3) The price is right! Overall, I think about $5 for a box of 12 cups is reasonable and way under the price of other brands.
Would I buy these again? Sure. I think that I absolutely will try the other brews they have available. I will however keep in mind the extra, unnecessary packaging waste on shopping trips when I am stocking up on coffee.
Rimmel Provocalips - Muah!
I love watching beauty channels on YouTube. One of my favorites is ItsJudyTime. On herchannel, she reviewed the Rimmel Provocalips 16HR Kiss Proof Lip Color. The colors looked bold and beautiful on Judy. I don’t often wear matte lipsticks. I tend to use colored gloss. I have a few of the Rimmel Stay Glossy 4Hr lip glosses and they’re GREAT. I live for a shiny lip! ;) This new product has two steps. First, you apply the intense color. Then, you apply a layer of the Lock & Shine topcoat. After Judy’s review, I decided to give it a try! Here is what I thought:
1) I applied the shade “Make Your Move” all over my lips. It was slick and bold. The color looked like a bright desert sand on my lips. It was shiny. I waited a few moments for it to set because I wasn’t sure how long to wait. When I touched my lips to the back of my hand, color did transfer. I knew I needed to wait a few more moments to apply the shine layer. In Judy’s video she waited 1 minute… I didn’t wait that long – hahaha!
2) The shine layer toned down the deep color! I was a little bummed. The color also got all over the shine applicator. I expected this, but it didn’t seem to happen on Judy’s review video. Again, I think that I have to let the lip color set a bit more. The shine layer was subtle. But, I really love the “Make Your Move” shade. I wish the Lock & Shine topcoat was a little more intense.
3) I bought this product at a local Walmart. The price was $6.47. I think that is reasonable for a long lasting lip product that is marketed as “drugstore.” I will keep experimenting with this shade before I decide to purchase other colors from this line.