Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Women in Your Life

As promised, I am back with my gift ideas for any woman in your life: sister, friend, Mom, girlfriend. I’ve tried to include something for any type of girl: I have quite the eclectic group of women surrounding me!

Take a gander & get inspired!

Fluffy eye mask – $6.50

Tribal print knit scarf – $12.80

Pineapple Coconut Bubble Bath – $16

Pencil crayons – $11.25

Bonsai Forest – $50

Pave Stars Key Ring – $58

Kama Sutra Bedside Box – $45

OPI  ‘Burlesque’ polish – $4.05

Italian luxury throws – $29

Amazon Kindle – $139

Vanilla bean reed diffuser – $17.95

.

Of course, everyone is unique. I chose each of these gifts with a different special lady in mind, and I’m certainly not suggesting that you throw a lot of glitter and pink on whoever identifies as a female and call it Christmas! Think about who the person is first, and choose something to fit them and their interests. For example, one of my best friends would be on the moon if I bought her a steamy romance novel, a Star Trek box set, a t-shirt with a funny saying on it, and some imported beer. Everyone is special! Make sure their gift is special too.

Let me know what you’re pondering for your special women this season!

xoxo,

Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Men in Your Life

Alright! Now that it’s officially December, I am definitely allowed to start daydreaming and brainstorming about what to buy or make for my loved ones. While I believe that the best gifts are thoughtful ones, especially if you create them yourself, I realize that making presents for everyone on your list could be a bit time consuming, especially around exam season!

..Which is why I’ve put together a little list of things you could purchase for any guy in your life: brother, father, lover. These items really spark my giving spirit: they’re all beautifully made and would (hopefully!) make the receiver’s day just a little bit brighter every time they were used. Voila:

Music by Andrew Zuckerman – $31.50

Bormioli Wine Decanter – $59

Cotton corduroy shirt from Banana Republic – $69.50

iPod Nano 6th Generation – $159

Leather bound journal – $23

Bodum Bistro juicer – $69.95

Personalized M&Ms – from $8.49

Burberry Cashmere Check scarf – $335

Ralph Lauren Big Pony Colognes – $50 each

Plus anything that pertains specifically to the man you’re buying for. For example, my Dad loves to read, so maybe I’ll get him the latest Grisham or Connelly thriller. Or an universal remote for the flatscreen he’s thinking of buying. Or a really, really nice pen. For my boyfriend? Vintage comic books or gourmet coffee or a wooden guitar pick. Choose something personal and awesome!

Okay, that’s all for my inspiration. I’d love to hear what you’re thinking of buying for the men in your lives! Let me know, if you want.

I’ll be posting a list for the women in your life soon, so stay tuned. :)

xoxo,




Pie That Made Me Cry

Happy American Thanksgiving!

I’m so lucky, I got to have two Thanksgivings this year: one with my family in October, and one with my friend-family yesterday night!

There was: turkey, tofu, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberries, jello, pumpkin pie (with chocolate swirls and without), brownies, blondies, chocolate pie..

We sat around in food comas for a long time after.

It was awesome!

I didn’t take any photos, since I was too busy stuffing my face and proclaiming my exasperation about not having seen HP7 yet (jeez!). But I do have a few photos of the pecan pie that I made a couple days ago with my besties.. :)

We used Pioneer Woman’s Pie That’ll Make You Cry recipe, and it was..delicious.

It’s basically all sugar. And pecans. And amazing.

You want some?

Okay do this:

Make 1 pie crust. Pioneer Woman suggests a specific recipe, but since we were without internet, we used a basic pastry recipe in one of our basic cookbooks. Use whichever you want. Feel free to dip the extra pieces of pastry into the extra filling and then eat it. Yay salmonella!

It should look something like this..

..But potentially more pretty.

Then mix up the following, it should take approximately two minutes.

1 cup white sugar, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup corn syrup, 3/4 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup melted butter, 3 eggs.

Pioneer Woman explains in her post the reason for chopping the pecans and putting them in the crust first: so that they rise up, triumphant, and distribute themselves beautifully throughout the filling. I would like to say amen to this. It was perfect!


So you follow her recipe, you hear? Put the 1 cup pecans in the bottom of the pie crust. Then pour the filling overtop. You can (like me) try to recreate Pioneer Woman’s awesome action shot of this process and (like me) fail miserably. Wanna see?

Fail. Gotta get my head out of the way. Sorry guys, I tried!

Then the pecans will rise. It’s beautiful. You should watch it happen, it’s like a magic trick.

Then bake that sucker.

Pioneer Woman says bake it at 350 for 30 minutes covered with tinfoil, then to remove the tinfoil and bake for 20 minutes longer. We tried this method, but since it was still jiggly (and PW says NO JIGGLING) we put it back in, covered with tinfoil and checked periodically until it was finito. Yes!

Look how beautiful it is..

YUM.

Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

I am thankful for: pie, food, friends, family, love.

How about you?

xoxo,


Get Well Soon

Ugh, guys, I just recovered from a cold.

Twas like death, warmed up.

Last Wednesday morning, I suddenly awoke with a sore throat. Thought it was nothing. Went about my merry business. Was repeatedly slapped in the face and sent to bed with my tail between my legs for the better part of the next four days, clutching my aching head, rubbing my swollen lymph nodes, painfully swallowing and gargling with salt water. LAME.

I discovered the practical applications of Advil around day 2.5 and spent considerable mental effort thereafter adhering faithfully to the bottle regulations. I didn’t exceed 6 in 24 hours! It worked miracles. MIRACLES I SAY. When I called my mother to A) assure her I wasn’t dying and B) listen to her tell me I might have strep throat, she herself even proclaimed: “Advil is a great drug.”

There you have it people. Great drug.

Anywho, I just wanted to come on here and let loose my mouth on the subject of the common cold. My mother has versed me well in her cures for this mild affliction, and I would like to share my little bit of knowledge to try and help prevent you from feeling as bad as I was feeling. (I thought it would never, ever end!)

Feel Better Again..

  • Start washing your hands, all the time. Use soap. Never touch doorknobs. Carry hand-sanitizer with you and use it before you eat finger food (aka all the food I eat). This is a preventative measure. Thumbs up.
  • Tons of water/fluids
  • Vitamin C and Echinacea every 4 hours
  • Tons of sleep
  • Zinc tablets for your immune system
  • Gargle with salt water if you have a sore throat
  • Citrus fruits (Vitamin C! Vitamin C!)
  • Garlic & ginger as much as possible in your food
  • Avoid dairy and meat (bad for immune system!)
  • Sleep
  • Don’t do any strenuous activities! Your body needs its energy to fight off the cold.
  • Listen to your body and do what it says. Like sleep.

Alright, I feel that I’ve done my civic duty. Please don’t get sick you guys! It seriously sucks.

OFF TO WATCH GLEE!

xoxo,

 

 

Scroll to Top