LOTD: Office Holiday Party

Sweater: J.Crew | Tank: J.Crew | Skirt: J.Crew 

Necklace: Anthropologie | Shoes: Versace

Last week we had our office holiday party, and it started at 5pm, which meant people were leaving straight from work. So despite my apartment's proximity, I would need to go from cube to cocktails, without a full wardrobe change. So I decided to give my new tweed skirt a whirl. While I wished it was a little more fitted in the waist, the hip room kept it work appropriate. And since most of the look was pretty conservative, I decided to jazz it up once I got to the venue, swapping my boots for these little Mary Janes and gave my neck a little sparkle too. Yes, my hot pink soles match my sweater ;) The party was at the Franklin Institute and they gave free tickets to the Titanic Exhibit, which I didn't take advantage of, but I heard was amazing. 

Tis' the season for holiday gatherings, I've got three in the next week. What about you? What festive looks will you be putting together?

xox 

Flexi Rods might be a girl's new best friend!

I think I'll go ahead and call this one a success...

I have tried many a time with these things some people call flexi rods, bendy rods...whatever you'd like to call them, while incredibly uncomfortable to sleep in, if done correctly, you wake up with a head full of curls without frying your hair or fingers around a curling wand (mine came with a glove and I learned precisely why when I opted not to use it).

I used two different sized rollers, just because that's what I had. I used 4-5 rollers per side and tried to keep the rollers on the sides of my head, so if I ended up on my back it was somewhat comfortable. Unrolled them this morning and this was the result. While I'm not a YouTube gal, here are a few links that I watched:

ForeverNatalyn   |    Lover4Fashion   |   Fabulasityisme    |    VanityInsanity119

The rods are very affordable and easy to use. I got them from my local beauty supply store (BSS) for I want to say about ~$5/pk of 4-5 rollers depending on the size. By the end of the day, I had a little frizz, as expected, but I didn't use any product when rolling. They also work well on damp hair. Either way, I'll be putting them to good use this season.

Have you tried them? What do you think of the look? The ease? Would love to know. 

xox

Chicken Tikka Masala & Panang Curry Recipes

Clearly I was feeling Southern/South Eastern Asian inspired by a few Pinterest finds, and the last two kitchen endeavors both came out deliciously! The first was Chicken Tikka Masala, which was my first slow cooker meal and the beau's been raving about it since. And last night I made Panang Curry, which too got the stamp of approval. So I will share recipes and pictures for your kitchen fun and fellow foodie enjoyment!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala (Adapted from Cooking Classy)

Ingredients:
~3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 large yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp freshly, finely grated ginger
1 jalapeno, stemmed, sliced in half and seeds removed
1 (29 oz) can tomato puree
1 1/2 cups plain non-fat greek yogurt
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Garam Masala*
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp salt, or to taste
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1-3 tsp cayenne pepper (to your spice preference)
2 bay leaves
1 can of light coconut milk

Prepared Long Grain White Rice or Basmati Rice
Chopped cilantro, for serving

*I couldn't find Garam Masala so I looked up an easy recipe and found this one. But it called for some other hard to find spices, so I ended up just combining what I had which was cumin, ground black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. And it was sufficient.

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl combine chopped onions, minced garlic, grated ginger, sliced jalapeno, tomato puree, plain yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, Garam Masala, cumin, paprika, salt, cinnamon, pepper and cayenne pepper.

LOTD: A Little Blue in J.Crew

Sweater: J. Crew | Shell: J.Crew | Skirt: J.Crew | Scarf: Burberry

It's been a crazy stressful past few days, but a new J. Crew sweater always seems to make me feel a bit a better. I picked up this bright pink cardigan on sale over the Thanksgiving weekend. And without noticing paired it with pretty much everything else J.Crew too. I really wanted to put on a pair of navy tights with this blue pinstriped pencil skirt, but I don't have any :( So I paired it with a pair of sheers and some Tod's. I also got this super cute multi-color tweed pencil skirt for just $35.

(J.Crew, originally $148)

Go me! (Doing happy dance) So the navy tights will come in handy when it arrives any day now.

As you may have noticed, I've also changed my locks for the winter. I love that hair is an accessory just like everything else, to me at least. And I also love that I've been granted the talent/guts to do it myself. Do we like??

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I'll be back soon with lots of recipes for my first slow cooker meal as well as a holiday cookie exchange I have to prepare for. Wish me luck.

xox

The "Out of Nowhere" Breakup of your 20s

I've heard from guy and girl friends alike the same "it came out of nowhere" break up story over the past few months, maybe even years. The "it's not you, it's me"s. The "I just need to focus on my career" right now. The "I'm not ready to get married, so why be so serious" conversations. And depending on which side of the table my friend happened to land on, my response varied, but in all honesty I get it. It always sucks to be on the receiving end of the breakup news when you claim to have thought things were going just fine, but the truth of the matter is the "out of nowhere" breakup is never really out of nowhere.

The signs are always there. Whether it be the lack of presence while doing things that you used to enjoy together, or something as blatant as claiming to be on a "break" when going stag to a wedding, that weird feeling in the pit of your stomach that you can't quite distinguish between hunger and nausea is called [woman's] intuition. And it doesn't mean that the other person is most certainly in the wrong and you should go snooping through things because the Chinese food you had for lunch didn't sit well and you're confusing that for a sign, it simply means something might be off about the situation and worth addressing. But when you address it and you get the "I need to find myself" excuse I empathize, because that might be one of the hardest pills to swallow.

It's the hardest to swallow because you can't place on the blame on either side, but yet don't know where to direct the angry and confused energy. Because you can't argue with someone about what they perceive as their life journey and what that journey entails, especially because every opinion article or self-help book about the 20s preaches how this is the time to be the "good kind of selfish". What I'd really like to know is when our society became so entitled that the thought of the possibility of other options and opportunities out-valued the tangible things or people currently in ones life. We've become a generation expectant of such immediate gratification, constantly plugged into some device that redirects our attention away from the present into a virtual world of endless possibility and lose sight of the people and things right in front of us. It's like our self-esteem is affirmed by the number of likes a photo gets on Instagram, sexual fantasies can be experienced voyeuristically with a few clicks, and you feel like you know someone because you stalked their social media profiles, but yet you refer to them with their middle name as their last. It's not real, people.

Pinterest Dish Wins!

So there are a number of websites like Pinterest Fail or even worse Epic Pinterest Fail, that display DIY arts & crafts, food dishes, costumes, etc. found on Pinterest that just went very very wrong when tried at home. Like these:

   

(via Pinterest Fail)

Bahahaha! They seriously make me feel so much better about my successes.

Earlier this week, the beau & I hosted some friends over to watch the Election results, so I decided to try a few apps I'd pinned recently, and all three were a hit! And I've got before and after pictures to prove it! :)

I'd call this nibbler spread of Spicy Sriracha Chicken Cheeseballs, Crab Rangoon and Bruschetta a win!

See Recipes after the jump!

LOTD: Pinspired - Black&Yellow

So a while back I stumbled upon this photo on Pinterest and I loved everything about the look.

(via Pinterest)

From the huge bun to the splash of yellow to the otherwise all black ensemble, I simply couldn't wait for Fall to rock the color combo. And then a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this look over at Pink Peonies...

(via Pink Peonies)

And got super excited because I had just nabbed a neon yellow blouse just like this from Mommy's closet with the tag still on it ;). And I thought, I have some black satin ribbon...(gears churned)...

And voila!

Blouse: J. Crew | Bow: Black Satin Ribbon | Skirt: Tahari

Arm Candy: Michele, David Yurman, Tiffany & Co.

I promised I'm not wrinkled...although silk does do that easily. I think I merged the looks pretty well. Loosened the bow and made it a little more Janelle Monae-esque. Maybe I'll rock a pompadour next time. And yes, this is a very bright color to wear on a gloomy Nor'easter looming day, but you know how I feel about bright colors on grey days, keeps the cloudy blues away! 

xox