Typical Thursday

Thursday's are never really an exciting day for anyone (except the under 21 who go out on college nights).. clearly not me. With all this talk about Mega Millions I thought.. you know why not.. I'll just go and buy 1 (or 11). So we found a pretty sketchy convenience store (since most of the winning tickets come out of sketchy stores) and I went ahead and asked for 11. Being someone who doesn't really buy lotto tickets on a regular basis I flashed out my credit card until the guy told me "cash only" duhhh! thank god I had some in my secret emergency cash stash and now I have 11 in 178 million chance of winning! 

But before that I went searching for some luck... four leaf clovers, which I didn't find! all I got were the three leaf ones which I used to pick for my grandma when I was younger. She used to make a type of Afghan dish with them, so it brought back good old memories of me having to pick these things allll day long in the sun while everyone gave me weirdo alert stares... Oh how I miss the good old days!

-M

Pretty Girls Wearing Pretty Collars

Daydreaming...

--T

Taco Night

Most of the time I am too lazy to cook during the weekdays let alone weekends.  But I have been trying to be good and to cook at least 1-2 times a week.  I try to pick really easy meals and that are some what healthy.  I love Mexican food and I always make fajitas, quesadillas, and tacos.  Last night I made ground turkey tacos (somewhat healthier version), and I just followed the recipe on the back of the taco seasoning from Trader Joe's. The taco seasoning is really good, and its not like the other taco packet seasoning that you will find in grocery stores.  I served the tacos with all the condiments, black beans, and Spanish rice.  And no Mexican meal will be complete without an ice cold Jarritos mandarin soda.  Happy Friday!

                                                                                -A

Long Hair Blues

I have super long curly hair that can sometimes get boring since you're only limited to a few hairstyles. My style of choice is a top bun or braid. When I leave it all down it's so heavy that my top gets flat. So I bought a bunch of hair pins to give my hair support so I can wear it on the side or half-up. I also like adding a little bow to the side of my buns or to the top of a pony tail to add a little splash of color. 

most of these were found at Forever21 for $1!

-M

Over the weekend

It was another beautiful weekend here in Virginia.  I spent most of it outdoors and enjoyed every second of it.  On Saturday I had breakfast with my mom and sister in Old Town, Alexandria and then went to an engagement party for one of my husbands soccer team mates. And then Sunday we spend most of the day in Reston Town Center because they had a Nawrooz (which means New Years in farsi/persian) Festival.  They had vendors with fun activities, performers, and yummy food.  Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!
                                                                            -A

Ice Cream Season

Spring is here! aka ice cream time!! when outside seating is enjoyable and walking around while eating ice cream is almost an every night kinda thing. Saturday night I dined at Il Canale in Georgetown, they pride themselves on being true Neapolitan, trying not to make any changes to their menus. We ordered the Calamari and Margherita Pizza, the dough was nice and fluffy, my favorite. Sunday was a super spring day and I ventured out to Old Town and ate at The Fish Market! We ordered Spiced Shrimp and a Crab Cake Sandwich which both were super fresh and delicious! (I had to add a picture of my dog Roxy, she was enjoying the weather too)

-M

Thanksgiving in March?

Ever wonder what to do with that random can of pumpkin that’s stuck in the back of your pantry? Bon Appetit [my fave food mag] did a piece last fall where they featured recipes [none of which were pumpkin pie!] from chefs across the country on how they would use the canned gourd. I have been meaning to make this pumpkin shrimp curry for a while now, even with the rising temps outside. I made a few modifications, substituting pan-cooked chicken for the shrimp, cooking the cilantro w/ the stew and serving it with quinoa. The recipe also calls for 1 cup of cooked, diced butternut squash, but doesn’t include steps for prep. An easy route would be to cook the diced squash in 2 tblspn of olive oil for 25 min @ 425 F.

I found the curry to be full of flavor and I can’t wait to try this w/ shrimp! However, be forewarned… using a can of pumpkin doesn’t mean cutting the cooking time in half. The entire process took longer than I had anticipated but it was well worth it. In terms of the spice factor, the only real heat I experienced were the waves from a hot oven and several sizzling pans—meaning a nice big squirt of sriracha on top! GIVE THANKS!!

--T

Clowning Around

This weekend was a hectic weekend for ATM, A was away in Lynchburg for her class, while T and M were left to finish up all the final details of Armon's 1st Birthday. We tied all the loose ends on Friday night and we woke up extra early Saturday to bake. The birthday was a tad bit far allll the way in Leesburg but we made a day out of it! we visited Old Town Leesburg, it has very cute vintage and antique shops as well as cute places to eat. We chose Georgetown Cafe, here are a few snaps of our weekend and final photos of Armon's Circus Birthday will be posted shortly! 

Getting the banner ready...

and Voila! 

some prizes and a onesie for the bday boy

some extras for now..

T figuring out what to eat at Georgetown Cafe 

-T and M

Pin Up Retro Swimwear

As I've matured, I realized.. maybe baking in the sun isnt so much of a good idea as I thought when I was 18. Up until now Retro Swimwear wasn't really popular.. and I didn't really want to opt for a "vintage" swimsuit (yikes).. After seeing the Spring 2012 runway I was pleased to see 50's style swimwear was making a come back! Yes they are a bit pricier then your usual two-piece, but I think its well worth it! I have to be careful because I have some curves so the one piece can go really wrong really fast! here are some options that I found may look well on my body type. I ordered some, so hopefully they turn out to be keepers!

1. Juicy Couture Halter Swimdress 2. Carmen Marc Valvo

3. Jcrew Anchors aweigh 4. Ted Baker 

-M

A not so normal Wednesday night...

This was the last week of classes for this session so I was fully prepared to focus on nothing but school for the next few days. That was until my husband called me 6:07 pm and asked me if I wanted to go to the Wizards vs. Lakers game tonight that started at 7pm! I managed to throw something on and put my hair up (this just had to be the night I decided to take a shower before bed...just great!) and walked out of the house in literally 5 minutes to go and meet him.  To add to my hectic night, I was driving with my headlights off and I didn't know how to turn them on and I got pulled over by a cop, who helped me turn on my lights and gave me a ticket to top off the night.  We finally arrived 30 minutes after the game started.  Although I'm not a big sports fan and know nothing about basketball, I had a really good time and the Wizards actually won!  

-A

DIY Spiked Heels

After reading one of my favorite bloggers a pair & a spares post about her DIY Spiked Heels, I knew I could make these myself.. I already had spikes at home from a previous project that I bought from Studs and Spikes, and who doesn't have some old shoes they would like to spruce up! So I got my DIY on and my final product looked great!! Here are my easy steps with tools you can find at home.

And voila! 

(for more detailed directions, check out a pare & a spare's link from above) 

-M

Dinner and a Movie*

Friday nights are critical for the typical 40+ hour/week DC gal. You really can do anything depending on how your work week went. For example, happy hour for the socially deprived girl which turns into an all-night bender, obvi, date night for the QT deprived girl (with your boo or your closest friends—it’s still considered a date OK!) or opting to stay in and turn into the couch potato you were always destined to be for the sleep deprived girl. I chose option C. I had a hankering for pizza so I made a post-work trip to the grocery store (AKA the geriatric Giant) for my ingrediencess (Thanks Tre!). My new pizza obsession is now the white pie, especially “The Slam” from Comet Ping Pong , so going that route was a no-brainer.

Adaptable, Semi-White Pizza

Olive Oil

1 roll of Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough (that’s all the store had and it’s completely fine)

1 small eggplant, thinly sliced

I small red onion, thinly sliced

Part skim ricotta

Part skim shredded mozzarella

Spinach leaves, roughly chopped

• Preheat your broiled. Spray some layered aluminum with oil. Place eggplant slices on top and drizzle w/ olive oil. I added some cumin, salt and pepper, but you can spice it anyway you like. Pop them in the broiler for 5 min or until they are lightly browned on top.
  
  
• After eggplant is done, place sliced onions in the broiler for 5 min.
  
  
• Roll out your dough on oiled pan. Pillsbury calls for baking their dough for 5 minutes before adding the toppings.
  
  
• I had some marinara sauce, as in 2 tablespoons worth, so I spread that first--hence the semi-white. Add your dollops of ricotta (as much as you want), then top with the mozzarella. Add your cooked eggplant, red onion and spinach. Bake in the oven for 10-15 min…AND EAT!

*My dinner and a movie was really just pizza and my usual Friday dates with Joshua Jackson (Fringe) and Dave Giuntuli (Grimm). Don’t judge.

--T

Baby Lips

Last week my cousin told me about a new chapstick/lipstick she bought by maybelline called baby lips.  The one she bought was a called "pink punch" and it has a hint of pink in it.  I decided to try it out, and I LOVED it!  Ever since then we have been on the hunt to try to find other shades because everywhere we go, it has been all sold out! Finally tonight M called me and said she found the "cherry me" which is a hint of red and "peach kiss" which is sheer with a hint of like peach/nude.  This product is great because it is light enough to wear alone during the day, or to layer on top of a lipstick to give your lips an extra shine.  Another plus is that is has spf 20 in it, which will come in handy in a few months!

 

left to right:  Cherry Me, Peach Kiss, Pink Punch

 

-A

Asos Earrings - Givenchy pre fall 2012

 As you will soon figure out each of our styles, and where we mix and where we don't... in this style I stand alone! I for the most part consider myself vintage with a twist of grunge. I love vintage dresses from the 1950's but you can also see me on the street rocking a AllSaints tee with some combat boots. My new purchase that I can see myself mixing with my vintage is my new Asos earrings. I first saw the style in Givenchy pre fall 2012, and when I saw these blinged out version, I just had to have them. They finally came in and I'm in love! cant wait to wear them! I know ill get some strange stares since they do look like you have gauges in your ear.. but I like it! 

-M