Mani Monday: Favorite Fall Polishes

Ah, fall. I know not everyone chooses their nail polish based on the season, but as the junkie I am, it's really the only way to get a full scope of my collection. I have a particular weakness for fall colors, be they warm or cool, as they get me in the mood for my very favorite time of the year.

One of the first polishes I ever purchased and go back to every year, is Essie Sassy Satchel. It's a beautiful metallic red brown that just epitomizes fall for me. Zoya Amy is a metallic burnished orange that's great right at the beginning of the season, when you're still feeling the last lingering bits of summer but the leaves have started to turn. Once the weather turns to cool and grey days, Essie Macks is an offbeat blue-toned red that's slightly translucent that makes me thing of rain-slicked streets.

If you're a lover of cooler tones, Essie After School Boy Blazer is about as chic as it gets. It's blackened navy that always makes me feel like I actually know what I'm doing with my style. Essie Over the Edge wormed its way into my heart last fall as gun metal grey continued to dominate fall trends for the millionth year in a row. I think this polish is one of the best ways to wear that particular trend, it's nice and subtle but still different. Blue-greys are also going to come around again this year, and Essie The Perfect Cover Up fits right in line with that. As fall starts to turn toward winter, OPI Viking in a Vinter Vonderland, in addition to having the best name ever, is the purple that owns my heart. It's a nearly black purple that's fully opaque in three coats and just makes me happy to look at.

Mani Monday: Classic French Manicure

Sometime, I just like a damn French manicure.

For this, I used Zoya Madison, and I'm glad I gave it a second chance. On my first application, I had extreme difficulty with self-leveling and streakiness in application, but it turns out I just needed to be a little more patient and wait a couple of minutes between coats. It turned out to be a really lovely sheer pink that I'm pleased to have in my collection. For the white, I used Essie Blanc, for its nice, thin consistency that wouldn't build up too much at the end of my nail.

The perfect edge comes from these nail stickers, which work really well. Purchased from this seller, they're quite sticky, so I like to stick them quickly to my skin before applying them to my nails to make sure my base color doesn't get removed. Usually, just to be on the safe side, I do the pink color one night and the tips the next.

Hope you all have a good week!

Mani Monday: Zoya Neely

Hey hey hey, it's time for Mani Monday. Monday just seems to sneak up without warning every week, don't you think? One second, it's Friday, you blink, and Monday's yapping at you to get up out of bed.

Zoya Neely is a pastel minty green perfect for spring. Formula was good, it self-leveled pretty well and had minimal streakiness, which is always a concern with pastel polishes. I have to say, though I liked this color, it left me a little uninspired. It's entirely possible this is just because the winter is back with a vengeance here in Chicago, which is totally destroying my ability to believe it will end any time in the next four months. I'm having flashbacks of my senior year of college, during which it was 45 degrees every day the last week of May.

But I can't predict the future, all I can do is keep painting my nails. I've been doing so slightly less often lately because my cuticles are busted and my nails are dried out. Anyone have any solutions? Mostly, I've just resorted to compulsive moisturizing with Soap and Glory's Hand Food, my favorite hand cream.

Mani Monday: Zoya Mia

This is one of the polishes I picked up in Zoya's New Year, New Hue promotion that they ran a few weeks ago. Mia is a dusty pink creme with excellent opacity in two coats. It's a bit darker than I was looking for, but I think it's a nice transitional shade from late winter into spring. Yes, I am pretending it's late winter.

What shades do you like to wear at this time of the year?

Mani Monday: Spun in Luxe

As soon as I saw this color, I knew that I had to give it a try. In the bottle, Essie Spun in Luxe from the Cashmere Matte collection appears navy with a distinct blue glimmer throughout. With the satin-matte texture promised by this formula, I thought it might turn out to be one of the more interesting colors in my collection. Unfortunately, as you can see, the shimmer doesn't really come out at all, and it ends up looking much flatter than it does in the bottle. I'm really disappointed, as this is easily something I could have accomplished with a regular navy and a bottle of matte topcoat (I do really like Essie's Matte About You).

I guess it can't be non-stop hits all the time, but I do wish this had lived up to its potential, as it could have been a winter mainstay for me.

Spicy Baked Pork Chops with Butternut Squash

Who doesn't like delicious food? Okay, you can GTFO. Everyone else, this meal was totally scrumptious, as well as warming for a winter night, which it definitely still is here in Chicago, no bones about it. Speaking of no bones, these are boneless pork chops, which I prefer over bone-in. They just always seem to come out juicier.

I served this with some creamed spinach I found in the freezer, but any steamed green vegetable would be an excellent way to add color and extra nutrition to this meal.

Before you set off on the full recipe, you're going to want to whip up a batch of this Shake'n'Bake-style breadcrumb coating. It's damn delicious.

Spicy Homemade Breadcrumb Crust
Makes enough to coat 6 large boneless pork chops
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly, then add vegetable oil and mix with a fork until oil is distributed evenly and crumbs are a uniform size. This will keep in a well-sealed container for about two week. Not actually, though, because you'll want to put it on everything.

On to the main recipe!

Spicy Baked Pork Chops with Butternut Squash
Makes 6 servings
2 lbs. butternut squash, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
6 boneless pork chops (about 4 oz apiece and 1 inch thick)
1 recipe Spicy Homemade Breadcrumb Crust

Preheat your oven to 400º F. Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on a foil-lined baking sheet on the middle rack for 18 minutes.

While the squash is in the oven, line another baking sheet with foil. Divide the breadcrumb mixture in half and put it into two gallon size plastic bags.* Rinse the pork chops in cold water and shake off the excess. Working with one chop at a time, place them into the plastic bag and shake vigorously to coat. Remove, being careful not to disturb the coating, and place onto the prepared baking sheet.

After the butternut squash has roasted for 18 minutes, raise the oven temperature to 425º F. Toss the squash a little with a spoon to make sure it's heating evenly. Move it up one rack and place the pork chops on the newly vacant one. Bake for 13-16 minutes, until the chops are firm, but still have a little give in the middle. Remove all food from the over and feast.

*This is to keep the mixture from getting too weird and lumpy to use with all six pork chops.

Welcome to the 90s

As someone who grew up in the 90s, I occasionally get super nostalgic for the terrible unisex fashion of my early childhood. Loosely inspired by all those insane tracksuits that populated our lives at that time, for this I used a base of Revlon Colorstay 025 Seashell with random brushstrokes of Orly Neon Heat and Julep Linden. I'm really quite pleased with it, though the Orly is showing up way more magenta and less neon in this picture than it looks in real life.

I've been finding that I like to use Julep polishes as accent colors more often than a full nail color, which is somewhat puzzling. I'm considering canceling my Maven subscription just because I haven't been particularly inspired by the color choices the past few months. Are any of you Mavens? What do you think? If you're not and you'd like to become one, feel free to use my referral link.

300: Revenge of the Blog

Guyssssssss, this is my 300th blog post! Did you think this post was going to be about that awful movie franchise? Then you obviously just found your way here recently. And have probably already departed.

As usual, I digress.

I know it's January here, I know, and I also know that means it'll be real cold for a real long time still. BUT, the magazines have gotten to me, and thoughts of spring nail trends keep popping into my head. Am I practically begging that goddamn groundhog to see its shadow on February 2nd with these thoughts? Probably. But I'm not stupid enough to believe a hibernating ball of fur can keep winter in Chicago from lasting until April. On to nail polish!

Via popsugar.com

As always, pastels will have their time. I love a good chalky green, but I feel petal pink and pale blue turning into a small obsession. Not at the same time, though. I made that mistake once and it looked like a baby shower on my hands. This gradient manicure from the Nanette Lepore Spring 2015 show definitely makes the list of nail looks to try in the coming weeks.

Short nails seem to be coming back around. Fine with me. I don't need any more painful hangnails.

Via popsugar.com

I'm also loving a double tipped French manicure. From the Sophie Theallet Spring 2015 show, I think the sheer base on this makes the whole look so chic, I absolutely cannot wait to try it. There's something about the delicate little pops of color on the nail tip that turn this into a can't-look-away design.

So that's what I'm most excited to jump into as we move through the endless Chicago winter. What nail looks will you take a stab at as we march toward spring (get it? March, spring? ha ha ha)?

And the Winner is...

Jessica Chastain is a stone cold fox, and she won the makeup game at the 2015 Golden Globes.

Image via Popstop TV

I love the soft shading of her smoky eye combined with lightly flushed cheeks and what is clearly a MLBB (my lips but better) matte lipstick. The subtle cat eye with eyeshadow instead of harsh liner seems destined to become my next eye makeup obsession. Of course, I'll never be such a beautiful ginger, but that's only because I have a violent aversion to dyeing my hair.

I'd love to say I found out who did her makeup, but my Googling game has been particularly weak lately. Anyone know? All I know is that it probably wasn't Bobbi Brown.

 Did you watch the Golden Globes? Who's your pick for best face?

Gift Guide: Charitable Donations

This holiday season, some of you may have the desire to extend your giving past your circle of friends and relatives. With that in mind, I thought it pertinent to remind my readers that there are many reputable charities you could donate to this holiday season. And remember, if there's someone in your life who isn't into gift-getting, making a donation in their name is always a nice option.

Whether you choose to give to a humanitarian organization, animal welfare group, medical research institute, or any other non-profit, it's important to do your research and make sure that your dollars will provide the greatest possible benefit. It can be overwhelming, as many organizations have overlapping goals, so start with a cause near and dear to your heart, perhaps. In addition to national organizations, I'm sure many local charities in your area do beneficial work for the community, so check into that, too! If monetary donations aren't your thing, perhaps look into donating some clothes or food.

Many donations to charitable organizations are tax-deductible, so don't forget to keep track of your giving this holiday season. If you'd like to get started on your research, here are a few links to the websites of non-profits accepting donations:

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Freedom from Hunger

Goodwill

Human Rights Watch

National Council on Aging

Reading is Fundamental

Save the Children.

The Y (formerly YMCA)

I hope you're all enjoying this holiday season. There are plenty of ways to make sure everyone else enjoys it, too!

Thanksgiving: Brought to You by A Beautiful Mess

If you read my blog, you DEFINITELY already read A Beautiful Mess. C'mon, we can all admit that those ladies are running one of the finest lifestyle reads the wide internet has to offer. However, if on the off chance you haven't checked it out, I wanted to share a few of my favorite posts from their lead up to Thanksgiving. As much as I love the site the rest of the year, their game is particularly strong in the late fall and winter months. Obviously, this Thursday is a lot about eating, so that's what I'm going to focus on. Without further ado...

Prosecco and Cranberry Mimosa

Let's not pretend this doesn't look like the perfect Thanksgiving aperitif. My dearest wish is to consume this as soon as possible, isn't yours?

Roasted Grape and Honey Goat Cheese Crostini

Things I love include fruit, bread, and cheese. I guess there's a few others, but none so masterfully addressed in this appetizer. Have I ever mentioned that appetizers are one of my favorite things? It's because I like eating as many different things during the course of a meal as possible. Ipso facto, tapas is my jam. I digress.

Pie Crust Cookies

DOES THAT NOT LOOK PERFECTLY DELICIOUS? Go, get thee to the site, and be happy.


Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has something for which to be thankful this year.

Just Another Mani Monday #4

Hey, hey, hey, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty medium myself. Been having some mighty awful migraines lately, which sure doesn't make me feel like staring at a computer screen to write posts. You know, though, that I've always got my nails all lacquered up. Look good, feel good, right?

I'm trying, anyway.

Julep Winnie came in the Fa La La Trio from Julep for Holiday 2015. Since I love the shit out of Christmas and shiny things, this set begged me to get it. Seriously, it would have been wrong to leave it. So I got it. Winnie is described on the site as a "rose gold metallic" and I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Application was totally cool, good opacity in two coats. The only reason my pointer finger looks janky is because It's gonna be great as an accessory for the holiday season, and even better than a piece of jewelry since it's much harder to lose your nails than you bling when you've had a bit too much champagne (not impossible, though, I would say). On that note, enjoy your Monday.

Totally Missed Mani Monday

Frankly, this will probably have to be it's own series, I can never seem to get my shit together over the weekend. Honestly, though, I was in New Jersey all last week working, so I had to focus on things like commuting and helping my mom pick Christmas decorations. 

Sorry I'm not sorry that I'm not sorry.

Julep Fazia is the only color I was excited about for the Novemver Maven box, so I went ahead and got a core collection box and just added this sucker on. I'm glad I did, although I expected it too be more red and less brown than it turned out. Still, I think it's a really lovely fall color, just a hint of shimmer, and it generally agrees with my color palette for the season. It actually reminds me of one of my favorite fall/winter colors from a few years ago, Essie Sassy Satchel, but with more red and a significantly better formula.

So that's that. Here's a picture of a puppy I saw yesterday.

The Original Lush Bath Bomb

I get stressed out. Do you get stressed out? Of course you do, you're a human. Unless you're also a psychopath, in which case you probably don't get stressed out. Good for you. Just try to remember that you can be a psychopath and still not break any laws. Not that you care.

That got weird.

Back to those of us who get stressed out. Do you like baths? I used to think I hated baths, but then I learned that when you're an adult, you can draw the bath as hot as you want and tell everyone to leave you the fuck alone until you unwind from whatever fresh hell you've just experienced. And then you can take a shower afterwards to get actual clean.

Great, so now that we've gotten rid of the psychopaths and people who don't like baths/have a bathtub, I'm gonna tell you a secret that most of you already know so it's not actually a secret:

LUSH bath bombs are the shit.

I'm specifically thinking of the first one they created, Blackberry, which allegedly smells of blackberry, bergamot oil, and frankincense. As far as I'm concerned, it actually smells like a double bird to the haters and feels like GD silk sheets, not to mention it turns your bath purple. This isn't a sponsored post, but I'm gonna go ahead and tell you to just spend the $6.35 plus tax and give yourself a bath time treat once a month. If it makes you half as happy as it makes me, it'll be totally worth it.

N.B. Goes great with a nice cold glass of wine.

Just Another Mani Monday #3

Please excuse the terrible, terrible quality of this photo, but sometimes ye olde iPhone 4s just really hates the shit out of me. How long until my next upgrade? Sigh. Someday I'll be able to invest in a real camera.

Revlon Nail Enamel in Confident (Limited Edition for Fall/Winter 2014) It took so long for this to show up in the stores near me that I totally forgot about this collection, no joke. It's the Boho Chic Collection by Gucci Westman for Revlon. Whenever I hear the name Gucci, naturally I first think of Gucci Mane, but they are obviously very different people. But back to the matter at hand, I decided to go with this instead of the LE purple shade because I'm gearing up to go as Morticia for Halloween. I know now that this was a mistake and I should have just gotten both #REGRET. Anyway, this picture doesn't do justice to HOW AWESOME THIS COLOR IS. It's a red jelly base with red hex glitter in the exact same shade and it makes your nails look like the ruby slippers and I am in love. I'm gonna wear the shit out of this for Christmas, you better believe it.

Gonna have to go back for that purple, though.

March Favorites 2014 | The Vlogging Plunge

I've decided to dip my toes into the vlogging game and take the YouTube plunge! What better place to start than rounding up my favorites for the month of March?  For a full list of the products I mention, click through to watch on YouTube.

Besitos!

KOVAL Distillery

I've just had my third blogiversary, y'all!  Thank you to those of you who have been reading since the beginning, and welcome to those of you who have joined since :)  On to the show:

It's still really cold in Chicago.  I know you people in LA are sad about your rain, and that DC is having another snow day, but it is March 3rd and I am still powerfully afraid that I'm going to get frostbite.  The other problem is that this is the time of year when you've kind of run out of indoor activities and everything pretty much devolves into getting drunk in your house or getting drunk at a bar.  Even this can lose its shine and fail to assuage the misery of an endless winter, so I brainstormed a bit, and I discovered a new indoor activity!

Distillery tour!

Yes, still alcohol related, but also educational, and a little bit grown up.  KOVAL Distillery is located on the North Side of Chicago and has the distinction of being the first legal distillery within Chicago city limits since the Prohibition era.  It was started by a a couple who decided they were done with DC and ready to have a family, and what goes together better than alcohol and conception?

Since I like learning, and I basically knew nothing about distilling, I was quite pleased at the detail our tour guide went into about the process, while still managing to avoid any potentially terrifying examination of chemistry.  The facility we toured was the original space for the distillery, which was founded in 2008, though they have since moved their main production about a mile and a half down the road to a larger space with a much larger still.

That there is a still, which I believe she (I can't remember our guide's name, but she was lovely) said was a 300 gallon still, but I have no confidence in my memory, since I was a little brunch drunk.  The best part?  Samples! Of the overwhelming number of whiskeys KOVAL produces, we sampled their White Rye, Toasted Rye, Four Grain, and Millet.  They also produce a selection of spirits and liqueurs, of which their Sunchoke Spirits, Rose Hip Liqueur, and Coffee Liqueur were provided for a taste.  I'm already quite a fan of the Rose Hip Liqueur, but that Coffee one definitely knew what it was doing, and would be a great addition to any home bar or kitchen.

I don't want to spoil the whole tour for you, so I'll leave it there.  Although it's not free, I don't think $10 is too much to pay for something interesting to do, and you'd be supporting a local business.  You can view the full tour schedule and reserve a spot online at their website, in addition to learning more about their full range.

Queen of the Nile

I kind of promised myself that I would try simpler manicures this year, but I'm having a really hard time abandoning my profound love of glitter. I think it's something about the persistent pervasive cold plaguing our existence that makes me want to look at shiny things all day. Perhaps I'm having Stockholm Syndrome for ice.

::shrug::

This is Deborah Lippmann Cleopatra in New York, and I am in love, IN LOVE I TELL YOU! The medium and small sized pieces of gold glitter sit in a black jelly base, which adds visual interest as the pieces are revealed in varying levels of translucence between the coats. I did two coats with a topcoat, although you could just as easily forgo topcoat since this 'un shines nicely all on its own.

But seriously, shiny nail polish may be the only thing getting me through this winter.

Feeling a Little Neurotic: OCC Lip Tar

This weekend, I took a jaunt to the mall with my frighteningly fashionable friend Nikki, and we, of course, spent some time in the large Sephora located there.  I came across the display for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics' Lip Tar and simply had to give it a try.

Because I'm me, I had to try a red, and I have to say, it made quite an impression.  The texture was insanely smooth, full coverage, and I could totally tell that the formula mixes well with the other colors (as it is intended to do).  The wear was incredible, it managed to mostly survive a meal in which I consumed an entire (more or less personal-sized) pizza.  As anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a pretty aggressive eater, so this was quite an accomplishment.

I used a standard lip gloss applicator to apply in the store, and I think I would rather use that than the included lip brush.  A little goes a verrrrrrry long way, and I feel like I wouldn't have quite as much control.  The formula is extremely thick, and while it wasn't exactly hydrating, it wasn't drying at all and maintained a bit of a wet look without being sticky.  Win! I'm definitely going to invest in some of these in the near future for the purpose of theatrical wear.

Happy Monday!

Lips: OCC Lip Tar
Sunglasses: Anthropologie
Coat: J. Crew
Shirt: Old Navy

Recipe: Smitten Kitchen Knishes

This weekend, I set out to make one of my favorite snacks (I use the term snack loosely) from my childhood: knishes.  As I explained to my friends who were unfamiliar with this carb-lover's heaven, it's basically mashed potatoes wrapped in dough and baked into mouth-scorching deliciousness.  Every once in a while, my dad would come home from work in New York with a massive potato-filled pastry for my sisters and me to enjoy, and when I wasn't begging for a stale hot pretzel on a trip into the city, I was desperate for a knish, ready to sacrifice the skin in my mouth rather than wait for it to cool off a bit.

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and, always trusting Ms. Perelman, gave it a stab.  I had some difficulty with the amount of water called for in the dough recipe, so I would say to start with half of the listed amount and then increase from there if the dough seems too dry.  Ultimately, my dough did not turn out as flaky and delicious, but if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  I chose to make a traditional potato knish, but I would be lying if I said I weren't thinking about adding bacon to the next ones...

Find the recipe here : Potato Knish, Two Ways | Smitten Kitchen