Outfit of the Week

Happy Friday everyone!  Hope everyone has had a great week!  I’m getting this up a little late this evening, I had some errands to run after work since tomorrow is gonna be a busy day.  Here’s this week’s “Outfit of the Week”!

Legging capris in grey:  Danskin (Walmart)

Top:  Self Esteem (JC Penney)

Sandals in blue-green:  Old Navy

Signature strap watch:  Coach

Cuff bracelet in gunmetal:  no brand (Burlington Coat Factory)

Black and white clover necklace:  Lucky in Love

Healthy Meal of the Week

Hi everyone!  This week’s healthy meal is “Chicken with Pepperoni-Marinara Sauce” from the January/February 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  Once again it was a hit with Scarlett.  I thought it was delicious as well and I added a mixed salad with raspberry vinaigrette.  Check it out below!

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

½ teaspoon minced fresh garlic

16 slices pepperoni, coarsely chopped

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

1 ½ cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (such as McCutcheon’s)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 ½ pounds chicken cutlets

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat broiler to high.

2.  Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add garlic and pepperoni; cook 2 minutes or until garlic begins to brown, stirring frequently.  Add oregano; cook 30 seconds.  Add marinara sauce; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in basil.

3.  Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil; swirl to coat.  Sprinkle chicken with pepper.  Add chicken to skillet; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning after 3 minutes.  Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle evenly with cheese.  Broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts.

Serves 4 (serving size:  5 ounces chicken and about 1/3 cup sauce)

Nutritional information:  380 calories; 14/7g total fat (6g saturated fat; 5.2g mono.; 1.2g poly); 48.5g protein; 28.7g carbohydrates; 0.1g fiber; 122mg cholesterol; 1.5mg iron; 533mg sodium; 231mg calcium

Tarte "Gifted" & Benefit "They're Real" Mascara Reviews

Hi everyone!  So, I’ve been using my two new mascaras alternately for the past week and I figured I have enough…data…experience…something…to give my opinion on them.

To start out, here’s a picture of my eyelashes with nothing on them.  As you can see they are sort of light and fairly short.

I tried the “Gifted” Tarte Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara first.  This is the one I saw on QVC and thought at first the model was wearing falsies.  Then, when they put it on the 2^nd model, I saw that it wasn’t fake eyelashes, it actually was the mascara.  After using this I honestly believe this actually works.  It lengthened, thickened and lasted the 12 hours Tarte claims it will without flaking.

A few days later I tried the Benefit “They’re Real” mascara.  This one works like expected as well.  It also lengthened, thickened and lasted all day.  It seems to work just as well, if not slightly better, than the Tarte “Gifted”, and I do like it a lot as well.

Over all, they are both great mascaras and would be perfect for anyone who wants something to  make their lashes look long and thick.  By volume, the they are about the same price, the Tarte is $19.00 for .24 oz and the Benefit is $22.00 for .3 oz.  I will more than likely only repurchase the Tarte “Gifted” however.  I have fairly small eyes and the brush on the Benefit mascara is actually too big for me and I can’t get it into my inner lashes without getting it all over my eyelids.  I have included pictures below of the wands so you can see the size of the applicators.

The applicator brush on the Tarte is average size

As you can see, even though the wand is short, the applicator brush on the Benefit is quite a bit larger than on the Tarte.

Additionally, the Tarte mascara is made of natural ingredients with no mineral oil, parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate or synthetic fragrances, which for me is nice since my eyes can be quite sensitive.  However, since both mascaras work very much the same I would recommend either one to anybody looking who asked.

Also, just for reference, I have included a picture of my lashes with my other favorite mascara, MAC’s Mascara X, which has very similar results as the above mascaras.  However, it appears that Mascara X may have been discontinued as it is no longer on MAC’s website, though it would have been nice had I been told this the last time I bought a new tube L.  I guess it’s a good thing the Tarte “Gifted” lived up to my expectations, lol.

I hope this review helped anyone who was on the fence about either of these mascaras.  I really liked the way both worked and am very pleased with all the results.  If you have any questions or anything, let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to everyone!

That’s it for this evening, have a great night!  I’ll talk to everyone soon! J

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey all!  Well, another weekend down, a new week about to start.  You know what that means; it’s time for the weekly wrap-up.

Starting as usual with this week’s weight loss, I missed my official weigh in at work again this week.  I was off taking Scarlett to the dentist and my dogs to the vet.  I did step on the scale here earlier and am down 1.6 pounds.  I’m not really counting it though since all scales weigh differently and I prefer to use the one at work to keep track since that’s what I’ve been using since I started.  I’ll have a new “official” weigh in tomorrow.

Moving on to fashion purchases, last week was the big one so there’s not much this week.  I did stop by JC Penney on Monday and picked up 3 new tunic tops:  one in blues and grey, one in fuchsia and black stripes and one purple crocheted one to wear over a plain tank top.  I also got a pair of denim looking leggings and a new pair of capris.

That’s it for this week’s updates.  In the coming week I hope to have up a review of the two mascaras I bought, the Tarte one and the Benefit one.  I also plan to have a new tutorial up as well.  I hope everyone stops by and checks them out.

Have a great week and I’ll talk to ya’ll later! J

Outfit of the Week

Happy Friday all!  Hope everyone is well and had a great day!  I’m actually getting this up earlier than usual since I’m heading out in a bit to have dinner and drinks with some friends.  So excited!  Here’s this week’s “Outfit of the Week”.

Jean capris:  Levi’s denizen (Target)

Top:  Rue21

Sandals in pink:  Coach

Signature strap watch:  Coach

Cuff bracelet in gunmetal:  no brand (Burlington Coat Factory)

Silver bangles on left arm:  No Boundries (Walmart)

Black and white clover necklace:  Lucky in Love

Silver heart lock necklace:  Tiffany & Co.

Healthy Meal of the Week

Hey all!  This week’s healthy meal is “Tomato-Basil Soup” from the March 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  It was very easy and fairly quick to make.  It was also a hit with Scarlett, she loved it.  I loved it too, very tasty and seems like it should be more calories than it actually is.   Check out the recipe below, try it out, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ cups pre chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, chopped

¾ cup chopped fresh basil

1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

½ cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, cut into cubes

2 cups 1% low-fat milk

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

12 ( ½ -inch-thick) slices French bread

Cooking spray

1 garlic clove, halved

1 ounce shredded Asiago cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat broiler to high.

2.  Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion; sauté 3 minutes.  Stir in garlic; cook for 1 minute.  Add basil and tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Stir in cream cheese until melted.  Place mixture in blender and blend till smooth.  Return to pan; stir in milk, salt and pepper.  Return to medium-high; cook 2 minutes.

3.  Place bread on baking sheet; light coat with cooking spray.  Broil 1 minute.  Rub garlic over toasted side; turn bread over.  Top with Asiago; broil 1 minute.

Serves 4 (serving size 1 ¼ cups soup and 3 toasts)

Nutritional information:  312 calories; 13.9g total fat (6.3g saturated fat; 4.5g mono.; 0.9g poly); 13.2g protein; 33.8g carbohydrates; 3.4g fiber; 33mg cholesterol; 14mg iron; 506mg sodium; 281mg calcium

Stila "In the Garden" Swatches

Hi everyone!  All I have today are the swatches from my new Stila “In the Garden” palette.  I haven’t had a chance to come up with any looks from this yet but I hope to have one soon with the pink and blue colors.  Check out the pictures below.

Top row, L to R:  chinois, breeze, bark, freesia, rosette

Bottom row, L to R:  nectar, honey, sage, moss, juniper

Below the shadows:  smudge stick waterproof eyeliner in “starfish”

without primer

Top row, L to R:  chinois, breeze, bark, freesia, rosette

Bottom row, L to R:  nectar, honey, sage, moss, juniper

with primer

Top row, L to R:  chinois, breeze, bark, freesia, rosette

Bottom row, L to R:  nectar, honey, sage, moss, juniper

Below the shadows:  smudge stick waterproof eyeliner in “starfish”

That’s all I have for today, check back soon for some new tutorials, including one or two from this palette.  I’ll talk to everyone later! J