video funny

this is so something that would happen to me

Egg Recall hits 500,000 and growing

As if this isn't a good enough reason to switch to cage free eggs....

The Great Moisturizer Debate and My New Favorite Beauty Review Website

This weekend I turn the big 3-2. Hard to believe!! Mr. Allan and I just celebrated, well we really just reminisced on the couch, that 10 years ago last week we went on our first date. 10 YEARS!!! That seems sooooo long ago. I was a mere 21 and Mr. Allan was freshly 23. I even remember that on my 22nd birthday he bought me this completely neutral gold fancy Halmark card.

But, once I entered my late 20's and came into the big 30's decade, I started to realize that I need to take care of my skin. I wear sunscreen faithfully on my face everyday (Clinique City Block SPF 40) and I started to look into the dreaded anti aging moisturizers. Seriously--where the hell does one start?? There are so many words tossed around on labels--anit-wrinkle, anti-aging, anti-oxidant, protection against free radicals, spf this and that. A girl gets confused.

It seemed in college, that every girl had their big yellow bottle of Clinique's mositurizer. It just didn't cut it for me. I moved onto Oil of Olay Regenerist, then onto Aveeno. Aveeno was a high scorer for me. It didn't smell like a perfumed up Nana and went on so easily and didn't leave a greasy mess on my face. Then I thought I needed more, and went onto Lancome. It's pricey and, honestly, was no different than my $17 bottle of Aveeno.

I hit home on a shopping spree to Sephora a couple months back. I saw the ads with Courtney Cox, I wandered over and before I knew it, I had samples of Kinerase in my hand.

The first week, my face felt a little greasier. I didn't know if it was because it was humid out, if I'm just naturally an oil slick, but something told me to stick it out. After a week, my skin settled in and I'm hooked on this stuff. My face feels smoother and I think it looks smoother..which is all that's important!

so my new skin regime...

Clinique City Block. I put it on right after moisturizer...can't live without it. It's like wearing your seatbelt..you notice if it's not on.

My new favorite moisturizer....

While I do like Kinerase, I can not lie. This stuff is expensive. I'd put the price but if Mr. Allan reads what it costs, I will be banned from purchasing it ever again.

A website I stumbled upon that I now consult for every major make up/skincare purchase

http://www.makeupalley.com/

I love to read real life people's reviews of prodcuts..whether it's worth it to spring for the expensive product etc!

Dish Soap Wars

I've been trying to make an effort to use "greener" products at home. I use so many papertowels and cleaning agents with harmful chemicals in them. I do most of my grocery shopping at specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. So, I've been picking up products here and there testing them out.

My first household product war.......

Trader Joe's Next to Godliness Dish Soap

VS.

Mrs. Meyer's Dish Soap

 The Verdict:

While I'm a huge fan of Trader Joe's, their dish soap doesn't cut it. It smells wonderful, the price is right, but this stuff just doesn't sud up. I use my little dish soap wand and often wonder if I need a new wand. I've purchases 2 bottles of it. The first time I was disappointed, then I saw it in the store again and decided to give it one more try.

I currently have 3/4 of a bottle under the sink and went out and bought some Mrs. Meyers. Mrs. Meyer's has a great scent, (Lemon Verbana is my favorite!) and it suds nice and lasts a long time.

Sorry Trader Joe's :(. I will still faithfully buy my frozen organic vegetables, organic brown rice, fair trade organic coffee, whole wheat pizza dough and steel cut oats from you! But...Mrs. Meyer's dish soap takes the prize on this one!

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

I made the best recipe the other night. I just had to share. It involved grilling some sweet potatoes, Newman's Own Olive Oil Vinagrette, and fresh herbs. I hate heavy summer salads. Summertime is about hopping in your bathing suit, beaches, sand, pools, shorts etc...so I crave light healthier recipes that don't require mayo, sour cream, and other creamy heavy ingredients.

Here's a snapshot of the Grilled Sweet Potatoe Salad with Basil, Thyme and Feta (photo and recipe are courtesy of Kalyn's Kitchen (http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/)

Here's the recipe..I used the herbs that it called for since they were in the garden!

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Green Onion, Basil, Thyme, and Feta

(Makes about 4-6 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)
2 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, about 2 lbs. total
(orange-fleshed sweet potatoes may be called yams in some stores)
1/4 C + 1/4 C purchased vinaigrette dressing (I used Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
2-3 T thin chiffonade strips of basil (thinly sliced strips)
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/2 C crumbled Feta



Preheat gas or charcoal barbecue grill to medium-high heat. (You can hold your hand there about 3 seconds at that heat.)

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into slices about 3/4 inch thick. Lay slices on a cookie sheet, then measure 1/4 cup vinaigrette and brush each side of sweet potatoes with dressing, seasoning each side with salt and freshly ground black pepper after you brush on the dressing.


Grill the sweet potato slices, cooking about 4-5 minutes on first side, then rotating to cook 3-4 minutes on that side. When you have nice grill marks on the first side (or when sweet potatoes are getting dark on that side) flip the sweet potatoes over and cook about 7-8 minutes more on the second side, or until sweet potatoes feel tender when pierced with a fork. (Total grilling time will be about 15-20 minutes, but I started taking them off the grill as they felt done, and the larger pieces took more time.)

Let grilled sweet potato slices cool for 10-15 minutes, then cut into cubes and place in salad bowl. Add sliced green onions, chiffonade basil strips, and chopped thyme and gently combine with sweet potatoes. Stir in the other 1/4 cup of vinaigrette, using as much as you need to moisten the salad (you may not need all the dressing, depending on how wet you like your salads.) Gently stir in the crumbled feta, season salad with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and serve salad at room temperature.


***Just a couple notes: I used 3 medium to large sized sweet potatoes and left the skin on and this salad came out fantastic!)

Enjoy and thank you Kalyn's Kitchen for a fantastic recipe!

Oh Mr. Allan......

where are you? Well, I know where you are, but you've been sparse this summer with your insane crazy travel schedule.

Your wife needs you home to:

take out the trash
scoop the litter boxes
clean out the recycle bin
clean the spot where the cat threw up on the white bedroom rug (again!)
make the pool less cloudy
and kill the large fly and spider that have been circling around the house all week

While I'm well aware that I am capable of completing one or more of the above listed tasks. They suck and I think they're husband jobs.

Come home soon :(

RI Local Food Festival

I went to a fantastic event last night at Castle Hill Inn in Newport RI. The Rhode Island Local Food Festival put on by Farm Fresh was held there.

What event wouldn't you enjoy at this breathtaking venue....

Farm Fresh is a local non profit organization that aims to help preserve RI farms, build healthy communities and create access to local fresh food. Besides being one great organization, they threw one hell of a party last night.

The food was all local and spectacular. From Chez Pascal to Local 121 to Seven Stars Bakery and new restaurants like Tallulah's, local eateries put out some tasting size dishes that were out of this world.

This is an event that must become an annual thing! (thanks sue for bringing me!!!)

for more information on farmfresh....goto http://www.farmfreshri.org/

and yes...my car is now sporting one of these bumper stickers :)