Sweet Potato Brownies - Gary Approved

I'm now always on the hunt for new recipes that didn't fall out of a Paleo Cookbook. Don't get me wrong, I like my cookbooks but sometimes I want something REAL... something real live people have tried and not something come up with in some random kitchen somewhere. I found Juli at PaleOMG and I'm in love.
So far we've tried about 6 of her "dinners" and one or two veggie sides and everything has been a hit.
You know what's funny though? As much as I didn't have a sweet tooth before we started Paleo, I find myself DYING to just jump into a pool of Cadbury chocolate.. and I mean the good, straight from the UK, Cadbury chocolate. Fruit is all good for a snack here and there but when I'm wanting sweet foods I WANT SWEET FOODS...

So, I pulled out the handy dandy netbook and started surfing her site. Some of the recipes that I really want to try call for some ingredients I'd have to order online and they happen to be back ordered right now. This recipe happened to need everything that I had on hand so I said "what the heck" and started making a mess.

BUT FIRST I HAVE TO KILL THE HUGE SPIDER THAT JUST RAN ACROSS THE FLOOR AND GARY IS OUT RUNNING AND CANT KILL IT SO I'LL JUST SMOOSH IT WITH MY SHOE AND LEAVE THE BODY FOR HIM TO CLEAN UP...

I HATE spiders.

So, back to the brownies.
You're going to need:
1 sweet potato (I used a white one)
3 eggs, whisked
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
3 tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder (NOT BAKING SODA!)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

Start by baking the sweet potato. 425F (218C) for about 30 minutes. You could probably nuke it but I find that the microwave turns potatoes all rubbery and I'm not sure it does the same for sweet potatoes. Either way, I cook them in the oven because I love heating the house up when it's 105 outside. Don't you? IT TASTES BETTER!
So, your potato is done cooking. Turn the oven down to 350F (176C). Let the potato cool down a few minutes or use a hot mitt. Pull the skin off and put it in a bowl and mash it. I found it easiest to use the back of a big spoon. It kinda clumps a little and you don't want it all clumped up in your batter or you're going to have huge chunks of sweet potato in your brownies.
Start mixing up your wet ingredients: eggs, coconut oil, honey and vanilla.
Add in the dry ingredients: coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon (which, by the way, I didn't use. I'm not a HUGE fan unless it's on specific things and Gary doesn't like it at all), salt and then fold in the chocolate chips.
Again, make sure it's all mixed up well and pour it into an 8x8 baking dish to bake for 30 to 35 minutes. She didn't say to "grease the pan" but I dropped some olive oil in it and spread it around with a napkin to soak up the extra bit. I hate when brownies stick in the pan, like I literally want to scream. I didn't have a problem getting the brownies out at all.  I also didn't waste anytime trying them and really had to TRY hard to not eat them all.

If you don't like these then you have no soul. Period.

Rosemary Chicken and Roasted Broccoli

My pictures always look like garbage. I can't ever get food pictures to look "good" but maybe that's because I'm using my phone? I really should invest in a good camera. <.<

Anyway, this turned out to be really, really good (and not because I was STARVING by the time dinner rolled around).

You're going to need:
4 chicken breasts
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
zest of lemon
2 Tbs fresh rosemary
3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Ok, for starters, I didn't have any lemon to zest so I used a lemon infused olive oil from Olive Creations. When it came to the rosemary, I pulled the sprigs off of the stems and kinda roughly chopped it.
Get a big bowl and mix up the garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss in the chicken breasts and make sure they're completely covered in the marinade. Let it marinade for 30+ minutes. Obviously, the longer the better. I think I let it go for about 4 hours.

Preheat your oven to 400F (205C). Heat up a large pan over medium high heat. You shouldn't need to add any more fat to the pan since you marinated it in so much oil. Once it's very hot, place the chicken breasts in the pan and let them cook for 3 to 5 minutes on either side. DON'T flip them back and forth. Let it cook on one side and when you can turn them with no resistance then it's time to flip to the other side and let it cook on that side for the same amount of time.
Remove the chicken from the pan, and place in a dish to put in the oven that you've pre-heated. Put them in for about 15 minutes so that they can finish cooking (NO pink).

Now, when I was done cooking these I wrapped them up in foil and put to the side so I could roast some broccoli really quick. I did this for the first time last week and I don't think I'll ever steam broccoli again. Roasted broccoli is AMAZING!

All you need to do is turn the oven up to 500F (260C). Toss the broccoli (3 to 4 large crowns) in a large bowl with about 3 Tbs of olive oil and 5 to 6 cloves of minced garlic. Put it in the heated oven for about 10 minutes give or take. When it's done, just put it on your plates, unwrap that chicken and NOM NOM NOM!

I didn't feel like it was missing anything without the lemon zest, in fact I think the lemon would have been overpowering. The lemon olive oil was perfect. I could smell it while it was cooking and had a hint of it while I ate it.

My first "Ombre" attempt...

Well, here is my first attempt at "ombre". I didn't make THAT big of a mess which is surprising. Although I did end up with polish on my lip and I'm still not quite sure how that happened.
I didn't buy a set, I made it myself by starting with my base color and slowly lightening it up with white. I still need to clean up the edges but I'm waiting for it to dry 100%.

Products Used:
O.P.I. - Chip Skip
China Glaze - Liquid Leather
Circus - Reverso
Seche Vite top coat

Tada!

*You can't purchase Circus yet. I got a full sized product in my last MyGlam bag. Any white will do though. :)

This blog is...

That's right, I'm a Christian woman who is also pro-gay rights. Jesus loves EVERYONE!
While we're at it I'm also pro-women's choice. When one of those fat, old men in Congress gets knocked up by a rape and has to give a baby up for adoption because abortion wasn't available, I'll listen to their side of the story.

- my 2 cents

You'll need shades for this polish!

Well, the red lasted about 3 days. It was just to much of a "wintery red" for me.

I usually take my nail pictures outside but the light was wrong and didn't do this color justice. In fact, the light inside barely does. This is an almost fluorescent.. pinky/peach. It's gorgeous and BRIGHT! It dries almost like a matte though so get a shiny top coat!

China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy
Essie - luxeffects "pure perfection" (for a light sparkle)
Seche Vite - Top Coat

(and yeah, I did a rushed sloppy job and then chopped all my nails off about 2 hours later.)

Olive Creations

My sister-in-law, Tonyia, suggested that Gary and I find a local store in our area that sold high end olive oil. I was feeling especially lazy that day and didn't feel like looking one up so she found one, looked up the address and URL for me and I checked it out the following day.

This begins my love affair with Olive Creations. It's quite the drive from Buckeye but once we got there we knew it was totally worth it.
They're a small store and I really, really like that they are a local, family and Christian owned company.
As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted and asked if we'd ever been there before. We, of course, said "no" and so she started to explain everything to us. At first we felt overwhelmed. One wall is lined with balsamics and the other wall is lined with olive oils. All throughout the small store were little, plastic cups so that you could sample EVERYTHING and boy did we. They had about 20 different flavors of balsamics and I'm going to guess about 30 olive oils.  Each futis* was marked with what was in it and also gave suggestions as to which oil or balsamic paired well with that one and suggestions as to what to use them for. There were also little recipe pads through out the store so you could peel one off and take them with you! Although the main attraction is the oils and balsamics I noticed they had homemade pastas in there (which are actually Paleo friendly). They also have a good selection of flavored sea-salts and salsas and probably more that I didn't see because we spent so much time tasting all of the oils and vinegars.
We left with 2 bottles of balsamic and 2 bottles of oil.

Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar
Lemon White Balsamic Vinegar











In the end, I'd recommend this store to anyone, especially those who love to cook and discover new flavors.
 I am REALLY looking forward to trying these in recipes and drizzling over salads or anything else I can get my hands on.

Olive Creations
2480 W. Happy Valley Rd Suite 1202
Phoenix AZ 85085
623-587-6005




*Highly polished, stainless steel containers used for wine, milk and olive oil.

Happy Anniversary, My Love...

I thought I'd start this out with a 9 year old picture. We took it shortly after moving to Phoenix which was a few months after we married. This picture makes me feel super, super old!
Anyhow, today we've been married for 9 years. For those who know us, they know it's been 9 years of major ups and major downs. But that's what marriage is about right? Through the good times and the bad?
I'll be honest, there were times I thought it was over and I had lost my best friend but we pulled through, and I'm happy that we did because he's not just my husband. He IS my best friend. Like, the only person in this world that knows everything about me. He can read my mind. He knows my moods and when to back off or give me a hug.
Two years ago I thought I had lost him. I honestly thought it was over. I could deal with not being married but I couldn't deal with not being with HIM. It was a rough 8 months. There were times I had given up but then I decided I was going to FIGHT for him and I did. I'm glad I did. I still get to wake up every morning and see him stumbling around the room getting ready for work and greet him at the door when he gets home every day.

Gary, I appreciate every last thing you do for me. I know you work hard to take care of us... me.. the pets.. our family. You have no idea what that means to me and if I could put it into words I would. I know things have been rough and we'll make it through just like we have every other time. I would do anything in this world for you and I want you to know that I MEAN that and I always will. You are mine forever. I love you so much.

Your wife.


(I'll let him tell you guys what I got him for our anniversary)

Western Omelet - Gary Approved

Anyone who knows me, or at least my eating habits, knows that I DON'T EAT EGGS. I hate them, I think the taste is ok but I can't get past the texture. The closest I'll get to eating an egg is the yellow part of deviled eggs. Those are delicious. I really wish that I could eat them. I have them on hand at all times and it would be a quick and easy breakfast or even lunch.

I'm really good at cooking them though! I used to be able to make them anyway you asked but since Gary only eats scrambled I think I lost my touch. So, last night I had Gary read a omelet recipe that I had found and he said he'd give it a try. I'm giving you the directions how it came but adding what I changed.

For one omelet you're going to need:
3 eggs*
1 tsp. coconut oil
1/4 yellow onion diced (Gary said half this)
1/2 bell pepper diced (I left this out - I only have one and I'm saving it for dinner ..hehe)
1/2 medium tomato diced
1/2 cup spinach (I always use fresh baby spinach)
1/4 cup ham cooked and diced (I skipped this, don't have any on hand)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

So, wash and chop all the veggies and set aside.
In a bowl, beat the eggs well and set aside.
Heat your skillet up over medium heat and when it's hot add the coconut oil to the pan.
Pour the eggs into the pan. When the egg has partially set, scrape the edges and tip the pan so that the uncooked egg at the top can spread to the bottom of the skillet.
Immediately after you've done that, add the veggies (and ham) to one half of the omelet and continue to cook until the egg is almost fully set.
Grab a spatula and fold the empty half of the egg over the veggies (and ham).
Cook for 2 minutes longer and serve it up!

Gary at it up like a starving child. So yeah, I guess it was a hit!

*I used 3 large, brown, omega 3, free-range chicken eggs. The recipe called for 2 but I added an extra one. Seemed to be the perfect size. 

I Love Red Polish..

Back when Gary was in boot camp I had a roommate for a short period of time. Her name was Teresa. We had worked together in the past and were pretty good friends. Anyway, we were painting our nails one night and I was giving her grief about never using red since it's such a fantastic color. She explained to me why she didn't use red. She was raised by a Deliverance style, "Christian" mother who was pretty much bonkers. When Teresa was growing up, her mother told her repeatedly that she wasn't allowed to wear red polish because "only whores wear red polish"... I finally talked her into putting some red on her nails and from that day on I've always joked about "whore red". I'm thinking about writing O.P.I or ORLY to see if they'll name a great polish "Whore Red".
That being said today I decided to try out a new red. I'm pretty stinking happy with it. My favorite red is ORLY's Monroe's Red (really annoying auto-start video at that link, but there is a pause button). It's in their permanent collection so it's available.

This week I used:
- O.P.I. Chip Skip *
- O.P.I. An Affair In Red Square
- Seche Vite top coat (as always)

*Originally I thought that Chip Skip was a crappy product. I got it for free when I purchased 2 other O.P.I. colors a few months ago. Anyway, the first time I used it my nails chipped like crazy but then a few weeks later I used that same color again without Chip Skip and it turns out that the polish I was using was just crappy. The brand is great (ORLY) but the polish must have been a bad batch or something. Anyway, I've used Chip Skip since then, and it works wonderfully. I'm really hard on my nails and I almost never have a chip.

Honey Chicken

I was out ALL day long today and totally spaced out and forgot to plan dinner. Since this is a new menu for us, planning dinner is very important as we can't just say eff it and run to Wendy's. So I scrambled through the cookbook for something quick and easy and with stuff that I had on hand and this is what I came up with. I made some alterations for us. For example, the recipe actually included walnuts but Gary hates them and I don't like them in my meals (desserts maybe). Anyway, here goes!


You're going to need:
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1 Tbs FRESH thyme, chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbs raw honey
- 1/2 cup water

Combine olive oil, thyme, sea salt, and pepper
Rub the chicken with seasoning.
Now here I took some olive oil (in addition to what the recipe calls for) to cook the chicken in... about 1/2 Tbs. The recipe calls for a "non stick pan" and I don't own those. In fact I hate them so anyway, continuing on.
Cook the chicken for about 12 minutes (or until it's cooked through and not pink in the middle), turning frequently.
Once cooked, transfer the chicken to a clean plate. Make a foil tent to keep it nice and hot.
SAVE THE DRIPPINGS IN THE PAN!
Add the apple cider to the pan with the chicken drippings. Cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Add in the honey and water and simmer for 6 to 7 minutes until slightly thickened.
Then, you just spoon/ladle/pour it over the chicken and enjoy!

I doubled the sauce (so 2x the vinegar, honey, and water), and cooked it for a bit longer to get it the right consistency. We like sauce, what can I say?

p.s. I know, I know. we had corn again. I hate throwing out food and we had 2 cobs left. I ended up giving Gary my brussels sprouts and taking his corn. I am not fond of brussels at all. I used to like them, but I think that was when I could have loads of butter.. LOL

Asparagus with Mushrooms

I made this as a side last night with our Cumin Chicken. I wasn't happy with the chicken recipe. It was "ok/edible" but I realized that I really don't like cumin all that much. It cooked up nice and tender so I'll make it again but this time with a different herb or selection of herbs.

Anyway, back to the asparagus and mushrooms. First off, don't be turned off because of the mushrooms. I HATE mushrooms but I used them, picked them out and the asparagus was just as delicious so feel free to leave them out or if you're making some for people who do like mushrooms, just pick them out. I slice them in BIG slices to make that easier.

 You're going to need:
- 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt, (optional)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 pound fresh asparagus, ends trimmed
- 2 Tbs Coconut oil (but I used olive - Gary isn't a huge coconut fan)
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup green onions, sliced



Ok, Add the vinegar, 1 Tbs of the oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Add the asparagus in boiling water, just enough to make them crisp (few minutes)
Drain and IMMEDIATELY pour iced water over them (or blanch them by dumping them into a bowl of ice water)
Heat the remaining oil in a pan on medium high heat.
Add mushrooms and saute until they are soft.
Add green onions and saute for another minute.
Add the asparagus and cook for another 3 minutes.
REMOVE from the heat then slowly add in the vinegar mixture.

EAT!

2 Delicious Sauces

So, we have quite a bit of london broil on our menu, not TONS but it is a lean, healthy meat item. The two times we've made it on Paleo we've used the following marinade. This recipe makes a good amount to cover the london broil about half way up, then you can just flip it over for the last half of the time you're marinating it for.

For the marinade you're going to mix the following in a bowl:
- 8 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
- 8 Tbs Olive Oil
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- .5 tsp freshly ground pepper

Just let it marinade for a few hours in the fridge and cook away!!

Next on the list, a salad dressing. We don't use commercial dressings anymore. You might be really surprised if you read the ingredients on them. Most of them have high fructose corn syrup in the top 4 ingredients! I've checked out quite a few "low fat/fat free" dressings but they use soy bean oil and we don't do soy. So, I whipped up this dressing last night and used it on a grilled chicken salad today for lunch. TO DIE FOR!

You're going to need:
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp dijon mustard (I used spicy brown)
- 1 tsp RAW honey (not processed)
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp of herb of choice (basil, thyme, chives etc... I used Italian seasoning)

Whisk (or blender) balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, minced garlic, raw honey and lemon juice until it's blended.
Gradually add in the olive oil while whisking (or blending)
Mix in the salt, pepper and herbs to taste
Store it in the fridge.

When I was making the salad dressing, I got ahead of myself and just mixed everything together in a container made for sauces and just shook the crap out of it. I didn't "gradually add in the oil". Everything turned out ok and no one died, so that technique works just fine. :P

Now, all you need is a london broil and a nice spinach salad to enjoy the dressing on and you're set!

Enjoy!

Chicken Marsala

I've been cooking Chicken Marsala for Gary for a few years now. I used my own recipe and served it over rice for him. Well, with the switch to Paleo, I didn't have to make that many changes other than nix the rice. I pulled this recipe from The Paleo Diet Cookbook (page 86) and made changes to suit what Gary likes. (I don't eat Chicken Marsala - I hate Marsala wine and I HATE mushrooms).

You're going to need to get:
- 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (pounded flat)
- 3 cups chopped assorted wild mushrooms *
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 cup Marsala wine **
- 1 cup chicken broth **
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano






So start by heating the oil in a skillet... about medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and  cook for 10 minutes, turning at the halfway point. When they're cooked, remove them from the pan and set them off to the side in a foil tent.

Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook them for 5 minutes. Stir them occasionally so they don't stick. Stir in the shallot and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine and broth and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer over a low flame for 20 minutes. I don't necessarily do 20 minutes. I do it until the sauce is ALMOST as thick as we prefer.

Put the chicken back in the skillet for 5 more minutes. (Which is why I don't reduce the sauce all of the way - 5 more minutes to cook).

Sprinkle with oregano when you're ready to serve!

* The recipe calls for 1 cup of mushrooms. I used 3 because mushrooms really shrink down and Gary likes a lot of them. I used crimini and oyster mushrooms.  
** The recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of wine and broth but again, it reduces down so quickly and doesn't leave much sauce in the end. I doubled it. I also don't make my own broth. I buy organic, low sodium chicken broth. 

Birchbox & MyGlam - July

Birchbox: I don't know if they amped it up because Glamour got involved, but this month's box was pretty good!

1. amika - Obliphica Nourishing Mask (for the hair)
2. amika - Obliphica Hair Treatment (oil for the hair)
3. boscia - B.B Cream SPF 27 PA+++
4. Eyeko - Skinny Liquid Eyeliner (in black)
5. Harvey Prince - Hello (perfume sample and it smells GOOD)
6. Larabar - uber (haven't eaten it and I'm not sure I will, it has bananas in it .. ewww)
7. Earbuds - the cutest neon pink and green earbuds. They'll match the pink on my iPhone perfectly!

Well, this post has been sitting in draft until I received my MyGlam bag and it finally showed up today! One thing that MyGlam has over BB is that they send it in reusable packing and always include a cute and different every time makeup baggie. I use those makeup bags for gift baggies all the time! Oh! One of their items is always a full sized too, where BB sends all sample sizes. Anyway, let's go through this month's package!

1. Juice Beauty - Green Apple Moisturizer
2. Nu.Me - HydroPunch Hydrating Conditioner
3. Yes to Cucumbers - On The Go Facial Towelettes
4. Josie Maran - Magic Marker Lip & Cheek Stain
5. Circus by Andrea's Choice - Nail Color (and mine is "Reverso" (white) and I'll never use it  /sad face)


So, there you have it. Once again, I think I'm picking MyGlam as a winner. I just can't get over the cute little makeup bag, the packaging I can reuse (GO GREEN!) and the full sized product they give me.

Quick and Delicious Salsa

I pulled this recipe off of allrecipes about 2 years ago and we've modified it like crazy to suit our tastes. If you don't like onion and garlic either move on or modify it yourself. :D

1. 2 (14 ounce) can PETITE diced tomatoes (I drain most of the liquid out)
2. 2 small cans of diced green chilis (They come in different "heats". Pick out what you want)
3. 1.5 average sized jalapenos seeded and finely chopped
4. Half of a average sized RED onion finely chopped
5. 6 cloves of garlic (YES, I SAID SIX)
6. 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil (I use extra virgin)
7. Salt and Pepper to taste


NOW, don't be tempted to run off and eat all of this at one time. It's best when it's been sitting overnight. Sure, why not have some for breakfast right?

Anyway, we prefer Tostitos Scoops and so we buy a family sized bag of those and grub down!

Treated myself to a new nail color!

After deep cleaning my kitchen and 2 bathrooms all day (Yeah, it took me all day) and then spending time evening time with Gary I thought I'd treat myself to a polish change. I'm not totally thrilled with this color but as often as I change it, I'll be ok.

So this is what I used:
Essie "Fair Game" - 2 coats (4 pack mini "The Resort Collection". I found it on Amazon)
Essie "Shine of the Times" - 1 coat (This is one of the "top coats" they put out. Lux Effects. You can still get them in the stores)
Seche Vite Top Coat - (I'm still raving over this top coat!)

We also made some salsa tonight. It's a recipe that I pulled off of allrecipes and modified it greatly. I'll post it tomorrow!

I hate my kitchen but....

I hate my tiny kitchen. There is barely enough room for Gary and I to work together in there. We have a little dance that we do as we're both working on dinners or scrambling around in the mornings. I wouldn't call it graceful. A bigger kitchen is on my wishlist for our next house - whenever that may be. And before you ask why I'm taking on this project on the weekend, it's because Gary had to work today. I hate when he has to work weekends, but with as much as I had to get done today I'm kinda glad he did have to work. :(

Anyway, clearing out the non-Paleo foods started yesterday. I sent Melia home with a huge tub and two grocery bags full of stuff. Then I cleaned out the pantry and the rest of the cabinets from stuff she didn't want or like old boxes of cereal. What I wasn't thinking about before starting was that this would leave my pantry WIDE OPEN for everything that crowded my kitchen counters.

Ok, now it's messier than usual because I had just gotten home from the store and stuff from the cabinets I was getting ready to toss was still sitting out, but do you see how cluttered it is?? ARGH!

 Here it is with everything put away! We have SO much more counter space. The only thing that's out of place are the two oatmeal boxes on the floor. There is a gap in our cabinetry and Walter likes to get up in there to where I can't reach him and he's so big now I'm afraid he's going to get stuck... hopefully soon I can toss those boxes. Next thing I need to tackle is the fridge. I need Gary home for that though because some of the science fair projects growing in there make me gag if not throw up. :D





p.s. I would love to get rid of that damn toaster oven!
p.p.s. I still have to go through the stuff on the little bar (that I conveniently left out of the picture).

The Perfect Manicure

I just love this picture. This is Lucy, she's the 84 year old mother of one my dearest friends. They sent me this picture because her nail polish color pretty much matches the color I posted about yesterday. I LOVE the daisies that they decorated her nails with. I don't generally decorate my fingernails with designs because I'm so hard on my hands.

I love this picture though. I really can't put it into words and I'm not even going to try. I hope you see the beauty in it that I do.

Oh and check out that bling! I loooove her bracelet!

Inspired by toes...

I went in for my first "summer pedicure" yesterday. I brought my own polish with me and she looked at me kinda funny. I guess that's not normal?
I like to bring my own because 1. I waste enough money on polish so why not USE it.. and 2. It makes touch ups easier if I have the color right?

Anyway, I brought in China Glaze's Love's A Beach. It's a very hot pink and the picture doesn't do it justice. It's from their Summer Neon line. It goes on a little on the matte side but I use Seche Vite for a topcoat which keeps your nails looking freshly painted wet for who knows how long.

 So I loved the color on my toes so much I had to use it on my fingers as well. I haven't decided what I'm doing next.. maybe silver? Or maybe one of the new Essie colors I ordered on Amazon. :)



I should really advertise for the girl who makes my toe rings. She is fantabulous. I found her by doing a search for local sellers in my area. Her shop is Pretty Little Tootsies. You can't go wrong. :)

Whimseybox - not very whimsical...

On June 2nd I signed up for WhimseyBox. You can read all about this company at the website but basically, in a nutshell, this company sends you a box chock full of "new and best-selling craft product samples". The box is supposed to inspire you and your crafting ideas. I was really looking forward to my first new box so I could see what they sent and maybe inspire me to try something new.

First off, according to their website, they ship out on the 16th. Well, I cut them some slack because they are a new company but I didn't get mine until the very end of June. That's not the problem I have with them.

The problem I'm having is that they literally sent me a fantastic re-usable box all decorated and packaged nicely with nothing in it but a scrap of leather and a baggie of studs with step by step directions on how to make a leather wallet. Well, that's not very inspiring!

I understand that I'm not going to get something that interests me every month but I was HIGHLY disappointed with this box and seeing how it was my first box, well you can imagine my disappointment.

I'm going to give them another month, maybe 2, to send out boxes that truly inspire me but if nothing comes of it I'm just going to cancel my account.

I'd rather stick to my BirchBox, MyGlam or even try BirchBox for Men!

Anyway, I'll keep all interested parties up to date. I don't mind being the guinea pig!