Cute wall art project

You'll need:

• scissors
• newsprint or any sort of printed paper ( I used and old bag from BCBG)
• glue
• plain sketch paper or whatever you feel like using (get creative and have fun with it!)
• picture frame
• a marker if you want to accent with it

This is really a very simple project. All you do is cut out whatever shapes you want out of printed on paper and paste it to the background paper. I used a brown paper bag from BCBG and cut out the shape of a dress. to add texture and interest I

cut piece

s not just a solid shape and layered them. I also did a purse and used the handles of the paper bag as the purse handle. It was a very quick, easy, and inexpensiv

e decorating project and that makes me happy. I saw something similar on Ballard Designs website for $89 - $239.

melted butter which has been whipped into a frenzy with egg yolks until it's died and gone to heaven...

The title is a quote from the movie Julie & Julia, a movie which inspires me to eat and therefor cook.

This morning I made my variation of Eggs Benedict which exchanges the English muffin and ham for regular toast and bacon. I did this mostly because that is what I had on hand.

My favorite part of EB is the Hollandaise like they say in the movie "melted butter which has been whipped into a frenzy with egg yolks until it's died and gone to heaven".

So poaching eggs was surprisingly easy really.

I use about 4cups of water with about 1 TB of white vin

egar . Bring it to just about boiling and use a spoon to start the water spinning like a little whirlpool. carefully slip the egg into the center of the whirlpool then wait 3-4 min for it to cook and then remove it with a slotted spoon.

As for the Hollandaise the tricky thing is to avoid curdling it.

4 egg yolks

1 TB lemon juice

1/2 cup of butter (sweet cream is great)

there are a variety of seasonings you can add (Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, nutmeg) I used 1/8 tsp Worcestershire.

Whisk egg yolks, lemon, and a dash of pepper till smooth and creamy and place in sauce pot over very low heat. If it's too hot the eggs will scramble. Continue to whisk and drizzle in melted butter. Whisk until thickened then remove from heat and add seasoning. If it get to thick a few drops of warm water will fix it.

I garnished the Eggs Benedict with some parsley. I prefer dill but all I had in the house was parsley.

Sorry there haven't been any makeup entries lately my cell doesn't take good enough pics for that and I've lost my camera. Here is a pic of the Eggs Benedict though :-)

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. ~Author Unknown

I have just started planning out my 2011 Veggie Garden! Last year was my first one and it proved to be very therapeutic for me. My in-laws were kind enough to give me a nearly 40X40 area to plant in so it was quite a large undertaking. I am using the same space and trying to make some improvements this year, trial and error right :-)

Here is my plant list:

Orange Wellington Tomatoes - last year I planted s

weet tangerines an orange determinant slicer. This year I'm trying the Wellington because it is inderminant.

Big Momma Paste Tomatoes - I did red and orange slicers this year I'm doing paste tomatoes so I'll be able to can some sauce.

Golden Beets - I did red beets last year and I wanted t

o try golden ones.

I'm trying broccoli and a colored mix cauliflower

this year too.

Gourmet Eggplant Blend - I did purple rain

eggplant last year ( a smallish purple streaked fruit) It was tasty and this year I wanted to try a few

different types and colors.

Butterhead Lettuce Blend - butterhead lettuce

Squash and Zuccini Blend - I tried this blend last year and it was very good and pretty hardy.

Baby Leaf Spinach

Early Sweet Sugar Pie Pumpkins

French Green Bush Beans

Scarlet Runner Pole Beans - These beans are supposed to ha

ve red flowers and I'm going to use them to make a bean tepee for Aria.

Sugersnax Carrots - these are a very long thin carrot and so I am going to try and put them in a deep raised bed with peat instead of the local dirt and reall

y give them the perfect soil and see how they turn out.

I'm also getting Marigolds for pest control. They were amaz

ing last year and I'm going to be preemptive and plant them first this year.

I'm excited for this year I'm hoping it turns out better than l

ast! Her

e are some pics from last year.

“A blush is modesty's first impulse and sophistication's afterthought”

Pink cheeks are in for Spring!!! I am really loving this trend right now usually I am more of a bronzer girl than a blush girl, but I am really enjoying the fresh bright look of it right now. The overall look I keep ending up with right now is a brown smoky eye light shimmery pink cheeks and a nude pink lip gloss. I also really love a nice nude look with pink cheeks being the highlight.

For this look great skin really helps so cleanse, tone, moisturize, protect, and exfoliate (More on skincare later). Also don't forget your lips!!!

I like to use a mineral powder foundation in the spring/summer because it doesn't melt off in the heat and it has a very natural look.

Smile big and apply a shimmery pink blush to the apples of your cheeks and sweep it back and a little bit up. (Rose Radiance or A little Sun by bare minerals is good)

Put a natural shimmery eye shadow (as close to your skin tone as possible or a bit lighter) all over lid.

Curl those lashes and put on multiple coats of mascara. I really like Dior Blackout for dramatic lashes.

Moisturize lips and make sure they're smooth, apply concealer and blend to create nude lip and then apply a nude pink or pinky beige lip gloss. Nars Tempest maybe???

Hopefully I'll find my camera soon and be able to make some videos.

GiGi

So I really love animals and ones in need of rescue are my total weakness. So I did it again and adopted an animal in need. She was going to be put down simply because of her breed and things like that really upset me.

We have named her GiGi and she is a brindle Pit Bull female. She is very much a Pit in that she is dominant, strong willed, powerful, and protective. She is very intelligent and so far has been respectful of house rules including meeting the cat. She was very excited to see the girls and obeys Aria fast than she does me lol. She didn't mind Jolie sassing her and plays well with Turkish.

I have fallen in love it really stinks that the breed has such a bad rep. I promise no more after this :-)

Date Night Dinner

My husband and I don't usually have the money to go out on a date night so we eat in. We get a $6 wine from Wegmans (which are usually pretty decent) splurge a little on the menu and light some candles.

Our last one was a beef sirloin roast it was cheaper than steak and my husband really enjoys any sort of meat :-D

I had never made a roast mostly because I never liked to eat it. I'm not a big meat eater, but will eat a fancy steak occasionally. I don't like roast because when I've had it's been dry and not particularly flavorful despite this I decided to give it a try.

I picked up a 3-4lb top sirloin and decided to dry age it. To dry age it I put it in the fridge for two days uncovered. The day of I trimmed of any dry edges then rubbed it with olive oil and salt and pepper than put it in my pre-heated 450 oven for 15min then I lowered it to 350 for about 40min. I took it out and let it rest about 10 min and served it with a mushroom marsala sauce. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-best-of/marsala-sauce-recipe/index.html

It turned out to be delicious and tender and was eaten so fast I didn't get pics lol. Here is a pic of what it looked like (not actual roast) My husband gave it two thumbs up and i liked it too so this will definitely be served again.

Girls Day Out!

I went out with a bunch of girlfriends for a shopping social at Charming Charlie. I had never been to one before and they just opened a new location in the Leesburg Wegmans Shopping center.

It was a bit overwhelming walking in because there was so much. Everything is organized by color which is pretty cool and really pretty reasonably priced. Shoes, bags, jewelry, some clothing, and more it could be pretty dangerous if I had any money on me lol :-)

I did get Aria some little hair accessories and and necklace earring set for myself and only spent $10!

I can't wait to go back they had all sorts of styles and what girl doesn't have fun with accessories!

http://www.charmingcharlie.com/home

This is the necklace and earrings!

I'm paranoid about wrinkles!

My parents laughed when I told them I wanted eye cream for Christmas but hey preventative maintenance right?!? I feel like healthy beautiful skin is super important. I use Olay Regenerist eye cream (it's cheapest from Costco) and so far my favorite skin care is FRESH Soy.

http://www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C22622

I especially loved the Soy Face Exfoliant! Microderm abrasion is great for getting rid of the old skin to make way for the new beautiful skin underneath. I like Fresh Soy because it was light weight and refreshing and it made my skin feel smooth and look brighter. I'd say it's best for combination skin and the 20's and under crowd. The only thing is it isn't the best smelling but hey I can deal with that.

For you more mature ladies Mary Kay actually has a great skin care routine! I know Mary Kay is what your grandma used but they have really stepped it up and modernized their look and it's really great affordable stuff. Their lip balm and scrub is particularly wonderful ;-)

http://www.marykay.com/default.aspx

Chanel Iman

So right now I'm kind of obsessed with fashion model Chanel Iman. Firstly because we share the same ethnic background (Korean/African American) and second because I love her look. She can go from Edgy thigh high boots to super elegant and glamorous Zac Posen gown she wore to the Met's Costume Institute Gala.

I did a Chanel Iman inspired look to day!

Flat ironed straight hair with center part

natural make up with lots of mascara, pink cheeks, and a nude lip

dark wash skinny jeans from Kohl's they were $20

black high heeled suede boots that go up mid calf not sure where I got them

white graphic print tunic tee from Kohl's $6

and finally faux leather jacket in grey also from Kohl's at $13