Polyvore

I was browsing around on the L'oreal website trying to get makeup ideas for a wedding I'm attending on Sunday. On their main page was an ad for a contest through Polyvore, a site where you can assemble collections of items you love and share them with others. It only took about two minutes of browsing for me to fall in love with the site!

As someone who is slightly visually compulsive and a lover of fashion, color, photography, and most importantly lists (seriously, I love lists) it's basically a dream come true. Plus, as an added bonus, the mere act of collecting and assembling items really quiets and calms my OCD.

Flirty & Fun by PositivelyNatalie featuring a short sleeve tee

Rebel Yell Free Hugs Rocker Tee in Dark Steel
$79 - shopthetrendboutique.com
Short sleeve tee »

burberry check trincea gonna | Alexandalexa
88 EUR - alexandalexa.com
Check skirt »

Ralph Lauren 'Camilla' Classic Pumps Womens - Cherry: Ralph Lauren:...
$1,900 - amazon.com
Ralph lauren shoes »

Cue the Montage Bag | Mod Retro Vintage Bags | ModCloth.com
$69 - modcloth.com
Vintage handbags »

Pastel Coloured Loveheart Scarf | Jewellery Necklaces Bracelets...
25 AUD - funaccessories.com.au
Necklaces »

Amazon.com: loreal lipstick: Beauty
$8.99 - amazon.com

HiP Studio Secrets™ Professional Bright Shadow Duos Showy
lorealparisusa.com

I'm not sure how one goes about winning this contest, but I can't get enough of Polyvore!

An Autumn Affirmation

Admiring the light

on the trees

in the early evening

a passing breeze caressed my cheek.

As I looked up to face the

cool embrace

one yellow leaf rode the wind

to fall at my fingers

along the splintered wooden rail.

In that brief moment I felt

connected to everything.

I felt an energy radiating

through my feet

into the soil

to signal the changing season.

Lazy Sunday Muffins

Don't panic, I'm still alive! This past month I've been busy preparing for and then enjoying my sister's wedding, with very little time for extra-curricular activities (like blogging). Now that my time is mine again, I've resolved to post at least once a week. I need to flex my creative muscles if I'm ever going to find a writing job!

The happy couple!

 Today is quite a gloomy contrast to the beautiful weather we had yesterday, so I thought I would warm things up with a batch of muffins. Rather than turn to my tried-and-true recipe collection I set out to find something a little different. Per usual, the options I found online were good but not great. So I took a cappuccino muffin recipe and tweaked it to trim the calories and up the deliciousness. What I ended up with were muffins that taste decadent but are actually very healthy!

Instead of plain instant coffee, I used hazelnut for a "gourmet" flavor.

I was a little skeptical at first when I saw olive oil on the ingredient list, but once I tasted the final product I was sold! It keeps the muffins seriously moist and gives them almost a silky texture inside. As for the coffee and chocolate, you can use whatever you have on hand. I like using flavored instant coffee for an added punch, and I pretty much only use dark chocolate because I find milk chocolate to be uncomfortably sweet. Feel free to experiment with your own variations and let me know how they turn out!

How could I say no to Ikea food?!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
3/4 cup Splenda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
cinnamon & nutmeg to taste (1-2 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup skim milk
2 Tb instant coffee granules (3 single serving pouches)
1/4 cup + 2 Tb olive oil
2 egg whites (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
8 squares crushed dark chocolate (about 30g)

* Mix together flour, Splenda, baking powder, spices, and salt in large bowl and set aside.
* In a small bowl, whisk together milk and instant coffee until it is dissolved.
* Add oil, egg whites, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
* Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just moistened.
* Gently stir in chocolate pieces. Do not over-mix or the muffins will dry out!

Bake in greased muffin pan or paper cups at 375 for about 16 min or until muffins pass the toothpick test. Makes one dozen muffins.

Nom nom nom

Tip: If you can't eat all the muffins immediately, they can be frozen and saved for later. Just pop a frozen muffin in the microwave for about 30 seconds and it will be ready to enjoy!

Now that's a catchy tune!

Well, sort of. Catchy in that, dear lord I can't get it out of my head (get it out of my head!) kind of way. Infomercials (which I love dearly) are often guilty of ridiculous soundtracks, but this list includes some more mainstream products as well. It seems that this economic downturn has finally reached the product jingle department; either that, or they've evolved into a deadly combination of cocky and lazy. Either way, recent ads have left me wishing and hoping that Barry Manilow gets back to his roots and starts composing songs for ads again. And I can safely say that's the first time I've ever had a wish that included Barry Manilow.



Scene: Windowless basement board room with an old piano in the corner. A bunch of guys are sitting around the table staring off into space. At least one of them has a large coffee stain on the front of his shirt and/or pants.
Dude #1: "What's the product again?"
Dude #2: "It's a pillow."
Dude #3: "No, it's a pet."
Dude #2: "Well, it's sort of a pillow-pet."
Dude #1: "I smell a jingle!"



Forget about the fact that the ad uses such awful characters (the sweet but helpless husband/boyfriend & the wife/girlfriend who is apparently too dumb to be trusted with simple tasks like purchasing toilet paper). Ignore the (possibly Charmin-induced) 3 Bears storyline. Focus instead on the way they turned their tagline into the fine print from a car commercial by cramming 10 syllables into 4 seconds. If time is money, they're really pinching pennies with this one.



When your whole commercial is a jingle, you need some serious focus during the composition process. Unfortunately for Huggies, it would seem their music team received this assignment on brownie day in the office cafeteria and subsequently spent most of the afternoon eating Cheetos and giggling. Although, if the Man-ilow were to cover it...

Get Chocomized

If you follow me anywhere else on the Internet (hello and thanks!) you've probably seen me yammering on this week about a chocolate contest.  Unlike running for office, a chocolate contest comes with zero responsibility and maximum enjoyability.  And, thanks to your help, I'm a winner!

This particular contest was run by the fine folks over at Chocomize, a website that lets you build a chocolate bar to suit your every taste whim.  You start by choosing either dark, milk, or white chocolate as your base and then add up to five additional ingredients.  Like candy in your candy?  Cram it full of gummi bears, nerds, or even jelly beans.  Fancy yourself a gourmand?  Sprinkle your chocolate with lavender or sea salt.  There are over 100 filler options, including the more traditional nuts and fruits.

If you can't decide what to include they have a Favorites page with pre-built bars ready to shove in your face.  Part of my prize is a featured spot on this page for my chocolate creation "Fresh Face Forward."

This is a dark chocolate bar with blueberries, gogi berries, organic flax seeds, roasted sunflower seeds, and cantaloupe pieces.  I assembled these ingredients (and the name) because they are all packed with the antioxidants and Vitamins A & E necessary to give your skin a healthy glow.  They are also all packed with deliciousness.  I'll be receiving a free bar for the win, and if you happen to be around on the day it arrives I'll be happy to share.  I don't anticipate it surviving long once in my hands though, so if you're keen on trying it I suggest you order one for yourself.  At $6.95 I think it's a pretty affordable indulgence.

If you prefer your candy involves more sugar, I still would recommend you give the site a try and design your own bar.  The company is run by a few college friends who made the most of this crappy economy by being inventive and industrious.  Still jobless after graduating from grad school last summer (come on ad industry, give me a call), I really identify with their plight and admire their determination.

In fact, Chocomize guys, if you're reading this and are looking to hire a writer/advertiser/chocolate fan/hilarious lady you should drop me a line.  I dig what you do.

Muffins and Cookies and Cakes (Oh My!)

As many of you already know, my sister's bridal shower was last weekend.  In preparation for the party, I spent all day last Friday pretty much chained to my oven making various sweets.  Well, almost all day.  I spent some time in the morning at the gym creating a negative calorie bank for me to fill later with sugar cookies.  It was a very delicious decision.

First up I made strawberry cupcakes topped with Sunkist fruit gems that I sliced into the shape of little flowers and leaves.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but just imagine these tasty bites:

Covered in a classic white icing and decorated with sugary goodness:

Next on the agenda was trying out my brand new purchase of customizable cookie cutters.  I bought the set for $19.99 at Williams Sonoma and it was worth every penny.  You slide in the letters like a stamp and then, presto!  Your cookies are imprinted with a message.

The main ingredient in any good sugar cookie is butter.  Lots and lots of butter.  These cookies have so much butter in them that you have to refrigerate them after cutting out the dough and before baking just so they don't melt before they cook.  I'm a big fan of healthy desserts, but sometimes you just need butter in your life.  It's a beautiful thing.

Lastly I made some graham muffins and cream cheese icing for the bachelorettes.  This is absolutely my new favorite snack food.  If you just eat it as a muffin it's quite healthy, and if you're not worried about such things then go for the icing as well (it is also full of heavenly butter).

Ingredients:

16 crushed graham crackers (about 2 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup skim milk
1 egg (beaten)
2 Tb. honey
cinnamon
nutmeg

Mix them all together and bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes.  It's that easy.  I don't really measure spices, so just add them to taste.  If you're into cloves (personally I'm not) a dash may also go well with this blend.  The batter looks pretty gross, but the end result is beyond tasty.  For a cream cheese icing recipe, see my previous post on carrot cake!

My verbal doppelganger

Found a fun website that analyzes a selection of your writing and then tells you what author best fits your style.  I'm pretty chuffed.

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!