Mario Badescu Facial Spray Review!

I recently popped into the Urban Outfitters on 34th Street to do some Spring/Summer shopping. It's one of my favorite stores to go to in the city and I always spend hours upon hours in there. Is it weird that one of my favorite parts about all Urban Outfitters is that they use a lot of wood fixtures rather than metal ones? That's such a weird thing to like about a store...haha.

Anyway, I ended up picking up some goodies for my summer wardrobe but one of the things I got on a whim was the Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs, and Rosewater. I first fell in love with the cute homemade packaging and then the rose smell after I spritzed it on my hand.

Its main purpose is to hydrate your skin or to set your makeup. I use it for both and I absolutely love it! Its hydrating and calming to the skin and BONUS it smells like roses! Can you tell I really like the smell of roses yet? But don't worry, if you're not a fan of the smell, it doesn't very last long. Actually, more like the first 5-10 seconds. Haha. It also doesn't leave any sticky residue either.

What are some of your face products?

 

 Red Velvet Cupcakes for Easter!
 



 

 

These are definitely my all time favorite red velvet cupcakes. Funny fact, I bought the decoration at a Home Goods around February and I couldn't wait to use them so I made these cupcakes for Chinese New Year. What can I say I'm impatient and the decoration looked too cute for me to wait. Haha.

I really do love these cupacakes, though. I've worked on this recipe over the years and adapted them the way I felt necessary. They're super moist, fluffy, and not too sweet.

 

Ingredients :

2 1/2 cups All Purpose or Cake Flour (I prefer Cake*)

1 1/2 cup Sugar

1tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Salt

1 1/4 cup Buttermilk

2 Eggs (room temperature)

1 Tsp Vanilla

3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 Tsp Distilled Vinegar

1 Tbsp red dye

 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounce of Cream Cheese (1 block)

6 Tbsp Butter

Confectioners Sugar (to taste*)

1 Tsp Vanilla

2-4 tsp of milk  

Whipped Cream*  

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line your cupcake tin and set aside.

Measure and combine all the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a even smaller bowl combine the red dye, vinegar, and cocoa powder to make a brownish reddish paste.

Then measure out and combine the rest of the wet ingredients in a larger bowl. Finally mix your dry mixture into your wet one and add the paste you made earlier.

Scoop the batter evenly into your prepared cupcake liners. I usually go about 2/3 of the way, since these cupcakes do rise.

Bake for 22 minutes.

 

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

 Add the Cream Cheese and mix until smooth. Then throw in the butter and mix into the cream cheese. I do this just to make sure there is no lumps in the cream cheese. Then throw in the sugar and vanilla. Only add the milk to get the right consistency but if you think it's nice and creamy, then don't add any milk in. Whip until fluffy or 5-7 minutes. Then fold in the whipped cream. I usually set it in the fridge for a bit but you can use it right away.

 

 

*I only prefer cake flour for cupcakes or cakes is because it gives a softer and tender crumb.  

* I start with 1 cup and gradually go up by about 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar. I usually use about 2 1/4 cups total but sometime I use less. Just keep tasting it to your preferred sweetness.

* Whipped cream is optional but I really like soft cupcakes with beyond fluffy almost cloud like frosting. I also add it because I don't like a strong cream cheese taste and the whipped cream helps to soften that strong flavor. So I add about 1/2 cup of whipped cream and it does the trick. Once the whipped cream is in, don't over whip. You'll start to make butter and buttermilk. (The whipped cream doesn't have to be exactly 1/2, its just to add more air into the frosting.)

 

White on white

 

As a New Yorker I completely in love with wearing black everything. I'm seriously not kidding. Literally for every article of clothing that I own there is always one in black.  I think that all black outfits are just a classic combo for every day and night. However, I been loving all white outfits recently. 

Even though it doesn't sound that big of a difference its really a complete 360. Where as with all black outfits everything kind of just works with everything but white outfits can tend to wash you out if its not properly pieced together. Its all about the combination of all the textures and accents of accessories that really put it together. The roll ups, the lace, the cuts and rips...

 

http://www.freepeople.com/march-2015-catalog/ride-on-the-tide-kimono/

 

http://www.freepeople.com/customer-favorites/mi-amore-lace-dress/_/PRODUCTOPTIONIDS/12B8C951-1A20-4EE1-BF90-10C3E51E5A64/

 

 

 

http://www.freepeople.com/customer-favorites/fitted-with-daisies-dress/_/PRODUCTOPTIONIDS/12B8C951-1A20-4EE1-BF90-10C3E51E5A64/

https://www.pinterest.com/Prenkolnikaj/fashion/

 

 

 

http://www.zara.com/us/en/woman/tops/flounce-sleeve-top-c358004p2497026.html

Which outfit is your favorite?





Someday Summary- Wednesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am completely swamped with essay, projects, readings, homework, online homework...ugh. Its not even hard too. It's just so so much. Like I can only read so much about Native Americans in the 16th century before putting in an application for the looney bin.

 

I've fallen in love with Wegmans all over again. DID YOU KNOW THEY HAVE A LOOSE TEA SECTION? I know I didn't! Loose teas everywhere, its a dream! I purchased hibiscus, chamomile, blueberry green tea, and my new favorite peppermint.  

After cleaning my drawers for the fifth time I found a hand cream I got from a glossybox many many moons ago. Its the Aerin rose hand and body cream and it fabulous. It's thick, pink, fragrant, and makes my hands sooo soft. It smells exactly like roses and I love it.

 

I've been on the look out for new black combat boots. My original ones from H&M are raising their white flag. I've been checking the Doc Marten store for the style that I want and I'm loving the monos. They're just all black, even the stitching.

How's your week going?

 

 

Garbage Cookies!

I know they sound super weird. Haha. But they are delicious! I originally got the inspiration to throw a bunch of weird ingredients into my cookies from Christina Tosi. (She's the head baker at Momofuku and the coolest person ever. )
Instead of using her recipe, I used my base cookie recipe and added a bunch of little mix ins.  And oh man, I gotta tell you, putting corn flakes into cookies, is absolute genius.

I threw in some pretzels, corn flakes, and mini chocolate chips. I think this photo is probably my favorite because you can see the pretzel and corn chips peeking through the dough!



Ingredients:
2 Sticks of butter (softened)
1/2 cup sugar (3.5 oz)
1 1/3 cup brown sugar (11 oz)
2 eggs (room temp)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup flour (12oz)
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup pretzels or chips or both
1/2 cup corn flakes

♥

Step 1- cream butter and both sugars till light and fluffy

Step 2- crack in eggs and beat until double in size (Tosi suggests to do this step for about 10 mins)

Step 3- Meanwhile, combine all the dry ingredients and then throw it into mixer once the egg, butter, and sugars are all ready. Mix until just combined. You want to undermix the batter because you are going to throw in the mix-ins. So, you want to see some flour. 

Step 4- Throw in all chocolate chips, corn flakes, pretzels, and whatever you would like in. Mix until just combined.

Step 5- Bake at 350 for 15-18 mins or until golden brown. Keep in mind that I used a massive ice cream scoop and my cookies only came out to about 16-18 cookies. So if you make them normal sized the cooking time will vary. Just make sure you keep an eye on them!

P.s.- I use ounces when I bake because it is a little more precise. So if you bake in ounces I put the conversion in parenthesis! :)

 

Favorite Bloggers

 

The Sunday Girl

 

Miss Julia Paige

 

 Temporary Secretary

World of Wanderlust

Sailboat

I think everyone has their own way of checking out their blog feed. You could read the title, look at the picture, or even look for specific people. For me, I usually just scroll through my feed and look at the picture I like and click on them or sometimes if I want to creep, Ill look up some specific people and see if they posted anything new. For some reason I always seem to pick from some of the same bloggers within my feed. These five lovely blogs are the ones that I constantly find myself reading even when I don't notice it.

I love them for all different kinds of reasons. The Sunday Girl and Temporary Secretary are among my favorite because of their beauty reviews. I get my daily beauty product fix from them because they go so in depth about the pros and cons of the products. I love everything from the way they describe the product and to way the photograph it.

 The next two I really love because they are a bit more personal which is really nice. They have a range of topics that they talk about but the personal post are among my favorite ones. They are Sailboat and Miss Julia Paige (P.S.- Both bloggers are super nice! :)  They both write with such eloquence. Oh my word, I just used the word 'eloquence'. I feel so smart. Okay, moving on to...

 World of Wanderlust! I love, love, love reading about her trips around the world and her helpful little travel tips for the average traveler. She captures them so beautifully and her story is really inspiring. I also think I live vicariously through her. haha.

These five blogs are among my personal favorites and are run by super smart and beautiful girls. Let me know what your favorite blogs are at the moment! I'd love to give them a little look.

 

Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade Recipe!

I added a wee bit more lemon because I like it really lemon-y!

Ingredients :

12 Cups of water (8 hot & 4 cold)

2 Tazo Passion Tea bags

1 Cup of sugar

1/4 Cup lemon ( 1-2 lemons depending on the size)

1/4 cup Honey

One of my favorite drinks to have at Starbucks, no matter the time of year, is the Passion Tea Lemonade. Its literally so soo good and totally Instagram worthy. Its just so vibrantly red and beautiful. It taste kinda like a cold passion fruity ice tea with a little lemony burst of flavor... sorta. I'm sorry, I totally suck at describing things, as you can tell. Haha. But its actually super easy to make and I'm so grateful for that cause I don't have a Starbucks within walking distance of me. So, anyway lets get started!

 

Step 1- Heat 8 cups of water while you put the 2 tea bags and 1 cup of sugar in your pitcher.

Step 2- Steep tea for about 15-20 mins while you mix the honey and lemon mixture on the side.

Step 3- Pour the lemon and honey mixture along with 4 cups of cold water into the pitcher.

Step 4- Chill for a couple hours till cold or if you're like me and cant wait then just pour it over some ice!

What is your favorite Starbucks drink?