Monday, June 30, 2014

A Look Into My Weekend

Hello there everyone!
I hope you all had a relaxing weekend.  My weekend was quick, but filled with great company and yummy treats.

On Saturday, everyone and their mother (except me) went to see Fall Out Boy and Paramore. One of those people includes my sister, Jen, and I was very jealous. However, I helped Jen get ready for the concert and I'm glad she had so much fun. I spent the night with one of my dearest friends and we watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I hate to admit it, but it was my first time ever watching it. I know. The movie was just as fabulous as any concert, but next time Fall Out Boy or Paramore comes around, I'm tagging along!


Tank Top:  Bethany Mota for Aeropostale
Flannel:  Forever 21
Shorts: Forever 21
Shoes: Converse
Nail color: Sinful Colors (I believe the color is called Happy Ending)


 Isn't she cute? Jen also decided to add some temporary green to her hair, and why not when Paramore's Hayley Williams is known for crazy hair? Jen picked up Hot Huez while out shopping and loved that there were 4 colors to choose from. I watched her apply this to her hair in 3 seconds flat with no mess whatsoever. For more temporary hair color ideas, you can look at my pastel post from last week by clicking here!

On Sunday, I was bit by the baking bug. I love baking, but hadn't made anything in such a long time! I made two different cookie recipes that were so delicious and easy I just had to share them with you on this fine morning. 


Quick side note: In between batches, I followed my dog Caesar around the house. (He's been on the blog before: here and here) He was quite sleepy and did not like the fact that a camera was in his face, but he's grown a ton and new pictures of him were long overdue. Plus a sleepy puppy in the cutest kind of puppy.

Flourless Fudge Cookies
 

 
I found this recipe from ihearteating (what an appropriate title!) With only 6 ingredients, these cookies can be made in no time. They are the perfect combination of chewy and crunchy.  These cookies will have you thinking 'Are these fudge brownies in disguise?' Also, if you love eating left over batter, and who doesn't, this batter is to die for, just sayin'.
 
Flourless Peanut butter Chocolate Chip Cookies



My dad found this recipe last weekend and it was so good that we had to make them again in just a week's time. These flourless peanut butter cookies taste just like a Reese's cup- can't go wrong there. These babies take no time to make and by the time they come out of the oven they are already devoured.

There's no specific reason as to why both recipes are flourless.  It just happened to be the luck of the draw.  I know flourless cookies sound a bit weird when flour is what binds dough together and produces fluffy cookies, but I can assure you- no flour, no problem.  Flourless cookies allow people with  a Gluten allergy to enjoy a yummy treat. They're a tad healthier than regular cookies, but still just as sweet!

It's Monday, you deserve a cookie. 
Have a great week!
Best,
Sarah

Friday, June 27, 2014

Media Minute: Bulletproof Coffee


 
Hello everyone,
Happy Friday!

You'll see that this Friday's post is different than usual. While doing some inventory on my blog posts I realized Media Minutes, random findings and topics in the news, were  seriously lacking. As I do Weekly Links every Friday, I thought it could take  a hiatus so I could talk to you all about something I just started noticing as a big trend this week.

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I once did a persuasive speech in class about why people should drink tea instead of coffee. Most tea has no calories and each type i.e green, herbal, oolong - has different benefits. However, I shouldn't have prematurely thrown the idea of coffee out the window.

Both drinks are healthy respectively and coffee, when done right,  (say bye to loads of cream and sugar) can give you great energy, protect you from diseases such as diabetes and increase weight loss.
 
This week I learned what Bullet Proof coffee is. Maybe I'm late to the party or maybe this trend is just picking up speed, but who would have ever thought to add not only coconut oil, but also butter to their cup of joe?
 
This crazy combination is allegedly working wonders for people. An interview with the founder of Bullet Proof coffee reveals that coconut oil keeps you feeling fuller longer and butter from grass fed cows improves gut health.

Coconut oil in general is extremely good for you. It promotes a healthy thyroid and is a metabolism booster.  It can be used for many non edible things as well such as:
- Make up remover
- Body moisturizer
- De frizz serum
-Sunburn care


As for the butter bulletproof coffee requires? That sounds just as bad as adding excessive cream and sugar, right? If you use the right butter it won't be. When I say right butter I'm talking about salt free and from grass fed cows. Though it has not been proven, many believe that type of butter has the highest form of nutrients.

To test drive this for yourself, you don't even have to run to the nearest store to by the Bullet proof coffee brand. More information on Bulletproof coffee and how to make it  yourself can be found here. 

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While I'm starting to develop a new found love for coffee, I'm still a tea lover at heart so I'm not quite sure if I'll be trying this coffee trend just yet. Nevertheless, I wanted to let all of the avid coffee lovers out there to know about this.

As this is a new trend, it's hard to determine if there's any substantial evidence to support Bulletproof coffee and its success or effects. What do you all think?  It this just another crazy food trend in the media or something more?

Have a lovely weekend!
Best,
Sarah 




Sunday, June 22, 2014

Temporary Tresses: Pretty Pastels



Hello lovelies,
On Friday I briefly mentioned that I was going to do something different to my hair. As you can see above, I decided to test out a candy colored hue.  Now, I can't actually dye my hair currently, but I still wanted to see what my hair would  temporarily look like. Cotton Candy? A Tumblr hipster? A Mermaid? Whatever it was, I absolutely loved it.  Crazy colored hair is nothing new, but recently I've seen more and more people trying out beautiful pastel colors.

Summer is the perfect time to do something new! Your hair is the easiest way to make a fun, whimsical impact.  Pastel colors are super easy to work into everyday life and are not as in-your-face as their neon hued cousins.


While I was out shopping, I stumbled across this hair chalk at Francesca's. It was $8 and can also be found at Urban Outfitters. There are numerous types of  fun ways to color your hair temporarily.  Refinery 29 just put out a great list of products to help you on your hair coloring journey.

Don't go rushing into to your garage and grab your box of  sidewalk chalk just yet. That is made for concrete, not your beautiful hair! However, if you're an artist, craft chalk works just as well as long as it is not oil based; that will stain your hair- yikes!


I have an insane amount of hair and used almost a whole stick of chalk.  The great thing about  the set I got from Hair Artist is that it comes with two colors. (aka I can do this on a whim again in the future. Yes!)

Some things to remember:
- To have the color stay longer, use heat i.e a straighter or curling iron after chalking your hair

- To make the color brighter and more vibrant, make the hair chalk damp before using

- Pretty please do this in the bathroom. Yours truly did not....and let's just say my carpet is now pink. Whoops.

- On that note, it's also a good time to say that your hands and clothes will get messy. Wear gloves (up to you) and an old t shirt while applying your hair chalk.


Super easy and super fun. I already miss the pink. It may have to stay around a little longer next time!

Here's some more inspiration:





For more of a tutorial, you can see a step by step from The Beauty Department by clicking here.  

The pastel hair trend definitely has some staying power! Not only is there a color out there for everyone, but when done temporarily there's more time to experiment with multiple hues and no stress if you hate it. 

Good luck & Have a great week!
Best,
Sarah

Friday, June 20, 2014

Weekly Links: Test Driving Clothes?


Hello friends!
Thank god it's Friday. This is me as I currently type this post:


What are your plans for the weekend? I may or may not be doing something different to my hair. Guess you'll have to come back Monday to find out for sure. 

*Click the hypertext below to be redirected to the original article*


 Sometimes all you need is a sign. In this case,  a litteral sign located in Pittsburgh. Every month a different person gets the chance to put a message on this billboard dubbed 'The Last Billboard'.  If you're in Pittsburgh you can find the billboard on the corner of Highland and Baum. If you just want to admire from afar you can  look at past messages from the link above or even submit an inspirational message yourself.


18 year old Courtney Barich set a new trend for prom this season: showing up wearing a potato sack.  You might be laughing at this, but her unique fashion choice raised $10,000 for charity. The money went to Saint Martin de Porres Orphanage in Manila where Courtney and some of her classmates actually went on to visit and helped build houses in the community. Courtney teamed up with designer Suman Faulkner of Lata Design to create a burlap prom dress (above) - which actually turned out to be so darn cute! You can read more about Courtney's story here.

It's no secret I love Pinterest. I, like many others, pin different things all day long in hopes that we will sometime get around to actually attempting a recipe or making a cool DIY project our own. We pin things so we don't forget them and I can promise you almost every girl has a secret wedding board. I know you do. This week Mashable actually acted on popular DIY pins to see if they work. After reading this, maybe just maybe I'll actually start doing some of the tremendous things I pin. ( PS- you can follow me here!)


Shopping is so fun, but more often than not I tend to come home and realize that I just didn't like something as much as I thought I would. Blame it on the mirrors and store lighting or even my rash judgment, but things end up being returned constantly. GU, which is located in Tokyo is solving all our shopping woes by allowing customers to 'test drive' clothing before they buy it.  This is only happening until the end of this month, but if all goes well this could become a regular thing. Here's the catch: items must be returned/ bought the same day you take them out. However, this is a really cool concept that could become routine in the future!
 
Random Little Links:

Thanks for hanging out with me. Have a great weekend everyone! Enjoy!
 
Best,
Sarah

Monday, June 16, 2014

I Can See Clearly Now

 
Yesterday I saw a very interesting piece on 60 Minutes.  I just bought a pair of Ray Bans so this story couldn't have came at a more perfect, or maybe, a more worse time.
 
Luxottica, a name you and I have most likely never heard of is a Monopoly; and I'm not talking about the popular board game in which I've never played.
 
Luxottica Group manufactures and sells sunglasses.
So, what's the big deal?
 
They rule the whole sunglasses world. No exaggeration. Unless you're buying sunglasses from some tween/ teen store, virtually every pair of sunglasses you see are made by Luxottica.
 
Prada, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, or Chanel, Ray Bans... the list continues. Not only does Luxottica make sunglasses, but they sell them. Ever heard of Sunglass Hut, Lens Crafters or Pearl Vision? Even glasses.com, Sears and Target optical are run by- you guessed it, Luxottica. You can physically not go anywhere without falling into Luxottica's marketing ploy.
 
One company is putting a price restriction on an entire market. Because Luxottica owns everything in its particular chain of work, they can price glasses at unimaginable prices with no backlash.
 
This whole situation spells monopoly.
But Sarah, aren't monopolies illegal?
 
It depends on what type of Monopoly a brand is considered. In this case, Luxottica has- yet- to break any anti trust laws so they are in the clear.
 
And here's the sucker punch: Those $200 pair of sunglasses that you, I, numerous people just bought realistically only takes $30 to make. Particular names sell and Luxottica knows it. They also know we're blind enough to buy them.
 
Something to think about on this Monday morning. 
Best,
Sarah
 


Friday, June 13, 2014

Weekly Links: Fun Findings


Hello lovelies!
I am terribly sorry about not posting anything this week up until now. Sometimes things just get crazy and you forget what day it is! But I will never forget when it's Friday. And when it's Friday it's time for Weekly Links.  Join me and let's see what interesting things came out of this week.

* Click the hypertext below to be redirected to the original article*


This video went viral just as quickly as the song it's parodying.  The YouTube channel What's up Moms created a parody to Iggy Azalea's popular song 'Fancy'. The parody is called 'I'm so Pregnant.' and is so good. So good in fact, that you may forget the real words to Fancy by the end of the video. 


Summertime is filled with BBQs and nothing completes the outdoor festivities quite like a can of soda, or pop - depending on your preference. Summer is of course the time to 'watch your figure' so you can go out and have a smoking hot beach body. Right? Hmm, sure. Well, Coca Cola has decided to help  out the people that want to be healthier, but just can't quite give up soda.  The brand has just introduced Coca Cola Life.  The newest addition to your next Summer outing boasts to have a third less sugar and calories... just remember that still means 4 tsp of sugar per can aka one quarter of  a child's daily intake of sugar. Yikes!



Sometimes ,ok, almost everyday, we see things that make us lose all faith in humanity. Cruelty, idiotic behavior, lack of patience and so forth.  So it really is a breath of fresh air to see people doing something genuinely nice. There are actually people out there who are innately kind; a rare and, unfortunately, dying breed. This collection of 32 pictures will make you want to go out and make someone's day. It's a wonderful thing to be a person that goes against social norms. Be that person.


A beautiful collection of art was brought to my attention this week. Every creature on this planet is unique and beautiful in its own way. To showcase this, artists Emma Fay, Gesine Marwedel, Johannes Sotter, Craig Tracy, Wiser Oner and Kate Spinks Dean  took contortionists and models and posed them to emulate different types of animals. The photos are so stunning, I had to do quite a few double takes- the frog, seahorse, and giraffe (above) are my personal favorites.

Random Little Links
5. Awesome tips on how to organize your office/ life!

Happy early Father's day to all the wonderful, lame joke cracking, and supportive dads out there. Have a great weekend!

Best,
Sarah

Friday, June 6, 2014

Weekly Links: Oreos Newest Flavor is...



Good morning friends! Happy Friday.
This week flew by, as every week seems to do now.

I finally, finally, finally read The Fault in Our Stars and was thoroughly impressed. I love reading John Green's work.  My favorite thing about TFIOS was not the love story aspect, but rather the beautiful vocabularly and poetry through out. It was an easy read and opened my mind up to a few different ideas. If you haven't read it yet, I definitely reccomend it.

This week my puppy graduated from 'doggy school'. To celebrate, my whole family went out and got frozen yogurt- without him. This whole concept is quite ridiculous actually, but who turns down fro yo? No one.

* Click the hypertext below to be redirected to the original article*


The CMT music awards were Wednesday and while I'm not a huge fan of Country music the show had some really cool performances. My favorite is from Florida Georgia Line, who I don't really think of as a country group usually, but I digress. They sang their new single 'This is How We Roll' with a surprise musical guest, Jason Derulo. The song is so catchy and as of writing this, is already on the Top 10 chart of Itunes. You can watch their performance here.

 If you couldn't tell from reading above already, I love listening to covers of songs. When a cover is creative- even better. Bottle boys on Youtube  recreated Michael Jackson's smash hit 'Billie Jean' by only using empty beer bottles. It sounds crazy, but I promise you've never heard anything like it. It puts all of our childhood days trying to blow into bottles and cups (mostly to annoy our parents) to shame.

 
The picture above is real. Oreos have stepped up their flavor game this year. Some flavors better than others ( Here's looking to you Birthday Cake) and now they've decided to combine two of the greatest junkfoods together: Oreos and Reese cups. Togther. Forever. Well, for as long as Nabisco wants to keep this perfect pairing at least. This is coming to a store near you very, very soon, but the real topic at hand is: is this really too good to be true? Thrillist taste tested the product and the results are in. What a great time to be alive.


For the record Princess Leia is a Disney Princess. Disney acquired the Star Wars Franchise in 2012 and has since sold Star Wars merchandise in their stores. However, a whole lot of Leia was missing. Many fans were upset that the Alderaan heroine's action figure pickings were slim to none. So, they voiced their opinion to Disney and demanded that they produced more Leia in addition to stop portraying a ' Star Wars is only for boys' vibe.  New and old fans alike can now rejoice as Disney is making their wish come true.

Random Little Links:

Enjoy your weekend! If you get the chance, go to the movies and watch The Fault in Our Stars.
Okay?
Okay.

Or go enjoy the beautiful weather outside. It's starting to feel like Summer and I couldn't ask for anything more.
Best,
Sarah

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Hairstyles for the gal that doesn't know how to style hair



Happy Monday!

When I was younger, I despised my hair.  It was a thick, tangled, curly mess- or so I thought. So, I would straighten my hair and god awful side bangs every single day. Low and behold straight hair didn't look much better.

...but I straightened it anyway. That's what was in. That's what was cool. I envied girls with straight hair, yet I failed to realize there were girls out there that envied my hair just as much.  Like everything else, we want what we can't have. (Even something as silly as a hair texture)

This picture was featured in an outfit post which you can see here

Just call me Rapunzel

As before mentioned, my hair is a thick, tangled, curly mess  'thing', but I've learned to embrace it. I'm not really creative when it comes to styling it, however. I have 3 hair styles and 3 hair styles only: down, in a braid or in a messy bun that looks like a growth on my head. (Anyone that's seen it can vouch for that!)

This Summer, I want to change that. I want to expand my hair styling horizons. As I'm always on Pinterest, I've stockpiled some hairstyles that, hopefully, even a novice such as myself can do.

I  definitely think these can  all work on curly, wavy or straight hair. If you're in a styling rut and pressed for time or just bored with your hair such as myself fingers crossed these will help you out and we can try them out together!


Looks hard, but all you need to know is how to twist your hair! A step by step filled with pictures, click here

Simple and super classy! Perfect for work or a party. Could easily be done with a bandanna or any type of cloth headband! 



Coachella may be long over, but the whimsical hairstyles the festival inspires are not! Click here for some Boho inspiration.

This. is. so. simple. Why didn't I ever think to do this!? Gotta love triangles.

Oh, the possibilities you can have with a bow! Abby has the best hair tutorials of all time. Seriously. Go check her out.

Fishtails are super easy! This tutorial from Join the Mood is easy and super pretty.

Have a lovely week! We will all be hair gurus in no time.
For more hairspiration follow my board on Pinterest here!

Best,
Sarah