more than a fashion blog

First, an announcement: I’m expanding the content of my blog to include food, fitness, and travel. I hope you all enjoy the new additions!

Next, here’s the first food post I’m sharing. I had to pass on this recipe for fried rice I found on Pinterest (FYI, you can follow my food board here). This recipe, from skinnytaste.com, is really easy to make on a weeknight and definitely makes enough for lunch the next day.

My favorite thing about this recipe, though, is how open it is to interpretation. You can add as many different vegetables to this as you want, use any kind of rice (Trader Joe’s has a great frozen brown rice blend with red quinoa that would be great in this), basically tailor it to what’s in your refrigerator and pantry. To get some more protein in with the meal, I grilled up a portobello mushroom to slice on top. If you want to keep it vegetarian, some sauteed tofu would work well with this too. If not, grilled chicken would be delicious also.

Here’s the original recipe from Skinny Taste! The nutrition information is give or take depending on what ingredients you choose to use.

Edamame Fried Rice
Servings: 6 • Size: just under 1 cup • Old Points: 4 pt • Points+: 5 pt
Calories: 202 • Fat: 5.8 g • Protein: 8.6 g • Carb: 28.5 g • Fiber: 4.3 g • Sugar: 1.1 g
Sodium: 244.1 mg (without salt)

Ingredients:

3 cups leftover cooked brown rice
2 egg whites, scrambled
1 whole egg, scrambled
1 tbsp Smart Balance oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
5 scallions, chopped, whites and greens separated
1/2 cup shredded carrots
cooking spray
1 cup ready-to-eat shelled edamame
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce, tamari for gluten free (or more to taste)
salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions (this pictures are from my version, my additions are bolded):

Heat your grill pan for a few minutes on medium high heat, then add portobello mushroom.

Whisk eggs and egg whites, season with salt and pepper. In a hot wok, spray a little oil and cook the eggs. When cooked, remove from pan and set aside.

Let the wok get really hot. Add oil and cook onions, scallion whites, carrots and garlic for about 30-60 seconds, careful not to burn. Add brown rice and stir well a few minutes to heat through. Add cooked egg along with soy sauce, scallion greens and edamame, mixing well for about 3-4 minutes.

Slice grilled portobello mushroom and place on top of finished fried rice.

I’ve been a little MIA since I got back from California last week. Here’s why.

The new outfit I bought for the Broad Street Run.

Cupcakes for breakfast on my 25th birthday (May 11th). Always acceptable.

Mother’s day.

I finally have time to write up a recap of Lucky Magazine’s Fashion & Beauty Blogger (FABB) Conference in California! I attended the first two conferences in New York last year and I was in need of a short getaway, so I headed out for my first trip to Los Angeles to see how the west coast could handle this crowd. I’d say that it held up pretty well.

My weekend was full of sightseeing, shopping, good food, and great company. The actual conference was at the Annenberg Community Beach House in gorgeous Santa Monica, CA, which was the most perfect location. My only complaint was the weather- after two gorgeous, sunny days, the actual day of the conference was a bit chilly and overcast!

My favorite part about these conferences is the networking. I always seem to get more out of that than some of the panels. It’s not only about us listening to full-time, successful bloggers. It’s about meeting other bloggers and learning from them.

Check out some of my pictures below and see more here:

Jacket, skirt, BCBG MAXAZRIA; top, belt, J. Crew; shoes, c/o Stuart Weitzman; necklace, bracelets, Lord & Taylor, Stella & Dot, Kate Spade New York; watch, Michael Kors

Thank you everyone for entering my Stella & Dot giveaway! It’s time to announce the winner of this gorgeous Lindsay Bangle in pink and gold.

And the winner is…

Traci Mazurek!

Traci, please leave your email address in the comments so I can get you in touch with Samantha Roberts, who worked with me on the giveaway.

Check out my Stella & Dot Lindsay bangle giveaway!

‘Tis the season for spring cleaning, and what could be better than making a few bucks off of those clothes you haven’t worn in a year?

That’s where Threadflip comes in.

Threadflip is a brand spankin’ new site (launched April 17th) where you can sell your barely worn clothes and browse the closets of others. The site makes it easy to share your closet and your favorite items on your social networks, which makes it a very interactive experience.

The process of listing your items is fairly simple, and Threadflip is upfront about everything. I think the best part is that Threadflip only claims 15% of your sale to cover shipping and materials (once your item sells, Threadflip sends you a pre-paid shipping label and all the packaging materials). Many consignment shops claim more than that. I once sold my items in a local consignment shop that only gave me 40% of the profits from my items. Rip. Off!

Want to list your clothes, but don’t have time? No problem. Threadflip is in the process of testing a new service called White Glove, where you can send the items you want to sell to Threadflip and they’ll take care of the rest. Easy as that.

I set up a little closet with some items, just to test the site out. Check them out!

Will you try Threadflip? What kinds of items would you look for on the site?

I’ve been a fan of Stella & Dot jewelry for a year or so. I was introduced to it when my mom hosted a trunk party last April and I’ve been obsessed ever since.

This week, I’m excited to announce a fabulous giveaway from Stella & Dot, thanks to stylist Samantha Roberts! One lucky reader will win this gorgeous pink Lindsay enamel bangle.

I’m only giving away the pink Lindsay Bangle, but don’t they look so pretty all stacked together like that? Lucky for you, Samantha is offering anyone who enters the giveaway free standard shipping on orders over $50 OR for booking a trunk show with her, so you can pick up the bangle in different colors if you want!

Contact Samantha for more information about hosting a trunk show or to place your order.

To enter, you must do either of the following by 9 PM on Monday, April 23rd:

• Repin this picture with a link to the giveaway and how you would wear it or (if you don’t have Pinterest)
• Comment on this picture saying how you would wear the bangle

You can get additional entries by doing the following:

• Liking Fresh Squeezed on Facebook
• Tweeting this phrase “Check out the great @stelladot giveaway on @christamarzan’s blog! http://bit.ly/HO7BMo #freshsqueezed”
• Following my Fashionista board on Pinterest

Be sure to let me know what you did in the comments!

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 24th. Good luck!

Amanda asked:

During Nordstrom’s last big blow out sale, I snagged a perfect Michael Kors khaki blazer for an obscene $29 but it’s been hanging in my closet since because I don’t know what to pay it with when dressing for work. Thoughts? Tips?

First of all, major congrats for scoring such a great deal! A neutral colored blazer is great for the spring/summer when you’re wearing beautiful colors that you don’t want to weigh down with a dark jacket. That being said, you could also wear your light colored blazer with a darker outfit for some nice contrast.

Pair your blazer with a cute pleated dress like this LC Lauren Conrad colorblock dress from Kohl’s.

Something like this could be really cute on a casual Friday (or just swap the jeans or nicer pants). [Photo via]

You could also do something inspired from BCBGMAXAZRIA look.

I hope this helps. Be sure to send me a picture when you finally wear the blazer!

If you have any questions on how to wear something in your closet, feel free to contact me!

I would love to try and do more beauty reviews here, and my friend Marisa is helping me do just that. Marisa is an Arbonne consultant and introduced me to the brand while we were still in college together. I’m glad that she did, as my skin has become very sensitive and I want to make sure I’m not using anything harmful or that will make my skin irritated.

For those of you not familiar with Arbonne, it’s an all-natural, botanical based, hypoallergenic products that are (honestly) just amazing. Marisa gave me a few products to try out and I wanted to share some of my favorites:

Arbonne Aromassentials Awaken Sea Salt Scrub

This scrub is amazingly refreshing. It left my skin feeling soft and smooth. My sister tried it while she was home for Easter and absolutely loved it as well. It’s the perfect product for getting skin ready for spring and summer!

FC5 Collection

This is one of the best items that Arbonne offers. If your skin is low maintenance (aka doesn’t break out), I strongly suggest trying these products. They smell great and make your skin feel even better. If you need something stronger for your face, try this.

Herbal Detox Tea

Arbonne not only has beauty products, but also dietary and health ones as well. I drink a cup of detox tea every day just to ensure that everything’s working correctly. This tea has an earthy taste and isn’t too sweet, which I love.

If you want more information about Arbonne or are interested in trying any products, leave a form of contact in the comments and I’ll get you in touch with Marisa!

I finally feel comfortable writing about this, now that my arrangements are all taken care of: I’m heading out west for Lucky Magazine’s Fashion & Beauty Blogger in California on April 30th! I’ve been to the first and second ones already, and I am so excited to see how the conference goes in sunny Santa Monica (which will be fabulously).

I’m so excited for this trip. I’m in desperate need of a vacation and what could be better than spending it with other amazing bloggers? Exactly.

Needless to say, now that the important details are taken care of, I need to start thinking about clothes and I need your help!. I created this board on Pinterest to serve as outfit inspiration. If you see something particularly Cali-esque that I absolutely MUST check out, pin it to this board, tweet it at me or post it on the blog’s Facebook page! Feel free to connect on any of those channels if you’re attending and want to chat about all-things LuckyFABB related. Can’t wait to see everyone in a few weeks!

Stripes, stripes, stripes. They’re everywhere this spring. If you’re bold, try mixing different stripe patterns or any of the trends already written about [here and here]!

1. Tommy Hilfiger Venice, $89
2. Gap Striped Shift Dress, $59.95
3. Old Navy Womens Striped Slub Knit Tanks, $12
4. Mossimo Petites Elastic Waist Colorblock Skirt – Grey/Shell/Yellow, $19.99
5. Payless American Eagle Women’s Suz Crossbody, $16
6. Old Navy Womens Raglan Sleeve Sweaters, $15
7. Tulle Striped Button Shorts, $64

I’m not sure what took me so long, but I finally signed up for Pose!

Pose is a photo sharing app and website where you can upload pictures of your outfit and accessories to share with other fashionistas. The photos can be pushed to your Facebook, Twitter and/or Tumblr pages. I chose not to update Facebook because it not only shares photos, but every. single. thing. you. do. I find that a bit annoying.

(By the way, does anyone know if you can push Facebook updates to a page, like the one for Fresh Squeezed?)

You can also tag the designers and brands you are wearing in those photos.

This is my first Pose outfit from this morning. Check out the details here and feel free to follow me if you’re on Pose (I’m christamarzan)!

I forgot to mention in my first spring trends post, but I’m doing a series on affordable spring trends over the next few days. Today, we have feminine florals. One of my favorite things about this trend is that it can incorporate many popular seasonal trends into one: color, pleats, peplum, and so many more. Mix and match for a pretty, spring-y look!

1. Carolinae Top, $98
2. Nine West – Taker, $55.99
3. ASOS Skinny Pants in Floral Print, $71.62
4. Kendra Scott – Brighton Earrings (Turquoise), $66.99
5. Hive & Honey Floral Blousant Dress, $59
6. Kimchi Blue Neon Lace Crossbody Bag, $59