Posts from — May 2012

Since getting my dog in December, I’ve been waking up a lot earlier…basically whenever she’s ready to play. During the week, she wakes up early enough for me to be eating breakfast as the TODAY show begins, and since I started watching it, I’ve developed a little girl crush on Ann Curry. Not only is she a fantastic journalist, but she is styled so beautifully every day, and yesterday was no exception.

What a lovely color to start your day with! Ms. Curry wore this bright tangerine Nanette Lepore dress yesterday. I can’t find the dress online, but if Nanette Lepore’s digital team gets back to me, I’ll let you know!

I’ll definitely be taking Ms. Curry’s lead and wearing a ton of bright colors this summer. Will you?

[Photo via Nanette Lepore]

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a fantastic Memorial Day. My family and I were at home and had a small cookout. I made this peach glazed grilled chicken and kale salad, which I encourage EVERYONE to try. It was probably some of the most delicious food I’ve ever tried. The chicken is a bit sweet from the peach glaze, but the kale salad balances that out with a nice lemon dressing and salty ricotta salata cheese. Both are definitely winners in my book.

I also wanted to share this breakfast sandwich recipe I made last week. Sometimes, I like to poach eggs in the morning because it makes me feel fancy, so I took a bit of inspiration from eggs benedict to try this (no hollandaise sauce, unfortunately). What I found was this sandwich is quite easy to make in the morning, and quite tasty.

Poaching eggs looks intimidating, but it’s actually not. Just bring a pot of water with 2 teaspoons of vinegar (the vinegar helps the egg whites wrap around the yolk and add no taste to the egg, but don’t add two tablespoons like I did [the first time]…) to a boil. While the water is boiling, crack an egg into a bowl and let it sit in the fridge. When the water is boiling, take a large spoon and create a whirlpool in the water. Drop the egg directly into the center of the whirlpool and immediately cover and remove from heat. If you like runny poached eggs, leave covered for 4 minutes. Leave covered for longer if you like your eggs cooked more.

This sandwich helps me feel super because of the addition of kale, one of the best superfoods out there. Not only does kale possess anti-cancer properties, but it’s rich in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and calcium.

Poached Egg & Crispy Sauteed Kale Breakfast Sandwich

• 1 poached egg (tips here)
• 1/2 cup of kale leaves, washed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or coconut spread
• 1 Arnold Select Sandwich thins (whole wheat or multi-grain), toasted
• 2 tablespoons hummus

While egg is poaching, add olive oil or coconut spread to small saute pan. Add kale with salt and pepper to pan and saute, about 5-7 minutes. Toast sandwich thins and spread hummus on bottom half. Add sauteed kale and top with poached egg and other half of sandwich thin.

What’s your favorite super food?

This post is also published on Fidoo!

It’s hard to believe that the unofficial start of summer is just days away. Memorial Day weekend is just the beginning of many trips to the pool and the shore, and many barbeques. No matter what you have going on this summer, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get your wardrobe ready for warm weather.

1. Sugarhill Boutique Sailor Dress
2. Banana Republic Oasis Bracelet
3. Forever 21 Women’s Openwork Sweater
4. J.Crew Printed cotton-twill shorts
5. AJ Morgan Lily Floral Sunglasses
6. Esther Williams Swimwear Beach Blanket Bingo One Piece in Red

What’s your favorite summer outfit?

Do you wear black in warmer months? I only ask because I need a bit of advice. I absolutely fell in love with this Brahmin bag I received through the Vogue Influencer Network:

But it’s black patent leather! I’m normally one who wears seasonally appropriate colors and fabrics and right now, I’m toting around a cute straw cross-body bag from Target. I’m honestly not sure if I can make the switch to black *just* yet.

Am I crazy, or do other people feel the same way? Should I break out the bag? Let me know in the comments!

Ok, it’s not officially summer yet, but here in New Jersey it’s pretty summer-like. With summer starting in a month, it’s not too early to start getting into some new beauty habits.

• Always wear sunscreen. I went out for a quick run yesterday and got read. Any time you leave the house, apply a bit. Skin cancer is now an epidemic- a totally preventable one at that- and, if you ask me, you can’t do too much to stay cancer-free.
• To help DIY manicures last longer, use lighter nail polish. That way, it won’t be so noticeable when it starts to chip. Save the bright colors for your toes. Emily from Cupcakes & Cashmere has some great at-home mani tips on Estee Lauder’s blog.

• Clean your makeup brushes and Clarisonic (brush and handle) on a regular basis. Add your tips for keeping everything clean on our Facebook page.
• Invest in some water-proof eyeliner and mascara. Not only will your make up stay put, but the waterproof mascara holds a better curl!

Feel free to add more tips in the comments!

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