Warrior Dash

Every year several cities across the United States host the Warrior Dash.  All funds raised go on to support the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  This year, my friend Phil is participating in the Warrior Dash being held in New Jersey on August 3rd.  Since Phil spreads the word about my fundraising for the JDRF walk every year, I am helping by doing the same for him this year.  Please click here to donate!

Clicking on the image above will ALSO link you to the donation page.  Please donate to this wonderful cause.  Thank you!

 

Would you Rather….(Beauty Survey)

It’s been a while since I have filled out one of these beauty surveys and as someone who follows several beauty blogs, I decided hey let’s do this one!  I won’t be tagging anyone.  Feel free to snag it and fill it out yourself!

Tag–Would You Rather: Beauty Edition

1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lip glosses or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows?

Palettes and eyeshadows.  This one was super-easy for me to decide.  I only wear eyeshadow occasionally and I own 2 palettes (if that).  I prefer to keep my shadows separated

2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Cut if all off.  Hair grows back

3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

Coral is far more flattering with my skin tone

4. If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

Makeup.  I don’t know how to clothes shop.  I find it extremely frustrating.

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?

Eyeliner as lipstick. I had conjunctivitis once.  Never again!

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Sephora.  More options

7. Would you rather only use one eye shadow color or one lip color for the rest of your life?

Lip.  I’d keep my coral color from Buxom (the actual shade name is Athens and it’s since been discontinued *weep*)

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

Layers = Summer clothes in winter

9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

Dark.  I usually keep them dark or neutral

10. Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product?

Lip.  Because I don’t have one hahaha

11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

Messy bun.  I look weird with a standard ponytail

12. Would your rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss?

Lip gloss.  I hate gloss

13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday?

I already fill them in every day so let’s bring back the 90s

14. Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?

 

Nail polish.  I couldn’t live without my makeup.  Well, I could.  Ya know.

 

Holy formatting, what happened?!  Anyway, that’s that.  I may or may not type up a new beauty recommendation post soon, especially since the one I did the last time around did so well.  In the meantime, go find $1000 to spend on makeup.

New York Tattoo Show

I recently checked out the New York Tattoo Show for the first time ever.  This is pretty hard to believe considering I go to tons of Tattoo Conventions each year.  This particular convention is held on Long Island, so it’s a bit out of the way for most people but it is definitely worth the trip.  Below are a few photos I snapped during the event.  I will have an article up soon on New York Events where I will have a more detailed write-up of the convention.  Enjoy!

May Foodie PenPal

If you read this blog, then you already know I participate in the Foodie PenPals program each month, run by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean.  What is FPP, you ask?  Each month you are assigned a PenPal (this is on the 5th of said month).  You must contact this person within 72 hours and find out their likes, dislikes, food allergies, and mailing address.  By the 15th of that same month, you must send them a package of $15 worth of goodies for them to try out and later write about (unless they don’t have a blog).  It’s a fun program and a great opportunity to meet others from around the country.  I most definitely recommend it, especially if you love trying new snacks.

My FPP this month was Jessica.  Jessica had emailed me and asked for my likes and dislikes.  I had mentioned Greek and Thai food but in her note to me, she was unsure of many foods from either of those cultures.  She did great, though!

She packed it up so nice that I had to take a photo while it was still in the box!

1. Kalamata Olive Spead: I love olives.  I love Greek olives.  This was the first thing I opened.  I quickly found anything and everything to spread this stuff on.  SO GOOD.
   
2. Curry Noodles: I have yet to try these but they look like they have the potential to be VERY tasty.
3. Vanilla Bean Paste: I had mentioned that I like to bake and Jessica ran with it!  This stuff is amazing.  It’s a substitute for pure vanilla extract…And I like to put a ton of vanilla in whatever I bake.
4. Multi-Seed Crackers: These are very yummy along with the kalamata olive spread.
5. Kettle-Cooked Chips: These are asiago flavored and I really, really love cheese so they were an instant hit, in my book.  I’m almost done with them and I never, ever allow myself to eat chips.
6. Seaweed Snacks: I’ll be honest, I’m afraid to try these.  While the packaging makes them look all nice and yummy, I just cannot get on board with seaweed anything.  I hate when it latches onto my foot at the beach and I absolutely despise sushi-anything.    I might have someone else give these a go and give me their opinion on them before I, myself, partake.  Still appreciated, though!

Overall, this FPP was a success….Especially compared to last month’s edition.  I’m going to eat some more of my olive spread now….Yes, at 6:30AM EST (don’t judge me).

Have a wonderful week, everybody!  There are still a few posts of mine that I need to beautify and publish so be on the lookout for those!

Aviator Sports at Floyd Bennett Field

I recently checked out the Kings County Fair at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.  My write-up will be posted soon over at New York Events but in the meantime, I wanted to share some photos that I took while I explored the grounds a bit.  This is truly a beautiful (and historic) place to check out if you are ever in Brooklyn.  There is plenty of parking and the Q35 bus literally drops you off right outside the field entrance.  The Aviator Sports complex in itself is something to see!  I also have been a terrible blogger recently….This blog recently hit its first birthday (yay!), I’ve attended a few events, and I’ve barely updated.  My apologies.  I’ve just been a bit busy with everything lately.  I also may (or may not) be selling some of my baked goodies on Etsy soon.  Enjoy the photos.

 

Ice hockey at the Aviator Sports

Vendors at the fair

Ferris Wheel and the goal post

Swings

I hope you enjoyed the photos!  Definitely stop by Floyd Bennett Field if you ever have the chance.  I will have a couple of more posts up soon.  Also be on the lookout for the official article on the photos above over at New York Events.

 

Tequila Sunrise Cupcakes

My friends and I recently gathered for a Cinco de Mayo themed PotLuck.  I kept going back and forth between two types of cupcakes before ultimately deciding on these tequila sunrise ones.  I was very excited to finally make these because 1) baking with booze is fun and 2) I had not baked cupcakes in a while.  Below is the recipe for both the cupcakes and the icing.  Btw, this gave me the chance to try out my new piping bag.  I am happy to say that I am now a frosting machine.

• Ingredients for Cupcakes:
  
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup orange juice (Tropicana will do, no need for anything fancy)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
• 1 cup almond milk (or soy)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons tequila (you can play with the measurement of this, I also used Cuervo Gold because it’s cheap)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grenadine
• 16 drops yellow food coloring
• 4 drops red food coloring
• 1 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together orange juice, orange zest, almond milk, oil, tequila, vanilla, grenadine, food coloring (both yellow and red), and sugar.
4. Using the stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment, slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined (this should NOT be lumpy. make sure there are NO traces of flour left behind).
5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full.  Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

This is what they should look like if you use the number of drops I specified for the food coloring

• Ingredients for the Frosting:
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons almond milk (or soy)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons tequila (again, you may play with this to get the desired taste that you want)
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grenadine
• 10 drops yellow food coloring
• 6 drops red food coloring

1. Using the stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment, cream butter for 1-2 minutes.
2. Slowly add the confectioners sugar, until mixture is smooth and fluffy (5-10 minutes, depending on the speed you prefer).
3. Add almond milk, tequila, zest, grenadine, and food coloring (both yellow and red) and mix until just combined.  Feel free to add more milk and/or sugar if needed to obtain the proper consistency.
4. Once you reach the consistency you like, mix at a high speed until light and fluffy.
5. Spread or pipe the frosting onto the now cool cupcakes.

BAM!

These came out super tasty and were a big hit at the PotLuck.  You will slightly taste the tequila but not to the point where it’s super strong and you won’t be able to enjoy these cupcakes.  Feel free to always play with the food coloring if you want to achieve a different color of your choosing.  I felt these were a fun “spring” color.  The grenadine in the frosting will also add its own shade of red, so if you’re happy with only that then by all means.  It felt good to bake cupcakes again.  Enjoy.

April Foodie PenPal

Every month I participate in a program called Foodie PenPals.  The program is run by Lindsay (The Lean Green Bean) and it consists of being assigned a penpal by the 5th of the month.  You then contact your penpal and find out their likes, dislikes, food allergies, etc. as well as their address.  Once you acquire this information you buy them $15 worth of goodies and send it by the 15th of the same month.  The person you send to is not the person you receive from.  Got it?  Good.

This month’s Foodie PenPal was Andrea.  She is from Wyoming and made sure to send me a bunch of goodies that she hoped I would enjoy.  I must say she packed everything up perfectly.  I was impressed.

Not the best picture…..

The first thing I noticed in this package were the rum cakes.  They were amazing!  I love rum cakes and these were homemade, so they were extra tasty.  Unfortunately, I was kind of disappointed with almost all the other goodies I received.  I was hoping the bars would be similar to Luna Bars, but they were not and were honestly way too dry and chewy for my liking.  The 18 Rabbits bar was okay but was lacking in the taste department.  I did enjoy the coconut & almond bar, however, they were full of empty calories so I unfortunately will not be purchasing those in the future.  The almond butter was good, especially since I hate peanut butter.  Unfortunately, I think Andrea mis-read my email regarding my likes/dislikes because she did include a couple of items with chocolate and PB, both of which I dislike.  

Foodie PenPals is a great program and I highly suggest it if you want to possibly make a new friend and/or discover a new blog (if they have one).

I will have a new recipe up soon!  Promise!