Product Review & Brutie Man

It's Friday!  Wahhhooooo!  So first thing first....

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Last year, I tried the Bumble and Bumble Straight serum and hated it!  Yes, hated!  It did absolutely nothing for my hair.  Thus, I took it back immediately.

The last time I was at my hairdresser's, I asked about a new straightening/sleek shampoo or product.  She told me to try the Bumble and Bumble.  And I was like, "hold-up!  Don't you remember how much that product sucked?"  And then she told me that redid all their formulas and blah blah.  I did not believe her.  But she still sent me home with a sample.

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Enter Bumble and Bumble Straight Blow Dry cream.  Completely different.  I love it!  It does exactly what I need a product to do to keep my hair straight without the little frizzies going on all day!

Thought I would let you ladies know in case you were looking for a new product.  My hairdresser also told me about a new "hairdresser's oil" which  is supposed to be amazing....I guess a lot better than Moroccan Oil.  I haven't tried it but you all know how I love me some products!

Now, if you want to find out how Brutus grew into his name (quite literally!), then go on over to Revision Makes Perfect to read about our Little Man!

Have a great weekend!

Ever hold a baby lion before?!?!

Welp, I'm off basking in the dessert sun...I'll be sure to bring to have some fun and crazy times in Sin City so I have plenty to blog about when I get back, k? k!  Meantime, the super adorable and sweet Erin has a great post for you about her vacation favorites.

I'm Erin and I blog over at Love, Fun & Football and would LOVE to meet you.

  

Can you believe Katie just left us for Vegas and didn't invite us?! At least-- iiiiii didn't get a formal invite.

Anyway- I'm sure she is having a BLAST! I've never been but definitely hope to get there this August. I hope Katie is prepared for me to stalk her recaps and ask about a bazillion questions when she gets back :)

But until then, I'm stealing a little bit of her blog, just for today, I promise!

Since she's on vacation and I just got back from a 1-year anniversary trip,

I figured I could share a few of my vacay favorites.

In addition to the obvious things like sunscreen, beach towels, sandals and seventeen a few new bathing suits, something I love to buy every year for vacation is a new coverup. This year I got two ;)



via Victoria's Secret

via Target as a bday gift!

I love bringing more than one because they double day or night, at the beach or eating a casual lunch!

If you're anything like me -I'd also recommend bringing more than one pair of sunglasses. Lord knows I won't break a pair until I'm on vacation, on a beach and in the brightest sunlight I've seen in months.

Happens EVERY time.

Double up, people!

Another must have? An insulated beach bag/cooler combo! 

Another bday gift-- My mother-in-law got me this awesome bag, how cute is it?!

She stuffed it full of beach necessities that I probably wouldn't have thought to pack:

Chapstick with SPF, tissues, a first-aid kit (which we needed!)

a small bag for wet clothes, plastic cups and of course yummy snacks ;)

And you know what else?! I may be 25, but darnit my hubby and I like to have fun and act like kids on the beach. Bring a frisbee, a football, beach bocce ball or something to entertain yourself. Sometimes you need a break from baking your skin and jumping waves.

Speaking of jumping waves... I have just one last item you MUST bring with you, if you can be lucky enough to find one:

A pink, inflatable dragon that your hubby or significant other can float on,

making children everywhere jealous.

If all else fails and all your sunglasses break..... let's hope you remembered to bring some cash for cabs, room service, tips, and random photo opp's with lions at your resort.

That is one ahhh-mazing picture!  Did I mention Erin and I live in the same city?  Yes, the SAME side of Cincinnati even.  I know the Nasty isn't that big, but yes, there are complete and separate sides of Cincinnati.  Anyway, we have yet to have a blate yet...but we better meet up this Summer!  Thanks so much for guest posting!

A New Car & 52 Weeks of Love!

As I mentioned yesterday, Derek and I went car shopping....for him!  Believe me, he deserved a new car for sure!  We actually bought the first car we test drove.  His stipulations were leather seats and as much horsepower as possible for a sedan-typical man right =).  My only stipulation was that it was kid-friendly-typical woman thing right.  He ended up with a 2009 Acura TL!!

On another note...I'm guest posting for Team Pancakes today!

She has started this amazing series called "52 Weeks of Love" where married couples share experiences / lessons from their first year of marriage!  I am looking forwarding to reading every Thursday!  You can find my post here!

Holiday Baking Tips & Peppermint Meringue Recipe from forever88

hi everyone! it's annahita from forever88, I'm so excited to be guest-posting and sharing some fun tips on one of my favorite topics - Holiday Baking!  I had a whirlwind weekend of baking goodies for my office and my husbands co-workers... and let me just say, it was exhausting, here are some tips so you can learn from my experiences (and mistakes)

Annahita's Holiday Baking Tips

• Try and find recipes that call for similar ingredients or ones you already have
• Print out your recipes, I love being sustainable and working from my iPad or iPhone and not wasting paper by printing out recipes but when you're juggling five recipes it is SO much easier to print them out (and I speak from experience when I say it's better to get batter on a piece of paper than an iPad cover, oops)
• Read ALL of the instructions on ALL of your recipes before starting... for example you should probably make the dough for the cookies that needs to be chilled for 3.5 hours before the dough that needs to be chilled for an hour... not that I did that or anything... oops, again.
• Make notes as you go on your recipe printouts... pregnancy brain over here can't remember anything that happened more than 5 minutes in the past so I wrote down the time that I put things in the fridge to be chilled and when they'd be ready to come out (you can also use timers but I liked having the substantial proof in case someone accidentally clears your timer while making popcorn, etc).
• Clean as you go, this makes things SO much easier, I did the dishes in between every cookie/treat that I made and used the same two bowls throughout the process, it was so nice to not have a huge sink of dishes when I was finally done baking!
• Bake on parchment paper, that way you can just remove to the treats off the baking sheets and leave them on the parchment paper to cool and reuse baking sheets (and less dishes!)
• Make sure you have all of the essentials before you go out and do your shopping... I always have baking powder so I didn't bother to check how much I had before I went to the grocery store... yeah, I almost ran out last night - luckily, I just made it and it's now on my grocery list
• Get a stand mixer... if you don't have one add it to your holiday list, birthday list, wedding registry, baby registry - splurge and buy yourself one. It makes baking so much easier and less stressful!

Those are the major ones that I can think of - if you're preggo like me make sure to build-in "break-time" to your holiday baking as your back will be killing you by the end of the night from standing, leaning over the counter and doing dishes... I at least like to blame it on the baby growing inside me, it might just be that whole getting old thing happening! ;)

So here's one of the recipes that I tried out this weekend, so yummy and easy and a big hit at the office!

Peppermint Meringues

Ingredients:

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup sugar [5 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon]
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract [you may think this is not enough, trust me it is! the little bit of extract packs a punch!]
• 12 drops red food coloring (or blue or green)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt on medium-high speed until white and foamy, about 1 minute.
3. With mixer running, gradually add sugar in 3 additions, beating for 2 minutes between each addition. [I did it in this format: 1 tablespoon, 1 teaspoon of sugar (let it mix for 2 minutes; 2 tablespoons of sugar (let it mix for 2 minutes); 2 tablespoons of sugar (let it mix for 2 minutes)].
4. Beat until firm peaks form, about 2 minutes longer. Add powdered sugar and peppermint extract; beat to blend, about 1 minute.
5. Dot coloring over surface of meringue; do not stir (the coloring will form swirls when piped).
6. Spoon meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" tip. (alternatively, spoon into a plastic freezer bag, then cut 1/2" off 1 corner.) Twist top; pipe 1" rounds onto prepared sheet, spacing 1" apart. [if you have someone to help you do this it will make it SO much easier, my MIL held the pastry bag for me while I spooned the meringue in... I can't imagine holding it and spooning it in, just a word of advice!].
7. Bake meringues until dry, about 2 1/2 hours. Let cool completely, about 1 hour (meringues will crisp as they cool).

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature between sheets of parchment or waxed paper. [Recipe adapted from Epicurious] 

 

 

  

So there you have it, an easy elegant holiday treat, and let me tell you - they are AMAZING! I've been emailing the recipe out like crazy to my coworkers because everyone loves them - make them, you won't be disappointed! I'm excited to make another blue batch this weekend for our Hanukkah Party! :)
Thanks for reading and stop by my blog forever 88 for two more holiday recipes that I made this weekend - Peanut Butter Cup Cookies & Spicy Gingerbread Stars!

 

 

A BIG thank you to Annahita for guest posting for me!!!!  Don't these meringues look so cute and most importantly delicious?!?!  I'll definitely be making these for Christmas.  Don't forget to check out her blog...she has the most adorable dog, Oliver, and also just announced her pregnacy!  Can't wait to hear about the next few months preparing for Baby J!