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After yet again another day spent almost entirely indoors, I began perusing through my cookbooks in hopes of a spark of inspiration. Based on the ingredients I had within an arms reach, I decided on a spinach pesto ravioli recipe. To me, nothing is more delicious than pasta, and I love adding flavors such as fresh veggies and pesto. The original recipe from Better Homes & Gardens is as follows:
1 9 oz package refrigerated ravioli
12 oz of yellow squash, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2″ thick
3 1/2 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup torn fresh basil
1/4 cup Caesar vinaigrette salad dressing
2 tbsp water
shredded Parmesan cheese
I had to do A LOT of improvising to this recipe, including swapping out ravioli with tortellini, using 1 tsp refrigerated canned pesto and 1/2 tsp dried basil in place of the fresh basil. First, I cooked the tortellini based on the package’s recipe while I chopped up one of the pieces of squash. During the last 2 minutes of the pasta cooking, I poured in the squash. After draining, I poured the tortellini/squash back into the pot.
Meanwhile, to make the homemade pesto, I combined the spinach, canned pesto, dried basil, salad dressing and water in a blender.
Once everything was in, I pureed it for about three minutes, stopping a few times to push down the spinach. I used a rubber spatula to scrape the excess sauce out of the blender. The consistency of the pesto should be smooth, but feel free to add more spinach or water to change the thickness.
To finish, just toss the tortellini and squash with the pesto sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese!
(1. Tec Gear top $18.99 2. iPod nano $147 3. Express yoga pants $30 4. American Eagle tee $15.99 5. Goody headbands $9 6. Target sports bra $15 7. Nike $69.99 8. Sigg water bottle $18 9. Victoria’s Secret yoga pants $29.50)
After spending the last few days snowed in, I decided to get off the couch and put down the plate of dough balls. To me, there is nothing more motivating then getting new workout clothes or at least making a new playlist to get a little inspiration for the gym. A lot of times workout clothes are extremely overpriced and often very generic looking. However, over the past few months I’ve stocked up on lots of new gym gear, including the 5th generation iPod nano (above). It clips right on to your outfit and it actually holds a lot of music. Above are a few things that are comfortable, cute and actually affordable. In addition to my workout wishlist, I made a new awesome playlist to get sweatin’ to. Below are my top 10 FAVORITE songs to work out to.
1. Christina Aguilera – “Fighter”
2. 98 Degrees – “True to your Heart”
3. Kanye West – “Stronger”
4. Usher – “More”
5. Britney Spears – “Womanizer” (or literally almost any other Brit song)
6. Joanna Pacitti – “Watch Me Shine”
7. Florence & the Machine – “Dog Days are Over”
8. Maroon 5 – “Harder to Breathe”
9. Noisettes – “Don’t Upset the Rhythm”
10. Little Boots – “Remedy”
While I enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life, I often find myself missing the simplicity of living in the suburbs. Although my hometown in Ellicott City is only 30 minutes away, it feels like a completely different world whenever I go home. Everything takes five minutes to get to, you run into at least five people you know by noon, and the presence of nature is very refreshing. The historic downtown area of Ellicott City is a place I have frequented my entire life. With the quaint old-fashioned shops mixed with quality cuisine restaurants, it makes for an automatic tourist attraction. There are lots of unique places like Pure Wine Cafe and a HUGE antique store (that I will post about next week).
Last weekend I went to Old Ellicott City and had a new sense of appreciation for all of the town’s history and the picturesque views. In addition, to the downtown area, Ellicott City is full of beautiful lakes and parks that are perfect for outdoor activities. The highlight of my hometown has to be the insane amount of frozen yogurt shops. (There are NONE in Baltimore). Even if it’s twenty degrees out, anytime I’m home, I always have to get fro-yo at least once.
It is a very sad day when forty-something degree weather feels like a heat wave. Over the past few weeks, the weather in Maryland has been cold, wet and unpredictable. With an inch of snow here, or a wintry mix there, it has led to a lot of poor travel conditions and a uniform of ridiculously unflattering outerwear. However, one very exciting thing happened this past weekend that I can look forward to – Mexico in March! I know it sounds extremely cliché to go to Mexico for Spring Break, but the resort my boyfriend and I booked is lavish, romantic, and best of all – not accompanied by drunk frat boys. We booked the resort through his family’s timeshare and it took us about a week to narrow down all the different locations we could go to, and all of the potential resorts. We FINALLY decided on this resort, and I am already counting down the days!
So, in the spirit of gearing up for my trip, I’ve naturally been doing some online browsing (not buying!) and discovered the insane amounts of spring lines that are already for sale. Ever since I was young, my eyes are naturally drawn to skirts as soon as the weather gets warmer. Although I do love dresses, I feel like when skirts are paired with the proper items, it can make a very polished yet girly look. Long skirts seem to be all the rage this year, and while I admit I was reluctant to this trend at first, they just look so comfortable and chic at the same time.
Although I can never turn down a fresh-out-the-oven chocolate chip cookie, whenever I make them they often come out too flat and/or crunchy. Sometimes I even under-cook cookies just so they’re soft and gooey on the inside. However, over the past few months, a trend has blown up all over the blog world; dough balls! They combine the softness of cake and the size of a cookie. I used this recipe from TheChicLife and they were actually fairly simple to make.
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 stick butter, softened/room-temp
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg (or flaxseed-egg)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
The trickiest part is probably getting all of the balls to be the right side, to prevent some of them from burning and others from being raw in the middle. After only a few minutes in the oven, they came out just right. They aren’t supposed to brown on top like ordinary cookies – just slightly golden. The consistency was perfect, and to my surprise, they tasted the same the next day.
P.S. GO RAVENS!!!
Okay, so it didn’t actually snow very much in Maryland. Apparently the storm hit the hardest up in New England (again). However, no matter how little or how much it snows, I like to go into recluse and sip hot chocolate as the snow falls. Typically the day after a snow storm, I have a couple go-to activities that I love doing on snow days. Since we only got a few inches I vowed to only spend a half day inside the house doing snow day-esque things. Last winter we got TWO blizzards in the DC-Baltimore area and my friends and I were stuck inside for weeks it seemed. After a couple of days, someone snowed in has to get creative. Below are a few of my favorite things to do when I’m stuck inside the house.
Watch 90’s teen dramas
Bake (recipe coming on Friday)
Catch up on reading. (Right now I’m reading The Hunger Games, and I’m obsessed)
Sip on vino
Re-organize my closet
Shop online
Even if it’s just for a few hours, I suggest taking some time out of your snow day (or any day) to indulge in some guilty pleasures or do a few household projects you’ve been putting off.
Ever since I moved to Baltimore last summer, Catherine (my roommate) and I have had been randomly mentioning places we’ve heard about that we’d like to check out. Without any formal list or set plans, most of the ideas we had ended up slipping away from us. In an effort stick to my New Years Resolutions of following through and trying new things, we decided to make a Baltimore, or Charm City Bucket list as a constant reminder of things we can do.
The first step was narrowing the list down to three different categories; restaurants, bars/nightlife, and activities/things to see. After creating the categories came a lot of research to determine what things we actually wanted to go on to the list. There were a few things, such as the Baltimore Museum of Art (which is literally in our backyard) and a few restaurants that were added to the list immediately. After getting down most of the ideas, we hung it on the refrigerator and I’m proud to say we’ve already knocked off a few items.
Brewer's Art
This past weekend we managed to cross off THREE (!) items. On Friday, we went to Brewer’s Art in Mount Vernon to sip on delicious locally brewed beer with friends. It was an absolutely beautiful historic building that had a refreshing eclectic mix of people. On Saturday, we walked over to the BMA and spent the day in the presence of some of the world’s greatest artists, including Matisse, Picasso and Degas. The featured exhibit was “Andy Warhol: the last decade.” This exhibit was fascinating because almost everyone can identify with Warhol’s 1960’s pop art, but many don’t realize a lot of his excellent work came years later. Some of my favorites in the collection were Yarn, Shadows, and The Last Supper.
Finally, on Sunday I went to Canton to watch the Ravens game which I discussed in my post yesterday. The weekend was extremely motivating and it felt very rewarding to actually cross off multiple goals. I highly recommend making a bucket list of all of the things YOU want to do. It’s a guaranteed way to make 2011 fun-filled and fabulous.
The inspiration for this post comes from the ecstatic sense of pride I have for the Baltimore Ravens. Yesterday, during the first weekend of the playoffs, the Ravens had a 30-7 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Although this blog is not at all sports related, watching football is something I find exciting and enjoyable (especially accompanied with bar food and beer). My friends and I watched the game at Bartender’s in Canton and enjoyed some delicious Old Bay wings while decked out in our Ravens purple finest. Since the Ravens are moving on to the second week of the playoffs against notorious rivals The Pittsburgh Steelers, I decided to go all out this week to represent my home team.
I realized that besides actual Ravens merchandise and party dresses, I am seriously lacking purple in my life. I am obsessed with all things jewel-toned so this came to a bit of a surprise to me. After some online browsing, I compiled a list of purple things I would like to add to my wish list.
1. Amazon.com purple Blackberry cover – $1.52
2. Hunter rainboots in eggplant – $125
3. OPI nailpolish in Funky Dunky – $4.50
4. Waterfall ruffle duvet $126-$198
5. Xscape satin dress $155
6. Pier 1 pillar stand – $28
7. Frenchi ruffle scarf – $22
8. Opaque tights – $12.50
9. Urban Outfitters convertible gloves – $6.99 (on sale)
10. Yves Saint Laurent eyeshadow – $56
11. Elle headband – $12
Besides Body Pump class and trashy TV, weeknights tend to be on the blah side. Especially during the winter months, I often become somewhat of a hermit. The past few days I’ve spent my evenings lounging in sweatpants and watching re-runs of FRIENDS. Last night, I began feeling a little stir crazy and burnt out on eating leftovers, so my roommate and I decided to have an impromptu fiesta! I found a recipe for vegetarian quesadillas made with black beans and corn, and decided to go all out. We stopped by the store to pick up some tortilla chips, salsa and Velveeta to make queso dip (a.k.a. the love of my life).
We sipped on Corona Light with lime as we prepared the quesadillas and queso dip. I improvised a bit and used whole wheat tortillas, frozen (steamer) corn instead of canned, and added a little more cheese than the recipe called for (typical). The preparation was pretty easy and all of the flavors in the ingredients complimented each other very well.
The best part of the night was the guilty pleasure playlist appropriately titled, “embarrassing” that my roommate made for us to belt out and prance around to as we cooked and ate. Tracks on the playlist include 98 degrees – “True to your Heart”, the Mama Mia! soundtrack, and “Crush” by Mandy Moore. The fiesta was a great change of pace and an awesome way to kick off the weekend.
Typically animal prints have been a trend I have loathed in the past. For me, it has always had the connotation of Fran Drescher from The Nanny. For a while now, animal prints have been reappearing in many stores, and I’ve seen many women embracing the look. I’ve purchased a few cheetah printed dresses, but anytime I would go to wear one, I felt very Jersey Shore and way out of my fashion comfort zone. One thing I’ve noticed recently is the appearance of much more subdued animal prints. My friend wore a cheetah/leopard printed cardigan from Ann Taylor, and I thought it looked very chic, and not at all trashy. Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a lot of toned-down animal prints in catalogs, stores, and online. My favorites have been pastel and abnormal colored leopard prints, and subtle animal accents that add just add a bit of fun to any outfit.
(All the items I’ve found are in stores now)
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