Monthly Archives: February 2014

High Five for Friday!

Hello friends and welcome to this week’s recap! I am linking up with a few fabulous blogs today including The Lauren Elizabeth, The Diary of a Real Housewife and Hello Happiness Blog so be sure to pop over and check them out as well. Here are some of my favorite things from the past week:

1. School break. I got in some extra time with Taylor since we were off on Monday and she came with me to work on Thursday. Sometimes commuting with her into NYC can be a bit of a challenge but yesterday was so much fun. I love to take her around to my favorite spots and see things through her eyes. Sometimes during the daily grind I forget how lucky I am to spend my days in one of the best places in the World and when I bring her with me it reminds me to enjoy it a bit more.

Here she is having sushi:

Here she is in the new puppy hat/scarf/mitten combo thing she HAD TO HAVE from a street vendor:

2. Kind of Cruel: A Novel by Sophie Hannah. I got the chance to read another Sophie Hannah novel this week and I really enjoyed it! This one of Hannah’s books was definitely more character than plot driven. I found her last book to be more suspenseful but I was more intrigued by the characters in this one. This was more a novel than a mystery. Overall, I really enjoyed it and have already started reading another in this series.

3. SK-II Mask. I will post a more in depth review of this mask on Monday but I tried it and I love it! I highly recommend this treatment! I used it on Satuday for date night and it made my skin so soft and luminous.

4. Express Printed Sequin Embellished Blanket Skirt. I took a chance on this one and scooped it up during the 40% off sale last week. Now that I am in my thirties (and the Mom of a pre-teen who is very easily embarrassed) I tend to shy away from the miniskirt. I am glad that I did not pre-judge based on it’s length though because it is so flattering! It has an elastic waist and a bit of stretch. It is also fully lined so it does not cling in an unfavorable way. I might also buy it in the pink color.

5. Macaron Cafe. I got to stop here the other day and have one of the fabulous nutella macarons that I have been craving! Mmmmm! They are as tasty as they are pretty!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Banana Cinnamon Muffins

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If you are anything like us you buy a bunch of bananas at the supermarket every time you go food shopping and then at the end of the week you realize that you may have been overly ambitious with the amount you purchased. Now, you have three or four bananas that are becoming over-ripe and feel guilty throwing them out. I have found two recipes that are perfect for this situation and both are pretty easy. One I have talked about previously and it is the BEST BANANA BREAD IN THE WORLD from iheartnaptime.net. Seriously amazing. My other go-to banana recipe is for these Banana Cinnamon Muffins. They are delicious, freezable and perfect for breakfast on the go. The only change I make to the original recipe is to add more banana. The recipe only calls for 2 small bananas but I add four or so. Bon Apetit!

Want It Wednesday!

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Hello Ladies and Gentleman! Welcome to Want It Wednesday Faux Summer Edition! I am so over all this grey, slushy, cold weather. I refuse to buy another sweater! Even though it is freezing here in New York, Summer has to come eventually. I am going to start preparing now. Here are the things I am craving…

1. Maaji ‘Darling Sparrow’ High/Low Cover-Up. I am LOVING both the color and style of the cover-up! So cute!

2. Kendra Scott Earrings. These earrings will add that perfect pop of color to an outfit and look gorgeous with tanned skin.

3. Presley Skye Maxi Dress. I have a bunch of these Presley Skye dresses. They are perfect for the Summer. The colors are great and they are extremely comfortable and flattering. I just ordered this one.

4. Lolo Sunglass Pouch. This is perfect for the beach. I would throw my cell phone, a few bucks, keys, sunglasses and lip gloss in here.

5. Nars Body Glow. This is supposed to add a bit of shimmer when applied to tanned skin. I think it would be perfect for the legs or a bit on the collarbone.

What are you guys currently coveting?

Weekend Recap!

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Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was fun and eventful!

Friday was Valentine’s Day!

Taylor got all festive for school and handed out the Valentines we made for her class. We got them here at iheartnaptime.net. They were a big hit!

The hubby got us beautiful flowers, candy and made red heart-shaped lobster raviolis for dinner (which, of course, I forgot to take a picture of – bad wife). I did manage to get a picture of the artwork he drew on the envelope of my card though, so I guess I am not a total slacker. How cute is this?

On Saturday I got my hair blown out and prepped for date night! Billy took me to Serafina. The food is amazing and it has a special significance for us because we had a dinner for friends and family in the wine room at Serafina Always after we got married. It is the perfect place for a private event. (As you will notice from my date night selfie – I have still not handled my root situation. I am definitely going on Saturday to get my hair done so I have until then to decide whether I am going to to go ombre or just dark. Decisions decisions.)

On Sunday I let Taylor have two friends sleep over. She has been begging to have sleepovers for years and I just recently decided she is mature enough. The girls were really well-behaved and they had a blast!

Monday morning my husband took Taylor and her friends sledding at a nearby hill. They spent much of the time rolling down it.

Then we went to see the Lego Movie! It was adorable. I highly recommend it!

After the girls left I was wiped out and spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch in my sweats watching re-runs of Cutthroat Kitchen with Taylor. Do you guys watch that? It is one of our faves. I just love Alton Brown. I credit him in a big way for teaching me to cook. I have probably seen every episode of Good Eats ever made.

Okay, well I hope you all had a great and relaxing weekend. I think it is going to be a bit warmer this week and I am really looking forward to it!

Happy Friday!

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Hey Everyone! Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Friday! I hope you are all having a great one! My hubby and I are keeping it low key tonight and celebrating with Taylor. Tomorrow night we are going out to dinner for date night. He is keeping the location a secret but I am sure it will be amazing. He is great at picking restaurants.

Here are my notable moments of my week:

1. I finally decided to start working on one of the items from my list of New Year’s Resolutions. I made shrimp scampi. My family LOVES shrimp and I have been trying to find the PERFECT recipe for this. So far, I have tried a version from the Pioneer Woman but it was not exactly what my hubby was looking for. He wants a scampi made with wine, garlic, butter and bread crumbs. It has to be broiled and crispy on top with enough sauce for pasta. When I stumbled across this recipe from Ina Garten I thought it would be a home run. I know a lot of people love her but I am not her biggest fan. Her recipes are so rigid and specific. Also, I like to take shortcuts (if they wont lessen the quality of the food) and I feel she does the opposite. In this recipe she called for butterflied shrimp (which was a huge pain in the butt) and it added NOTHING to the dish. The end result of this recipe was good but I wont be making it again. Back to the drawing board! If you have a great recipe that meets the above criteria, please let me know!

2. Taylor and I made these Valentines for the kids in her class this year from Iheartnaptime! They came out great!

3. I finished reading Twisted Sisters by Jen Lancaster. Sigh. I really love Jen. I do. Her first few books were so funny and unique and intelligent. This book was not. It feels like she phoned it in. It was as though she wrote a book and put all her effort into the beginning and the middle and then her deadline was approaching so she wrote the whole end of the book in an hour. Twisted Sisters went on and on about certain issues and in the end she resolved them in about five sentences that really did not make sense. The time spent explaining the resolution was so disproportionate to the beginning and middle of the book. It almost felt like two books molded together or one book that was chopped up and reassembled? I am not sure but it was not good. Dont read this one – and Jen if by some miracle of Google you are reading this – stick to memoirs!

4. Thursday we were blessed/cursed with more snow. Shockingly the schools were open despite the additional ten inches that New Yorkers got. I kept Taylor home anyway. It just was not safe to be on the roads. I miss the Summer. Maybe some day we can enjoy the backyard again.

5. I am doing my first ever giveaway! Simply Monogram has graciously offered to give a free personalized phone case from their shop to one lucky ALG reader! Dont forget to enter! The contest ends on Monday!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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