Bauble Bar Love

I am a huge fan of Bauble Bar, and while I don't have a ton of extra funds for splurging on "fun" items, I tend to look at this site pretty regularly and lust after all the a pretty items that could fill my jewelry box and dress up my outfits.

About a few weeks ago they were having a sale on necklaces, and I picked up this, and this. I couldn't wait to receive them - I thought of it as an early birthday present to myself. 

I got a ton of compliments on the gold love necklace, but the silver one, I wore for all of 5 minutes and then the clasp fell off. Like this:

I was upset, but I quickly emailed BaubleBar's customer service, sent them a photo, and they immediately mailed me a replacement necklace. BaubleBar's customer service people were very responsive and friendly - which isn't always the case when you talk to someone in this field. I appreciated it, and now my necklace is good as new, getting me a ton of compliments. Sometimes a truly great site/company deserves a shout-out; any girl looking for great, unique accessories should really look at BaubleBar. It will not disappoint!

And now I will spend my Saturday morning scouring their site, look at this, this, and this while cleaning my tiny apartment and getting ready for my best friend's birthday weekend. Happy weekend!

 

Thought of the day

Sometimes you just find a quote that completely "gets" you. This was it today.

Ricotta, Ricotta

A good weekend for me will typically include some sort of baking or cooking - I find it relaxing after a long work week, and then of course I can enjoy the food afterwards. Cooking for one can have its downsides, but I can easily cook one batch of something and have it last for a week's worth of lunches.

This weekend, I discovered my love for ricotta cheese - it's sweet, it's savory. I can use it in desserts, in lasagnas, on pasta, eat it plain. Why hadn't I ever discovered its amazingness before?

My mom is an amazing baker and cook; one of her specialties is the lemon ricotta cookie. Everyone loves them, including all my coworkers. They frequently request them, and my Mom mails them to me in big batches - they always quickly disappear. This past weekend,despite the pressure I was feeling to live up to my Mom's versions, I tried a recipe that she suggested to me use (link above). The cookies themselves turned out great, light and fluffy. My lemon glaze, while it tasted good, just didn't get as thick/glaze like as my Mom's - she said I probably didn't use enough powder sugar. However, for my first attempt making them, I was pleasantly surprised.

When I made these, I bought a HUGE thing of ricotta cheese. I'm going to be honest, I didn't even know where in the store to look for it, or what ricotta cheese looked like. So once I made the cookies, I had so much left I wasn't sure what to do with it. Did it go bad fast? How would I eat it? So, I turned to Google for "ricotta recipes," and found one for broccoli and cheese stuffed shells. And, I had most the ingredients already, it was meant to be.

These were easy, smell amazing - and I have enough for lunches for the week. Seriously, ricotta you can't do wrong. I am now on a mission to find more things I can do with ricotta, including a garlic chicken pizza recipe. Share your ricotta recipes with me in the comments!

My Best Food Week

It's not a secret that DC's food scene is hot right now, and also that I love food. Every week there are new restaurants opening in the area; so many I can barely keep track! While I love having so many great options of restaurants, it's also hard on my wallet so I have to carefully select where I want to eat, and pace myself, as I eat my way through the city/surrounding area. A further sign that I am neurotic - I have a spreadsheet where I track restaurants I want to try, and categorize them by "DC," "VA" and "MD." I update it any time I hear of a new place I know I must try.

This past week has been what I have to call the best food week of my life. My parents were in town, and it was my birthday = way too much amazing food. I must provide a recap of the best food week ever.

• Good Stuff Eatery - My parents are bigger foodies than I am; they love Top Chef so what better place to kick off our "food tour" than Spike Mendelsohn's burger place? I'd actually only ever had their shakes before; so we all got burgers, fries and onion petals for a very delicious meal.
• Nando Peri Peri - This is a chain restuarant, but it is my favorite. I live very close to one, and I 've eaten there way too many times since I've moved in. We had lunch here, but I must say, their chicken wrap sandwich with haloumi cheese and pineapple = to amazing.
• Kapnos - Mike Isabella's latest restuarant which just opened a few weeks ago. I had been counting down the days until I could try here, and it did NOT disappoint. Greek small plates, with a focus on spitfire roasted meats. This was my "birthday" dinner with my family, and every plate of food we ate was better than the last. We had an a smoked eggplant and feta dip, fried potatoes, goat, lamb, swordfish, it just kept coming. If you're looking for a nice dinner, please go here!

• Cantler's - Cantler's is basically a shack in Annapolis, with amazing seafood, water views, and just plain fun. My mom had never done the crabbing experience before, so we drove up to Annapolis for the day, walked the Chesapeake Bay, and had crabs (and of course,Summer Shandy). While its a lot of work for you food, it's a fun and yummy.
• Jaleo - Dinner on my actual birthday consisted of a group of my friends going to Jaleo for Spanish tapas, where again we stuffed ourselves on cheeses, croquetas, and tortilla espanola, and of course plenty of sangria.

• Bearnaise - Went to another Spike Mendelsohn restaurant with my coworker, his newest steak and frites place. The food = very delicious; however the restaurant was SO hot (we are in a heat wave, afterall), that it made the experience not as lovely as it could have been. However, french fries, and Bearnaise sauce were great, so were the roasted brussel sprouts.
• Cheesetique - Lastly, I went to a restaurant I've been meaning to try, literally for years. It's nothing but cheese, and what girl doesn't love cheese? I had a refreshing glass of white wine on another HOT day, a cheese board, and a pimiento grilled cheese sandwich. Heaven.

And that, my friend, concluded the best week of food in my life. What are your favorite restaurants in the DC area?

Back in the game

It’s been a long time since I've posted anything.  I’ve abandoned all my “creative" outlets, aside from Pinterest..which while it does provide me with great recipes and decorating ideas for my new apartment… it’s not exactly the type of creative outlet I need in my life right now.

I need to come back to blogging - for myself above anything else. I love writing, thinking of new ideas, expressing my opinions. I’m considering this a trial run - I haven't figured out if I want to use Tumblr or my blog - I love the freedom of my blog, but the network and ease of use of Tumblr. 

This will be a work in progress as I figure out what I want to do, so bare with me through the "construction" phase. I honestly believe it will be worth it!