I Got a Fever. . .

and the only prescription is more cowbell.

More Cowbell (Original & Unaltered) from Vestigia nulla Restrorsum on Vimeo.

I'm not sure what it is about this video, but it gets me every. single time.

Happy Tuesday!

Foodies are so yesterday

An "eatie's epiphany".

Where do you fall: foodie or eatie?

There is always time for funny.

A little something to brighten your Tuesday.

You're welcome.

Beauty knows no pain

I've got this complicated, love/hate relationship with "beauty". I don't want to look like a painted Barbie doll and I've always been a minimalist with makeup and such. On the other hand, it's getting harder and harder for me to pull off the "natural" look without some serious help. I've started spending more time on my hair, makeup, etc., but I also feel like my look is kind of dated.

At this point, what else to do but turn to the Internet?

I started reading this blog recently and I LOVE it. It's written by by three lovely ladies (who are all pseudo celebrities/former reality TV stars that I've never heard of) who give tips on hair, makeup, and other beauty-ness. I like it because it gives tips for a more updated, "modern" look, but the ideas are simple and their look is very clean and natural.

Some of my favorites:

Awesome tips on brow maintenance

Wavy hair tutorial

(Very) easy tips for a natural make up

How to use dry shampoo

Enjoy!

And now I'm hungry

Yesterday I had a new case come across my desk. Her name?

LaSanya

(for best results, say out loud)

I'm still giggling!

A lovely video to brighten your Thursday.

Watching this makes me supremely happy. . .until I think about cleaning up the mess. :)

BSS | Breakfast Interrupted from Bruton Stroube Studios on Vimeo.

Why I love revelation

Reading this makes me grateful for this.

Greatest thing since. . .real root beer

So I'm doing "The Biggest Loser" at work. I'm always looking for tasty, easy, and low-cal ideas/tricks/recipes, and one of my co-workers suggested the following "recipe". If you're root beer crazed (like me!), you'll thank me.

Root Beer Stevia

+

Sparkling Mineral Water

=

Delicious!!!

You must see this movie.

Trust me.

Lemon Curd Update

For those of you who were just DYING to know what I did with the lemon curd. . .

I made this simple white cake, cut in half, smeared the lemon curd (what was left!) in between the layers, and topped it with powdered sugar. It was. . .okay. I don't think it was a flavor thing, even though I substituted in agave nectar for sugar (using this guide, and I'm fully aware I topped said cake with sugar - don't judge). It was just sort of flat and not lovely and fluffy like you expect whit cakes to be. The recipe said to combine wet and dry ingredients until just combined, and I think I should have mixed the you-know-what out of the cake to beat in more air. Don't know if I'll use it again.

Unrelated: I purchased Tangled this weekend and feel a bit like a giddy 7-year-old on Christmas morning. Love this show!

I just died and went to lemon curd heaven

So tonight when I should have been getting ready for bed, I decided to make lemon curd instead. (Clearly a better use of time!)

Making this recipe was more an exercise in curiosity rather than an expectation, but I think I may have hit on an excellent (albeit occasional) staple. Just the term "lemon curd" sounds a bit fussy and impractical, but it really was quite simple. The recipe just calls for egg yolks, sugar, and lemons - things I almost always have on hand. Yes, the amounts of said ingredients are a bit off-putting at first, but it tastes dang amazing (although pretty much anything does if you put enough butter in it!). I found myself eating the last bits right out of the pan with a spoon, and then scraping down pan with a rubber spatula to get at the very last spoonful. It is that good. (I may even have snitched a few spoonfuls out of the jar. . . because that is how I roll).

A few thoughts:

• The curd is a bit on the lemon-y side, and although I quite like it that way, you might consider slightly reducing the amount of lemon juice if you prefer things less tart.
• The recipe also suggests straining the curd after it is done. I normally get annoyed by and skip these types of steps. I tend to see them as overly fussy (for example, I don't think I've EVER mixed my dry and wet ingredients separately), however I decided to strain this curd on a whim and I'm glad I did. There was a noticeable difference between the strained curd and the curd I sampled (I mean. . .cleaned out) from the pan (ahem).
• I haven't quite decided how I'm going to use this jar of heaven, although it will likely end up on ice cream or over some breakfast food goodness, but I think it would be outstanding in a trifle. I'll let you know what I decide.
• Once raspberries are in season, I'd love folding raspberry puree into it (like this version.) I think it would also be very tasty with a mixed berry puree, or with other citrus juices (like lime or grapefruit).

Happy cooking!

March Madness

I love this time of year. The weather is nearly perfect right now and I want to spend every waking moment outdoors. It's my March Madness. Safe to say, not much work is getting done 'round these parts. I am extremely affected by the weather - much more so than I care to admit. Just one cloudy day puts me into a funk that only a good dose of prolonged sunshine can cure. (Three days without sunshine? Well, it ain't pretty.) When the sky is deep blue and sunny with just a few gorgeous clouds and the weather is barely into the 80's and cool (but not cold!) and breezy at night, I feel I'm at Nirvana's doorstep. I want to melt into a thousand pieces and perch myself into blossoming apricot trees and plum trees and beds of daffodils until I melt away in the sunshine. Aaah.

I'm trying to pretend this slice of perfection won't be followed by months of living in an oven.

Unrelated:

• If, like me, brackets to you are merely grammatical and seeding proceeds home grown basil, this is for you. Pick your teams by color scheme or mascot? Yes please.
• Have you seen this new collection ? (Scroll down a bit.) Oh my. Oh my oh my. Oh. My.
• I really want to try this for an upcoming family gathering. Maybe I'm just getting in touch with my Tennessee roots, but I think it looks fun! (Maybe this, too.)
• I made my sister a lovely throw pillow for her birthday. So easy! Since it turned out so well and I'm now way too confident in my meager sewing skills, I'd love to try this. (But I probably won't.)

On a more somber note:

• If you're as horrified by the disaster in Japan, check out this nice list of organizations that are helping out in Japan.
• The disaster also has me thinking long and hard about all the warnings LDS Church leaders have given us over the years about being prepared for events such as this. Thank heavens for good counsel. Now to just follow it. . .

Yet Another Reason I Love NPR

Thanks to my local NPR affiliate, I am know the proud owner of 2 (two) tickets to the Josh Groban concert in Las Vegas.

August 20th cannot come fast enough!

P.S. To all you music people out there, I know exactly what you're thinking. Don't judge - he's my guilty pleasure! :)

Watch this!

Since I'm on a video posting kick, here's another one for you.

I saw this a few months ago, and it's been on my mind a great deal lately. Please watch it, and then share it.

Tuesday Fun-ness

A gorgeous video from my new love.

Happy Tuesday!

Darn those sonic booms

So my parents live close to an Air Force base. The airplanes can get rather loud, and every so often they hear sonic boom. If you haven't heard it before, it can be a bit disconcerting! Apparently it happened today, and this his how my mother described it: "it felt like someone spanked the house."

I hat it when that happens.

A video and an apology (sort of)

Yes, it's been a long time since I last posted, and I'm not even going to bother with the excuses/explanations. Instead, here is an absolutely lovely video as an apology for ignoring this blog for so long! Enjoy!