Weekend Snapshots

 

This weekend I....

1. Celebrated my mom's bday. My sister and I ordered an Alexander McQueen scarf she's been lusting over and it was delivered just in time to gift it to her. Not many older ladies can rock a scull scarf but my mom is one of the most fashionable women I know and it just works.

2. Went to Whole Foods to restock on some coffee beans and couldn't resist buying this gorgeous bouquet of roses for my home in the process.

3. Ate at Kushi, my favorite Japanese izakaya restaurant, (which has the best pork belly) with a friend whom I haven't see in months. His work requires him to travel both state side and out of the country constantly so it was a great time catching up. I was disappointed they ran out of the black cod and crispy duck thigh that night. Both are stellar dishes as well.

4. Went to Neiman Marcus to return a pair of shoes for my sister and ended up buying a pair of ankle boots (on sale) for myself in the process. I was supposed to be on a shopping diet but I obviously failed that task. Sigh. I blame my sister for steering me towards Neiman Marcus, thus my purchase. 

5. Was longing for warm weather. It snowed this weekend and has been incredibly cold lately, which made me miss spring/summer. I painted my nails a pastel color because pastels remind me of spring. The color is in Essie's "Absolutely shore."

6. Had to restock on dog food for Mandu and adjacent to Petco was a La-Z-Boy furniture store. I've never been to the store before so I decided to go inside and take a look. I didn't see any furniture I liked but they were having an inventory clearance on certain household items and I picked up this glass stand (?) for 50% off and ended up paying $15, which also included the accessories inside. I'm thinking of putting lemons or baked goods inside as another option though.

7. Ate at BonChon chicken in Virginia, which has the most crispiest, flavor filled (Korean) fried chicken you'll ever eat. I'm not kidding. They only have two flavors available which is spicy or garlic soy sauce but I highly recommend the spicy flavor because the garlic soy sauce tastes too salty in my opinion. I also tried their seasoned fries for the first time and that was foodgasmic as well. I asked them what it was seasoned with and they said it was a mixture of basil, garlic powder, chilli powder, all topped with shredded mozzarella. The dipping sauce on the left is a combination of ketchup, mayo, and sriracha. Holy deliciousness.




How was your weekend?

NomNom: Oreo Truffles

The whole process of furnishing a new home is a daunting task because it requires a lot of time for researching and shopping. It's been busy this past month with work so my home has been a work in progress, but I'm hoping that by the end of next month (crossing fingers) that I'll be able to formally host a housewarming for my dear friends. I love the thought of entertaining but that obviously goes hand in hand with food (at least for me) so I've been constantly looking through websites or food magazines to get food ideas and I recently came across a recipe for oreo truffles. As much as I love challenging myself with complex recipes, I'm 100% for easy recipes, especially if I have several dishes I need to make for a party. This recipe involves no baking (!!) and it only requires 3 ingredients. You're welcome. 

I'll be doing a lot of testing with recipes to compile for my list of  housewarming party food contenders and will post the ones that I feel are worthwhile for you because I love ya. So with that being said, I'll start with these oreo truffles.

This reminds me of dirt. But it's not.

A couple of things. You can use milk chocolate to cover the truffles but I chose white chocolate because I like the contrasting color it gives and more importantly I LOVE WHITE CHOCOLATE. Also, don't be a noob like me and let the white chocolate harden because when it comes time to garnish the truffles with the remaining cookie crumbs, it won't stick. Yea, that happened. As soon as you dip the balls into the chocolate and set it on the wax paper, sprinkle immediately to ensure optimal stickage. Wait...is that even a word? Probably not.

Bite sized anything can be dangerous to your figure, especially with these but sometimes you need a little bit of danger in your life. So make and enjoy some oreo truffles and have a great weekend.


Recipe (adapted from www.chef-in-training.com) Yield: 15 truffles
1 package Double Stuffed Oreos *I used regular oreos
4 oz. cream cheese, softened (you can use up to 8 oz., I just like this consistency better)
Dipping chocolate

Procedure

1. Chop oreos up finely in a food processor. Save some of the finely crushed oreos for garnish later and set it aside. You don't need too much.

2. With hands (or a spoon, I just think hands are faster), mash softened cream cheese and crushed oreos until well combined.

3. Roll into 1" balls and place on a wax covered cookie sheet. Put in freezer for 15 minutes.

4. While balls are in freezer, melt chocolate according to directions.

5. Pull the oreo truffles out of freezer, and dip into chocolate. I used a fork (to hold the truffles in place) and a spoon to coat with the chocolate. Garnish with reserved oreo crumbs before the chocolate sets up.

Boyish Charm

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Blouse-Anne Klein

Jeans-Citizen of Humanity

Blazer-Theory

Necklace-Sequin

Hat-Forever 21

Shoes-Pour La Victoire

One of the looks that I really enjoy wearing and seeing on women is the androgynous look. I've expressed before how I love wearing wide legged pants and jeans are no exception because they just look unfussy and are overall comfortable. Wearing an untucked button down shirt, wide legged jeans and a blazer can exude either a masculine, feminine or gender neutral look so to finish off the look with a bit more of an oomph on the feminine, a girly "bling" was necessary;)

Hope you are having a fantastic week so far and as always, thanks so much for reading.

 

Weekend Snapshots

This weekend I...

1. Dropped by the drugstore to pick up some chapstick because I lost mine (again). I have a really bad habit of doing that and the one thing I absolutely hate is having dry lips, especially during the winter season. I ended up looking through the cosmetic section and came across Loreal lip balms. I was curious to try them out because they have the idea of a lipstick yet it's supposed to be moisturizing as a chapstick. So far, I really like them because they have a slight tint to them and it has kept my lips moisturized. Win! I also picked up America's Test Kitchen's 2012 magazine review of the best recipes. I love the idea behind them because their concept is that they have a tasting panel who test and tweak recipes over until the recipe tastes perfect.

2. Dined at Food Wine and Co in Bethesda, MD. It was my first time there and I was a bit disappointed with my dish. I ordered their rock fish special and it was nothing to rave about. Overall the dish was salty and their was no real flavor profile to it...it was basically fish on a bed of bland calamari and mussels. I also had reservations that evening yet still had to wait 30 minutes for my table. Not cool.

3. Painted my house key with nail polish. I'm always fumbling around with my keys because they all look the same so I decided to utilize my nail polish collection for another use. Lets just say it definitely stands out now in the midst of my other keys.

4. Compromised with the boy about me wanting to check out all the restaurants the Washingtonian magazine listed as the best in the DMV area and in return I check out all the hiking trails in the DC area he wants to explore. Sigh, what did I get myself into?

5. Finally had the chance to open up a bottle of wine the boy brought back with him from his trip to Spain. It was love at first sip. The wine was wonderfully crisp, sweet, with a hint of grape aftertaste. I can't wait to try the 3 others he brought back with him.

6. Had an intense craving for tonkatsu, which is breaded deep-fried Japanese pork cutlets. I ordered it to go so I could catch the Golden Globes. My favorite look of the night was Rooney Mara in Nina Ricci and Charlize Theron in Christian Dior. PERFECTION.

How was your weekend?

Pink Stripes+Leopard

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Blouse, sweater, skirt-H&M

Purse-Chanel

Necklace-Alexis Bittar

Shoes-Vera Wang Lavender Label

Ring-Forever 21 

As I was flipping through some fashion magazines a couple months ago I distinctly remember coming across a photo of actresses Emma Stone and Sarah Jessica Parker wearing the color combination of pink and red to some sort of premiere or celebrity event. I never would've thought of putting those two colors together until I saw them wear their outfits and it made a lasting impression on me. You probably are sick of seeing this red skirt again, but I can't help it, I just love remixing this skirt from my closet as I get inspired by different images daily!

I've been on the hunt for a pair of leopard shoes for some time now and I finally came across a pair I fell in love with last month. She's quite comfortable because of the wedge heel and has just the right amount of animal print I was looking for in a shoe (can you tell I'm particular with my finds?) I finally had the chance to take her out for a spin and thought it would be the perfect finishing touch for this outfit.

Readers, where do you find your fashion inspiration from?