Monday, January 28, 2013

Weekend Update!


Happy Monday! This weekend was pretty relaxing and chill which was very needed after a hectic second week of school. My sister and her boyfriend were visiting from NYC and the four of us cooked an amazing dinner on Saturday night. As you know, my husband and I are vegetarian and love coming up with new, creative, and healthy recipes!
We made coconut fried brown rice (left) and a tofu stir fry with riced cauliflower (right) - recipe to come!


Dinner! steamed kale, tofu, and coconut rice - recipe to come!
On a side note, I got my new makeup organizer from US Acrylic - it looks great and keeps all of my products clean and in one place!
On Sunday, we all went to brunch at Poste at Hotel Monaco in DC - very yummy! We had a private room and it was perfect for the 10 of us!
Me and my good friend Kristy - but we all call her Staxie!


Sonia, Saniya, Staxie, me, Ben, and my mom at brunch!












Thursday, January 17, 2013

Engaged! Magazine Feature

I just wanted to share that our May 2012 wedding is featured in Engaged! Magazine's Real Weddings in the current issue. I'm super thrilled and it's such an honor! Here is the link:

Engaged! Magazine's Real Weddings

beauty favorites

Happy Thursday! I have been so busy with school and I haven't had any time to do my blog! Today's blogpost will feature some of my favorite beauty products and a quick review for each. 

hair

Saryna Key Volume Lift African Shea Oil
Saryna Key African Shea Butter Hair Mask. The volume lift line from Saryna Key is wonderful. I use the shea oil daily and it add tons of shine and silkiness. The mask is great to use once a week to get rid of buildup and does major damage control to your hair. 
PHYTO Intense Hydrating Brilliance Collection - This shampoo/conditioner set is amazing. It leaves your hair weightless, clean, soft, and shiny.
Oscar Blandi Jasmine Oil Serum This is by far my favorite hair product. I have been using this for years! When applied to dry hair, it makes your hair smell amazing and adds tons of shine and sleekness. It's perfect to use right before straightening.


face
Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Great powder for everyday wear, lasts all day and goes great with the airbrush foundation spray!
Dior Diorskin Airflash Spray Foundation This is the best foundation I have ever used. It gives you great coverage and a flawless even-toned face. I recommend applying to a foundation brush, rather than actually spraying it directly on your face.



eyes
Urban Decay Vice  This palette is seriously amazing. The colors are gorgeous, very pigmented, and last a very long time. I love this for going out looks, while the Naked 1 and 2 palettes are better for every day eye makeup looks. 


skin

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair. This is a miracle worker! It's a serum applied to the face right after cleansing/toning. I have only been using it for a week, but it really evens out skin tone and makes your skin glow!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

recipe of the day

Tonight I made a yummy spicy sweet potato tortilla soup. I found the recipe on Healthy Happy Life. I love the recipes on this website--they're all 100% vegan. I'm slowly trying to switch over to vegetarianism, mostly for health reasons. Also, watching the documentary "Forks Over Knives" makes you never want to eat meat again! Anyway, here is the sweet potato soup - super healthy and yummy.


You can add any spices and garnishing. I used plain tortilla chips, pepper, and salt substitute. The recipe on the website called for avocado and chipotle pepper which sounds great! The original recipe can be found here. Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

home decor favorites

Happy Wednesday! I just wanted to share a few of my home decor favorites right now. My decor style can be described as modern, trendy, and just as feminine as my husband would let me decorate. Think Zgallerie meets Horchow meets Joss and Main. Most of our furniture and accents are from Zgallerie and our living room is very silver/grey/purple/turquoise. I will definitely upload an apartment tour very soon! Here are some of my favorite pieces right now:


Horchow Bevin Tufted Ottoman found here
I really do think that every girl needs a tufted ottoman in her master closet!


Zgallerie alpine table found here. We have the matching candelabra so might as well get the table, right?!
Joss & Main Venetian Mirror found here. I love Venetian style mirrors--they are so elegant for a formal dining room. My mom has one in her dining room from Horchow and it is my favorite piece in the house!
For a while, I have had my eye on the ZGallerie cuddlier chair found here. It's so soft and comfortable and it swivels! It would be perfect in our living room and goes perfectly with our Stella couch.


I hope you enjoyed my home decor favorites - I'll post an apartment tour once I get everything in order.




Friday, January 4, 2013

RECIPE OF THE DAY

Tonight, my husband and I made such a quick and easy, and amazingly yummy meal - we call it Supremely spicy quinoa pasta loaded with veggies!
how YUM does this look!?

We love eating super healthy and super spicy also - so if you aren't a fan of supremely spicy meals, you may want to edit out some of the ingredients. However, this is how we made this amazing meal. We never follow a recipe, we just use the ingredients we have an hope that it turns out delicious, which it usually does. Everything we used was fresh not frozen.

Ingredients we used:
cooked quinoa pasta
mushrooms
small cauliflower florets
chopped kale
chopped spinach
diced zucchini
extra virgin olive oil
chopped fresh garlic
chopped onion

Sauce:
1/2 of a red pepper
small tomato
pepper jack cheese
two tablespoons of soy milk
garlic
onions
cayenne pepper
salt
garlic pepper
crushed red pepper

The amounts of all of the above ingredients can be modified to your own personal liking. Like I said, we don't follow a recipe, so we use as much or as little of what we have and what we are in the mood for!

First, sautee the garlic and onions in extra virgin olive oil over medium/high heat. When they begin to brown, add in the fresh chopped veggies, except for the spinach. I usually put in the spinach at the very end because spinach needs the least time to cook.



While the veggies and pasta are cooking, whip up the sauce! We used a blender and combined all of the ingredients for the sauce until it became a sauce-like consistency. Then, heat it over medium high heat for a few minutes.


After adding in the cooked pasta and spinach, slowly stir in the sauce and serve immediately. You could add fresh parsley for garnishing, but we didn't have any. Enjoy!


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

NYE

New Year's Eve

I just got back from Miami and I had the BEST New Year's Eve ever! I was with my amazing family, and SO happy to be with my twin sister, mom, and husband on New Year's. Last year, I was in India so I didn't get to spend NYE with Ben so I am SO glad I got to this year--our first as a married couple. We got amazing packages at the Mondrian in South Beach. We had an amazing four course dinner with a premium open bar at Asia De Cuba at Mondian South Beach. Unlike most NYE places, the hotel was not super packed, but it was perfect and filled with beautiful, stylish, and friendly guests. Here are some pictures of the stunning hotel and NYE party.






beautiful chandeliers at Asia de Cuba

artwork in the Mondrian lobby




cute bar at Asia de Cuba


And now, for my outfit. I usually hate doing selfies but I had to make an exception. I wore a Tobi dress, Alice and Olivia Wedges, bendel's bracelets, Jcrew necklace from my BFF Pam, RED Valentino evening bag, and a Michael Kors watch. I usually do sequins/sparkly for NYE but I really wanted to do something different this year, especially being in Miami where it's warm!






My mom and I - my mom wore a sparkly Alice and Olivia dress

My twin sister and I - Sonia wore a Free People sparkly dress








My twin sister and I both used Sultra the Seductress 2-in-1 iron found here

Our four course meal was amazing- I didn't get a picture of the amuse but it was crab (I don't eat seafood) so I immediately gave it to my husband! Our first course was spicy dumplings which I also didn't get a picture of.

Appetizer - crispy salmon ball

Thankfully they had a vegetarian menu - I ordered the baked tofu it was so good!

My sister ordered the steak which also looked yummy

the dessert was pretty much gone before I could take a picture of it!



perfect way to  end the night - fireworks on the beach