Golden Globes 2015

The holidays are over, the polar vortex arrives, and I sadly don’t see a day off work until memorial day.

 Enter: Award Season.

On those special Sundays, my day revolves around E!’s red carpet start time.  Bathroom and food breaks are the only reasons my eyes leave the TV.  I live for award season. I can’t decide what’s more entertaining, the actual award show or my twitter feed as the stars arrive on the red carpet.

Check out some of my favorites from the Golden Globes below:

The fit of this dress was everything, Katherine Heigl looks amaze!

Although the top of the dress was a bit big, you can’t deny the amazing detail of Claire Danes’ dress.

Reese Witherspoon is always one of my favorites.  I’m not a fan of sparkle, but she is so effortlessly beautiful.

I’m obsessed with the structure and color of Ruth Wilson’s dress, I’m also obsessed with The Affair, go watch it!

I mean this jumpsuit.  Emma Stone, you go girl.

My best dressed goes to Sienna Miller, obsessed doesn’t even begin to describe it!

Who did you love at the Golden Globes???

Black Friday

Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year, but not for the reason you might think.  This day is a shopaholic’s dream come true,  right? NOPE!  I stay far away from you crazy brave souls.

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving a group of families get together for pizza and drinks at our favorite neighborhood establishment, Q’s. I have known these people my entire life, through the good and bad.  They are not blood, but they are my family.

As we get older, it gets harder and harder to get together as often as we’d like.  When I was younger, Andrea and Jessica were always the cool older sisters I never had, and have become a couple of my best friends. No matter what we do, we always have fun!  We decided we would make this day an all day affair with some lunch and crafting.  Crafts/treats below:

  

http://www.kiwicrate.com/projects/Yarn-Christmas-Tree-/685

 

This was made up by Jessica.  Just glue string on the jar, wrap around to desired thickness, and glue again.  Tie a ribbon/tool around the jar and wa-la! A candle holder, vase, candy holder, or whatever you want!

    

Dark Chocolate Espresso Trail Mix and Fancy Pants Pinot Noir -both from target!

selfie

(Jessica, me, and Andrea aka “JessAndCait”)

This doesn’t really fit in to the “Fashion, Food and Fitness” theme, but it took place on Black Friday and we ate and drank, so it somehow fits in, right?

Gluten-free Thankgiving

Thanksgiving is hands down my favorite holiday of the year.  Pumpkin-spice-everything.   I’m your typical girl when it comes to pumpkin and fall.  As we all grow up, holidays become a little more complicated, you don’t just get told when and where you’re going.  You come to find family members who you normally spent the whole day with, have to split time with significant other’s families or out-of-towners can’t always make it.  This year, I’m super thankful for my family.  My brother, sister-in-law, and niece are coming in town for the whole weekend, making my Thanksgiving a little bit more special.  Nothing puts a smile on my face like having my whole family together in one house.

Thanksgiving is also my favorite holiday because of the food.  When I first went gluten and dairy-free, the struggle was real.  Gravy, mashed potatoes, dumplings (polish special), stuffing and pumpkin pie.  I  somehow had to find a way to make all of my thanksgiving favorites g&d free.  Luckily, I became familiar with Pinterest and many, many blogs.  Below I’ve rounded up some of my favorite recipes: Enjoy!

Paleo Deviled Eggs

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Stir Fried Kale and Bacon

Mashed Cauliflower

Paleo Dinner Rolls

Sweet Potato Casserole

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Boozy Cranberry Sauce

Eggnog Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Seed Toffee

(All photos and accompanying recipes found on Pinterest)

Whats your favorite G or D free thanksgiving recipe?

Rodan + Fields: Unblemish

Growing up, acne was never as issue for me. Of course I would get a blemish here and there, and being a dramatic high school-er I convinced my parents that I NEEDED Proactiv.  I used the product for a while and was happy with it, but as time went on and the bottles of full product started piling up, I went on to cancel my orders and switched to basic Nuetrogena face wash.  I survived the rest of high school and college priding myself on my breakout-less skin.

I never imagined that at the age of 25, ance would fall upon me.  The worst part about it was that I would get a blemish and it would leave a dark scar, which then led to a collage of dark marks on both cheeks. Enter: Insecurity.  I felt like I could never leave my house without trying my best to cover the marks.  After a few failed attempts of store bought products, I went to see a dermatologist and after using a prescription, and suggested face washes and creams, the blemishes stopped but I was still left with the scars.

I first heard about Rodan + Fields through my hair stylist, Krystn.  I told her about my skin problems and she always mentioned R +F, but was never pushy.  After a few more hair visits and becoming more knowledgeable on the Unblemish line, I decided to give it a go and purchase my first regimen with her. I could not be happier that I did.  Check out my results:

                          

The pictures on the left were taken on June 11, 2014 and the pictures on the right were taken on September 28, 2014.

After about 3 1/2 months I am so happy with the progress my skin has made and would recommend this product to anyone having similar issues.  R+F offers a money back guarantee if you are not happy and you are also able to delay shipments if you’re not out of product after 60 days.  Once I eliminate the scars using Unblemish, I plan to get ahead with the anti-aging regimen.  Next Step: wrinkle control!

Happy almost-Friday 🙂

Cold-Weather Necessities

The cold weather, AKA the start of Chiberia, has fallen upon us way too soon.  But I mean, is anyone surprised?  That’s Chicago for ya.  Along with many others, we love to hate and hate to love this time of the year.  Because I despise being cold, keeping comfortable is a must.  It’s important to stay warm and moisturized and maybe keep a bit of a healthy glow (while “pale is pretty” is true, sometimes I need a boost).

I’ve rounded up my cold-weather necessities below.  Happy HuMp Day!

 

lip balm l beanie l boots l tinted moisturizer l moroccanoil oil l self-tan l sunnies l scarf l tea l gloves

Hey Y’all!

So let’s state the obvious: it’s been a while.  No wait, a REALLY long time.  I know, I know.  My first post was quite some time ago, but I’m ready to get back out there, in more ways than one.  I just turned 26, joined a new gym, and am going to put all my efforts into the things I love!

In the spirit of Award Season, lets talk about last night’s CMA Awards.  Beside from Luke Bryan winning Entertainer of the Year, my favorite part was the fashion!  Let’s take a look at some of my favorites..

(Photo via: USA Today)

How great does my girl, Miranda look?  She has been rockin’ the red carpet for the past year.  30 has never looked so good.

(Photo via: USA Today)

Connie Britton makes me want to spend hundreds thousands of dollars not only for the dress but the hair color.  She killed it.

(Photo via: USA Today)

I think Nicole Kidman just inspired a new term, “boho-glam” anyone?  OBSESSED.

(Photo via: USA Today)

I usually don’t go for the red on the red carpet, however, Lucy Hale did red the right way. The hair, the dress, the makeup.

 It all just works.

After watching award shows, specifically music awards, I don’t know what I envy most; the dresses or the killer talent.  But hey, there’s always shopping and Luke Bryan to look at.  Enjoy Y’all!

(Photo via: USA Today)

something juicy

While browsing the Williams-Sonoma website, I thought, “What in the world am I going to do with this $50 dollar gift card I won?” Before I knew it, my “Ah Ha!” moment hit me in the electronics section.  A Juicer.  Why didn’t I think of this sooner?  Since becoming gluten & dairy free, I’ve found that a good juice cleanse after falling off the wagon is just the trick.  You may be thinking that days without solid food sounds absolutely miserable, but you’d be surprised!  My favorite brand of juice, Suja, can be purchased at Whole Foods or on their website.  On their website they offer 1, 3, or 5 day cleanses.  However, if you don’t know if you can make it for 3 whole days, or maybe 3 days is just not enough, you can purchase the juices from Whole Foods individually. Purchasing from Whole Foods allows you to chose how long you want to do the cleanse personally- 1, 2, 3 4, 5, or even 10 days (if you really wanted). Their juices are AMAZING (the Vanilla Cloud is my personal fav), and you’re drinking juice often enough that if you don’t get hungry!

via Williams-Sonoma

Ok, so back to my latest purchase.  My Breville juicer.  Now that I have this magnificent appliance, a juicing cleanse is a must.  And what makes my purchase even cooler?  I don’t have to shell out the normal 100-150 bucks to buy the pre-made juices.  All I need to do is buy my own produce.  But wait, how am I going to figure out everything I need?  Thankfully a co-worker referred me to www.rebootwithjoe.com, which filled me in on everything I needed to know about juicing; what to do before a cleanse, how to prep the fruits and vegetables, and even juicing plans with tons of recipes to try.  It’s like the juicing bible.

I decided that I was going to switch things up this time around and do the cleanse a little bit differently than I have in the past.  During this round, I would drink 4 juices during the day and then eat dinner at home (lean meat and veggies) so that I could stretch out the cleanse for longer than usual. To prepare myself,  I made a list of everything I would need and made a trip to Stanley’s Fruits & Vegetables, and I’m pretty sure I robbed them blind.  I got SO MUCH produce for my money – 89 cents for kale by the bunch?  I was thrilled. *** Note to self: don’t walk half a mile with 3-5 days worth of juicing produce.***  I could  have skipped my workout earlier in the day!

 

So my first DIY juice cleanse began!  Starting the cleanse on a Monday, I made 4 drinks every night for the following day.  I decided that for 3 full days I would strictly drink 1 orange juice, 2 green juices, 1 red juice, and my lean mean & veggie dinner at home, and then slowly ease myself out of the cleanse by adding more solid & healthy foods in little by little on the 4^th day.  Side note: The best way to store a juice is in a mason jar! I found these cute compact 16 oz jars at Target, which made transporting from home to work so easy!  Now, I will admit that in my experience, juicing does not give me the energy that my normal eating schedule does, and quite frankly I just love the idea of chewing food (who doesn’t?!).  However, it’s an awesome way for a fresh start or to jump start a diet. Now that I have my own juicer, though, I think a Juice will be a part of my every day diet.  They’re just too yummy!  So tell me, have you ever done a juice cleanse before? What’s your favorite brand?