TKEES

Okay if you live in Florida like me then you know 95% of the time you are wearing flip flops. I like to keep it pretty simple and my favorite website for simple flip flops is TKEES.com. They have every imaginable color; they even have animal print! They are a little expensive ranging about 50 bucks but to be able to find that exact color you are looking for is pretty cool and makes life so much easier when you HAVE to have that color or style! With that said here are a couple that are my favorites!

Always need a nude color. Goes with everything, beachy and clean looking!

Gotta have an animal print with your collection of shoes! It is always in style and can be casual or dressy.

Love the two tone colors and both of these are spring colors!

Little bit of black, gold and rose gold! Nice touch to any outfit!

I love this design and the colors so cute and classy!

L'Oreal Paris Mascara

We all have or favorite beauty products and I am going to share with you my favorite mascara! I've tried my fair share of mascaras and I'm not all that into makeup, I keep it pretty simple. Currently I have been using L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Extra Volume Collagen Mascara and have been for almost a year now! It is wonderful and it won't break the bank! I got mine at Target (love that place) but I am pretty sure this mascara can be purchased anywhere.

Buy this mascara online here :)

Spring 2014 Colors

I am loving the spring colors of 2014! All of them are wonderful and I can't wait to piece some of them together! Some of my favorites are Hemlock, Cayenne, Dazzling Blue, Freesia and Sand! 

Hemlock is great because you can piece it together with a lot of these colors or it can stand alone and it be a whole outfit too! Cayenne: this color really looks good on any skin tone, it can be used as an accent. I have a pair of shorts that is similar to this color, maybe a bit lighter but it's in the same category. Now dazzling blue, I have a great pair of heals this exact color! Can't wait to piece them with an outfit! Freesia is so beautiful, this color really pops it's so bright and full of energy! As for sand, this is a great base, its so clean and warm. I will post some photos soon of some outfits for the spring! 

Nails Colors of 2014

Whether you do your nails yourself or you go get them done you wanna know whats the hottest, newest colors, unless you stick with your usual French or that deep dark color. But if you want to change it up a bit these nail colors are what’s hott in 2014.

(Note: These are not my photos, I did credit the peoples photos that I used. Thank You.)

1. That's Shore Bright- China Glaze

Love this color, its like a little Lilac Purple. Perfect for Spring!

[eeeeknailpolish.com]

2. Sun of a Peach- China Glaze

This is a great color, it goes with everything and it has a great pop!

[eeeeknailpolish.com]

 3. Chic From Ears to Tail - OPI

Not Huge on pink but it is a very "pretty" pink color and if you have dress code at work I think you could get away with this color!

[Sassyshelly.com]

4. Big Red Apple- OPI

Always have loved this color it is perfect for any time of the year!

[icynails.blogspot.com]

5. Where Did Suzi's Man-Go - OPI

Perfect Spring color, can carry this into the summer time as well! Love it!

[ThePolishAholic.com]

6. Don't Honk Your Thorn - China Glaze

Very nice neutral color, really like this if you aren't into any pops of color. 

[oflifeandlacquer.com]

7. For the Twill of it - Essie

Okay, don't know how I feel about this color, I like it but I don't know if I'd wear it. Thoughts?!

[ommorphiabeautybar.com]

8. Butler Please - Essie

I love this blue! It's so vibrant and lively! Perfect for spring and summer.

[glittagloves.com]

9. I Just Can't Cope-acabana- OPI

I don't know if I would put this on my nails because it is so bright, but probably on my toes! Another favorite color, has a bright pop to it!

[nailderella.com]

10. Refresh Mint- China Glaze

Such a calming color! I like this color a lot and it looks great with a tan!

[alltheprettypolish.blogspot.com]

Spring has already sprung! Sooner or later it will be fall and winter again, so hurry up and get these colors out of your system before its back to blacks and darker colors! 

Pasta Patricia

We have this delicious recipe that was created by my boyfriends grandmother one day while we were visiting her. Not only is it so yummy and good for you, it is so simple; there's only 5 ingredients! Therefore, we named the dish Pasta Patricia. Now I've already tried out my zucchini pasta with red sauce and marinara, but I was craving this dish and I thought why not try it out?! I double checked that we had all the other ingredients and I decided to make it!

The ingredients are:

Chick Peas (1 can)

Yellow Onions (about 4-5 if small/ 3-4 if larger)

Garlic (about 4 cloves or however much you’d like)

Olive oil

Of course you need zucchini and/or squash and salt & pepper! If you don’t want to use Zucchini or Squash as your pasta alternative, fettuccini or linguini works just fine.

[all the ingredients simmering together]

I like to cut up all my onions into slices and chop up my garlic before I do anything else. Set them aside on a plate, get out a large frying pan, add olive oil to cover the bottom( and then some) and heat up. :- ) While that is heating up I make my zucchini pasta and then set aside.  When the frying pan is warm I add only the onions first; add salt and pepper.  As the onions are cooking I get out a pot for the water and get that ready, usually the onions are getting soft so I then add the garlic and let those ingredients really cook together in the olive oil. (add more olive oil if it seems like it is absorbing, also if the onions start to look caramelized turn down the stove a bit) Then I add the chick peas, I usually pour in a little bit of the juice, about ¼ of it. Then I add more salt and pepper and start to boil my water.  After I bring the water to a boil I add a bit of garlic salt to the water, you can if you want. While the zucchini is cooking I let the chick peas, onions and garlic simmer in the olive oil. After about 3 minutes strain the zucchini and either add to the frying pan or put on separate plate. I always top it off with some shave parmesan as well! Enjoy!!

[Pasta Patricia]

Squash&Zucchini Pasta

I know there are plenty of you out there that LOVE pasta like me! :) The only thing I don't love about pasta is the fact that it makes me soooo bloated and it also isn't on the diet that I "try" to stick to most of the time. I usually try to do a low carb diet, it works best for me and my lifestyle. I love meat and I love veggies, okay I love everything, but I can handle cutting out some bread and pasta for a few weeks to squeeze into that new bikini. My point being I always go back to what does me so wrong! PASTA! AH! Until I found something so awesome that it literally has helped me to stay on track and it truly satisfies that "pasta" craving.

I use a vegetable spiral maker, called Veggetti. Basically you twist the zucchini and/or squash into the end of the spiral maker, and it comes out in long strands like spaghetti or linguini. One side of the Veggetti is for thin like strands and the other is for thicker strands, whichever you choose is great! I usually use one Zucchini and/or squash if its only for me, two or more if its for my boyfriend and I. After you've used all the zucchini and/or squash you want, boil it for about 2-3 minutes in a pot of water with a little bit of garlic salt. Then drain and put together with whatever sauce you want. You can do anything from a marinara to a meat sauce or even just butter and Parmesan. What ever sauce of choice you decided the zucchini and squash really take on that flavor.

This really has become a great alternative to pasta. It fills you up, doesn't make you feel bloated and its a vegan and gluten free option (depending on sauce used). I definitely recommend trying this if you are looking for a healthier option for your diet! Good Luck!

Starting Over!

So for a good while there I took off, stopped writing and posting. I barely even started when I quit, typical me behavior and the 1,109,231 things I always start, stop, continue and then eventually forget about it. Anyways, not this time, I am finally going to force myself to stick with something! I enjoy writing and I always come across things I would love to share, so why I never kept up, well, life that is why! School, work, sleep, play, and all of the you know, those things called responsibilities got in the way, but NOT this time or at least I hope...

Either way, I hope everyone can enjoy my random or meaningful post, possibly my rambles and my off track writings, maybe someone can learn or gain something from one of them or all. With that said: Enjoy!

Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad

Kale is becoming more popular in the food world and is actually really good for you. So far it is known to be very low in calories, high in fiber, and zero fat! It also has a lot of vitamins and nutrients, like iron and vitamin K. It's known to be an anti-inflammatory, as well as, a great detox food because of its high iron and sulfur! I personally love the somewhat of a crunch it has to it.  Kale is great because you not only can use it as a salad but you can bake the leaves to make kale chips, practically tricking your mind into thinking you are eating potato chips! :)

If you search there are many kale recipes and salad ideas, and last night I decided to make one of my own to try it out as a side to our dinner last night. I bought some kale last night and washed it, dried it and cut the leaves up. I then put the leaves into a salad bowl and tossed them in a teaspoon of olive oil and about half of a lemon's juice. Little bit of salt and pepper, then I added some fresh diced tomatoes and topped it all off with some shaved Parmesan. The Kale salad went perfectly with our Soy Garlic Pork Chops!

[Kale, fresh chopped tomatoes, shaved Parmesan, salt&pepper, lemon juice and Olive oil] 

[Kale Salad accompanied with Soy Garlic Pork Chops]

Not only is kale healthy for you, but it looks so beautiful, the dark rich green color really is eye catching. There are so many other things you can do and add to it that make it fun and not another boring food item. It really takes on the flavors, such as the lemon juice or whatever dressing of choice, so you don't even need much of what you are using. I can't wait to try out more ideas with the rest of the kale I have!

|XO|bS