Lip Gloss!

I pretty much love any form of lip product. Though Carmex is my trusty standby, sometimes I need a little more color from my gloss. At any given time, you may find two on my desk, one in my purse, one in my car and one in my pocket. You get the idea. I have tried many kinds and there are few that I don't like. I recently discovered one that I love! Smashbox makes the new "O Gloss". It is a clear gel (non sticky) but when it touches your lips, it changes to a custom shade of pink. The more you put on, the more pink it turns. Brilliant!
I purchased mine from Sephora, but apparently they are hard to come by. When I asked the sales lady where they were, she acted like I won the lottery since they actually had some in stock! Apparently a lot of people are looking for their very own custom shade of pink!

Tastespotting

I came across this great new recipe website http://www.tastespotting.com/. Tastespotting is a collection of recipes not really sorted in a special way, but are just pages and pages of pictures of the food items. I'm more of a visual person so I love the idea of just having pictures instead of the lists recipes. Another great aspect of this site is that all of the recipes are contributed by readers. The items listed are literally from all over the world! You can find "adventerous" items like pickled Jerusalem artichokes to Thai turmeric chicken to more everyday recipes with a twist like the pumpkin waffles or the spicy crab cakes. If you already have an idea of what you're looking for, you can also search by recipe or ingredient.
Check it out!

St. Patrick's Day Run

This past Saturday was the annual St Patrick's day 5 mile run. Despite the cool weather, there was a pretty good turnout. Here's a shot of the runners heading west on Market street.

I was just a cheerleader, but here is Sumeet shortly after the run. It really doesn't look like he even broke a sweat!

Here's Sumeet "refueling"!


....the cutest cheering section ever!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Vodka for dinner

I don't really like pasta, primarily because I completely overdosed on it in college (it was cheap and easy to prepare). Back then, I pretty much made it with any sauce you could think of(and some you would never think of). If I had my parents over for dinner, I thought I was pretty much a gourmet chef by making pasta with chicken and Italian dressing. These days I'm a little more adventurous and am trying to branch out from my college cooking days.

With the help of my friend Steph, I made a delicious Vodka sauce that I thought I would share:

1/2 stick of butter

1/2 cup vodka

8 oz of chopped pancetta

15oz plain tomato sauce

8oz of marscarpone cheese

1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan

Melt the butter until it browns. Add the pancetta and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Add the vodka and cook until it evaporates, roughly 8 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and cook for another 5 minutes then add the marscarpone cheese until it is melted within the sauce. At this point, the sauce will turn a pinkish/orange color. Prior to serving, add the parmesan.

I served the sauce with penne and it was a hit! This by far was the best red sauce I've had!

I also served the pasta with roasted garlic and fresh bread. To make the garlic take 1 large garlic bulb and slice off the top. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom portion (the garlic cloves) and replace the top part of the bulb. Wrap in foil and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. You will know it's ready when the garlic cloves are mushy and spreadable.

YUM!

One bag at a time!

Oh Sundays... it's still part of the weekend, but we spend much of the day getting ready for the upcoming week. This includes grocery shopping...this Sunday was a little different for us though. Sumeet and I decided to trade in the usual store distributed bags for the reusable, eco-friendly bags.
For only $1 each, we purchased a few reusable bags while at the same time doing just a little bit to help the environment. Plastic bags are a major environmental problem (paper bags are not much better) from the manufacuturing to the disposal of the bags. It is estimated that anywhere between 14 and 300 BILLION plastic bags are used in the US each year. Though our switch to reusable bags will hardly make a dent in the resolution, every little bit helps!

Most grocery stores sell the bags, but you can also purchase them at http://www.onebagatatime.com/

Selling my loft...

Well, the days of living downtown have come to an end. They actually ended a while ago, but I have just now put my loft on the market. I absolutely loved my loft! It was a goal of mine to buy my very own piece of property and I'm so glad I did. I had a few great years living there and I met some wonderful people in my building. It was the first time I was truly on my own and loved every minute of it (mostly). My loft served as the host to a few holiday parties, dinner parties, mother's day brunches, and bachelorette parties.
There were many good times in the loft but I must say, I love living with my new roommate even more though!
I'm sad to part with it, but I know someone just starting out will love living there.

When I first moved downtown, the area was a little less developed than some people might be comfortable with. In the few short years I have lived downtown though, the number of businesses, restaurants and stores has rapidly increased. It's still a short drive downtown for us and Sumeet and I will still frequent our favorite places including Wasabi, Rooster and the Gelateria.

I'm sad to part with it but I know someone just starting out will love living there!

If you know anyone interested in living downtown, here is the link:

http://www.realtor.com/realestate/st+louis-mo-63103-1096741540/#Photo

My first official post

After numerous requests for me to start this...I finally have!
This will be the first of MANY wonderful, exciting and thought-provoking posts.

I know that everyone is so busy and sometimes it's hard to keep track of what everyone is up to. I'm hoping that this will give friends and family a glimpse of our lives. Maybe if this blog thing catches on, I can convince others to start one as well (hint, hint).

Stay tuned!