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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Bento and Overweight Pug

Another bento lunch! Top box is an egg and rice combo with some Korean spice on top, potato pancake and some chicken shumai. Bottom box is a collection of different peppers and celery sliced up to act as vehicles for my TJ's Mediterranean hummus. Oh and an apricot. I am obsessed with hummus recently. In fact last night I had a hummus binge where I cut up a ton of veggies and then laid out all my different kinds of hummus (I have four currently sitting in my fridge) and went to town on them.
Also the vet has said that my lil pug is not so little and needs to lose some weight. But it's hard to say no to her especially when she sits by the fridge waiting for me to open it so that she can beg me for some carrots. Sigh. Must. Be. Strong!


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I want it ALL! Bento, bento, bento.

I was so excited to eat my first bento that I started eating at 11:50am. I reasoned to myself that I would only eat the top tier now and save the bottom for later in the afternoon. Uh...by 12:08pm I had plowed through my top tier, eaten all my veggies in the bottom tier and wanted the rest! I wasn't hungry, it was just I wanted to eat everything because it was so good! I also have very poor will power and self control. I tried waiting for a couple minutes and then tore into the rest. Now my bento box is clean and I am full but not stuffed. I just hope that I don't get hungry later like I used to because there is no more food! Mmm...bento.

Monday, May 16, 2011

My First Bento Box!

So my new bento box finally arrived and I was psyched to test it out with a more varied lunch from my standard turkey sandwich that was boring me to tears.  I'm in a major food rut and was hoping that having a bento would help curb cravings and at the same time keep my portion control in check.  I don't cook much so a lot of the food is from Trader Joe's (my favorite place for grocery shopping).

Isn't my new box cute?
So I am kinda cheating because my mini pitas don't fit into my box and so I put them in a separate ziploc.
Bottom box has a mixture of veggies tossed in a teeny bit of balsamic vinaigrette, some hummus, some banana chips and a couple dark chocolate wedges hiding below.
Top box (which looked tiny and shallow when I first saw it) is filled with some quinoa, a chicken sausage and a potato pancake (cut in two).
This shows how tiny the box is.  Also I am loving this new dressing.  I was prepared for the box to be small but I guess I wasn't prepared for how tiny the actual interior boxes would look.  Luckily it holds a lot if you cram it in.  Also, the food in here is way more satisfying and filling than my old sandwiches.  It definitely is more calorie and fat wise, but not a terrible amount more, and I'm hoping that I can space out my eating a little throughout the day and get rid of my previous afternoon snacks. 
This does take much more time and effort than my old lunch.  But I'm hoping that I can get more efficient with practice and planning in advance.  And now I'm actually looking forward to lunch.  So excited for lunch tomorrow!

NOTWeekend - Essie's Da Bush

So over the weekend I wore Essie's Da Bush from the 2011 resort collection. I know this one has gotten a lot of interest and raves but for me this was just "interesting" (as my mom phrased it with a slight wrinkling of her nose). I think creamy pastels do not like my skin tone. And the feeling is mutual. I much prefer Sew Psyched for a different green polish. And sorry to say but this was also not the greatest in terms of application. Very streaky on the first coat and required 3 coats in all.  You can see what a difficult time I had with the crappy job I did on my thumb. That polish was all up in my cuticles' bizness and slid to the side.
Also some random sidenotes on Essie polishes. Your Hut or Mine is my favorite from the resort collection but man its a pain and a half to take off because of the shimmer/glitter. And I also got the tiny box set of Essie's spring 2011 collection and hate almost all of it. Colors clash with yellow based skin and the application is the worst ever! So streaky that by the time I got to any semblance of opacity it was goopy and thick. FAIL. Oh Essie what are you doing? Luckily my application of Chinchilly last night restored my faith in Essie. Lovely color and an absolute dream to put on. Soooo smooth and even. I think its my favorite polish right now.
I have another old NOTD to post but my obsession with nail polish may be fading. I still love and wear it but a new obsession has started to take hold of my little brain. Enter the bento box...


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

NOTD - Your Hut or Mine

Ok I didn't change my nail polish twice in one day but I had the Lion Around pics hanging around from before and thought I had posted that yesterday. So when I found out that wasnt the case, I uploaded it today. But on my nails today I actually have Essie's Your Hut or Mine. This is supposed to be a golden poppy pink. I don't get that because don't poppies come in all different colors? Anyways this was super easy to put on like fair game. Only needed 2 coats this time. I liked the color better at night because in the daylight it's a pretty bright pink. But I do like this color a lot even if I am not normally a pink girl. I think it would be flattering on all sorts of skin shades and it feels very sunny spring-y.
Ok all I have left to try out is Da Hut which I will do this weekend when I don't have to be Ms. Office Lady!
I am sad because I accidentally deleted my photos of Butter's Yummy Mummy which was awesome. Seriously great neutral shade for me. It's what I have been searching for and wasn't able to find with Essie's Mambo or other neutrals. I might try it next week and will post then.
Also when did this blog become a nail polish blog? Hmmm, maybe it's time to switch up my obsessions. Something new...


Monday, May 9, 2011

NOTD - Essie's Lion Around

So I switched to Essie's Lion Around for a more office appropriate color. This is a pink/peach/mauve color. Application was pretty good but not as smooth as Fair Game. This is two coats with base and top coats. I think this color would look better on either more tan or more pale skin. It kinda clashes with my in between yellow skin. I also worry its a bit too grandmotherly. But its a better pink on me than the more standard/typical pinks. Ill keep it on for a couple days and see if it grows on me. Then next up will be Your Hut or Mine! I just realized I forgot to put on any rings today. Sad.


Saturday, May 7, 2011

Essie's 2011 Resort Collection!

I have to admit that Essie's 2011 summer collection didn't really excite me, but I immediately wanted/needed the 2011 resort collection!  Every single color in there spoke to me on some level.  Yes, nail polish speaks to me.  It tells me to buy lots and ignore my ragged cuticles' pleas to stop switching polish so often.  So today my polish arrived!  First pic below is with flash and second is without.  From left to right we have Your Hut or Mine, Fair Game, Da Bush, and Lion Around.  Sorry for the crappy photos and lighting but my sister's borrowing my camera while on vacation and lighting sucks because I have bad lighting and was too lazy to get up and take these photos somewhere else.
I kinda love my skittles nails.  Polishes are in the same order.
This is with one coat each, although Da Bush was a bit streaky and so I had to make it a thicker coat so I'll say it's 1.5 coat.  I really thought I'd like Da Bush more than I do since I love Sew Psyched (also known affectionately as duck poo/fungus nails, but in a good way) but it's a bit too pastel-y on me.  Maybe with more coats it looks better.  It's still a nice color, but just not instant love for me.  I also thought I'd like Fair Game more than I do.  Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's a bit frostier than I thought it would be.  I am really liking Your Hut or Mine and Lion Around and will definitely be testing these out during the week since they're totally office appropriate unlike the other two.  So until Sunday night when I have to switch to a more subdued shade for my alter ego Ms. Office Lady, I am wearing Fair Game.
This was a dream to put on.  Suuuuper smooth and easy and any unevenness smoothed out magically on its own.  I think this does need a good top coat though because when I initially swatched it with the other resort colors I thought it didn't look shiny enough.  I'm down to the last 1/3 of my Good to Go top coat and let me tell you it is a paaaain trying to use it up without totally ruining my nails with smudging and streaks.  Even with nail polish thinner to de-goop it, it's still hard to get enough on the brush.  Sigh.  Is it possible to use up the last 1/3 of a bottle?  I never have used one long enough to encounter this so I'm a bit perplexed.

Oh and here's my pug.  She didn't mind the nail polish so much tonight.  I know this is going to sound crazy but I swear some of the newer Essie polishes smell almost like old school bubble gum!  Weird but way better than some that smell super toxic and fume-y.  So my lil pug was quite pleased with these and decided to snooze next to me.  I love it when a perfect little bit of her tongue sticks out.  It looks almost like a flower petal!

Essie Turquoise & Caicos NOTD

I tried out Essie's Turquoise & Caicos (man I can never remember how to spell turquoise) and it's an interesting color.


I don't really love it though and I think it's a little jarring on my hands with my skin color.  And it is a bitch to put on.  I love Essie, but some of their polishes are horribly streaky.  I don't mind it as much with their lighter colors but with a color like this one you really need to make sure application is smooth and even.  So this is three coats with a base and top coat.  The color did grow on me as I wore it today, but still not love.  And I already switched my nails today, but that's because I got Essie's 2011 resort collection!  Swatches to follow...