Essie's Mojito Madness

One of my favorite polishes from Essie's summer 2012 collection is Mojito Madness.  It's a fantastically vibrant and bright Kelly green (I read somewhere that this color is almost exactly the same color as Starbucks' straws).  This polish is amazing and such a unique color!  I am always a sucker for green polishes and this is one I will come back to often.  I used two coats, with a base and top.  Sunny helped me model this polish.

One thing I wanted to note is that while a lot of people have noted that this doesn't stain their nails, I had some issues with removing this as it stained the skin around my nails a bit.  It cleared up by the next day so maybe I just needed to be more diligent with the nail polish remover but compared to my other polishes this was definitely more pigmented and harder to take off.  And despite what others said, I wouldn't want to risk using this without a base coat just in case it would stain my nails.  

Ack just looking at these old photos makes me want to put this polish on again even though I just painted my nails a different color!  I wish it was acceptable to wear greens and blues in the office because then I'd be wearing this one all the time!

Cancelled Birchbox, Trying Beauty Bar

I previously posted (here) about how I was giving Birchbox a try and I gave it three months before I decided to cancel.  The first month was ok but it turned out that they had sent out some expired samples.  Second month was the much hyped Gossip Girl box which was not that great and I forgot to take a photo of it.  Then, when I received my third box in June I immediately cancelled as soon as I opened up the box below:

For $10/month I was told that I would receive a box with amazing samples of products tailored based on a profile I filled out.  I don't think anything in my profile said I wanted to receive designer bandaids, sanitizing wipes, and a sample of a men's cologne!  I was pissed off when I saw this box.  There was nothing in it that I liked and I don't think I'd use any of these things!  I also don't like how much the boxes can vary in quality for each month.  And since these don't seem to be personalized at all according to profiles it's really just a crap shoot which box you'll end up getting.  My friend who first told me about Birchbox cancelled after her first box and has since moved on to other similar services and never looked back.

I have also moved on and am trying out some new services.  I recently signed up for Beauty Bar's Sample Society, which is done with Allure magazine.  I saw the June box online which was awesome and had some full sized products and so I decided to give it a try.  Beauty Bar is $15/month, so it's a bit more but based on past boxes I thought it would probably be worth it.

This box contained a Borghese body cream, a Jouer tinted moisturizer, a Vbeaute eye cream, a Sisley intense anti-aging lotion, and a dual-sided Vincent Longo lipliner.

I think I liked the June box better but this is pretty good and, as you can tell from just comparing this to the photos above, is way better than any Birchbox I ever received.  I'm going to give this a couple more months and see how it goes and will decide whether or not to continue with Beauty Bar after the trial period is up.  I'll try to remember to post my box each month so you can see how it goes and hopefully this will go better than Birchbox in the long run!

Essie Summer 2012 Collection

It's been a while since I've posted any new polishes.  I took a bit of a break from polish as my nails needed it, but I jumped back in once I saw Essie's summer 2012 collection!  

These didn't come out as clearly as I thought they had so sorry for the blurriness.  Below we have All

Tied Up (a dusty rosy bronze with a bit of golden shimmer) on my index finger, Bikini So Teeny (a light almost neon-like blue) on my middle finger, Mojito Madness (a bright Kelly green) on my ring finger.

And here we have Cascade Cool (a cool and light pink), Off The Shoulder (a hot pink) on my middle finger, and Fear or Desire (a bright hot orange) on my index finger.

These polishes look much brighter in real life!  The polishes above are only one coats and most of them could benefit from at least another coat to smooth out streaks and bring out the color more.  I am loving these bright and neony colors!  One of my friends suggested using a white base to make bright colors pop more and so now I'm on the hunt for a good one.  Any suggestions?

Eating Extravaganza in The DMV - Founding Farmers, Obelisk, Volt, Proof, Blue Duck Tavern, Pitango Gelato, and Jaleo!

My friend and old college roommate came to visit me last weekend and we had a blast despite the crazy heat and severe thunderstorm that led to power outages everywhere.  Since she was only here for a few days and we love to eat and drink, we tried to pack in as much as we could while she was here, which led to stuffed bellies and swollen hands and feet from all the salt we were eating and walking around in the 100 degree weather.  Worth it.

So let's get started with the food tour, shall we?  As soon as I heard that my friend was coming to visit, I went to Trader Joe's and stocked up.

Yeah, I might have gone overboard here.  This doesn't include a box of wine (love the Bota box!) and beer I got from Costco.  We didn't even touch any of the food here in the end.  Too stuffed from all our meals!

The first meal we had was a lunch at Founding Farmers, which was good, but nothing great.  Oh wait, scratch that.  The beignets were awesome!  I wish I'd taken a picture of them!

We went to Obelisk for dinner, and we were super excited for it but had no clue what we'd be eating since they don't have a website or menu online.  Below is the menu they had posted when we arrived.

It was sooooo HOT that day and inside was blissfully cool and comfortable.  For a place that is supposedly hard to get reservations to, it was surprisingly pretty empty when we arrived.  Although our reservation was earlyish so maybe that's why.  I didn't take many pictures of our food there because it was so quiet and empty at first I felt a bit self conscious.  I did have to take a photo of the burrata, which was super fresh and covered in olive oil, salt, and pepper.  DELICIOUS!

The other antipasti were really good but nothing spectacular.  The pastas were surprisingly good, especially considering that neither of us was that excited with them when we first saw them on the menu.  We chose the ravioli and tagliatelle, and both really enjoyed the ravioli.  Oh, my friend and I have such similar tastes and like to try as much as possible so our typical MO is to order different dishes when we can and then share them.  For entrees we got the salmon and quail, both of which were good, but nothing great.  The sides that came with the meats though were our favorite parts!  The cheese course was all goat cheese, which of course we loved.  For desert we chose the chocolate cake and the pudding.  We were expecting to love the cake more than the pudding but were pleasantly surprised by the pudding which was deliciously smooth, creamy, and flavorful.  The cake was really moist and yummy but there was a lot of the mint sauce which was the herb, not peppermint, like we had assumed.  All in all the meal was really good and we considered it a good deal for the amount of food we got (especially when comparing it to New York prices), but were kinda disappointed with it.  If the entrees had been better I think that would have elevated our overall dining experience, but the salmon and quail were so ordinary and unexciting.

My friend and I are both Top Chef fans and we loved the Las Vegas season especially since that was a killer group with a lot of excellent chefs.  I've been wanting to go to Bryan Voltaggio's Volt forever but could never convince anyone to make the hour drive out.  Luckily, my friend wanted to go as badly as I did and so we decided we had to eat there no matter what!  We couldn't score dinner reservations (let alone the coveted Table 21 seats so last minute) and so we debated whether it would be worth it to drive all that way for brunch.  In the end we went, and boy am I so glad we did!!

The drive ended up taking 1.5 hours because of traffic (ugh) but we arrived just in time.  There was a small parking lot to the side that we were able to find a spot in, but I imagine that it's probably full during busier hours (we were there for a fairly early brunch time).  The restaurant feels like a house and the interior is very clean, white, and modern, which we were a bit surprised by.  The staff there were very formal (despite their Chuck Taylors), but were super nice and not a bit uppity or snooty.  I especially loved the bread lady who came by several times and always encouraged us to pick multiple rolls (I love it when they encourage you to eat like that!).  We tried the goat cheese and bacon roll which was delicious, and the cheddar and chives roll which was surprisingly both our favorites!  We forgot to ask for a sticky roll to eat later with our dessert but those looked amazing!

After our usual long time poring over the menu with our mutual indecisiveness, we decided to go for the 5 course tasting menu.  The 5 course tasting menu is a great deal at $55 because we later discovered that there is a good amount of overlap with their regular dinner menu.  So you get a full 5 courses with similar plates but for $20 cheaper for brunch!  I took photos at each course because even though I felt a bit self conscious, I had to for this eating experience!

We were offered a wine menu and cocktail menu (I love how it's totally acceptable to drink liquor with brunch!).  We both got a cocktail, but I can't remember the name of it.  It was tequila and I want to say grapefruit juice and lime, but I can't remember.  I'll ask my friend if she remembers and update here afterwards.

I was reluctant to have a tequila cocktail for brunch but it was the only one that jumped out at me and so I gave it a try.  It was really good!  You could definitely taste the tequila, but in a good way.  Random sidenote, you can see a bit of our utensils in the above photo, which were replaced for each course depending on what food was being served.  My friend and I have come across the notched spoon a few times in the past, usually with a seafood dish.  What is that for??  Why the notch?  What does the notch do?

We were also given small complimentary appetizers (or amuse bouches) which were these puffs filled with foie gras cream and some other stuff I can't remember.  These were awesome!  The puff just kind of broke down and melted in our mouths and then the delicious flavor of foie gras poured out.  It's great for those who love the flavor of foie gras, but not the texture.

Ok, now onto the food!  First up was jonah crab, cucumber, coriander, and green mango.

Sorry the photo is a bit blurry.  This was amazing.  Perfectly light and flavorful - a great dish for the summer!  We were uncertain as to which garnishes we could eat, but we ate most of them (other than the leaf and twig) since we wanted to eat everything off our plates.  I'm sure when they brought the plates back to the kitchen they were surprised that we ate the garnishes, but they were good!

Second course was ravioli garlic scapes, marcona almond, and goat cheese.

This was our all time favorite course, and just general plate from the whole weekend.  Everything about it was perfection!

Third course was halibut, asparagus, hen egg yolk, and capers.

We were super excited to eat the hen egg yolk, but couldn't find it anywhere on the plate haha!  We think it might have been the mini yellow gel blocks?  And we're not sure what the white flaky triangles were.  Well whatever they were, they were delicious.  The halibut was perfectly cooked with a nice crisp on top and soft flakiness inside.  Loved the asparagus too!

Our last savory course was beef, kennebeck potatoes, green garlic, and English pea.

We only remembered afterwards that they never asked us how we wanted our beef cooked.  It was served medium rare (it wasn't rare - that sauce on the bottom is sauce, not blood!), which is how we would've asked for it anyways, and so we just dug in as soon as they put our plates down.  I suppose if you wanted it cook a different way (although medium rare was perfection) you should specify when you order.  The beef was soooo juicy and tender and the little gnocchi that came with it were amazing little pillows filled with potatoes.  Mmm.  

As though this wasn't enough food, we also ordered a side of biscuits and gravy.  They were so cheap and we had to try them!  These were served with our beef course.

These biscuits were wonderfully buttery and dense, and the sausage gravy was amazing!  I wanted to marry these biscuits and gravy.  So good and worth the stomach space!

For dessert we were served chocolate marshmallow, caramel, and peanut (by the way, the names of these courses are taken from their menu which really just lists some of the ingredients (but not all) that will be presented in the course.  There were sometimes other things on the plates, most of which I can't remember - sorry!).

Yeah, we weren't fans of this.  Terrible.  Couldn't even finish it...

At the end of our absolutely mind-blowingly fantastic meal, we were given the receipt and a mini loaf of cinnamon coffee cake as a take home treat.  We were told these are freshly baked each morning.  How adorable is this?!

The cake was soooo good and was a yummy reminder later that day that we must return to Volt soon!  My friend and I were so impressed with the taste, textures, and creativity of the food, we vowed to return soon and hopefully score seats for Table 21.  I would seriously eat anything that they put in front of me because I believe they could make anything yummy.  Volt was one of the best dining experiences I've ever had, and this was just for a brunch!

So after Volt, nothing else could compare but we did have a great dinner at Proof where we shared the tuna tartare (my favorite part of the dinner) and meatballs (so good as well!), and had a couple meats and cheeses (also very good - especially the coppa), and then shared the chicken and steak (both good but I was too stuffed to fully enjoy them).  We finished with the sticky toffee pudding cake, which was delicious!  I didn't take any photos because it was so dark in there we could barely see the dessert menu and were given Proof stamped mini flashlights to see the menu!  I think they could've made it a bit lighter in there.

We also had brunch at Blue Duck Tavern which was also very yummy, but couldn't compare to our Volt experience.  And unlike Volt which felt formal without any stuffiness, we thought the staff here was weirdly formal and a bit snooty.  Our waiter seemed to act funny when we asked for tap water at first.  Little did he know at the time that we totally planned on eating a ton and ordering drinks, but I hate it when they automatically act snooty when you ask for tap water.  If I'm going to spend money on something, it's not going to be water!

My friend got a glass of prosecco and I got a gimlet.

We both wanted the short rib hash with an olive oil poached egg on top and so we both ended up getting it. 

We also got a side of biscuits and gravy.  It was only after they served us everything that they told us our hashes came with biscuits.  If we had known that we wouldn't have ordered the extra biscuits!  Oh we also got the fries there which were good, but nothing particularly different and amazing.  The sauce that comes with it was kinda bland and so I ended up dipping it in the horseradish sauce that came with my hash.

All in all the food was very good, but not as good as Volt, and the service just wasn't as good or as comfortable as we had hoped.  I was amused by the fact that someone stealthily picked up my bag on the floor next to my chair (how did I not see them do this?!) and put a little stool under it.

We also made a stop at Pitango Gelato where we cooled off for a bit as we enjoyed a yummy treat.

And we had one last dinner at Jaleo, which used to be our favorite restaurant over 5 years ago, but we found it not as good as we remembered it.  I don't know if the food is not as good or if our palates have changed since we've now eaten at a lot of different excellent restaurants since then.  

I said bye to my friend several pounds heavier, but it was so worth it.  We had a blast hanging out together and eating so many different yummy foods!  Although next time she visits I think I'll have to go on a strict diet for at least a month before she arrives!

Long Time No Post! - Human Update

All right, now that we have the pug update, it's time for the human update!  Not much going on here and most of it is running related but I promise to include a couple pug photos!

Sunny is not that playful but she has somehow managed to break two of my bracelets!  I guess it doesn't help that she has the fastest growing claws in the east and I only have dainty, thin bracelets.  I finally got the two fixed and have worn them nonstop since.  I love my lil skully!

I've been drawing a lot lately.  I try to draw something every day although I've hit a lil block the past day or so.

See how realistic my drawings have gotten?  Haha, I kid, I kid!

I went searching for a new running shoe with a little more cushion for my long runs.  I tried on many, but it's really hard to find shoes for my fat feet and toes, that won't aggravate my tight Achilles/calves.

I finally found a good pair!  Mizuno Precision - nice wide toebox, light, more cushioned, and comfy!

I'm sad they don't come in brighter colors like some of the other Mizunos.  They're pretty good but not perfect but they're as good as I was able to find at this point.  The tongue slides a teeny bit and I sometimes get foot numbness in them.  Also the wave insole feels pretty good but after 8 miles there's this one point on the wave that starts to feel a bit uncomfortable on my right foot.  My right foot is always the one with issues!  But my feet did feel a lot less tired than in my Green Silence.  I just wish the tongue on this shoe was like the Green Silence.  It did feel a bit weird running in more cushioned shoes at first but I got used to it eventually.  I also discovered that my previous calf/Achilles issues were not tied to the toe heel drop like I thought, but the kind of shoe.  I need neutral shoes, not stability, apparently.

But my all time favorite shoe is still the Green Silence!

I found out that they're discontinuing these by the end of the year along with the Brooks Trance!  I've been stockpiling them whenever I find a good deal online!  So sad!  I love how super light these shoes are and I LOVE the tongue which is basically an extended flap of the shoe.  I never get any foot numbness in these shoes.  And these are the most green shoes I've come across, which is great for the environment, but I hear that these shoes break down a bit sooner than traditional shoes.  The only downside is that my feet get a bit tired in them in my long runs, although I noticed it hasn't been as bad recently, so maybe my feet are getting stronger and more used to them?

I've tried to do as many long runs outside as I can before the weather here gets too unbearable.

One route even went through the National Zoo!  Man that place is one big hill but it was really cool to see the animals out and about in the early morning.

And many runs along the Potomac. 

I even tried going to Theodore Roosevelt Island.  (yeah, that's a dog on a kayak below!)

But it was pretty desolate in spots and I didn't want to end up like an episode of Law & Order.  And as soon as a bug flew into my hair (not near, not on top, INTO), I freaked out and ran out of there like a crazy woman.

View of Georgetown and tons of kayakers.

After each long run I feel pooped and need to lay down starfish style on my floor for a bit, while I pet Sunny and upload photos from my phone.

Then I refuel.

And sometimes I elevate my feet with the help of Sunny.

Phew, just reading all this makes me tired.  Too bad I have to go running soon!  But this time it will be indoors - too hot outside right now!