Hat: Amazon | Jacket: thrifted at Pure Couture | Necklace: Modcloth | Dress: Folter via Modcloth | Tights: Target | Shoes: Dirty Laundry
This has been a crazy weekend. It started out that my friend Justine came to visit me for a concert at the Boot and Saddle to go see the band River City Extension. It was interesting crowd, one I was not use to. But they help feed the energy to the bands performance, which was pretty awesome anyways. If you notice River City Extension playing near you, I would recommend going to see them.
Halfway through the concert I get a call from my husband saying that his glasses broke. Which made the next day a whirlwind of “what to dos?” I do have to say it was the first time in awhile where I enjoyed myself since we didn’t have an actual agenda. And luckily since Jon’s glasses were easily fixed, it gave a lot of time to do what we wanted.
I love creamy hot drinks. Hot Chocolate? Chai? Lattes? Yes to all please. But sadly the less I try to consume dairy, the harder it is to find new drinks. Sure, most coffee shops carry soy milk, and occasionally almond milk, but if you aren’t getting a standard latte, dairy sneaks in easily. Most sweet drinks use powder mixes that not only contain whey, but also a big list of mystery ingredients. So I decided to make a collection of vegan sweet drinks to experiment with. Not only is it cheaper to make these drinks at home, you also have total control of what goes into them.
We start this series with a Korean Sweet Potato Latte. It technically isn’t a latte since it contains no espresso, but that doesn’t stop people from calling a green tea latte a green tea latte (so why stop there?). In fact, there are many Asian flavored lattes that usually contain no espresso. In Korea this drink can be found all over, but it reaching international drinkers via Holly’s Coffee.
Hat: Vintage Gift | Shirt: Modcloth | Brooch: Vintage Gift | Skirt: American Apparel | Tights: Target | Shoes: Thrifted
I mentioned before that the past week have been super crazy. I work a lot of days at the restaurant so most of my outfits were based on which pants were clean and could get another grease stain. I wanted to dress up, but I still really can’t. My other job, at the moment, involves a lot of glue. Seriously? Why all the clothing hate guys?
I haven’t posted anything in awhile. The past week has been crazy at my two different jobs. At Animo we had two girls on vacation, so that meant if people wanted time off, it probably meant I had to work. After working six days in a row, three of them ten hour day, I was pooped. I am actually surprised I have the time to write this post even!
Well, my two friends at Animo and I decided that we should do half marathon. I know that is pretty long but I am always amazed at how much I can push my body. I want to see if I can run 13 miles straight. I started to run last Saturday when the weather was nice and warm. I only did two miles, but I have to start somewhere right?
The particular marathon that I am doing is the ODDyssey Half Marathon. My friend Chrissy found it by a search for top runs ranked by runners. This one apparently has live music, free photos, costumes, and most importantly free beer at the end. I am sold on that alone. And it is a brewery that is love- Sly Fox. In fact I want to head out and get their Pikeland Pils right now.
Wish me luck, and I will keep everyone posted about my running journey.
My goal is to be more adventurous with trying out blog recipes. I know too many people who inundate their Pinterest pages with food recipes, but never actually try any of them. More disturbing is how many beautiful food photos result in blah recipes. I wish that Pinterest would include a “rate that recipe” button, but until that day, I can write reviews.
First round of reviews goes to the Everything-Free category. Sort of. As mentioned in a previous post, my husband and I have been on an elimination diet that forced us to cut a LOT of foods from our diet. The first two weeks we eliminated gluten, soy, dairy, and peanut from our meals. It’s been a bit of a struggle, especially since I didn’t know which recipes to substitute in to our new diets. But thanks to the invention of tags, I’ve been able to peruse various blogs for help. Of course not everything was a winner.
Earrings: gift | Shirt: Fervour via Modcloth | Purse: Coach (thrifted gift) | Skirt: American Apparel | Shoes: Bumper via Modcloth
I had a wonderful but exhusting weekend. I am a huge Asian Pop fan. I have been listening to Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and (mostly) Japanese pop and rock for years. One of my top favorite artists is Nakata Yasutaka. He never really releases music on his own, instead works in a duo called capsule, and composes music for lots of different artists. I love him because he not only just composes music, but lends his vision and image to the artist he creates music for.
Bow: Modcloth | Shirt: nümph | Blouse: H&M | Skirt: Modcloth | Shoes: Gift
I originally bought this skirt from Modcloth to try and wear it to an upcoming wedding. I wanted something to wear that would hide my tattoo. Not that I am trying to hide who I am, but I just feel like someone else’s wedding isn’t where I want to reveal my ink. Anyways, I love the skirt, though it doesn’t quite match the longer sleeved shirt I originally got it for. Oops.
My friend Ian has a problem- Tom Collins. Every time he orders it, it never gets made right. I suggested one night that we go to a bar in Philadelphia called The Farmer’s Cabinet. It is a throwback speakeasy that has an impressive list of cocktails. I suggested we go there, since I figured if there was going to be a bar who knew how to make a Tom Collins, it would be this. We all drank this yummy bubbly concoction, and loved it. Alexa asked why Ian never made it himself, and his response was “it is too complicated to make at home.”
I beg to differ!
This is actually pretty easy, though I might suggest to make or prep a few things ahead of time. All a Tom Collins is composed of is gin, sugar, lemon, and fizz. So it is basically a spiked-fizzy-lemon-aid. It is such a great drink since it is so simple, yet steeped in such a rich history. Wikipedia has a lot of fun information on the drink, talking about how it changed over the years. Being a history nerd, I loves it. Continue reading
Sweater: Mystery China Brand | Dress: Freeway via Modcloth | Tights: Target | Socks: H&M | Shoes: Frye Boots (hand-me downs)
As I wrote down all the clothing, I just noticed I own a lot of leather considering I don’t eat meat. All have been gifted, vintage, or hand-me downs. I guess I don’t like the idea that an animal died just to have it be thrown out. But I am glad to have such a stylish Mother-in-Law (who has the same shoe size), otherwise I wouldn’t get these great boots. They have been a lifesaver this winter.
Snow came down again, which made my walk to work really cold. Not to mention my work is back to it’s freezer status, which is the downside of older buildings. This sweater is super wonderful. I bought it for under $20 from some ebay site with low expectations. I just wanted something cute and warm. What I got was a fuzzy and warm sweater. I actually come home sweaty because it is so warm. And I as I write this I am sad that I didn’t take a photo of the back. As it has the same striping from the sleeves on the back, even with a little orange mixed in there.
I will hopefully have another great recipe to post tomorrow. And by recipe I mean just a cocktail. But hey, who doesn’t love a drink?
I don’t mind recipes that require a lot of time, but have little work. I find it nice to prepare a meal, and have an hour or so to clean up, or prepare upcoming lunches (and still have time to sit around and check emails). So from time to time I try and dabble in casseroles. I picked this dish for our withdrawal diet. At the time we introduced soy, but still couldn’t have any wheat.
This recipe was adapted by a curry cauliflower-fennel toss, but most of those spices were removed. The flavor is most emphasized by balsamic vinegar. Gourmet balsamic vinegars are becoming very popular, and I have two locals stores that make their very own. I HIGHLY recommend using a higher end vinegar. I used a white orange balsamic vinegar for the one featured in the photo. Continue reading
