1. Onurth Organic Skincare: I discovered these lovely products at the Fabulous Fifth Avenue Street Fair, of all places. My friend and I were strolling through the fair, dodging wayward uncovered sneezes and ignoring the usual mozzarepas, socks, cheap sunglasses, overpriced lemonade, and unlicensed superhero bouncy houses when we stumbled upon the Onurth booth. It didn’t take much for the saleswoman with excellent skin to sell me on a tiny bottle of mature skin oil and a bottle of rose hydrolat. I had never heard of a hydrolat (also known as hydrosol) before. Turns out it’s the liquid that collects during the distillation process used to produce essential oils—so this concentrated stuff has a similar efficacy to essential oil. I learned something else, too: misting your face right before applying an oil will help the skin absorb the oil better. The rose hydrolat smells incredible! I’ve been using the two products in concert every night before bed and it makes for a luxurious little ritual. Sometimes I even spritz my face with during the day for a refresher. I like the products so much that I already ordered a full sized bottle of the oil!
Friday Five
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HelloFresh Veggie Box #2: Quibbles and Successes
We finally decided to get another box from HelloFresh this week—we’ve had to take a little time off because of our schedules. The box arrived bright and early on Tuesday morning and included ingredients and recipes for three vegetarian dishes.
(PLT) Portobello, Lettuce, and Tomato with Sweet Potato Fries, Tomato-Onion Jam, and Basil Aioli
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Friday Five
Whoops! Sorry this post is so late today. I had scheduled it to publish at 9am, but for some reason that didn’t happen…
1. The Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic exhibit at Brooklyn Museum. Last Friday, four girlfriends and I plus an adorable, new-to-walking 14-month-old boy met up to see this exhibit. It is simply incredible. I took a few photos, because PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, but the exhibit is really something that needs to be seen in person. The scale of some of the paintings is enormous, and his photorealism and detail is astounding. I can’t believe just how prolific Mr. Wiley has been—the exhibit only includes pieces he’s created since 2006. This exhibit ends May 24th, so you’d better go see it while you can. And BTW, the kid loved it; so many bright colors!
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Stitch Fix: May 2015 Review
Yesterday was not the best day ever, because 1) I had my first MRE—magnetic resonance enterography, basically an MRI on your gut—and 2) we found out we don’t have the option to renew our lease and we have to be out of our apartment by June 30…wah-wah. I actually started to have a meltdown, but then remembered Lucille Bluth’s words of wisdom:

I was required to fast before my MRE, so I wouldn’t be able to drink water to replace my tears. Thanks, Lucille, for saving me from dehydration and extra misery!
What’s the point of all this? Well, after the stress leading up to the MRE and the stress of getting back to Park Slope from E. 99th Street during rush hour without any bathroom incidents (sorry for the TMI), I had a Stitch Fix box waiting for me. HOORAY!Continue Reading…
Friday Five
1. Brooklyn Candle Studio: I heart candles. I always have, since I was a young’un shopping at a gift store in the mall (its name escapes me) that had a million candles in all scents and sizes and colors—and even in the shape of animals. Lately, I’ve been wanting to make my own candles, and a friend told me about this place in Brooklyn that sells hand-poured soy candles AND holds classes. So I signed up for the studio’s workshop, which I took last Thursday, and I loved it so much! I even bought some candles in a variety of holders and fragrances to bring home with me: Cedarwood Vanilla, Green Tea Lemongrass, and Fern + Moss. They all smell incredible…and how gorgeous are they?!
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Summer is Coming: Panzanella Salad
Yesterday felt like summer had arrived. I ran some errands in the morning, and by the time I got home I was clammy and decided it was time to turn on the AC. To be fair, the temperature only got up to about 83°F, but the high humidity made me a little miserable.
What didn’t make me miserable? Figuring out a little-to-no cooking summery meal to make for dinner! As I ran my errands I was struck by an idea: panzanella salad!
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Birchbox: May 2015
My May 2015 Birchbox + Cupcakes and Cashmere collab arrived yesterday and it’s a good one! I started following Cupcakes and Cashmere awhile back (probably waaaaay after everyone else did) so I was excited to hear about Emily’s collaboration with Birchbox. The box design, as always, is on point, with a cute peachy graphic and a golden logo:
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Friday Five
1. Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream from Ample Hills Creamery. I’m originally from St. Louis (born and raised). There’s this thing in St. Louis called gooey butter cake, and it is ridiculous and magical. It is the unicorn of baked goods. Gooey butter cake is in no way, shape, or form good for you because it’s basically a bunch of butter and sugar. You rarely encounter gooey butter cake outside St. Louis, but Ample Hills is a Brooklyn ice cream joint that makes an ice cream with chunks of the cake mixed in, and I’ve been meaning to try it for quite awhile. A couple days ago we had REALLY nice weather so I walked on up to the Gowanus location and treated myself to a cup of the stuff while soaking up a little vitamin D on the roof deck. What I learned is that next time I need to order a large instead of a small. YES.
Continue Reading…
Why I Broke Up With Plated
In our quest to find a meal subscription service that works best for our two-person household, we’ve tried Blue Apron, Plated, and HelloFresh. I’ve already detailed why we canceled our Blue Apron subscription, and now I’ll talk a little bit about why we decided to cancel Plated as well.
To be fair, we only used Plated four times. The first Plated meal I ever cooked was my favorite (Spicy Coconut Rice Noodles with Kale and Basil) and nothing we got from them afterward ever really lived up to it.
Last week, we got two vegetarian plates: 1) Fettucine with Ricotta, Fava Beans, and Mint and 2) Spring Veggie Burgers with Carrot Chips and Aioli.
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Friday Five
Happy May! Is it just me, or did April last about three years?
1. “Girl, You Don’t Need Makeup”: Inside Amy Schumer‘s brilliant boy band video parody-slash-commentary on all the crap women paint our faces with every day before leaving the house. I know I talk a lot about makeup and beauty products here, but I don’t wear as much of it or apply it as often as you might think. However, if I have a social outing I do put some effort into makeup because 1) I legitimately enjoy the process of applying makeup and 2) I too feel the need to present myself as somewhat polished/less corpse-like. Anyway—I love this video for its on-point skewering of our society’s beauty standards. Also, the #girlyoudontneedmakeup movement inspired me to tweet my own makeup-free selfie. Amy Schumer is a genius. Genius!
















