Jeggings...finally!

A few days ago my mom and I had a relaxing day of shopping in Menlo Park on Santa Cruz avenue. We stopped in one of the streets many cute boutiques called "head over heels" and they happened to be having a small sale. The next thing I new I was trying on and soon buying an amazing pair of seven for all mankind jeggings or "The Skinny" Denim Leggings in Rinsed Indigo. I've already worn them and they are definitely one of the best investments I've made! If you don't already have a pair of jeggings I highly recommend purchasing a pair, almost every store that sells jeans makes a pair. Here are a few.


(from left to right starting on top) Seven For all Mankind "The Skinny" Denim Leggings in Rinsed Indigo $149, J Brand Denim Leggings in Starless Wash $169, Forever 21 Denim Basic Jegging $15.80, True Religion "Misty" Super Skinny Denim Leggings in Buckeye Dark $189, Hudson Denim Jeggings in Adelaide Wash $123.75 on sale at Bloomingdales.

-A

Blizzard Break

We just got a special surprise at work today- a Dairy Queen Blizzard! I haven't had one of those babies since high school-which also resulted in a rather unfortunate incident of mine falling out on the pavement. I don't know which one is better though- Blizzards or McFlurries. I really try not to eat at either of the chains though. Which do you prefer?

-K

Embracing Vegetarianism

On Monday I decided to try going vegetarian for a week, and I am currently on Day 4! To be honest I don't really miss meat that much, but when I get a plate of ribs or something in front of me I may feel differently. I have 3 days to go, and I may just decide to stick with it.
I am trying out being vegetarian because I was bored, and because in California, we're really spoiled for choice with all of the yummy local vegetables and fruits that we are lucky enough to have. I also am semi creeped out by the food, and more specifically the meat industry. As much as I love steak, I just can't justify the way the animals are treated before they hit my plate. I am all for grass fed and free range, so I will probably continue to eat those options, but there is nothing appealing about chemically altered or factory raised animals- see Food Inc. for more details.
-K

An Elegant Red Velvet

This weekend, while K was away floating on the delta, I wanted to challenge myself by baking something that I have only done once before...make a tiered cake! I chose to challenge myself even further my adding fondant into the mix. My first step was to call my best baking friend who I knew would be up for the challenge, Tara (K is my best taste tester). We debated over flavors until deciding on a classic red velvet. We picked a delicious recipe off of epicurious for both red velvet cake and creamy cream cheese frosting.

Red Velvet Cake:
2 1/4 Cups sifted cake flour
2 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( I have an oven that heats up fast, so I wait to do this step until the end to save energy!) Butter and flour two 9-inch pans. Sift sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla in a small bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternating with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions. Divide batter between pans. Bake until tester inserted (toothpicks work great) comes out clean, about 27 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tbs. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (I like mine a little less sweet so 2 cups worked perfectly!)

Beat Cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Tara and I baked a total of 5 cakes. 3 layers for the bottom tier and 2 layers for the top tier. All 5 of our cakes we baked in 9-inch pans so to make a smaller tier we took cardboard cake rounds at 6-inches and cut around the cake....don't consider it wasted cake, consider it your taste test, everyone at my house sure did!

When everything was cooled and frosted, we began rolling out the fondant. We bought Wilton Fondant at a craft store and it came ready to use. Doing so was both a work-out and exciting, fondant is so much better than playing with clay! We kept ours white for a nice contrast against the red cake, but colored small parts lavender to add detailing!



As soon as the cake was complete K and other close friends came running over to enjoy the finished project with us! I hope you will accept the fondant challenge or just make this fantastic red velvet to savor on warm summer day with friends and family!

-A

Floating Away: Island Time

This weekend was a pretty slow weekend at home, so I took a nice little two and a half day weekend in the Sacramento Delta. As much as I love Tahoe, it's hard to make a four hour drive each way (plus traffic) worth a weekend but the Delta is nice because it's only about an hour and a half. You don't need to pack much either- swimsuits are pretty much acceptable everywhere.


Anyways, when I was there my sister and I took full advantage of the snack bar, which definitely brought back some childhood memories. It helped that the special was the Root Beer Float- I swear, I had completely forgotten about these and they are SO GOOD!!! Root Beer and vanilla ice cream go so well together. I can promise that the next time I have friends over, Root Beer Floats will be in the mix.


Try one at home for your own mini vacation-enjoy it outside, preferably by a pool, Then, work it all off wakeboarding

-K

Restore the Gulf

By now I know that a lot of us are breathing sighs of relief that the BP oil leak has been capped. However, that isn't going to fix the fact that an estimated 2.5 million gallons of oil per day have spilled into the Gulf, and it's been around 90 days! I'm not a math major, but that is a lot of oil. The next step is cleaning up the Gulf, and hopefully this video can help persuade you to sign this petition to help.
Restore the Gulf- video
or watch the video at the site!

Just Sign It
Sign the petition now, and you can come visit me for Mardi Gras next year!
-K

P.S. If you're asking for why this is relevant to eating, traveling and shopping, do I really have to explain it? Gulf shrimp, New Orleans (hellooooo) and shopping...

This is from a super cute New Orleans Boutique called Shoefty

Cargo Trousers: Just Like Army Pants and Flip Flops?

I have a new favorite late summer staple- Cargo trousers. Not pants, trousers- but props to everyone that understood the allusion in the title. I was in Anthropologie the other day and saw these trousers, and loved them.

I love that they are something different from jeans, which I feel I wear too much of, but can be just as casual or even dressed up. They're also far more light weight than jeans, so you don't get that suffocating feeling during the summer.
Today I am wearing a pair with a solid tank top, cardigan and metallic sandals, which fits right in at my business casual office.
J Brand also has a pair out that have pockets on the sides- not my fave, but they are supposed to be super comfy. They look good in all of the ads that they have out too.
-K

We love the Marina...even in 60 degree summer weather!

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco"

K may have been a little underdressed for the chilly weather, but we still enjoyed a nice stroll down the Marina. Even through the heavy fog you can still see the Golden Gate Bridge. We find it romantic and mysterious!

Chestnut Street

This morning K and I had a quick visit in the city. I took the train up and K picked me up after her visa appointment for Spain! We headed straight to one of our favorite places Chestnut street! We got pedicures at New Nails, a place we love for both the price and speed. Our stomachs began grumbling and we couldn't resist stopping by the recently opened Susiecakes for a delicious cupcake. The San Francisco store is just as cute as the one I visited in Los Angeles.



After our fantastic cupcakes, we headed to The Grove Cafe for a saltier lunch. K had a delicious Yucatan chicken salad with a light dressing. I had the breakfast special which is served all day because I couldn't resist the wafting sent of bacon! The breakfast came with two perfectly poached eggs, applewood bacon, whole wheat toast and hash browns I couldn't even wait to take a bite before I snapped a photo. I look forward to my next visit at The Grove Cafe!

Perfect Boots Part 1

So as you know by now, A and I will both be studying abroad in Spain in the fall. As a student abroad, the last thing I hear that you want to be burdened by is excessive luggage, so I am going into packing for this adventure with the mantra of “traveling light”, which is far easier said than done. One thing I thought could make this easier is having a pair of cute boots that can basically go with everything- dresses, jeans, casual, dressy, and most importantly, comfortable- that can be my traveling companions. I believe in investing in quality staples that will last for a while, so I am willing to spend a little more on these boots.
I started by checking Neiman Marcus, but then I realized I was only torturing myself- unfortunately, Manolos are not justifiable in a student budget.
I want brown or black, not too high of a heel and COMFORTABLE. Search is on!

We're Going to SPAIN!

We are headed to Spain in the fall for a full semester and we can no longer contain our excitement! Although we will once again be divided by a full country Kati in Granada and Allison in Barcelona, we will have our blog to come together and share fashion trends, delicious food and favorite locations of Granada and Barcelona, and of course we will travel to visit each other! We hope you are as excited as us as we take on this new adventure!

Rue La La

One of our favorite places to shop online is Rue La La. The website rotates designer "boutiques" where you can buy everything from jeans and tops to fancy wines and exclusive vacations. All at a discounted cost! Each of the boutiques is available for 2 days and if one of your favorite designers is coming soon, Rue La La will send you an email reminder to go shop around! Although you have to be a member it is super easy join and if you invite friends who later purchase something from Rue La La you get a $10 credit to your next purchase! What's better than sharing with friends and getting money credit towards fashion and travel?

CUPCAKES!

One of my favorite things to do in the Kitchen is to bake, (one day I aspire to own my own beautiful bakery) Kati is the cook while I am the baker. So just like everyone else one of my top favorite things to bake is cupcakes! Whats not to love about individual cakes that can be either smothered in frosting or just lightly coated and then decorated anyway you want based on your individual taste?

My love for cupcakes has made me almost obsessed to either taste one from any new bakery I stumble across…or madly search the web for my next desired cupcake outing.

Here are a few of my favorites and my next hopeful visits!






Kara’s Cupcakes in Palo Alto: This cute yet sleek and modern bakery just opened a few blocks away from my house. I love the décor, bubblegum pink walls and a streamlined glass case to simply display the cupcakes and all their glory. The company practices sustainability, using local ingredients, environmentally friendly packaging, green buildings etc. making me more than happy to support this local bay area business. They also have a delicious array of flavors, my personal favorite, Banana a simple banana cupcake with creamy cream cheese frosting.



SusieCakes in Los Angeles: The slogan for this adorable bakery is “An All-American Homestyle Bakery” and that it is. The cupcakes are big and smothered in delicious frosting and the cakes sit on top of the rounded glass case on individual cake stands. Although I’ve only been here once these amazing cupcakes left me wanting more and dreaming of their delicious chocolate peanut butter. Maybe I will visit their San Francisco location!



Sprinkes in Palo Alto: This infamous cupcake joint doesn’t need much introduction due to the fact that it is one of the first cupcake joints that helped start this fabulous trend, and who can resist their oversized cupcakes topped with a heaping mound of frosting, especially the moist red velvet. I will even wait fifteen minutes in line for one!



Magnolia Bakery in New York City: One of the most infamous cupcake bakeries, right along with Sprinkles and made famous by Carrie Bradshaw in Sex in the City. I recently visited New York City and could not resist a stop at the original bakery in Greenwich Village. The line was out the door and the weather was so hot and humid that there were multiple fans keeping the self-serve cupcakes cool. I grabbed a red velvet and traditional vanilla cupcake. Both of them were fantastic, the cake was light and perfectly sweet and the butter cream frosting was creamy and not over powering. It was also my first time having a red velvet cupcake with butter cream rather than cream cheese and it was delish!

Where my taste-buds are taking me….I hope!



Cups and Cakes Bakery in San Francisco: Their website is very retro and I absolutely love the creative cups they bake in! Featuring 26 different flavors and giving you the option of customizing your own who knows what I will try…maybe the grasshopper: dark chocolate cake with peppermint frosting, German chocolate or possibly customize my own!
-A