Month: September 2010

Nails

~ JessicaJaeger ~ 1 Comment

I am a serious nail biting addict, have been since I was a little kid. To combat this issue (I hate he look of nubbley, chewed-on nails), I have to keep my fingernails polished 24/7. It’s a tireless process…constantly painting, drying, top-coating, smudging, re-painting, etc… but well worth it to me.

Here are a few of my current favorite colors:

Lacquered Up by essie – this was my go to for summer and now I’m taking it into Fall.

Provocateur by SPAritual – this brand makes organic nail polish that won’t stain your nails!

French Lingerie by Rimmel – this a drugstore find! It’s actually a color to top a French manicure, but 3 coats on plain nails is a clean, simple look. Test various pale pinks until you find the right one for your skin tone.

Chinchilly by essie – the best Fall, 2010 go-to color!
And the best top coat that will add 3 or 4 days to your polished nails:

essie top coat

And if you have an iPhone, you must download this app immediately and you will never have to guess how a nail polish color will appear once painted ever again!!

Fall Weekend

~ JessicaJaeger ~ 1 Comment

 

After a weekend of hiking in the North Conway area of New Hampshire…

we decided to do the lazy man’s version of apple picking! We stopped at a little road side farm stand and picked up our fall essentials:
A few pumpkins for decorating the house…
A bag of apples for baking…

 

And of course a couple freshly fried apple cider donuts…
I just love this season!

Basil-palooza Parts III & IV

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This is my last post about basil, I promise.

I just wanted to note 2 more uses of the fresh basil from our garden.
A meal:

Tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto sandwich:
Grill ciabatta roll on a grill pan until desired crunch is reached. Pile fresh sliced tomato (lightly salt them first), mozzarella, prosciutto, and of course freshly picked basil leaves on half of the grilled ciabatta. Place other half on top…enjoy!
And a home decoration:

Basil Centerpiece:
Place fresh cut basil in a bud vase, surround with votive candles.

Basil-palooza Part II

~ JessicaJaeger ~ 1 Comment

I am continuously trying to think of new recipes to use more of the basil growing in our backyard. Tonight I made a shrimp, asparagus, cherry tomato rotini pesto – delish!

1/2 lb cooked shrimp
1/2 lb cooked rotini
1/2C blanched asparagus spears, cut in thirds
1/4C quartered cherry tomatoes (we used cherry tomatoes picked fresh from our backyard garden!)
pesto
Mix ingredients together and serve either warm immediately or cold after refrigerating.

Cooking directions:
Shrimp – the best way to cook shrimp is to spread them out in one layer on a baking sheet, coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper and bake at 400 degrees for 4 to 5 minutes. They come out perfect every time.

Asparagus – after cutting off bottom of asparagus spears, drop into pot of boiling water. Let cook until desired crunch (or lack of crunch) is achieved, I cooked these for about 4 minutes.

Pesto – reference recipe from Basil-palooza posting.

Goodbye Summer Whites

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Even though I love Fall and it is my favorite season, there is something about the end of the summer that is a little sad.

No more beach, no more warm evenings, no more summer whites!

I love white pants in the summer. I wear them all the time – dressed up, dressed down, to work on casual Fridays, out on a Saturday night. I thought I would assemble a few of my favorite white pants (and skirt) outfits from this summer before I put them away for the season…

White jeans by Gap 1969 Long & Lean (same jeans throughout)
Colorful top by Milly

I just love this print:

White jeans
Bright coral painters tee from J. Crew
Colorful coordinating wrap from Anthropologie

White jeans
Blue-based colorful top from Mint Julep


White jean skirt by Lucky Brand
Preppy striped top by Splendid
White tank underneath by J. Crew

LBD

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I’m really into procuring high quality, long-lasting wardrobe staples right now – at a discount, of course!

Recently, I found a fabulous little black dress by Marc New York by Andrew Marc on serious mark-down on Ruelala. It arrived the other day and it…is….perfection!

– beautiful shape with slightly flared skirt

– little sleeves with a flattering cut

– the fabric has a little bit of stretch for comfort and shape

– black belt to highlight the waste-line

– hidden pockets! I just adore pockets in dresses and these pockets were a happy surprise when I tried on the dress…

New Stamp!

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Paper Source, my favorite paper crafting supply store, is having a summer sale right now with 50% off, so obv. I stopped in to check it out. I scored some great deals including this super cute new flower stamp.

I went home and immediately created some new cards, here is my favorite: