Night Light - What I Wore

Well it looks like my camera isn't all that bad at night and I'm not that bad of a photographer after a couple of drinks.  These pics are from our first night on vacation and as I said before, I got a lot of use out of these shorts.  This time around I paired them with another sheer button down but in a fun floral print from H&M's Spring collection.  I'm sure it was a interesting sight for onlookers to watch me prop the camera on the window of a hardware store/dentist office and run practically into the street to get in front of the lens before the self timer ran out.  Atleast I didn't get the typical honk or outburst...that was definitely a blessing. 

That night we ended up eating at the Red Parrot.  I have a particular sweet spot for calamari and they have, hands down, the best calamari in Newport.  I planned on savoring the lobster stuffed ravioli as my entree but completely forgot just how generous the appetizer serving was and for only $15 I was stuffed.  Our waiter tried to tell us it was a large serving and we proceeded to tell him about our larger than life appetite but I didn't notice until later that he had already politely removed the menu to keep temptation away.  Good move. Two drinks and a whole lot of calamari we decided to walk it all off.....which led to the random night photos and a whole lotta laughs along the way.

Hope your week is going well!!!!

****Freshly Picked - Saturday Foodie Fun****

As if the highly addictive floral print trend wasn't enough burden on my wallet and closet, I had to go and discover another reason to love the fun, colorful and sometimes fragrant natural beauties. Birthed out of a wild idea fest of fun new popsicles by Meredith of Family Fresh Cooking and her two children, these flower infused frozen treats are not only beautiful to look at but healthy and delicious.  After stepping outside my frigid apartment to walk down to the laundry room and returning about as sweaty as if I'd gone out for a run, this recipe is exactly what I need right now.  Can't wait to try it and I'm wondering how I can incorporate this into the wedding plans without a meltdown disaster.....

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or bachelorette party....

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and infused with a bit of alchohol....

While my idea machine churns away, head to Farm Fresh for a list of local farms that offer edible flowers and follow the recipe below.

w h a t  t o  k n o w :

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 3 hours, 5 minutes
• Yield: 6 popsicles
• Serving Size: 1/3 cup

i n g r e d i e n t s :

• 16 ounces Cold Water
• 1 ounce Orange Blossom Water
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
• Plain Stevia Drops or your favorite natural sweetener to taste (Honey would be great too) I used one full dropper of stevia.
• a handful of Organic Edible Flowers, rinsed and remove petals
• popsicle molds or dixie cups 
• popsicle sticks

w h a t  t o  d o :

• Have pop molds handy and make sure you have room in your freezer. 
• Combine water, orange blossom water and lemon juice. 
• Sweeten to taste. 
• Pour mixture into molds. 
• Freeze without sticks and petals for about 1 hour. 
• Remove from freezer and add flower petals. You can push them into the molds with the help of a long, skinny spoon or pop stick. 
• Make sure the flowers are scattered throughout the pops. 
• Add sticks and freeze for 2-3 hours more until solid. 

 

 Enjoy!!!!

****The Great Illusionist****

I thought it was going to be a match made in heaven. A fun bold print.  A sleek fit. A plethora of shoe options...the list went on forever the minute I saw these pants floating around the blogging world.  I figured it would end up being that one item never to see the light of day in any of my local H&M's and I was fine with that.  The unattainable doesn't keep me up at night.  Then I snagged the magazine during one of my frequent lunch break shopping trips and saw the price.  It was at that moment I knew I had to have them. So I stalked and stalked and grilled the sales associates about them.  Are you getting a second shipment of this floral delivery?  Is this everything?  Did any other store receive more of a selection than you?  Do you have a style number?  DO YOU KNOW WHAT PANTS I AM TALKING ABOUT???? A tad bit on the psycho spectrum but I needed to know and then one great day I received confirmation that they will infact have them March 8th.  

PERFECT.  

Perfect that is until I tried them on.  I am getting really particular with fit these days. Gone are the days of coming home with skirts that need to be hemmed, dresses that I think I could have taken in, and pants that aren't oh so perfect.  Every month for almost a year I have been able to let go of items bought under these familiar circumstances and now all I see is money wasted.  As much as I love these pants, I had a interesting problem with the crotch....just a bit too much extra material creating the unwanted bulge when I sat down and a weird illusion that my crotch continued down a inch or so further than it really did (I'm quite sure everyone has encountered this all too common problem). 

Okay no problem, I will just try the next size up.  

Even worse....bad idea.  

The next size down?  

Yes..thank god......but only if I wouldn't feel awkward sitting down in a very specific series of steps to avoid any unwanted splits.

Guess it just wasn't meant to be.  And that's okay because the dress in that print fit like a charm and I definitely went home with the sheer blouse that pairs insanely well with my graphic black and white striped cropped pants.