Warby Parker

I was super stoked to come home Sunday night and find my Warby Parker try on's waiting for me. I am obsessed with glasses (yet have the smallest prescription known to man kind) and am envious of those librarian/hipster/over-sized nerd glasses. I have seen a few online glasses websites,  but was really impressed with Warby Parker's 5-day home try on program. Its free of charge and a nice way to calm the nerves of buying glasses online without knowing how they'll look on your face. Turns out most of the ones I got were too big for my face, but that's something I never would have known having just looked at the glasses via photo. In the end I feel in love with the Beckett striped chestnut pair. My only problem now? Overcoming my  progressive bifocal prescription. 

Cookbook: Arnold Palmer Jello

These jello shots are probably the best jello shots I've ever had (although to be fair, my jello shot repertoire
 isn't all that expansive). And the bonus? They are so freaking easy to make. All you need is 10 lemons, a box of lemon jello and sweet tea vodka.

1. Cut lemons in half and remove all juice and pulp (so they are like little bowls)

2. Make jello according to box, but substitute cold water for cold vodka

3. Fill halved lemons with jello mixture (I used a measuring cut for easier pouring action)

4. Refrigerate

5. Once set, cut lemons into wedges

6. Serve

To quote Rachel Ray, "How easy was that kids?"

Your night of festivities will thank you if these are present. Just sayin'

Tomapolooza

To start folks, that's water in that there cup, so don't go getting any funny ideas about me ;) Friday night was marked by Tomapolooza (copyright Pat Ritter) which meant pong, kings cup, do-it-yourself marker tattoos, viking hats, roof shinanigans, video games and a heck of a lot of booze. Now, sadly my stomach decided to reject the idea of fun so I didn't participate to the fullest that night. I stuck with my water, but did hold a champion title in pong with Pat (probably because I was the only sober on and my aim remained on mark).  It was great seeing all of our friends gathered in one spot and while I wish I was feeling better, I'm kind of glad my night didn't end as unfortunetly as some others. 

Bonvoyage young Thomas! Now don't come home till you've gone and caught yourself a Malaysian bride, ya here?

P.S. Chelsea and I both studied abroad in Wales and now Wilkes has a Welsh exchange student in return who sported the viking helmet like a champ and carried on like a good 'ol fashion American undergrad. 

P.P.S. This is the morning after. Not so fun to clean...

Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

This was another recommended book by my mother. I didn't quite grasp the topic. Was it fiction? non-fiction? It is a non-fiction novel revolving around the ever-so-popular HeLa cells. HeLa was the first immortal cells created in a lab and were originally taken the cervical cancer of a women named Henrietta Lacks. HeLa cells have made millions in the scientific community and have contributed to the Polio vaccination, nuclear bombs and the cells have even been sent to space. While they are so popular and helpful, the family of Henrietta did not authorize the collection of these cells and did not see a cent of profit from their mother's cells. The book touches upon many ethical concerns and sort of outlines sciences progression when handling human collections and even addresses ownership of cells (patients don't always own things removed from their body just because its was once a part of them). I thought it was a very informative and interesting read, and I'm not much of a non-fiction reader. My only complaint is the ending and the emphasis on Henrietta's daughter Dorothy's life. It starts out strong and then kind of dulls out towards the end. But other than that, I'd recommend it to anyone with interest in science, history or a just a good read.

In my opinion:

Rosebud Salve

Has anyone even heard of Rosebud Salve? I'm not much of a lipstick girl (although I desperately want to become one after seeing how great it looks on fellow bloggers) so when I read on A Cup of Jo about Rosebud Salve, I was intrigued. Its more than what I would normally pay for chapstick (hello Burts Bees!) so I kind of blew it of and went about my day. Well when I was in Sephora with my good friends Mari and Meaghan this weekend waiting to checkout , I saw the infamous Salve and decided impulsively rationally to give it a go. I've been using it the past few days and while I'm not in love with it, I don't hate it. I like the burn I get with Burts Bees (its how I know its "working") but I like the sheen you get with the salve. Almost like lip gloss but without the sticky consistency. I had hoped that it would be more of a reddish tint, and maybe I got the wrong kind, but there is no rosebud tint happening on my lips. Oh well! I'd say I don't regret my purchase but I can't guarantee I'll be buying it again. 

Has anyone else tried it? What are you thoughts? What gloss/chapstick/lip product do you swear by?

Chef Geoff Downtown

My aunt was in DC from Boston this weekend for a nursing conference and lucky for my family, we were all free for a trip into the big city. So on Saturday, despite snow and ice covered roads, we squeezed into Tanyas SUV tighter than sardines in a can and traveled the 1.5 hr into the city. Thank goodness Tanya drove because I despise city driving. We picked up my aunt at her uber swanky hotel (Sean was moved to the trunk for the short trip to the restaurant) and we headed down to Chef Geoff's Downtown. We parked across from one of the occupy DC movements, which was kinda interesting although not much was going on other than one man shouting god knows what at god knows who. 

Let me just say, dinner was baller!!! My scallops were fan-flippin-tastic and desert? Hello dark chocolate cake with pretzel ice cream and chocolate covered pretzels. I said yes please to every special out of the waitresses mouth and folks, she did not lead me astray. I was one happy camper after that night. My aunt is the best so it was great to see her again and it was nice to have a family meal, especially with everyones beyond busy schedules. I would love to say I'd go back to Chef Geoff for sure but with the 3.45 million amazing food places in DC, I just don't think I'll have the time for repeats. 

USA Today Best-Selling Novels in 2011

My grandpa pointed out to me the other day at dinner the USA Today Best-Selling Novels in 2011 list that was in the paper. I assumed I hadn't read most of them, but was surprised at how many I had actually read. From The Help, to the Hunger Games series, I had read 15 of the listed novels. Now, I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but I don't typically read books just because they're on the best-sellers list. I was also pretty happy to see To Kill A Mockingbird made the list. Its refreshing to see that classics are still popular. It was also pretty funny to see What to Expect When You're Expecting and the Guinness Book of World Records on the list. The list is pretty expansive as far as genres that make the cut. How many have you read from the list?

Book Review: The Snowman

My brother had this book on his Amazon wish list and since wish lists make Christmas shopping unbelievably easy, I bought it for him along with a couple others. I had heard great things about this book, so I decided to check it out from the library and read it myself (can you tell i'm impatient and cheap?). I didn't have much knowledge about the topic of the book, so I was pleasantly surprised. It was a fairly easy read, except for some foreign names and locations, since its a translated book. Its revolves around a serial killer that uses snowman's as his signature. The main character had some training in the U.S. with the FBI on how to catch serial killers, so his superiors are skeptical when he claims the snowman murders are done by a serial killer, assuming he is just relying on his recent training. It got a few surprising twists and isn't your cookie cutter, predictable murder mystery (**cough** like James Patterson **cough**). I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would recommend it. 

Have any of you ever read it? Your thoughts?

In my opinion:

Cookbook: Jalapeño Popper Chicken Bites and Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I'm such a sucker for sweet potatoes. I'm still in the process of mastering baked sweet potato fries (I just can't get them crispy!), but thought I'd try a different route once I saw Budget Bytes take on the starch. And to pair with it, I thought I'd give jalapeno popper chicken bites a run for my money since they looked so good here. Who doesn't love bacon, cream cheese and jalapeno's?? 

Well, as high as my hopes were for dinner, I just didn't think it panned out. I think the chicken in the bites needed to be seasoned and  I just didn't think there was enough flavor. As for the potatoes, they stuck to the pan like all get out! Sure they tasted good, but they didn't really stay in their intended shape and looked more like a sweet potato car crash happened on my plate once I finally sat down to eat. Oh well! I think I'd give both of these another go but modify the recipes a bit. I encourage you all to try them though and let me know what you think! And let me know if you try anything different with them.

P.S. I'm not sure if its just me that's a hard critic but they boys loved dinner so I guess that's a perk to this meal :)

Boo's Birthday

I love this man. He makes me laugh...like nonstop.

Happy 22nd birthday booface!

Free Goods

I gotta say, one of the best parts of the holiday came while I was at work. We got all these goodies from other offices like cheese, crackers, cookies, chips, dip, steak! Oh, and patients made us things too. It was so sweet! I've never had a job with perks before. Hello grown up holidays!

P.S. Celebrating the holidays out was a nice perk too. My boss is so nice :)