Favorite Things

Prosecco Flute $4.95 

This is such a little thing, but it took me a long time to find.  Most traditional toothbrush holders have space to hold 4 toothbrushes, but if you're single you only have 1 toothbrush at your bathroom sink.  This inexpensive glass from Crate & Barrel is a small flute with a short stem, making it perfect for a single person's toothbrush holder.

Pumpkin Cookies

I grew up eating my mom's homemade pumpkin cookies throughout the fall and enjoying the last seasonal batch of these autumnal favorites for Thanksgiving.
This weekend I'm heading to the Birkshires to volunteer at the 4th annual Judy M. DiCicco Golf Tournament and dinner.  As always I bring a few batches of cookies.  This year I decided to switch it up and bake both chocolate chip and these pumpkin cookies.
I do have a few tips for any of you that would like to try and make this recipe.  They both involve the icing.  First, move quick! The icing sets fast so keep the heat on low incase you need to make it softer.  Secondly, if while first making the icing you may need to add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of butter.

1 cup Sugar
1 cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Canned Pumpkin
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Raisins
1 cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)
Mix the sugar, butter, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until well combined.  In additions add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and flour until well combined.  Mix in the raisins and walnuts.
Icing-
1 cup Brown Sugar
3 tablespoon Butter
2 tablespoon Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Confectioners Sugar
Combine the brown sugar, butter, and milk over medium heat in a small sauce pan until butter melts.  Remove from heat and mix in confectioners sugar and vanilla.
Quickly icing the cookies.
Enjoy!

What's In My Makeup Bag

The only makeup I carry in my bag during the day our my lip products.  But I decided to share with you all of my everyday makeup favorites.

I like to start my morning makeup routine with MAC Studio Finish Concealer.  It's a great product, I've been using it for years, it includes SPF 35, and it's not too oily.  I use The Body Shop's Lipstick/Concealer Brush.
After my concealer, I use a makeup wedge to apply MAC's Face and Body Foundation.  It's a thin foundation, so it doesn't feel too heavy.
Next after giving this layer a few minutes, I apply Mac's Mineralize Skinfinish Powder.  I use this as my bronzer, which is easily my biggest makeup addiction.  I use the Essence of Beauty Blender Brush from CVS.  This brush only costs $7.99 and it is without question my favorite bronzer brush.  I've tried more expensive brushes and I don't like them because they are small and seem better for blush.  This is a large brush, and it lasts a long time.

I start my eye makeup with my favorite eye liner Mac's Purple Dash Eye Liner.  As any blue eyed girl can tell you, purple makes blue eyes stand out, so this deep purple eye liner is the perfect frame for my blue eyes.
My eye shadow starts with Mac's Naked Lunch Eye Shadow.  I cover my entire lid with this color as a base.  Next, I put Mac's Shale Eye Shadow on the outside edge (both top and bottom) of my lid.  To finalize my lids I put Mac's Trax Eye Shadow on the outside edge (top only).  Then I blend the two colors.
I always coupon my mascara (unless I have a special event).  Although Maybelline Colossal Volum is my everyday favorite, right now I am using Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume.  Which I will say the formula of this mascara is great, but I'm not a huge fan of the brush it comes with because it's too oversized to get the corners.

I carry this above lip products with me all the time.  I can apply all four quickly or just a few of them whenever I need a touch up throughout the day.  Of course I start with Mac's Prep and Prime, I've talked about my love for this product before and it hasn't changed.  It keeps your lips from getting dry and it helps your color last.
  Mac's Subculure Lip Pencil is my daily lip liner, it's a similar color to my natural lips, so it's easy to blend.
My favorite daytime lipstick is Mac's Creme de la Femme.  It's one of their "frost" lipsticks so it's not too shiny, and the color isn't too bold so it's great to wear during the work day.
Finally, my lip gloss Mac's Cultured lip gloss.  It's my go-to product throughout the day.  Mac's gloss isn't sticky like other brands and the slight tint of pink is just enough color to finalize my lip look and makeup look.

Clearly, I'm a MAC girl.  I've been using their product for a long time and I still love just as much as the day I first got it.  Have you ever tried any of these products?  What are some of your favorite colors?

My Fitness Pal

As I've mentioned before, the summer was kinda rough for me partly due to the extreme heat.  No amount of AC made the gym tolerable for me, plus I wasn't eating very well.  So it's time to get back on the band wagon...
Thanks to my friend Dani, I learned about my fitness pal.  It a great website that helps you by logging all your food and exercise intake.  My favorite thing about the website is the food tracker, all you have to do is type in the brand (ex. "Trader Joes", Chex Mix"...) and it will automatically have all the nutrition facts for that food.
I long on throughout the day to log all my food.  It's a great website!
If you want to follow me on my fitness pal... beantownbabe07!

Riccardo's Ristorante

Today my parents surprised me this afternoon and said they could stop by this evening for dinner.  I called my favorite restaurant in the North End because I know I can always get a reservation.  The food is amazing!  Since it is located on North Street (not Hanover Street, the main street of the North End) it is typically easy to get in.
Although, I've been trying to watch what I eat I had to cheat this evening.  I got the "Pollo Exquisito" (Chicken sautéed in a light egg batter topped with imported Prosciutto di Parma and Mozzarella cheese. Finished in a Marsala wine sauce.).  As always, it was delicious!
My parents and I had a nice evening out, and enjoyed some delicious food in the North End.

*Tip:  If you are interested in dining at Riccardo's, you can purchase a discounted gift certificate at restaurant.com

Keira & Chris' Wedding

I first met Keira in college, since we both studied interior design we had a lot of classes together.  Her and Chris met at a "June Birthday's" party, and they have been together ever since.  I was lucky enough to attend their special day.  Both of them are fun, creative people so I was looking forward to fun and unique ideas at their wedding.  I was not disappointed.

The perfect cake topper for a graphic designer and an interior designer.  So adorable!

For a guest book, everyone put their thumbprint on this drawing of a tree (which Keira drew herself).

The place cards were one of my favorite details of the evening.  All the place cards had small buttons on them, which said something about their personality.  (Of course mine was a picture of Martha Stewart).  One of the other nice touches was all around the reception they had photographs of different family members on their wedding days, it was a great way for them to honor where they came from.
If you're wondering what the long slips of paper are in the vase at the end of the table, they are wedding mad libs.  It was a fun activity for guests to complete and leave for the couple.

It was a beautiful day, best wishes for Keira and Chris!

Mini Muffins, Perfect Carpool Snack

Tomorrow I'll be heading to a wedding in Gloucester, MA.  A few of friends decided to carpool up to the wedding together.  Since we'll be driving up during brunch time I decided to make chocolate chip banana mini muffins.  I used this recipe and switched it from a loaf to mini muffins (since they will be easier to eat in the car).  To switch the recipe to mini muffins bake for 10-13 minutes.  I also folded in 1 cup of chocolate chips to give the muffins a sweet brunch taste.

To make the treat ready for the wedding festivities, I placed a few in cellophane treat bags and tied them with a chocolate brown ribbon.
Yum!