fall clogs...

favorite clogs for fall

date night!! Verdade and the social network in Bryn Mawr!!

movies

Oh yeah!!  Ry and i have been doing date night about once a week for the past couple weeks.  it's something we've started before and then dropped.  hopefully, we will stick with it this time around.  it's super fun!  the idea is not to necessarily go out for dinner or a movie (although that's what we did this week), but just to spend some dedicated time with each other doing something fun, and special.  we've done movie night at home, and even walked around the mall, or gone for a walk or bike ride near our house.  fun!
this week, we decided to go see the social network the story of the facebook start-up and rise.  we stumbled upon an interesting Mexican restaurant slash tequila bar a block from the movies and had great time. yum and fun!! <3 xo

ry at Verdade

cover art for 2nd CD single, done and released!

CD single - "Never Let You Go (RIP Mum)" by Elisa O'keefe-Smith

I did the cover design for Elisa's single "Never Let You Go (RIP Mum)".  Photo taken by Andy Tavares, hair and makeup by Kim Tavares.  This is her second single released on itunes.  Here is a link to Elisa's music on itunes and here is her Facebook page.  Hope you like the cover art, and hope you like Elisa's music! xo

emmys: my best dressed!

These are my favorite looks from the Emmys this year.  Meaning, gown is gorgeous, hair and accessories work well with the gown, and the overlook works on the person wearing it.  For example if the whole look is great for a 50 year old and a 20 year old has it on...just doesn't work!!!  I did see this happen with one Glee star (not pictured), everything was fab, but the whole look was much too old for her!!

It's hard not to post every dress that i love.  There are so many beautiful people in beautiful dresses, but so often the entire look is thrown off when one component (like hair, or shoes!!) doesn't work with the dress.  To those gorgeous people, better luck next year?

yay!! favs. both hot and stunning!!

gorgeous navy and midnight blues! gorgeous!

stunning, beautiful, hot!

honorable mentions, very nice!!

and honorable mentions, nice!

Love these award shows!
(photos from: nydailynews, yahoo, and harpersbazaar, huffingtonpost)

summer recap..not that it's over yet!!

donkin donuts, mc donalds, wawa, starbucks coffee drinks...

To keep cool this summer, i've consumed more than a-healthy amount of frozen coffee drinks.  they sure are good!!!  I think the best is donkin donuts, although i am happy with almost anything cold, coffee, and sweet!

V and Ryan... too cute!!

Otherwise, summer was mostly a few fun visits with my niece, V, some fun girls weekends, spending time with friends in VT, one night of "camping", and i did a little painting!  summer is the best, yay summer!! <3

us at the sugarbush farmers' market in VT

Bebz and me at the lilith fair

and Tar at the lilith fair!

out with Amy and Jen celebrating Amy's bachelorette!!

still life #2 of the season

Oh yeah, and ryan and i just had our two year wedding anniversary.  we went biking, had a lunch in the park and saw a movie.  ahh... love!

our 2-year wedding anniversary date!! <3
(like our date outfits?? i do!)

"Room For Love" Single Art - Done!

I just finished the art for Elisa's music single"Room for Love"!  Here's a look:

CD single - "Room for Love" by Elisa O'keefe-Smith

Elisa is uploading her song and the art to iTunes and she may also want to do a hard copy CD at some point.  Her style is a bit R&B, a bit pop, soul and funk all mixed together!  I hope the art can somewhat represent this vibe.  This is her Facebook page where you can hear the song (since it's not on iTunes yet)!  Fun!! <3

homemade yogurt ice cream: vanilla and strawberry variations!!

I made both vanilla and strawberry "yogurt-ice cream" over the last few weeks!  Both flavors turned out really delicious and fruity tasting (even though the vanilla didn't have any fruit in it)!!  These recipes were adapted from the vanilla yogurt recipe in The Ultimate Ice Cream Book.  Since i like to find and make lower-fat and healthier variations of recipes when i can, i decided to substitute coconut milk+milk for heavy cream here.  I got the idea from making coconut ice cream last month.  I thought, "hmm..that coconut milk is kinda creamy, maybe i can use it instead of heavy cream"!  it seems like it is healthier, but i haven't done a comparison of the nutrition information side by side, so i can't say for sure.  Here's what i did:

Vanilla
2 cups (vanilla, organic) yogurt - strain (in strainer through a cheesecloth or wet paper towel to get a very fine strain) in fridge for 1-2 hours (to get 2/3 cups liquid out of the yogurt), discard liquid
2/3 cup sugar whisk into post strained-yogurt until dissolved
1 cup (2%, organic) milk
1/2 cup (light, organic) coconut milk
2 T vanilla extract
Strain yogurt for a few hours in refrigerator.  In a separate bowl, mix coconut milk, milk, and vanilla together, and chill.  When yogurt has been strained, discard liquid; add 2/3 cup sugar and whisk until dissolved.  Add milk mixture to yogurt mixture.  Mix with ice cream maker until frozen.  Serve with fruit or chocolate cookies.

After making the vanilla yogurt ice cream, i felt like a pro and was ready to tackle a fruity flavor!  I basically used the same recipe, added strawberries and a bit more sugar (to compensate for the extra volume of the strawberries; i realized afterward, it was probably not necessary and would have been good without the extra sugar).

Strawberry
2 cups (vanilla, organic) yogurt - strain (in strainer through a cheesecloth or wet paper towel to get a very fine strain) in fridge for 1-2 hours (to get 2/3 cups liquid out of the yogurt), discard liquid
2/3 cup sugar whisk into post strained-yogurt until dissolved
1/2 cup (2%, organic) milk
1 cup (light, organic) coconut milk
2 T vanilla extract
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup sugar (in addition to 2/3 cup)
Same process as above for yogurt.  While yogurt is chilling, mix strawberries, milk, coconut milk, vanilla, and 1/4 cup sugar in a blender until strawberries are desired texture. Chill strawberry mixture until yogurt is ready.  Add strawberry mixture to yogurt mixer.  Mix with ice cream maker until frozen.<3

right out of the machine, the ice cream is soupy!

after a while in the freezer it looks like this, yum!

Amy's Bridal Shower!!

Sunday was Amy's bridal shower, it was a total success!  She definitely had a great time as evident by the her smile in every picture snapped!  There were a ton of games, food, photos, flowers and gifts.  My favorite game was Amy vs her mother-in-law for "who knows Arturo (Antonio) best".  Her cousin Jason was the only guy allowed, he shot the photos.  Nice job Jason, and thanks for letting me use them!

I made chocolate chip cookies (Ryan helped, but I really ran the show) to give as favors for the guest.  They came out well, but there aren't any good photos of them!  Ryan asked later if "anyone said that they were the best cookies they had ever eaten" haha... that got a few laughs.

Some of Amy's friends also compiled a recipe book with recipe contributions from most of the attendees (about 35 women)!

 Amy and her M-I-L

 bride-to-be and her recipe book

Can't wait for the Mazin-Marrufo wedding in October to celebrate with my dear friend!  Amy + Arturo = L-O-V-E!

 Amy's bridesmaids

women on Amy's side of the family

Mazin women

more friends

me and Am

On a sentimental note, celebrating with Amy yesterday also makes me appreciate the wonderful friends and family that made my bridal shower a special day for me.  Of course Amy was there! <3

..Betty Suarez!!

I was just caught up on a few of the last episodes of discontinued, Ugly Betty on ABC.com.  What a great show!  It just made me laugh and smile!!  All of the main characters were so quirky and cute.  The series finale was great, tying each story up neatly and ending on happy notes!
Best line of the last episode:  "..you have big balls Betty Suarez!!" - Wilhelmina Slater, congratulating Betty on following her dreams.

photos from ABC.com

I'll miss you Betty!!! <3

Coconut Ice Cream!!

I made coconut ice cream last week, delish!!!  I interpreted the recipe since I didn't have any coconut water as called for.  Instead, the only ingredients I used were coconut milk, water, a little sugar, and some shredded coconut!  It turned out great, really nice consistency, kinda frothy!  Yum!!  Of course I topped it off with chocolate chips; I did think about added them to the actual mixture, but wanted to taste the unadulterated coconut first.

 <3