December Favorites!

While the majority of my discretionary income this past month was spent on Christmas gifts, I did treat myself to a few goodies. Please enjoy my first ‘favorites’ video which highlights some of the items I’ve been loving lately.

Alyssa

Bracelets

Its safe to say that bracelet stacking is a huge trend. I love this trend and I know it can be overwhelming when deciding which bracelets to buy so I thought I’d share my all time favorites. I pretty much wear the same jewelry everyday so I have two main sets of bracelets that I alternate depending on my outfit. Lets start with the staples, regardless of the stretch bracelets I wear, I always wear my gold cuff from Satya and my small silver cuff from David Yurman. I have unusually small wrists so it took me forever to find these cuffs, but I bought the gold one because it can be squeezed smaller and I bought the silver one because its from the baby collection so its small.

My first bracelet look contains dark colors; one blue, one silver and one pearl. All three bracelets have gold charms hanging off (the blue has a moon, the silver has a sun and the pearl has a lotus flower, all from Satya).

My second bracelet look contains more earthy colors; one brown, one multi-color green, and one orange. The brown and orange bracelets have gold charms hanging off, while the multi-color green has a silver charm (all three charms are the tree of life, all from Satya).

Alexa

Fresh Nails

As you may have seen in a recent post, I tried Maybelline’s nail stickers for the first time last week. I loved how my nails came out and after 7 days the stickers were still on! However, all my other nails had chipped. Here is a picture:

 I wasn’t ready to take the perfectly looking stickers off, so I decided to remove the paint from my other nails and try something a little different. Below are the after pictures that show my freshly manicured nails with OPI’s Black Onyx. I used silver glitter to create a reverse French manicure effect.

(My new goodies from Sephora!)

Alyssa

Now Bring us some Figgy Pudding

Have you ever wondered what exactly figgy pudding is and how it tastes? Well, I did. So, I located a recipe on the Food Network’s website and decided to test it out for myself. The recipe I followed is below, however I made a few modifications which I have noted at the end.

Pudding Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups chopped dried pitted dates
• ½ cup chopped dried figs
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 7 tablespoons of softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ½ cups self-rising flour
• 2 ½ ounces of grated dark chocolate*
• Pam/butter for coating ramekins** 

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 14 tablespoons of butter***
• Fresh figs for garnish (optional)
• Ice cream or whipped cream for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Add the dates, dried figs and water to a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the baking soda. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then add to a blender and puree.
3. Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat well. Fold in the flour, the pureed date mixture and the chocolate.
4. Put the mixture into 4 buttered, 1-cup individual ramekins, filling halfway or slightly under. Put in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Prepare the sauce by stirring the sugar, cream and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Simmer until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until incorporated.
6. Remove the ramekins from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes. May be served in the ramekin or unmolded onto a small serving plate. With paring knife cut a cross in the top of the puddings for the sauce.
7. Pour the sauce into the cross in the center of each pudding, then pour more sauce over the puddings and it allow to soak in slightly. Top with fresh figs and vanilla ice cream or heavily whipped cream. Serve warm.

*This is way too little chocolate. I strongly recommend adding a LOT more chocolate shavings or perhaps a cup of coco powder

**Instead of using individual ramekins, I used a baking pan. Therefore, it took approximately 30 – 35 minutes to bake fully as opposed to the 20 – 25 recommended above.

***14 tablespoons of butter is insane! 7 tablespoons are sufficient.

As far as the taste is concerned, in my opinion it was very similar to a date and nut bread or even banana bread, which is strange because there are no bananas in this recipe. I much prefer chocolaty decadent treats, but this was very good as it was a nice change of pace and now I finally know what figgy pudding is and how it is made.

Alyssa

Holiday Nail Art

 Before

 After I

After II

You’ve probably heard it several times by now, but I’ll remind you again – Christmas is right around the corner! So, don’t wait any longer to adorn your nails in holiday hues. For an early December look I opted for Essie’s Stylenomics on every finger but my ring fingers. For my ring fingers I used Maybelline’s color show nail stickers in a metal prism pattern. This was the first time I used nail stickers and I have to say that it could not have been easier. They went on flawlessly and look great. However, I do find it a little odd that the package only includes 18 stickers, which is two stickers shy of two full manicures. Good thing I don’t plan on using these stickers on every finger, rather I will stick with an accent nail.

You can read Alexa’s earlier post about Sally Hansen’s nail stickers by clicking here.

Alyssa

Fragrance Collection

We hope you enjoy a video featuring our favorite fragrances!

Alyssa and Alexa