Fashion Friday

Since it is such a GORGEOUS Friday here in Michigan, I wanted to talk about something frivolous and fun--nail polish!

Recently my manager stopped by my desk and noticed that both my co-worker and I  had the fourth finger on each of our hands painted a different color than the rest of our fingers. She said, "OK you guys, I have to ask. What's up with the one finger on each hand being painted a different color than the rest?"

I must admit, I was somewhat flattered. My manager is statuesque and fashionable, so if she's noticing, I generally feel pretty complimented.

Anyway, so...what IS up with the fourth finger being painted a different color than the rest? The answer is pretty simple--some celebs started it. Much like the popular kids in school, if they're doing it, we all do it.

Online sources have Beyoncé and Vanessa Hudgens as being arguably the first to rock this trend back in 2011.

I saw a great deal of this back in early 2012 when my wedding planning was in overdrive, but never participated until very recently.

Here was my first go at the "fourth finger trend" (also called "accent nail" trend).



As you can see, for my first go at this trend, I went with a subtle pick. I had all the nails painted pink and just had the fourth finger on each hand covered with silver glitter polish.

I've read a ton of stuff about this trend online and have even seen some "how to's" for this trend. Honestly though, much like fashion, there should be very few rules! (If any!) My non-rule rules are:

1. You can pick whatever colors you want! The two colors can be complimentary or totally contrasting--it's up to you, sweetie!

2. The accent finger can be the first, second, third, fourth or fifth finger! YOU pick which finger you want to stand out!

3. You can choose how you want to accent that finger--be it a different color,  a design or just a top embellishment coat, it's all your choice!

The second time I went and got this done, I went slightly more daring...

With a bajillion different variations and options, I don't think I'll tire of this trend for quite some time.

Maybe I'll try the ombre nails next....

Hope you're having a fabulous and fashionable Friday, friends!

Cheers,
Samara

Spring floral arrangements

Easter weekend (three whole days!) was a dizzy whirlwind of delicious activity and was over before I knew it. I was able to enjoy a fancy dinner with my brother at our local Knight Cap  with wine and great convo and brother/sister time, get together with my sister-in-law and some of my friends and spend much-needed quality time with my husband. 

Easter day was fantastic. After church, I prepared my green bean casserole to bring to my grandmother's for Easter dinner (I have officially become the one responsible for bringing this dish to all family holiday meals at grandma's), prepared all three of my nieces' Easter baskets (my house is now glitter-fied) and made floral arrangements for all the houses in my family.

Half of my family is dieting and the other half is complaining about their waistline and therefore thinking about dieting. So, I decided against Easter baskets (because even with non-food items, I wouldn't be able to resist throwing some sort of chocolate goodie in there) and opted instead for these springy  floral arrangements. Zero calorie content! 

All you need is:
1. Vases
2. Flowers
3. Lemons
4. Ribbon (and twine if you like)

I found these large vases on clearance from our local Meijer ($3.49 a piece!) and grabbed a ton of lemons and some bright, long-lasting flowers. (Note: I used more lemons than the amount pictured here.)

I cut the stems of all the flowers (I cut at a diagonal angle as this is supposed to be good for the flowers) to my desired height and took off all the leaves, etc. that were on the stem and which would be immersed in water. (This will help give your vase a cleaner look and you won't have soggy leave particles floating around in the vase.)

I just love the bright, vibrant spring colors in these flowers. Especially since it has been COLD in Michigan the last couple of days! *Brr*

Next I sliced the lemons, omitting the "butts" of the lemons.

 

Admittedly, this was my first time doing this type of an arrangement. I'm sure there are tutorials online, but I personally hate to stifle my creativity by doing something exactly like someone online if I can help it. Certain things like big DIY projects or involved recipes, sure, I'll follow step-by-step, but this is kind of an artsy, easy thing. :)


After slicing the lemons, I filled the vases up about halfway with water, stuck the flowers in the middle and began stuffing the lemons in the vase.

You should note that because I'm kind of artsy fartsy, I don't like things to always be "perfect". When you arrange the lemons, you can line them up perfectly if you wish (that might be your style!), but I opted to make them just slightly imperfect. (To me, intentionally making something slightly imperfect is perfection in of itself because it gives character.)

I'm really into this twine thing lately--especially when it's paired with something more sleek and sophisticated. So, I tied a beautiful green ribbon along with the twine around the vases to complete the look.

We stuck the vases on my Grandma's dinner table and they were a beautiful addition to our holiday meal.

And remember those butts you didn't use? Bag them up and use them for a sink freshener! Toss a handful of them into your garbage disposal, turn the faucet on and run your disposal for a few seconds, letting the lemons get crushed a bit. Your sink will smell wonderful!

My family loved the arrangements and my mom has thanked me every day since Easter for doing this and says her arrangement still looks brand new!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Cheers,
Samara

Easter Décor

Happy Easter Weekend, everyone! Here in Michigan, we have been greeted with buckets of sunshine and increasingly (finally!) warmer temperatures (50's--yeah!) for our Easter weekend. The weatherman is predicting rain for Easter day, but shhhh, we won't speak such ugly things! :)

It's also no secret that between work, grad school and the bajillion extracurriculars I have going on, I've been extremely short on time lately. And, thanks to St. Patrick's Day and Easter falling so close together on the calendar this year, I was left with nearly no time to decorate for Easter. Sorry, I just can't decorate for a holiday if it means plowing over another holiday (St. Patrick's Day). Especially since my Grandmother is 100% Irish! 

I went straight to my favorite shops to peruse this year's Easter decorations. Surprisingly, I didn't find things I liked at Pier 1. I love Pier 1, but every once in awhile, they "go left" with their decorations and they end up being a little too quirky for my taste.   (I still love you, Pier 1!)

This year, I found the most adorable items at Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma.

Every once in awhile, I get "cutesy" things because, well, I can't resist. I wonder who will be the recipient of this adorable little guy perched atop a wine bottle? Hmm....

I loved the contrast of the twine (rough,rustic) with the elegance and glam of these sparkly Easter eggs.

 I liked the contrast so much that I mimicked it with these mercury easter eggs by stringing them with twine I had at home.

I hung all the eggs from our dining room table tree. (Love that tree! One of my smartest purchases!)

Here's our wreath! I bought this wreath from Pier 1 last Easter. I love it because after Easter, you can keep it up throughout spring.

Again, here is another adorable and "cutesy" purchase. 

 I picked up some beautiful, long lasting flowers from our local grocerer...

And placed them inside a vase that I placed inside an Easter basket. This Easter basket has zero calorie content! ;-)

Next to the dining room table tree, I placed a box of these delicious Parisian easter-colored, candy-coated almonds. DELICIOUS!

And of course, no Easter would be right or complete without these delicious, addictive Cadbury eggs. I placed these near the Easter basket of flowers.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!!

Cheers,
Samara

Friday Night Food Fiesta

Raise your wine glasses, friends--we have made it to Friday! Today I thought I'd share a delicious and low-fat recipe I recently made for my husband and me. It is seriously one of the easiest, quickest, most delicious recipes I've made in a good long while. (Just what you need for Friday night, after a long week of work when you probably have little-to-no energy!) And while it may still be very cold and snowy here in Michigan, spring is technically here. This recipe will help you dream of the beautiful upcoming spring and summer. Pair this dish with your favorite sangria and enjoy!!

Southwestern Fried Rice Chicken 

(Obtained from Weight Watchers' "Four Ingredient 10 Minute Recipes" magazine.)

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups pulled cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts*

1/2 teaspoon salt-free Southwest chipotle seasoning

2 (8.5) packages Southwest-style precooked whole-grain rice medley

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

*I totally cheated with the cooked chicken. I picked up a cooked rotisserie chicken from my local grocer, took the skin off and used the chicken. HUGE time saver!!

Directions:

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.

2. Add garlic, sauté 30 seconds. 

3. Stir in chicken and seasoning. Sauté 1 minute. 

4. Add rice and 1/4 cup water;cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. 

5. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Yields 4 servings (serving size, 1 cup). 7 Weight Watchers points per serving!

Ready to cook?

Ingredients are ready!

Have a fabulous Friday!

  

Cheers,
Samara

Jammed St. Paddy's Day Weekend

Between overtime at work on Saturday, Finance homework for school and a work committee project, I managed to squeeze in a little fun this St. Paddy's Day Weekend.

My Aunt Macy was in town visiting from Louisville, Kentucky and nearly all the women in the family decided to do a late celebration of her birthday (which was earlier this month) at, where else? The nail salon!

 So many colors, so little time

 

We sipped champagne

And the salon owner made some of her delicious egg rolls for us to enjoy

 

Here we are! L to R: Me, My mom, Aunt Margaret, Aunt Macy, Grandma and Sister-In-Law Angie

I'm fairly certain my mom wished I'd stop having pictures taken so she could eat her egg roll--ha!

 My final hand product. What do you think, darlings? :)

 

       

Some of us were finished quicker than others, so we headed next door to Chapelure, a coffee and fine pastry shop.

This is just a small sample of the pastries they sell. Sooooo hard to decide, so we purchased an assortment of pastries and took them back to the salon to torture those still getting their nails done. (Muahahaha) OK, we really did share the pastries, but we were able to enjoy the desserts without the awkwardness of balancing our (still going) nail appointment. ;-)



After we'd been waiting for awhile, some of the ladies got restless and decided to have a hand display "fight". The one with the most nails left is the victor!

 

We had a very brief intermission before the Irish birthday dinner started!

My husband and I purchased an iTunes gift card (on the wish list!) for my Aunt and wrapped up the gift we'd picked up for her on our honeymoon last year from The Vatican--a rosary in her favorite color. (Green)

Dinner was delicious and cooked by my (very Irish) Grandmother. Corn beef and cabbage! I'm not really a beer drinker, so a few years ago when my husband and I had just started dating, he suggested this cidery beer--Strongbow--and I've had it on every St. Paddy's Day since! Add a maraschino cherry and you have a non-beer drinker's St. Patty's Day drink perfection!

   

I whipped up a quick and delicious breakfast (American, not Irish, sorry!) for me and my husband on the morning of St. Paddy's and served it on beautifully handmade green plates. (A wedding gift!)

 And, very sadly, this is what I posted to Instagram Sunday afternoon. My ACTUAL St. Paddy's Day festivities--Finance homework. Blah. Note the festive spirit on the homework, though!

  

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Happy St. Paddy's Day from the Morgans!

Cheers,

Samara

Saturdays and Strawberries

A couple of nights ago, I shared this picture from my Instagram account after whipping together a little treat for my me and my husband. 

I received so many "likes" on Facebook, that I decided to put it up on the blog. It's the easiest recipe ever and is extremely low fat. You need only three ingredients! 

Ingredients

1. (Spray) whip cream

2. Strawberrries* (cleaned, sliced and diced)

3. Dessert shell (shortcake)

* Feel free to substitute with another type of fruit, but strawberry is my favorite!

Take one dessert shell (one per glass) and break it up into little pieces and drop into champagne glass.

             

Next, take a spoon and press the shortcake down into the glass to allow for more room to complete your layers.

   

Take a small handful of strawberries and place them on top of the shortcake.

Spray a little whip cream. Complete a second layer--shortcake, fruit, whip cream.

Top off with a strawberry garnish and enjoy! 

Happy Saturday!!

Cheers,
Samara