Recipes, projects & products that don’t suck.

Yesterday I stopped at T.J.Maxx for nothing in particular – and I scored! Of course, had I been searching for something specific, I would have found nothing. Our TJ is starting to carry more furniture, but it’s still quite sparse. I am DYING for a HomeGoods store in our area. The closest one is hours away. Let me back up to a few weeks ago. Again, I just happened to stop at TJ and found the linen nailhead chair (first photo) for just $300. It was the perfect chair for a corner I’d been looking to fill. After installing a flat screen above the fireplace (don’t judge me), it opened up an entire corner in our living room, providing more seating space. I snapped a…

RECIPE: Vegan Caprese Salad FROM: Amanda at Pickles & Honey “Pickles & Honey” – how stinking cute is that? I have blog name envy. What’s even better is the reason behind the name. And her “About” page hit home with me, too. I can definitely relate to her story. I, too, have pipe dreams about living in northern California. After reading her story, maybe I should stay put ;) It has been mega hot here, so when I spotted this vegan take on the light, summer-y Caprese Salad, I knew I had to try it. Before I had a chance to make it, we went out for dinner with friends. If you’re a vegan, you know what a challenge it can be to order at…

RECIPE: Pineapple Not-So-Fried Rice FROM: Chloe Coscarelli’s cookbook, “Chloe’s Kitchen” I recently ordered this cookbook from Amazon (get it here) and was pleasantly surprised. If you’re not familiar with Chef Chloe Coscarelli, be sure to check out her gorgeous website, which is full of really great vegan recipes, videos and photos. She took home first place on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” making her the first vegan ever to win on a Food Network competition. This girl’s got skills, yo. I love a cookbook with big, beautiful photos. This one doesn’t disappoint – it is FULL of them. In fact, the photo of this recipe looked so good that I HAD to try it. Although it is time-consuming, it is not difficult and the payoff is…

No, I am not being paid to review any of these products. I am simply a makeup junkie and I love to share good finds. My favorite brand is bareMinerals (I have enough bM to sink a small ship). I’ve been a groupie for over a decade and they very rarely disappoint. Not all beauty products are created equal. There are a lot of “lemons” out there (don’t you hate it when the promises on the package/website are an outright lie!?). My routine changes all the time, but right now, these are my faves: bareMinerals Active Cell Renewal Night Serum I started using this product around the same time that I went Vegan (February of 2012). Not long after, my (usually very problematic, acne-prone skin) cleared up…

RECIPE: Last Minute Protein Energy Bars FROM: Angela Liddon of Oh She Glows Oh She Glows is one of my favorite blogs and I look forward to every post. Angela is always coming up with excellent healthy vegan recipes. I cannot wait for her cookbook to come out! Her very handy Recipage makes it easy to find and print  her recipes (with beautiful photos – luv that). I have a binder full of OSG recipes and I’ve yet to find one I didn’t like. I’m happy to report that this is an easy recipe with little prep time, no cooking time, moderate clean up time and a DELICIOUS candybar-like flavor. I do feel like they gave me some extra energy, but they are not filling….