Tuesday, April 30, 2013

April Top Three

Today I'm linking up with Amy from Fashion & Beauty Finds to show my favorite three looks from April:




I cannot believe tomorrow will be May already.  What it means for me is that I need to really get stuff done over the next couple of weeks, because somehow between the end of May and mid-July every.single.weekend is already booked.  I'm not complaining though because it's a lot of fun stuff, including a couple of trips, two weddings, and one epic Third of July party (yes, you read that one correctly).  And of course warmer weather, which we're getting a taste of today.  Helloooooo, 80 degrees!

Fashionandbeautyfinds.blogspot.com



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Monday, April 29, 2013

Ensemble: Skirt Day

On a sunny spring day in high school, one of my guy friends commented that it was his favorite day of the year.  Why?  Because it was "Skirt Day," an unofficial holiday apparently celebrated by the males at our school.  Skirt Day is the first warm day of the year when every girl decides to wear a skirt with bare legs.  Not the most empowering of days I guess, but it really does happen every year.  At least it's better than the other unofficial holiday at our school, "Misogynist Thursday," which according to Facebook, a lot of my former classmates still celebrate.


Blouse - Gap / Skirt - Loft / Bag - Express (old, similar here and here) / Shoes - Sole Society / Necklace - Baublebar (similar here and here)


I'm betting that in Chicago, Skirt Day is going down today.  The high is in the mid-70's, which sounds glorious after this rainy and cold spring we've been having.  


Hooray for bare legs!  This is where normal people would comment on how white their legs are, but honestly, my legs are always this color.  I'm used to it.  


Happy Skirt Day!


 Linking up this post with FACE IT Catalog and Coffee Beans and Bobby Pins

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Friday, April 26, 2013

Want//Need: Weekender Bag

Just all kinds of housekeeping this week: I finally made a blog button, seeeeee, right over to your left! Let me know if you're interested in swapping with me. Wink wink.  Also, I'm being featured today on Simple Easy Style, check it out here.

I've had a weekender bag on my wishlist for a while now.  I realized that with all of the traveling I have coming up between work, vacations, and various weddings, it's become much more of a need than a want.  I've been traveling the past couple of years with an Adidas duffel as my carry on, not so chic!


1. / 2. / 3. / 4. / 5. / 6. / 7. 

While putting this post together, I may have pulled the trigger on one of these babies, can you guess which one I chose?




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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Ensemble: Purple Pattern

I can't believe it's taken you this long to meet, but I'd like to introduce you to my favorite skirt.  She's held top billing for the past three years running.  There have been several periods where I wore this baby to work embarrassingly often.  Like once a week.


Blouse - Express (old, similar here) / Skirt - Gap (old, similar here) / Booties - BCBG (old, similar here) / Bracelets - ASOS & Michael Kors


The pleats, the pattern, the cut, the pockets, I love everything about it.  


Let's hope we have many happy work days in our future together.



(Linking up with Vodka Infused Lemonade)

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Easy Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce

When I moved into my first apartment, I almost became a vegetarian.

Not for any moral reasons, but because touching raw meat grossed me out.  I was such a cooking novice.  I could scramble an egg, make a grilled cheese or a quesadilla, and boil pasta.  That was my meal rotation until I figured out just how easy it was to make a stir fry.  Then I had five things I could make.

Thanks to the frequency that stir fry appeared in my cooking schedule, I like to think I got pretty good at making it.  Pretty darn good.  Or so the boyfriend says.  I even overcame my fears and started adding in meat.

My favorite kind to make is chicken with vegetables in oyster sauce.  In case you're nervous about what the eff oyster sauce is (ahem, like some of my friends), it's the sauce that usually is used with beef and broccoli.  And it's delicious.



Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
Makes 4 servings

Marinade Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil (or other oil if you don't have sesame on hand)
1 pound raw chicken, cut into bite size pieces

Add all ingredients to a medium bowl.  Whisk together.  Mix in the chicken, coating all of the pieces.  Put in the refrigerator to marinade while you prep the stir fry, about 15 minutes.




If your sous chef used his hands to do the mixing, make sure he washes them!

Stir Fry Ingredients
2 cups jasmine rice

3 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon grated ginger (hint: put this into the freezer, then when you need some it's easy to grate with a cheese grater)

1 onion, cut into slices
1 pound broccoli, cut into florets
2 bell peppers (I prefer red and orange), cut into slices
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons oyster sauce (or more, if you're an oyster sauce addict)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Cook rice as directed on the package.  While the rice is cooking, add half of the sesame oil, the garlic, and the ginger to a large skillet (or wok, if you happen to have one).  Cook over medium heat until you start to smell the garlic, about one minute.



Add in the onion and brocoli, stirring frequently.  Cook until broccoli turns a bright green, four to five minutes.



Add bell peppers and cook until the peppers cook through (peppers will turn to a duller color as they cook), about two minutes.  Remove vegetables from the pan.



While vegetables are cooking, mix together the rest of the sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, water, corn starch, brown sugar, and rice wine vinegar to make the sauce.  Set aside.



Add chicken, marinade, and about 1/3 of the sauce to the pan.  Cook until chicken is cooked through, three to four minutes.



Add the vegetables back to the pan.  Reduce the heat to low and pour the rest of the sauce on top.  Continue to cook one to two minutes until the sauce cooks down.  Serve over rice and enjoy!





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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Ensemble: Faux Floral Blazer

First a bit of housekeeping: the address of my blog is now kristinadoestheinternets.com.  If you have my blog bookmarked you may want to update it.  If you're using GFC or BlogLovin it should update automatically. 

After buying and returning several floral blazers that made me feel like a grandma, I finally found one I loved a couple of weeks ago.
Blazer - Target / Tank (old, similar here) and Jeans - Gap / Shoes (similar here) - Steve Madden

Then I wore it, and realized it wasn't actually a floral print.  More like abstract splotches of color.


Doesn't matter to me, I still love you, my faux floral blazer!


Are you hopping onboard this trend?


Linking up with:

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Le Weekend

My weekend was fantastic, the perfect mix of relaxing and activities.  Between going out for dinner and drinks with some friends, hitting the bar to watch the playoffs (ahem, the boyfriend was watching the playoffs), and going to class, I managed to get in some good laying time on the couch and worked on a couple of projects around the house.

A couple of shelves on our bookshelves are now considered done:



Others still require a bit more work:


I hung my fabulous new print from Parima Creative Studio:


And I set up what the boyfriend is calling "our love shrine" (I'm still planning on painting the table different shades of mint):


The print came from a giveaway from Rachel at Life Unsweetened:


So all in all, a fairly successful weekend.  I hope you had a good one too!




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Friday, April 19, 2013

Lazy Weekend


It's Friday.  Thank goodness.

I have no plans for Saturday.  Zip.  And I'm so excited.


I foresee lots of laying in my future.  You know, after I go crazy out on the town with my lady friends tonight.  Happy weekend!





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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Ensemble: Almost Anniversary

This is what I wanted to wear for my anniversary with the boo last week:

Dress - LC by Lauren Conrad (old, similar here) / Shoes - Nine West (old, similar here) / Bracelets - Loft (old, similar here)

Unfortunately it ended up being cold and rainy that day, so I ended up rocking a sweater dress and tights instead.  Sorry chiffron, I promise your day will come!


To celebrate, we went out for Japanese and then went to see Book of Mormon.  You know, something super romantical.  Book of Mormon was amazing!!  It was literally the most entertaining show I've ever been to.  Seriously.  "I Believe" has been stuck in my head all week, and I keep giggling to myself about it.  Have you seen it?  




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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

DIY: Candle Holder

I was wandering through Target the other day (let's be honest, I wander through Target most days) and came across this wooden "beer paddle" in the dollar section.  What?  Why would anyone want an unstable little piece of wood to carry bottles of beer?

But while it might be a terrible way to carry your beer, it looked like an excellent way to display some sparkly tea lights:


You need:
- One beer paddle
- Two contrasting colors of paint (I used a light mint and gold)
- A small brush


First I painted two coats of mint over the entire paddle.  Yes, this is mint colored paint, even though it looks white.


After letting it dry (about 30 minutes), I then used the gold to fill in the recessed circles.



And voila!  Project complete, leading the boyfriend to believe you did something productive with your Sunday and didn't just lay around watching reruns of Parks and Rec for hours and hours.


What would you do with a beer paddle?




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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Ensemble: Gingham and Pastels

Even though it's been mostly rainy and cold here in Chicago, we've gotten a couple brief glimpses of warmer weather (and always on the weekend, how convenient!).  I'm getting really excited about living in this new neighborhood for the summer - not only have I checked out the walk to the beach, but also (ahem) tested out the neighborhood gelato place.  


Shirt and Sweater - Gap / Jeans - Loft / Necklace - F21 / Flats - Payless



Also, it's fair to note, I'm pretty sure this gelato place isn't really serving gelato because the small size was about three ice cream scoops.  I'm not complaining.



What are you most excited for this summer?



Today I'm linking up with Fridays Five @ Coffee Beans and Bobby Pins
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