Improvise.

A good cook always has secrets. My secret is to improvise! Don't think that I am crazy, but one day a couple of years ago I was watching Everyday Italian on the Food Network by myself and Giada made this awesome looking pasta. I didn't have time to get a pen and paper so I just watched her and thought I would be able to remember all of the ingredients. Needless to say, I went to the grocery store a couple of days later to make the pasta. I got back home, and realized, I had bought pancetta instead of prosciutto, Parmesan instead of mozzarella, and completely spaced off the basil!

Well, since I still had some asparagus left over from the other night, I thought what can I make with it so it doesn't seem like we just ate it earlier this week? Ah-ha, I remembered Giada's recipe from a long time ago that I never got around to making! I was so excited because I had all of the ingredients, except the spaghetti. Shoot. Luckily, I had Rotelle noodles, and to be honest, I think they looked a lot prettier than the spaghetti would have.


If you'd like to try making this lovely pasta, you can find the recipe here. It's wonderful, it took about two years in the making ;)

Slumdog Millionaire.

I love watching movies. I could do it all day long. Joseph doesn't get it, but the funny thing is that I usually always end up buying the ones I see because something about each one inspires me. I was originally going to blog about twilight, but during my blogging "break", Joseph and I watched Slumdog Millionaire. If you haven't seen it, cancel whatever you are doing this very second and go see it right now. It is beautiful. I can see why it won Best Picture by the Academy. All I have to say is, Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times, was completely correct in stating that "This is a breathless, exciting story, heartbreaking and exhilarating at the same time..."



As for that other movie... oh yea, twilight, I liked it a lot. It's probably on my list to buy but not before getting Slumdog Millionaire. I can hardly stand waiting for it to come out on DVD. Watch it and then call me and tell me how much you loved it!

Tocca.

I recently have become obcessed with the scent Florence by Tocca Candles. I originally got one for Carolyn for Christmas and she loved it. I didn't really get a chance to get the full of effect of it because we moved shortly after but she got me one for my birthday! Joseph got sick of my Journey of the Bee Candle (which is also one of my favorites) so he started burning the Tocca. It is a-mazing. The scent it beautiful and literally breath taking. If you live in Des Moines, eden in the place to go, in San Diego I am pretty sure Saks has them. I wish you could scratch and sniff through the computer!

Designer Alert.

Last night, Allison and I did another Fashion Show Event for Collide at the Ruby Room, "where Art meets Fashion". We had three designers, none of which I was a particular fan of, but that's my personal opinion. To give you an idea, one of the labels was Trashy Klassy. It was pretty much a line of semi-slutty ripped up shirts, but the designer was super sweet. The one designer that still sticks out in my mind as one of my favorites is PetraO, from my first Ruby Room/Collide Event. She's very Fashion Forward, and I think that is what I like about her. Of course you'd probably get some strange looks wearing her clothing to the grocery store, but it's very artistic and when dressing the models, you can see how much attention she pays to detail. I love it!

Dinner Party Idea.

Joseph took this picture with my phone and I set it as my background because I liked it so much. It's actually a setup they had at Anthropologie. I'd love to have this in my dining room some day or I even think it would be great for a dinner party! I miss having them.

Asparagus. Prosciutto. Rice.

If you haven't had prosciutto before, try it with something! A while ago I bought some and had it go bad because I forgot to use it. Shoot! But, Erica was over the other night and she was telling me how much Chris (Her Fiance) loves it, so I thought I should give it another go.



I had some asparagus on hand so I thought I could use both. The Food Network is usually my "go-to" place when I have ingredients that I want to use together but I'm not sure exactly what to do with. I found a great recipe by Giada DeLaurentis here.



It turned out great! Joseph didn't think that he would get full or like it very much but he did! It seemed somewhat healthy :) I made some delicious brown rice, too. I used to not be crazy about brown rice, but now I love it. To add some flavor, I saute freshly minced garlic and a little yellow diced onion with oil with the rice before adding chicken stock. Yummmm!

KiWi.

Have you ever heard of KiWi? Well, the first time I had been to one of their boutiques in St.Barth's was a few years ago and I LOVED it. They have the cutest shorts and bathing suits, in my opinion. Carolyn (Joseph's Mom) usually buys me one every time she goes in January, but since we went this month, I picked out a new one! Tell me what you think...