a rainy day and pesto sauce

Today I know I will accomplish absolutely no research in my apartment unless I go elsewhere. It's another rainy day here in the Fort Lauderdale area. There are plenty of things I could do here in my apartment, sleep all day, sleep all day, sleep all day. Therefore, although taking endless naps seems like such a splendid activity, I decided to spend the day at the library searching for some much needed material. My lunch is packed and I'm ready to go.

A homemade shrimp pesto pasta dish is driving with me to university. Eating leftover foods that have been made at home are oh so much a healthier option and are also better on your pocket. Campus meals can become extremely pricey if purchased on a daily basis.

I make my pesto sauce from scratch. In my little patio garden I have a basil plant that, in order to guarantee it's continued success as a basil leaf producer, I had to trim. The great thing about making pesto sauce is that it's not as difficult as it might seem.

Once I had my sauce ready, I cooked some whole wheat pasta following the directions labeled on the box. In a large sauce pan I sautéed veggies (some are fruits) diced into medium chunks: tomatoes, onion, carrots, red bell pepper, and olives. Then I added about a cup of already cooked frozen shrimp, introduced the pasta into my concoction and at the very ended combined the pesto sauce.

Rinsing trimmed pesto stems before taking its leaves.

Leaves are washed and patted down with a dry paper towel.

Ready to go!

mango delight

 I simply love the taste and texture of tropical fruits such as mangoes and papayas and pineapples and... I could easily keep on adding to my list. The past two weeks I have fortunately been gifted mangoes from my best friend Yessi and my boyfriend's mother. There are many mango trees in southern Florida and not only does the grocery carry them abundance but so do family and friends who have the tasty fruit growing in their back yards.

I've been eating a mango a day. I'm not sure if it keeps the doctor away, but it does keep my hunger at bay. The mango has become my healthy snack, however, I find myself always adding a few condiments that make the sweetness of the fruit even more tastier: 

Enjoy!

What you will need:
1. A peeled mango then sliced.
2. Sea salt, add to your liking on sliced mango
3. Ground cayenne pepper, add to your liking (I recommend finding a local Mexican grocery store if you are unable to find it at your major grocery chain or farmer's market.)
4. Lime
5. A citrus squeezer
6. A container to store the remaining lime

You can easily omit the ground cayenne pepper if spicy is not what you're into. I grew up eating many fruits and veggies in this manner as a healthier snack choice. Some veggies and fruits you can use are cucumber, boiled potatoes, lettuce, jicama, papaya, and apples to name a few. I do warn you however, that this quick snack recipe might not please everyone's palate. But please do give it a try, at least once.

lip balm

I tend to have chapped lips quite often during the winter months here in south Florida. My winter is obviously not as dreary as others' can be, but, for long time Floridians it sometimes can become a bit too cold for comfort. I will also have chapped lips during the summer months. Lips tend to become dry when there is a lack of moisture, I probably haven't been drinking enough water or have been spending to much time inside doors. This weekend was full of thunderstorms here in south Florida.

In any case, I have my own treatment to get the dry skin off, other than just constantly applying lip balm and hoping for it to miraculously go away. When I brush my teeth in the morning I also lightly brush my lips to rid myself of the dead skin cells. Exfoliation! After this is done, my lips feel soft and I immediately coat my lips with lip balm.

My current favorite lip moisturizers are by Aveeno and Burt's Bees and both offer sun protection.

a summer birthday cake

This weekend a dear girl friend of mine had an early celebration for her birthday. I made her her birthday cake. It's a long process, but so much better than just going to a store and buying a cake that many times is too sweet and has such a generic taste. I didn't completely make it from scratch, since I did use two boxes of vanilla cake mix. Nevertheless, I still HAD to make it my own.

I added 6 oz of a strawberry yogurt to each batter mix and mixed. The yogurt makes the cake moist and when it's a fruit yogurt you can taste the hint of the fruit. Plus adding some strawberry jelly as filling for a two layered cake helps tremendously.Then towards the end I mixed in some sprinkles, you can never be too old for some confetti fun.

I did however make the butter cream frosting from scratch. This is probably the most tedious section of cake making, nevertheless, it becomes the most satisfying when people take a bite of the final product and really like it or when you find out they kept on eating the cake the next day as their breakfast, lunch and dinner. Talk about decadent addiction.

Two layered cake with Bonne Maman (my favorite) jelly as the filling.

Making the frosting. The powdered sugar must be sifted to achieve the right consistency.

Finally decorating!

Some pretty simple piped flowers.

Ready to surprise my friend!

Foucault and Essie

Yesterday I worked briefly on my Qualifying list. You'll be hearing about the wonderful Qualifying list on and off throughout the rest of the summer and until mid September, so I'll let the explanation of it come as need be. It'll add more suspense for both you and myself. Actually, a lot of tension for me. In any case, it matters not, because I'm a big fan of Foucault. I love his writing, or more precisely, the English translations of his work. I don't have two books/lectures of his so I went to Amazon's site and purchased them. I could easily have checked the books out from the library, however, I have a Foucault collection happening already. I am a fan.

I feel about books like many fashion savvy individuals feel about clothes and statement pieces, i.e. accessories. I'm working on this latter part. Therefore, I decided to purchase a nail polish that matched my future book's front cover. I KNOW. But the prices on the Foucault books and Essie nail polish were unbeatable. Perfect for my student budget. Plus when all three items arrive, I will be matching my literature.

A fan of Foucault and now Essie. Essie was introduced to me two birthdays ago by a best friend and university peer. The polish is from a 2009 winter collection, but I think it will be perfect for my summer days. Makes me think of mint chocolate icecream.

And speaking of birthdays, today is my boyfriend's birthday. His present is wrapped and ready to go.
Happy birthday my love!

makeup and books

Today was a productive day. Not only did I feel cute but I felt intellectually accomplished. On the cuteness part, well I wore a bit of makeup. Our Florida weather only allows for limited dressing up, unless you plan on walking very little and only being inside an air conditioned building. I have to walk a distance when on campus and then carry tote bags full of books when leaving the university's library. Therefore, cute and casual is my preference during warm summer days. Soon you will see the stack of books I have acquired...

Today's make-up: Mary Kay powder, Almay eye shadow and concealer,
Kohl eyeliner and Burt's bees lip gloss.

I didn't have anyone to take a picture of me so here is a similar arrangement of my outfit. The jacket was for inside the library, it gets extremely cold in there. I do own this awesome Meet Me at Sunset nail polish color by Essie.

Walking on campus is beautiful. However, the picture doesn't portray the high levels of humidity.

Ocean beauty

I just got back from practicing a little yoga by the beach. An unplanned event that turned out to be just wonderful. My kickboxing class was cancelled for the evening and a substitute conditioning class was offered instead. It didn't interest me...how horrible of me. Nevertheless, I still managed to get some exercise in this evening. I convinced my friend, who also happens to be a yoga instructor, that we should go to the beach and invite others for yoga. He agreed.

It had been raining all day and the calmness of the ocean after a Florida storm was an amazing sight to behold, especially after I realized my muscles were working quite hard during yoga. Afterwards, my body felt content and in particular my eyes, there is nothing like staring at the vastness of the Atlantic ocean just as dusk approaches.

Taking it all in after an intense hour of stretching my muscles.

David, our yoga instructor. You can learn more about him here - http://davidgoldsztajnfarelo.blogspot.com

summer Inspiration

Earlier this week I was chatting with my lifelong childhood friend Yessi. We're so different. Yet, we get a long quite well. She offered me some inspiration and here I am appreciating the little things that surround me. I like creativity, I like staying busy, and I love learning, anything.

This is my way of going green. Hanging my freshly washed workout clothes and pj's on sunny weekend days in my small patio garden.

Prepping with basic tools and some beautiful chiffon material to make scarves.

I'll be selling my creations at a local art warehouse. These scarves are perfect for summer elegance.  

Looking forward to reading this novel by Brazilian author Ana Maria Gonçalves.