Last night was my mom’s annual Mexican dinner birthday bash and it was absolutely wonderful! Every year for my mom’s birthday we hit up a local Mexican restaurant, El Campesino for good food, frivolity, and hella margaritas! Here’s a few pics from the white girl wasted festivities:
^^^ She’s so cute!!! (And I feel like we look super alike in these pictures, so now you know where I got my striking good looks from! ;)) El Campesino is one of our all time favorites, and we had a complete blast. The restaurant was hoppin on a Friday night, but we got seated right away which was awesome. My mom’s birthday is on Sunday, but all of the members of the family crew could go out on Friday night so we celebrated early. We ordered our food and a pitcher of margs quickly because we were so hungry, and our food arrived in less than FIVE MINUTES!! Talk about service! The most adorable thing about my mom is that she’s a total lightweight, so within one glass of margarita, she was white girl wasted. The only words that I can use to sum up my mom when she’s wasteypants are as follows: funny, sloppy, and unpredictable. We annihilated our food and threw back our margs and had a gay old time. My favorite part of the night was when my mom decided it would be funny to knock her head on my shoulder while saying “timber” in the tune of Kesha and Pitbull’s hit. My mom loves Pitbull, so this one is for her:
The celebration was so fun and will carry on to tomorrow for her actual birthday, so don’t expect to hear from me tomorrow! I love you so much mama and I hope you have a fantastic birthday! Thank you for being my best friend and the most amazing mom a gal could ask for! You’re the most beautiful lady in the whole wide world and I’m SO lucky to have you as my mommy! ❤
I’m currently at Starbucks, where I’ve been working on math homework for the past two hours. -__- I desperately needed a break, so I figured now would be the perfect time to tell you guys all about my lovely family evening. But alas, I must get back to work, so I have to cut this post short. I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend, and I’ll check back in with you guys on Monday for the weekly update!
What are you guys up to this weekend? Any fun plans? What’s your family’s favorite way to celebrate a birthday? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! And make sure you leave my mama some birthday love in the comments! Much love. -Sarah
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!! #BFF!!!!!!
Happy Hump Day, gang! I hope you guys are all ready for some food porn, because I made a super fabulous dinner the other day! Take a look and let the drooling commence:
Viola! Noodles with an Asian peanut sauce, sauteed yellow peppers and garlic, scallions, and steamed broccoli. Or as I like to call it…delicious. Peanut noodles have been my all time favorite food for years now, thanks to my mom finding the recipe in our Moosewood cookbook. (AKA our go to guide for everything vegetarian!) My mom has been making the peanut sauce recipe for quite some time and I swear it never gets old. On Monday night I was craving my favorite dish something fierce honey, so I decided to make dinner for the family. I consulted the trusty cookbook, and began to create the spicy, orgasmic concoction that is peanut sauce. Within ten minutes the sauce was ready to go. The only minor difficulty I had was the fact that we were out of cider vinegar at home so I had to consult the Google machine to learn that red wine vinegar was a sufficient substitute. Usually this dish is served with scallions and cucumbers, but we didn’t have any cucumbers either, so I had to wing it a little. While inspecting the veggie drawer in the fridge, I found a sad looking yellow pepper and a bag of ready to be steamed broccoli…jackpot! While the spaghetti noodles were boiling away, I heated up a pan with some vegetable oil for the saute. I cut up the pepper in strips and added four cloves of garlic to the mix as well. I really was hoping that we had a red pepper, but you can’t always get what you want. -_- Anyways, with my veggies sauteing, my pasta boiling, and the sauce complete it was time for multitask mode. I cleared the kitchen table, set that bitch with the most mismatched dishes you could imagine, and tossed the steam bag broccoli into the microwave. All of this was completed in between stirring my pepper and garlic combo, taste testing my pasta, and cracking open a bottle of wine! BOOM. This fifteen minute free for all of finishing all of the final preparations resulted in an amazing meal. The spaghetti was cooked to perfection, the sauce was impeccable, and the veggies added a fresh take on an old favorite. Family dinner was a great success!
Peanut noodles are a perfect dish for the vegetarians in your life or for anyone who enjoys oriental cuisine. If you’re interested in the recipe, please let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to post it for you! It’s easy as pie to make and so super delicious!
^^^ I’ve been on such a Maroon 5 kick lately, and I kind of hate myself for it but I just can’t help it! They’re so damn catchy, and “In Your Pocket” has been my latest funky time jam. Enjoy! 😉
I hope all of you have a fabulous rest of your Hump Day doing whatever it is that you do! Would you like the peanut noodle recipe? Do you have any vegetarian recipe suggestions for me to try out? I’d love to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
I had an absolutely magical night yesterday thanks to my beloved best friend Kate, whom you guys know all about! For my Christmas gift, Kate got me tickets to see 2Cellos – AKA two hot guys playing classic rock and looking fine as hell. Last night was the night of the concert and we celebrated the belated holiday with a bang! To start the evening we went to the mall and did a little shopping, while sipping the most sub par coffee ever from Starbucks – but that’s okay! After an hour or so of perusing, it was off to dinner at Bravo, an absolutely delightful restaurant right across from the mall. I had never been there before and it was so delicious!! Bravo is an Italian restaurant, and it’s like a step up from the Olive Garden. I got the Penne Mediterranean and it was so insanely good! Penne pasta with a butter garlic sauce, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and feta cheese. YUM!!! After a beautiful meal it was off to EJ Thomas Hall, which is a stunning concert hall located near the University of Akron. As soon as we neared the university, the traffic was insane (it was a sold out show, so that explains it)! Luckily, Kate goes to Akron U, so she knew a super secret parking spot and we were able to beat the crowds of people waiting to park. Mwahaha. It was a bit of a trek to EJ Thomas, and it was freezing cold out! I instantly regretted wearing a maxi skirt and my beloved Vera Wang wedges…but not really – beauty is pain. Once we got into the warmth of the theatre, we found our seats, which were the most PERFECT nosebleed seats ever. Like seriously, they were amazing. We were smack dab in the middle of the row and we were essentially looking down on the stage so we could see everything perfectly! At EJ Thomas we were joined by Kate’s sister Erika and their lovely family friend Donna, whom I had never met before but heard amazing things about so that was such a treat! Here’s a few of the pre show selfies Kate and I took:
^^^^ I LOVE US!!!!
Anyways, the 2Cellos show was nothing short of phenomenal! The studs in my featured image picture are from Croatia and it’s safe to say that I’m in love with both of them. Throughout the night, the boys played some classical numbers, but mainly played cello versions of classic rock, like U2, Guns n’ Roses, AC/DC, Nirvana, and Michael Jackson. The music was astounding and the light shows put on were great as well. The best part of the night was when the beautiful blokes played their version of U2’s “With or Without You” which is mine and Kate’s favorite. We held hands (even though both of ours were super sweaty) the entire time and it was such an amazing moment to share with my best friend. Another awesome part of the performance was when they did a medley of Michael Jackson songs, including “Smooth Criminal” which was SO COOL!! The lights that were used during that number was perfect – bright whites and dark blue. WOOF! Needless to say, the music was impeccable, the night was lovely, and the boys of 2Cellos were so hot that they literally made me clutch my pearls. What more could a girl want?
^^^ Posted above are some of my favorite covers that 2Cellos performs, which I was lucky enough to see last night! If you enjoy good music, please PLEASE give these videos a watch….it will blow your mind!
So there you have it, mine and Kate’s late Christmas celebration extravaganza! We had such a beautiful time and I’m so lucky to have her as my best friend, partner in crime, and soul mate. Have any of you guys heard of 2Cellos before? What’s your favorite cover that they do? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much Love. – A Very Happy Sarah
So! A little known fact about Lil Red is that on the rare occasion that I feel like it, I can cook! This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I’ve been known to make a pretty bangin meal. Today is a special occasion because my oldest brother, Peter (who lives in Wisconsin) will be home for an entire week because he’s going to be laying down some chemical engineering knowledge at a local college. #boygenius Because I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks, I decided to make a family dinner….apparently excitement makes me want to cook. Go figure. Anyways, I whipped up some Chinese stir fry for the fam this evening and it turned out fabulous. Chinese is always a good option for my family because half of us (including myself) are vegetarian, so there’s a lot of tasty meat free choices to pick from. I normally never take pictures of my food, but I was so proud of this meal that I just had to, so here’s the final result:
Preparing this meal honestly wasn’t hard at all, it just took some time management to finish all of the dishes at the same time. Here’s a list of all of the dishes made by yours truly tonight:
Top Right – Sesame Tofu Stir Fry: This mix included hokkien noodles, steamed snow peas, and tofu with a sesame sauce. I just kind of free styled this one.
Bottom Right – Sweet & Sour Stir Fry: A fantastic mix from Aldi’s was used for this dish. Snow peas, carrots, red pepper, pineapple, and sauce were in this mix. I added the hokkien noodles to this as well to make it a bit more filling.
Middle – Steamed Snow Peas
Top Left – Brown Rice
Bottom Left – Vegetable Spring Rolls
Dinner was a success and my whole family really enjoyed it! I guess I should start cooking more often! Today has been wonderful. School this morning was boring as usual, but I actually learned a lot which was fun, I got tons of homework done this afternoon, and my brother should be home any minute now! There’s only one song that can give the fantastic mood I’m in justice, and it goes a little something like this….
Hahahaha ^^^^ SO, this weekend my mom and I were driving around running errands and she happens to have Sirius radio in her car. There’s a great station on Sirius called “80’s on 8” which plays all of the beloved one hit wonders of the 80’s. Wang Chung’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” played when we were in the car and we almost died laughing over the lyric “everybody Wang Chung tonight.” Ever since this past weekend my momma and I have been quoting it, and it’s obviously become our new favorite. EVERYBODY WANG CHUNG TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! #loveit
Alright guys, I hope you have a fabulous night doing whatever it is that you’re doing! I know I will – Brother/sister time is on the horizon! What’s your favorite meal to cook? What are some of your favorite vegetarian recipes? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Helllooooooo everyone and happy almost weekend!!! I’ve had a really fabulous week doing a bunch of fun stuff that I’d love to share with you guys. Maybe these ideas will give you something fun to do this weekend! Let’s discuss!
Cook Your Favorite Meal: Honestly…this one is just for my own personal enjoyment…but everyone likes food so WHY NOT let it be a group effort? During the week I had a really lovely evening with myself preparing my personal favorite meal. For about six years now my mom has made this absolutely delicious pasta salad. It uses red pepper, red onions, sauteed zucchini, mozzarella cheese, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. (You can also add herbs of your choosing and spinach if you’d like!) I could eat this salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…well maybe not breakfast…but it’s THAT good…so breakfast? Sure, why not?! I used to really love cooking and I’m not really sure why I ever stopped. (Maybe because my mom’s food is so good! 😉 ) I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making my favorite dish for a change, and I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed just hanging out with myself, playing some music, and preparing a meal that I know my entire family enjoys. And guess what?! It turned out great! You know how food that you make on your own somehow always tastes better than when other people cook it? That’s exactly the experience I had when I tried out my rendition of my beloved pasta salad. My dad told me that I’ll never starve now that I know how to make my favorite dish…and he’s absolutely right! Here’s a pic of how my pasta salad turned out, and if you’d like the recipe, please let me know!
YUM!!!!! ^^^^^^
Make Some Candy: I had a glorious best friend afternoon today with my darling Lea, who you guys know all about! It’s very cold in Akron, Ohio (#REPRESENT) right now. Early this afternoon I heard on the news that it felt like -17 degrees outside. Lea and I were supposed to go sledding this afternoon, but when I heard about this drastic cold I thought “oh hell no!” So we opted for a nice, cozy day indoors cooking up some yummy treats. Once we were armed with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, we began browsing through Pinterest, our activity destination. After ten minutes of scrolling through pages, we decided on making chocolate truffles. We raided the pantry for the we ingredients needed, then ventured back out in the cold to hit up the grocery story for what we didn’t have. The recipe was very easy to make, literally all you had to do was melt your chocolate and other ingredients together, put the chocolate in the freezer to let it stiffen, and then once the mixture is hard enough you roll them into balls and put whatever topping you would like on them. While our chocolate was melting and stiffening, we played Pentatonixs (or however you spell them), looked up the world’s largest body parts on Google Images, and hung out with Lea’s twin brother Bill. When the chocolates were stiff enough to shape them we had a silly time getting our hands dirty, because the chocolate was still gooey! We used peppermint candy that we crushed with a mallet, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips for the toppings on our truffles. They turned out so yummy! You can’t do much to mess up chocolate! 😉 Here’s a picture of us with our finished product! We’re just a bunch of regular ol’ chocolateers!
Once again…YUM!!!! ^^^
Go See Unbroken: This week I had a lovely date night with my other partner in crime, Kate, who you guys also know all about! We went to see Unbroken, which tells the courageous tale of Louis Zamperini as directed by the stunning and gorgeous Angelina Jolie. In the film we see Zamperini, the Olympic track star survive a plane crash in World War II. Unfortunately he doesn’t land to safety in the crash and ends up stranded at sea with two other soldiers. (One of them happens to be Finn Wittrock, who plays Dandy on American Horror Story: Freak Show!) The sailing in the emergency rafts are anything but smooth, and our heroes end up in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and eventually concentration camps. Zamperini suffers under the hands of a sadistic camp leader, which are some particularly difficult scenes to watch. However, the story tells an amazing tale. The screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen was fantastic and the cinematography and sound effects in the film were truly awe inspiring. Not to mention my dream woman, Miss Jolie directed the film to perfection. The movie is quite long so I’d recommend peeing a lot before hand. Most importantly, the film really covers some heavy and disturbing issues which might not be suitable for everyone. Fun fact for ya, a man from Stow, Ohio had a few lines in Unbroken, which is a hop, skip, and a jump from where I’m at. So way to represent, Ohio, brother man!! If you’re looking for a powerful and extremely well made movie to go to this weekend, I can’t recommend seeing Unbroken enough!
Listen To Cayucas: I know, I know so typically PacSun-y of me, BUT I CAN’T HELP IT! I love these guys! They’re seriously so beachy fun and I just can’t even. My absolute favorite thing to do is play these guys while I’m taking a bubble bath or shower, because they make me feel like I’m just chilling on the beach with my little toesies in the sand. I’ve never been to the beach before (Lake Erie doesn’t count!) but this group of surfer dudes helps me make believe that I’m there. All of their songs off of their album “Bigfoot” are crowd pleasers, but my particular favorite song is “High School Lover”….and YES we did play it at PacSun, ha! This track is very fun though. It definitely will make you think about that one guy or gal in high school that you wanted to be with so desperately or maybe was the one who got away. A charming sentiment set to a soft surfer rock vibe? It’s a win win. (Soft surfer rock?…I believe I just created my own music genre right there!) 😉
Have A Facial Night: Earlier this week, my sister asked me to give her one of my famous around the house facials, which I happily obliged to. After working at The Body Shop, I developed a love for skincare that will last me a lifetime. Here’s my tried and true step by step guide on how to give a fabulous facial to yourself or a friend:
Remove any facial makeup with one of those terrific cleansing wipes from your brand of choice.
Wet the skin with lukewarm water and if you have a clay, honey and oat, warming ginger, blue corn, or any mask in particular that you like to use, apply and let it sit for the amount of time instructed.
Now it’s time to use a cleanser. If you have a bristle brush, I highly recommend using one of these to give your pores an even deeper clean. If you don’t have a brush, make sure you use circular motions with your hands while using your cleanser.
I like to finish the facial treatment with a scrub. If you happen to use a soft buffer pad I would recommend using a rough, gritty scrub. And if you’re a fan of a more cream based scrub I would opt for an exfoliating loofah pad.
(Apply a toner if you’d like. But I never do.)
After your skin is nice and squeaky clean apply any acne topical treatment you use if needed and a moisturizer.
All of those steps listed above may seem like a lot for the skin to handle all at once, but you have the Lil Red Guarantee that all it can do is help if you use these tips every once in a blue moon! Facials scream “girls night” to me, so plan a fun night of pampering and break out the wine, chocolate, and chick flicks!
Treat Yoself: Annnnnd if you’re looking for a few fun treats to pamper yourself with, here’s a few products from The Body Shop that I’ve been obsessed with lately, which can be found in stores and online at http://www.thebodyshop.com!
Items shown from top to bottom:
Smooth and Renew Loofah Pads
Vitamin C Midrodermabrasion
Warming Mineral Mask
Glazed Apple Bath Jelly
Honeymania Bubble Bath Melt
So there you have it, my Little Red Recommends segment for the week! What are your weekend plans? What did you think about Unbroken? What band should I check out next? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great weekend! -Sarah
So my mom does a lot of cooking and baking, and she stumbled upon this recipe on http://www.kingarthurflour.com that’s too good not to share with the world. This tomato soup will change your life! It’s SO easy to make and completely delicious.
5 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 28 oz can tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons flour
1 can vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 to 3 tablespoons sugar, to taste (we only use one tablespoon!)
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
In a large saucepan, heat the butter and vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened and golden. Add the tomatoes, basil, thyme, and black pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for ten minutes
In a small bowl, combine the flour and broth, whisking until smooth and add this mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Cover and simmer slowly for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If you’ve used diced tomatoes, puree the soup in a blender or food processor, or use a hang blender. If you’ve used tomato puree, there’s no need to blend; the onion bits will give the soup a bit of body. Return the soup to the stove, and set it on a burner over low to medium heat. Stir in the baking soda (the soup will foam up briefly – don’t worry – but be sure it’s in a big enough pot) the sugar, the milk, and the salt. Heat, stirring to a bare simmer.
All credit to this goes to the fantastic chefs and bakers at King Arthur Flour. Make sure you check out their blog Baking Banter, which you can find on their website.
If you make this recipe, leave me a comment and let me know how you like it! I’m about to go have a bowl now! -Sarah
If you’re ever in the Akron, Ohio area, I cant recommend going to the Blue Door Cafe enough. It’s located in Cuyahoga Falls, which is lucky for me because it’s right down the street from my house! The Blue Door is probably one of the best hole in the wall food establishments I’ve ever dined at. Their menu changes frequently, and a lot of their options accommodate to dietary considerations such as vegetarian (which is great for me!), vegan, gluten free, and dairy free. Whenever I go for brunch or lunch with my best friend Kate, I always order the exact same thing – their grilled cheese sandwich! It’s hands down the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had. The changes they made to the sandwich for their fall menu was delicious – it included thick pieces of cheddar cheese and diced apples in the middle to add the perfect amount of seasonal flare. The meal also includes a bowl of their tomato soup which was especially tasty when I went yesterday. There were hints of what tasted like red wine for a unique touch. You also get the option to pick between fresh fruit, greens, or home baked potato chips to accompany your meal. I always pick the fresh fruit. The medley of pineapple, strawberries, blue and black berries, and grapes was just gorgeous yesterday. The colors were vibrant and they tasted as sweet as sugar. The Blue Door Cafe also boasts a lovely bakery where the pastries and breads used in each meal are made daily. You can also purchase their bakery items there as well. My grilled cheese sandwich was made with thick slices of freshly baked Challah bread. Delicious! Kate usually opts for the Tartine when we go to the Blue Door. I’ve gotten it once before and it’s great! The Tartine is a dark chocolate filled croissant with three dipping sauces on your plate – blackbery jam, melted white chocolate, and melted milk chocolate. This treat also comes with fresh fruit. Yum!! The croissant is to die for – it’s the perfect balance of crisp and soft with a sweet butter glaze to top it all off. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
Not only is the food at the Blue Door Cafe incredible, but the service there is fantastic too. The servers and chefs are so great at what they do. One of the managers, Wes, is just the sweetest guy in the whole world. He usually takes care of me and Kate – we’re his favorites! Especially me. Yesterday when he brought me my coffee, he also returned with a flower he made out of parchment paper.
So. Sweet. My heart absolutely melted! Swoon!
If you’d like to learn more about the Blue Door Cafe, here is their website: http://bluedoorcafebakery.com/ . Make sure you check it out!
What’s your favorite hole in the wall establishment to eat at? What do you like to order there? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Friday! -Sarah
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