And to all a goodnight...

On Christmas Day, I decided on purple....

I know you love the slippers, right?!

Top: Forever 21

Jeans: 7 for all Mankind

Much love,

Pink and Sparkles

xoxo

A Mint-y Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to all!!  I really enjoyed this Christmas season (it still is the season - until Valentines-ish time) as I do every year.  This year, we had Christmas Eve at my nonna's house (nonna = grandma in Italian).  We ate way too much but enjoyed every morsel.  To fit alll the food and goodness, a loose-fitting top is always required.

Shirt: Forever 21

Watch: Swarovski

Christmas Day pictures coming soon!

Much love,
Pink and Sparkles
xoxo

Furlicious

So, a good friend of mine showed me a clip of how they attain these wonderful furs...poor animals. I wish there were alternate ways of getting these furry fashions because I do want a fur coat really bad :(
In any case, enjoy the fashion...perhaps some of these coats are faux fur!

Ill stick to my diamond comment at the end here...we all still buy diamonds which are attained in inhumane ways across the globe.  Make sure you are purchasing 'fair trade' diamonds so humans aren't 'skinned' alive either.

Next post will be less preachy, I promise!

Much love,
Pink and Sparkles
xoxo

Salivating

I want this dress...

 

And these shoes...

Sigh...

Much love,
Pink & Sparkles
xoxo

Warm Winter Soup

The other day, I made my first soup from scratch...ever.  Its an Italian recipe from my grandmother/mother's hometown in Molise, a province in Italy.  Stracciatella (stra-chia-tell-a) is the name of the soup and in Italian it means "torn apart".  Its an egg-drop soup that is so simple to make we really enjoyed it.  Recipe below:

You will need:
-6 bowls of water (average size soup bowls, I use bowls because its practical, plus, that's how my grandmother and mum measure) you may choose to use 3 bowls water and 3 bowls chicken broth, organic of course!
-Chopped fresh parsley (measure about a teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley per bowl)
- 3 tablespoons of really good olive oil
-small "pastina" or little pasta - the ones that look like little balls are my favourite
-about 6 large eggs
-salt and pepper to taste

Here's what you do:

1) In a medium pot, place water to boil the pastina and cook the pastina the way you would cook any pasta (don't forget to salt the boiled water)**
2) In a separate large pot, glug the olive oil in and let it warm a bit
3) Once warm, dump in your water or water/chicken broth combo
4) Add in your chopped parsley and stir everything together let it come to a quiet boil
5) Add in some salt and pepper to taste
6) Once the pastina is done, drain most of the water but leave a bit in and dump it all into your large pot
7) Stir everything together  - make sure your burner is on medium/high heat
8) Crack all your eggs in a separate bowl and beat them until fluffy (add a bit of salt and pepper to this mixture).
9) Dump the eggs into your bowl of wonderful  broth and let the eggs sit there - AVOID stirring, although tempting.  The eggs will cook in the water ... so let them puff up.
10) Count to 30 then mix your egg - you will see that they are fluffy like clouds and are "torn apart" by your mixing.
11) Taste for seasoning and enjoy hot!!!

TIP: I love adding bits of torn fresh white Italian bread and freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese in my soup for extra taste :)

**I made mine a bit different: Instead of pastina I used white potatoes (chopped into cubes cooked and added to the water), and roasted skinless chicken (I wanted more protein).

I hope you all try this out! Be creative, try out different substitutions!

Much love,
Pink and Sparkles
xoxo

Tis the Season

My friends!
So sorry I haven't posed this week...work=killer.
This Saturday, I thought I would share some of my Christmas decorating with you!
Enjoy!!

 Much love,
Pink and Sparkles
xoxo

Run, Run, Rudolph

I laced up today to go for one of my every-other-day run (or speed walk, whatever) and I was pleasantly surprised! I totally forgot it was our town's annual Christmas parade.  I took the camera because I wanted you all to see my run route because it is beautiful....and thank goodness I did! What a fluke.  Schomberg's "A Main Street Christmas" is a true community staple.  Check out the rest of the events here.

Me starting my run!

And I see something uncommon down the street...

Historic fire trucks!

And floats around the corner...

As if the Grinch would give high-fives!

Sheena's Kitchen...best lemon cake ever:)

Everyone on Main Street decorates for the season...

Saint Patrick Church down the street from us :)

Much love,
Pink and Sparkles
xoxo

Dave Puts the "C" (cool) in Cooking!

The best part of my day, hands down, is coming home to my husband - whether or not he concocts something in the kitchen.  But when he has the opportunity to cook (rare, as his hours are often longer than mine) my stress-filled days are automatically remedied as I step into the house to the smell of something in or on the stove. Dave in the kitchen prepping, tossing, searing or seasoning, glass of wine waiting for me, table is set and I know I'm home. 

I love cooking as well and I've always been quite good at it. Since I moved out of my parent's house, I've been getting even better. Its such a special treat, though, when Dave puts his own swagger into our meals - not afraid to try anything new (and rarely needing any direction whatsoever) he will take on any cooking challenge.  

I haven't taken pictures of all his cooking adventures but here are a few from the last few weeks.  We also do a "Sunday pizza day" every other Sunday...there are some shots of one Sunday as well. Enjoy!

 We eat dinner in front of the television quite often...

 Sunday Pizza Day! Always two pizzas ... one with sauce, one without :)

 And always wine ;)

Much love,

Pink and Sparkles

xoxo