I hate it when they are right...

...so I love magazines.  Just ask The Fiance.  There are way too many of them around the apartment.  For years I have read all kinds of beauty advice about how to lose inches, have long nails, blah blah blah and for years  I have read that cold water and a cold blow dryer makes your hair look healthier and shiner.  But being that I love warm almost scalding hot showers that was a no go for me.  Plus I love feeling warm and cozy from the heat of the blow dryer.

So a few weeks ago I decided to start lightening my hair ( I am in California damn it might as well go for it).  Well apparently the salon, (despite being one of the most  exclusive aka expensive in town), only has so much hot water.  So when you are there for three hours for a treatment, highlights, treatment, gloss and it is the end of the day (because I made the appointment on a whim that morning) your hair rinses will get progressively colder as the day goes.  So I thought my hair looked insanely shiny because it saw the credit card bill and thought it had better shine or I would be pissed but I was thinking, maybe it was the cold freezing water that was used that day.  And you know what? It was.  Right before you end your shower put your water on cold and finish your shower that way (I know, it sucks, just bend your body away).  And then use the cold setting on your hairdryer.

And as I (and my not as shiny hair) learned today (because I was cold and used a hot shower and a hot dryer) there are no bonus points for doing this the day before....you need to do it every.damn.day.

I am currently trying to prove the carb haters wrong by not eating carbs to prove it will not work for weight loss.  Will keep you posted.

Been too long!

Update on my last cooking recipe:


Beef Daube Provençal

Sooooooo yummy.  Everyone should make it.  There is a lot of meat though so I would recommend adding additional vegetables.

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By the way, was just at the corner store.  Here is what the guy in front of me bought for lunch:
Liverwurst Sandwich.  Salt and vinegar potato chips.  Powerbar.  Ritz crackers with cheese in handy one serving pack.  Crackers with fake smeared on fake yellow cheese on like sandwiches.  I forgot that I was not wearing my sunglasses and I think I was openly staring at his purchase.  Because you know, with all of that sodium where was the beverage?

Not sure how to say it...

..but I am cooking it.

I LOVED my cooking class last night (will blog about it later). 

I was so inspired that I am making Beef Daube Provençal tonight.  I did not buy enough carrots though...so off to the store.  Again.  I am pretty sure that when I was at Whole Foods today that I promised them my first born child in exchange for the beef.  Need to double check that.


Um, note to The Fiance...I also learned that you can burn garlic.  So...you may want to come home a little later than normal.  The apartment stinks is quite fragrant.

Why I love The Fiance (part 1 of many)...

..so The Fiance needs many things in life (more time with me!) but cooking classes are not one of them.  Give the man the aforementioned rosemary crackers and gouda and he probably would have grabbed 10 kinds of spices some flour and made a grand creation that would make my taste buds weep.   His mom cooks up a storm and he does too.  He knows that while I am not working (ahem) "on sabbatical" I am looking for new activities and projects so he found a cooking class for us to to do together.  So tonight The Fiance and  I will be learning to cook "Fuss Free French"
- Moules Marinières (Mussels in White

- Wine Broth)

- Salad w. Avocado & Mustard

- Vinaigrette

- Red Wine Braised Chicken

- Chocolate Souffle

I will let you know how it goes.  And The Fiance gets one big kiss.

I need to invent a little shopping bag...

...that has special sensors so that it can sound an alarm and tell me that just because I love my little paper thin rosemary crackers and just because I love Gouda cheese that the bag tells me that the two things will not taste good together.  Not. at. all.

Also the bag could remind me that I am carrying a business card in one hand and the paper thin cracker in the other so that I don't bite into the business card while walking up my spiral staircase (not that that happened or anything).

Dear Sodium. We need to talk.

It has been fun.  Really it has.  On popcorn at the movies, on fresh fries, even the extra bit that is in my (oh. so. yummy.) homemade chocolate chip cookies.  And don't even get me started how you linger on the rim of my margarita glass.  I really thought that when I started crushing you from your rough kosher sea salt form to smaller bits in my mortar and pestle (ok, The Fiance's mortar and pestle) that we had gone to a new place in our relationship.

But we have to end it.  We really do.  Thanks to all of the new fantastic food labeling laws I can now see where you have been hiding...and last Friday, let me say my discovery was not pretty.  After feeling a bit well "full" (ok, bloated to all hell) after a CUP of hot and sour soup and an entree of chicken lettuce wraps at Pei Wei (fast food version of PF Changs) I snooped.  Yes, I did not trust you and I snooped.  I went on their website and there it was in black and white.  1640 milligrams of salt.  In. My. Soup.  Over 1600mg in my soup? Are you kidding? WTF are you doing in my hot and sour soup!  Did you realize we should only consume no more than  2400 mg THE WHOLE DAY.  This of course is in addition to the 980 milligrams of salt in each serving of my lettuce wraps (of which I did have two because I had the appetizer as the entree so I am pretty sure serving sizes do not count then).  Total for dinner = 3,600.

So it is over.  I am going to slowly try to walk away from you and will be checking labels to make sure you are not hiding in excessive amounts.  The fried brussel sprout chips won't be the same without you.  (Really. Not kidding about that.  They. Are. Awesome.  Will blog about them when I make them next.)

Which one do you think came from Jillian Michaels diet...

 

The Cake Balls....

or.....

the Indian Meatballs?

Hint: it is the one that was really really REALLY overcooked because I still don't understand (despite the fact that this has happened more than 2x) that when using the convection oven I need to reduce the cooking time.