Sunday, February 27, 2011

Fashion Inspiration…

Loving the effortlessness of these ladies...  









xoxo Shauna

Sunday Inspiration…



"Never trade what you want right now for what you really want."

Happy Sunday lovers.
Posts from Napa & SF to come!  

xoxo Shauna

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Brown & Black

So a couple days ago my gbf & I had a full on argument about wearing brown & black together.  He refuses to & I say that old fashion rules are meant to be broken!  Here are some photos of me over the weekend wearing brown & black together.


Out to drinks with a girlfriend.  BROWN Cole Haan riding boots with BLACK f21 sweater dress & olive volcom cargo jacket.  Wearing Michael Kors gold watch, Tiffany ring, Tiffany & f21 necklace & Marc Jacobs bag.


Sushi Date!  Wearing light brown Miss Sixty chunky boots with Joe's Jeans black denim, H&M tank, H&M cropped sweater. 
Gold MK watch & f21 earings. 


A tad hungover at work so super casual!  BB Dakota black pants, H&M striped sweater, Volcom cargo jacket again & Dolce Vita brown clogs. 


xoxo Shauna






Saturday, February 19, 2011

Lavender OBSESSED.

A few months ago, I took a trip with my boyfriend to Napa & Sonoma.  It was quite an amazing trip (he turned out to be not so amazing but that's an entirely different story) & I tasted some amazing wines, but the one standout taste-bud experience for me was the lavender honey we picked up from a local market.  Before the trip, I always thought of lavender as something that smelled wonderful, but never thought to taste it.  WOW was I wrong.  Since the lavender honey experience (we it used to dip figs & cheese in) i've been on the hunt to taste anything lavender.  This amazing plant has a naturally sweet flavor & isn't overpowering. 

 I've found lavender tea at Whole Foods & my favorite is the red lavender.  It's sweet enough that I don't need to add any sweetener & has really saved me on those extra cold days in the office.  



I've searched my local supermarkets, but haven't been able to find lavender honey or culinary lavender.  Thank goodness for the internet.  I've purchased culinary lavender & some more of the lavender honey we tasted in Sonoma.  




Good old Oprah has an amazing recipe for lavender creme brulee on her website.  I made it over the holidays & it was a hit & not too hard to make!


Ingredients
Lavender Crème Brûlée
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream , preferably not ultrapasteurized
  • 1/2 stalk fresh lavender or 3 tablespoons dried lavender intended for cooking
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar ("sugar in the raw")
Directions
In a small saucepan, bring milk and cream to a boil, monitoring it closely so it doesn't boil over. Remove from the heat. Add lavender, and allow lavender to infuse the cream for one hour at room temperature. Strain mixture into a clean saucepan. Bring to a boil again and remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 275°F. In a mixing bowl, whisk the yolks and granulated sugar until just combined. Temper the egg mixture by very slowly whisking a small amount of warm lavender cream into the eggs. Take your time with this step so that the yolks don't scramble. Once the egg mixture and cream are roughly the same temperature, whisk the remaining egg mixture into the cream.

Divide custard among four 4-ounce ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking dish or roasting pan. Fill dish or pan with water so that water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins and transfer to the oven rack. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes. During the last 10 minutes, check frequently for doneness: when fully baked, the crème brûlées will be firm and will wiggle just slightly when shaken. Remove ramekins from water bath and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.

Before serving, sprinkle each dessert with 1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar. If you own a propane torch, hold the torch about 8 inches from the custard's surface and flame the sugar into a golden brown, brittle curst. Alternatively, place ramekins under a preheated broiler and broil until sugar has caramelized, 1 to 3 minutes. Watch carefully: sugar turns from light brown to black quickly. Serve immediately.


Milk + Honey in Costa Mesa makes a LAVENDER LATTE that i'm more than slightly obsessed with.  Plus, this spot is amazing with a cute outside sitting area.  I could spend hours here. 

 
MAC lip conditioner + lavender tastes & smells like lavender & i'm obsessed. 


For a girlfriend's bridal gift, I gave her a set of L'OCCTANE lavender both & body products to de-stress from all that wedding planning.  She loves it & I might have snagged some products for myself, too.  It's a little expensive but a little of the bath gel goes a LONG way.  

Sephora carries a line of all natural perfumes containing vanilla & essential oils.  The vanilla + lavender is amazing. 

OPI makes a few shades of lavender polish.  They are all so fun & perfect for toes that are sick of dark winter colors!  
  

Friday, February 18, 2011

Friday Quote Day…



Some inspirational words from my yoga instructor this week…

"You can travel the universe, search high & low… 
& never find anyone more worthy to love than yourself"

Namaste :)

xoxo Shauna

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Pilates Plus Orange County



Tonight I tried Pilates Plus in Costa Mesa located on 17th st. (they have a Newport Beach location, too) & wanted to share my experience about it!  

With my job, I have to admit, comes a lot of perks.  Most of which, however, usually make me fat or drunk (I work in the restaurant industry) so needless to say I was excited when an unlimited membership to Pilates Plus Orange County was given to me.  My workout routine usually consists of hot yoga & spin a couple times a week but I definitely wanted to through something new in there & have always wanted to try pilates reformers.

Well I can tell you that it took a good 1/2 hour for my muscles to stop shaking after class!  It was a really good muscle workout, but not so much of a cardio workout.  I didn't break a sweat or ever get out of breath but I think i'll for sure be sore tomorrow.  I think it'd be perfect to incorporate into a routine of running or spin or another form of cardio.  I plan on adding pilates classes in a couple of times a week so I will blog again soon about results!  



Breaking the Rules

Who says you can't wear gold & silver together?  This is one of those fashion rules that is meant to be broken (in my opinion at least)!  I mix my chunky gold watch with silver & beige bangles all the time… or pair my white linen jacket with big silver buttons with gold accessories & brown shoes.  As long as your pieces are connected in some way… the outfit just works.  I like wear an accessory that helps "link" or make my outfit look cohesive.  A good way to do this is by having jewelry pieces that are a mesh of gold & silver.  

Here are some jewelry pieces that link different metals together in an outfit… 


















All of these pieces are available at Shopbop.com & Karmaloop.com.
I've blogged about these online stores before & they're for sure some of my favs!  

I especially love the Juicy Couture silver gold & purple earings!   I'll be snagging those for sure! :)

xoxo Shauna

SI Swimsuit 2011

So, i've been known to plaster photos of hot girls around my house, as my screensaver, maybe even my iPhone background.  I get a ton of weird looks & questions from friends like, "Why is there a Marissa Miller poster on your refrigerator?".  I'm not crazy.  And I like men.  There IS a method to my madness.  What better way to stay motivated than to have a little constant reminder of what your body WON'T look like if you skip the gym or eat that extra cookie.   

For these reasons, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is one of my prized possessions that I hold on to year round.  Released yesterday, the 2011 edition does not disappoint.  Girls, check out this inspiration.  Guys, drool away.  











Thank goodness for pilates tonight!  

These are screenshots of my computer so I apologize for the sketchy quality.  Visit SI.com for more "inspiration".

xoxo Shauna

Monday, February 14, 2011