Two-Toned Eyeliner

Loving the Daily Beauty Tip from InStyle Magazine today ...two-toned eyeliner.
Get the "How To" here.

German Chocolate Cake

I was watching ThrowDown with Bobby Flay on Sunday afternoon and was immediately inspired to make a German chocolate cake. He mentioned that this kind of cake actually has nothing to do with Germany at all! It originated from Texas where a woman use German's chocolate, which is named after a man called Sam German, to create a chocolaty cake with coconut and pecans! I had no idea!

Anyways, a few years ago, a friend of mine, Jessy, made this and everyone raved about it, so naturally I got the recipe from her and we've made it a few times since.

Here it is!

Cake
1 package (4 oz.) Baker's German's sweet chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter/margarine
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites

Melt choclate in boiling water. Cool. Mix flour, soda and salt. cream butter and sguar intil light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each. Blend in vanilla and chocolate. Alternatley add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition until smooth. BEat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.

Pour into three 9-inch (greased and floured) layer pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted coems out clean. Immediately run spatula around pans between cakes and sides. Cool in pans 15 minutes. Remove from pans and finish cooling on racks. Spread filling and frosting between layers and over top.

Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting
1 cup evaporated milk or heavy cream
i cup sugar (I used only half a cup because I felt it would be too sweet)
3 slightly beaten egg yolks
1/2 cup butter/margarine
1 tsp vanilla
Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 1/3 cups coconut and 1 cup chopped pecans. Cool until of spreading consistency, beating occasionally. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

One Day...

Every year it seems to pass me by, but one day, Coachella, one day it'll happen. For now, this will have to do!
Here's some shots from around the blogsphere...feeling VERY inspired!

(Harper's Bazaar Online)








(Just Jared)







(StyleCaster)




Whitney Port had some super cute/interesting style moments...I think she got a lot of flack for the Princess Leia (sp?) buns though!




Just discovered Behind the Seams, an awesome fashion blog with some great Coachella standout shots.

GAHH and the music of course!
(Rolling Stone)

Buried Treasure

Good news readers! I found the perfect pair of sunnies! Best part? Only $9.95 at H&M hidden behind a ton of others. They always have the best hidden gems, sometimes you just gotta dig :)

The Story of Coco (so far...)

Last August, the SUV that my parents lovingly allowed me and my sister Julia to drive around finally died. We said our goodbyes and realized we would have to be big girls and actually get our own car. We took our dad's advice and researched all kinds of cars/coups/compact style cars, but all the while knowing our dream was to have a little VW golf. It was no surprise to us that all of the cars we checked out seemed to fall short in some way or another. So we went for it and decided to lease our dream car! Her name is Coconut Cream, CoCo for short. (Yes, we always insist on our vehicles having names!)

But, this is just the beginning of the story. From then on, we enjoyed many wonderful trips together to Starbucks and MarbleSlab Creamery that August and September and even into the fall and winter months, nothing made me happier that peering out my bedroom window to see her sitting there in the driveway (minus the time i witnessed my neighbour hit her with a basketball...not impressed!)





Then, one wintery January day I left work at BP after a quick lunch shift. It was about 12:45pm as I drove down Northfield Drive in Waterloo. It was strangely sunny for January as I drove along. I was about to cross Kraus Drive (right at Williams Coffee Pub) but noticed that the walk sign was flashing, so instinctively I looked up to double check that the light was still green, but it was so bright out that I had to squint to double check. Once the sun finally let up, I saw that light was now yellow as I began to enter the intersection. I had been so focused on trying to see the light that I didn't see a car try to pull in front of me to turn left! I'm pretty sure Gaaaaaaaah/NOOOOOOOOOOOO was my only thought in the moment. I slammed on my brakes but it felt as if they did nothing, mainly because the roads were wet combined with the fact that there is absolutely no way the car would've made it through...not a chance in...heaven. I slammed into the car's front passenger side bumper. So basically, they just barely got into my lane. Based on this, I would have to conclude that the man driving decided to go for it, but couldn't find his gas pedal. He was age 75 plus, so I'm not 100% sure what went on. I was going max 65 in a 60 zone.






I will spare you the rest of the details, but in the end he was charged and I was not ticketed in any way because the light was yellow...he entered my lane. But this began a long process of dealing with the insurance company (shout out to the cooperators- best ever!)

Fortunately all rental costs were covered so me and Julia got to drive around a blue Nissan Versa for 8 weeks, yes 8 weeks (about 3,000 kms that didn't go towards our lease) while we waited to get CoCo back. Apparently all City Golfs are manufactured in Brazil and it takes forever to get parts! Waterloo Honda did all the work because they specialize in collisions. What amazing people there, WOW. I was so impressed with everyone. So friendly and helpful...thanks Paul and B!

She's almost back to normal, just got a few minor kinks to iron out. But we are so happy to have her home again! :)
(Plus they cleaned her inside and out...the best!)

Natasha Bedingfield

My friends recently encouraged me to listen to Natasha Bedingfield's latest album, Strip Me. I've always liked her but never took the time to actually get one of her albums and listen to the whole thing. I am obsessed. I love every song and they're almost always stuck in my head! I love her husky and powerful voice- I swear she can hit any note in this universe!

But besides that, I think she has such a stunning look..I especially love her bleached choppy cut.

For an even better visualization of killer pipes combined with a brilliant sense of style watch this.

New Sunnies

I decided i want to pick up some new shades for my trip to Cabo coming up in May.
What do you think of these from Urban Outfitters?