Night at the ballet

Tonight my mother and I celebrated the holiday season with an evening at the ballet. We saw The Nutcracker performed by the Colorado Ballet.

 We started the evening with dinner at the cutest French restaurant called Bistro Vendôme. The food was absolutely delicious. My apologies for the quality of the photos, they looked better when I took them.

The meal began with bread and butter and a great roasted pepper bisque amuse-bouche. My mother and I both ordered the Saumon aux Cèpes which was the best meal I have had in a long time (she agreed), with salmon over a potato mushroom gratin that just melted in my mouth. The Crème Brûleé we had for dessert was probably the best I have ever had. It was the perfect consistency, light instead of heavy and too sweet, plus the blueberries on top added to the freshness.

We arrived at the theater just in time for the ballet to start. It was spectacular! The dancing was beautiful and the sets were gorgeous. All in all it was an inspiring night, perfect for the holiday season.

Breakfast smoothies

I've gotten bored lately with the same old piece of toast and slice of cheese (I'm hypoglycemic so I eat TONS of protein) in the morning. In order to change it up, I have started making smoothies for breakfast. I buy frozen fruit and vanilla or plain fat-free yogurt and either just combine them or add a little protein powder if I feel like I need it. This feels like a much better breakfast than what I ordinarily eat, and is light enough that I enjoy it after working out in the mornings. 

 This morning my smoothie (strawberries, peaches, and vanilla yogurt) was especially thick, so I poured it into a bowl and added some granola. Extra yum! 

Waterfall braid

I LOVE the waterfall braid!

This hairstyle is super simple and a nice way to look slightly more polished. The video tutorial I learned from can be found here. I followed that with slightly larger chunks of hair and fastened it with two bobby pins that I managed to hide pretty well.

Donate an old dress, get a new one

What a good idea! This company takes old special occasion dresses and either recycles them or donates them to 

I may have to do this with my old prom/homecoming dresses. In exchange, they give you credit to put toward a new LBD, like the Natalie and Nicole which I adore.

I'm a big girl now

I've been playing with lip color a lot these days. I never really knew at what age it was appropriate to start wearing lipstick so I've decided that now is as good a time as any, for special occasions anyways (it's a pretty formal look for your average 9 am psych lecture).

I started with this lipstain, a good transitional product that is layer-able so I can choose how much color I wanted to commit to. But putting on lipstick is just that much more sophisticated :)

While browsing the internet, I found this to be a pretty good guide. I do wish the products they list were a bit more within the college student's budget, but it's still good information for the future.

{image}

PS: Proof of how fantastic the wand is. 24 hours later (after being slept on and being smushed under a hooded jacket multiple times) and still going strong. Could not be happier!

Wand curls

After being introduced to the magic (haha) that is the styling wand by my friend Amy, I have become obsessed with re-creating the look. She curled my hair at around 9 pm one night and we went out dancing after and the curls were still there even 5 hours later! I have thick hair that is very stubborn and will NOT keep a curl. Even better, when I woke up the next morning I had soft, loose curls that I was sad to wash away. 

I have dreamed of doing my hair this way again and thankfully, my roommate happens to have a wand! She has a CHI which worked fabulously (see pictures below) but I got pretty much the same results with Amy's Remington (on sale here).  

Here's my hair post-wanding:

 And after I ran my fingers through my hair I was left with this wild mane:

Love it! The best part is that I know it will last until I wash it again!

Fondue party

Fondue is a combination of all the best foods in the world dipped in the best foods in the world.

Cheese and chocolate fondue makes for one of the best parties I have ever attended/hosted :)