Lately Loving: Facial Cleaning Brush

I guess she's the poor man's Clarisonic and that's ok with me. She came to me for the holidays and I'm ever so grateful. She has been a true miracle worker! I'm talking about the Olay Pro X Facial Cleaning Brush and yes you can find this at Walgreens, along with Essie nail polishes- so apparently, Walgreens is now classy. It came with a sample of the Exfoliating Renewal Cleanser and I've been really happy with this as well. I feel like I'm cheating on my other exfoliater, and yes, that's from Walgreens to, St. Ive's Apricot Scrub. The cleansing brush is waterproof and can be used in the shower which is perfect because I'm a little lazy and I don't want to use up valuable lounging time scrubbing my face at the sink when I'd prefer to do it in a nice hot shower. Now onto the good stuff- I'm lucky enough to have mostly clear skin. It's not too oily nor is it too dry and I don't break out very often. However, I don't feel like I'm usually glowy or anything, and I have definitely a noticed a difference in my complexion. My skin feels smoother to the touch, and I'd be happy if it stopped there, but it gets better, my skin is definitely clearer and brighter. It's like a facial in a minute, throw Glam Glow into your routine and I can't even imagine how radiant you'll be. You'll be happy to know, the cleansing brush can be yours for less than $30. That's like 1/3 the cost of a good facial, and honestly, probably yields similar results, sans extraction- you're on your own for that!

Do you use this? Do you use the Clarisonic? What do you think? Life changing, right??

Getting messy in the kitchen with my girls!

Watching the Bachelor has been a long standing tradition for my friends and I. Nothing is more fun than a night with the girls to watch these women throw themselves at whatever average joe is up for grabs. When deciding what to do for dinner beforehand, 2 of my girlfriends asked that I lead a little cooking class so they could pick up a new kitchen skill. Nothing fancy here, just an old fashioned, home made pizza party. I picked up all the ingredients from Trader Joes to make a few pizzas, brussel sprouts with bacon and a sherry shallot vinaigrette (modified recipe from Mozza cookbook), and bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese. Of course we had wine a plenty and something sweet for dessert. We had so much fun in the kitchen together and the girls made a delicious dinner!

The makings for bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese

E working on the dates

Blue cheese going into the middle of the date

Quartered brussel sprouts

Crisped bacon

Pizza dough

Roasted tomatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and shallots

M stirring the onions while the carmelize

Mid-caramelization

Sauteed criminis with thyme

Sous Chef, Breaker

The complete dishes:

Dates ready for snacking

Brussel sprouts with bacon and shallot vinaigrette

Pizza with mozzarella, artichokes, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, and salami

Pizza with mushrooms, carmelized onions, and goat cheese

Dinner time!

Macarons to finish off the evening

And then it was time to watch Bachelor Ben and the most dramatic episode ever!

Do you have a favorite dish to make with girlfriends? Are you watching the Bachelor? What are your thoughts, spill them all!!

Do the polka--- dot!

Trend Hunter

First off- I spent some time over the weekend updating my blog template and I'd love to hear what you think! Do you like the new look??

Now let's get right down to it. We are talking about POLKA DOTS! Polka dots are so classic. No question. They are definitely having a modern moment and I really love it. I love a silk polka dot top under a blazer with jeans or a pencil skirt. I love a playful polka at home and I especially love the gold dots on my iphone case! Here's a round up some fabulous polka dots in all their polka dotted glory!

Glamour Magazine

Atlantic Pacific

Kendi Everyday

Kate Spade

Ruche

RDuJour

Everything Fabulous

Anthro

Marc by Marc Jacobs

My current case- Le Pavillion by Kate Spade

Martha Stewart Weddings

Buss Buss
 

Bartsch

Do you polka?? 

 

Three Day Weekend Love

Happy Friday friends! I am thrilled to have a three day weekend ahead of me and I cannot wait to enjoy every minute of this. I'm planning some sleeping in, I have a baby shower to attend,  and hopefully plenty of time to relax. I am especially looking forward my dining plans! Dinner at Lukshon with my husband and a brunch at Larchmont Bungalow with a friend to catch up and possibly grab a bite of their incredible red velvet pancakes.  These are killer. If you haven't had this, what are you waiting for? They also have an awesome breakfast burrito, a selection of eggs benedicts. What to get, what to get??

 

What do you have in store for the weekend?

Bao Dim Sum House

Excuse the darkness of the photo, but the ambiance is hip
and pretty nice, especially for

 Bao Dim Sum House on Beverly has been on our "to try" list for awhile. Who doesn't like dim sum? Dumplings are one of those foods that almost every culture has and most dumplings, truth be told, are delicious! We stopped by Bao on a Friday night before catching a show at Hotel Cafe and were seated promptly. I was first very impressed by the decor as it is not the decor that normally comes to mind when you think of a dim sum house. As you can see, it's dimly lit, with hip hanging pendant lamps, and dark wood. Decor always accents a dining experience, but is not a prerequisite for me- sometimes the sketchier the place, the better the food- i.e- shady ceviche place on Pico mid city, you know what I'm talking if you've been there, and pretty much any Mexican spot in East LA is going to give you the best taco you've ever had, but you may not want to touch anything in sight or even sit in there for that matter, but you should, you may end up with a good story by the time you're done with your pupusa or burrito. Alas, I digress.

Let's talk dim sum, shall we! Bao does a happy hour throughout the restaurant DAILY from 5-7. We luckily made it in before the end of the window, so we ordered more generously than we needed to and took quite a bit to go.

Crispy Scallion Pancake

I don't know how I've made it this long in life without trying a scallion pancake, but I am thankful that I finally have, so good!

Juicy Pork Dumplings

This was the highlight for me- almost like a soup dumpling, with juicy pork and broth inside. Very good!

Spicy Shrimp Dumpling

I could have actually gone without on this one.

Chicken Pot Sticker

This was a pretty taste dish, there were 3 of these, but we were very hungry and ate 2 before I could even think about getting a picture. This was very hearty and flavorful.

Chicken Stuffed Mushroom

Yummy, but similar to the above pot sticker. Again, hearty.

I love a BBQ pork bun, cha siu bao to be more authentic. This was really good. Very light bun, and nicely flavored pork inside. I could eat a lot of these!

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun

Crispy Crab Claw and Shrimp Ball

These were tasty! A little greasy as you might expect, but good. More shrimp than crab, and I was really hoping for the crab.

A peak inside the crab and shrimp ball

Shrimp Spring Roll

This was good and I love the sweet chili sauce it was served with. I'm getting hungry again...

Milk Bun

Hello sweet, sweet surprise! I didn't know what I was ordering when I asked for this. The waitress said it was dessert and "very good"- she was right. The bun itself is soft and sweet with an ever so slightly crispy outside on the top. The custard inside was really good. This was a very light and excellent end to our meal.

Creamy custard lies inside

Have you been to Bao Dim Sum House? Where do you go to get your dim sum fix? We've been to places in China Town which are great, but this was perfect considering how close it is to us, and I love the happy hour deals!