Jun 29, 2016

Style Post: Summer Special Occasions

Winter is full of fun dress up events, from work holiday parties to New Year's Eve celebrations. But summer can be just as fun for those of us who love dressing up!

While summer has holiday galas, summer has weddings, baby showers, and soirees galore! I love this elegant, but summery, dress from ASOS for any of the above except weddings. 


Don't wear white to a wedding and most certainly not an all white dress! If you're not going to a wedding, however, summer is the perfect time to dress up in white. I'm not sure what it is, but I love white dresses!

I think they just feel so much lighter and floater and twirlier (we'll pretend that's a word).


Another advantage of choosing an all-white dress for your event is that you can add a pop of color with fun accessories and don't have to worry about clashing colors or having too much going on at once. Though I'm a big fan of pink, I tend to favor a pop of classic blue or red for my accessory color accent!

As is often the case, a little goes a long way. With the embellished bodice of this dress, just the blue earrings and simple eyeliner is enough to finish the look. I'm not big on going overboard with the jewelry or makeup, especially not in the summer! It just weighs your airy summer look down.

Jun 26, 2016

What Being a Hobby Baker Is Like

I love baking! Baking is so fun, makes my apartment smell cozy and inviting, and can make others happy, too. I've also had the opportunity to work with some cool companies on recipes.

But being a hobby baker has its trying moments, too, just like anything else. Here's what you don't see in the cheerful recipes and pretty food photos!

When you're asked to bake cookies for an event, but they need to be sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and whatever the other latest food trend is:


When you're elbows deep in flour and someone tries to join in on your solo baking project:


Jun 23, 2016

Review: Paleo Scavenger Granola

Granola is my absolute favorite sort of cereal. Nuts are my favorite crunchy snack. So a granola made almost entirely out of nuts sounded delicious!



It didn't disappoint. Paleo Scavenger Granolas are handcrafted in Chicago and, as the name suggests, completely grain-free, gluten-free, and paleo-friendly.

Instead of the usual grains, these granolas are made of healthy nuts, like almonds, walnuts, and coconut, as well as dried fruit and natural sweeteners, like honey and maple syrup!


Healthy fats are so important for healthy skin and hair! Paleo Scavenger granolas are a much better choice than many other commercial granolas, which can often be packed with processed sugars and sometimes even trans fats. I would much rather have a breakfast or snack that keeps my skin soft and glowing and my hair shiny and healthy!
 

They're also all delicious! They're not what I would first think of when I think of granola and they do taste different than other granolas, so I would say they're somewhere between granola and trail mix. 

Jun 20, 2016

Style Post: Vamp It Up

Dressing up is super fun and, though I wear little to no makeup most days, doing the girl thing and wearing a complete look sometimes can be so fun!


In general in makeup, I love a bold lip and emphasized eyes, with just very light skin stuff.

I am very lucky to have clear skin, so I never really wear anything on my skin when I do my own makeup, but I also think that the eyes and mouth are two of the most interesting areas on our faces and I love to play them up when I do bother to get all dolled up!


Jun 17, 2016

Recipe: Nutty for Nuts Bars

We're well into June now and with the warm weather and long days comes a lot more time spent outside and, by extension, a lot more fun social activities like potlucks and parties for many of us!

I love baking, so I always try to get dibs on dessert when I go to a potluck. Not only is making desserts loads of fun, but desserts are often also easier to make ahead of time and transport to the party location, since they generally don't have to be kept particularly hot or cold in transport.


These nutty bars are a sweet, delicious, and indulgent dessert that's a big hit at parties, potlucks, and bake sales. They're fun to make, a great way to switch things up from the typical chocolate chip cookies and brownies, and are perfect served at room temperature. They're very rich, so you get a lot of bars out of the batch. Read on for the recipe!

Jun 14, 2016

Style Post: Modern African

I am half-German, half-Zimbabwean and from South Africa. Now NYC and Boston are home!

I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel around the world and experience many different cultures and ways of life. The people I have met and cultures I have experience inform my own perspectives, as well as influence how I cook, how I tell stories, and how I dress!

African Fashion

Style is all about self-expression and I love to mix cultures in how I dress, just as I do in almost every aspect of my life!

Fashion Blogger

African patterns and cuts, like this skirt, pair organically with urban items, like this top. It's a fusion that's meant to be!

Street Style

The necklace, earrings, and loafers pull the outfit together for a more chick look!

African Street Style

Mixing patterns, colors, and styles is such a fun way to make fashion our own. 

African Fashion Blogger

Especially in cities, it's becoming more and more okay to stand out.

Black Fashion Blogger

Be individual, wear what you want, and never worry about what others might think. Life is too short to stick to wear boring clothes out of fear - and that applies to so many other things, too!

Beautiful Mixed Girl

Like this look? Tweet it!

Photographer: Vania Arroyo

Stylist: Bryan Alexis
Makeup Artist: Mea Sukri

Jun 11, 2016

Bhu Fit Bar Giveaway

Remember when I reviewed Bhu Fit Bars a while ago? Now it's your turn to try them!


We're giving away a 14 bar variety box of assorted Bhu Fit Bars to one lucky US-based reader! They're all delicious, low in sugar, and made of simple, whole food ingredients. They're great! 

Enter below through next Friday, June 17, for your chance to win a box of your own! 


Good luck!

Jun 8, 2016

Review: Degustabox

I love trying new foods and will try most (vegetarian) foods once. How great would it be if new foods just showed up in our pantries to try whenever we wanted?

UMM YES Grumpy Cat

Degustabox makes basically exactly that happen! Degustabox is a subscription service that delivers 10 to 15 new foods to your doorstep every month. Unlike other subscription box services, these foods aren't just new to you - they're new to the market!



Best of all, you actually save money by using Degustabox to try new foods. You get the same products for less than they cost in the shops!

Jun 5, 2016

Style Post: How to Rock Any Outfit

Summer in Boston is absolutely beautiful! This is the second summer in a row that I've been lucky enough to have a change of pace and leave my (beloved) NYC temporarily for the quieter, quainter city of my college days. 

Boston is often cooler in the summer than NYC, but we had a heat wave recently and we Bostonians - I can call myself that for the summer - took advantage of it to break out our fun warm weather fashion! 

It's easy to pull off any look, even daring summer looks with these simple tips.


Don't forget about your face. It's part of your outfit! If you're wearing makeup, make sure that it works with your outfit! I love how the dark red lip pairs with the orange top - I wouldn't pair a pink lipstick, for example, with this look.


Don't forget about accessories! An outfit isn't fashion until you accessorize.


My personal accessories policy is that it isn't about dripping in gems or being covered in huge, bright necklaces and bracelets and countless rings. I like to pick just a few pieces, but make sure that they're pieces that I really like and that add something to the look.

Jun 2, 2016

Review: Bhu Fit Bars

As the temperatures rise and summer sets in, many of us find ourselves on the go much more than during the cooler months. Whether it's traveling or simply spending more time outside at parks, beaches, lakes, and so on, summertime is all about going out and having adventures!

Bhu Fit Bars  from Bhu Foods are the perfect grab-and-go choice for healthy snacking away from home. They're conveniently packaged, like traditional protein bars, and they're made of only healthy, whole foods. That's rare to find in a protein bar!

The bars are no-GMO, gluten-free, and full of healthy protein and digestion-regulating fiber. They're also wonderfully low in sugar, without relying on unhealthy chemical sweeteners, like sucralose.

They come in three main types, all of which are oh so delicious and oh so good for you! 


There are the vegan bars, which are made with organic pea protein and come in three great flavors. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip is my favorite, but Chocolate Tart Cherry Pistachio is delicious, too!

Bhu Fit Chocolate Tart Cherry Pistachio Vegan Bar
Many chocolate-flavored protein bars feature chocolate as the main flavor, but these bars have just a little bit of chocolate, so that the other flavors still shine, too. The bars have a chewy texture and aren't too big, but also not too small! They're perfectly snack-sized.

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