Twitter is magical. It can bring together people with similar interests and with a lil bit of creativity, can generate some wonderful ideas. Hence the case for Pizza Rustica, Victorian Truffles, Gino Rocco, and me. What began as an innocent … Continue reading
LA. City of Angels. La La Land. No matter the name you use to refer to Los Angeles, the city and surrounding area is absolutely amazing. Let’s backtrack a bit – I have traveled. I have traveled a lot domestically … Continue reading
Lagunitas Beer Circus is the kick-off to a summer of lovin’ (drinking) All I do is win! On social media. Seriously, over the past few years, I have been so lucky and winning on Twitter and Facebook. My most recent … Continue reading
Given my busy schedule lately (not complaining, I thrive in chaos!) I haven’t posted my Mani-Monday’s in about 6 weeks. Sad.
Not one to disappoint, here is a montage of manis. Enjoy!
Funky reverse French – hot pink. White. Black. A lot of scotch tape and patience.
Bonus Pedi! Black base with white stripes and a little purple heart.
50 shades of grey 😉 Ok, kidding. It’s ombre! White, light grey, dark grey, black.
Leopard and funky French tips. Whoah. Teal, silver, black.
I was recently invited to attend a social media “first taste event” for Potbelly‘s new FLATS as they were unveiled at a local Chicago location. Want to know how it went… read on!
First – I arrive promptly at 6:03pm (because you know, fashionably late!) to be greeted with a fresh, full sized, soon-to-be-launched frozen Raspberry Lemonade.
Helllooo summertime favorite (if the weather ever gets above 70 degrees). Don’t sweat (get it?!) – they will be available in June.
Next – to those who RSVP’d to the event were treated to 1 of 2 flats: Mediterranean or A Wreck. I opted for the Mediterranean version. It was filled with yummy goodness of hummus, tomatoes, artichokes, cucumber, and feta.
I devoured that like a professional! All while sipping on the frozen raspberry lemonade and snacking on my fav flavor of PopChips barbeque.
Just when I thought it was over and would just hang around for 30 minutes mixing and mingling with others listening to the live music….oh no. Stop. ANOTHER sampling of FLATs – Grilled Chicken and Cheddar, Turkey, or Italian. Now, granted I am Italian, but it included Roast Beef (and well, I don’t eat cow) so I went for the Turkey.
The fun part – we were tasked with uploading a ‘selfie’ using the hashtag #FlattenedByFlavor but let’s be honest, I don’t really do selfies so my newly made blogger friend Jalpa took a photo of me. I upload and continue on devouring my chips and flats.
Upon my surprise, the Potbelly crew chose a winning pic – and it was me! I am the proud recipient of a Potbelly giftcard. I will certainly be utilizing come May 6th when the flats make their debut.
Finally – upon leaving we were gifted with SwagBags! Including a dozen mini (fresh) chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, some hot peppers, a t-shirt, and other things. Do you know how many of my twitter followers were jealous?! (I apologize for not having a photo of this!)
Between the raspberry lemonade, the flats, the PopChips, and swag…all in all a very successful event. Now I must go try to flatten my tummy from eating so much food.
For more information follow Potbelly and PopChips on Twitter.
I apologize but this is a quick and boring post.
Busy week ahead – work conference in Miami! Thus, not able to have funky nails.
Alas, it was the warmest day in Chicago in like 150 days (no joke) so in honor of Spring…
Pink nails!
Not just any pink nails. No, this… THIS is a pink nail polish which I picked up on my last work trip. To London. Ahh, fond memories!
Maybelline Super Stay 7 Days in Nude Rose:
And that, my blog followers, is my simple and sophisticated British mani for this week.
Cheers and happy polishing!
I’ll make this quick, because, you know, Dancing with the Stars is about to begin!
Here’s my mani for this week:
Nude base, funky french tips (in red and black). Totally free-handed that, don’t judge!
Annnndd, forgot to post from last week!
Aqua base and splashes of sparkly silver sponged on.
Enjoy and happy polishing!
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” ~Henry David Thoreau
You know that feeling of checking something off your bucket list and having a life long dream come true?
Yah, it is pretty magical!
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Europe. A friend of mine already had plans to go, and well, YOLO*. What began as a half-hearted ‘Let me look into it’ turned into a dream come true. All my life, I always dreamed of being spontaneous, booking a flight to Europe, wandering around, just because.
“Not all those who wander are lost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Check.
I flew into Dublin and had a 12 hour layover (Dublin was SUPER cheap to fly into). Having only 12 hours to enjoy, I stopped at a nearby pub, made friends with the locals where I learned that Garth Brooks is still popular and taught my newly made friends what an Irish Car bomb is and what *YOLO means.
Then the next day, hopped a flight to Prague to meet up with my friend.
Prague, you win.
It is like a fairy-tale. Very clean, preserved. It’s like walking back in time. I had heard it is a beautiful city. Words don’t do it justice. It’s like walking through a real-like Hansel and Gretel. Although it isn’t a very touristy city (as in comparing to Rome with so many things to see and do) it is a nice, relaxing, walkable city that transport you into a dream. Here are some pics to make you jealous:
Plus the most magical souvenir of all (because I love puns!)
After 2 days (and I do say, 2 days was just enough to dabble in the gloriousness of the city, although 1 more day would have been perfect), it was back on a plane to head to Amsterdam.
This was just as I had imagined. Canals lined with buildings. Bikes galore. Coffeeshops. A tad disappointed upon our late arrival, hardly ANY restaurants were open past 10pm. Why not eat some pizza then…after devouring pizza that would put any pizzeria in Italy to shame, back to the hotel to rest up for the next 2 days of touristy stuff!
From walking throughout the city to shopping to apple pie* to canal cruises to I Amsterdam to Heineken – I’ll be sure to make a trip back (I didn’t do the museums – I know SHAME!). Maybe you’ll understand why – look at this!
*this, THIS apple pie, looking all sweet and innocent. UNTIL I take a bite and boom, raisins. Lets just say, you all probably know how that ended up. Thank you @Chicagoista for rescuing me.
Exactly.
Next up – back to Dublin.
Sorry to report – Dublin is somewhat a dud. I even tried to make a fun pun at customs in Amsterdam…
Border Patrol: Where are you headed to?
Me: You can find me in the ‘Dub (you know, a play off of 50 Cent’s ‘You Can Find Me in the Club’ – note, puns do NOT translate well).
One positive aspect – Guinness.
Here’s a few photos to document our day in the Dub:
Notice a trend…beer in Prague. Heineken in Amsterdam. Guinness in Dublin. My kind of souvenirs.
And that, my dear friends, is a recap of my whirl-wind 1-week-Euro-adventure-to-check-off-my-bucket-list. Until my next trip…
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~Mark Twain
Oh hey there. I know… You all are deprived of my posts. Fear not. I am back!
This is a short and simple Mani-Monday!
Pink, white, black. Lots of scotch tape and lots of drying time.
And there you have it! A lil nail-inspiration. Enjoy and happy polishing.
As many of my friends know, I’m a food aficionado. No. Joke. I’m a mix between a Food Network star and an 8 year old. From whipping up fun, new creative dinners to delicious desserts to eating Lucky Charms cereal, potato chips and a Bloody Mary…I cover it all.
That being said, I can also be quite picky and lazy when it comes to preparing food (reference the Lucky Charms for dinner comment above). Quick, easy, yummy meals – um, yes please!
**Blog Update: Relished Foods has been rebranded to Home Chef even better… now have a larger selection of meals than ever before (8 to choose from every week), with options to satisfy a range of dietary preferences like gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian. Check out their latest menu!
Enter Relished Foods. ***read through the entire post to receive a special offer!
As their website states: Fresh Ingredients and Recipes Delivered to Your Door. No confusion there, nope, none at all.Their Director of Product & Growth recently contacted me, offering me the opportunity to try it out! Sure thing.
I was impressed with his responsiveness and when I mentioned that I don’t eat red meat, they accommodated! Fast forward to last week, I find a box outside my door.
Opened to find (padding and ice packs) and 3 paper bags with clear labeling, 3 individual meats (vacuumed sealed and frozen), and 3 separate recipe cards.
Talk about making things easy! Literally, everything was pre-portioned/measured, garlic cloves were peeled, all ingredients were clearly labeled. Insert happy dance here!
The first night, I made the Panko Crusted Cod. Simple, fresh, delicious. Cod is usually not my first choice, but I was craving more!
A day later, I made the Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad with Pan Seared Chicken. Quinoa, you’ve won my heart.
I’m a checklist person by nature so here is a recap of the PROS and ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
PROS:
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Excuse me while I go prepare the Lamb Meatballs with Creamy Polenta and Tomato Ragout (who wants to join me?!)
Ok, so I’ll enjoy the yumminess by my lonesome, but that doesn’t mean you too can’t relish (see what I did there?!) in this. You can save 50% on your first order by using discount code ‘Wits&Pieces‘ at checkout (only valid for 1 week from today). Come on, get going…you know you want to. Guys and gals, easy way to impress your significant other!
If my blog doesn’t wet your palate, go ahead, check ’em out on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, or on their blog. Happy cooking and eating!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional photographer. The images were taken with my cell, very hastily, I might add, as I was starving!
witsandpieces.wordpress.com 