Rustico is Coming to Ballston...

During our epic house hunt, Mr. Ginger and I looked at a townhouse in Slaters Lane. We ultimately decided we didn't love the area and wanted more outside space but we checked out Rustico while we were in the neighborhood.  We weren't blown away by the food but they had tons of beers and it's definitely worth checking out a second time. When I was on my way to the gym tonight, I noticed they are opening one in Ballston! It's going to be right across from the Gold's and the sign says it's opening summer of 2010, I think it will be a great alternative to the other bars in the hood!

Ready for the Moon...

My sister called me when I was in the middle of spreadsheet hell at work today and excitedly announced that Jade Mountain, where we are going on the Moon, just received the top hotel rating for best service in the world from Travel and Leisure...THE WORLD.  Holy moly, I'm so ready. It's rainy and cold here and I need to not be working, thinking about school, or planning for the new house...

Healthy Tip #3: Women's Health Mag Workouts

Women's Health Magazine online is a treasure trove of great strength-building workouts. I've been doing workouts from the site for years and to get into shape for the wedding, I combined a few different workouts and I've been really happy with the results. Just browse through the fitness section and then click on "workouts." You can find all different kinds of workouts; some with minimal equipment, some for specific target areas, etc. and you just print them out and bring them to the gym.

After the wedding I think I'm going to try the 2-in-1 Toners workout, it looks fun and I'm ready for a break from the wedding routine! I generally try to do strength-building workouts three times a week, lifting really gets your metabolism going and it makes you feel tough!

Hi Maintenance

I can't exactly wear a bright nail polish for the wedding so for my weekly manicure today I was determined to find a nice pale color. Mission successful, Hi Maintenance by Essie is neutral and a nice alternative to the usual suspects of Mademoiselle and Ballet Slippers. It's just pink enough and just sheer enough to look almost like a frenchie, without the cost!

Bird Bowels + Wine

It's so beautiful out today so Mr. Ginger and I decided to check out the Taste of Arlington. It was crazy crowded but all those people drinking outside got us hankering for a cool beverage so we decided to walk into Clarendon and get a glass of wine outside.  Just as we were passing Spider Kelly's, enjoying the beautiful weather, it happened...a bird pooed on my hand. This might seem like nothing major, but everything makes me dry heave. My friend Lauren's baby burped up on me and I dry heaved, things that smell bad make me dry heave, it's ridiculous, I know, but maybe I've finally kicked it because I didn't dry heave, I just stuck my hand out and willed it to fall off.  It didn't, and a rowdy group of passerbys saw me and one of them was packing baby wipes and helped me out. Mr. Ginger rewarded me with a glass of wine at Screwtop, where we sat inside, away from the birds...

Screwtop was setting up for the Wine Club pick-up party. The Wine Club is pretty cool, for $40 each month, you get two bottles of wine, selected by the owner, and a pairing (chocolate, charcuterie or cheese).  They throw parties when it's time to pick-up your wine and offer wine tastings and lots of yummy cheeses and charcuterie. We decided to sign-up and we start next month, not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon except next time we'll cross the street before Spider Kelly's.

Low Fat Chicken Parm

This is a really easy and low-fat chicken parm recipe that always gets rave reviews from Mr. Ginger. It's a variation of this Cooking Light recipe but who has the time to make fresh sauce? If you're looking for a great pasta sauce, I'm obsessed with Carmine's marinara sauce. They sell it at Harris Teeter and other local markets, it goes well with everything. Also, I know it's more expensive but I only buy chicken in the Perdue Perfect Portions package. The convenience of controlled, single portions are great and you can just grab them out of the freezer for dinner. I serve this dinner with some pasta (tossed in the same sauce), steamed broccoli, and a small bread.

Chicken Parm
Servings: 2 to 3
Time: About 30 minutes
Preheat Oven: 350

Ingredients:
- 3 chicken breasts. The Perdue portions are about 4.8 ounces and about 1/2 inch thick
- 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cup of italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/2 pasta sauce, you'll just spoon it out of the jar so no need to measure
- 1/2 mozzarella or parmesan cheese, whatever you have in the refrigerator works
- Cooking spray

To prepare chicken, dip each in egg whites first, then dredge in the breadcrumbs. Spray cooking spray into a pan on medium-high heat and place the chicken in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.

Place the chicken in a baking dish, sprayed with cooking spray. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove and spoon pasta sauce on each chicken breast, top with your choice of mozzarella or parm, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Aaaand done, super easy!

Chunk-tastic

I am a jewelry simpleton, crazy for me is a pair of chandelier earrings, but right now I am coveting big chunky necklaces. I think they are a great way to spice up an outfit but I'm on the quest for something relatively inexpensive because I'm not sure I'll wear it a lot.  Here are a few pieces I'm debating...

This is pretty bold but would be so cute with a black tank, the Ensis Clam Necklace is $48.00 from Anthropologie.

This is still chunky but much softer, the Short 2-Strand Lavender Bead Necklace is only $34.50 from Ann Taylor Loft. Ann Taylor Loft has a ton of really great accessories at low-price points right now and they always have coupons.

I like this option because it is all metal so you could wear lots of color. It's the Metal Mesh Circle Necklace from The Limited and it's only $29.50!

Wedding Nightmare #2

I had another wedding nightmare this week...This time I was wearing this silky hot pink dress that was actually really cool except it was pink and the whole time in my dream, I kept thinking, "I hate pink, why am I wearing pink?" I think it was related to my last dress fitting, which was on Saturday, and my dress being sent UPS despite my Mother's request to put it in the cockpit, but the dress arrived safe and sound yesterday!

I'm definitely in the home-stretch of the wedding and starting to realize I'm having a lot of "lasts." I had my "last single-girl haircut" on Wednesday and my hairdresser joked that she could "really mess up my bangs for the wedding," my response was a death stare, I think I visibly saw her shudder.

The Moon

I thought travel agents were so 1980's but when we sat down to plan the Moon we were really overwhelmed with all the options. I read a fellow Denisonian's blog and she just planned her wedding and honeymoon and recommended the girls at Jetset World Travel. I worked with Lauren at Jetset and she was wonderful; she had great ideas, listened to what we wanted, and helped me weigh the pros and cons of different locations and resorts. Ultimately we settled on the resorts below and I managed to book us free, first-class roundtrip tickets with my Amex points, score!

We'll start with three days in Barbados at the Fairmont Royal Pavilion. We've booked dinners each night and we're going to take catamaran booze cruise where we'll swim with turtles and see a shipwreck. Mr. Ginger does not yet know of my fear of swimming with wildlife, I hope he doesn't mind me jumping on his shoulders when one of those turtles gets near me...

From Barbados, we'll take a little plane to St. Lucia where we will be staying at Jade Mountain for five days.  It's a really fancy resort and we've booked a package with all food, drink, and activities included. I've already booked a couples massage that is included in the package, dream! All the rooms have their own plunge pools and butlers, it's going to be tough to come home!

Something Blue Downstairs...

Daily Candy usually highlights really fun and special things so when they came out with Daily Candy Weddings, I signed up! This week they missed the mark though...it was about unusual "something blue" things for your wedding and they are just way too weird.

Case in point, a kit to dye your hoo ha blue. Yes, your hoo ha...

Or my other fave, a swarovski crystal for your front tooth...apparently Daily Candy is now targeting the "Lil Kim" audience.

I'm taking a less scandalous route and going with Mindy Weiss "I Do" stickers for the bottom of my shoes, they are cute and I won't have to worry about my hoo ha bleeding on my dress...

Happy Mothership Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mothership and all the other Ships around. I got my Mom flowers this year, sort of boring, I know, but it fits my qualifications of gift-giving, "give people something they wouldn't normally buy for themselves." Is the Mothership going to buy herself an over-priced bouquet? No...and who doesn't love getting flowers!? Last year I gave her a plant that never grew and just got moldy, at least the flowers were alive this year.

Get Reddy Two-Step

Every morning Mr. Ginger and I do the "Get Reddy Two-Step." It's a calculated dance of blowing hair dry, shaving in the sink, and putting on make-up. We dream of double-sinks but our new house doesn't have them, we have plans for an addition with a master suite in about 5 years, but until then we'll have to find a way to make it work that doesn't involve me knocking everything off the sink with my hair dryer cord.

I'm now on the hunt for a vanity to solve our morning dance routine, it'll be so hollywood glam, only I'll be using it to get ready to go for work...sigh.   When we finally expand our house, we can use it as desk in a kid's bedroom or for crafting (if I can craft up more hours in the day). I've found a few I like below but I'm also going to go on a flea market hunt to see what I can fix up, there's a great flea market in Courthouse on the weekends.

This doesn't look like much now but the Parson's Mini Desk ($199) from West Elm would be so cute with a fun chair and mirror on top. It also comes in a darker brown, white, and yellow...we'll see how bold I can be...

Also from West Elm, the Narrow-Leg Vanity ($379) is more of a traditional style and has a mirror already built in.

This shabby chic vanity ($449) from Jordan's is more girly but in the future could be repainted and have different drawer pulls added, making it much more versatile.

Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder

Summertime means fun tops and dresses but without the right bra, it's just not as fun to shop. To top it off (literally) the Mothership claims the boob fairy visited me twice so it's extra hard to find the right bras. I've found the bras below at Nordies but you can also purchase at barenecessities.com. If you sign up for the email list at Bare Necessities, they have sales and coupons all the time.

I know every bra isn't created for every body I think this one is. My sister and Lil' Fash both bought the Chantelle C-Chic T Shirt bra and we all love it. At $68 it isn't cheap, but the cups are molded just the right amount and there are little clips in the back to turn it into a racerback, perfect for a little tank in the summer.



I bought this bra for the wedding and then bought a second in black. For some reason I don't fit in regular Calvin Klein bras but their strapless bras are GOD's gift to the ladies. Priced at just $46, the Calvin Klein Seductive Comfort Custom Lift Convertible bras are really reasonably priced and actually comfortable.

Healthy Tip #2: Meet Itrain

If you think you're getting a good workout reading US Weekly while using the ellipitcal, you are kidding yourself. My sister turned me onto itrain.com years ago and with all honesty, I can say it has made me faster and fitter.

Itrain.com is like being able to have a personal trainer or starting your favorite workout class whenever you want. They offer everything from yoga to spinning and you just download it to you ipod, so easy! My favorite workouts are the iclimb, for the elliptical, or the itread for the treadmill. When I really want to kick my butt, I do the itri, which is a 15 minute run, 15 minute elliptical, 15 minute bike, and a 15 run, seriously calorie burner! Once you download a workout it's yours to keep so you'll have plenty of different options at the gym to keep you entertained.

If it's a Party, it's Fat-Free!

The day of the Mothership is fast-approaching and while I won't be journeying back to the homeland of St. Louis, MO, I'm lucky enough to spend it with Mr. Ginger's clan. He's from a big family, well, big by Jewish standards, and with 4 kids, spouses and one fiesty grandma, meals require a lot of work!

I'm making my friend Lauren's world-class french toast casserole. The best way to describe it is bread pudding crack. It is beyond tasty and Lauren was nice enough to share the recipe with me. Lauren served it at a wedding shower she threw for me earlier in the month. She is truly the hostess with the mostess and I've included a few pictures from the the food she prepared (the french toast crackerole is on the top-left) and the beautiful table she set.  She is so fancy!

Make-Ahead French Toast Casserole

Servings: 6 to 8

Time: Pour yourself a glass of wine and relax with this one, I'll report back on how long it takes me

Do not substitute lowfat or skim milk for the whole milk in this recipe. To ensure a sticky and crisp topping, make the topping just before baking. Walnuts can be substituted for the pecans. Lauren also recommends using the round loaf of premium white bread from Great Harvest and cubing it.

Casserole

- 1 loaf (16-ounce) supermarket French or Italian bread , sliced 1/2 inch thick

- 8 large eggs

- 2 cups whole milk

- 2 cups half-and-half

- 1 tablespoon sugar

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping

- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened

- 1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar

- 3 tablespoons corn syrup

- 5 ounces pecans , chopped (1 1/2 cups)

For the casserole: Adjust two oven racks to the upper and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Arrange the bread in a single layer on two baking sheets. Bake until dry and lightly golden, about 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Allow the bread to cool.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish (or casserole dish of similar size) with butter. Layer the baked bread tightly in the prepared dish (you should have two layers). Whisk together the eggs, milk, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and pour evenly over the bread. Press lightly on the bread to submerge. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.

For the topping: When ready to bake, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup together until smooth, then stir in the pecans.

To assemble and bake: Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and unwrap. Spoon the topping over the casserole, then spread it in an even layer. Place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until puffed and golden, about 60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

In Your Face Humidity

Between my long days with work, school, and now the lovely humidity of DC, I've found two fool-proof ways to not look like warm death..Enter two of my fave beauty products:

1. Blinc Kiss Me Mascara- Literally magic, it will never fall below your lashes and when you wash your face, it rolls off in tubes. It doesn't give you a lot of oomph but it's great for everyday or if you know you'll be somewhere warm.

2.  Make Up For Ever Mist & Fix- I don't leave the house without a few quick sprays of this, no matter where I am going. It smells good, dries instantly without any residue, and helps keep your make-up in place, divine!

Double Turkey Meatballs

Anytime a dinner has more than one meat product, Mr. Ginger is a happy camper. I came across this recipe in the Express paper and I made it last night for the second time with a few modifications and it was DEELISH.

I served it in pita pockets, but you could eat without or as a meatball appetizer. I prepared Near East taboule salad that I added diced cucumber, diced tomatoes, a touch of fat free feta, and a dash of fresh lemon juice and olive oil.

Turkey Meatball Pita Pockets
Servings: 4 (just had some leftovers for dinner, they keep great!)
Time: Around 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook
Preheat Oven: 375

Ingredients:
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried italian herb blend
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 10 oz. 99% lean ground turkey
- 2 hot italian turkey sausages, squeezed out of casing
- 1 1/2 cups of italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 pita pockets
- fat free ranch

Coat a wire cookie rack with cookie spray and put on a baking sheet. If you line the baking sheet with foil, you won't have to clean it, score!

In a large nonstick skillet, spray some cooking spray, and turn onto medium-high. Saute the onion until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and italian herb blend and cook for another 30 seconds. Transfer the onion mixture to a large bowl, add the tomator sauce and let it sit for 10 minutes. (This is a good time to prep the taboule)

Add the ground turkey, sausage, bread crumbs, egg whites, salt, and pepper and mix well. Roll meatballs  so they are about 1-inch and place them on the cookie rack. Bake the meatballs for 30 minutes.

Assemble pita pockets with a few meatballs, some spinach or lettuce if you have it handy, and top with some fat free ranch. Enjoy!

Hey Big Spender!

My sister has convinced me that I need to get a manicure once a week until the wedding and who am I to argue with sisterly advice? I just returned from Pearl River for my weekly manicure and got "Big Spender" by Essie. It is a fun mix of purple and red that is trendy without being too weird for work. Now if I can just resist getting a pedicure one a week too I'll be good to go...

Happy Birthday Christa!

I met Christa freshman year of college in 1997, we pledged the same sorority, and she's been a close friend ever since. We lived together in Arlington, VA when we graduated and one night, Christa saved my life, well, sort of...

It was just after my birthday and I received balloons so they were in my room. In the middle of the night, the balloons got caught in my ceiling fan and made a crazy thumping noise just as I was having a nightmare about being attacked (I know, I have weird dreams). So in my sleep I started screaming which woke up Christa. Christa sprang into action to help me, pressed 9 and 1 and with finger poised over the final 1 to call for help, burst into my room and flicked the light on. This finally woke me up and I sat up and stared at her. Neither one of us said anything, she flicked the light back off and went into her room back to sleep. We both forgot this even happened until the next day at work when one of us emailed the other one to see if it actually did or if it was just a dream. 

We still laugh about it today but how many people can say one of their friends tried to actually save them from a dream induced balloon attacker? Just one, me! So thank you Christa and I hope you have a great day!

photo courtesy of Summer Fair Cincinnati and it's a pansy, how perfect is that?

Mind the Gap

I needed a few casual things for the Moon but didn't want to spend a lot so I hit gap.com and got some great pieces at great prices!

Shorts ($17.15) - Bizarrely flattering, I ordered them in purple and heather gray. They are the perfect price for a cover-up or lounging around the house.

Beater ($10.00) - In a petite, this is the perfect length on me, I ordered in white and black. I plan on throwing this on with a swimsuit or dressing this up with my new going out shorts.

Hoodie ($19.95) - I know I'm not 15 any more but this fits well, is very soft and I ordered in the gray. This will be great to thrown on if I get chilly at the pool.

Worship The Mothership- Take 2

Mr. Ginger and I make pizza every Friday when we don't have plans. It's become a fun tradition in our house because we cook it together. It had been awhile since we made it and we re-opened the pizza sauce and something really weird happened, so I did what I normally do when weird things happen in the kitchen, I call Mom!

Me: I opened the pizza sauce and it popped like a soda can and bubbled like science experiment. Should we use it?
Mom: (pause) No.

As the words were coming out of my mouth, I knew how weird it sounded and Mom didn't even laugh, granted she probably burst out laughing to Dad when she hung up, but she was her usual helpful and supportive self...so back to gifties!

1. Knives at Dawn would be such a fun book for Mom because she loves all things cooking, she literally reads cookbooks like they are novels. It's about an American team competing in the 2009 Bocuse d'Or. The Bocuse d'Or is this crazy cooking competition and the American team is headed up by the chef at French Laundry, Timothy Hollingsworth. For those Top Chef watchers, they did a mini Bocuse d'Or last year.

2. The Mothership has been growing her hair out and this fun but age-appropriate headband from JCrew would be a great way to add some flair to any outfit. 

                                                

Chicken Cordon Delicious

I meant to post this on Thursday but I've been busy...and by busy I mean drinking wine and celebrating with Mr. Ginger. We had a big week, I finished classes until July and we finalized the sale on his condo!  Here's the Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe I promised...

The first time I made this dish for Mr. Ginger, he declared he would sleep with it and I don't mean cuddling. When me moved in together I really struggled with making healthy dishes that he would like and this was one of the first to fit the bill. I served it with steamed asparagus (topped with some kosher salt, pepper, and a little I Can't Believe It's Not Butter) and a Near East, whole grain rice side. It's a modification of this Cooking Light recipe...

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Turkey Bacon
Servings: 3, I make one for me and two for Mr. Ginger
Time: It takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and about 28 minutes to cook
Preheat Oven: 350

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup fat-free chicken broth
- Small spoonful of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 cup dry italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon shredded parmesan cheese (optional)
- 3 (6-ounces) skinless chicken breast halves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 3 slices cooked turkey bacon
- 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- Cooking spray

Microwave broth for around 30 seconds until warm, stir in butter until it melts and add garlic. Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese on a plate, set aside.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet. The other day I ran out of plastic wrap and used a gallon zip lock, it worked like a charm and was actually less messy!

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, oregano, and pepper.  Top each breast half with 1 slice of turkey bacon and 1 tablespoon of mozzarella. Roll-up each breast half starting from the longer side (jelly-roll fashion). Dip each roll in the broth mixture and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place rolls, seam side down in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken. Bake at 350 for 28 minutes, you'll know it's done with the juices run clear and tops are golden.