Love this work outfit!

Dear life….

Dear universe/life/whatever I would really appreciate it crappy things stopped detonating in my vicinity! I get it… I suck at stuff. I ZB solemnly swear to be more of a grow up, stick to a budget, work my hinny off at work & at the gym, floss, spend more time appreciating/loving  the people in my life & the blessing I have, be optimistic, be happy & reach for my dreams! So please please cut my a break!!!

Homemade Cream Cheese

Hi all,

I am one of those weird people that loves doing things at home even if I can buy it at the store. I recently found out that if you but cream cheese in a strainer (small strainer with thin mesh) or cheese cloth over night in the fridge you can make home made cream cheese!!!

1. Put yogurt -greek, plain or preferred flavor in a strainer and leave over night with a bowl under the strainer to catch the liquid.
2. Scrape the cheese out of the strainer
3. Add flavor if you would like such as jam, onions, etc.
4. Eat & Enjoy!

Three things that make me smile

1.Adorable home stuff like this amazing tile 2. My amazing pink wedges 3. My favorite new nail polish color age of Aquarius by color club

Office Re-fashion

Hi,

Since moving into our  new house the office has been a room to store odds & ends in and pretty much ignore. So I decided to give it a little TLC  without buying anything new and to make it a room that is functional and  a little cute. Mostly I just re-organized and got ride of stuff but I am thrilled with the results.

One of the many perks of being a business professional!

Banksy

Dear B,

I love the art. I don’t know whether to laugh or worry. So I do both. Thanks for questioning our world and provoking thought.

 

Thick & Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies

Hi,

I don’t have much  of a sweet tooth but I love baking and wanted to make something new this weekend….I have to say these were easy and delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (any cocoa powder will work- I used unsweetened)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp instant coffee ( I used 2 Tblsp’s of brewed coffee)
• 10 TBlsp (1 & 1/4 sticks) butter
• 1 & 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 12 ounces bag (two cups) semisweet chocolate chips or white chocolate chips

Tools

• Medium pot
• Spatula’s
• Parchment paper or paper bags
• 2 small, 1 medium and 1 medium/large metal bowls
• 3 Baking trays
• Electric mixer

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt chocolate. Boil water in a pot, put a metal bowl in the water. Chose a bowl which is large enough to rest in the pot but not fall in. Place chocolate in the bowl and stir until it melts.
3. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together in large bowl.
4. In separate bowl, whisk eggs, vanilla and coffee until coffee is dissolve.
5. In separate large bowl, beat butter and sugar together (preferably with an electric mixer on medium speed) until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in egg mixture until incorporated. Beat in the melted chocolate, until incorporated.
6. Reduce speed to low and slowly mix in flour mixture until combined. Stir in chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until consistency is fudge-like, about 30 minutes.
7. Lay parchment paper on baking trays. If you don’t have parchment paper-cut up paper bags so they fit inside of the baking dish-coat with butter.
8. Working 3 Tblsp of dough at a time, scoop the dough onto baking trays. These cookies do not spread much so you can put them fairly close together. I made varying sizes. Try to space them 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.
9. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. If you can keep people from eating them
10. Enjoy!

This cake holder was chalk full of cookies last night-so they will go fast!

Lovely in White

Camille Belle looking stunning, effortless and radiant in a simple white dress! Love it.

An Idiot Abroad

“Having Ricky as a friend is like having a dangerous animal as a pet…you never know if its going to kill you.” -Karl

Sparkle!

Supplies:

-Glitter

-Clear Nail Polish

-Elmer’s Glue

-A piece of paper to catch excess glitter

-Pencil or something similar to clear holes of the key from getting jammed with glitter

My Sister & I had fun decorating our house keys and then our nails with a little glitter. This is a quick, fun & easy little project.

For Sparkle Keys:

Step 1 Spread Elmer’s on one side your key (try to keep it even & out of the holes.

Step 2 Coat with glitter, shake off extra & smooth lumps.

Step 3 Let harden with glitter up for up to 30 minutes or when it feels hard to the touch.

Step 4 Coat with clear nail polish to seal in glitter

Flip over and repeat.

*You can do the whole key without waiting for the first side to dry. Do steps 1-2 to both sides while holding the key. Then set it down gently let it dry before Sealing each side individually.

For Nails:

Step 1Paint nails desired color let dry

Step 2 Paint a top coat on nails, place glitter where desired (I put a couple on each finger, my sister did  solid glitter on one figure)

Step 3 Paint with top coat-let dry.

Cheers,

Z

The Silver Nugget

 

Refashion-

One of the small joys in my life is find a new but still practical use for items. This especially comes in handy when purchasing vintage items. Here is a couple of example of items I have found new uses for.

 

Health Tip

Heidi Klum aka “The Body” (Supermodel, fashion mogul, TV host, and mother of 4) chews gum while she cooks to prevent before dinner snacking and keeps boiled eggs on hand as a filling snack.

The Black Keys

Super excited to see The Black Keys
tonight!

Black & White Inspiration

Sometimes I get caught up in all the things I need to be and do… The daily tit for tat and forget how inspiring life can be. So cheers to appreciating who we are, what we have been blessed with and enjoying today for all of its corks and beauty.

-z

Bday Watch!

Beauty Tips

1. Drink water-and the then more water.Water gives you energy and helps your body function at its highest level.

2. Splurge on night cream.

3. Use vitamin E oil as a night cream once a week, especially in the winter. This will help heal any dry spots or scabs faster, while give your skin a nice treat.

4. Wear face lotion with  15-30 SPF sunscreen on your hands, chest & face every day….even in the winter….even if you rarely burn.This will prevent sun spots, wrinkles, freckles and moles from forming. Most beauty lines have a day cream that contains SPF in them. Think of it this way the skin you take care of today will rear its face in 10 years.

5. Switch out coffee for green tea. Remember caffeine makes your skin break out and oily.

6. Never color your hair with permanent dye, instead use semi-permanent dye. Semi-permanent dye is just as effective and by the time it begins to fade approximately 3-6wks you need to touch up your roots anyways. This will prevent you from doing access damage to your hair or having to go through  the expensive process of getting color stripped so you can change you hair color.

7. Never sleep with makeup on, buy some facial wipes for times when you know your going to be tempted to crash with your “face on”.

8. Don’t touch your face. Your hands touch everything, touching your face may cause break outs. Along with this try not to pick you face. If you do use a piece of issue to between your skin and fingers. This will prevent your nails from cutting into your skin and the oil from your hands accelerating the size of your pimple.

10. To zap a zit crush up Advil or Tynelo mixed with water apply to pimple and leave on for 10+ minutes.

12. Keep up with your vitamins like (E, A, C, Iron, Magnesium). See my post about beauty vitamins for more information!

13. Buy products from makeup to lotion for your skin type. Depending on your skin type spending a little more on nicer foundation, maybe worth the extra cost. I purchase a nice foundation that is almost identical to my skin tone and then mix it with a tinted moisturizer or a darker foundation to get the color I desire.

Thanks,

Z

My Julep Box Arrived!

Hi Guys,

I was gone for the weekend & what did I find waiting for me when I arrived home this evening? My first Julep box which I got for $0.01 (including shipping)!!!!!!!! Check out my earlier post-Julep box (3/12/2012) to get the promo code & the link. I am very pleased by the size of the scrub and nail polishs! I can’t wait to try them out.

Beauty Vitamins!

Ladies, lets be honest, we put our hair and face through hell. Between not eating right, or sleeping enough, or staying hydrated. Not to mention all the “beautifying” we do to ourselves on a daily bases, from blow drying, to foundation, or too much sun exposure. So to say the least or skin and hair needs all the help it can get, here is one EASY thing you can do without changing your habits to get you closer to being a natural beauty is to take your vitamins. Vitamin deficiencies can cause hair loss and dry, flaky skin. Here is a simple guide to which vitamins will help your body produce the best looking you it can. 

Vitamins & Minerals to Give Your Skin a Leg Up!

• Vitamin A is essential to keep skin’s elasticity, prevent dryness, wrinkles and aging of the skin. A person deficient in vitamin A will have flakiness, itching and possibly pimples. Vitamin A can be found in meat, milk, cheese, eggs, spinach, carrots, squash and broccoli.
• Of the vitamin B complex group, biotin is the most important for healthy skin. It is available in bananas, eggs, oatmeal and rice.
• Vitamin C keeps skin well-toned. A deficiency can cause wrinkles and skin discoloration. As skin ages, more vitamin C is essential to maintain elasticity. Broccoli, kale, cabbage, strawberries and cantaloupe are all full of Vitamin C.
• Vitamin E restores moisture to skin and slows the aging of skin cells. Vegetable oil, green leafy vegetables and nuts are good sources of vitamin E.
• Iron transports oxygen in the blood to hair and skin. Magnesium helps the absorption of other vitamins and minerals. Zinc helps prevent sagging and wrinkles.

Vitamins & Minerals to Give Your Hair that Extra Umph!

• Vitamin A produces healthy sebum in the scalp. Vitamin E and vitamin C help with scalp circulation and restore moisture to hair. Vitamin B complex, copper, chromium and iron all help maintain hair color and prevent hair loss. Calcium and magnesium work together for healthy hair growth. Zinc works with vitamin A to keep hair healthy and avoid dryness.

As a side not here is a mini guide to a couple of foods that contain some of these great vitamins…Just in case you want to take you vitamins the “old fashioned” way. Taking vitamins will help balance your bad habits, but try to prioritize eating right, getting enough sleep, exercise and water.

This red panda is charming…but I think it may need a friend instead of a pumpkin.

Bucket List-Holi Festival

I love traveling, I think it is refreshing and stimulating experience. Especially when you get to go to a country that has a completely different value system. One of the place and things I really really want to do is go to India during the Holi festival, which celebrates spring in early March.

Celebrating

Hi Everyone,

While moving a piece of furniture I just found pine needles! I think everyone has officially recovered from the December Holiday season. While all of us love celebrating from an employee and manager stand point beyond having a great time what is the greater benefit? Do parties truly promote trust, inter-department relationships and  make employees feel appreciated???

From what I have observed celebrations only work to reinforce the greater goals of employee engagement minded managers when there is a high level of trust in managers and camaraderie with peers.  In essence parties energize strong relationship, but do not create them. When teams are strong and members share a genuine interest in each other as individuals and the results they achieve together, celebrations reinforce strong bonds and a sense of respect.  Celebrating together does not create relationships but builds on strong ties that already exist. Great workplaces know this and  they use celebrations liberally but judiciously inside their organization.  Celebrations mark personal milestones and commemorate company these celebrations work because employees know each other as people and not just by their job title. How does your employer engage you?

Stay tuned,

Zinzi

 

Hedgehog Madness

Colbert Report Sponsortynity & 17 Wheat Thins

Hi,

Click here http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/409087/february-23-2012/wheat-thins-sponsortunity its funny!

Thirsty?

“Fun Facts”

1.  Drinking one can of soda per day can add as much as 10 pounds to your weight in a single year.

2.  Studies have shown that people do not eat less food when they drink more calories. Beverage calories are extra calories.

3.  Most people mistake thirst with hunger, if you avoid dehydration, you can avoid overeating. A good test to find out whether or not it is hunger or thirst is to drink an 8-ounce glass of water at the first sign of hunger, then wait 15 minutes.

4.  Health tip drink a full glass of water in the morning and before bed this will help you regulate your hunger throughout the day.

The Little Things Matter

Julep!

I was just reading Malia M’s blog Self Professed Product Obsessed and she had information about this fantastic promo Julep is holding in March, there box normally costs $19.99 with  the prom (if you select normal shipping) is only $.01!!!!!. I just ordered mine so I wanted to spread the beauty love. Click here (http://julep.com/?r=19695964)to get your own!  Use code: MARCHINTRO

How to Make the Best Out of Your Closet

1. Pull everything out of your closet—everything. This will help you evaluate what you need. For example shoes, purse and hats take up a lot of space and are best stored on shelves. If you have a lot of those items you may want to consider installing shelves in your closet.

2. Remove anything that doesn’t belong there. Your bedroom closet is for clothing, shoes and accessories; not for old boxes of paperwork that haven’t been dealt with or appliances that you never found a home for. Get ride of anything you haven’t worn in 1 year, is unwearable (holes, too much wear, stains and doesn’t fit). I have a hard time getting ride of items I never wear but there is nothing wrong with, for these items I will normally get a second opinion on and make sure I wear those items that week.

3. Now that you have gotten ride of any extra stuff, sort of clothing by season. Any clothing that is not in season store away. So that clothing you can wear during this season is most accessible and visible.

4. Organize your clothing by category & then color

5.  Buy real hangers-I personally like wood ones. For me a lot of organizing my closet is being able to see my clothing so that I wear different stuff. I will pull items I wear less frequently and put them at the front of their section so they are more visible.

6. My last tip is don’t forget that baskets can be extremely helpful to organize adds and ends.

 

.Cheers!

White Elephant

I love elephants and white elephant parties. During a class this term my Professor who is foreign asked what the mean of white elephant was….I found the history behind this term fascinating so I thought I would share. The term derives from the story that the kings of Siam (now Thailand) were accustomed to make a present of one of these animals to courtiers who had rendered themselves obnoxious, in order to ruin the recipient by the cost of its maintenance.

No Traces!

Keep freshly applied lipstick on your lips,  with this simple trick. Before taking a sip, inconspicuously moisten the rim of the glass with your tongue to create a forgiving barrier between you and your stemware.

Cheers to party-perfect lips all night long!

Kick Up Your Heels!

My Life to a T

Leather Chic

I love leather mixed with classy or chic looks. Here are a couple of looks I really like. Maybe one day I will take the plunge and actually wear one myself

Coachella & Joie Team Up!

Hi Everyone,
I am extremely excited about the Coachella festival. But I was thrilled to hear that Joie (one of my favorite brands) is offering a give away to one super lucky winner (Crossing my fingers its me*) to shop at Joie & go to Coachella!! I thought I would let you all know, since it is a phenominal opportunity!  Good Luck!

 

Tighten Up

I love the Black Keys! I can’t wait to see them in May!

Hot Toddy’s For All!

It seems as if everyone has just gotten over a cold or is currently struggling through one. My recommendation is stay home, cozy up in a large blanket, and demand hot toddy’s from your loved ones!

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 fluid ounces boiling water
• 1 1/2 fluid ounces whiskey
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 slice lemon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions

Pour the honey, boiling water, and whiskey into a mug. Spice it with the cloves and cinnamon, and put in the slice of lemon. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes so the flavors can mingle, then sprinkle with a pinch of nutmeg before serving. I recommend doing a taste test, adding lemon or honey as needed. You can always skip the nutmeg, cinnamon or cloves if you dislike them or don’t have any. Just add more lemon and honey. Enjoy + feel better.

Gretchen Jones Ring

My amazing bf got this ring by Gretchen Jones for me this Christmas. I have never been big on wearing rings but I love love love this ring! Its a great statement piece that goes with everything!

Bernard

 

Bernard, making his grumpy face.

“I don’t believe in perfection. I don’t think there is such a thing. But the energy of wanting things to be great is a perfectionist energy.”

-Reese Witherspoon

Classic

“I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and… I believe in miracles.” -Audrey

Colorful inspiration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life is what you make it!

I need a little pick me up today. This picture + a cup of joe got me smiling again.

I Miss the Sun!

Baby Bernard

I just came across this picture of Bernard when he was a kitten! I love the little guy.

Beauty Bloggers I heart

The Small Things Blog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Hair ideas!

http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/2011/07/how-to-curl-your-hair-with-curling-iron.html

Kandee Johnson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great make-up and beauty tutorials, plus product recommendations for all price ranges! Inspires me to try something new & fresh!

http://www.kandeej.com/search?q=green

Lauren Conrad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.laurenconrad.com/

JCP & Ellen Taking Names!

 

After a long wait and all the crazy media attention, I finally caught a Ellen JCP’s advertisement and I am pleased to say that found it amusing and on point to their new campaign!

Enjoy,

Zinzi

So Cute!

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

—Oscar Wilde

Republic of Tea-Get________!

I come from a long line of tea drinkers…One one side I have Englishmen who love tea in any weather, on the other side I have hippies that love to discuss the magic of herbs and much to their shock I drink coffee… black. But I love Republic of Tea’s new branding, highlighting the benefits of drinking different teas in laymen terms and the eye catching bright colors. I will be checking in to see if it works for them and maybe, just maybe try a little tea myself.