Hello friends. I hope you all are enjoying the week.
I recently had dinner in New York City. I headed into the city to meet my husband, his cousin, and a friend who was in town from Singapore.
In order to get to the restaurant, I had to walk through Times Square. Below are some photos I took on my walk to meet my husband before we went to the restaurant.
You can see in the photos the huge crowd of people.
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I spotted a person below dressed up in the Statue of Liberty costume. Crazy me wanted to get closer so that I could get a better photo.
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Below a photo of Spider-Man and the Statue of Liberty.
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The street was closed off from cars and you can see people sitting down at tables. I am always in awe when I am in TS and love looking very quickly at everything. Unfortunately, the weather was not that good as it was a dark and rainy evening.
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Whew! I made it to the Pret A Manger where I met my husband. Times Square gets so crowded with a lot of people. I call it the zoo! LOL.
I love the city but that area is just a little too crowded for me. I do love seeing that area and all the lights and buildings lit up at night. I also enjoy visiting Times Square every December to see a Broadway show for my birthday. :)
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We had a reservation at the restaurant Sushi of Gari. It's a Japanese restaurant located at 347 West 46th Street. There are three other locations in the city and one in Hollywood, California.
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Below is the sushi bar where you can usually see all of the sushi chefs making the sushi. They also have other tables to sit at. I am sorry I did not get a photo of the inside of the restaurant but you can get an idea from the photos below.
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All four of us sat at a table below on the right. |
We all had cold Saki to drink and I can't believe I actually ate all 13 pieces of sushi shown below. It consisted of different cut pieces of fish with white rice on the bottom. The others had just fish with no rice and they all kept on eating for two more rounds.
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After we finished eating dinner we decided to all share a few desserts. It was such a fun evening out with family and friends. We always enjoy eating the fresh sushi at Sushi of Gari restaurant.
Do you like eating sushi? Have you ever been to this restaurant?
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Hello blog friends. I often run out of ideas for what to make for dinner. I enjoy trying out different recipes and food with vegetables and pasta.
I decided to make for dinner one night roasted cauliflower and pasta.
I decided to make for dinner one night roasted cauliflower and pasta.
I have a husband who absolutely LOVES cauliflower. Well, let me tell you this dish was a HUGE hit with him. He LOVED it!
| What You Will Need |
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| One head of cauliflower cut up into small pieces and roasted. |
The roasted cauliflower and pasta all prepared and mixed together.
This dish is perfect for a weeknight or weekend meal.
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ROASTED CAULIFLOWER AND PASTA RECIPE
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INGREDIENTS:
1 head of cauliflower, cut up into small pieces
3-4 garlic cloves, cut up
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 pound bag of pasta shells
dash salt, for pasta water & dash of salt for cauliflower
dash pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare roasted cauliflower, but drizzle at least 1/4 cup of olive oil on top of cauliflower. Directions for roasted cauliflower can be found here. Add to the pan of cauliflower, olive oil, garlic, parsley, hot pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Roast the cauliflower. Meanwhile, cook the pasta shells according to the package or box. Drain pasta and add the roasted cauliflower into the pot. Stir everything together. Add grated Parmesan cheese to each serving of pasta.
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| Yummy Cauliflower and Pasta Dish! |
I hope I've inspired you to try cooking cauliflower and pasta for dinner. Let me know if you try it and how you liked it. :)
Thanks for stopping by and see you all next time.
Hello blog friends. I hope you are having a nice week.
Are you ready for Easter? I am happy for the beautiful spring weather here and last weekend felt like summer.
I will be spending the rest of the week preparing for Easter.
Are you ready for Easter? I am happy for the beautiful spring weather here and last weekend felt like summer.
I will be spending the rest of the week preparing for Easter.
Spring Walks with Bosco
One of my favorite parts about spring is the pretty flowers that I see while I'm on my walks with my dog Bosco.
Spring Flowers
I love the different colors of these tulips.
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Making Easter Cupcakes
I love making and decorating cupcakes for Easter. One year we made these and added yellow and pink peeps to the tops of the pastel colored cupcakes.
I love making and decorating cupcakes for Easter. One year we made these and added yellow and pink peeps to the tops of the pastel colored cupcakes.
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Making a Bunny Cake
I made this bunny cake with my daughter a few years ago for Easter. We had so much fun making and decorating this cake together and we ate so many jelly beans.
More Bunnies
I love to use these cute bunnies to decorate my mantel for Easter.
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HAPPY EASTER!
May this Easter bring you all together for a great celebration. I hope it's filled with a lot of joy, happiness, and of course chocolate.
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Wishing you a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!
Julie xo
Hello blog friends.
With Easter fast approaching, I decided to share with you an easy to make Spring/Easter Wreath.
I made this wreath a few years ago and I decided to share it with you again.
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This wreath is so easy to make. The easy part about making this is that there is no glue involved to make this wreath. You can't beat that!
All of the items to make this wreath were found at Michaels craft store a few years ago. If you can't find the exact items in the craft store then you can use similar items to make this wreath.
I am sure you can find some of these items at my favorite store Dollar Tree to make this wreath.
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Supplies Needed:
Foam Ring
2 Large Fake Flowers (with clips on the back)
A Roll of Burlap
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3 Packages of Smaller Fake Flowers in the colors white, light pink, dark pink
Ribbon
Felt Easter Eggs
Bunnies
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DIRECTIONS TO MAKE WREATH
Take the foam ring and tape the burlap onto the back of the ring. Then wrap the burlap all around the ring to the end and tape. Next, tie the ribbon onto the ring and wrap all the way around the ring. Next, add the two big flowers onto the side of the wreath by clipping them onto the ribbon.
Next, add in the smaller flowers and bunnies by tucking them into the ribbon.
The felt Easter eggs have peel backs that you can just stick onto the wreath.
This is what the wreath looked like when I was finished decorating it. This wreath is so easy to make and can be made in minutes. The best part is there is no hot glue gun needed!
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| Spring/Easter Craft Wreath |
BE CREATIVE!
Thanks for stopping by and see you all soon!
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
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Hello blog friends. Happy Friday!
I hope you all had a good week. I'm enjoying the spring weather here but I am also suffering from seasonal allergies. :(
I hope you all had a good week. I'm enjoying the spring weather here but I am also suffering from seasonal allergies. :(
I have a few Friday Favorites I'd love to share with you.
1. My Swell Bottle
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I received this Swell bottle two years ago from my daughter for Christmas. I absolutely love this water bottle and I always use it when I go to the gym. I usually fill it with two ice cubes and water. I try to drink the whole bottle but if I don't, then I usually finish the rest of it when I get home. This is a great way for me to drink my water as I know I don't drink enough of it.
2. Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara
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It's a must for me to wear black mascara since my lashes are light colored. You really can't see my lashes unless I am wearing mascara. I don't want to use eyelash extensions either since I don't want glue on my eyelids, but I hear it's a game changer. I decided to try out this mascara when I had a small sample of this mascara from Sephora. I really like the way this mascara works and it makes my lashes look so long and full. This mascara was a splurge at Bloomingdales and the sales associate was so helpful at the makeup counter.
QUESTION: Have any of you ever had an eye brow tint done? It is supposed to last about a month. They do this in my nail salon and in many salons in my area. I am so curious about this since my eyebrows now seem to be so light and disappearing. I have to fill them in a little bit with eyebrow pencil. My mom used to have her eyebrows tattooed and the same with her eyeliner! My mom was so brave!
3. Sample Estee Lauder Makeup and Cosmetic Bag
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Since I was on my shopping spree at Bloomingdales, I decided to buy another makeup item (Estee Lauder Matte Liquid Lipcolor) at the Estee Lauder counter so that I could receive the cosmetic bag and makeup for free. I love the pretty makeup bag and of course more cream and makeup samples to try out. The sample sizes are also a good idea to use when you are traveling.
4. Faux Plant
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I bought this faux plant at TJ Maxx and I just love it. I have it sitting on my windowsill in the kitchen. The best part about this faux plant is that I don't have to worry about watering it or it dying on me. I like moving it around in different spots in my house.
5. Flying Tiger Store
5. Flying Tiger Store
I had never heard of this store until I read a blog post from my blogging friend Heather who blogs at Our Life In a Click. She had done a blog post on the store and she inspired me to visit the store too.
I am in the Union Square area in NYC once a month and I decided to stop into the store to see what they had. I bought a paint palette, a small canvas, yoga gloves, and paint your bunny set.
I had fun visiting the store and looking at the huge variety of items they sell. Thanks Heather, I will be visiting the store from time to time when I'm in the city.
Have you bought anything lately that you just love?
Thanks for stopping by and have a nice Friday and weekend.
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Hello blog friends. Welcome to Three Things April.
I am joining Laura from The Horton Family for her Three Things Series. Laura doesn't have a link party, but we all write and answer the writing prompts for each month. It will be posted on the second Monday of the month.
I am joining Laura from The Horton Family for her Three Things Series. Laura doesn't have a link party, but we all write and answer the writing prompts for each month. It will be posted on the second Monday of the month.
Here are the Three Things Question and Answer Prompts.
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1) What 3 Things are on your Spring Bucket List?
1) Spring Shopping. I started my spring shopping recently by buying flip flops. To me, that screams spring/summer. Some of you might have recognized this photo of the flip flops from my Instagram @brklynhousewife.
2) Gardening. I plant flowers in my yard and garden every Spring.
3) Spring cleaning our basement. We need to organize one section in our basement that is filled with boxes, books, and a lot other items. We both have been putting off this project for quite a while.
2) Spring cleaning, Spring forward, or Spring Break. Which is your favorite and why?
My favorite is Spring Break!
I love spring break and taking spring vacations. This photo was taken when we took a family vacation to California a few years ago to visit our friend. It's fun to travel on spring break to visit someplace warm and I enjoy going to the beach to relax.
3) What 3 dishes will be on your Easter menu?
We usually spend Easter with my husband's aunt and cousins. We always have a big feast that consists of a beef roast, honey baked ham, and vegetables. My husband's aunt always serves her homemade Pizza Rustica Meat Pie and Spaghetti Pie.
1) Pizza Rustica Meat Pie
I was lucky to be given the recipe to make Spaghetti pie by a different aunt. Here is the recipe to make Spaghetti Pie.
2) Spaghetti Pie
For dessert, we always have fruit, cake, cookies, pastries, coffee, and espresso. I always bring assorted desserts for this Easter celebration.
One year we made and decorated cupcakes with pastel frosting and added peeps on top of the cupcakes. We will make something fun like that again this year to bring for Easter dessert.
3) Dessert - Cupcakes with Peeps
Thanks for stopping by to read my Three Things April. Hope you all have a great day!
Julie xo
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Hello blog friends. Yay, we made it to the end of the week and Friday. I'm super excited that it's the beginning of April and that means warmer temps.
Today I'm sharing some makeup that I'm loving lately.
1. Sephora MicroSmooth Backed Foundation Face Powder
I really like this powder foundation and I was turned on to this by a sales associate at the Sephora store. I was looking for the powder foundation that I usually use and they didn't have it available in my shade. The sales associate was so nice and talked to me about this powder foundation. I tried two different shades on my face and we both agreed that we liked this shade on me, which is (15 Nude).
The only thing I don't like about this foundation is there is no powder sponge that comes with the compact. The coverage is great and I only use this on my face and not under my eyes.
2. Sephora Matte Perfection Powder Foundation
I love this powder foundation and this is the one that I usually use. This is the perfect shade for me which is (08 Fair Neutral). You can see in the photo above how much I love this powder foundation! I am almost finished with it.
I tried to buy this compact in two different stores as I was starting to run low on it. Sephora didn't have my shade, so I decided at that point to buy it online in the store. This way I received free shipping. You usually have to spend $50 before you receive free shipping. This is one of the reasons why I LOVE Sephora and the sales associates.
This compact has a mirror and under the foundation is a compartment that holds the sponge. I also like that I can get a lot of points when I buy the makeup to get free products. I always choose a makeup item and not a cream because this is a great way to try out makeup that I've never used before. P.S. I hope that they don't discontinue this product in the color I like!
3. NYX Retractable Lip Liner
I love this peach shade of lip liner and this color is MPL02 Nectar. The lip liner is easy to apply and it looks great with my lipstick that I usually wear. I really love the price of these lip liners and they range between $2.50 - $5.00.
4. NYX Retractable Eye Liner
I really like this eyeliner and I've been using blue eyeliner lately. It seems to make my eyes pop open and it has a softer look than the dark brown and black eyeliner that I also wear. This eyeliner stays on my eyelids really well and it doesn't wear off like some eyeliners do after time. This eyeliner color is Gypsy Blue and costs about $5.50.
5. Sephora Retractable Waterproof Eyeliner
This is another blue eyeliner that I love using and the color of this is (17 Turquoise - shimmering bright aqua). This is waterproof eyeliner and it stays on really well throughout the day for me. The price of this is about $12.00. This is a light blue eyeliner that looks good with black mascara and I don't need to wear any eyeshadow for the daytime.
I hope this post has given you some makeup ideas. Have a Happy Friday and weekend. :)
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
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