Spring Cleaning

So it is spring in Naples! Since the weather is mostly chilly and rainy, you really wouldn't be able to tell if it weren't for my itchy swollen eyes, runny nose and full body rash that I get every time spring time comes to Naples.  With spring, comes spring cleaning.  Anyone who knows me and has seen my car, or my room or my work locker knows that I'm not big on cleaning.  If it's going to take me longer than five minutes, my  attention span drops to zero and you can find me reading a book or watching TV, or cooking, or trying to learn a new language... literally anything other than cleaning.

However, this year it's going to be different.  I am overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things that I own.  I wear maybe 5% of my clothing on a regular basis.  I have so many things that are purely decorative.  I took part in a community flea market on Saturday with my boyfriend and while we unloaded a lot of things, it's still ridiculous what I have that I am NEVER going to wear.  Why don't you just get rid of it? you ask.  Well, the truthful answer to that is I have no idea.  On one hand, it makes me a little angry that I purchased this item and I didn't wear it and will probably never wear it so I essentially just wasted my money.

The beginning of my "good-bye" pile

 On the other hand, I am a little bit emotionally attached to all of my things and I just need to let it go and grow up!  There are people that travel the world with just a backpack!  I'd like to think that I  could do that.  But for as long as I can remember, I have been personifying inanimate objects.  Like, I feel bad when I have to throw away Mr. Toothbrush because he is more than 2 months old and then I feel bad for Mr. Corkscrew because I called him a POS.

 Yesterday at the flea market, I realized that I probably wasn't going to sell all of my stuff, so I gave some of it to the women that were selling things to benefit TNR which is a local organization that assists the local stray population by Trapping, Neutering and Releasing them.   It's kind of killing me that I didn't get any pictures of the flea market but it is what it is.

Glad to get all of that gunk off of my brushes.ewwwww

 Today I cleaned my makeup brushes out the way I usually do because it has been TOOO long, I could probably just apply my makeup using the residue on my brushes:
-1 part water
-1 part hyrdrogen peroxide
-few squirts of soap.
 
This time I used Dr. Bronner's Hemp Lavender Pure-Castile soap because I was curious about it.  Have you ever read the label on that thing? It's like a cult handbook.  Kind of creepy.  But it worked really well in my brush washing and now my brushes smell like lavender. 

Also, something terrible has happened to me.  I ran out of/can't find my Vital Wheat Gluten so I can't make any seitan and I am very upset about it.  I ordered more but who knows when it's going to get here.  I don't have anything that I want to put in wraps or on salads and it is not a good time :(

So I've been compensating by making baked tofu bites marinated in balsamic vinegar.  Here's the gist of it in a recipe but I usually just wing it.

Balsamic Baked Tofu Bites
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Press your tofu.  I use the EZ Tofu Press.  Then cut it into cubes or triangles or however you'd like, but I have realized that the smaller the pieces are, the better it is because the pieces are more seasoned, here are what my pieces looked like.

Not very aesthetically pleasing, but so tasty!

Mix together the ingredients for the marinade into a bowl that can be covered and sealed and then add the tofu.  Cover the bowl and shake it up.  Let sit for a bit.  The longer you let it marinate (with occasional shaking) the more flavorful the pieces will be.  I usually let mine sit for like 30-45 minutes.

Then place them on the baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees F for 30 mins, flipping over halfway through.

I really like them to add flavor and protein to salad or wraps.  I tried to make it as a copy cat of the balsamic tofu that you can find in Whole Foods' salad bar, but I haven't had that in so long because I've been overseas and this recipe has evolved so much, it's probably not similar at all. 

I'm sorry I don't have a finished picture of the batch, but they basically look like what I posted above just a little crispier.

Also a few nights ago I made THE BESTTTT dinner ever.  I used the basil tofu that I picked up at Mondo Bio in Sorrento, sauteed it with some garlic and then added it to some Newman's Own tomato sauce to make a kind of "meat" sauce.  I served it over the vegan raviolis I picked up there too.  So good.  Even my omnivore boyfriend loved it!  

The ravioli, not sure what was in it but is says Vegan!

The basil tofu tomato sauce

Anyways, pretty uneventful week for me, but I really enjoyed it because who doesn't love to relax? and also I got to spend basically 24/7 with my boyfriend, so that was magical. Now I have to get back to adding to my pile of things I do not need or want anymore!

ciao ciao! -xo Katelyn

ps. My friend and hairstylist Brittany did my hair and it's awesome. I did ombre again but there are highlights too.  Honestly I have no idea what she did to it, but it looks fantastic and really natural.  Also there was the bonus of a puppy being present for my appointment (she does hair out of her house).

No makeup and I still look good

Not sure what they decided to name her, but I called her Banshee

Dem Browz

I'd like to think that I have a healthy level of self confidence.  I'm not too cocky but I'm also not cripplingly insecure.  However, there are two things that I'm super conceited about... and they are strategically placed above my eyes and called my eyebrows.  My eyebrows are phenomenal.

They're naturally pretty great but when I put powder in them, they become even more amazing and I know that everyone is jealous of my brows.  If people say that they're not jealous they are dirty liars.  So I thought that I would share how I make them look the way that they do!

The tools:
I don't dabble in brow pencil or whatever.  I stick with the powders.  Currently I am using the Smashbox brow kit in Brunette.  I've used other kits that are comparable in quality.  For example, the Wet n Wild kit is way cheaper and works pretty well.  I also use the Smashbox Angle Brow Brush #12.

My only issue with Smashbox is that I found out about a month ago that it is no longer cruelty-free.  So I'm not going to repurchase their products when I run out.  I plan on going on a brow adventure and trying out new kits.  I have my eye (brows) on the Benefit kit.

Some people will just fill in their brows and call it a day.  I think that you really need a highlighter to complete the look.  I'm currently waiting for my Watts Up by Benefit highlighter in the mail so I've been using a pencil that I got in my Birchbox.  It's called Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter.  I actually really like it.  It blends well and it's easy to apply.  My only issue is that it is very matte.  If it had a bit of shimmer it would be perfect  It was definitely a good find by the team at Birchbox though! 

So here is what I look like pre-brow magic:

 I have a nice natural arch so I don't need a stencil or anything.  But the first thing you need to do is make sure there are no unruly hairs.  Identify any spots that you might want to fill in.



Step One: Using the angled brow brush, use the lighter colored powder to fill in the sparse spots and just make them darker in general.  I don't go to to the edges.

Step Two: Using the darker color powder, trace the outlines of your brows to define them.  I usually make where they start in the middle of my face a straight vertical line and I clean up the arch.  I apologize for the poor picture quality because my nice camera died so I had to use my iPhone.  My b for not planning ahead.

 

Step Three: I personally think the highlighting is the most important part.  I take the pencil and I trace a line above my brow as close as i can get and also below.  Then I blend.  If needed, I like to take a shimmery highlighter like Moonbeam by Benefit or just a shimmery light colored eye shadow and put it on the browbone under the arch.

Finished product!

When I went to dinner at Il Cerbero, a restaurant I have been going to for about seven years, the waiter told me in broken English that I looked different from when I first came in and he said it was the brows!!  They were never AWFUL but they were definitely unfortunate.

This was almost exactly six years ago.  I obviously could have benefited by the above mentioned brow routine and maybe not taking selfies from above and maybe some White Strips.  

In conclusion, there are a few brow-oriented rules that I live my life by.

1) The skinnier the brow, the crazier the bitch.
2) Don't let people with bad eyebrows tell you shit about life.
3) Eyebrows are sisters, not twins.

Follow my brow routine and keep those rules in mind and you too can have bad ass eyebrows like me.  

Ciao ciao!
-K