The one with a choreography legend

The Google Doodles today thoroughly amused me! It celebrated Martha Graham's 117th birthday; a truly iconic woman who changed modern dance as we know it with ferocity. Not only was this Google Doodle fun & exciting, it moved, which was perfectly fitting. Below is its progression:

She was recognized by dignitaries around the world & compared to many varied forms of excellence. The beauty, emotion, & dream which she was able to communicate via bodily movement was unparalleled. Google was able to capture that via their Doodle. Entirely made my day!

The one with floral colors

Spring is an inspiring, fresh, & spunky time of year, during which, after months of brutal winter, it feels quite perfectly fitting to wear a nice little sun dress. If you're going to wear a sundress in spring, shouldn't it be a lovely floral color?

This cute little outfit seemed perfect to welcome in the season, as well as being brilliantly nice with a light breeze in the sunlight. I found this ruffled-salmon colored dress at a little boutique near my work -- because shopping is the thing to do on one's break, of course! The shop had it displayed with a black belt; however, I thought this combination was a little too harsh. I wanted to soften it up without losing the sassy edge the fresh salmon color provided, so I added a Steve Madden red leather belt. Along with my metallic pumps which have a tint of blue, & some big sunglasses, I was perfectly springy!

Walking in the mid-day sun, the song "All these things I've done" by the Killers came to mind "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier". So fun!

The one with bunnies!

I was in a particularly creative mode & decided to make Easter-themed cupcakes. I started with a simple lemon cupcake, scooped out a small well in the center, & filled it with raspberry jam.

Next I made a simple lemon butter cream frosting & while that was chilling, I whipped up some pink sugar cookies in the shapes of bunnies, chicks, & eggs -- very spring-like! While the cookies baked I frosted the cupcakes, & later topped them with the cute cookies. This combo could not have been more quaint & delicious! Look how adorable -- Peter Rabbit couldn't have done this one better!

I was so thrilled with how perfectly they seemed to fit together in a classy, simply, & perfectly precious way!

For those of you who want it, below is the recipe, Buona Pasqua!

Cupcakes:

1 c Butter (room temperature)

2 c Sugar

1 tbs vanilla extract

1 lemon zest

5 eggs

1 1/4 c Greek yogurt

pinch salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

3 c flour

Preheat to 350. Beat butter until creamy, continue beating while slowly adding sugar - continue to beat for several minutes until very light & fluffy. Beat in vanilla & lemon zest, add each egg individually, beating well between each. Sift dry ingredients before beginning to add in parts, alternating between adding in yogurt. Scrape sides to make sure the batter is entirely homogeneous, beat for an additional 2 minutes to ensure lightness. using tablespoon, spoon into cupcake papers, filling only 2/3 up. Bake for 18-24 minutes or until dry when toothpick pierces cupcake. Let cool completely (I would suggest putting in refrigerator for 2-3 hours) before spooning out center & filling with raspberry preserves (seedless).

Frosting:

1 1/4c sugar

5 egg whites

1 freshly squeezed lemon (juice)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

pinch salt

1 1/2 c butter (cubed)

Mix all items, excluding butter, over double boiler until completely dissolved. Take off heat & continue to beat until cooled, & hard peaks have formed. Slowly blend in the butter until completely homogeneous. If necessary, let cool in refrigerator in order to thicken before frosting cupcakes.

ENJOY!

The one with the shiny pants

So today started as a rainy spring day, but I wanted to wear something fun! So I pulled out my favorite little leather leggings! These are a really fun piece which should be used sparingly, but can be truly fantastic when correctly applied. I paired themwith a loose red H&M T, a navy & white sailor type-jacket, & grey leather booties.

I really like offsetting something tight with something loose, it softens the outfit & makes it less overkill! The way this outfit worked out was fun, sassy, & suave but relaxed. With my big sunglasses going for my afternoon starbucks, I was unstoppable! :)

The one with Eataly

This past week, I met up with one of my girlfriends for dinner in Manhattan, a favorite tradition of ours! This time, we went to this little jewel of a place called Eataly on 5th Avenue & 25th. It is the vision come to realization of Chef Mario Batali. This is an Italian marketplace, with all the little stands/areas you would expect...with a twist! Each section of the market has it's own speciality restaurant which you can sit down & enjoy a gourmet meal within the market! We ate at Le Verdure (the restaurant specializing in vegetables): the food was humbly spectacular! Very simple but very good....just as authentic Italian should be!

The Best part of the meal, although the meal was fabulous (see below for description), was that: when we were done with our meal & only 1/2 done with our wine, our waiter poured the rest for us & we were able to walk around with our wine while we shopped!!! Anywhere where I can shop & enjoy wine at the same time is a a success for me! We even had a little elderly lady let us know how fantastic she thought the combination of wine & shopping was!

The concept & values which Eataly represents are brilliantly displayed in Il Manifesto: it's difficult to read here, but it's truly fabulous. Click here to read it in full.

This is a spot which everyone should check out for an almost-Italian experiance. They have products which you would find in stores in Italy, fantastic food, & a gaurenteed fun-night out!

The one for Japan

Words cannot begin to describe the shock, horror, & sorrow which have passed through my mind over the last week since the Earthquake & successive Tsunami in Japan. This is devastation to a magnitude which is entirely incomprehensible for anyone outside of the affected area. I get goosebumps every time I think of the immense loss of life; it's terrible.

What does give me hope, is the human spirit to help one another. Below is a picture of a LivingSocial deal which was today. You could donate $5 to the Red Cross relief effort in Japan, & LivingSocial would match your donation. Before 9AM the total was already above $1,360,000!!! If that isn't inspiration, I don't know what is.

I found this page on MSN, & it helps to bring to light the complete devastation the Japanese are facing now. I hope you'll gain something from this, my sincerest thoughts & prayers go to the victims & family of those affected, as well as all of Japan.

Japan: Before & After the Disaster

The one with Starbucks 40th!

Today marks 40 years of development, integrity, & complete fabulocity for the Starbucks brand.

I was ecstatic to find today that the store as I had known it up until yesterday, was changed entirely to a modified brand & color scheme which was green & alive with celebration! I was impressed simply with the time efficiency of it all! Usually during the Christmas season, you see the holiday cups slowly melt away back to the traditional cups. Today, on the contrary, all sign of the old brand had vanished to be replaced with the iconicly simplistic new brand design. This brand resonates with me, as if to say "Carpe Diem" in a matter-of-fact type way. Below is the line-up of Starbucks cups since 1971.

My Love for Starbucks grows with each waft of espresso, each sip of perfect foam. Since my last blog on the subject, when I simply had the Starbucks gold card, I now have the mobile app up & running! With this I can not only monitor my spending & points earned, I can also re-load my account & even pay using my BlackBerry! It's brilliantly convenient!!!

They've also launched a new line of "Starbucks Petites" which are the cute little snacks you see above. They are adorable, bite size snacks which are all under 200-calories, though which still pack a terrifyingly high concentration of saturated fat. With a new food line, you knew they'd have a special blend, this one is called Starbucks Tribute Blend. Although I'm a espresso girl, I realy appreciate the concept of this product. The music & script are reminancent of Tuscan Italy, & deeply resonantes with me a phrase I heard often in Italy. If you had just purchased something from a vendor, the polite thing to do was say "grazie" to thank them for their help. What was intriguing though, was most vendors would respond to you "grazie a te" as if to say, "No, Thank you, because if it weren't for customers like you, I wouldn't be here". It's an appreciate from the vendor that you allow them to do what they love, promote products which they have passion for, & that is exactly what Starbucks is doing with this new campaign.

A few weeks ago, as I walked into my local spot, one of the cashiers asked me "tall skim latte?" I nodded & passed him my phone to pay. He turned to tell the barista; however, before he could speak, the Barista came around the corner to place my latte on the counter. All he has to respond was "Show-off", it made me laugh quite a bit, & has been one of my favorite Starbucks experiances thus far.