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5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately

by 38 Comments

sally hansen color therapy fall 2018
New shades of Sally Hansen Color Therapy polish from the left! — Falling Deep, Bronze Reflection, Dusty Plum, Pink and Harmony, Cashmere Calm ($7.99 each)

1. These gorgeous nude Sally Hansen Color Therapy nail colors

I can’t decide what to wear for the next installment of Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish! Too many choices… I’m leaning toward dark burgundy Falling Deep, since I wore a pastel cream last week. What do you think?

2. MAC Cosmo Lipstick

Busted this out for the first time in months and remembered why I love it so much. This neutral pink with a hint of brown is a lovely everyday lip color, and it looks amazeballs with brown and taupe eyeshadows!

3. Kim’s Convenience

I found the best show on Netflix! In every single episode, there’s at least one moment where I have to hit pause and scream to nobody in particular that “SERIOUSLY, THIS SHOW IS BASICALLY MY LIFE.”

I’m not Korean, and my parents never owned a grocery store (they’re both retired accountants)…and I’ve never lived in Toronto (Bay Area strong!), but the family stuff rings so true growing up Asian with immigrant parents — ESPECIALLY the miscommunication and how the family members express their love for each other. I’ve laughed and cried my way through both of the seasons on Netflix. It’s the most authentic show I’ve ever seen about growing up in an Asian immigrant family, but it’s also just good. Very witty, funny writing IMO.

4. Iowa Girl Eats

Found out about this great gluten-free cooking blog thanks to a recommendation from a reader (hi, Kate!). I like it because the recipes are yummy (priority #1, of course), easy to follow, and the ingredients are things you can find at most any ol’ grocery store.

BBQ Sausage, Beans and Greens —-> this was a huge hit in our household.

My fam-bam loved the BBQ Sausage, Beans and Greens and Taco Chili (I wish I took a pic of the Taco Chili, but we inhaled it too fast).

Nobody was crazy about the Coconut Chicken Curry, though… It tasted kinda bland, but if I try it again I’m gonna double the amount of curry spice.

5. Tom Ford Vanille Fatale Eau de Parfum

Otherwise known as “Eau de Schmexy Librarian,” otherwise known as “My New Fall Scent Obsession.”

Think vanilla pods, old books, leather club chairs, seduction, and the lingering scent of sweet tobacco.

Va-va-voom!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF. 🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Happy (finally) Friday! I also love Cosmo lipstick from MAC, I bought it a few months ago at ULTA. For some reason the way they have the MAC lipsticks organized at ULTA makes it easier for me to find ones I might like. I’ve been into mauve and purply grey nail polishes lately, but a darker fall color would be a nice change of pace, especially since it really feels like fall here in North Dakota! Have a great weekend!

    Reply

  2. I meant to ask you how El Hub’s doing with the GF. Is he feeling better? That’s awesome about the blog – I’m sure you’ll find some great recipes! I’m not sure if you know but curry also comes in different “heat” varieties. I find the regular, grocery store kind to be very mild and bland, too. You have a lot more options in your neck of the woods so you could probably find the hot kind. It’s not burning by any means but it’s much tastier. My mom gave me a great recipe (chicken, curry, apples, celery, a bit of worchestershire, milk and chicken stock) but it also has flour so you’d need to use the King Arthur. Were you able to find any?

    I vote for Falling Deep, too. I’ve never heard of Kim’s Convenience and, before I scrolled, I thought “ooh, is there a list of things to make my life easier?”. 😉

    Have you tried Commodity Book? Is Vanille Fatale similar?

    Reply

    • Ya know, I’m going to retry it, but next time with a homemade yellow curry paste. I would buy one off the shelf but it’s hard to find stuff that’s truly gluten free!

      Re: flour. I found Bob’s Red Mill gluten free at Target. Gonna use it this weekend to make some chocolate chip cookies!

      So I have sniffed Commodity Book and Vanille Fatale to my nose has a sweet pipe tobacco note that I don’t get from Commodity Book.

      Reply

  4. MAC Cosmo lipstick is my usual daily go to lipcolor . It can be worn with so many things! My vote for nail color is Falling Deep.

    Reply

    • Hi Cindy,

      Cosmo is SO good. I went through a phase when I was wearing it all the time then kinda forgot about it (you know how it is). It’s back in the rotation now though. If you ever wear NARS eyeshadows, the shade Fez looks amazing with Cosmo!

      P.S. I ended up wearing Falling Deep.

      Reply

  6. Hsppy weekend!! I love Falling Deep! Wearing Smith&Cults Lovers Creep on my toes it’s similar.

    Been trying to go mostly gluten free. Hope your hubs feeling better. You’re making some delicious food!!

    Reply

    • Happy weekend, Diana! I love Smith & Cult Lover’s Creep, by the way. Bitter Buddhist will always be my number one but Lover’s Creep is gorgeous, too.

      Hubs is definitely feeling better. It’s hard, though, when we go out to eat, or if it’s a situation like a potluck. Where are you finding your gluten free recipes these days? I’m always looking for new cooking blogs to stalk.

      Reply

      • Just saw you said Falling Deep is a rich brown with micro glitter. Oooh that sounds like Brown Eyed Girl, the polish that started me wearing polish.

        Glad hubs is better with gluten free but it is so hard. You’re doing great! My husband went total vegetarian last year (shirakati noodles only, no pasta even) so I pretty much start from there in a recipe. I’m not vegetarian but found gluten free was helping my Lyme disease so much-fewer migraines, joint pain etc….I you tube recipes, research best gluten blogs 2018 mostly (Detoxinista, Gluten Free Goddess etc) or try what you post ? And always take a tupperware of my own or keep a ziploc of Snyder’s gluten free pretzels handy in case I’m at a potluck and theres nothing to eat. And i look up restaurant menus beforehand. It’s a pita going out, agree!

        Reply

        • That’s a good idea to bring a Tupperware. We went to a church potluck last weekend and the poor guy could only eat these sad, depressing gluten free crackers and cheese. Thanks for the blog recs, I’ll check them out. And if I find anything yummy, I’ll post here for sure. 🙂

          Reply

          • Diana,
            I like the way you think! Brown Eyed Girl, Deborah Lippmann is one stunning perfect-for-fall polish. As is Lover’s Creep. I was totally obsessed with Brown Eyed Girl at one point, it was a lemming for me, and I celebrated when I finally found it.

  7. Didn’t know MAC Cosmo was still around. It’s such a great color!
    I’m hoping you’ll do either Falling Deep or Bronze Reflection for your next manicure. In the bottle they look like my kind of colors. Have you ever sniffed TF Tobacco Vanille? Wondering how Vanille Fatale compares to it.

    Reply

    • I just looked at the recipe for Coconut Chicken Curry. Lol. A half teaspoon of ginger? Even with Connor Claire in the house, I would have at least doubled that ginger. Also salt. No mention of salt and peppering the chicken ahead of time. The mantra is salt early and salt generously. Most chefs I know use about 3/4 tsp. salt per pound of meat/chicken. I find that too salty, but I do use a good half teaspoon of salt per pound of flesh. I would have used a Thai yellow curry paste in that recipe. It has more punch than any dry curry powder. And a little something with umami in it, like fish sauce, soy sauce, tamarind or even a dash of worcestershire sauce. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself when I see a recipe that needs help, I gotta pipe up.

      Reply

    • I ended up doing Falling Deep and wow, it looks very much like a Chanel color! There are tiny pieces of micro-glitter in it, and I don’t know if it’s because of my skin tone, but it pulls very much a like a rich dark chocolate brown.

      I have sniffed Tobacco Vanille! To my nose Tobacco Vanille is smokier and slightly more masculine compared to Vanille Fatale. Vanille Fatale’s richer on the vanilla notes and sweeter. There’s a creamy white flower note to it that comes through too, which is lovely.

      Thank you so much for the guidelines about salting chicken because even though I salted it beforehand, the chicken tasted terribly bland. I never know how much to put on so I severely under-seasoned it; it really helps me to have numerical guidelines so thank you, thank you, thank you! I have a question for you about cooking cut chicken breasts like these in a pan like the recipe calls for. Do you have any tricks/tips to get the chicken soft and tender? Because I swear mine ended up tough as leather. 🙁

      Reply

  8. You feel the same way about Kim’s Convenience as I do about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon LOL! They got everything SO right about Jewish culture, and the NY inflection/intonation is PERFECT. Her Dad on the show is a CARBON COPY of my Dad. OMG! They are really getting it right with these shows. I’ll have to watch the trailer for Kim’s Convenience and check it out!

    Reply

    • Hi Cindy,

      I LOVE Mrs. Maisel. There’s a new season coming out soon, isn’t there? I remember reading a while back in Entertainment Weekly that there are parts of it set in Paris!

      Reply

        • It’s funny that you mention the dad in Mrs. Maisel, because the dad in Kim’s Convenience is very much like my dad in so many ways. The writers on these shows are clearly people who know family dynamics intimately!

          BTW I love that scene in the first season when Mrs. Maisel gets up before her husband to put her makeup on. 🙂

          Reply

          • “We are a ONE TV HOUSEHOLD” OMG hahaha!

            Oh yes, the makeup. My Mom said that was her and her mother’s generation! I don’t think I could *ever* do that LOL!

  9. Fragrances are my weakness. I just told myself that I must finish up a few bottles before buying something new. An then you tempt me with Tom Ford. I’ll at least have to get a sample. Have you ever tried TF Plum Japonais – it is delicious! Have a great weekend!

    Reply

  11. Oooh! Please post pictures of Falling Deep. Way back when, ages and ages ago, when I was in high school I had a Revlon polish called Copper Glazed Wine. It sort of looked like the color in this post. http://www.scrangie.com/2013/11/revlon-parfumerie-scented-nail-enamel.html Kinda like the color of a Dr. Pepper can, with a coppery or bronzey shimmer. I went through at least three bottles of that polish. I wore it all the time. And Falling Deep sounds like it’s in that color range.
    I think your chicken ended up tough for one of two reasons. A) It was already a bit dried out and sat on the counter in the store, so it was tough to begin with. Sometimes boneless, skinless chicken breast is like that. (I either buy it with the bone in and skin on or even just the skin on. It’s usually moister that way. Then debone it and rip the skin off at home. You can save the bones in your freezer to make chicken stock.) or B) It ended up over cooked. Chicken breast goes from done to over done in a nano second. I’ve done it myself.

    Reply

    • For sure. I just took “before” pics for another round of 7 days. 🙂 That color on Scrangie’s blog is GORGEOUS. The one I’m wearing is darker and richer, even!

      I think I may have overcooked the chicken (a reoccurring issue in my cooking life). How do you know when to take it off the heat? I’m super paranoid about undercooking chicken, so I took a digital thermometer and stuck it in one of the thicker pieces and waited ’til it got to 165. Clearly I’m doing something wrong…

      Reply

  12. Hi Karen! That sausage dish looks amazing. Now I’m hungry! I think I am really liking that Pink & Harmony color.
    5 things I have been loving lately too:
    1. My timberland boots for hiking. We’re in Colorado vacationing and these have been awesome on hikes. I got the ones that are shorter, more like a bootie version since I’m so short. (5’0). Now if I can just get past the altitude knocking me on my butt!
    2. Cherry flavored Spark energy drink mix from Advocare. OMG…I can conquer the WORLD with NO jitters plus it tastes great and is healthy.
    3. Lumpia. My husband’s friend made us some and I swear it is some of the best stuff I ever put in my mouth!
    4. Maison Margiella Replica By the Fireplace fragrance. Definitely a cold weather fragrance but its heavenly.
    5. Mac Sunbasque blush. I had put it away but recently broke it back out to go with some fall looks. It’s so pretty with bronze lips.

    I have never tried anything gluten free but you made me want to! I hope you, El Hub, Coywolf, and Tabs the boss have a wonderful week!

    Reply

  13. Hi Karen!
    Have you ever tried brining your chicken before you cook it? It really helps to season the meat and keep it from drying out. You could do a wet brine if you are planning ahead and time allows; a dry brine will be quicker. There are plenty of sites with tips and recipes. Salt, sugar and water are the starring trio in most of them, though you can be fancy and add herbage and spices, or even do a buttermilk-based one! I’m lazy so I usually leave out the sugar and make a simple 9% salt solution (dissolve 82 g of salt per quart of water) and let it soak for a couple hours or more (overnight is fine).
    Or if you’re kinda nutty like my hubkins, you could rig up a sous-vide contraption and get your chicken cooked to the perfect temp before you cut it and toss it in your sauce and warm everything through. It’s quite fun in a nerdy way.
    As a related aside, if you’ve neverheck out Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats/Food Lab – he has lots of great science-y articles and recipes!

    Reply

  15. I live in a suburb of Detroit and get a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV station. Love Kim’s Convenience and can’t wait for season 3.

    Reply

  16. This is a great roundup! I am feeling you on the dark, moody fall polishes. This Bay Area weather has got me looking for deeper tones. Today I am wearing new to me Chanel Chataigne, and I can’t stop staring at my nails. Can’t wait to see the Sally Hansen on your Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish series. Sally Hansen really does beautiful fall collections. I have a few from the designer color collabs they did. Prabal Gurung, Tracey Reese, Rodarte for Complete Salon Manicure? yes, please!

    Reply

  17. Thank you for Kim’s Convenience! I am currently at the beginning of the third week of no work due to Hurricane Florence and I’m going cray-cray.

    Reply

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