Recipe | Easy Shrimp Scampi

I made this one night last week, and it was delicious! A little side note, it doesn't reheat super great mainly because of the shrimp. If you can come up with a better way to reheat this dish, please let me know!

Gathering of (majority) of ingredients

Ingredients

•  8 oz linguine (I used thin spaghetti; it worked fine)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (and defrosted if you bought frozen)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup white wine (can use chicken stock as substitute)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp parsley flakes
• garlic (to taste)
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Cook pasta according to package
• While pasta is cooking, melt butter in large skillet over medium high heat.
• Add shrimp, garlic (if desired) and red pepper flakes

Cooking up the shrimp with garlic & red pepper flakes

• Cook, stirring occasionally. Shrimp should begin to turn pink in about 2-3 minutes.
• Once shrimp is pink, stir in wine and lemon juice. If desired, add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer.

Shrimp simmering in the sauce

• After simmering, remove from heat and mix with pasta.
• Garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Finished product

I told you it was easy! I even buy the frozen shrimp at Kroger, already peeled and deveined so all you have to do is defrost it. Couldn't be any easier.

Book Review | Golden State by Michelle Richmond

Looking back on it, I'm not entirely sure what drew me to this book in the first place. I have conflicting emotions about this book after reading it. But I digress. 

The Plot

In San Francisco, Doctor Julie Walker has just signed her divorce papers when she gets a phone call from her sister that she has gone into labor. Julie sets out to the hospital, which proves to be an adventure in and of itself as the city is in commotion. It is the day of the vote to decide if California will secede from the United States of America. Within minutes Julie will find her car broken into, injure her ankle and then begin a journey across the city to her sister's side. While on this trek she will have plenty of time to examine the previous estrangement from her sister, her romance with her husband and the shattering circumstances of her greatest heartbreak. Once at her sisters side she will find herself in the middle of a violent standoff; in which she will be forced to deal with her past.

My Thoughts

Alright, I know that plot description was a bit vague. But...I don't do spoilers. At least not yet. I will say the first chapter of this book roped me right in. You jump right into the thick of it without any backstory and then the book jumps around from there without a lot of direction. One chapter may be present day, the next will be the distant past and you don't really know where you are until a few sentences in to orient yourself. I personally don't enjoy that style of storytelling, but it wasn't a dealbreaker for me. Richmond doesn't really go into detail about the whole secession thing. I think the purpose was to just create a chaotic backdrop for the already dramatic story. I feel like they could have created that same effect with a different story but whatever. I also feel like they had a LOT of stories going on at once. I probably wouldn't recommend this book just because I know there are better ones out there. It's really choppy, busy and I'm not entirely sure what the point was supposed to be. I gave this book two stars on Goodreads.

Five Things Friday

5 things I did:

1. I watched the series finale of Parenthood. I cried 4 times, but I am happy Hulu has the whole series so I can rewatch.

2. We went grocery shopping at Aldi, just to try it out and see if we liked it. It was different that what we are used to, so the jury is still out, but the prices are REALLY good and we spent about half of what we normally do. We will go back and see how we feel after a second go 'round.  
Update: (I tried their version of Cream of Wheat and it was GROSS. So far, I'm not sold.)

3. We had a snow storm on Sunday and naturally we had to venture out to the store (walking of course) to pick up some non-essential essentials (juice, cookies, etc). It was beautiful and sparkly. We ended up having two snow days and about a foot of snow fall. About time you showed up, winter.

4. Had a glass of wine in my  Williamsburg Winery wine glass.

5. My oldest niece turned 7 on Wednesday! I can't even believe it, 7 years flew by.



5 things I ate:

1. The classroom next door made "dinosaur smoothies". I think they are called dinosaur smoothies because they are green. I am not sure what all is in it, but it was delicious and a definite pick me up.

2. Two words: nutty dunkers.

3. Pancheros. After a morning of errand running, some panchero's was necessary.

4. Another smoothie? I'm obsessed. This one had strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, peaches, blueberries and spinach along with vanilla soy milk. It was top notch. I don't have any measurements, but one of these days I will pay attention and share some of my recipes.

5. Made a super simple Shrimp Scampi that will be up next Tuesday.

5 things I read:

1. A Handy Guide for Using the Oxford Comma
Seriously, the oxford comma just makes SENSE.

2. The devil went down to Austin by Rick Riordan
This is book #4 in the Tres Navarre series. It's kind of mystery/suspense series, and it's pretty good. I like that it takes place in San Antonio/Austin area cause I have been there numerous times and I like it when I can envision places while reading. I will continue the series for sure.

3. Detroit Commuter Fundraiser
There is a man in Detroit who commutes 21 miles a day (walking) to his job in Rochester Hills. People are trying to help him out. This may restore some faith in humanity.

4. Teardown: A Memoir of a Vanishing City by Gordon Young
As to not be redundant, I wrote a whole blog post on this book here.

5. The Summer We Fell Apart by Robin Antalek
Pretty decent read. A story of 4 siblings and their non-traditional childhood and how it manifests in their adult lives. My only major complaint is that I feel like the characters are written to have no redeemable qualities and the ending is a bit flimsy. As in, the entire book is spent with this huge disconnect between the children and their mother and that is apparently all gone suddenly at the end. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads


As per usual, I am going to be linking with Fitting It All In and her Five Things Friday. I am also going to be at the High Five for Friday link up over at Coffee with Caitlin, Cup of Tea, Bright on a budget and Della Devoted.

Beauty | What's In My Makeup Bag? | Part 1

This series is going to be broken down into two parts, because I have a lot of makeup in my bag apparently. Part 1 is going to be face products: concealer, base products, blush, bronzer and highlighters. Part 2 will be eye products such as cream eyeshadow, mascara and pencil products. Now to the answer to the elusive question: What's In My Makeup Bag?

The outside of my makeup bag

 I always love reading about what people have in their makeup bags. So I figure I can share a little bit about what I currently keep in my makeup bag. Unfortunately, this is not all of my makeup just what I use most often.

My makeup bag is from Thirty-One and I could not find it on the website, but they have some other makeup bag options here.

The inside

 My bag is rather large ( 8"H x 10"W x 5.5"D) and the inside is all plastic so if something spills on the inside it is super easy to clean up. There is also a zipper pocket inside (I keep my pencils in there) and a snap pocket on the outside (I keep my sharpeners in there). I absolutely love this bag and hope that it will last me for years and years since I can't find it on the website anymore.

(L-R) e.l.f. essential tone correcting concealer, maybelline instant age rewind and Benefit Boi-ing

e.l.f. Essential Tone Correcting Concealer

I have this concealer in light beige, and it's actually a bit too dark for me in the winter. This concealer costs $1. I know! It's pretty decent too for that price. I use this on small blemishes as it is a fairly light coverage. It also smells like fruity pebbles. Which is weird, but enjoyable.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind 

I have this concealer in fair, and it is the perfect color match. It seems to come in a pretty good selection of colors as well.  This product retails about $5-$6 bucks. I use this product underneath my eyes every single day. It makes my dark circles completely disappear. Magical.

Benefit boi-ing 

I have this concealer in 01-light, and it is a great match. Unfortunately this concealer only comes in about 5 colors, so not a super expansive selection. This is my go-to every single day concealer. I use this on all my blemishes, around my nose and wherever else I need it. This is $26 for a pot, but it lasts for a long while and is considered an "industrial strength concealer."

(L-R) yes to grapefruit CC cream, sweet science invisible daily tint, CoverGirl smoothers BB cream and The Body Shop Vitamin E Cool BB cream

Yes to Grapefruit CC Cream

I have this in light, and it is a daily correct and repair CC cream that I use as a base (kind of like a foundation) on my face. This product is SPF 18 and is an all natural product. It costs about $16 but doesn't take a whole lot to give you a light coverage. You will notice all my base products are light to medium coverage, because I don't like full coverage on my face.  I absolutely adore the Yes to products and would own everything if I could. It has a pump dispenser, which I prefer and it does have kind of a fruity scent.

Sweet Science Invisible Daily Tint

Not sure what the shade is, probably the lightest. This is actually a sample from Birchbox. This product has SPF 35 and is a matte satin finish. You can use it alone or underneath other heavier base products. I prefer to use it alone, and it does have a very nice finish and it applies wonderfully. Once I am done with the sample, I will not purchase due to the $45 price tag. Eeek.

CoverGirl Smoothers BB Cream 

This product comes in 3 colors, and I have fair to light and it is a pretty good match. This is the product I use most often, because it has a very light coverage and a little goes a long way. It has SPF 21 and it keeps my skin hydrated all day long, I never feel dry and flaky. This BB Cream costs about  $8 so it's pretty reasonable.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Cool BB Cream 

This BB cream comes from one of my favorite brands, but is a miss with this cream. It comes in only one shade, and it doesn't really work well for me 3 seasons out of the year. I can get by with it in summer, cause I have little more color. It doesn't have any SPF, which is a bummer. It does have a nice even finish. 

(Front-Back) Wet 'N Wild Color Icon Blush, The Balm Hot Mama blush

Wet 'N Wild Color Icon Blush

I have this blush in pearlescent pink, and it's a beautiful  rosy pink color with a slight shimmer. This blush is very pigmented, so using a light hand is a definite must or you may end up looking like a doll (in a not-good way.) This blush is a drugstore buy, and I don't remember what it costs but I know not very much.

the Balm Hot Mama 

This is my number one blush of all-time. I absolutely love it. It is a beautiful peachy-pink shimmery shade that just makes your whole face glow. I received this as a sample a LONG time ago and am still using it, even though I use it pretty much every day. This product costs about $20 but it lasts forever and ever, and I don't think I will ever be without it in my makeup bag. So good.

(L-R) The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder, Stila one step bronze and CoverGirl Clean Pressed Powder

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder

I have this bronzing powder in the shade 02-fair matte and next time I will definitely buy the shade lighter 01-light matte. This bronzer works fine, but I just prefer a lighter, more subtle contour. I absolutely love love love this bronzer, it applies so beautifully and naturally. It costs about $20 but The Body Shop is always having sales, so you can definitely get it on discount. If you're looking to play around with a bronzing powder, this is the one I recommend as it is very forgiving.

Stila One Step Bronzing Serum 

So this bronzing product is a weird one. It's like a cream, and you blend it into your skin. But you must blend a lot or else you look like you have weird tan lines. It's also rather dark, and I kind of have stopped using it altogether. I should probably get rid of it, but it's nice in the summer if I get a little "tan" going. This serum costs about $36 (wow. I didn't realize that.)

CoverGirl Clean Pressed Powder 

I am pretty sure I have used some variation of this powder ever since I started using makeup. I use the shade classic ivory and I use this every single day to set my makeup. I love it, but that being said I think when I run out of this I may experiment with some other powders. But I think that every single time I never do. This powder costs about $7.

(L-R) Temptu S/B Highlighter, W3ll People Bio Brightener Stick and Benefit Ooh la lift

Temptu S/B Highlighter

Yes, Temptu the airbrush makeup. I don't use an airbrush applicator to apply this highlighter though. I just take a little dot on my ring finger and work it into right above my cheekbones. This shade is champagne shimmer, and it's super shimmery. It applies really nice and dewy. The price for this highlighter is $27.50

W3LL People Bio Brightener Stick

This is a sample of this product, obviously, as it is in a pot and not a stick. But this is another highlighter that has a slight shimmer. This color is called Moonstone and it's a kind of silver, shimmer color that really has a brightening effect on your whole face.

Benefit Ooh La Lift

This product is mainly used for brightening up under the eye. I will be honest, I don't really notice a difference.  Especially if I use my Maybelline Instant Age Rewind and then use this product, it doesn't really add anything. Maybe if my dark circles were darker, but...I'm not complaining. This product costs $22 and I will not repurchase.

If you're interested in reading about the Lip Products I have in my makeup bag as well, that is a whole other post. Yes, I might have a problem.

Recipe | Slow Cooker Pork Chops

My husband is finishing up a dual PhD, so he often works 12-14 hour days. I am a preschool teacher, and work 8-10 hour days, so obviously by the time we get home it's really easy to just decide to eat a frozen pizza or grab take out. We are in the business of simple, yummy recipes. So nothing I share will ever be too complicated, cause I don't fly like that.

We are going to be starting off with literally the easiest recipe ever. It's like as simple as a PB & J sandwich. Seriously.

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

• Place pork chops in bottom of slow cooker
• In a small bowl; mix soup, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce together until blended.
• Spread mixture over pork chops.
• Cook on High for 3-4 hours or on Low for 8-10

Pork chops with the mixture spread over it in the slow cooker

We like to serve our pork chops over egg noodles or even mashed potatoes. The sauce turns kind of into a gravy-type sauce, so we like to pour the excess over the noodles or potatoes. 

Serve with a side of veggies, and there you go. So. Simple. It's even easy to double. This will serve two very easily, if you want leftovers just double it up. Happy eating!

Book Review | Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City by Gordon Young

I received this book as a Christmas gift from my brother and sister in law and I was really excited to get it. I am a born and raised Michigander, I love my state with a passion that is almost scary at times. It has been heartbreaking to see some of our cities deteriorate and people leaving. I get it though, we had to leave for 3 years for work ourselves. We were lucky enough to come back for awhile, and it seems as though things may be on the up. 

All of this to say, there are quite a few books about the downfall of Detroit and the sad state of affairs that have happened there. I have read some of them, including Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff. Detroit is on the rise again, you heard it here. The city and it's people are fighters, and they are going come out stronger. But this book isn't about Detroit, and I could wax poetic about Detroit all day. I will end this little soapbox stand by saying if you get the chance to visit Detroit -- DO IT. I have written several blog posts about just a few things you could do there; DIA, Cinema Detroit and I am thinking I need to do more. There is so much more.

But this book is about another city in Michigan. Flint, Michigan is the birthplace of General Motors (GM) and once had one of the world's highest per capita income levels and now has is one of the country's most impoverished and dangerous cities. I live about 45 minutes away from Flint, and have been there numerous times; so naturally I was interested in this memoir. The author is from Flint, but now lives in San Francisco, and the book is his account of coming home again.

The Plot

 Author, Gordon Young, had a sudden yearning to return to his hometown of Flint, Michigan. He decided to go back to look into purchasing a home there; for what purpose he was undecided. He most definitely lacked the financial resources to be procuring a second home, but he was confident that due to the housing market he would be able to get a house for peanuts. The book follows his trips back to Flint and his rediscovery of his hometown.

My Thoughts
I will not lie, I did not love the start of this book. Part 1 was very boring, a lot of bank/interest rate talk. The parts of the book I really liked were when he was in Flint talking to people who live there, work there and refuse to leave their deteriorating neighborhoods. I did not enjoy the way they often spoke of Flint, quotes such as, "We knew you didn't have any money. You may live in San Francisco now, but you still have Flint stink on you." Granted, Young states after that statement that he took that as a compliment. I did like that despite Flint's lesser qualities, Young took it all in stride. He appeared to have an unwavering love and affection for his hometown. Ultimately, he does not end up purchasing a home but he does continue to come back and help with rehabbing homes and seems dedicated to helping Flint find it's feet. He still maintains his Flint Expats website, which you should check out.

Ultimately, I had a hard time with some of the negativity surrounding Flint that was spoke of in this book. But, unfortunately, it's all true. It is a very interesting read, includes a lot of history of Flint and current (as of 2013 at least) politics and economic issues. I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads.

Five Things Friday

5 things I did:

1. Participated in the national book foundation's Readathon from 12-4 on Saturday. I managed to read one books in that time.

2. I cleaned my makeup brushes. I try to do this every Sunday, but sometimes I fail and sometimes I didn't wear any makeup really so they aren't dirty. If you're interested, these brushes are from bh cosmetics and are super colorful and come in a nice snap closure stand. I absolutely love them.

3. I went to the doctor on Monday because I had a persistent sore throat since Thursday and exposure to strep throat. A rapid strep test was done and came back negative, so that's a plus. Now, to just get rid of this sore throat...

4. We went for a nice, crisp and cold walk around the neighborhood one night. It was chilly, but it was nice to get out and breathe in some fresh air.

5. We had a "snow" day yesterday. It was actually because of ice, but I woke up feeling pretty rough so it was a nice surprise.

5 things I ate:

1. I got a drink from Dunkin' on Saturday morning, because we had coupons to use up. It was kind of syrupy and sweet, with just one flavor shot of french vanilla. It was caffeinated and hot though, so what more do you really need?

2. Lasagna soup, I tried making the recipe I had in the crockpot and it didn't really work out the way I wanted. I will have to mess around with it.

3. I ate at Halo Burger and I don't regret it.

4. We had slow cooker pork chops! The recipe should be up next week, as my first installment of recipes. It is literally the easiest recipe in the world, and one we have been using for years. Seriously, years.

5. Due to feeling sick, I haven't had much of an appetite. But popcorn is always delicious and always a good choice.

5 things I read:

1. Julia's Chocolates by Cathy Lamb

I thought this book would be just a usual little "chick lit" feel good story about a woman who makes chocolate. Instead I got an intense story about an abused woman and her attempt to free herself. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

2. Funny parent tweets
This had be lol-ing for sure. Kids are so funny and parents who can just laugh and be real about it make it even better. I hope to be a parent like that someday.

3. Dream of the Blue Room by Michelle Richmond

Eh, this book was weird. Like it's totally normal to have both parties in a marriage conduct affairs on a cruise ship down a river in China? I don't think so. I do want to learn more about the three gorges though. I have this book 1 star on Goodreads.

4. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
 I really enjoyed this book. I had read mixed reviews on it, but while reading it I didn't want to put it down because I wanted to know what happened next. In my world, that is the making of a good book. I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads, and the only reason I gave it 3 instead of 4 is because I felt the ending was rushed and would have liked to have read more about HOW those things happened (vaguebook I know, but I don't do spoilers.)

5. Wandering dog in Grand Rapids, MI area
This dog looks like a newfie!! Poor buddy, I hope he is okay and that he finds a nice warm, loving home. 

I am going to be continuing linking with Fitting It All In and her Five Things Friday. I am also going to be rejoining the High Five for Friday link up over at Coffee with Caitlin, Cup of Tea, Bright on a budget and Della Devoted.