It's not Easter...

... until my fingernails are dyed red, yellow and blue!

...and it's not Easter without a raisin Easter braid (and tiny Asian ginger-salmon cakes for some strange reason, and some savory feta/roasted red pepper/basil muffins - meh, I got bored...)

Brahmin Summer 2011 collection

I'm not a huge handbag aficionado, but something about this one - the "Haze Leopard Luxe Clara bag" - makes me want to put it on a shelf in my closet and admire it... I really like those muted colors.

- (got an exclusive preview of the Brahmin Summer 2011 collection thanks to the Vogue Influencer Network) -

Here's some more:

Nutty Guys...

I love Nutty Guys' dried fruit, nuts and candy - thanks to recent Groupon offers, they're actually quite affordable. Milk chocolate covered cinnamon gummi bears, wasabi peanuts, ranch corn nuts, and my all-time favorite: Butter toffee cashews! Ooooh...

Precious...

Beautiful necklace from Pangea! Got a great deal thanks to a Jasmere groupbuy coupon.

Upward II by Brent Nelson

Just got this (my birthday present!) from eBay. Love it! And it goes so well with my blog colors!

Sweet Potato & Spinach Gnocchi

I stumbled upon this recipe on a yummy blog called "amybites", and since I had some time to kill & some sweet potatoes and spinach in the fridge, decided to spend a bit of time in the kitchen.

The recipe is insanely simple - just sweet potatoes, spinach, and flour. I had to use quite a bit more flour to get the dough to stick together (potentially due to poor spinach squeezing skills), but they turned out super yummy (if a little less good looking than the original blog photo, but that might also be b/c I fried the heck out of them).

Since by the time I was done microwaving/boiling/frying everything, it was about 90 degrees in the kitchen, I just enjoyed my gnocchi with a chopped up tomato - they were SO good!

SheSpeaks - New "Tostitos Artisan Recipes" tortilla chips

Yeah, the somewhat overused term "artisan" in combination with good ol' corn chips made me a little suspicious too, and I probably wouldn't have bothered to try them, had I not received a free coupon thanks to SheSpeaks. SheSpeaks is a great website for women to try out new products and give feedback (as opposed to SheYells, which is somewhat less popular among companies :D) .

So, we went and got the Fire-Roasted Chipotle chips (they also come in Roasted Garlic & Black Bean but I love Chipotle seasoning so I went straight for that one). These Tostitos contain 100% natural ingredients with a 9-grain blend: white corn, wheat, triticale, oats, rye, barley, millet, buckwheat, brown rice (I had to look up "triticale" - apparently it's a wheat/rye hybrid! Never heard of that!)

How I liked the Fired-Roasted Chipotle chips: Well, less than half of the bag is left after a day. They were too spicy for the hubster (hah!), but I thought they were JUST right. Mildly sweet with a little kick. Nice!

Spring!

It's springtime! Quick, hurry outside before all the blossoms are gone.. darn it, too late.

Smug bunny

More cupcakes!

... followed by yummy Sangria with strawberry and orange pieces. Cheers!

Brain slug #2

This one turned out a lot bigger than the first one I crocheted. I wonder whose brain it's been feeding on...

Homemade Kahlua!

After the Limoncello Incident, I was somewhat hesitant to use up the rest of the Everclear grain alcohol. Hesitant, that is, until I stumbled upon a link on Cooks.com for homemade Kahlua with lots of rave reviews.

I made about 1/4 of the recipe, using double strength hazelnut coffee and raw cane sugar, and it turned out super yummy. Adding Vodka to your White Russians isn't even necessary since the Kahlua is quite potent - just add ice cubes & milk, and enjoy!

Yep.