30 for 30 - day 24

I'm back! Or rather, my 30 for 30 is. I'm in the final stretch, and I'm back at work this week so I have a reason to dress up (not that anyone else at work dresses up. but at least I'm doing something other than sitting alone at home.)

Can you believe it's March? I realized, March is the halfway point of my September to September lease in SF. Which means I've survived 6 months of this awful commute (seriously. I am not a commute person. never again.), and while I love San Francisco, I am really looking forward to living closer to work and having more time to spend doing things I love (sitting on a shuttle feeling carsick for three hours a day is not on that list, it turns out).

In the meantime, I am spending several weekdays at a time at Tim's - basically living at home in SF on weekends and at Tim's near work during the week. I miss home (... and things like the belt I left at home this week), but it's a pretty good system.

Ah yes, the argyle socks are back! (socks: SockShop on Haight St. in SF)

 

earrings: boutique in Montreal; belt: Aeropostale

necklace: F21.. maybe?

My hair was extra silky soft today due to a weekend olive oil / egg treatment and extra conditioner.

SF Food Wars - Mac & Cheese

After much delay!

I am a huge fan of macaroni and cheese. I have only made it for myself maybe once (Kraft instant variety aside), because I'm afraid if I find a delicious and easy recipe, the floodgates will open and I will start the downward spiral into obesity and heart disease. However, I make exceptions for things like this, so when I heard about this SF Food Wars event, I immediately told some friends and counted down to ticket purchase time. As it turns out, getting tickets was hard (they sold out in a matter of seconds) and I am the only person I know who managed to get any. I attribute it to my obsession, er, love, for mac & cheese.

Me and Em (she was my designated buddy, since Tim apparently hates mac & cheese)

Andrea's boyfriend Peter, roomie Andrea, Em

The event consisted of 16 kinds of mac & cheese, which came in sample sizes large enough to make me feel slightly ill at the end, even with half a plate-full left. But, YUM.

The first eight!

My personal favorite (#10, the Triple Heat Mac - in the chili powder-rimmed cup in the top picture) didn't win a prize, but really, there were no bad ones there.

YUM - lobster mac & cheese!

I definitely hope to use my luck/skill to snag tickets to future SF Food Wars events, because this was fantastic.

I told Em to look overwhelmed by the amount of macaroni and cheese she was about to consume - this wasn't difficult.

 

Crowds!

Andrea and Peter (I love both of their shirts)

Some pictures of the chefs:

chefs posing with a rubber ducky for the duck mac & cheese

Inspiration of the day

I spend maybe too much time reading some of my favorite blogs, and I stumble across a lot of things I love. Maybe I'll start sharing a few! Today, I am absolutely loving this nail polish-lipstick combo - gorgeous!

Side note: I bought my very first real lipstick today! Yeah, I'm like finally a grown-up now, I guess, at 24. I got it at Clinique in Macy's. I'll be sure to post some pictures as soon as I wear it.

My dear readers: Do you have a favorite lipstick brand or specific color? What about nail polish? I am an expert at neither and would love to hear your advice!! (Katlin! I think you mentioned one or two brands - what were they again?)

Friday Love

I might try to turn this into a regular weekly feature, depending on how motivated I get.

1. honey
   No, seriously. After discovering the incredibleness (is that even a word?) that is honey over vanilla ice cream, I have been seeking out new ways to use honey, particularly simple ways that really highlight that flavor. Rose at Rose a la Mode inspired me to try a honey latte (I definitely recommend steaming the honey in the milk if possible - SO GOOD). I also made some honey swiss meringue buttercream earlier this week, and YUM. Anyway. My name is Caitlin and I have a problem.
   
   

   

   I just use the cheap honey that comes in a bear bottle, but oh I would love some of this!

   
   
2. taking a week off
   Yep. I decided to use up some precious vacation time and stay in alllll week. It is fantastic - I feel so much more relaxed, with no real responsibilities (except for various doctor appointments, an appointment to fix a recall problem with my car, my first time ever hiring a maid service, etc). But there has been lots of down time, too, and it has been amazing.
   
   
3. Cadbury eggs
   I know these are made out of, like, yucky milk chocolate, corn syrup, and oil, but I have such a soft spot for them. And despite Easter being 2 months away, they are already showing up in a few stores!
   
   
   
   Tim knows how much I love them and surprises me with some (or a pack of minis!) every time he sees them in a store. Fortunately for my health, this has only happened twice so far.
   
   
   
4. this weekend's forecast
   
   
   I just want to point out that tonight calls for possible snow showers. In San Francisco. For the first time in 35 years. This is huge news for me, because, I think I've mentioned before, lack of snow is really the only thing I hate about this city. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much (it's not even getting down to the low 30s...) but the hope is there and I just might stay up all night tonight looking out my window just in case.
   
   
5. Handwritten lists
   As much as I love computers, I still have a soft spot for carrying a notebook around everywhere and using it for lists - to do lists, groceries, very vague/incomplete 30 for 30 outfit plans... all sorts of things. I am also very picky about pens. I currently can't live without the Uniball Vision Exact pen in black (and no, I'm not getting paid to say that).

Oh, and remember the one other time I did this, item #1 on my list? Well, the bag came back in stock and I got it and I love it so much! It holds my camera, Macbook, wallet, notebooks, etc, etc, and I've gotten multiple compliments on it from total strangers!

What do you love this week? Let me know, or leave a link to your very own weekly favorite things list!

Whoops, shopping

I went shopping*, with the express purpose of getting some more color into my mostly black, white, and gray wardrobe. And here is what I came home with (all from H&M):

gray dress

black dress

black pencil skirt (which looks more flattering in person, I swear)

Oops. Note the utter lack of color. But I love them! I did promise myself that I could buy all three only if ponder them and return one. Right now I'm leaning towards getting rid of the gray dress, since it's the snuggest of the three, but that leaves me with so much black.... Opinions? Which one do you think I should return?

*If you are familiar with all of the 30 for 30 rules, you know that shopping is prohibited during this month. However, since I finished a nice closet purge just before it started, I'm giving myself a little leeway and just trying to be extra careful about not buying anything that isn't amazing and super versatile.

30 for 30 - day 23

Guys, I have a confession. I feel like such a bad blogger, but I need a few days off from 30 for 30. For one thing, it's starting to feel like I'm wearing the same 3 outfits over and over, and for another, I am taking this entire week off of work to chill and am not really in the mood for my fancy skirts and my button up (I think I've mostly exhausted my comfy, casual outfits). Expect a return early next week, I hope! Maybe some food posts in the meantime? (no promises)

This too-bright sunlight led to unflattering shadows and awkward facial expressions.

 

tights: Target

 

30 for 30 - day 22

Not gonna lie - after about day 20, this starts getting kind of old. All those exciting outfit ideas I had are mostly depleted (or the ones that are left feel fancier than I really want to dress on some days). But, we're in the final stretch!

And really, it might be my own 30-piece picking skills that are hurting me a bit, since there are at least a couple of things I've only worn once (and don't really know what to do with).  Lesson learned (I hope).

earrings: Old Navy; giddy expression: probably thanks to my boy Tim

pearl "belt": Old Navy

What do you think? Does the necklace as belt work? Tim hated it, but I'm in such a rut after wearing the same clothes every day that I needed to do something different.

Special thanks to Tim, who hates getting his own picture taken, for today's photos!