Earlier this month, I had a chance to attend a book reading and signing with Jane Green at my favorite, local independent book store. She was in town promoting her new book, Dune Road.

I fell in love with Jane Green when her first novels, Jemima J and Mr. Maybe came out. So, when I heard she was going to be in town, I knew I had to go and brought my roommate with me.

Jane Green is so charming in person – I love her British accent. And, she is hilarious too! She shared how she writes and how her books relate to her life. Plus, she is a Red Sox fan too!

I just finished Dune Road and its the perfect summer read. A little hard for me to to relate to since its a book about a recently divorced women with kids, but the book has the signature Jane Green “emotional honesty” and is worth checking out.

I’m now working my way through some of the other Jane Green novels I haven’t had a chance to read yet, like the Beach House. Next up, books by some of my  favorite bloggers – Rattled and It Sucked Then I Cried. While these are both baby-related, I am not having any soon,  thankyouverymuch.

Read anything good lately? Now that my summer class is over, I have free time!

This week’s theme is healthy recipes and I knew I wanted to make one of the salads featured in Mark Bittman’s 101 Simple Salads for the Season article that I bookmarked earlier this week. This is salad number one on the list.

Ingredients:
Watermelon
Tomato
Basil
Feta cheese
Basic vinaigrette (Bittman has a good recipe here)

Directions
Cut up watermelon and basil, add basil and feta, drizzle with vinaigrette. You can also substitute peaches for the watermelon or tomato.

My Thoughts
Was the recipe easy to follow? Yes, it couldn’t be simpler and its easy to make as much or little as you need.
Did it taste good? Yes, I would have never have thought to combine tomatoes and watermelon together. The homemade vinaigrette was good, I should make it more often.
Would I make again? Yes, I’ve got half a watermelon to  use!

Photo coming soon, the camera cord is mia. Check out the other healthy recipes at Whip It Up headquarters.

I am trying to limit the amount of stuff I need to take back with me to Pittsburgh, so I’ve been trying to use up all the beauty stuff I have. So, I haven’t brought a single shampoo/lotion/lip gloss/etc. for a while. I am dying to go go Sephora for a shopping spree! Needless to say, I am using up a lot of travel-sized lotions. Does anyone else do this? Take all the lotions and shampoo from hotels and not use them? I have a whole cosmetic bag full of them that I have been using up this week!

I wanted to share some of my favorites from the past few weeks:

Origins Modern Friction - Twice a week I exfoliate with this and it has made a HUGE difference in my skin over the past two months. Throw out the St. Ive’s crap, this stuff is so much, much better.

Origins Modern Fusion – Twice a day I use this on my skin, am and night. It works really well with modern Friction. Afterwards, I put on one of the million moisturizers I have lying around.

And on the cheaper side, I’ve fallen in love with Suave Professionals Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner. I typically use organic shampoo, but I have tons of this and TRESemme to use up. At $1-something each on sale, I’m going to pick this up again when I run out.

What are you favorite beauty buys lately – what should I try out once I use up my current stash?

This week’s theme is regional favorite and pasta/shrimp is not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Boston. However, this recipe is from the cookbook, Boston uncommon. A little off the beaten path, but good!

Ingredients:

3 c. spiral-shaped pasta
2 c. sugar snap pea, trimmed, or green beans
1 T. olive oil
1 pound fresh deveined peeled shrimp
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. oregano
1/4 t. kosher sale
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper
4 c. turn fresh spinach
1 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
1 c. crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water for 6 minutes, without salt or oil. Add the peas. Cook for 2 minutes; drain. Heat the olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add the shrimp, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Saute for 3 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Combine the pasta mixture, shrimp mixture, spinach, tomatoes and cheese in a bowl and mix well. Serves 6.

My Thoughts

Was the recipe easy to follow? Yes, I used one pot for everything so that made cooking and clean up easy. I used whole wheat pasta and baby spinach to use what I already had in my cupboards.
Did it taste good? Yes, it was delicious and a very colorful dish.
Would I make again? Yes, I’m already planning on making this as a dinner for my family when I move back home next month. It was so simple to make.

Check out the other regional favorites at Whip It Up headquarters.

This week’s theme is guilty pleasures and mine is anything Mexican. This recipe is from the July issue of Glamour magazine.

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 Spanish onion, julienned
1 red pepper, julienned
2 c. broccoli, lightly steamed and chopped
1 12-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 c. mozzarella, grated (I used 1 bag of mozzerella and 1/2 a bag of the “Mexican” mix you find at the store)
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
12 6-inch tortillas
1 jar salsa verde

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a medium pan, heat oil; saute garlic, onion and red pepper until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Transfer to a bowl; fold in broccoli, beans, 2 c. mozzarella and cilantro.

4. In a non-stick pan on low heat, warm tortillas until pliable (I used the microwave instead). Place 1/4 c. enchilada filling on each tortilla and gently roll.

5. Lightly coat a shallow baking dish with nonstick spray; transfer enchiladas into it. Coat with store-brought salsa verde, then sprinkle with 1 c. mozzarella. Pop in oven for 15 mins. Dot with sour cream and extra cheese; serve hot.

Optional garnish: Chop up and mix radishes, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos (seeds removed), cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Serves 4.

I forgot to take a pic, but you can see an image on Glamour’s site here.

My Thoughts

Was the recipe easy to follow? Yes! However, there is a lot of prep work and dishes involved.
Did it taste good? Yes! It was very yummy and I ate the leftovers for a week.
Would I make again? Yes! I would make sure I had the right number of tortillas as I only had 10 and wasn’t able to use all the filling. Also, I’d use a bigger pan, I had a 9  x 11 pan and it was a tight fit. This would also be a great for a night with the girls served with some margaritas or a group gathering.

Check out the Headquarters for other recipes from Whip It Up, yum!

Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a great Fourth and is making it thru the work week okay! I went to the Red Sox game and watched fireworks in Boston. I am a little teary-eyed thinking that was my last Fourth here in Boston since I’m moving soon. And let me tell you, moving logistics suck. I ordered boxes online this weekend since a, I didn’t want to hunt all over town for boxes or b, want to use Zipcar to go pick up boxes. Home Depot online offers some great deals on boxes with free shipping, so the packing will begin this weekend. Which, will hopefully lead to figuring out what size truck I need to rent.

A tradition I before I San Francisco was to buy some art capturing the city so I could bring it with me to the new city. I have a North Beach graphic poster and two black and white matted photos, one of the Golden Gate Bridge and one of Victorian Houses. Since I’ll be leaving Boston soon, I’ve been on the lookout for some Boston art to bring with me, ignoring the fact that I will not have any wall space until I get a job and move out of my parents house.

Here are two contenders:

This is from Esty seller ConnieBarbourPrints and an early favorite. There’s a lot of great stuff on Esty for Boston and still a ton more I need to go thru.

And this one caught my eye as well:

Its made by Ork Posters. They also have posters for NYC, DC, Chicago, San Franciso and a whole bunch of other cities.

Anyone have good resources for Boston art? Thoughts on the above? I’d love to hear them!