My Top Three Asparagus Recipes

Spring asparagus at Santa Monica Farmers' Market

Asparagus. The queen of spring. Elegant, fresh- and addictive. For many of us, the primavera arrival of asparagus is big news. Huge. Exciting. We simply can't get enough. You see, there is something magical about asparagus. Maybe it's the sexy reputation. Isabelle Allende describes asparagus as phallic in her memoir,  Aphrodite, describing gardens lush with it, and stalks thick as trees. She throws in a few maidens with obvious oral fixations and well. You can guess the rest. 

To be honest, the whole thick as a tree trunk thing, though, is a bit much. Big stalks? Not gonna impress me. I tend to gravitate to the slender young asparagus, myself. The slimmer the better, in my gluten-free part of the world. Why? I barely cook them. It's more like a coaxing. A gentle flash in the pan with some fruity olive oil and a kiss of balsamic vinegar. A pinch of sea salt. Nothing fancy. Keeping them tender-crisp is the key to maximum enjoyment-- for me. But I know some folks prefer long, slow roasting. 

And that's what makes the world go 'round, darling.

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Papertake Weekly - Something Different

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope your week is off to a fantastic start! We're supposed to be WINDY here today. YUCK! I don't mean breezy...it's always breezy here in Reno. We're talking windy, windy, windy. The losing shingles kind of windy. So hopefully it won't do too much damage. Well enough about the weather. :) With the arrival of Tuesday, that means it's time for a new challenge from Dawny at Papertake Weekly. This week, she is asking everyone to do something different, and since it's the last Tuesday of the month, we're being sponsored by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp! Whether it be a different type of fold for your card, a different technique, different colors than your norm, whatever. It doesn't matter as long as it's something different for you. Me? I chose shabby chic! I hope I accomplished it. I sure did try, anyway.

The teapot was cut with my Cricut Expression using the Dreams Come True cartridge. I cut out several and layered the pot three deep and the handle and spout two deep, all with dimensional tape between them. I took my scissors to the edges and used lots of Cat's Eye Jumbo Java chalk ink around the edges.

The gorgeous lace and ribbon is from Stamp and Create, the tea stamp is from Magnolia-licious, the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, the papers are Nitwit Buds n Blossoms, and the leaves are made with the Martha Stewart frond punch. I tied a piece of twine around the handle of the teapot and looped it around and tied the other end throught the tea stamp. I wanted to simulate a tea bag. I finished it all off by using some Kaiser flat backed pearls.

Because of the dimension, I also made an envelope box to hold it. So what do you think? Did I accomplish the shabby chic look? Please be sure and hop over to Papertake Weekly to see what fabulous creations the rest of the design team came up with. Then grab your paper, your glue, and then figure out what "something new" you've been wanting to do. We'd love to see it, and you just might win a prize! Thanks for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!

♥ 42 Beauty Questions Tag ♥

♥

grabbed this from Chicstylista. my new follower & loving the blog now^^

so let's start..

-- SKINCARE --

-How many times do you wash your face daily?

three times. in the morning, after I got back from the outside, & before I go to bed at night^^

-What skin type do you have? (dry,oily,combo)

combination. I'm dry around the cheeks area & oily around the T-Zone..

-What is your current facial wash?
CLINIQUE Mild Facial Soap

-Do you exfoliate?
used to exfoliate around 3-4 times a week. but now I ran out of exfoliator & not using any atm :(

-What brand do you use?
CLINIQUE

-What moisturizer do you use?
CLINIQUE Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion & also trying out Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion. works great so far~

-Do you have freckles?
Nope.

-Do you use eye cream?
YES. currently using CLINIQUE All About Eyes Rich

-Do you or did you have acne prone skin?
ummm yes when I was in highschool but now my face is acne-free^^

-Did you ever have to use Pro-activ?
no.

-- MAKE-UP --

 

-What foundation do you use?
my HG is the MAC Mineralize Satin Finish Foundation (NC35), but I switch it up now & then with CLINIQUE Perfectly Real Makeup (true beige) & Laura Mercier Silk Crème Foundation

-How about concealer?
don't really use much concealer but I'm using the MAC Studio Touch Up Stick

-Do you know your undertone color?
I think I'm yellow based undetone

-What do you think of fake eyelashes?
used to wear them everyday for a few months & but now I get annoyed of them. LOL. but it's fine I guess~~

-Did you know that you are supposed to change your mascara every 3 months?
just found out recently & I don't really care hahaa.. I don't wanna throw my mascara away every 3 months. it's wasteful :(

-What brand of mascara do you use?
using both Maybelline Volum Express Cat Eyes Mascara & CLINIQUE High Impact Mascara

-Sephora or MAC?
we don't have Sephora here in SE Asia (*I think), so I go with MAC

-Do you have a MAC Pro-card? 

no.

-What makeup tools do you use in make up application?
I use MAC Brushes, Sponges, Q-Tip, & most of the time I just use my hands. it blends better with my own fingers somehow~~

-Do you use make-up base/primer for the eyes? 

not at the moment. is it really necessary? hahaa.. would love to try the Urban Decay Primer Potion though~

-For the face?

yes. MAC Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage

-What is your favorite eyeshadow (color or shade)?
loveeeee nude colors. I also love blue color eyeshadow. my favorite would be MAC Satin taupe & the colors in Dior Detective Chic Eye Palette~

-Do you use pencil or liquid eyeliner?
cake eyeliner! ^^ fell in love with Benefit Babe Cake Cream Eyeliner & will never buy another eyeliner anymore!!!! *xD

-How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?
LOL. never have..

-What do you think of pigment eyeshadows?
they're pretty but I much prefer pressed eyeshadows. they're easier to applied~~

-Do you use mineral makeup?
yes, now & then. using a mineralize foundation now from MAC.

-What is your favorite lipstick?
definitely nude color lippies from MAC

-How about lipgloss?
loadss because they're all have awesome fragrances & flavors! strawberries, chocolates, etc. can't really pick a favorite brand..

-What is your favorite blush to use?
MAC Powder Blush in Melba

-Do you buy your makeup on ebay?
never. they're many fake make up out there so I prefer going to the actual brand counter^^

-Do you like drugstore makeup?
yes but not much. for my face make up I never buy drugstore product anymore because we can't try the shades but for mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, etc I guess drugstore it's more worth it since they're inexpensive~~

-Do you go to CCO's? (cosmetic company outlets)
not exatly sure of what it is.. (-_-)

-Did you ever consider taking make-up classes?
well i never really think of it, well now that you mention it & if given a chance. why not?

-Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?
not really except for falsies, I hate putting glue on them! but I can apply my foundation in the dark now LOL.

-Name a makeup crime that you hate? 

overplucked eyebrows to draw them in or worse eyebrow tattoo, too colorful eyeshadows, foundation lines around the jaw line, obvious wrong shade of foundation (too white or too tan), orange fake tanned skin, clumpy mascara, runny eyeliners << this one I think I'm guilty of because my eyeliners kinda always runny after a few hours :(

-Do you like colorful shades of makeup (lipstick,eyeshadow) or neutral ones? 

neutral never goes wrong. but I really like blue eyeshadow somehow^^

-Which celebrity always has great make up?
hard to say, I don't often focus that much on celebrity makeup.

-If you could leave the house using just ONE make up item,what would you use?
probably would be foundation, as long as my face looking flawless, I'm good to go~~

-Could you ever leave the house without any makeup on? 

yes I could, but I rarely do. *xD

-Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?
hehee I think I look just fine without make up on^^

-In your opinion, what is the BEST makeup line?
probably MAC, they have a good quality products with loadss of shades of choices despite the expensive price..

-What do you think of Makeup?
make up is a girl's best friend. they cover my imperfections, builds my confidents & self-esteem, also a fun hobby^^

so I tagged this to everyone. grab it, it's really fun^^

love.love ♥♥

April Design Team Challenge for Magnolia-licious

It's the beginning of the month, and that means that it's time for a new Design Team challenge! This month, we've got an awesome sketch provided by the lovely and talented Claudia Rosa! I used four, yes I said four, stamps from Diana at Magnolia-licious to create this card. And there's tons of dimension which you know I love. The stamps I used are #3047 Tilda with newly hatched chicken (she's not in stock right now), #521 Butterfly background, That cute little fence with the hearts in it (not in stock right now), and then I stamped just the sidewalk portion of #633 Houses on street and cut out what I wanted of it for Tilda to stand on. If your interested in either of the stamps that aren't in stock, just email Diana and ask her about them.

All the stamps are colored with Copic markers. The fence and sidewalk are popped up from the background stamp, and Tilda is popped out even further from the fence. I just love making fun cards!! I have to tell you though, I am so in love with all of these Easter stamps!! But since Easter is already here, I wanted to try and use them for something else. So since the chick is hatching, I figured a birthday card might be good, and the on the inside, it says "Happy Birthday! You're still a Spring chick!" Whatcha think? Is it too corny????

The Happy Birthday sentiment stamp is from The Cutting Cafe' from a set called All Occasion Circle Word Set 1. I just printed it out at the size I wanted, and cut it out with my Nestabilities. The butterflies were cut using my Gypsy and Cricut Expression using the Tear Drop cartridge. I just added some Kaiser pearls to them. I also added a silk ribbon bow made using my Bow Easy.

That's it for today! Please be sure and visit Magnolia-licious Highlights to see the rest of the Design Teams creations using Claudia's sketch! We'd love it if you would join in and play along with us! Thanks so much for visiting me today and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!