Chile Honeymoon -- Day 2: Baños de Colina

When: Friday, October 10th, 2014

Where: Andes Mountains

Weather: 40s and chilly!

On our second day in Chile, Alex and I had the not so bright idea to drive up into the Andes to find some hot springs he had read about online. Reviews of Baños de Colina describe the drive as easy and possible to do with any kind of car. Let’s just say that I’m really glad that we just so happened to rent a four wheel drive utility vehicle. Yeesh.

The road out of Santiago turned from urban to rural, then from rural to remote, the pot holes came closer and closer together until the road dropped off entirely and gave way to a gravel path replete with deep muddy puddles, wild horses blocking the way, and enormous coal-hauling trucks streaming by at unspeakable speeds. The directions from online were minimal but according to the cowboy and coal miner I shouted at from the car window, it was simple, just go "straight, straight, straight, higher, higher, higher!"

The terror that was the drive up was all made worth it when we finally got where we where going. We didn’t even realize that we were there when we finally arrived. A gate blocking the roadway almost had us turning back for home, but when I got out and yelled “Hola? Buenas dias!!” in the direction of the only building in the area, a gaucho came out and demanded 8000 pesos. A little bewildered, we paid him the money he asked for, and he presented a very official receipt for our admission into the baths. It didn’t seem it to us, but he was the literal gate keeper to the hot springs. He lifted the gate and on we went. 

The baths were amazing. The first one, closest to the spring was boiling hot, so much so, that we had to sit far away from the mouth in order to avoid being burned. The other baths got progressively cooler as they moved down hill. We spent a couple hours soaking in the water and covering ourselves in the mineral-rich mud in order to avoid sunburn.  Before we became thoroughly pruned, we pulled ourselves from the pools, loaded back in the car and heading back towards Santiago. 

Before we got all the way back down the mountain, we stopped a quaint little restaurant simply called "Rio Vista." We sat overlooking the water and ate our fill on a variety of meat and potatoes. It was still light out when we got back into Santiago, so a stroll through Parque Forestal was perfectly in order to walk off our enormous lunch.

free people lace peplum tee 

anthro floral leggings 

gold dotted scarf  

target polka dot cardigan

new balance trail runners 

forever 21 sunglasses

victoria's secret mint swim top 

topshop mint bottoms   

Chile Honeymoon: Day 1 -- Santiago

When: Thursaday, October 9th, 2014

Where: Santiago, Chile.

Weather: 60s, breezy, and chilly.

 
When Alex and I stumbled off our red eye flight arrived in Santiago, we grabbed our rental car and headed straight to our hotel, hoping for an early check in and a wink of sleep. Unfortunately, the Hotel Ismael 312 was fully booked, so we had to wait until our proper check in time. We ended up wandering around on foot for a couple of hours. Our hotel was in a really hip and trendy area full of cafes, bars, boutiques, and restaurants. We killed time sight-seeing, drinking copious amounts of cappuccino, and eating cake.

At three o'clock on the dot, we checked in and went straight to our room for a much needed nap. We only let ourselves sleep for a couple hours because we wanted to make sure we would stay on Chile time. It was still light out, so we decided to keep exploring. We took a nice stroll in the park that our hotel room looked over, walked past the art museums, and into the bustling center of town.

We finished up the night sipping cocktails over dinner, and later drinking champagne on the hotel rooftop! Cheers!

h&m striped tee

jcrew pixie pants 

gold dotted scarf 

chevron keds 

target moto jacket   

forever 21 sunglasses

The Power of Fashion + Giveaway!

Jessica and I met almost five years ago when we were both attending college in Boston. We worked at a resale clothing shop and bonded over fashion. Over the years, we've somehow both relocated to Los Angeles, and started our own blogs and businesses. Working in the fashion industry has been a trying and eye-opening experience for both of us, and we've had many a long conversation about how to balance being a professional, strong, smart woman, and having an affinity for something that seems to vain and vapid. The answer to us has always been that fashion and power don't have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, fun fashion can be very empowering!

I've always subscribed to the Look Good, Feel Good philosophy, which drives me to make clothing for other people that will make them feel great about themselves. Through her work as a stylist, Jessica encourages her clients to look and feel their best through closet makeovers and simple style tricks.

But fashion doesn't always feel so great. Sometimes what you wear can lead to unwanted attention. So when Jessica introduced the idea of I Dress for Me, a fashion movement that encourages women to dress for no one but themselves, and that no matter what you wear, you deserve to be treated with respect, I was all in.

I hope you'll join both of us in celebrating the empowering qualities of fashion!

Today, in collaboration with my blogger bestie, Jessica from Hell or High Fashion, along with Expect Collection, and I Dress for Me, we are offering an awesome gift pack featuring a Kate Spade coin purse, two essie nail polishes, a pair of J Crew earrings, a $25 gift certificate to Expect and a $25 credit good towards a style profile by Jessica.

You have 6 chances to enter below... Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday Soups: Chicken and Homemade Noodle

I love making soups on Sunday nights for dinner. It is a nice homey way to kick off (or finish up) the week, plus it provides plenty of leftovers for lunches, which is always the hardest meal for me to think about making for some reason. I love this hearty and healthy simple soup. The homemade noodles are easy to throw together and really make the whole dish feel much more special.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 chicken
- 8-10 cups water
- Whole onion
- 1 head of celery
- 3-4 carrots

- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 table spoons chicken fat

This soup starts with homemade chicken broth which is much easier to make than it sounds. Start the night before by boiling half of a whole chicken and a whole onion with the ends cut off in about 8-10 cups of water. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the pot from the heat and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, pull the chicken out of the fridge and skim the fat from the top. Reserve this yellowy goodness to use in your noodles. Then, pull the chicken from the broth and separate the skin and bones from the meat. Toss the bones and skin and hold the meat on the side for a second.

 
Chop a head of celery and about 3-4 carrots. I used the multicolored kind that came in my Farm Fresh to You box. Throw the meat, celery, and carrots into the broth and set the heat to medium-low. While the soup simmers, prepare the noodles.

In a bowl, combine 2 and 1/2 cups of flour, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 Tablespoons of chicken fat. Use fingers to mix. Once the dough has come together, move it to a floured cutting board and knead for about five minutes. 

Put the kneaded dough in a bowl and cover with a towel for about 10 minutes.

Roll our the dough into as thin of pieces as possible, then roll up and slice into thin strips. Unfurl the spirals of noodles and drop into the boiling hot soup. Let cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Serve and enjoy the fresh, chicken-y, chewy, yummy goodness.

Chile Honeymoon: A Guide to Packing for All Climates

 

Our honeymoon in Chile was pretty gosh darn amazing. I will admit, however, that packing for it was a little stressful. Chile is a super long country with many different climates, and we visited quite a range of places. From the city, to wine country, the beach, and frozen Patagonia, I knew as I was packing that I would need a wardrobe that would carry me through all sorts of weather and temperatures. Oh, and didn't want to check any baggage. 

I used my trusty Kate Spade Saturday luggage and miraculously, everything fit. KSS doesn't pay me to say this, but OMG I am obsessed with this bag! The shoe compartment underneath is key. I fit four pairs of shoes in there!

Generally, when I'm traveling, I limit myself to packing one item of clothing for each day traveled. For example, for this trip, we were traveling for thirteen days, so I brought thirteen items. For my trip to Boston and Upstate New York this past summer, we were only gone for ten days, so I only brought ten items of clothing. For this rule, I don't include socks, underwear, outerwear, or bathing suits because they are small and they don't contribute to an overall everyday outfit.

For each flight, I aimed to wear at least one of my most bulky items. Amazingly, my down jacket (c/o my mother-in-law) scrunched down to pretty much nothing, so I wore my chunky knit sweater on the plane to save room in my bag. Now for the full breakdown of what I brought:

forever 21 pink sweater | free people lace peplum tee | h&m striped tee | target polka dot cardigan 

jcrew factory gem sweatshirt | cloth and stone chambray | jcrew hearts tee | target striped skirt 

anthro floral leggings | jcrew pixie pants | forever 21 sunglasses | target brown sandals 

chevron keds | new balance trail runners | havianas | h&m black flats | striped maxi dress 

anthro chambray jumpsuit | urban outfitters lace dress | gold dotted scarf | target moto jacket 

uniqlo down jacket | forever 21 black and white swim top | korti jeane striped bottoms 

victoria's secret mint swim top | topshop mint bottoms   

I tried to pack according to a narrow color scheme: black, white, grey, and pastels. Once I had picked out the items I wanted to bring, I did what I refer to as "packing math" to figure out how many outfits I can get out of what I plan to bring, and if those outfits will be appropriate for where I'm going. I write down one major item, and then underneath I list all the pieces I could combine with it to complete an outfit. Packing math looks like this:

Black Pants

striped tee

striped tee + chambray shirt

striped tee + black sweater

striped tee + pink sweater

lace peplum tee

lace peplum tee + black sweater 

etc, etc, etc

I did this process for the pants, leggings, skirt, dresses, and jumpsuit and discovered that I could make over 40 completely unique outfits. Way more than enough for a two week trip! And the best part was that it all fit in a small carry on! Yay!

Birthday Girl

When: Thursday, October 23rd, 2014 -- My Birthday!

Where: Brunch and Movies

Weather: Mid-80s and hot!

For my birthday this year, I wanted to keep things simple and low key, especially since Alex and I were just getting back from Chile (seriously, posts on that coming soon!). I decided what I really wanted to do to celebrate was just feel normal and comfortable after a big trip, so we walked Bucket, went to brunch at Blu Jam, and saw Gone Girl.

Usually, I love wearing a completely new outfit on my birthday, but I pretty much blew my shopping budget buying new stuff for the honeymoon, so I treated myself to this J Crew skirt that was on deep discount. I've never tried a flirty, flippy skirt like this, so it took me a couple tries to get this look right. By high-low tucking this embellished tee I got last year around Christmas, I was able to define my shape, while showing off the shirt and the skirt as the same time. Bonus: tucking this way covers a post-brunch bump.

Urban Outfitters Tee Shirt (old) -- Similar

J Crew Skirt

Kate Spade Mrs Necklace

Vintage Coach Bag -- Similar

Frye Heels (old) -- Similar

Veggie Ramen Stir-Fry

This stir-fry is super easy to make, not to mention... cheap! Made with vegetables from my Farm Fresh to You box, and a couple of packets of ramen noodles, this dish is really satisfying, but still full of good, green nutrients.

Ingredients:
-1 Tablespoon oil (olive, sesame, or peanut)
-1 head of broccoli
-2 heads of boy choy
-1/2 of a red onion
-1 bunch of kale

-2 packs of 3-minute ramen (throw away the flavor pack)

-3 Tablespoons soy sauce
-2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
-Pinch of white pepper
-Splash of oil

1. In a wok, heat up the tablespoon of oil, add vegetables and cook until softened.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, boil the ramen in a separate pot according to the package instructions. Remember not to add the flavor pack!

3. Combine last four ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

4. When noodles and vegetables are both cooked, strain the noodles and add to wok. Cover with the sauce from step 3 and stir to combine.

BONUS: Scramble an egg and pour it over the top of the noodles and cook through. Adds a little protein!

This post is sponsored* by Farm Fresh to You. To get $10 off your first box, click the image below, and enter code ANNI9875 at checkout.