more liquid addictions: green monster!

Mmmmmm green monsters.  First off, credit where credit is due: Victoria's post led me to Angela's blog where I read the story of the green monster, which inspired me greatly in many categories.  I started about 3 weeks ago and haven't had them every day, but I've gone through 1.5 boxes and 2 bags of spinach so I figure i've made 10-15 batches?  They are way delish and they make me happy.  :D  I do it a little differently (as everyone should!) but it's close to the basic/original.  My basic ingredients are banana, spinach, milk, and sometimes ice.

HOW CAN I HAZ?

1. Get your green on.

I just about fill my blender with raw baby spinach - it's not packed in very tightly at all. (Think "loosely loaded laundry")  I think if you cook it first I think you would get a smoother smoothie but I don't mind the 1-2mm pieces of spinach leaf that result from doing it my way.  Is there nutritional advantage to cooking it first?

2. Go bananas.

Just 1 banana will do, but I haven't tried 2.

Smoothie-destined bananas and banana-bread-destined bananas have this much in common: ripe is better! That is, as a banana ripens it gets more and more delicious and flavorful.  I wouldn't let it go all the way black, but let it at least grow some freckles.

3. Milk it for all it's worth.

If you are all about thick goopy paste-like substances, then by all means skip this step.  :D  But if you love drinking things through straws and coddle your old, old blender then I would add some liquid delish at this point.  I kind of just eyeball it, but I think it's about 6 oz.  Add a few ice cubes if you're too cool for school.

Soy vs. cow's milk? I think soy milk is better for you.  I've heard that at least American cows' milk is quite hormone-ridden but it's also much cheaper, so I've been making mine with cows' milk.  :/

4. Blend it like your life depends on it.

I pulse it because I feel like I'm supposed to.  It would be cool if someone could enlighten me as to why.  :D

I suspect that either it (a) lets larger unblended pieces fall back to the bottom where the blades are, or (b) gives the motor a rest and fights overheating and stinky burnt smells.  I'm leaning towards point (a), as (b) may just indicate I need a new blender.  9_9

5. Enjoy!

Healthy, banana-ey, foamy, tasty goodness.  Mmmmmmmm.  n_n

my liquid addiction: watermelon slush!

Best summer treat ever.

I love watermelon juice.  I really (really) love watermelon and I really (really!) love straws so  watermelon juice is pretty much undeniably awesome.  I ordered a watermelon slush at a bubble tea place and was disappointed as I watched him blend watermelon chunks and ice.  What a ripoff for $3.75, right?  But after I stabbed my chubby straw into the top and took a sip I was in heaven.  Not enough to ever order it again, but enough to experiment at home.  :D

HOW CAN I HAZ?

1. Select the most awesome watermelon that exists within a reasonable driving distance of your person.

Seeded melons seem logistically complex so I recommend the rounder, seedless variety.  If you're like me, you'll doll up for Costco and pick the biggest $5 melon they have before baby facing the seafood station guy into letting you use his scale so you can rub your mad melon skillz into your darling's face later. (20.89 lb! Thank you, thank you.) In terms of freshness, I use the pat-and-listen method: incredibly difficult to describe online. I suggest hanging around the watermelon bin until someone looks like they're using it, and then baby facing them into explaining. :D

2. Populate your blender with delicious chunky chunks.

There are at least two camps when it comes to watermelon consumption: choppers and spooners.  Choppers either make big wedges that people bite into, or fill bowls with little cubey chunks.  Spooners like me just split the whole thing in half and stick a spoon in it, carving watermelon out like ice cream out of a tub.  Having guests?  Grab a melon baller.  (Pro tip: watermelon slushes are a great way to consume that awkward part of the melon where it's getting to be white and non-delicious - you can just scrape it all into the blender and it averages out into a ever-so-slightly less sweet and more adult watermelon slush.)

3. Ice is optional.

Blender is ancient and pansy?  No ice.  Watermelon warm from the car?  Ice.  Sensitive teeth? No ice.  AC broken?  Ice.  Up to you.  I compromise by using smaller, heart-shaped ice cubes.  Truth.  I will note that the iceless version tends to separate into purer juice at the bottom and less blended pulp at the top, whereas the ice/slush version stays more uniformly thick.  (Bonus: watermelon slushes are also a good way to use up strawberries if you are a fool like me and fell for a "buy two, get four!" deal.  It's strawberry season, yo; I put 'em in everything!)

5. Straws are cool.

I am too impatient to wait for deliciousness to travel up a cute crazy straw, but I am super in love with the diner-style dispenser I found:

Happy summering! n_n

micropost: bronzer... bigger is better?

hello, biggest bronzer i have ever seen!

nice to meet you!  i've heard of oversized bronzer (gosh, lancome, isadora...) but you are very impressive in person.  large and... in charge?

your box would fit in perfectly with my CDs. :D

i found your cousin in a youtube haul: fast forward to 7:45

national birthday notd + 3 questions

noth (n. o. t. holiday!) + seche vite shrinkage + 48 hr tipwear = 

milani whitest white

sally hansen xtreme wear blue it *

sally hansen xtreme wear so poppy

claire's cosmetics body glitter **

* if you have this color and you're rubbing your eyes or mocking my photography/white-balance/exposure fail, it's because the blue shown is actually something along the lines of 9 parts blue it and 1 part whitest white, which i think matches much better!

when i need a certain color or simply lose interest in a current one, i have no qualms in pouring in whatever i think will make it more to my liking.  another example is a burgundy-ish claire's polish that was way too cool-toned for me so i added bunches of a cheap nyc orange, which has helped!  i wouldn't wholly categorize this behavior as "frankening," though.  more like... plastic surgery?

** the stars are from claire's (a tween accessories/cosmetics store in the u.s.).  they are labeled as "body glitter".  wtf.  they are HUGE:

question 1: do you plastic surgery your nail polishes?
question 2: at what age (if any) is 4mm star-shaped body glitter appropriate?
question 3: does anyone else see blog posts about fall collections but keep reading "fail collection", e.g. "chanel fail"? (ok ok i admit i may be nerdier than most.)