I called up my good friend Sarah…I can always count on her. I can also count on her to be organized when I’m feeling flustered so we put together a quick menu, a list of fun things to do for our girls night, and reached out to some friends! We invited Whitney who is a colleague of Sarah’s and whom I’d met many times before and adored. She is sweet and savvy, the girl just knows how to make you smile. We also invited Karissa, who is the girlfriend of one of our mutual friends (who’s just as awesome) and she is the kind of girl you always want to be around because she’s just an amazing energy. And we also reached out to Alexandra, Sarah’s neighbor who is a SUPER talented photographer (all of the photos you’ll see today are works of her). She is the neighbor you wish you had because she bakes home made cookies for everyone in the building AND shares her basil plant with anyone who wishes to take some from her porch! I mean I’ve never even met my neighbors after three years yet alone share a love fern with them. Just an incredible group of girls and our night was set!
On Sarah is Purplexed, a deep purple, and Karissa is wearing Pink Cadillaquer, an all around favorite- a pastel pink rich in color.
Whitney and Alexandra have Hydro Electric on, a gorgeous hue of blue, and I used both Pink Cadillaquer and Purplexed to recreate my favorite cupcake pattern on my nails but of course! My reason….”sometimes you want to say hi with one color, and goodbye with another color!”. I crack myself up! It’s been a few days now since our pampering party/girls night and my nails have held up really nicely AND I get to say hello with one color and goodbye with another.
I highly recommend spending an evening with your friends, catching up, slowing down, having fun, and just remembering that the world may be moving quickly but we have people around us to keep us grounded. Amen for that! If you want to enter for a chance to win your very own set of these awesome polishes (I suggest you do, I mean..girls night!) simply enter the #PerfectPairSweeps <—- this is the hash tag you’re going to want to use when you submit a photo of YOUR own #MiracleMani to enter to win, and you can submit that here.
Chipotle Brownies (thanks to Sarah!):
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 ounces peanut butter chocolate chips
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup chocolate chunks
Heat oven to 325 degrees, butter and flour an 8×8 inch baking pan. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, chipotle powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
In a medium saucepan bring 1 inch of water to a simmer. Add butter, peanut butter and semisweet chocolates to a metal bowl large enough to sit on top of the saucepan. Melt ingredients, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk on high until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and whisk on medium for 30 seconds. Add the flour mixture and whisk on low for 30 seconds. Add sour cream and whisk on medium for 30 seconds. Stir in chocolate chunks by hand.
Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
*best ever- Zucchini Parmesan Crisps (thanks to Karissa):
2-3 medium zucchini
olive oil or coconut oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with wax paper. Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch thick rounds. In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini into the oil and in a smaller bowl combine the cheese, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Dip each zucchini round into the cheese mixture, coating it evenly on both sides of it, and then press the coating onto the rounds for the mixture to stick.
Place the rounds in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp.
Enjoy!
Karissa Barcelo says
Sep 2014 at 5:38 pmSuper awesome blog about our fun, fantastic girls night! Pampering and good eats, what more could a girl want. Thanks for making it happen. Love you girls. xoxoxo