Leather Dreams

It feels like I've been looking for (faux) leather leggings forever.  Every pair is too lose, too tight, too expensive, or too....leather-ey.  All I want are my legs to look thin with just a touch of cool girl shine! Is that too much to ask??

FINALLY my prayers have been answered!  I ran into this pair during a quick trip to zara last week and fell in love.  They're mostly "legging" with just a strip of faux leather down the side, and perfectly in my budget at $49.90!  I'm still waiting for them to come in the mail (of course the store was sold out of my size) but I'm sure I'll be wearing them nearly every day.




Side note: Does finding out an item is sold out make anyone else want it infinitely more??

Cranberry, Orange, and Ginger Chutney

 Thanksgiving is on its way!!  This has always been one of my favorite holidays.  A whole day devoted to eating delicious food, hanging out with family, and thinking about everything that's truly wonderful in our lives? What's not to love!  This year, I really want to branch out and try new recipes beyond the old favorites we make every year.  The first of these recipes is a chutney I found on Kitchen Confidante.  Having never made chutney, or in fact canned anything before,  I was a little nervous about how time consuming and difficult the whole process would be.  The recipe did end up taking about an hour and a half to complete, but the results were well worth it.  The chutney is both savory and festive with a slight bite from the tartness of the cranberries.  It will be fantastic by itself on crackers, and equally tasty served on brie.

-recipe after the jump-

This Week in Acupuncture School

I first discovered in college that my interests do not particularly line up with my personality type.  I was a genetics major but, being more into sororities than zombies vs. humans, most of my friends were in fields like PR and marketing.  Now in acupuncture school, I'm the odd girl out in my affinity for cheetos and lack of desire to join the occupy movement.  It would be hard to overestimate my love for science, and I can talk about the benefits of organic foods for days, but overall I'm just a little different.  Probably because of this, I find some things about acupuncture school hysterically funny.  In the spirit of sharing the love, here are the top three things I laughed about this week:

#1:

Every week, the administration of my acupuncture school publishes a student newsletter.  In addition to normal announcements, they publish responses to any suggestions students submit.  This week, one of the suggestions in the newsletter was this little gem:

I'm not sure Pepsi Co. carries kombucha...


#2:
Someone leaving cape cod potato chips in the student lounge with a sign that says "Please eat me! :-)"
Me: "SCORE!!!!" grabbing a huge handful and starting to eat them
Next student to enter the lounge: Smiles at chips, approaches bag, begins to read ingredient label of chips, smile slowly turns to frown, puts chips down and...backs...away
WHAT IS THE HORRIBLE INGREDIENT IN CAPE COD CHIPS???

#3
A fellow student offering around gluten free organic muffins in class (is that really a thing??).  They were delicious FYI.

Image via here

Spicy Quinoa with Black Beans, Corn, and Tomatoes

This semester has been crazy for me.  Between school, work, and attempting to maintain a social life, there doesn't seem to be any time for the gym or to prepare healthy meals.  Now that I have the tough mudder coming up, I need to get back on that fitness bandwagon and whip my booty into shape.  This recipe started as a mash up of foods already sitting in my pantry and ended up awesome. It's ridiculously easy, and although I ate it as a main dish, it would be equally great as a side dish to add some color to your plate.  The cheese is optional, but in the words of Julia Child, "you can leave it out...but you'll regret it"

-recipe after the jump-