Secret Samurai

What Karl does after a hard day of designing...

Goes home.

Puts on his PJ's.

Smites evil doers.


Just another day in the life of mister Lagerfeld.



Love you, mean it

Emily


P.S. Photos from WorldsBestEver, DesignYouTrust and UrbanSamurai

Stuffing with Pumpkin Gravy

This is sort of a "holiday" recipe, but I bought a crap ton of canned pumpkin this year aaand there are only so many loaves of pumpkin bread you can make ("No there isn't" quote the boyfriend). So if you were planning on making pumpkin pie for whatever-holiday-you-choose-to-celebrate and didn't end up making it (prolly because you were busy buying pre-xmas clearance Louboutins from Barney's) THIS is the recipe for you.

Stuffing with Pumpkin Gravy

Stuffing (tweaked from a recipe my aunt gave me):

4 c old crusty bread, cubed

1/2 large yellow onion diced

2 carrots chopped

1 tbsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp bragg's liquid aminos (tastes waaaay better than soy sauce)

1/2 c vegetable broth

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.˚ Throw cubed bread into a pan and toast in oven. Stirring frequently so they get evenly toasted. This will probably take about 10 minutes. Once toasted lower heat to 325.˚

Meanwhile, sauté onion, ginger and carrots in some olive oil. Add sage, rosemary and thyme (Yes, because I love S&G) and stir until well mixed. Turn off heat.

Once bread is toasted put into a 9x12 casserole dish (preferably with cover - if not just use aluminum foil). Stir onion mixture into bread until it is well incorporated. Sprinkle lemon juice, aminos and veggie broth onto the bread cubes. Stir and evenly coat. Cover and bake in oven for 30 minutes at lower temperature.

Pumpkin Gravy:

1/2 c canned pumpkin

1 c veggie broth

1/2 yellow onion minced (just use the other half ;)

1 tbsp earth balance (or soy marg of choice)

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp thyme

pepper and salt to taste

potato or corn starch to thicken

Melt margarine in pan. Once marg is melted, sauté onion in a pan until slightly browned at edges. Add pumpkin and herbs. Mix well and add broth. Thicken by sifting starch into the broth one small handful at a time. You should wait in between handfuls, as it will thicken quickly. Salt and pepper to taste.

Ladel gravy onto stuffing and serve. Enjoy!

Love you, mean it

Emily

P.S. Above meal paired with vegan butternut squash ravioli.

Style Will Save Us

This eco-friendly, UK webzine has the style to save us all.

What's it called you ask? Well, "StyleWillSaveUs" of course. How matter-of-fact of them? StyleWillSaveUs hearts all things "super-stylish, organic, ethical, fair-trade, eco-friendly, vintage, recycled and sustainable." Just like us!

Articles on their site feature green holidays (it's so cute how brits call them "holidays"), fashion made from sustainable materials, gourmet products that are organic, and beauty items that are mostly natural and organic. But their site isn't merely for da shorties, they have men's and children's sections as well as segments on lifestyle and home.

Some of my favorite recent articles include naked bike rides, meat-free mondays, organic nyc spas, and a girl who wants to close the department of fashion police for good.

Check out this "digital magazine for a peachy green lifestyle" here. Or visit their blog here.

Love you, mean it

Emily

p.s. all pics generously borrowed from StyleWillSaveUs.

Filippa Fired

Size 4 Ralph Lauren model, Filippa Hamilton, was recently fired for being "too fat." Lauren, in his infinite wisdom, then photoshopped her picture to the point of oblivion. See for yourself:

(the real Filippa is on the left folks)

WWD says: “'The weight of the evidence … shows that thin, ‘perfected’ media images have a detrimental effect on how girls and women think and feel about their own bodies,' said Dr. Helga Dittmar of the University of Sussex."

Measures in Europe have already been taken to alleviate some of the pressure put on young women by labeling ad's that have been photoshopped and (trying to) ban retouched images geared towards women younger than 16.

What the hell U.S.? GET ON THIS! If my almost 40" of hips can be considered plus-size there is something wrong.

But if it makes you feel any better this month V Magazine pits a "plus-size" model against a skinny model to see who looks better.

You decide - we won't judge you.

Love you, mean it

Emily

p.s. info and pictures from stylelist, the cut, compelling vibes and v magazine.

A Year in Review

We opened our eyes this morning into a world strewn with broken bottles of André and tumble-weaves. We rode on trains traced with the smell of stale vomit and sawdust, and we walked too far for too long in our gorgeous heels. We are almost one year old and it is a new decade. Twenty-ten. I really should have used the term "aught" more.

We, as the dynamic duo Emily Barton, made our annual trek into some quiet corner to write down our resolutions for the year. We ended up reminiscing about the year instead. As well as resolving a few things ;)

A year in review:

We traveled

We created

We ate

We cried

We oogled

We laughed

We sang

We sought employment

We blogged

Overall, we were proud that we kept at least one of our many resolutions from last year: This Blog. We eased into telling people who we are, and became more proud of our writing and commitment to the blogosphere day by day. Once we figured out how to track how many people were looking at the site daily, we were excited and motivated! You like what we like! Amazing.

We are looking forward to purchasing an HTML book and taking that online course to make this space prettier (Barton) and continuing our official and prestigious fashion education (Emily.) Our general awareness of health and self is at the top of the resolution list, as well as seeing each other's faces and going out dancing more often. 

Thank you for a beautiful year. Looking forward to the next and the next. 

What did you do?

Love you, mean it

Emily and Barton

"Goodbye Cruel Year"

Happy Effing New Year!

Let's party so hard Bronques has to take us home ;)

But not so hard that we make bad decisions like driving after partying!

STAY SAFE!

Love you, mean it

Emily

Oh Ugg!

I know I've railed on sweatpants before. But Uggs? Almost a worse phenomenon. Read what The Cut has to say about those repulsive faux Eskimo wanna-bees here.

Love you, mean it

Emily