Quality Rivets

Archive for February 2016

UNOde50

2.16.2016

You know when I discover something amazing jewelry-related I HAVE to share.

You know me...I'm the "wedding ring and GTFO" kinda gal. The simpler, the better. It's not that I don't love jewelry, I just don't always find something that floats my boat, or ices my cake, or tru---you get it. But then, I found it. The jewelry company that would change the way I accessorize. Original jewelry of UNOde50 has the type of stuff that makes me want to add a little something here and there every single day. And I know a lot of women and men are sensitive to cheaper jewelry so I was really happy to see that these styles are of great quality silver plated, gold plated, some even use authentic Swarovski. See these fashion necklaces for women yourselves.

I was especially taken with their Valentine's Day collection (Heartcrush), a mix of leather and brushed silver pieces all incorporated into arrows and hearts. The type of thing you can see Shakira wearing, or someone edgy that likes suede and leather like Luanna from the ever so cool blog Le Happy (see below inspiration). Although they don't make especially dainty items, you can kind of see their more delicate pieces as being quite substantial. When I'm shopping online, the rule is this: for every 3 pieces of jewelry I get myself, I have to get 1 for my husband. I mean it's only fair right? It's actually not a problem because their men's jewelry is SO nice, and SO manly. But how can you go wrong with handmade pieces, #amirite? The feeling of letting go of mass-produced items that your friend and her mother own is extremely liberating.

I'm now obsessed with pairing all my leather jackets and fringe suede vests with this massive silver jewelry. They go so well together that I just have to wear a plain white tee, some jeans and whatever shoes I wanna wear. I usually switch up my black leather combat boots for stiletto's or a chunky sandal if we're going out later that day. Drinks, anyone?

jewelry: UNOde50

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Recipe - Red Velvet Cupcakes (vegan, gluten free, low carb, paleo)

2.15.2016

Who's hungry? Healthy red velvet cupcakes! They are vegan, gluten free, low carb, and paleo.

For cupcakes:
1¼ cups white whole wheat flour
¾ cup erythritol OR cane sugar
⅓ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup almond milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup mashed banana or oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Red food coloring (Natural, such as beet juice, is absolutely best)

For frosting:
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt OR 1 cup vegan-friendly yogurt
3 packets of NuNaturals stevia, to taste (Feel free to substitute ½ cup erythritol OR cane sugar)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS
For cupcakes:!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, erythritol or sugar, sweetener, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in almond milk, vanilla extract, banana or oil, and vinegar until uniform and no pockets of dry ingredients remain. Add in food coloring until batter is desired color. (Note that it will lose some of its color during baking.) Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly among the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.
For frosting:!
Meanwhile, stir together the yogurt, the sweetener, and the ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes, or until thickened.
For assembly:!
Spread the thickened frosting over the cooled cupcakes. (Sprinkling chocolate chips over the top doesn’t hurt.) Once frosted, the cupcakes are best served immediately. If you want to serve them later, refrigerate the cupcakes, keep the frosting in the freezer, and frost the cupcakes right before serving. Devour.

Notes
Feel free to use any kind of wheat flour in place of the whole wheat flour.
To keep vegan, use vegan yogurt and egg replacer.

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TO DIE FOR SWIMWEAR - GIVEAWAY!!

2.07.2016

It's GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

I'm always in the spirit of giving, consider me another Ellen or Oprah :) In collaboration with @Todieforswimwear, we're giving away a bikini of your choice from Todiefor.com! How to enter is quite simple. Head on over to my Instagram here and: