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Style Travel

A Cocktail Dress and Chicken Wings

July 26, 2016

When I packed for Clearwater my suitcase was full. I had no intentions of doing any shopping. When my sister met me there she told me she didn’t have a bathing suit. You can’t come to a beach town without one so we ended up at Ross. Long story short, you no where this story is going. I ended up buying two tops, a pair of shorts, a maxi dress, and a really cute cocktail dress for a combined total of about $50. Crazyyyy! In fact I’ve already posted outfit pics of the gray maxi dress.

Together the shorts and the top in these pictures were about $16. You can’t beat those prices.

Clearwater Florida

The combo was so cute that I opted to wear it instead of one of the other outfits I packed. Clearwater Florida

I loved wearing this. I’m always down for a little print mixing:) Plus it was super lightweight which was my top priority for anything I wore in Clearwater.

While I loved everything I bought, it definitely presented a challenge when it came time to pack up my suitcase. You should have seen me at the airport! Between the extra clothes and some of the leftover food, my bags were stuffed. I survived though. With my chicken wings and the new cocktail dress I got at Ross in tow!

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Food

Leftovers = the best sandwiches:)

July 8, 2016

Let’s say that you have some leftover roasted veggies sitting in your fridge, and you were trying to figure out what to do with them.

Might I recommend a scrumptious roasted veggie sandwich?!

What you’ll need:
Hummus (I used garlic and herb)
Whole wheat bread
1 cup of roasted veggies

Tribe Garlic & Herb Hummus

Grab your hummus, toast some whole wheat bread, and warm up a cup of roasted veggies that you may have been inspired to make this past 4th of July (about 45 seconds should do the trick). I used a garlic and herb hummus which worked wonderfully, especially since I used garlic based seasonings for the roasted vegetables. Spread the hummus on your toast, top with vegetables, and bite into that sucker.

Easy peasy, delicious, and healthy. You’ve got your servings of vegetables, you’ve got the whole grains from your bread, and if you’re a fiber snob like me, that bread also comes with a hefty serving of fiber.

Roasted Veggie Sandwich

You can choose to leave it open face, or go all out and make a full blown sandwich. Personally, I prefer option number two. I’ve never gotten the whole open face thing. What, did you run out of bread??

I’ll be enjoying my fair share of these this weekend and in the coming weeks, since they take less than 5 minutes to prepare once you have the veggies on hand. Now that my comprehensive exams are officially one month away, quickie meals will be my go to. Eeeeek!

Enjoy and have a fabulous weekend<3

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Food

Summer Roasted Garlic Squash

July 4, 2016

Technically, this post should be titled “Summer roasted garlic squash AND bell peppers, parsnips, and eggplants” but that just didn’t do it for me.

I love some good ol fashioned roasted veggies. With the right seasonings they can be magic. They’re so simple but they taste amazing. Since showing up to a party full-handed is always a good idea, I wanted to share this simple summer dish of assorted roasted veggies.

Ingredients:
Olive oil cooking spray
Veggies
Parsnips
Bell peppers
Eggplant
Yellow squash
Zucchini squash
Seasonings
Sea salt
Rosemary Garlic
Garlic & herb seasoning (can be found at Walmart)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with a nonstick cooking spray.
I removed the skin from my parsnips with a peeler and de-seeded my bell peppers before slicing.
Slice your veggies.
Since the parsnips and bell peppers can take a little longer to cook and the eggplant and squash cooks faster, I recommend cooking the former two together and the latter three together. You may have to cook them in batches.

Coat your veggies evenly with your olive oil cooking spray (I prefer using this to plain olive oil because I can make sure everything gets coated evenly).

To season the parsnips and bell peppers, I topped them with sea salt and a generous coating of rosemary garlic.

For the eggplant and squash I used sea salt and the garlic and herb seasoning.

Roast the parsnips & bell peppers for 35 minutes.

Roast the squash for 12-15 minutes.

Cover veggies with aluminum foil before transporting them to the partayy.

I’ve roasted all types of veggies including brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots depending on what tickles my fancy at a particular period. For this, since squash is the quintessential summer vegetable I couldn’t leave it out of the mix. I added in eggplant because it’s a more grownup veggie, bell peppers because I love a little heat, and parsnips because I’ve recently become obsessed with them. But by all means choose your faves.

Funny story (not really): For the first time on Saturday I decided to do something that seemed adult like and take advantage of my oven’s self clean function. For those of you who’ve done this, you know that the oven has to be locked beforehand. Well, now I have a clean oven that I can’t open. Damn lever! I called my apt. office and they told me that maintenance most likely wouldn’t be able to get to it until Tuesday since this was a holiday weekend and didn’t constitute a maintenance emergency.

Besides learning that we differ greatly on what constitutes an emergency, I’ve learned that dirty ovens are just fine because at least you can access them.

Has this happened to anyone else? Or have I just proved that I’m meant to be a kid forever?!

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Style

4th of July Poolside

June 30, 2016

As promised, here’s some inspiration for that 4th of July pool party…

Fourth of July Fashion

Top: Walmart, Shorts: TJ Maxx, Shoes: Kate Spade for Keds, Bracelet: Thrifted, Shades: Target

I got this top from Walmart a couple weeks back for $5! With the red base and navy accent, I knew it’d make the perfect top to wear for the 4th of July. It feels nice and breezy (but not at all cheap).

Now that all eyes will be on you, you can’t show up empty handed, right?! Check back this weekend for the perfect healthy side dish to bring:)

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Style

Unfolding the Vision

January 6, 2016

Happy New Year Guys! I hope the first few days of 2016 have been treating you well. So far I’ve spent the new year thinking about that one question we all dread, but seem to get asked more often as we get older – “Where do you see yourself in five to 10 years?” It’s crazy how such a deceptively innocent question is so challenging to answer. Part of the reason is because there are so many different directions you can go with it. And to be completely truthful, how you answer depends on who’s asking. I can guarantee your mother isn’t looking for the same answer as a potential employer. I’ve decided that this will be the year that I spend more time developing that five to 10 year vision for myself. This includes everything from the personal to professional. It’s important for me to know exactly what I want out of life, so that I can be intentional in the choices that I make because,

How do you know you’re lost, if you don’t know where you’re going?

There are many things that I don’t have figured out. I mean it’s only day five of the new year, but there are many things that I do know that I want. I’d like to build this blog into a brand and a community where I can connect with people who share my passion for health, style, and beauty. I plan to be a homeowner. I will have started my own consulting firm. I also plan to meet and work with Michelle Obama.

Don’t ask me how – I walk by faith.

I just admire what she does, who she is, and what she represents to the world. She’s a strong, intelligent, charming, and poised black woman, who’s a champion for healthy living. What’s not to love about her. Funny thing is, last August when I gave a presentation at a health communication conference in Atlanta, a young lady who worked for Let’s Move Childcare approached me and asked to feature our program on their website. In my mind, that meant that there was a chance that Michelle Obama read words I wrote! That was all the proof I needed that our paths will cross in due time:)

So that’s part of the vision. The rest is still under construction. Fortunately, I don’t have to have it all figured out to start making intentional choices like saving a set percent of my income, networking, and developing a schedule to put out quality blog posts consistently.

May prosperity, health, and joy be yours for the taking in 2016!

Love & blessings,

xo Chi

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Food Style Travel

School’s Out!

June 25, 2015

And just like that a year goes by. I officially finished my first year on May 1st and it was crazy and intense, but wonderful. This past semester really kicked things in to overdrive with harder classes, more research, and new TA duties, but I held my own and for that I’m proud.

MIA
Fast forward to May 7th and my sister and I were in Miami for a birthday celebration. We were concerned that the weather was going to be crappy due to the forecast but it was perfect (minus the humidity).
We celebrated by going on a private yacht cruise around Biscayne Bay where we got to see multimillion dollar homes. Talk about life goals?!

This house is $20 million. Yeah.

Ended the trip on a sweet note by having a churro milkshake with churro bites for dessert on our last night. Too much excitement to contain. If you ever go to STK, you’ve got to try it.

ATL
A couple weeks later I headed to Atlanta to meet up with some friends for Memorial Day weekend. I ended up driving (not a bright idea) but you live and you learn. You’d think the highlight of my trip would be seeing my friends (which was definitely up there), but it was actually the churro pancakes I had at a restaurant called Radial Cafe.
I’m not sure if I’ve declared it here but I have a severe churro obsession. It’s actually tied with my red velvet obsession which is saying a lot. If the two of them ever got together, I’d be beside myself. Anyway the pancakes were ridiculous. Some of the best I’ve ever had. They were cooked perfectly with a nice crisp on the edges but the insides were still nice and fluffy. I think about them often.

Treated myself to some sparkle:)

After breakfast before getting on the road in Old Fourth Ward.

It’s been back to business since beginning of June (mostly). I’ve been working on turning term papers into manuscripts and doing research. I’ve also had churro ice cream (!!!), met up with some classmates for lunch, and have been plotting a trip to an amusement park (it’s been way too long). I have to remind myself to really enjoy this downtime so I can enter my second year refreshed. I’ve also been working to finish decorating my apartment. I know I’ve been here for close to a year, but I wanted to take my time to find pieces that I truly love. Once I do, I’ll share pictures.

That’s about it! Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer.

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Food

Christmas Dinner 2014

December 27, 2014

This year was special. It was the first year that my sister and I cooked the entire Christmas meal, from the turkey to all of the trimmings. After hours of being on our feet, chopping, sautéing, mixing, kneading, basting, and roasting, it was incredibly rewarding to sit down and enjoy a meal that we labored over and to see our family enjoy it as well. But let me tell you, it was hard work! Wow. At some point we both looked at each other and said mom does this every year?! Because we like to be ambitious, we decided to put new spins on the classic holiday meal sides. Check out our menu below.

Oh and did I mention that everything was made from scratch!

Menu
Sweet potato cornbread stuffing
Jalapeño and bacon macaroni and cheese
Cheddar bay biscuits
Garlic mashed potatoes with spinach and bacon
Roasted vegetables
Cilantro and curry jasmine rice