Diana Vreeland quotesI have always been inspired visually by Diana Vreeland who was the Fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar, the editor at Vogue, and a special consultant at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She had a "take no prisoners" attitude towards her work and life. She was tough, and unapologetic. A documentary using her own personal memoirs and interviews is currently available for viewing on Netflix streaming. I highly recommend viewing this charming character of a woman as she recaps her life. The documentary is called "Diana Vreelend, The Eye Has to Travel". http://www.dianavreeland-film.com I've put together a small collection of quotes from her using images that I've shot this month to share with you. For more about her work please visit her site here: http://www.dianavreeland.com
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Today is suicide awareness day and I have a daughter in middle school so I may just be dealing with bullying a lot. Or at least I'm aware of bullying on a whole new level. When I picked up my daughter from school today I asked her how she felt about the subject and what she would share with others about acceptance. She thought about it for awhile and came up with this little sign pictured. While I understand making a sign won't stop bullying, talking about it might. I've spoken with my daughter on several occasions about why people bully and why it's wrong and how not talking about it can be deadly. Suicide is never the answer. If you're being bullied tell someone. If you don't have a resource to ask for help please call 1.800.RUNAWAY. Bullying can be stopped, it hurts everyone involved. Don't accept the behavior, there is help. picture Perfect presentsIt's my favorite time of the year, when gift giving starts! I have had a lifelong love for boxes, fancy boxes, gift boxes, heart shaped boxes, jewelry boxes you name it I collect it. Makes sense then when I tell you that I love to wrap presents. I'm pretty proud of my gift wrapping accomplishments so I'm going to share my techniques with you! When my daughter was young to keep her from peeking or shaking her presents I would wrap all the gifts in themed paper for each individual receiving a gift, no tags. This made it impossible for her to figure out which gift was hers, ensuring a surprise Christmas morning. Now she's a teen and I continue to wrap presents in a theme but I don't have to worry about her shaking boxes anymore.... Here's how I do it. Lets get startedStep one: Have the right tools. Clear off a space or table where you can work free without restrictions. Have tape, scissors, wrapping paper, ribbon and bows all at your finger tips. This will expedite your wrapping process and ensure less stress. This is the fun part remember? Step two: Measure out the sides of the product you're wrapping and cut the entire length of the roll. You may not use all of the paper you've just cut but it keeps the remaining paper neat enough to tuck away and easy to work with for the next gift. Step three: You can trim off the excess from the length you've just cut and use it for another gift such as a stocking stuffer, or for scrap booking. Make sure that you will cover the back measuring all 4 sides and using a ruler or I just roll the box on the paper 4 times and cut a little more than that to ensure I'll cover the box I'm wrapping. Step four: Crease all of the fold edges before you tape down the paper. This makes the wrapping look like it was manufactured in the wrap. Crisp and clean. Step five: Crease the flaps as you fold into the box making a point. Gently pull the folds over to the bottom of the package and tape. This way your tape is hidden on the bottom. Step six: Now that you're all wrapped you get to do the fun decorating and embellishing part! I am using natural ribbon with brown paper wrapping this year which will not be held in place with tape so I've wired it at the bottom to keep it together and on my package. Don't secure it too tightly however, you want it to easily slide off for whomever is unwrapping your gift. Step seven: Once my main ribbon is secure I'll use a more decorative ribbon to tie a bow at the front and make sure everything stays in place. After I add a tag and an ornament for additional fun. I've started my daughters ornament collection by tying one to each gift each year. When she moves out on her own she'll have loads of ornaments for her tree! The finished lookThis seems like a lot of words and pictures but this only took me about 6 minutes to wrap start to finish. Once you've got the technique down wrapping goes pretty quickly and your packages will look like you had them done at a fancy department store. It's all about presentation! Have fun and comment with questions and please share on Pinterest! Happy Wrapping! Everything pictured was purchased at a discount store, the trick is to go early in the season before everything is picked over. TJ Maxx and Marshalls have great offerings at a low cost. Micheal's offers loads of ribbon, and I picked up everything at 50% off. Find something beautiful to wrap your gifts in and people will be excited to open them! Charlie looks apprehensive about this but I found a guilt free recipe for turkey meatloaf today and since its already space heater and leg warmer season I decided it would be just what the doctor ordered... And for a side dish? Stick to your ribs Mac and Cheese made with whole grain shells, Velveeta, coconut milk, and coconut oil with a sprinkle of bread crumbs on top. Mashed potatoes? Of course! But make sure they're sweet potatoes, with just a touch of Irish butter. A low calorie alternative to traditional mashed potatoes with butter and cream. So if you're still interested see the recipe below for my new favorite guilt free comfort food... Turkey meatloaf, in a crock pot! Lets get cookin'! Guilt free turkey meatloaf What you'll need: 1 pound lean ground turkey (or chicken or beef - just try to keep it at 93% lean to ensure calorie count is accurate) 1 egg, beaten 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced 1/2 cup red pepper, diced 1 cup whole grain or panko bread crumbs Pink Sea Salt, to taste 1/2 tsp cracked pepper 1/3 cup tomato or vegetable juice 1 tsp oregano 1/3 cup high fructose FREE ketchup, set aside until the last 30 minutes of cook time. Slather that richness on! 1/2 cup tomato, diced and set aside... sprinkle on top of ketchup once meatloaf is cooked Crushed red pepper, to taste Franks Red Hot, to taste (once finished cooking, I could drink Franks...) Putting it together There is a little work that needs to be done to execute this recipe, but its really quite easy and assembly took me a whopping 20 minutes including dish washing time. Start by dicing your veg and setting aside. Give the egg a spin, like you were going to prepare a nice omelette. Don't beat it too long, they don't typically like that. Get out a large bowl to mix your ingredients together in. The fun part about meatloaf is mixing it with your hands. Wash them first, and take off your rings if you don't want to be picking dried meat out of them later. I've made this mistake in the past. It was pretty gross. I like to take my meat and throw it into the bowl first, mostly because I am not a fan of its color and texture... After adding your meat to the bowl, start adding in your dry ingredients. Breadcrumbs, diced onion, diced pepper, sea salt, pepper, oregano, and crushed red pepper (optional). Next just throw in your wet ingredients, you're going to be pulverizing this recipe by hand so it doesn't matter really either way how you incorporate this stuff. I just find it easier. Add in your tomato juice, egg, and Franks Red Hot sauce (optional). Mix it up Once you've added everything to your mixing bowl you can go ahead and get started on mashing it all up! This is the fun part, gross but fun. Don't forget to wash your hands with hot water and soap when you've incorporated all of your ingredients - especially if you've added Franks and crushed red peppers. Salmonella poisoning doesn't sound all that fun either. cooking Next up, prepping your crockpot and cooking your meatloaf! I use spray olive oil to coat the sides of my crockpot to prevent sticking upon removal. Another little tip is to take strips of foil and make a criss cross shape, this way you can grab the foil once cooking is finished and just lift your meatloaf out of the pot. If you are wanting to keep this a low calorie recipe I would refrain from using shortening, butter, or regular vegetable oils to coat your crockpot. I always use either olive oil or coconut oil for this, coconut oil will give your food a sweet taste once its cooked. To avoid this use olive oil or even grape seed oil. Grape seed is a great high heat oil, and can also be used for baking, skin moisturizer, eye make-up remover, and a lubricant. It's high in vitamin E so slather that on your dry skin in the winter months if need be and your skin will love you for it. Alright, back to meatloaf... Take your ingredients and beat them into submission. Well, take the seasoned meat and form it into a uniform layer at the bottom of your crockpot. As you can see I added two strips of foil underneath my meatloaf, and it was very easy to remove. The fats don't really have anyway to escape either so it should be that hard to remove the loaf without the foil. Have you ever had a meatloaf in the oven boil grease all over? Me too. Not in the crockpot! Once you've got everything situated in your crockpot cook your meatloaf for 4-5 hours on low. About 30 minutes before you finish cooking your meatloaf add your 1/3 cup ketchup to the top for final cooking and seasoning. When you've served up your loaf add your diced tomatoes to the top. They really don't do much for the dish other than make it look a little pretty, but I'm all about presentation. Make sure your meat is cooked to 165 degrees, if you don't have a meat thermometer push down on the middle and make sure the juices are running clear. Meat thermometers are really inexpensive and handy for a lot of things... I highly recommend one. Voila! Your loaf is done. And I hope delish too. Please leave a comment if you make this and let me know if you've modified the recipe. Yields 6 servings, calories 184 a serving, total fat: 4g, Trans fat: 0, Sodium: 294mg, Sugars: 11g, Protein: 18g www.skinnyms.com/slow-cooker-turkey-loaf.com Now enjoy the other "meatloaf" |
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