Friday, July 4, 2014

Friday's Awesome Five

Happy Independence Day Lush Scouts! It just so happens that the 4th coincides with a Friday this year (heeeeey three day weekend!), so I thought it would be an appropriate time to sit down and take the time to talk about some of my favorite things from the past couple weeks.

1. I've been listening to a lot of Angel Olsen lately. I was introduced to her via this great performance on David Letterman. She sounds similar to Courtney Barnett, but with a smidge more blues. I enjoy that I can often listen to her and pick out influences. Go ahead, give it a listen:



2. I've been watching the SHIT outta the FIFA World Cup. I watched almost ever match of the last cup, and while I haven't been quite up to that standard this time, I have watched every USA match and streamed several other while at work. Besides rooting for the USA, I watch for the gameplay, not because I really want any specific team to win. I witnessed our great game against Ghana and our amazing game against Portugal (minus the last 2 minutes). I saw the losing match with Germany that put us through to the round of 16, and heard my coworkers make the saddest noise ever as we lost against Belgium. I look forward to the next cup, because while we didn't necessarily have the hustle and cohesion we needed to really break out of this cup, we played well and played with courage and heart. Not to mention that Tim Howard is basically a God (and as a former Goalie, I definitely admire his ability to save ALL the things.)



3.  I'm super excited about the newly introduced program by Google, Made With Code, mean to introduce and excite girls about coding and computer science. As a kid who taught herself HTML at a young age, I wish something like this had been available to me at the time. I am however, going to be learning some more coding, to make up for lost time (obviously), through CodeCademy's free lessons. Better late than never, right? But regardless, I intend on introducing my sweet little niece to this, because code is rad.



4. Look at this great scarf! I love flamingos as a motif and they're so subtle in this. Also, it's an infinity scarf, so really no way to go wrong! I've been acquiring flamingo items at a rapid pace this summer, so I may look into investing in this one as well.



5. I went with my boyf to see The Grand Budapest Hotel last weekend and it was AMAZING. It may have displaced The Darjeeling Limited as my favorite movie. It had everything I love about Wes Anderson films, plus more action, more vulgarity, and a Czech/Austrian/Sudenten influence. It immediately made me homesick for Vienna and I felt overwhelmed with nostalgia on several occasions throughout the film. Even the boxes from the movie's iconic bakery "Mendl's" reminded me of the similarly pink boxes from Konditorei Aida found throughout Vienna.


Have a great holiday Lushies. May you keep your fingers away from fireworks, your belly full of burgers, and may you not get so drunk you humiliate yourself.

I just bought me a brand new box of matches,
Cait



Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Berry Grapefruit Mimosa Popsicles | Get Lush (4th of July Style!)

Are you ready for the weekend Lushies? It's a three-day-er, thank you national holidayyy! In honor of this fabulous occasion, I've whipped up a cool and bubbly treat: Berry Grapefruit Mimosa Popsicles. This easy alcoholic popsicle recipe was partially inspired by the anniversary mimosas I enjoyed this weekend (and the leftover grapefruit juice in the fridge), and partially inspired by a desperate search for lush but easy red-white-and-blue-ish coloured food items.

All you need is the following:

Champagne
Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice
Strawberries
Blueberries
Popsicle Molds

blueberries and strawberries

Assemble patriotic food items. The popsicle molds could really be any variety. I just so happen to have the two dollar version from Ikea (you'll notice they're the same as Gu's), but these ring pop ones are fun too! 

spilled blueberries

Please try to keep your shit together and do not spill all over the table like my messy self did.

berries and champagne

I gave the blueberries a little squish and dropped them in the base of the popsicle molds. I then added some champagne and put these in the freezer.

prepping the boozy popsicles

While you let the bloobs freeze, slice some strawberries. Maybe have a little dinner like I did. Maybe do a little research and find out that cocktail-popsicles are called poptails. Who knew?!

strawberries

Once the tips of the popsicles are frozen, gently place a few strawberry slices in; 2-3 so that there is still room for the stick works best. Then add some grapefruit mimosa that you pre-mixed in a cup. After you finish adding the mimosa, feel free to drink the rest.

getting ready for the freezer

From there, add the sticks and freeze. I left mine overnight and they were completely ready by the following evening.

easy alcoholic popsicles

The next day, you can break these boozy popsicles out for your enjoyment. Or you can wait until the 4th of July to enjoy.  It's your life and you are a smart, strong, beautiful, independent woman and you don't need a man to complete you. I recommend heating the outside of the mold for a moment with your hand before gently tugging on the stick. This helps your delicious treat come out in one piece!

Roomie eating the popsicle

Even my flatemate enjoyed (and was a very good model/sport for letting me take her picture when it was basically hotter than the devil's buttcrack in our apartment. Then again she did get free popsicles and mimosas out of it!).

Berry Grapefruit Mimosa Poptails

Seriously though, look at the festive red, white, and blue! They're so pretty you almost don't want to eat them, but then the grapefruit mimosa calls your name and you have to dig in.

Do you have any special recipes for the 4th, Lush Scouts?

You've been lying, when you should have been truthing,
Cait