Words of Wisdom: Anis Mojgani

The path you are on, you can not fall off of, no matter how hard you try. So call this the year of no mistakes... The year where we turn our hearts towards light with the realization and acceptance of not only how utterly magnificent every one of us is, but that this magnificence is something we cannot help but carry with us. There is joy inside you waiting to be heard. Listen for it! -Anis Mojgani

Warby Parker Home Try On: A Review of My Experience

Being the adult that I am now, I felt inclined to ask my parents to give me new glasses for my birthday. I already had glasses, but they made me look like a 16-year-old and that is approximately when I got them, so I thought something a little more profesh would be nice. I also tend to run a little short on cash myself, so my mom and dad were gracious enough to help out for my birthday. Thus begins the Warby Parker Home Try On experience.

I immediately put 6 items into my cart and ordered them for the free try-on:

   

My box showed up within a few days, though there were only five pairs instead of the six on my order confirmation. It's probably for the best, however, as the Winston likely would be too large for my face based on the size of the others. 

I quickly set myself to figuring out which pair I wanted. I stared in the mirror a lot, took lots of pictures of myself, and was generally vain and disgusting. This part is very fun. My only complaint is that one of the frames had arms bent so badly they wouldn't sit even remotely straight on my face. In the end I narrowed it down to two pairs from this box. 

The Finch in Violet Magnolia looks good on me because it has the slightly sloping brow-line and a gentler shape. I also appreciate that the tortoiseshell colour has flecks of purple in it. They're very unexpectedly what I like regardless of how large they are.

The Beckett in Revolver Black Matte is just enough dork-chic without being toooo dorky, which was the problem with several of the other pairs. They seem to make me look smart, which works in the professional world. I wish the brow-line was just a little more sloped, they might be perfect then.

I posted these pictures to instagram with the customary hashtag: #warbyhometryon. My friends weighed in an Warby Parker weighed in (how cool would it be to have that job? Just hanging out and commenting on peoples' glasses all day?) and the Finch style won overwhelmingly. I liked them but I wasn't quite ready to make up my mind about it yet. I am a generally indecisive person, and Warby Parker totally plays to me, as they'll send a new box of 5 for free! I packed up the original 5 and hauled them off to the post office. I made note of my favorites and placed an order for a 2nd home try-on. I decided to go with a few more colours and different styles this time, as the thick black frames don't seem ideal for me. I even threw a pair of actual cat-eye glasses into this try on, since the sloping brow-line actually does look quite nice.

It took a little bit longer for the second box to arrive, as they do have to wait for the first box to be returned and checked for all the pairs, so the anticipation was probably even higher with the second box. I was surprised by which pairs topped my list.

The Holcomb in Oak Barrel were my favorite. They were very librarian in a completely good way. This pair, however cost extra. They were $145 as opposed to the $95 of all the other pairs.

The Lyle in Hanalei Tortoise was another neat pair; green and yellow tortoise shell and actually pretty bright in colour. The green in the frames definitely brought out the green in my eyes. I wasn't 100% convinced that this particular nose-piece style looked best on me however.

I returned these pairs as well. It took a lot of deliberating (mostly between the Finch and the Holcomb) but I ended up following my pocketbook to the winner. Because I am so blind, I have to have high-index lenses so I don't go all Trelawney. These lenses are much more dense than typical and cost a completely reasonable 30$ extra (they often run much higher than that at brick and mortar vision stores). I picked the Finch in Violet Magnolia, measured my pupillary distance, and placed the order.

Here is where things went slightly awry! I waited patiently for my glasses only to open the box and be very confused about what was inside. I was convinced that the frames were not what I expected and that I must have messed up my pupillary distance, as I couldn't see at all! Luckily they print the name of the frame on the inside of the arm, and what a received was NOT the Finch. I emailed customer service and they provided a label for me to return this pair for my correct pair. I expected them to offer some kind of service gesture to apologize for the mix up, and once I submitted that as feedback, they offered 20% off my next pair of glasses. Not ideal, as I don't generally buy glasses that often, but it's better than a kick in the pants.

Since receiving the correct pair, however, I have not been dissatisfied for a moment. I wear my glasses far more frequently now that I don't feel like the president of my high school anime club (or something equally young and nerdy) when I wear them. I actually can kind of pull of a more professional creative-type glasses look which I'm very happy with.

All-in-all I would definitely recommend the Warby Parker Home Try On experience. I enjoyed it immensely, loved the variety of styles and colours, found it very convenient, and the price was totally reasonable even with my special lens needs. Even when they did mess up, they rectified the fumble as quickly as possible. 

Have any of you tried one the many online glasses retailers? How was your experience? Let me know in the comments!

Let's go upstairs and read my tarot cards,

Cait

The New Year

Welcome to 2015 Lushies! 

2014 has been a generally crappy one for myself, starting with a serious back injury and ending in a genuine shitstorm. As they say, blessings in disguise; hopefully these gale-force winds will be launching me into something better. 

Stay tuned!

Cait

Sunday Night Special

Oh world cup. How I will yearn for you while you are away...

L8r G8r,

Cait

Sunday Night Special

See you on the flipside Lushies,

Cait

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

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

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! 

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

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.

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?!

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.

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

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!

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!).

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

Easy DIY Succulent Garden: My Weekend Project

Happy Monday Lush Scouts!

Back to work today, sadly, but I have a good feeling about this week. I'm not sure if it the was the excellent weekend with the boyf that put me in this frame of mind, the great projects I worked on yesterday afternoon, the 3-day weekend coming up, or just something the universe is trying to tell me. Regardless, I'm pretty happy about it.

Sadly I killed the beautiful azalea that my boyfriend bought me to cheer me in my darker back-pain days. I'm not sure what went wrong, as I followed all of the instructions exactly. In any case, since the tree was a lost cause, I decided to use the pot to make a little succulent garden. 

When I visited Home Depot to pick out plants, however, I ended up with far more than I needed for that pot! I just couldn't say no to all of these little guys! Luckily, I had just finished a candle in a large glass jar, and I was able to get the remnants of wax out to make it into a sweet pot. 

As the trick with succulents (besides letting them be kind of standoffish and not over-loving them) is good drainage, I took a trip to Joann Fabrics and to some home decor stones. I filled the bottom of the jar with the larger stones, and then added a few smaller stones on top of that. Since this pot doesn't have a drainage hole, this step is critical. For the other pot with 2 large drainage holes, I sitll added a thin layers of the small rocks along the bottom.

It ended up being a bizarrely dirty process! I had to vacuum twice and shamefully threw plants across the room more than one time. I am sorry plants! Please forgive me!

But the gist of the technique is that I just smooshed the plants in. I had to cut some dirt off to make them fit, but I tried to be gentle with the roots and I hope that I haven't damaged them (besides, they've already been thrown across the room, I'm sure a little smooshing didn't even phase them.)

They turned out pretty lovely. I tried to make a nice mixture of colour and texture, but unfortunately Home Depot didn't have any of the lovely blue and purpley ones or other colours that I saw in my inspirational photos. Alas, the green still looks nice and I think the little gardens really add to my desktop greenery (lavender to the left and basil to the right).

I feel that you can never have too many indoor plants. Especially when living in the city. They purify the air and provide a tranquil green place, both of which help keep my mind clear. For now, they also fill the dog-shaped void in my heart. I'll keep you updated on their progress/survival.

What did you get up to this weekend Lush Scouts? Do you feel as good about the upcoming week as I do? Let me know in the comments below.

Squalor and smoke's not your style,

Cait

Sunday Night Special

I'd totally buy it.

-Cait

Sweet Pepper and Kielbasa Tortellini with Lemon White Wine Sauce | Fat and Happy

It's almost Friday Lush Scouts! And that means you probably need a delicious and yet easy thing to cook to impress your bff/boyf/mom this weekend. I've whipped up a similar recipe to the below a couple of times using different vegetables, but this was my favorite combo thus far. I apologize that there aren't too many process pictures, but mostly I just want to show off these photos because I'm very pleased with how they turned out.

You're going to need the following (but feel free to make substitutions because a Lush Scout always follows her heart and sometimes has empty cupboards):

kielbasa (I use Turkey kielbasa)

tortellini

white wine

lemon or lemon juice

mozzerella or parmesan cheese

garlic scrapes

fresh basil

sweet peppers

green beans

spinach

edamame

butter

First things first, start the water boiling for the Torts. Cook them according to the packaging while you perform the more interesting portion of this recipe. Slice the peppers latitude wise so you get nice rings of pretty peppers. I also cut the green beans into smaller pieces. The edamame should be shelled already so no worries there. I roll and cut the spinach and basil into thin strips. I also cut the garlic scrapes. 

A side note on garlic scrapes: I've never used them before, let alone heard of them before this spring. It's the part of the garlic that grows above ground and it has a delightful, almost sweet garlicky flavor. When preparing my scrapes, I went with the theory of 'use all the soft parts'. I chopped off the harder stems and used everything that was left. This seemed to be the correct strategy.

Melt the butter on the stove. Add the basil and garlic scrapes once the butter is hot enough to sizzle. Once your kitchen fills with a toothsome aroma (but before anything starts burning), add the peppers, edamame and green beans. As they begin to cook, slice the kielbasa and add it too. Throughout the cooking portion, I gave a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of white wine every couple of minutes. These cook out pretty quickly, so you shouldn't have to worry about the sauce being too soupy. At the very end, while you are removing the tortellinis from the boiling water, add the spinach. Add the tortellinis to the pan with the veggies, mix, and add a little more wine. Shake some cheese into your creation and behold: a fabulous dish that will definitely impress (also just saying you made 'white wine sauce' is going to sound fancy!).

Do you have any favorite spring vegetables you think would taste good in this recipe? Let me know how it goes Scouts! 

And every single bone in my brain is electric,

Cait

Strawberry Rhubarb Oat Walnut Crumble | Fat and Happy

Happy Birthday to me Lushies!

That's right, you heard me, it's my birthday today! And part of my birthday this year was my parents coming to visit last weekend and bringing my most aderbs nibling, Harlee. We went business-action-lady clothes shopping, hit the American Girl Doll store, and visited the aquarium. I absolutely loved having them here and wish so much that they were closer to me. They also brought this amazing recipe, most of the ingredients for it, and a big bundle of rhubarb from my mom's garden!

So the first trick to this recipe is to have a great mom! 

In any case, I'm telling you, this recipe is amazingly delicious and so little work compared to the payout.

There are two parts to the recipe: the crumble and the filling. The crumble contains the following:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup toasted & chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. You make the crumble first. You mix all of the dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, salt, and nuts) and then pour the melted butter over top. Mix those bad boys up and set it in the freezer while you work on the filling.

The filling is just as easy:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp tapioca

6 cups rhubarb (cut into one-inch pieces)

6 cups strawberries (sliced)

1 Tbsp vanilla

In all honesty, I don't think I really used 6 cups of rhubarb or strawberries. I used 15 stalks of rhubarb give or take a few. I used just under 1 pint of strawberries. No precise measurements here.

You mix the sugar and tapioca. Then add the fruit and vanilla. Toss those mama jammas gently. Seriously. How fricken good do these look?

Pour the filling into a dish. Add the crumble on top. Pop the whole shebang in the oven for approximately 45 minutes. You'll know when it's done because the crumble will look all melty and golden.

Mom advises that half the recipe can be made, which would be a good choice for a lone person, since a full size crumble could be easily consumed just as quickly as a half-size, it's so good. I chose to make the full thing and split it into a crumble for myself and a crumble to take to the office. 

I highly encourage you to try it. Heck! You could even go crazy with it; my mom made a version last summer with raspberries in addition to the strawberries and it was incredible. One comment from my coworker was 'SO GOOD IN MY BELLY.' Another had second helpings. Seriously. Bitches don't joke around when it comes to crumble. I clearly don't!

The birthday morals of this story are that moms are great and crumble is serious business. Now get cracking on your own crumble and let me know how it goes!

I do it for the love,

Cait

Springstagram in Review

Hihi Lushies,

As my birthday is nearly upon us (can you believe it's been a year?!), I think that Spring is offically over and Summer is movin' on in. This late winter/spring has been a rough one for me, so I can't say I'm sad to see it go. Looking back through my instagrams though, I had some good times, even when I was laid up. 

I spent lots of time on the couch watching TV/movies my Mom sent me. My friend Shannon and I mutually dyed one-another's hair, I did some indoor gardening, and the boyf sent me a beautiful tree (that I've since killed) to cheer me. Now that I've gotten better, I've been spending lots of time with him and the ol' chuffmuffin, Rosie-dog. I'm glad that summer is here and my parents are even coming to visit next weekend. Things are looking up for sure. 

You don't use money, you don't pay rent,

Cait