One of the biggest challenges of not living in or near a big city like New York, Boston, or Los Angeles, is the lack of nightlife. In New York, you can walk a block or two anywhere and find a thumping dance club or low key jazz bar —there are tons of unique places to chill out or dance the night away. Not so here in Connecticut. But, located in Hartford, Tisane stands out not only as a cool place to hang out at night but also a relaxing tea oasis during the day.

Tisane has been around for 9 years, but I only recently discovered them. Personally, I’m not much of a partier, but when I heard that Tisane had an extensive list of teas, {and why wouldn’t they, with a name like Tisane?} I was in. I can’t say that I’ve tried every different tea {nearly impossible!}, but I love their green, oolong, and white teas. In addition to their fabulous tea infusions, Tisane also carries a variety of brews, cocktails and foods from both the East and the West, lending to the second part of their name, Euro Asian Cafe. They have cheese and chocolate fondue, edamame, sweet n sour tofu, sandwiches like the caprese flatbread or cheese steak, and so much more — truly something for everyone, whether you have a sweet tooth, are craving buffalo wings, or if you want a tasty vegan meal.

Okay, so they have great drinks and food, but what about community? Well, they have gay night {also called “Boys Night”} on Tuesday with DJ John Rzasa, Wednesday is Service Industry Night {”Live in S.I.N.”} with live music by Kenny Mehler, Karaoke on Thursday, and DJ Sobi One on Saturday nights. They also act as an exhibition for local artists, like my longtime friend {and Mish’s boyfriend} Pawel, who is also the person responsible for my Tisane love. An incredibly gifted artist, Pawel exhibited several of his paintings a few years ago at Tisane, shown above.

So, if you want a place to relax and hang out with friends in the morning or late afternoon, forget Starbucks, check out Tisane. Want to do karaoke or experience a DJ or some live music? Check out Tisane! You don’t have an excuse not to go! :)

Read more about Tisane, and view their hours of operation, on their website or like them on Facebook.

My favorite thing today is this skirt. It’s a cream colored tiered mesh skirt with a black elastic waistband and I love it! It’s without doubt my favorite thing to wear, and I got it for under $10 at Forever 21. Because it’s a neutral color and not too flashy, I can wear it a ton of different ways; dressed down with a tank top or dressed up with Betsey Johnson tights {bought a pack of 3 for $10 at Marshalls!} and pink Franco Sarto pumps {$35 at Peonies!}. Sometimes I go ballerina-style with cute black flats and a peach top, or  retro with funky colors, black booties, and a stretch belt. But by far, my most favorite thing about this skirt? It has swirling action!

What’s your favorite piece of clothing to wear?

When I put the words Summer and skin together, the first thing I think of {okay, after the Death Cab for Cutie song} is tanning. It’s always my goal to work up a nice tan in the summer, even though that never happens. I blame my Danish, Swedish, and Irish heritage. It’s okay to spend some time out in the sun as long as you’re taking care of your skin. Here are a few tips for healthy summer skin:

1. Wear sunscreen every day! Yeah, yeah, you’ve heard this one, I know, but it’s really important. Why? Because repeated sun exposure without protection can lead to premature aging {wrinkles and age spots}, rough skin, and freckles. Even worse, you could get skin cancer. So please, for the sake of your skin, always wear sunscreen on your face, and wear sunscreen on your body when you’re going to spend a good amount of time outside. If you’re heading to the beach or a pool, lotion up before you go, but also lotion up again a few hours later.

2. Drink lots of water. Approximately 60% of your body is water, and you lose some of that through sweat, especially in the summer time. It’s important to keep your body hydrated not only to keep you from getting sick but also to keep your skin healthy and supple. You’ve probably heard that you should be drinking 8 glasses of water a day, but that’s not necessarily true — it actually depends on your weight, the climate you live in, and your activity level. The best way to determine your recommended water intake is to divide your weight {in pounds} by two. This gives you the number {in ounces} of water you should be drinking. So, a person who ways 130lbs should be drinking 65 oz of water each day.

3. Wash your face twice a day. Whether I’m inside working or outside playing, my face will feel sweaty and grimy after only few hours of waking up and showering. Again, because we sweat a lot in the summer, it’s important to to extra special care of our faces. By washing your face twice a day {I sometimes wash mine 3 times; once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once right before bed}, we keep all of that dirt and grime away that our skin collects from sweat and dust/dirt in the air.

4. Eat healthy. We’ve all heard that eating greasy pizza and junk food will make us break out. Well, that’s not exactly true, but it’s important to eat healthy to maintain healthy skin. WebMD has a great article called Foods for Healthy Skin, which says that we should eat more:

• Vitamin A: especially in the form of low-fat dairy products because the vitamin is already in a form that everyone’s body can digest.
• Fruits with high levels of antioxidants: such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and plums. Antioxidants help fight off free radicals. I like to think of free radicals as super villains that seek to destroy cells and make people age faster and antioxidants are the super heroes that fight off these villains and save our skin. {This is how I remembered things for my Nutrition and Biology exams}.
• Essential fatty acids: this doesn’t sound that great, but actually essential fatty acids are, well, essential for healthy skin. They’re responsible for healthy cell membranes, which keep the bad guys out and the good guys in.

I highly suggest reading the whole article, which isn’t very long, but is a great resource for troubled skin. Check it out here.

5. Don’t take hot showers or baths. Let’s face it. In the summer time, there really is no need to take a super hot shower or bath when it’s averaging 85-90 degrees outside. Take lukewarm showers and try to keep them short because showers and baths strip natural oils from our skin — oils that work to keep our skin soft and moisturized.

Have a happy and healthy summer, readers! :)

Guacamole is hands down my favorite dip to make and eat. I’ll eat it any time of year, but it’s especially nice during the summer or alongside homemade tacos {which we have every Thursday; Taco Thursday!}. It’s pretty easy to make and here’s how:

1. Cut open the avocados, take out the seeds, and spoon the “meat” into a bowl. If you’re using a potato masher, I like to mash the avocado meat now for a bit before continuing on. If you’re using a blender, you can just toss the avocado meat into the blender now. I like to use the potato masher because it’s just fun to mash stuff up!

2. Dice the tomato and onion and add to the bowl or blender.

3. Squeeze the juice out of the lime and into the bowl/blender. If you mash up the lime before you cut it in half {whack it against the counter a few times!}, you can get up to twice as much juice out! However, it’s a good idea to squeeze out a bit of juice, then blend or mash it with everything else to taste test it. Once, I made it with way to much lime and it made the whole dip sour. Yuck.

4. Once you’ve decided you have enough lime juice, add in the cilantro, then salt and pepper to taste. Though it’s a bit less flavorful, I like to use dried cilantro because I can keep using it again and again for guacamole, and since I make it a lot, it’s a smart choice.

5. Blend or mash everything together and keep adding salt and pepper, cilantro, and lime juice to taste, followed by more blending or mashing.

And that’s it! Grab some tortilla chips and dig in! :)

Hello Poor & Pretty readers! I’m Suzi, Sami’s older sister and I love making cupcakes! Recently my daughter’s {Scarlett, who you may remember from the diy cucumber mask video} school PTA hosted a family fun night with tons of activities for the whole family, including bowling, face painting and Bingo! It was a great way to spend an evening with your kids.

Being the cupcake lover that I am, I volunteered to have a “Design Your Own Cupcake” station with my trusty sidekick Kaylie. With the help of the PTA, I gathered up all the supplies we would need: 200 cupcakes {yes, you read that correctly}, 12 tubs of frosting, food coloring, and more candy and sprinkles than even Willy Wonka’s factory has! Clearly, these were the makings of a great night! I dyed the frosting four different colors and also had chocolate for those with a more classic cupcake palate. Each topping had its own bowl and spoon to keep things neat and sanitary.  Additionally, each child had to have signed permission from their parents before they could dive into my cupcake heaven {because you never want to mess around with food allergies}.

I don’t know who had more fun — the kids or the parents! I don’t believe there is anything better than getting together with your family to create beautiful, colorful, fantastically fun art that you can eat!

Happy Cupcaking!
-suzicakes