Poor & Pretty » Sani http://www.poorandpretty.com art. fashion. beauty. crafts. cupcakes. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:58:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Is this the real life? A 60b/Poor & Pretty bohemian-inspired photo shoot http://www.poorandpretty.com/2011/07/is-this-the-real-life-a-60bpoor-pretty-bohemian-inspired-photo-shoot/ http://www.poorandpretty.com/2011/07/is-this-the-real-life-a-60bpoor-pretty-bohemian-inspired-photo-shoot/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:11:51 +0000 Sami http://www.poorandpretty.com/?p=3959 If you could see me right now, you would laugh at my excited squealing {due in part because of what I’m about to tell you and part because Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out at midnight!!!!}. A few weeks ago, I got together with some really amazing women to do [...]]]> If you could see me right now, you would laugh at my excited squealing {due in part because of what I’m about to tell you and part because Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out at midnight!!!!}. A few weeks ago, I got together with some really amazing women to do an editorial/promo shoot for my cupcake soaps. I also wanted the shoot to mean something to each woman, and to me. Sometimes, I feel like we get so wrapped up in and stressed out about the day-to-day happenings in our lives, that we forget the essentials. We forget to love, smile, and dance. The Bohemian lifestyle is all about stripping away excess, breaking free from societal rules and expectations, and living simply.

So, borrowing the Bohemian mantra of “Freedom, Beauty, Truth, and Love” from Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge {one of my favorite films}, I’m challenging myself to live la vie Bohème. Harking back to Monday’s post about A. J. Jacobs, I want to celebrate the positive. I want to be unafraid of dancing when I’m inspired to. I want to re-define how I think of things like freedom, beauty, truth, and love. I knew I could learn these things from Jillian Farrell, adventurer, fellow HP nerd, blogger and photographer of 60b Photography; Sani Z., my close friend, a dancer and artist; Kayla L., fellow blogger, environmentalist, and feminist of Say, Dolly!; Mayya Medved, a loyal, no-nonsense {okay, definitely some nonsense} friend, blogger, and photographer; and Stan, my boyfriend, best friend, inspiration, biggest supporter… okay, you get it. ;)

Without further ado, here are a few more of Jill’s photos. Note: some of them are heavily cropped by me so that they fit into my standard image size. Please, please, please see more of the shoot on Jill’s flickr.

Freedom | Sani

Beauty | Kayla

Truth | Mayya

Love | Stan & I

I’ll be using some of these photos for a little book/magazine that I’ll be putting together for marketing purposes {and also just for funzies}. They will be accompanied by poetry, prose, and some of my favorite quotes about freedom, beauty, truth, and love. More on that as soon as I teach myself how to use Adobe InDesign!

Very special thanks to everyone involved in the photo shoot, including Sabrina Allard of Pinky’s Pen, who contributed many great ideas and styling advice; Jenny Maher of loveycraft for allowing us to use some of her fabulous hair pieces {including the feathers in Mayya’s hair}, and Ben & Tony, who let me use adorable, loving, photos of them for the scrapbook in the shoot. <3

P.S. Tomorrow’s post will likely contain lots of Harry Potter nerdiness. Just thought I’d give you fair warning.

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]]> http://www.poorandpretty.com/2011/07/is-this-the-real-life-a-60bpoor-pretty-bohemian-inspired-photo-shoot/feed/ 4 Guest Post: Sani’s DIY French Mani/Pedi http://www.poorandpretty.com/2011/07/guest-post-sani%e2%80%99s-diy-french-manipedi/ http://www.poorandpretty.com/2011/07/guest-post-sani%e2%80%99s-diy-french-manipedi/#comments Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:20:56 +0000 Guest http://www.poorandpretty.com/?p=3790 Hello everyone, I’m Sani, Sami’s “twin sister”. Sami and I met working at Apple and ever since she has been an awesome best friend. You might remember me from Sami’s strawberry mask post, and her post about the New Haven cupcake truck. Speaking of cupcakes, have any of you tried her amazing cupcakes? Ha! [...]]]> Hello everyone, I’m Sani, Sami’s “twin sister”. Sami and I met working at Apple and ever since she has been an awesome best friend. You might remember me from Sami’s strawberry mask post, and her post about the New Haven cupcake truck. Speaking of cupcakes, have any of you tried her amazing cupcakes? Ha! If you do, don’t say I didn’t warn ya, because you are going to be ADDICTED.

Anyway, about a year ago I shared this awesome tip on how to do your own French mani/pedi and ever since she’s been in love! A few days ago we got this awesome idea about making this video for all of you great readers out there. I also wanted to acknowledge that in this video for some odd reason I was saying manicure when clearly we are doing a pedi here. Silly me! There was lots of silliness going on that day so we are just going to blame it on that! Enjoy!!!

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]]> http://www.poorandpretty.com/2011/07/guest-post-sani%e2%80%99s-diy-french-manipedi/feed/ 1 The Cupcake Truck New Haven http://www.poorandpretty.com/2010/03/the-cupcake-truck-new-haven/ http://www.poorandpretty.com/2010/03/the-cupcake-truck-new-haven/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:23:02 +0000 Sami http://www.poorandpretty.com/?p=1560 Over the weekend, I hung out with my “twin” Sani, which was long overdue. I accompanied her on a drive to Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven to pick up her house keys that were left behind in her haste to get home for her Spring Break. Because I’ve been reading up on [...]]]> Over the weekend, I hung out with my “twin” Sani, which was long overdue. I accompanied her on a drive to Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven to pick up her house keys that were left behind in her haste to get home for her Spring Break. Because I’ve been reading up on cupcake establishments in CT, I knew there was a cupcake truck {yes, mobile cupcakes!} that roams around New Haven. Sani, who is always up for an adventure, said she’d love to find it.

nh-cupcake-truck1

I checked out the Cupcake Truck’s blog for its location and we found out it was only 5 minutes from SCSU. We scoped it out, parked, and waited in line for 30 minutes for our treats. Unlike some of the other bakeries I’ve been to so far for my cupcake fix, this one leaves the frosting off until you order so you can have a more custom cupcake. They typically have 4 different cupcakes and 4 different frostings to choose from, which means 16 different flavor combinations! Of course, as much as I love cupcakes there was no way I could eat 16 different ones, so I settled on two: Red Velvet Jones with White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting and Guinness with chocolate frosting. I opted out of further customization, but you can also add sprinkles, cookie bits, edible gold, and candy flowers to top off your cupcake!

nh-cupcake-truck2

Sani {above} admits she had never eaten an entire cupcake before this excursion. I think she needs to stick around a bit more!

P.S. The Cupcake Truck also caters and offers “do-it-yourself party boxes.” For more information, check out their website.

P.P.S. We added a new category, “cupcakes,” to the blog. We hope to have quite a few more cupcake excursions like this one!

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]]> http://www.poorandpretty.com/2010/03/the-cupcake-truck-new-haven/feed/ 1 Strawberry is Berry Good For You. http://www.poorandpretty.com/2009/12/strawberry-is-berry-good-for-you/ http://www.poorandpretty.com/2009/12/strawberry-is-berry-good-for-you/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:17:10 +0000 Sami http://www.poorandpretty.com/?p=887

Okay, I know. Suuuper lame heading, but it’s true, strawberries have so many health benefits, including cosmetic ones. Strawberries contain salicylic acid, which reduces fevers, helps get rid of stomach aches, and, oh yeah, gets rid of acne! If you look at the ingredients in your face wash, you may see [...]]]> strawberries

Okay, I know. Suuuper lame heading, but it’s true, strawberries have so many health benefits, including cosmetic ones. Strawberries contain salicylic acid, which reduces fevers, helps get rid of stomach aches, and, oh yeah, gets rid of acne! If you look at the ingredients in your face wash, you may see salicylic acid listed as an ingredient. It works by shedding dead skin cells, opening up your pores, and preventing your pores from being clogged. Strawberries also contain malic acid, which whitens teeth, which is why Tom’s of Maine, a natural personal care company, puts strawberries into some of their toothpastes.

So, how can you reap strawberry’s health benefits? Easy! Here are a few quick ways:

  • Eat them! Just by eating strawberries, your teeth will naturally whiten. Of course, you have to make sure you brush your teeth, too, because strawberries still contain sugar.
  • Wash a strawberry, cut it open,  and rub it all over your face in the morning, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse off. This will open your pores, give your face a nice wake-up call, and make your face smell sweet and fruity.
  • Crush up strawberries into your favorite shampoo, face wash, or body wash to exfoliate skin all over your body, and get rid of dandruff naturally.

Over the weekend, my “twin” Sani and I experimented with the natural benefits of strawberries by making a super-simple mask that I discovered in the book Eco Beauty by Lauren & Janice Cox, an excellent book for beginners in the diy beauty department {like me!}.

“Fresh Strawberry Mask” by Lauren & Janice Cox:

What you need:

  • 1/2 cup fresh strawberries
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 teaspoons honey

What you do:

  • put all of the ingredients in a blender {the recipe doesn’t say to cut off the leafy green part of the strawberry, but Sani & I decided to} and blend on high speed until smooth.
  • strawberry-mask pull your hair back and put on a shower cap {or, if you only have one if you’re nice enough to give it to your friend, wear a fuzzy hat instead!}
  • sani-me-mask after cleansing with your usual face wash, spread 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture all over your face & neck {yes, we realize we look very silly and like we have lots of acne — I promise those are just the strawberry seeds!}
  • leave on for 20 minutes, then rinse!

Your skin may feel a little tight afterwards {we know ours did}, so we used a very light, oil-free, face cream after our skin was dry.

I realize that strawberries are not currently in season over here in CT, but making a strawberry mask is still much less expensive than going to a spa or buying a mask, especially since you probably already have the other ingredients.

Here are a few links to learn more about the health & cosmetic benefits of strawberries:

Planet Green: Whiten Teeth with Strawberries

eHow: How to Brighten Dull Skin & Clear Up Blemishes with Strawberries

Spa Index: Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant

Hub Pages: the Amazing Health Benefits of Strawberry

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