In the Kitchen: Pasta Risotto with Peas & Pancetta

Hello all! 

One thing about me is that I'm quite rubbish at cooking. So for me to be able to cook something not only edible but tasty is quite the feat! While I'm not good at cooking, I'm always interested in looking at random recipes in the newspapers. The recipe that I'm going to share with you today is pasta risotto with peas and pancetta. I found this recipe in the USA Weekend insert in Sunday's newspaper.

I believe this recipe is out of Nigella Lawson's Nigellissima cook book. She is a British cook and I remember I used to enjoy watching her cooking segments early in the morning on the Travel channel when I was either in intermediate or high school. This is a super easy meal to make. I kind of liken it to fried rice!

Ingredients

2 Tbs. garlic-flavored oil (alt. cook a peeled garlic clove in oil until golden brown and discard the clove)

6 ounces cubed pancetta (alt. thick-cut bacon)

1 1/4 cups frozen petite peas

8 ounces orzo pasta

2 1/2 cups boiling water

Salt, to taste

1 Tb. soft butter

2 Tbs. grated Parmesan

Pepper, to taste

Once the oil is hot, cook the pancetta until it's crisp and bronzed (I used thick-cut bacon instead) and add peas. Stir the peas around for a minute or so until the frozen look leaves them. Add the orzo pasta and mix in with the pancetta and peas. Pour in the boiling water and turn down the heat to let it simmer. Every now and then, mix to avoid pasta sticking to the pan. Add more water if necessary. After 10 minutes, add butter and Parmesan and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Then serve! Here is the finished product:

It's quite fun to make and quite delicious. I would like to look for an alternative meat besides bacon just because I'd like to make it even more healthy! If you have any suggestions, leave a comment down below!

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN

Beauty in Review: AQUA Super Aqua Max

Hey all! Today I want to introduce you to this wonderful skincare routine that I purchased from a Korean brand store called Nature Republic. It's kind of new to Hawaii since they first opened in Waikiki in December 2012. This is the second Korean skincare store to enter Hawaii, I think, besides The Face Shop. I love the vibe of this store and the products that they have. 

I've never really had a skincare routine that I really stuck to. Before this, I was just using samples from Ole Henriksen, which is also a pretty good line, especially their truth serum that smells like an orange creamsicle! Anyways, I thought that this line of product would give me better results because it's an Asian product and might work better with my skin. Needless to say, I've been using these products for almost a month and I can definitely tell that my skin has greatly improved in texture, color, and acne production. What's great about this is that they have the same products for dry skin, oily skin, and whitening. The ones that I use is for oily/combination skin. So here is a breakdown of the products!

1. Combination Watery Toner ($12): First step in skin routine. Toner is important whenever you wash your face because besides the makeup, you're washing away the natural stuff that your face produces to balance your skin. So in order to re-balance your pH levels, toner must be applied. Plus, it leaves the skin refreshed and clean. Also, what I like about this toner is that it doesn't leave my skin dry feeling like many other toners. It's very gentle and feels nice!
2. Moisture Capsule Ampoule ($15): I've never heard of this before but it moisturizes the skin and smooths and revitalizes. A technique used to better absorption is to wrap your hands around your face. I guess it means to gently press the product into your skin rather than letting it dry.
3. Combination Watery Essence ($12): This also moisturizes and creates a barrier to keep the moisture in. It says to use after toner, so actually I think Step 2 can be optional, but I wanted to see optimal results, thus I got the ampoule.
4. Combination Watery Emulsion ($12): More product to moisturize and refresh the skin! This has a more wetter, creamier texture than the essence. The only thing I don't like about the packaging for this is that there's no pump. Because it's a cream, it's hard to tap out the product so I'm violently shaking the bottle to get it out lol.
5. Combination Watery Cream ($18): Last step! This is applied to both your face and neck. They say that the first things to start showing age is the neck and eyes, so taking care of the skin on your neck is just as important! It comes with a little spatula to scoop out the product. It's a more sanitary way of getting the product out rather than dipping your fingers into it. I got the big size container, but there are other sizes for cheaper. I figure you might as well go all out lol.

And there you have it! All together, I think this is quite a reasonable skincare routine compared to other brands like Shiseido and Ole Henriksen, which are both quite pricey. The point of the matter is that you should find a skincare routine that works for your skin type. This is the reason why I love samples since it helps me weed out which products work and which ones are just meh. I admit  I took a chance on this brand and line without any prior knowledge, but I'm glad I did! By the way,  all these product smell EXACTLY like Victoria's Secret Bombshell perfume. No joke! It seriously does smell like it, which is a MAHJOR plus for me hehe!

To learn more about Nature Republic, check out their website and Hawaii Facebook page. If I remember correctly, I believe the Hawaii Nature Republic now ships to the mainland U.S!

Thanks for reading!

-LAUREN

The Shopping Diaries: Pineapple County Waikiki

Hey lovelies!

I went into Waikiki during Easter weekend for a quick Nature Republic run (I will definitely make a post about my skincare routine from them!) and to check out the new spring colors from nails inc. at Sephora. After doing so, Jason still had time left on our parking meter. Not wanting to waste it, I decided I wanted to go check out Brandy Melville since they moved from their Ala Moana location (I wish they hadn't done so :( ) but they were closed that day for Easter. So we walked back towards the direction of our car and Jason said I should browse Pineapple County since it had been a while.

Seriously, I don't think I've gone into Pineapple County since my bestie left for Japan a year ago, but I was surprised that they had rearranged the store to not make it look as cluttered and they had renovated the second floor, which I think looks really nice. I noticed that a lot of their stuff was now more on the expensive side, but they still had a selection of reasonable items. So here is my PC haul!

BRAND: Bear Dance

The first thing that I picked up was this basic black bralette. With the surge of muscle tees and sheer tops, bralettes are becoming something of a necessity. What I really like about this bralette is that it is already padded like a regular bra, which is great for someone like me who is quite small chested lol. The straps are not adjustable but it turned out to be a perfect fit for me! 

BRAND: Cecico

The next thing that caught my eye was this vibrant blue ombre knit. It looked like to me something what a guy would wear, but feminine enough for me to wear. I got this kind of cool, edgy feeling from this top, especially with the distressed holes on the side which you can faintly see in the picture. The material is very light-weight so it makes it comfortable enough to wear in Hawaii.

BRAND: Rock Rose Classic

I found this in the sale section for only $10! When I first saw this, it reminded me a lot of Brandy Melville since they do similar knits. Even the design of the name tag was extremely similar to that of Brandy hehe. The silhouette is very much like a loose, boxy dolman shape. I would definitely pair this with the Bear Dance bralette from above!

BRAND: Nissi Jeans

While I was trying on my clothes, Jason suggested that I try this on too. I had seen it as we were coming up from the first floor, but I didn't really bother checking it out. If it caught Jason's eye, then I knew it was actually something really good lol. The cute floral print is perfect for spring/summer and with this sleeveless light-blue top that I got from Spiral Girl, it's a great coordinate! The only downside to this pant is that there are no pockets, which I realized when I tried to put my phone in a pocket haha.

I hope you enjoyed my PC haul! Expect more hauls in the near future as I will be jetting off to Las Vegas in a week and to San Francisco in a month. To check out the Pineapple County website, click here!

Thanks for reading!

-LAUREN

In light of the Boston Marathon bombings...

I heard about today's awful tragedy on the radio a while ago and it just baffles me as to why people do this to each other. While I'm sad and mourning for those who died and were injured, I'm just in awe at the situation. I just really don't get it at all.

It reminded me of a poem that I wrote back in 2009 for Japanese class and I feel like it relates in some way to how I feel. The poem is called 奇跡 or "miracle."

やさしく海に触れて 

夕日が沈む 

ゆっくり 

最後の光が眩しく輝く 

ダイヤモンドのように 

このきせきを見ながら 

心を動かされ 

少し泣いた 

罪がいっぱいの世界の中に 

こんな美しさがあるのは 

どういうことだろう 

gently touching the sea 
the setting sun slowly sinks 
the last light brightly shines 
like a diamond 
while watching this miracle 
my heart is moved 
and i cried a little 
how does such a thing exist i wonder 
in a world full of sin

-LAUREN

Nature in Bloom: ʻŌhiʻa Lehua

Hello all!

I've decided to try to add some variety to my posts and not make it all about shopping, shopping, shopping lol. So, I've come up with a segment that I think would fit nicely into my blog: Nature in Bloom.

For my first post, I would like to introduce you to the beautiful ʻōhiʻa lehua or also known as Metrosideros polymorpha, which is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. My mom said that it was nothing but a little twig dying at her ex-boyfriend's house and she decided to try to revive it. Fast-forward to present time and this is what's blooming right now! It's absolutely beautiful and the flowers make gorgeous leis. This is growing on the side of our house, but we'll have to move it towards the back since there's more room for it to grow. Unfortunately, it has quite a thick root already buried in the soil and to move it would hurt the tree, but it has to be done.

Many things endemic to Hawaii usually carries a backstory or myth to it. The story about the ʻōhiʻa lehua goes a little something like this: ʻŌhiʻa and Lehua were lovers. The volcano goddess, Pele, was attracted to ʻŌhiʻa but ʻŌhiʻa was in love with Lehua. Jealous, Pele turned ʻŌhiʻa in a tree. Lehua was saddened and the gods took pity on her and turned her into a flower on the tree. Some say that Pele felt bad for Lehua and turned her into the flower herself. But now they are reunited and together forever! They also say that if you pluck the flowers, it will rain to symbolize the separation of the two lovers. I don't want to pluck the flowers just because the flowers match so well with the foliage. Another sign that they were meant to be together :)

I hope you all enjoyed this little post! To learn more about the ʻōhiʻa lehua, click here.

Thank you for reading!

-LAUREN

The Shopping Diaries: GUESS Ala Moana

Hi guys! It's been such a looooooooooooooong time hehe (June 25, 2012 to be exact). You can tell I'm totally not good for blogging, but for some reason today I'm feeling up to writing a little blog about one of my favorite brands: GUESS.

Every time I go into that store, I'm always wondering why I wasn't into it from the beginning of my fashion craze. I blame it on Miss Sixty when it was still around at Ala Moana and once Miss Sixty closed, I started gravitating toward GUESS, but very slowly. My favorite pieces of clothing from GUESS are their denim. I love the different patterns and styles, but I really love it because it fits really nicely. They carry size 23, which is incredibly perfect for me, especially since I'm quite finicky about the length (I'm a little above 5'1"). They are quite pricey but when they have sales, especially extra sales for GUESS List Members, I'm over there in a hot minute!

The pieces I'm showing you today are pieces from my most recent trip. I had gotten two pairs of awesome denim towards the end of last year, which were absolutely fab and I got a complimentary, full-sized denim inspired O.P.I nail polishes. I may make a special post just for that later on!

GUESS was having a 30% off Friends and Family sale for GUESS List Members (25% off for non-members). I figured why not and ventured into the store. I was immediately drawn to this simple graphic sleeveless top because I like certain skulls prints and this was decked out in flowers and it felt representative of Hawaii :)

The main reason I wanted to check out GUESS was because I thought I had seen a white denim with black strips going down the side of the leg and I wanted in on the tuxedo pant online, but when I tried to look for it, I didn't see any. Instead I saw this which is just as equally cool, if not cooler in my opinion. I haven't seen anyone do this pattern with their pants yet, but it's white in the front and black on the back. I think it looks incredibly chic and the fabric is a really nice stretchy denim, like you could easily do the splits without feeling like you're about to split a seam! I started to think that maybe this was the pants that I saw online but thought that the black were strips? I don't know, but all I know is that I'm absolutely in love with them!

This concludes the end of this post. I hope you enjoyed reading it and I'm hoping that I'll have the energy and inspiration to continue this blog! Wish me luck!

Thank you for reading!

-LAUREN