Sonoma Chicken Pasta

I was browsing through my recipe journal (this is a journal I compiled before I got married)
I saw this recipe and didn't remember ever making it. I decided I should try it out, off course I added my spin on it.

It was quick, easy and yummy!


Ingredients:

10 oz bow-tie pasta
4 slices of Turkey Bacon
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast (cut into stripes)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/4 cup of white wine
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian style diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried
salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg (9 oz) frozen artichokes ( I could not find frozen artichokes, so I used a 6 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts)
1 cup sliced black olives
mozzarella, parmesan or crumbled goat cheese for garnish


1. Cook pasta according to the package directions, drain.
2. Cook the Turkey Bacon in a large heavy skillet until almost crispy, add chicken. Cook over medium-high heat.
3. Once the chicken is cooked through, add the minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the white wine and scrape the sides of the skillet, and simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Add the artichokes, and olives
7. Cook for about 10-15 minutes (stirring occasionally) until the sauce is reduced like so:

8. Stir in you pasta and transfer to a serving platter.
9. Garnish with your choice of cheese (I used mozzarella, it was all I had at the time) But a romano or asiago would be yummy!



Then ENJOY!

I painted the half bath... AGAIN!

I painted our half bath last year (December)

And since the day I painted the bathroom, it has been bothering me. 

The stencil is not centered (see the right side, it is off by 2-3 inches):

The back wall, wasn't that bad, but it still wasn't centered:

So I finally decided to do something about it. 

It was a challenge, the reason for that is because while I was painting over the stenciling. My little man dumped the bucket of paint all over the hard wood floor!

So I cleaned everything up, put the kids to bed and stayed up till 2 in the morning measuring and taping the stripes. 

Sherry from Young House Love did a post about how to determine how many and how wide to make your stripes, which was very helpful. 

I did three coats of paint, the next morning.

I used leftover paint and tape, so this project did not cost me anything but some time.

But now I am finally happy with how this half bath looks.

Thanks so much for visiting. 

Tarte Bronzer Blush Duo Review

I love buying value sets when it comes to makeup! 

I have been wanting to try Tarte products for a long time.

Most, if not all of their products are oil/talc and fragrance free. They are made of earthy minerals and natural ingredients.
I have a very sensitive face, so I have to be careful on what I put on my face.  

I tried the tarte foundation and really like it (it reminded me of the Makeup Forever Matte Velvet Plus)But it was the wrong color, I will need to get a sample of something lighter. 

Next I wanted to try a Tarte Blush. I was at Sephora buying my sister a birthday present and was in line to checkout. I was browsing the value bins, I saw this duo for only $15 for the bronzer/blush:

Mineral Powder Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess, Full

 size is $ 29

Tarte Amozonian Clay Blush in Doll Face, full size is $25

Searching for that perfect sectional..

As you may know, we are working on our family room. 

The fireplace is finally done!!

Now we need to find that perfect sofa. 

Hubby would like a sectional, I would like a sofa with an attached chaise. 

We have a very small space we are working with. The sofa can not be more the 94 inches long. I would like a light colored sofa

Here are a few sofas which I really like:

I love the Buchanan from  pottery barn!

Makeup I can't use anymore...

I have said before that I have a very sensitive face. Well, here is a list of a few things that I avoid:

Urban Decay Eye Primer: This primer makes my eye lids itchy, irritated, swollen and red. It takes at least two days for my eye lids to get back to normal. At first I wasn't sure what was going on, but after a few times of using the primer, I  noticed that I only got a reaction while using it. I use other urban decay products and they never gave me any kind of reaction, so this is strange.
I had to stop using this primer and switched to Too Faced primer. 

Clinique Acne Solutions Makeup: I am very sad that I can no longer use this foundation. I used it all of last year. The coverage is medium-high and it has salycylic acid to treat any breakouts at the same time. 

I bought a fresh tube and decided to use it again this year, however, my eyes swelled up after wearing this foundation. I have to admit I wore the foundation for about 8 hours when I noticed my eye area (bellow my eye) itching. The next day I had very swollen bags under my eyes. I assume it was the salicylic acid. I am sure I could use it again, just not apply it anywhere near my eyes.

Sonia Kashuk Bronzer: This has been a repurchased product for me, I have been using the same bronzer for about 2 years, and I really liked it. But for the same amount of time I had dry/ red patchy cheeks. I could not figure out what it was. But I finally realized that my dry cheeks started when I started using this bronzer.  I stopped using it, and right away I started noticing a huge difference in my cheeks. Now I no longer have dry cheeks. My face is back to normal-oily, rather then combination (oily T zone and dry cheeks)

I used to think that an oily face was bad, but a dry face is even worse. Your makeup looks flaky. With an oily face you can atleast use a matifying primer and a matte setting powder. 

NYX Concealer: This stuff made me break out! I used it on my hyper pigmentation and the next day I got breakouts in the same exact spots! I read that mineral oil can causes breakouts, and this contains that. So I returned it. 

NYX foundation: I really don't know what I was thinking, The concealer made me break out, I dont know why I thought the foundation wouldn't make me breakout. But about 2 weeks after I used the NYX concealer, I picked up the NYX foundation. First of all, I couldn't get any of the shades to match my face, but it also made me breakout in small little red pimples. Needless to say I had to return it. 

Do you have sensitive skin? What are some products you can't use?

Fathers Day according to my iphone...

We had a lovely fathers day. 

Here are a few snippets of the day from my phone.

Instead of a card, little Em made daddy a banner:

Here is the most wonderful daddy and husband!

We were in the mood for some Italian:

Our little Em!

She is such a sweet heart, love her so much!

 My fun arm stack for fathers day:

What was your fathers day like?

I am one of those moms...

Yesterday, I was one of those moms you see in the supermarket with a screaming toddler!

I don't know what happened, but I had to leave the grocery store because I just could not get him to stop screaming. 

I used to judge those mom's myself, I used to think "why doesn't the mom do something?"

But now that I have been in those shoes, I will never again judge those moms. 

My daughter and son are different as night and day. My daughter used to have her binky in her mouth until she was 2. So there were never any tantrums as long as she had her binky. This little guy is different, he is still nursing, he hates bottles and will not even look at a binky. If he wants to be comforted, he just grabs his blankie and runs to me.

So here is what happened:

Before we go anywhere, I always make sure the kids have napped, are fed and the little man nursed.

We had to make a quick run to the grocery store to pick up a few items. 

This particular grocery store has little carts for kids:

Little Em wanted one, so naturally the little man wanted one to. I figured since we only have a few things to grab, they might as well both get the carts. 

However, little man had a hard time steering it, he kept crashing into everything. Which is where I come in. I steered him holding the long pole... Everything was fine for the first few aisles, then he realized I was steering and had a melt down, he wanted to do it himself. But when I let him do it himself, he kept getting stuck,  so he got frustrated and would start screaming. At one point he even sat on the floor, covered his eyes with his hands and was crying. I tried talking to him, comforting him, but nothing worked.

At that point I was ready to just carry him and have little Em use her shopping cart, however, He didn't like that and started screaming even more.

Oh boy. I grabbed the bagels and coffee and ran to the checkout with a screaming toddler. Many people were understanding saying their kids went through that stage. But I still felt bad and kept apologizing, because most likely they were judging me in their minds... Probably thinking that I am a bad mother. 

We were out of there and guess what? He was back to normal. No more screaming or crying. 

I am not sure how to handle these tantrums. 

Do any of you moms have any advice?

June 2012 Birchbox

I am always eagerly awaiting my monthly birchbox. It's like a little present for me every month.

Let me tell you what birch box is, just in case you are not familiar with it.

It's a monthly subscription service which is $10.00 a month where you get sent 5-6 high-end samples each month. First you take a little survey so they can find out more about your skin, make up likes and dislikes so they know what to send you.

If you are interested in checking it out, go to Birch Box

This months theme was Jet Set!

Lets see what I got:

Dr Jart BB Cream Review

I had a few inquires about my thoughts on this BB cream I received in my Birch box last month. 

I got two samples, so I was able to wear it for a few days, and I thought I would share my thoughts on it.

(you can buy this BB cream in Sephora)

I have been wanting to try a BB cream for so long, so this was a nice surprise in my birchbox. 

Keep in mind this is my first time trying a BB cream, so I do not have anything to compare it to. 

It is water based, When you rub it in, there are some air bubbles, you really need to work it in for the bubbles to disappear.

 You can see a sample on my hand below:

First time I wore it, I hated it! Because it covered absolutely nothing.

Next few times, I applied my heavy duty concealer on all of my hyper pigmentation/redness and then the BB cream over that. 

The color was great for me. 

\

You only need a pea size for the entire face

It let my skin breath and feel very natural, which is perfect for the summer. 

However, I can not wear it without any concealer, which defeats the purpose of light coverage for the summer. So this is not a product for me. 

Do you have a BB cream or tinted moisturizer you love?

Progress in The Family Room #2

Our family room is coming around slowly... See this post.

A little too slow for my liking (but, that is because I am a very impatient person)

But I am happy to say that we finally got the fireplace calked/primed and painted!

I can't believe how good it is already looking!

Handyman hubby ran all of the wires for the TV:

Next step is tile! 

Then we can shop for the perfect sofa for the family room. 

Thanks for visiting. 

Finally got my Counter Stools!

I finally bought new counter stools. 

I saw these a while ago (last October, in fact)

However, the $79.98 price tag on them kept me at bay. 

I browsed around everywhere, and even considered these.  However, I could not find anything I loved as much.

Finally, last week.... I decided that I am just going to buy one chair at a time and maybe within 2 months I will have all four. 

I headed down to World Market, and lo and behold, they were on sale!! (50% off!!)

So I managed to get all 4 for $160!

I know they are not everyone's cup of tea, but I think they look wonderful! Just what my kitchen/dining space needed. 

The chairs are nice and sturdy. They have little pads on the feet, so the kids can push them around the floor without scratching the hardwood. 

 These chairs will look even better as years go by with wear and tear. 

Thanks for visiting. :)

A day at the Pike Place Market

There is something about farmers markets that I love. I love all the hustle and bustle, the fresh produce, different ethnic foods. I think it is a perfect way to spend the day outside with the kids. 

We drove down to Seattle, and decided to go to the Pike Place Market.

Here we are:

Lots of fresh produce:

It's been quiet around here....

I don't know if you noticed, but it has been a little quiet around here. The reason for that is my sister flew in for a visit. (I last saw her 10 months ago) We were having such a great time, that I didn't even have time to blog or read any blog posts. 

Me and my sis (dinner with the girls)

Seeking lovely blogs...

If you have a blog, then you may be interested to know that  for the month of June I would love to help you promote your blog, at no cost to you!

If you blog about something you think my readers would be interested in: DIYs, Food, Beauty, Parenthood, Home, fashion. Then go ahead and send me a email, introducing yourself and attach your button 

 suburbsmama (at) gmail (.) com

The image can not exceed the size of 260X260 (I don't want my posts to be in the way)

Thats it! 

Keep in mind, this is only for blogs. 

If you have a Etsy shop, store, company and would like to advertise on my blog.. then go here 

I will probably not do more then 10 buttons for now. 

So it is first come, first serve :)