Caramel Popcorn

I came across caramel popcorn when I was just 6 years old. I have loved it since then but kind of lost track of it and left it forgotten on the back of my mind until yesterday. A bad shopping trip with my mom and dad (junk food buying) lead me to look for popcorn (microwave one) and on that quest, there it was, just sitting there waiting. Waiting for what? I have no idea but I'd like to think it was waiting for me to find it! And I did. 

How good is it to indulge sometimes with those kind of treats? Maybe not too often but it was nice to remember that I loved it and made me travel down memory lane and cherish those nice careless childhood moments when I would go to some place and grab of one those baggies. 

It is so super nice to come across those treats from your toddler years and have an actual kid moment when you are an adult (not that I consider myself one, but you got the idea). 

I fell in love all over again! 

Which was your favorite treat when you were growing up? 

love you! 

picture from here. 

Life changing TV shows

I have never been the type of person that goes nuts over a tv show until a little while ago when gossip girl started airing. It was the most freeing show I have ever seen. Up next came all of the criminal shows that air at all times of the day and got hooked up on them. 

What can I say? I'm just a tv show's lover. Recently I've been obsessing over Sex and the City in the internet. It aired when I was still too young for it to be appropriate of a 13 year old to watch. Now that I am quite old (to say the least) over the limit age for it being appropriate I am just enjoying it. 

I knew of it's existance, I knew that it was about four friends that lived in Manhattan and ruled the streets and their careers. And all of the men too. That's how I got into cupcakes too. Magnolia's Bakery, the original cupcake bakery, for me, still. 

Fashion. Oh the fashion, the style, the amazingness of it all. I just wish I could afford a pair of Manolo's or a 17 000 dollar Dior dress. What ever it is, it is just eye opening so that I work harder and receive a large paycheck to keep up with my expectations and dreams. 

some pictures down here. 

I could never leave behind Mr. Big. 

Do you guys have a show that made you change your life expectations? Cause this totally made it for me! 

have an awesome day! 

2013: So far, So good

To be the first month of the year, it has been pretty rewarding and challenging and stressful, but in the end so worth it! 

I have so many projects in line for this year that I love how all of them are shaping up. I just can't wait any longer for them to happen! 

When the time comes, I may be able to share them with you, and that's what I'm dying to do! I don't like to talk at all about the projects I have with no more people than just my parents and my grandparents. So in that way if it doesn't occur or something does not go as planned I don't have to give explanations and talk about what happened over and over. Privacy in those terms is really important to me. And when something good comes out of it, I love to share my experience and my ups and downs. 

As I was saying before, 2013 does look pretty good. I hope everything goes as planned and that well being and health and joy invade our homes. 

A little update of my life, my dad is undergoing a surgical procedure in a couple of days so I would really appreciate that you accompany our family with some prayers for everything to go better than great, it is a very delicate procedure and I am a ball of nerves, so as my mom. 

I love you all. 

ps. are you guys watching The Carrie Diaries? I am loving it! and House of Fab is pretty good too! (gottal love Kimora) 

picture from here. 

picture from here.

Healthy Recipe: Mushroom and Cauliflower cheese crumble

Yesterday was one of those days in which I decided to cook at home and found a recipe over the cookbook app on my iPhone and loved it.

My mom and dad were very pleased with how it turned out and I decided to share it with you guys and and see if you'd like to try it and tell me what you think about it! 

And now! the recipe: 

Ingredients: 

1 Cauliflower, cut into florets

55 gr/2 oz butter

115 gr/4 oz mushrooms, sliced

Salt and pepper

Toping: 

115 gr/4 oz breadcrumbs

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried parsley

25 gr/1 oz butter

How to: 

1) Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to boil. Add the cauliflower and cook for 3 mins. 

2) Remove from the heat, drain well and transfer to a shallow over proof dish.

3) Preheat oven to 230°C/ 450°F/ Gas mark 8. Melt butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the Mushrooms, stir and cook gently for 3 mins. 

4) Remove from the heat and spoon on top of the cauliflower. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

5) Combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and herbs into a small mixing bowl, then sprinkle over the vegetables.  

6) Dice the butter and dot over the breadcrumb mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 mins or until topping is golden brown. 

And voila! the Mushroom and Cauliflower cheese crumble is ready! 

I hope you enjoy it and let me know in the comments below if you did it and if you liked it. 

picture from here. (it's not the same recipe, it's just the closest picture I could find of the one I had)

Gossip Girl Acapulco

What is wrong with this title? The Acapulco part. It's not that I have anything against it being in Mexico or anything. It's just that the script is all wrong in my perspective. I speak spanish, and that is not the best language to use in an ELITE. 

The clothes, the looks, the names are all great, they have kept the essence of the characters, but I just can't bear that they are doing it. It's like cloning a baby with very poor biotechnology and the clone turns out with just one eye and a crooked smile. That bad. A spin-off just doesn't seem right. In any way

I feel a little heart broken after watching the preview. I just.. I can't. Maybe if I watch it with other eyes (note: I might need to surgically remove my eye balls for that to be possible) I might pass out some of the atrocities I have witnessed.

Cast

picture from here. 

I hope that with time, the writers will notice those language probz, and fix it. 

Still in shock, in part angry, part bewildered and part dead in my own skin, I wonder WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

It's just my opinion, don't take it like I have some serious issues with Mexicans, I just have them with the fact that they took my favorite show and did it all weird and not right.

What do you think? They did a good job? or just not that good, or horrible?

Judge with your own eyes

leave your impressions in the comments below!

Bad Boys and Women

Probably one of the most straight to the point lyrics of a song goes like this: 

"I knew you where trouble when you walked in" 

Yes, Taylor Swift gets it, but also finds it. (Too many relationships probz?) 

Who of us girls hasn't found a bad boy (those tattoo wearing, rocker complex, misbehaved boys that want to break every rule they might find on their way) too attractive and just fell for him? But what about the good boys? 

This is a topic one of my guy friends and I were discussing yesterday over a very chill afternoon. He said, every girl likes to get their hearts broken, why so masochistic?! 

All I had to say was, "Actually you've got a point there" Why on earth, us girls like to be on the edge? Is it the adrenaline, the excitement and the danger that makes us go coo-coo crazy over those bad boys?

I have quite an inner debate about good boy vs. bad boy. I like to be treated right, I like those 20's gentlemen that will court you, prepare your life and make it the best they can, but then realize that I don't live in the good old 1920's and that in our society, the vast majority of boys are not the ones that take their time to court a girl for months. They want everything ASAP, and maybe us girls want that too (just not many of us will take their time to know the boy) 

My friend is one of those good boys, but with a twist, he likes girls to think that he is a total womanizer, when in reality, he is terrified to sustain a proper conversation when he likes a girl (Sorry JP! you know I love you!) 

With good boys, there is no mystery, you know what they will do, you know how they behave, you know that they might do nothing to upset you and that their feelings are true to what they preach. So why not settle with that? Why try to go find a boy that will crush your heart, your dreams and even (sometimes) your dignity? 

Oh yes, because, We are masochists, not in the bad sense of the word, but in the oh-I-want-something-exciting-to-happen-this-time-not-settle-with-routine kind of way. Even if that doesn't make much sense at the time. 

But secretly, we all want a bad boy, but one who knows when to be a bad one and when to be a good one. 

We girls like our independence, but every once in a while we like someone who can protect us from adversity and then be like our childhood teddy-bears. 

So boys, we tend to be bi polar, but you guys can be worse. But worse is fine, worse is good when you know how to distinguish the different situations. 

What kind of boy do you like girls? or are in a constant inner debate like I am? 

Comment below and let me know :) 

picture from here. 

Pinning

Why do I love Pinterest? That is one question I love to answer because you can find so many great things in just one place and have have fun while stalking other people's pictures and finding great recipes. 

Like the White-Strawberry-Lemon Sangria

And also some great decorating ideas for a small appartment like this one: 

an office inside a closet! 

Great fashion sense is also part of the package like this 

And also some very practical ideas like this one

or this one

So now you know! I love pinterest, I pin my days away :) 

You can follow me on there if you like! my user name is stephkms and I am always looking for other pinners to follow! 

Moisturizing: smooth and nice

Moisturizing is super important for your skin, it is the food you give it in order to keep it nice, smooth and glow-y. After taking a shower or a bath, your skin loses some of the humidity it naturally has. Sometimes it depends on the environment that you find yourself at and dry weather makes it dryer if you have dry skin, or too oily of you are at a very humid place with oily skin. 

I try to focus on moisturizing my elbows, my knees and that joint between the length of your leg and your feet. Those are my really problematic areas, specially suffering from a lower degree psoriasis on those areas. It's been a while since I had that and I always needed some good moisturizers and thick ones too. 

The most generic one I can think of that has really worked is the Nivea Creme. 

It's formulation is thick and leaves a residue for a long time. I like to apply it at night before I go to bed because that is when all the nutrients and compounds can get better into the skin to repair it more effectively. 

For my face, I am faithful to Ponds, I haven't tried many of them but that one keeps my skin fresh and nice (breakout free also) 

How do you like to moisturize your skin? Which are your problem areas? Leave it in the comments below :) 

picture from here. 

Fashionable Reader S.A

Well, S.A is what the domain of this blog stands for, and fashionable, well I'm just not quite that all the time (I have my moments I admit) and reader, I love reading, just that I can barely find the time to squeeze it on my schedules when I'm on classes.

This post is for the  fact that I have been wanting to read some of the following books lately.

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

2. Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant 

3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

4. A song of Ice and Fire (the complete series) by George R.R Martin

5. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks 

6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 

I have read, so far, this summer break, the Complete Twilight Saga and another book by Charles Dickens called The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain. 

I hope I can read these other books! wish me luck! I am starting off with number 3 of the list above 

Fashion: Golden Globe Awards

This past weekend, The Golden Globes Awards took place. It is the perfect scenario to have a great selection of stars and an even broader selection of beautiful gowns and styles. I just can't say more about it. You'll have to see my favorite ones from this year.

I have a list of my top 5 gowns and the celebrities who wore them,

Starting at Number 5, is  Shaun Robinson in a gorgeous Emerald green gown by Pamella Roland. I think it complements her skin in the right way, the line of the dress hugs her curves very well and makes her look radiant.

In Number 4, is Leah Michele in this really beautiful off white dress by Elie Saab with the exposed leg and a conservative neck line to balance it all. 

Number 3 brings us Jessica Alba in Oscar de la Renta, a gorgeous and complementing figure on her body and the color peach with her skin just makes her stand out. 

Number 2 comes with Jennifer Laurence in an exquisite coral Dior Haute Couture gown. I am in love with it and was a tough decision on making it number 2 or number 1 but this actually ties as a number 1 because the next gown I'm going to show is just as beautiful as this one is. 

  

And last but not least, my top pick of them all, Number 1 spot is for Sofia Vergara's breath-taking black gown by Michael Cinco, an upcoming designer. The Sweetheart line, the sparkles, the glitter and the sequins make it just more special and makes me want to steal that dress that looks like a million dollars worth of it. 

picture from here.

Which where your favorite dresses in this Award show? Which made it to your top 5? leave it in the comments bellow or email me or tweet me, or maybe not :( #foreveralone

love you guys!

the rest of the pictures are from here. 

Terrified.

First jobs are always something scary. Well, for me, it's terrifying. I know how this may sound, but at my age, I have never worked in my entire life. Now that I have to find internships to be able to graduate in a year from now is making me pay the bill. 

I have to start doing something of what I've been learning in University and put it on practice. I've had many good teachers, some of them have some sort of expectation from me. I love learning, but change just makes me a little uncomfortable. I guess it makes us all hesitant. 

Did you struggle this much with inevitable changes that have to be made in order to grow personally and professionally? 

I am going through some serious issues right now with trying to figure out what on earth am I going to do. 

picture from here. 

My go-to breakfast (2013 edition)

I have posted a fair share of these in the past years, and it changes almost by the season. 

This season, my go-to breakfast is a capresse sandwich. I just love how it tastes and how fresh it is. 

I make my variations because I just don't like mozzarella cheese. I substitute it with edam cheese or Paria cheese. I don't know if you can find Paria cheese elsewhere but it is a cheese that can be found in Peru, it is really tasty and melts deliciously, and the best part is that it is low fat. YEY. 

To top it out, I drink green tea with it or red tea if I have it in my pantry. Sometimes with fresh low fat milk or coffee if I'm feeling it.   

So this is my go to breakfast, for the season. Tell me, which is your go to breakfast right now? 

picture from here. 

Portion Control

Sometimes I will plan posts, sometimes I will write as it comes to my mind. 

Lately, I've been trying to stick to a healthier lifestyle, but it just seems like everything is off. When I try to eat less sweets, that's when people start eating them more. The moment I start eating more greens, people just seem to go to a full carb diet. WHAT on earth is going on? 

Maybe it's tougher because I start to notice what others are eating due to the fact that I won't be eating that. And that's where the cravings begin with no turning back. Maybe a small chocolate piece, a little pasta over here, a tinzy bit of a coke. 

Then I watch tv. And there is where I feel horrible. Depressing. Awful. The other day the VS fashion Show was on. Yeah, like that would've helped to get out of the deep black hole I was in at the moment. Well it did. I said to myself: If those models can be so fit, not being extremely thin, have their curves going but at an a healthy weight, I surely can. 

From that moment on, I have been extremely good. I have not cut off anything from what I eat, I just try to eat less, much, much less of carbs, sweets, and all the stuff that just make you feel guilty afterwards eating a huge amount of ice-cream or a whole bar of chocolate. 

Portion control. That was the key, and then I don't feel deprived. 

I know it's been so long since I posted something about health, fitness or anything like it. It was just because I was struggling, A LOT. I couldn't figure it out right, and I was frustrated that my weight wasn't coming down, and tried many methods, that, to be honest, lasted just couple of days and then I gave up on them. I was not happy, not at all.

Now that we have been on 2013 for 14 days, I wanted to do things right. I enrolled myself on the gym, I start tomorrow. I have been good at eating healthier. And some times I will have some good recipes to share with you! 

I hope you have a great start of the week :) 

picture from here. 

Homemade cinnamon rolls

What a better way to spend a summer day with the friends of a long long time, than playing games and baking goodies? Well for me, there is not much that tops that, sure one of my favorite things.

Yesterday was a pretty fun day, old friends getting together to enjoy an afternoon and just make it fun and simple and spontaneous.

We decided to bake some cinnamon rolls, quite a job I must say, but it was simple enough for a group of beginners like us.

I don't have the before pictures, but I do have the after ones and they look so delish!

via Instagram

How do you like to spend your free time?

7 days of nothing

It's been 7 days you guys. But 7 of the most refreshing ones ever! I have been on a small break, doing nothing but nothing! I needed a break from everything, all the stress all the noise all the time that I had worried. So reading was one of the most refreshing ideas I had in mind, and also listening to a lot of classical music while at it. I am a big nerd. 

I am still trying to recover, and I thought it would be nice to check up here and tell you all how I was spending my summer break! Also lots of sun and fun on the club. (I am not a fan of beaches, the sand is just too much...) 

I hope you are having a great start of the year :) 

picture from here. 

Happy New Year!

It's 2013 you guys! It's been very nice to spend the holidays with my family and have the time to do my own things, like reading, writing and just enjoying some little me time. 

The majority of people tend to make their resolutions for the year to come. I prefer not to because somethings may not go as planned and, being honest, sometimes I just tend to go with the flow of things that are occurring at the time. But of one thing I am certain, I want this year to be a good one in terms of being committed to what ever I will find myself doing. Of course there will be some challenges, but there is nothing impossible if you just believe that you are going to be able to achieve it. 

I wish, with all my heart, that this year, all of you can accomplish your goals, make some of your dreams come true and to be at the top of your game every time! Remember, failure gives you an experience, just try and try till you make it! 

Favorite Quote right now: 

"Good, Better, Best. Never let it rest, till your good gets better, and your better best"

I don't know the author, I just remember that we were told this one at school by one of our literature teachers, and it stuck in my mind. 

Have an awesome 2013! 

picture from here.