Are Toe Rings Professional Attire?

May 31, 2012

Munchie Monday: Foodie Challenge, #35 (this week’s bonus round!)

As those of you who read Monday’s post know, this past weekend was all about celebrating my handsome boyfriend’s birthday. He requested an Italian dinner — which I think I delivered pretty well on, despite not possessing a single drop of Italian blood ;) — and so I decided to match that with an equally Italian dessert.

When we spent some time in Northern Virginia with his family, his incredible grandma gave me a recipe for something I’d never heard of before: ricotta cake. And I figured, hey, what better dessert to make for a birthday?

Now, while I faithfully followed his grandma’s recipe, I’m not sure what the rules of secrecy surrounding her formula are (particularly since I haven’t been able to find an exact match online). So what I’ll include here is a recipe that’s pretty close and should net you about the same result.

And that result is good.

Read on for the recipe and some uber-delicious pictures :)

May 28, 2012

Munchie Monday: Foodie Challenge, #34

This coming week is my charming boyfriend’s birthday, so instead of trying to do all the celebrating mid-week when we’re both exhausted, we decided to do the bulk of the birthdaying this weekend.

True Sicilian that he is, when I asked him what he wanted for dinner, all he said was “Italian,” so I took that and ran. With that in mind, I stealthily stocked up on ingredients, then kicked my man out of the kitchen for an hour or so last night as I worked on putting together Penne alla Vodka from a recipe that I found from The Pioneer Woman.*

The result was creamy, spicy, and incredible, and a huge hit with the birthday boy. Read on after the jump for the recipe, pictures, and the few notes I made.

May 26, 2012

A Letter to the Emmie Who Started This Blog… From the Emmie Who’s Running It Now

Dear 22 year-old Emmie,

It’s May 25, 2010. You’ve just graduated from college and you’re about to quickly (and miraculously) land a pretty freakin’ fantastic job in a pretty short amount of time. School has taught you a lot about kicking procrastination, working hard, and being a leader, so you feel somewhat confident about being out in the world. Basically, you’re excited, you’re nervous and, despite committing to living at home for awhile, you’re in a major hurry to get started on the business of being an adult.

Honey, your enthusiasm is admirable, but you have no idea what’s about to hit you.

Since I’m feeling a little nostalgic, and also a little bad for all the crap you walked straight into with the naïveté of a three-year-old (and the lack of realization that you really were naïve), allow me to let you in on a few key pieces of advice:

May 24, 2012

Is Temp-to-Perm Temp-to-Smart? The Argument For (and Against) Being a Contractor

Right now, I’m working as a contractor in the marketing department for a large international institution. There are aLOTof us contracting folk here, so it’s not uncommon to hear people discussing the pros and cons of the work we’re doing and the circumstances we’re in.

I was nervous about entering into the consultant/contract work world, as I’d just come off a pretty negative experience with having an hourly contract cut with no warning. But my dad, of all people, had done work as a contractor after the 2008 job crash hit everyone (including my family) so hard and, despite leaving with a slightly sour taste in his mouth, he encouraged me to give it a shot, too. So far, my experience has been a positive one, and one that I would definitely recommend for those with the proper stomach – and expectations – for it.

Now, some people steer clear of contracting work because they can only see the downsides to it, while others gravitate towards it without understanding the risks it involves. Since it’s important to have a firm grasp on both sides of this coin, read the arguments for and against being a contractor after the jump.

May 23, 2012

Work It Wednesday: HuffPo: Double-Dipping Workouts

By Stacy Berman, published on 5/21/12

The New York Times recently ran an article about a fitness trend of people who workout two to three times a day, commonly referred to as “double- or triple-dipping.” Indeed, variety is a crucial part of any workout or diet. Our bodies respond well to subtle changes. (See my previous HuffPost article, “Wear Your Fitness in Layers.”)

But if you workout two to three times a day, for extended periods, you waste a tremendous amount of time, may cause your body to release the “fat-preserving” hormone cortisol, and you actually run the risk of making yourself sick through exercise-induced stress. Personal case study: I used to subscribe to a “the more the better” philosophy. If one workout was good, two would be better and three would be ideal. Eventually, I proved myself wrong.

Work It Wednesday: Anti-Aging Products…in your 20s??

While I was visiting my boyfriend’s family this past weekend, I was looking through his mom’s Mary Kay samples and laughed that I wouldn’t need the stuff in the anti-aging section just yet. As I was shifting to the next section, his younger sister looked at me and said, “Well I use anti-aging products. You’re supposed to start at 20, and I don’t want to get wrinkles.” His mom nodded significantly.

Oh my god. I’m 24 and if I was supposed to start using anti-aging creams and serums at 20, I’m clearly WAY behind on maintaining my collagen health! Feeling a bit insecure, I took a handful of restorative serum samples and didn’t say anything else.

After a few nights of using the stuff and wondering if I was being silly, yesterday at lunch I Googled “anti-aging products at a young age” and found a plethora of conflicting information with verdicts ranging from “It’s a waste of money, don’t bother!” to “It’s not good for young skin!” to “Yes! Do it! Yes, yes, yes!” Holy crap!

So, to avoid getting a stress-induced breakout, I decided to go straight to the source – my dermatologist’s office (despite the fact that I’m pretty sure the nurse I left my message with thought I was insane). So…

…here’s the anti-aging regimen the nurse who called me back recommended:

May 22, 2012

How to Pick Your New TV… Like a Boss

Last time I went TV shopping was right before I moved into my apartment last spring. All I’d had was a little tiny sucker from my dorm room (which had then transitioned over to my room at my parents’ house), and I wanted something BIG and BEAUTIFUL for my new place, particularly since I knew I’d have lovely cathedral ceilings and the room was big enough it could afford to give up some space to a badass flat screen.

With these few criteria in mind, I walked into Best Buy, approached the back wall of flashing screens, and immediately became a deer in the plasma lights. There are so many options and specs to look at!

While I can’t tell you what’s best for your situation, what I can do is give you a mini-dictionary of common TV spec terms to hopefully help you figure out which set is perfect for you:

May 21, 2012

Munchie Monday: Foodie Challenge #33

So I spent the weekend in Northern Virginia with my boyfriend and his family and didn’t have much of a chance to cook. Heck, I haven’t had much of a chance to cook at all lately! But here are two pieces of delicious news: a) I’m in the process of reinstating new and improved Sunday night dinners, so hopefully that should result in lots of wonderful new recipes, and b) I found pictures and a recipe I made over a month ago and never posted! SCORE!

So with that in mind, read on for pictures, notes, and — oh yes — the fahbulous recipe for Speedy Broccoli and Fettucini, along with Lemon Breeze Chicken, both adapted (Emmie-style!) from 365 Everyday Dinners!

May 18, 2012

Fiscal Friday: How Much Should You Be Saving?

Saving isn’t all that fun. You don’t get stuff with your money – hell, you don’t even really get to see it sitting in your account, making you look all pimp and rich…-er. But that doesn’t matter – no matter what anyone says (including that adorable Michael Kors bag calling your name) saving is an essential part of life as an adult. And, if you keep the right attitude, it’s really not as big a pain the butt as you think it’s going to be.

May 16, 2012

How to Lead a Fab-tastic Meeting

As I’m really beginning to delve further into my new job, I just recently led my first meeting in over a year. Now, I used to lead weekly meetings with a number of different clients, but they were contacts that I knew, and we followed a pretty routine agenda each week. This time around, I was getting in touch with new clients, in a new environment, and in a different role. Despite my typical ballsy demeanor, I’ll admit I was feeling the butterflies.

Thankfully, it appears that leading meetings is a lot like riding a bike. However, there are some best practices that can make leading your first meeting or your hundredth a little smoother:

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