New Tunes.

I don't know if I mentioned this to you guys before, but a while back ago I mentioned being an undergraduate who was finishing her biology major. Well, now a couple years after graduating, I'm successfully in Physician's Assistant school.

I've been out of the school rhythm for a while, and it's been hard for me to get my groove back, but it's slowly coming along! I think the thing that gets me through these long, hard days the most is my music. I cannot for the life of me study in silence. I used to study with the TV on as background sounds, but since I've been living with no TV in my new home - it's been background music. These are my favorites lately - hope you love 'em just as much as I do.

xoxo

doja cat . so high

[i'm completely in love with this girl. her voice is beyond gorgeous and this song is buttery smooth]

chrome sparks . marijuana

[this song's title might put some of you off, but it is seriously one of the most gorgeous songs i've heard it a while. it has an awesome beat and perfect for when i'm studying all night]

chance the rapper . cocoa butter kisses ft. mensa & twista

[great song with a OG rap vibe]

say lou lou . julian (the chainsmokers remix)

[i'm in love with this song, especially when i'm going out. it's fun with a great beat]

baths . miasma sky

[this song is genius. that is all i have to say about it.]

major lazer . jessica ft. ezra koenig of vampire weekend

[my go-to summer song]

ciara . i'm out (sweater beats bootyleg)

[ciara is back ladies and gents! and with a bang. she is looking mighty fine these days.]

azealia banks . 212

[old song that never gets old for me. just always fun.]

geographer . lover's game

[ugh i had free tickets to see them at the getty! can you imagine how awesome that would be? unfortunately school has been kicking my butt... so i'm just left depressed and listening to this amazing song.]

houses . the beauty surrounds (silent rider remix)

[this song has good vibes - perfectly chill]

mammals . move slower ft. flash forest

[undeniably gorgeous instrumentals]

ellie goulding . you, my everything

[tailored for the new skins series! the series has kinda fizzled out but it still has an awesome music director]

kanye west . send it up

[yeezey! in love with his new album - especially since brodinski and gesaffelstein have produced some of the tracks]

milky chance . flashed junk mind

[perfectly folky music]

banks . warm water

[i have a lady crush on this girl. so gorgeous - as is her voice and this song.]

alunageorge . you know you like it

[alunageorge is THE shit. seriously. her cd is like my crack.]

jhameel . shadow of a man

[i love this weird man. i previously posted about him before, but my friend introduced me to this song and it's been circulating on my playlist ever since.]

the neighbourhood . sweater weather (little daylight remix)

[huge song right now, but this remix is golden]

bastille . pompeii

[my friend introduced me to this song too and boy am i glad - it's everything.]

the weeknd . kiss land

[what weeknd song is not golden? i ask you?]

yeasayer . longevity

[long time yeasayer lover, just another love i have to add to the list]

** links are to where you can steam and/ or download the songs**

** images retrieved from google images search **

Lentil & Vegetable Salad

Lately, I've been loving to experiment with grains other than my staple, rice. My favorites are lentils and quinoa. I also really love farro, but it's actually pretty expensive, so I only cook it on occasion. I've been cooking tons of lentils lately, whether its in mujaddara or in soup, I seriously am in love with the stuff.

Anyways, this grain salad is pretty simple to make. Grain salads are my favorite things to make and to eat! They have a bunch of good stuff in them and they're perfect for school since they're so easy to transport. I think the most complicated thing about this meal is the sauce, but if you have a food processor, you can seriously whip it up in a snap - bonus - it's good on tons of other things!

If you're super lazy, Trader Joes, being the awesome place that it is, sells pre-cooked lentils in packages. They also sell pre-packaged beets that are pre-roasted, which would probably be amazing in this salad as well. Next time, I'll be adding some roasted mushrooms myself!

Lentil-Vegetable Salad

Yields: 6 - 8 servings

Adapted from here.

For the mint sauce:

1 cup fresh mint leaves

1 jalapeño (seeded or not - depending on how spicy you want it)

2 tbsn. olive oil

pinch of salt

1 tbsn. lemon juice

For the yogurt sauce:

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 tbsn. water

freshly ground black pepper

kosher salt

For the salad:

2 cups baby potatoes, sliced in half

2 cups brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered

2 cups cooked brown or black lentils

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

5 dried dates, pitted and chopped

extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Combine the potatoes and brussels sprouts on a large baking pan. Toss with enough olive oil to coat and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake until golden brown on edges and potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the sauces. To make the mint sauce, combine everything in a food processor or blender and adjust the seasoning as necessary (more jalapeño, more salt…?); set aside. To make the yogurt sauce, combine everything; set aside. 

Once the veggies are cooked, set aside to cool. Once cool, combine the veggies, dates and lentils and toss to combine. If you are eating this immediately, go ahead and toss in the toasted almonds but if you aren't, wait to add the almonds so that they don't get soggy. To serve, drizzle with both sauces. Enjoy!

My new crush: Mujjo

I am seriously in love.

The people at Mujjo were so kind as to send me one of their beautiful products of my choice - and I decided on their Macbook Pro sleeve. I had previously been using an Incase black neoprene sleeve which I liked, but it was mainly to serve its purpose and not because I particularly loved it. When I received my Mujjo case in the mail, I was beyond ecstatic. Besides being completely user friendly, it was a beauty to look at. Modern, minimalistic, sleek and unique.

Made by the hands of Dutch craftsmen with 100% wool felt and high quality leather, this sleeve is absolutely gorgeous. It's minimalistic in design and tailored perfectly to my Macbook Pro. What's awesome is how the sleeve is made from sustainable and renewable materials. It's also treated so that the sleeve is water repellent in case you're clumsy like I am! Besides being beautiful to look at, I love the fact that it has a compartment to store papers, or chargers, earphones, etc.

If you're looking for something classic and stylish to house your iPhones/ Galaxy phones, iPads, or MacBooks, I'd highly recommend Mujjo. They take care into crafting their lovely products!

website | www.mujjo.com

twitter | @mujjostore

instagram | @mujjostore

Tailored Tuesday & Travel

So, I recently moved to Nevada where the sun definitely shines and maybe a little too bright. Someone told me it was 130 degrees yesterday and I nearly fainted! But, I think anything past 100 degrees starts to feel the same. 

With all this desert heat and sun beating down on me, I'm wishing I could transport myself to a tropical beach where at least the view and calming ocean could make up for all the sweating I'm doing!

1. Max Azria 'Asymmetrical cutout silk georgette top'

stunning design with lots of room to breathe

2. Tibi 'Pleat front silk shorts'

the perfect summer color

3. Undrest 'Liberty-print cotton bandeau bikini top and briefs'

just about the cutest bikini around!

4. H&M 'Beach bag'

i LOVE this and it's so cheap!

5. H&M 'Beige sandals'

these will match everything in your summer wardrobe and then some...

6. Retrovelo 'Vintage bike'

perfect for biking alongside the boardwalk

7. Contigo 'Autoseal kangaroo water bottle with storage compartment'

i love contigo water bottles already but this is just plain awesome - storage compartment?! genius.

8. Lomo 'Diana toy camera'

i love lomo toy cameras - this one's next on the list.

9. Vivo 'Square bento box'

what's a trip to the beach without a beach side picnic?

10. Isharya 'Set of three 18-karat gold-plated bangles'

boho chic

11. Topshop 'Pink keyhole metal arm sunglasses'

you'll be the cutest thing around sporting these!

{the blue dragon, portugal}

{the blue hole, belize}

{underground pool, homestead resort, utah}

{natural swimming pool, isalo national park, madagascar}

{bay of fires, tasmania}

{deep ladder in a waterfall, unknown}

{nazare, leiria, portugal}

{the impossible archway, sunayama beach, miyakojima, japan}

{nantucket, massachusetts} 

Triple Berry Chiffon Cake

A post? After months and months of absence? Yeah, I know... I've been MIA recently, and I can't really give you a reason because I don't really have one other than the fact that I've mainly been uninspired. Perhaps even lazy? Bad, I know. I've been baking sporadically, but I've literally been baking the same things over and over because when I find something I like I don't get bored of it easily. I'm the kind of person who finds a song they like, then proceeds to listen to it on repeat for an hour. 

Anyways, this is a cake that qualifies for the above statement. It's simple, easy and good. And how can it not be? It's light cake that's not too sweet, paired with smooth custard (my favorite easy recipe, like ever), tart berries and finished with whipped cream. Plus, it's quite the stunner.

Triple Berry Chiffon Cake

Yields: 1 double layered 8" cake.

Original cake recipe here.

For the vanilla chiffon cake:

6 egg whites

4 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

For the whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tbsn. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

For the custard: 

1 small box French Vanilla instant pudding

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla

For filling/ decoration:

strawberries

blueberries

raspberries

(or any other berry you'd like to include)

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks begin to form. Once this happens, gradually add 1/2 cup sugar while mixing until stiff peaks form, set aside. In another bowl, mix the yolks, oil, water and vanilla, set aside. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and 1 cup sugar. Mix the egg yolk mixture with the dry ingredients until smooth, then gently fold in the egg white/ sugar mixture. Gently pour the mixture evenly into two nonstick sprayed or parchment paper lined cake pans and smooth out the tops. Bake the pans for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when you press on it. Remove the cakes from the pans and let cool on a wire rack. 

To make the custard, whisk everything together until smooth and slightly thickened. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to allow it to thicken more. To make the whip cream, whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks form, add the vanilla and sugar and whip until combined, set aside. To assemble, set one layer of the cake on a cake plate. Use an offset spatula to spread a good amount of custard evenly on the top. I like to spread on as much as the cake can handle, but you can use as little or as much custard as you'd like. Sprinkle some berries on top of the custard and press slightly into the cake. Top with the second layer of cake. Top with another layer of custard. Spread the whipped cream all over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with more fresh berries.

MORE NEW THINGS IN THE SHOP! Just, fyi.

odessa . brass, anti-gold plated. a gorgeous, rich colored necklace featuring two tiers of brass box chain on thin brass chain.

calliope . a delicate hand chain featuring gold-plated satellite chain adorned with greyish colored freshwater pearls from japan.

ora . an authentic champagne-colored, swarovski teardrop pendant, wrapped in gold-toned brass and suspended on ultra-thin gold-plated chain.

l'or . two tiers of gold-plated chain, adorned with gold-plated, oversized bar beads. 

lyra . two tiers of gold-plated chain. one satellite chain featuring tiny gold beads. second chain adorned simply with a stunning, raw, faceted chunk of authentic pyrite.

mumbai . a stunning statement piece, featuring gorgeous iridescent, graphite-colored, glass beads.

hera . a gorgeous double-layered bronze colored chain. perfect for layering with other arm candy.

petillier . oversized glimmering beads, punctuated by micro silver plated beads. suspended on gold-plated chain.

bavette . three tiers of gold-plated curb chain, suspended on gold-plated chain.

lyra . two tiers of gold-plated chain. one satellite chain featuring tiny gold beads. second chain adorned simply with a stunning, raw, faceted chunk of authentic black quartz.

silver lining . simple, and the perfect layering piece. gold-plated chain, adorned with a contrasting, slightly larger silver-plated chain and punctuated by tiny, silver-plated, faceted beads.

komorebi . a stunning, authentic, swarovski crystal baguette, suspended on gold-plated chain. perfect for layering.

gold lining . faceted gold-plated chain suspended simply on thin gold-plated chain. perfect for layering. seen with the 'id' necklace below.

calliope . a delicate hand chain featuring gold-plated satellite chain adorned with bronze-colored, glass beads.

tinsel . five, mini, gold-plated diamond charms suspended on gold-plated chain.

trou . an organically shaped gold-plated pendant suspended on ultra-thin, gold-plated chain.

petit amour . a tiny gold-plated heart pendant on ultra-thin gold-plated chain.

slice . a shiny gold-plated or rose-gold-plated triangle charm on gold-plated or rose-gold-plated chain.

epi . a rose-gold-plated spike charm on rose-gold-plated chain.

glace . an authentic "x" shaped cubic zirconia pendant on delicate gold plated chain.