Picking a Juicer

The Rolls Royce of juicers is the Norwalk 280. It runs a cool $2,500. I'm sure it's fantastic, but when I was looking for a juicer this one was out of the price range. Just slightly, of course. :/ We tried 3 different juicers before deciding what worked best for us. Here's the biggest difference you need to know about when deciding the right juicer for you: Masticating or Centrifugal. Read more HERE.

These are the 3 juicers we took for a test run.

1. Bella High Power Juice Extractor. It's an affordable centrifugal juicer available at Target for $70. Not bad! Overall it worked fine, but it kind of made a mess with leaks and spitting kale out of the machine. Ultimately, it wasn't our favorite.

2. Omega Model J8006 Heavy Duty Nutrition Center Juicer. This is a high quality masticating juicer that we got from Bed, Bath & Beyond for about $300 (less the 20% off coupon that's always available). It takes a little more time to use than the previous juicer, but you do get slightly more juice. This machine will also make pastas and nut butters. Yum! The biggest disappointment with this one was juicing fruits- it's just not effective. It turns it into mush and clogs the juicer. It's great if you just want to juice veggies!

3. Breville Juice Fountain Plus. Another centrifugal juicer similar to the first, but higher quality. This specific model is available at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $150. This was our winner! It had a wide mouth opening to fit whole apples, was speedy, and it didn't spit our veggies back at us like the Bella. We've been using this model for about 3 months and really like it!

If you missed our other juice posts, read more:
Juicing Post #1 HERE 
Juicing Post #2 HERE

Mascara Tips & Favorites

The golden rule with mascara is that you're suppose to replace it every 3 months (read more HERE). That's sometimes a hard pill to swallow when you've paid $20+ on a tube. If it's empty it is easy to toss it. My problem is I never seem to run out because the tube doesn't get empty! Here's my solution to using high-end mascara and feeling OK about throwing it out upon expiration: get the TRIAL SIZED MASCARA. Why?

1. You can get trial or sample sized mascaras for FREE. If you're a beauty rewards member at Sephora, Ulta, or Birchbox you can usually score these puppies as a free gift or in a bonus. If not, you can buy a smaller size, like this They're Real! mascara from Sephora for $10.

2. There's nothing quite like a fresh tube of mascara. It glides on your lashes super smooth and looks phenomenal the first couple weeks. Knowing that you got the mascara for free (or cheap) makes it easy to change it up every couple months.

3. My mascara favorites change constantly. Using the smaller sized tubes gives me an opportunity to try out different brands to see which I like best. There is a great sample pack from Sephora that gives you 10 trial sized mascaras, plus a certificate to redeem a full-sized tube of your favorite. The downside: it's only available during certain times of the year, usually winter.

FINAL TIPS.
Don't pump the wand into the tube. This makes the mascara dry out faster. Changing it out every 3 months also helps you to avoid bacteria that can build up with prolonged use. After using it for a while it starts to dry out and clump, which doesn't help anyone's lashes look good. My current mascara favorites are Makeup Forever's Smoky Extravagant and Benefit's They're Real!.

Looking for an Eyelash Curler? Find out about my favorite HERE.

Veggie Feta Squash Bowl

I love a good, healthy meal. I've posted another Scratch 'N' Stef original spaghetti squash recipe HERE, and this is another goodie! The downside to this meal is that it takes some time, about an hour to cook overall. But a plus: its vegetarian!

Here are two other spaghetti squash bowl recipes you might enjoy. SPINACH ARTICHOKE SPAGHETTI SQUASH and BAKED SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE. Happy grubbin'!

VEGGIE FETA SQUASH BOWL
Ingredients:

• 1 small-medium spaghetti squash
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 green pepper
• 1/2 c. mushrooms
• 1/3 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 c. chopped onion
• 1 c. cooked broccoli floretts 
• 1 c. cooked carrots, sliced
• 1/2 c. feta cheese
• 1/2 c. parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper
• garlic powder (or garlic cloves)

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and take out the seeds. Rub each squash half on the inside with a teaspoon of olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. On a baking sheet, add about a cup of water and place the squash halves face down. Set the timer for 35 minutes and put in the baking sheet in the oven.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the other ingredients, seasoning with salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. Set aside.

3. After spaghetti squash is cooked (outside of squash is tender, but still holds its shape), remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Using a pot holder, carefully remove the spaghetti-like strings from the squash halves with a fork, adding into the ingredients from step 2.

4. Mix all ingredients together. Spoon the mixture back into the empty spaghetti squash "bowls" and place back into the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve with a side of garlic bread. Enjoy!

What to do in NYC on Vacation

Just in case you're wondering what you should do while on vacation in NYC, here's a short video. And by the way, New York doesn't have to break the bank. Here are a few tips to help save while having fun in the Big Apple.

1. Stay somewhere Uptown: We stayed in East Harlem (SpaHa), but West Harlem, the Upper West Side, and Washington Heights are more affordable and easily accessible via public transit.
2. Buy a Metro Card and use it. Use the green and red subway lines to travel north and south in Manhattan, and use crosstown buses to go east and west.
3. Don't wait in long lines to go to Liberty Island. Save your money and ride the Staten Island Ferry for FREE.
4. Citi Bikes: There are hundreds of Citi Bike stations throughout the city, and it's only $10 a day. Note, unfortunately, the blue bikes haven't made it north of 61 Street yet. Patience.

And now, for your viewing pleasure watch the video below or click HERE to visit our YouTube Channel. (Must use link to watch on mobile).

9/11 Museum and Memorial

"No day shall erase you from the memory of time." -Virgil

Those are the words on a wall in the 9/11 museum surrounded by blue watercolor papers that mimic the color of the sky the morning of September 11th, 2001. Behind that wall are the remains of unidentified victims from that day.

Dusty black shoes, a tattered red wallet, and crushed firefighter's helmet are a few of the items displayed along with stories of the person they belonged to that remind us of the everyday life that was forever interrupted. Personal photos of each victim are shown at the "In Memoriam" exhibit ... a heartbreaking, humanizing reminder to go along with 2,977 names. #neverforget

Read more about the museum from CNN HERE.

Bite Lip Lab

Bite is a Canadian cosmetics company specializing in all things lips. A while back I read about the Bite Lip Lab in NYC (here). Well, lucky me, I just had a vacation to the Empire State over Labor Day weekend and this was a stop on my "to-do" list! My friend Micah and I were lucky enough to squeeze in an appointment right before we left to come back home (a word of advice: make an appointment ahead of time).

There are a few steps in creating your custom color:
1. Tell them what you're looking for.
I was going for a pink shade with a hint of nude and a little shimmer. After about 3 different concoctions, we found the right shade!

2. Pick the scent.
There were a few to choose from, like vanilla, cherry, lavender, mint ... I went for citrus mango. Delicious!

3. Pick your lipstick tube.
They had 4 different lip containers to choose from- rounded, pointy, slanted. A small detail, but fun to pick out!

After those decisions are made, the science project begins. They combine the different shades to make your custom color into a cup and melt the colors together, then place the cup in a centrifuge to blend them evenly. Next, they pour the melted color into a mold and freeze it for about 5 minutes, then put the new lipstick into the tube. Voila! Pretty cool to watch the whole process in person. This was such a fun experience, I love my new shade, and the lipstick is super moisturizing. Definitely check it out if you happen to be in NYC!

Metallic Gold Pinstripe

I'm loving my Jamberry Nails! If you missed my first post about these nail wraps, read more HERE. 

My latest favorite is the Metallic Gold Pinstripe. This design is fun because it has a transparent background so you can show color underneath, or wear them on a plain nail. A word of warning: if you do add color, a high-end nail lacquer is a must for long-lasting wear. Jamberry sells a variety of lacquers in addition to 300+ designs for the wraps. 

A few other cool things about Jamberry Nail Wraps:

• You can design your own, unique wraps using the Nail Art Studio
• They have special wraps for little girls
• One $15 set will give you at least 2 manicures and 2 pedicures
• They have a Buy 3 Get 1 FREE sale going on right now
• These wraps last up to 2 weeks on fingers and 4+ weeks on toes

Questions? Comment below! To browse or shop, click this link. Here's to fun, pretty nails!

Birchbox!

Samples are like a fun sized candy bar. They're cute, but you aren't satisfied with just one. You have to eat the whole bag. Oh ... that's just me? Ahem.

Guys, I love this Birchbox thing. It helps me discover new products and fulfills my sample fix. Plus, who doesn't love travel sized stuff? Super convenient. And occasionally you get a full sized product in there, too! This month I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED the +Supergoop! hand cream. In case you didn't know, your hands are the first thing to show signs of aging. SPF on your hands is a must for this reason (and a few others). And, it smells like a gentle fall breeze. Talk about perfect.

If you want to give Birchbox a whirl, use this link to check it out or sign up. Let me know how it goes!