Farmer's Market Finds

The small town I have called my home for the past 4 years is home to a year round farmer's market. Every Saturday morning downtown Guelph can be found crawling with university students and families walking about with fresh local farmed goods and the taste of cold pressed juices on their tongue. Not to mention some fresh salsa from the local mexican restaurant Salsateria. Here are a few of my finds.

New York in December

There's nothing I love more than New York City,however, I've never been there during the holiday season. Right after finals my family and I headed down to the states to visit J, and my sister and I couldn't resist taking a trip into NYC for a night. Here are a few pictures of the city through my eyes.

Rockafeller Center

at restaurant Elan

Washington Square Park

H&M on 5th Avenue

Chelsea Market

Kale It What You Want

I'm sure you've all heard of kale, it's one of those new trendy vegetables. Some people are unsure of its benefits, and don't find big leafy greens very tasty. Kale is so nutritious and you can have it in many different ways without having that bitter taste. Before we get into recipes let's talk about its benefits:

Antioxidant Properties
Kale has high concentrations of Vitamin A,K and C, all of which are excellent antioxidants and have a variety of uses.
          Vitamin A- growth and development, maintenance of the immune system, and good vision
          Vitamin K- reduce risk of cancer, modifies proteins required for blood coagulation, and in the bone and other tissue
          Vitamin C- essential nutrient in all humans, required for many metabolic processes in the human body

Other Benefits
-Kale is rich in many minerals such as copper, potassium, manganese, phosphorus and iron.
-Lowers blood cholesterol levels which reduces risks of heart disease
       
 Don't forget though, too much of something isn't good for you either! People taking anticoagulants (blood thinners) like Warfarin should avoid eating kale because of the high levels of Vitamin K. It also contains naturally occurring substances that can cause an interference in calcium absorption, so avoid eating high amounts of dairy at the same time as Kale.

Despite the potential and rare toxicities of Kale, overall it is an extremely healthy vegetable that everyone should try and include in their diet! My favourite way to eat Kale is as Kale chips. It's very simple and takes about 15-20 mins. Here's my sister's recipe that I use!

recipe for one bundle of kale
Step 1: Chop up Kale (you can even use the ends)
Step 2: Coat kale in olive oil
Step 3: Add 2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice
Step 4: Add salt and pepper
Step 5 (optional): add cayenne pepper, crushed chillie flakes or any other seasoning's you wish to add
Step 6: Bake in oven for 15-20 mins at 350 F

Voila!

They may not look the greatest but I promise they are delicious!

Other great ways to include kale into your diet:
-add them into fruit smoothies (you can't even taste the kale, because the fruits overpower it!)
-add into soup along with some swiss chard
-mix chopped pieces into ground meat when making home made meatballs or burgers (recipe soon to come)

We hope after reading this that you give kale a try and enjoy it! Let us know how you incorporated kale into your diet!

Melodies & Sound... [Part III]

So a while back J gave you some of her musical favorites, now it's my turn to bring you some of my favorite musical gems. Enjoy!! 

Blind Pilot- Half Moon

Born Ruffians- 6 5000

Broken Social Scene- 7/4

Coldplay- Ink

Hunter Hunted- Keep Together

Rooney- When Did Your Heart Go Missing

Local Natives- Sun Hands

Lord Huron- Ends of The Earth

The Lumineers- Submarines

The Sam Roberts Band- Bridge to Nowhere

The Weeknd- Wicked Games

Young the Giant- Anagram

Imagine Dragons- Rocks

Blind Pilot- We Are The Tide

Vampire Weekend- Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Drake- Trophies

Matt & Kim- Daylight

Of Monsters And Men- Dirty Paws

John Mayer- Wildfire

Ben Howard- Keep Your Head Up

Don't fret I've got more coming! Stay tuned...   xoxo C

Festively Floral DIY

       It's that time of year when the weather is beautiful, and almost every weekend there seems to be a different festival; Whether it be for music, food, art, or a celebration of cultures- what's the cutest accessory to wear? Floral Crowns of course!

*Photos courtesy of the worldwide web*



     A perfect statement piece to an otherwise "normal" outfit, sadly, it's not easy to find a reasonably priced AND well-made floral crown. So we went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of cute artificial flowers to make some of our own.

     C embarked on a solo design mission, while J made it a group activity with two of her younger sisters (K & G). We used two different approaches, but centered around the same core materials. Check out our tutorials below...

C's Crown Tutorial

What you'll need:

Step 1:  Take one of the long stem flowers and wrap it around your head to get the perfect size for your crown (this will be the base of your crown)

Step 2:  Once you've decided on the size use a clear stretchy string to wrap around the two parts you are connecting. (you will need to wrap it around a couple times before you tie a knot)

Step 3:  Use a hot glue gun around the parts of the stem you joined together for added support

Step 4:  Wrap the excess flowers sticking out by going under and over the base of your crown

Step 5:  Glue gun the two branches together as you wrap it around so it stays

Step 6:  Cut off any branches sticking out

Step 7:  Stick any other remaining flowers (or pick off smaller flowers from other arrangements) and glue it onto any empty spaces

et Voila! A crown fit for a queen!

J's Crown Tutorial

What you'll need:

Step 1:  Wrap the brown artificial vine around your head once, to measure the length you'll need (ensuring your placement is where you'd want your headband to sit on your head).

Step 2:  Cut vine at the measurement that works for you.

Step 3:  Remove a small fabric leaf from one of the artificial flowers and place vine ends in the middle of the leaf.

Step 4:  Place a small drop of glue where the vine ends meet. Push together.

Step 5:  Now add a little more glue along the inside of the leaf, and wrap tightly around the vine ends, like a burrito.

Step 6:  Once the vine is securely glued together, choose your flowers (simply pull the flower off the plastic stem) and place around your headband to decide on your layout.

Step 7:  Carefully, glue the back of each flower to the headband. (add leaves as you see fit, they can be removed from the stem as well)

Step 8:  If you want to add a little green, you can wrap the extra plastic vine around your headband and cut off any excess.

Now you have a floral crown to bring out your natural beauty!

If you loved our tutorials, have questions/comments, or have floral-crowned yourself already... please tweet us @FashionTMH.
As always, we love to hear from you.

Blue Ombre Nails