Docinho Surpresa! (Sweet Surprise!)

Diet Buster Alert! This one is worth it!!

Tonight Alysson and I decided to experiment and make a yummy Brazilian dessert that he used to love as a child. He said the last time he had made it was 15 years ago. It's a traditional treat at birthday parties and family gatherings in his native Bahia, Brazil. It's called Docinho Surpresa, or Sweet Surprise, and it's made of grapes wrapped in a condensed milk candy coating. So delicious! It reminds me of a caramel apple because of the rich sweet outside and the sour and juicy inside that pops in your mouth. Here is the recipe.

What you'll need: Green grapes, 1 can condensed milk and butter.

Pour the condensed milk and butter into a pan and heat up to a low boil. Stir continuously until the mixture becomes thick like caramel. 

Take it off the heat and spread it on a plate or pan and let it cool until it's not too sticky. Put it in the fridge for 10 minutes if you want to hurry up the process.

Grease your hands with butter so the mixture doesn't stick to your hands. (I said Diet Buster!!)

Grab a grape and a spoonful of the condensed milk caramel. Wrap it around the grape and then roll it in your hands until its totally covered and in a nice shaped ball.

Set them up on a dish and let them cool in the fridge.

...And enjoy!

YUM!

Trends & Deadlines

We are in our design cycle for Holiday 08 and working late is the usual to meet our deadlines (It's 10:09pm and I'm finally going home from work!). We've gotten almost all of the drawings done, and today I presented the first delivery of our collection to my bosses- it went really well and they loved everything! Phew! Tomorrow we will finish- hopefully it will go smoothly so we can have a stress free weekend. I thought I would share some of the key trends for the coming year, since it's all fresh in my mind.

*70's inspired shapes: Maxi coats, A-line leather trenches, Faux leopard fur swing coats, high waisted flare leg jeans, Mens inspired tuxedo jackets and pants and sexy printed silk dresses. Just think Sears catalog from '77 as your inspiration. -Oh yeah, the fluffy hair is coming back too ;)

*Color blocking: it's all about mixing bold colors. My favorite combos are neutrals mixed with pop neons, i.e. khaki with bright melon as below pic. Jewel colors and brights will also be important- I'm wearing lots of colored tights lately to try to get out of my Black box!

--How cool is it to colorblock your house??? WAY COOL.

*Mixed Prints! The runway pics seem crazy, but I really like this trend when its done right. You can do mini stripes mixed with plaids or florals, or 2 floral prints in complementary colors. Or do a nuetral print with a bold black and white sandals-like balenciaga on the below right :)

*Sheer Madness. Sheer chiffon pieces are majorrr next year. They are all over the runways- Even sheer pants which is suprisingly cute (I've been looking for a vintage pair from the 50's/70's on ebay!). Seriously. But if you don't want your panties hanging out, try a sheer sleeve or a sheer jacket or trench.

Ok, that's all for now, I'll share more trends forecasts as I get into them. My brain is going to explode so I gotta go home to my sweet Alysson. Wish me luck on presentation round 2 tomorrow! xoxo

Serial Case of the Mondays

Does anyone else get super bummed out when Monday morning rolls around? (I suspect that Sarah shares my dread.. On Monday mornings our daily phone call is spent lamenting over the end of another perfect lazy weekend **And some Road Rage on her end).

I feel strongly that life would be much better for everyone if the weekend was 3 days instead of 2. Saturday is made for brunch and shopping. Sunday is made for sleeping in, sitting on the couch and trying to make it downstairs to the gym. Just imagine the stuff I could get done with an extra day at my disposal.. Errands, grocery shopping, laundry, more movie watching.. [Ok, those are things that normal people probably get done in 2 days, but it's just not working out for me.]
I'm not even close to being productive on Mondays. I sit here staring at the wall wishing I was still on the couch watching democratic debates (new obsesh).. I don't particularly enjoy talking to anyone or answering questions on Mondays. Maybe there is a hat I can wear that says "not today, back away" to softly hint that it might not be the best time to approach me.
Mondays are extremely uninspired, and I have so many colorless thoughts rolling through my head... "maybe i really suck at my job; maybe i should get a NEW job; maybe i should move on to London; i wish i knew how to design something cool like gadgets and furniture; i wish a job existed that was pure fun time all the time, no boring work work.." Oh see how ungrateful I am? It's all Monday's fault!!..
I'm going home now and will start fresh tomorrow. Tuesday is going to be amazing!!! I promise to post a very uplifting and happy blog tomorrow about our plans for 2008! 2008=great xoxoxo

Currently playing: Kylie Minogue "Speakerphone"