That Quarantine Life Pt. 2

June 11, 2020Leave a comment

First things first – BLACK LIVES MATTER.

If I did not use my platform, humble as it is, to speak this truth I would not be able to ramble on about the musings of skincare, my family, or Little Debbie Zebra Cakes. I think we can all take the time to listen, open our hearts and our minds, educate ourselves and fight for justice.

We went down to a day-time peaceful protest in Tualatin a week or so ago to show our support. I understand that this topic and everything surrounding it is controversial and personal. It was the first time myself or David had done anything like that before. For us, it was incredible. Moving, sad, thought-provoking, just…good stuff.

And now, onto the ~~sh*t~~ show.

Things have been interesting around here. Like the rest of the world, I too have been experiencing life in a new way. And in the interest of brutal honesty, I switched medications and that has helped IMMENSELY. To any of my anxious and/or depressed friends out there, please consider therapy and medication if you have not done so already. What a game changer.

The quick and dirty of the past month – Both David and I are still working from home. School is now over (as of yesterday) and Clara is nearly 18 months old! Here’s the happs –

Just because it’s the time of the COVID does not mean I have to let cute clothes for Clara go to waste. Case in point:

Her shoes!

The June weather has been, in a word, shittay. It has only been hot enough for the wading pool one or two times. But guys, I have hope.

So much hope that I ordered them these:

The crappy weather has not kept us inside. E has become a bike-riding fiend and quite literally stays out all day riding around with friends, and sometimes her baby sis.

We even happened upon a drive-by birthday party with an alpaca. And now the bar has been set.

Our time indoors has also not completely gone down the toilet. Well…not literally. Figuratively? Maybe.

For instance…

And…

Ok, there have been some cute moments…

As for me? Well, I think I sprained my toe. And DON’T come for my long-ass second toe. It’s a sign of intelligence. FIGHT ME. It also means it’s the first toe to get stubbed.

I also caved and ordered myself a matching tie-dye “set” ala errrr girl on TikTok (btw follow me @nataliekmichaelis). It has not arrived yet, but here is the one I ordered (I got shorts instead of sweats). I am pretty psyched.

I also decided to take FULL advantage of my quarantine grow-out and baby bangs and achieve my ultimate 7th hair goalz.

If your 7th grade self is also jealous of this style, its time for a night cream. AMIRIGHT!?

In culinary arts, things have gotten pretty exciting around here.

I squealed when David came home from the grocery store with this. Loudly.

We got a Crumbl Cookie near us! Another squeal.

We behaved ourselves and only got two.

This is Buckeye Brownie and Churro.

They weigh like 8 pounds each and are sooooo good. I mean, crazy good.

Lastly, I got another voxbox from my good pals at Influenster with the some goodies, including this Gold Bond Neck & Chest Age Defense Cream.

Pretty excited about this stuff. Such a neglected area for me! Btw, if you do not have an Influenster account and have a decent following on social media (Facebook, especially) – consider signing up. You get free things, no strings attached. It is amazing.

Happenings

August 17, 2015August 14, 2015Leave a comment

Hellllllo my little limoncellos!

Like. HOW good does limoncello sound rn? So good.

I have literally had the busiest BWG summer everrrr. Babies, weddings, showers and the like have kept me in the car every weekend and I don’t know how much more Redbull I can take. I’ve tried books on tape, singing intense power ballads, rolling all the windows down, pinching and slapping myself – nothing works except Redbull. I’m disgusted with myself, but alas, a girls gotta stay awake!

In beauty news – I bought hot rollers due to a lovely co-worker of mine (Hi Kristi!) loving hers but I am having some major issues with getting mine to hold a decent curl.

YEP

Additionally, I FINALLY got to try the Glam Glow mask a couple weeks ago when my pal Elizabeth let me try it out. And canijustsay, I TOTALLY get why people shell out 75 bones for this stuff because my face was literally beaming and I was the most beautiful person in the world.

Lastly, I tried to perform my own root touch-up with this stuff, and I think I did a pretty decent job:

One of my recent trips took me to lovely Spokane, Washington for my best friend Holly’s bachelorette party. Anytime spent with these hussies is time well spent.

Had to snap a pic of the Alma Mater!

Dinner at Durkins!

This happened

Crab Cakes!

Sis Pic

Me and Peeves

I’ve also been busy experiencing all that Portland has to offer, including but not limited to:

SOCCER GAMES!

TRIVIA NIGHT!

DOG PARKS WITH ZOE AND ELIZABETH!

PAINTING MY OWN FACE LIKE A GD 7-YEAR OLD

RUNNING DOWN THE STREET FOR 5 SONGS

And lastly, food news! Lately, my food intake has been ON POINT.

Dinner

My trash can at work at the end of most days

ok, actually I did eat two healthy things this month –

Homemade granola – Thanks Jamie!

Coconut water force fed to me by Holly

Annnnnd, that’s all ~~she~~ I wrote. Cripes it’s going to September soon – you guys ready?!

Macaron Cafe Review

July 1, 20152 Comments

Bonjour bébés!

YES. I took this pic myself!!

Today I bring you a post all about one of my most favorite confections – the macaron!

Macarons are my favorite for a multitude of reasons:

They are French
They are undeniably sweet
They come in pastel colors
Blair Waldof eats them

So when the kind folks at Macaron Cafe offered to send me a box, I felt I would be doing human-kind (aka my blog readers) a disservice by NOT accepting their generous offer. And so I did. And man, am I glad!

The macarons were sent 2-day delivery, so they arrived very fresh and aromatic. The packaging is beyond adorable and is also very sleek.

I was sent the Small Luxury Gift Box which includes 6 macarons for $18. When you order on the website you can choose from about 24 flavors. I do not know the exact flavors I was sent, but I enjoyed each one immensely.

They were the kind of macarons my Parisian dreams are made of. A crisp exterior, pillowy soft on the inside and filled with a sweet, delectable cream. Ohhhh I could srsly eat these puppies morning noon and night you guys.

Also, there is something about a macaron that is just SO lady-like and delicate. I feel like these would make the perfect gift for a girly-girl, a Gossip Girl fan or anyone you want to feel special. Chocolates are like soooooooo been-there-done-that but macarons??! Macarons my friends, are the new chocolate.

These make me want to light my candles, throw on “French Kiss” and wear a beret while taking a bubble bath and sipping champagne.

I would recommend Macaron Cafe to absolutely anyone. Be it your GF, wife, husband, gunkle or Canadian pen pal (yes, they ship to Canada!).

Spring Weekends

May 11, 2015Leave a comment

Hey baes.

I thought a weekend post was long overdue as lately the ends to my week have been moderately noteworthy. moderately.

First and foremost, you may remember that Sister Meg is having a baby and recently we found out (as I so maturely put it) “if it had a hoo-haw or a ding-a-ling”. Welp. It’s a ding-a-ling and he will be my little gentleman! I plan to teach him everything a guy should know, including but not limited to:

The right kinds of compliments to give (tall) girls, I.E “you look so cute and tiny!”, “you are svelte”, etc.
NEVER wear overalls, bulky turtleneck sweaters, or Timberland boots (unless you’re a construction worker)
Always smell good, but not too good. Half a spray of YSL L’Homme’ll do ya.

She already purchased the first official outfit and I gotta say, the girl has taste:

Second, Bry and I barbequed. In 80-degree sunshine. In shorts and tanks. The giddiness was real and so of course I wore my signature trashy tank.

nm my scraggly, ragamuffin hair

KC, Bryan’s older bro came to visit for a quick ski trip up (and down) Mt. Hood. They did great and came home ready for some dinner. I decided to do “Coachella eyes” that night, which basically consists of slapping 50 different bronzey eyeshadows on and smoking them out HARD. You like??

We went to Serratto and ordered a trough of food and promptly inhaled all of it. This s’mores dessert concoction was to-die. I MEAN. Just take a gander at that torched marshmallow!

The next day we had an amazing breakie and the men went climbing at Planet Granite which means that KC now is involved in 24,232 different EXTREME sports.

I went on a ~~pathetic excuse for a~~ run and I am happy to report I lived. It was touch and go there for a second though.

We then ventured over to NW 23rd and had a brunch consisting solely of burgers. And wine. And beer. Glorious beer. KC needs to come every weekend :).

I then somehow wandered into Mac and tried on hot coral lipstick because, really – why wouldn’t I? I didn’t get it but the gals at Blush Beauty Bar told me they loved it. I did however buy 2 little bath things from Lush!

That same weekend, my little sister Amy and her beautiful fiance Shannon came to visit with Shannon’s Maid of Honor, Christina in tow. We met for dinner on Thursday night and then Friday night it was ON. I felt so cool you guys. Just normal 31-year-old me, OUT ON THE TOWN. I fully gussied m’self and went over to their hotel to help with Amy’s makeup application and a little pre-funking. We went to a couple of gay bars around Portland and I danced in the middle of the dance floor alone #whatdidyouexpect.

No, i am not grabbing her boob.

Then, a handsome young gay with AMAZING eyebrows came up next to me:

Me: “You’re eyebrows are on fleeek my man!”

Him: “I’m buyin’ you a drink!”

Instant BFFs.

Lastly, I have been in dress/skirt mode and also a floral/peach mode.

Plz ignore the hot pink sports bra

Full post on the Jamberries coming soon!

Mt. Bachelor/Bend, OR Weekend Trip

February 1, 2015Leave a comment

Yo yo yo!

To kick off the new year, Bry and I decided to plan a mini-holiday ski vacay to Mt. Bachelor and here are the highlights.

We left around 10 am on Saturday morning and immediately encountered heavy monsoon-ish rain. I always feel bad when we do a road trip with horrible weather. Bryan always drives, grimacing and white-knuckling at the wheel, while I sit comfortably in the passenger side, seat-heater on high, with my pillow + blanket and usually a Starbucks. This time around, I had my new iPhone 6 (I am sooooo cool you guys) and new tablet! Of course I am addicted to a new show, The Walking Dead… anyone else? So I have my little earbuds in, warm and entertained by zombies, while Bry gets us safely to our destination with only minimal complaints – what a guy!

We arrived in Bend and stopped for lunch at Deschutes which was packed. We ordered soft pretzels because, duh – and I actually ordered a beer! I felt like a true Oregonian, drinking my craft brew in distressed denim. All I was missing was a forearm tattoo and flannel.

After lunch, we wandered around the town of Bend, making a couple pit-stops at Patagonia (or Patagooch as Bry and I say), Savory Spice and a store for real cowgirls called Desperado where I found some GEMS.

Baby Patagonia

$14K Swarovski Mirror

We checked into our room at Sunriver Lodge around 4 pm, cracked open a couple of beers, flipped on the fireplace and then headed out to the hot tub. That night we went to dinner at Zydeco and split the Swordfish with a side of truffle mac and cheese. It was incredibly delicious and the ambiance was great too.

The next day we woke up early and went to the little coffee shop in Sunriver Village, called Brewed Awakenings.

After that, we picked up some supplies for the upcoming Seahawks game and mentally prepared. And WHAT A GAME. I died. Then I came back from the dead. Then I died again. Too much Walking Dead perhaps? It was like nothing I’ve seen before.

First half

Right after THE WIN

After the game I started feeling sick and Bryan had been fighting a cold for over a week so…we did not ski the next day. We had all our gear and everything, but we simply opted out. It was sad, but Bryan is taking an avalanche training class this weekend so we wanted to make sure he would feel good enough to go to that (4 straight days on Mt.Hood in a yurt – ick).

Before heading out of town on Monday, we stopped at McKay’s Cottage for breakfast. It was super busy and for very good reason. During our 15 minute wait, we had complimentary coffee and coffee cake bites which were scrumptious. For breakfast, Bry ordered the Smith Rock Benny which was Applewood smoked bacon, fresh spinach, tomatoes & roasted red peppers with poached eggs on grilled focaccia topped with hollandaise sauce. I got pumpkin pancakes, which tasted MAJESTY.

The drive home was much less eventful and we got home in plenty of time for a couple loads of laundry and dinner. All in all, a wonderful weekend in the PacNW!

Christmas 2014 Re-Cap

January 6, 2015January 6, 20151 Comment

yyyyello!

Miss me? I’m sure ya did!

Shoulder Padzz

I’d love to tell you that my absence was due to a brief volunteering stint in Africa, or that I was cleaning up our entire house with eco-friendly products. Heck, I’d settle for a debilitating injury. But the truth is…I’ve been lazy. The shameful kind. The just-one-more-episode-of-Gilmore Girls kind . The mmm-this-pirate’s booty-is-GOOD kind.

You get it.

But I’m back and I’m here to stay. It’s a New Year afterall and hopefully an eventful one for me and the huz-cat. We’ve got some trips lined up (one to FRANCE) and a new-found affinity for hummus so LET’S GO!

Our 2014 Christmas was great. We kicked it off by leaving the afternoon of the 23rd after we were both off work. Oh yeah, I got a JOB. It’s amazing isn’t it? Go me. Anyweez, we got home and after a million kisses from McDoogal and some dinner, we hit the hay in preparation for yours truly’s birthday! I’m officially “in my thirties” now and I find it both disgusting and liberating at the same time. Go fig.

My birthday kicked off with a trip to IHOP, because, duh. I have NEVER been to IHOP and, well, I suddenly had the urge to order a stack of 500-calorie pancakes. So we went. Check out the array of syrups! Buddy the Elf would have been in heaven.

After breakfast and a little walk, Nan and I decided to get our nails done. It was there, at the nail salon, where we discovered a new show that had us both on the edge of our seats (literally). Blacklist. Anyone a fan? The 20-something sweet boy who was doing my nails said it was his favorite and he kept telling me what was about to happen. I was thinking “SHUT UP!” but his enthusiasm was just too presh.

Of course we attended the 6 o’clock mass that night where my Dad played a little clarinet and sax. Father Richard was en pointe this year and the homily was actually uplifting – WIN! After church we all went over to Megan and Ben’s for my birthday party.

We had crab, crab cakes (Ben made them and they were so good!), manicotti and one of Rachel’s famous cakes. She did a funfetti cake for me with MACARONS on top!! Does this girl know me, or DOES SHE KNOW ME?

The next morning was Christmas! And true to Danielson form, things were a bit wonky. Sister Amy and her fiancé weren’t able to drive over until later that day and Sister Megan had her new family to celebrate with. That left Bry and I to fend for ourselves. So we did what anyone would do in our situation – we went to see the Hobbit! IN 3-D! It was SO amazing to watch in 3-D but the movie itself? Mehhh.

After the movie we came home and helped my mom with a few last minute touches on the ol’ Christmas ham and then Amy and Shannon arrived! They brought with them one of their many fur babies, Ellie. Or as I like to call her, Elle Belle.

Guys, I seriously fell in love with this dog in a matter of minutes. She is the sweetest, liveliest little baby ever and I want her. My grandparents came over at that point and it was positively ADORBS to watch them interact with little Ellie. My heart melted into a gigantic pool of love.

We had dinner then opened presents and it was a magical evening. Except I got a Downton Abbey puzzle for Nan and discovered she already had one..asjnasdoinwnNL!98324joa. whatevs. I LOVE Christmas.

Oh, Gare

The next day Bry ventured back to Seattle to spend a little QT with his bro before he left on a trip to Thailand. I stayed back in Kennewick to spend some time with m’girls and yes, Ellie absolutely had something to do with it. We went to lunch, shopped (BBW was a MADHOUSE) and played cards – it was a good day.

On Saturday, Meg, Nan and I drove over to Seattle so they could see my Aunt & Uncle and I could do a little Christmas with the Nash clan. Did I mention how much I love love LOVE being a part of this family!? We opened more gifts, drank champs and got ready to head out for dinner.

Maxamilien is a Nash tradish and one I am proud to help uphold. It wasn’t the same without Bryan’s brother KC, but we had no problem putting down some steak with truffle fries and a bottle of wine!

The next morning we begrudgingly said goodbye to our fair state and drove back to Portland. Our NYE was very uneventful, with a couple glasses of champs and lights-out at 9 BUT New Years Day was a blast!

We went skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows and I actually did decent for my first time back. Yes, I felt like my legs were filled with boiling acid, but all in all, it wasn’t too shabby.

Here’s to 2015!!

Palm Desert Trip

October 22, 20141 Comment

Hey friends!

Bry and I are back from our amazing 8-day holiday in Palm Desert!

And YOU GUYS. I played tennis. Like, for real. And I only hit one ball into a cactus garden. I feel very successful. Maybe I should start tweeting the Williams girls or Anna K or someone!?

We left early mornin two Saturdays ago and made it into Palm Springs around 4:30 pm. After we picked up a SASSY rental car we headed to Ralph’s for groceries. Our room had a pretty nice-sized kitchenette so we filled our cart and headed for our hotel.

We pulled in at the Westin Desert Villas and after checking in we sat down to a great dinner at the hotel restaurant, Agave. The hotel continued to amaze us all week, with really friendly staff, beautiful pools and delicious food+drinks. YAY.

Lots of our trip was spent laying by the pool, playing tennis, grilling burgers and watching Below Deck on Bravo (SO good). I also brought along the Steve Jobs book, by Walter Issacson and devoured the whole thing in 7 days. What a guy. An a-hole, yes. But a genius, and now I want a Mac laptop…

Flank Steak!

Highlinghts from our trip include firstly, a jaunt up to the top of Palm Desert’s popular (rotating) aerial tram. We decided to do a 5-mile loop once we got to the top and I am happy to report that I actually went FASTER than Bryan. I was SO Legolas. Also, we passed a troop of Army guys on the trail in full gear so baaaasically I think that makes me a Marine. Green beret.

image (4)

After our hike we did what any Californian would do.

We also drove the hour or so over to Joshua Tree! Unfortunately my allergies decided to flare up HARD so I was a complete mess the whole time we were there. I could only manage a quick 2-mile hike but lemme tell ya – it was absolutely beautiful. It’s amazing in a way that words cannot describe. The trees and plant-life are very Dr. Suessy which was completely fascinating too. Josh Tree, two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Feelin like crap

After two days of wilderness adventure I decided it was high time I drag Bryan along for a taste of MY kindof fun. The OUTLET MALL. Palm Desert’s Desert Hills Outlets were the ticket. The place is absolutely enourmous and a bit palatial. Plus, it’s a designer outlet mall so it had the big boys. Prada, Alexander McQueen, Carolina Herrara, Gucci – I was dyyyyying. The most exciting (for me) shops were Nieman Marcus Last Call, Barney’s Outlet, Saks Off 5th, Tory Burch, J.Crew Outlet and of course The Cosmetics Company.

I ended up with a couple things from J.Crew and 1 Mac Mineralized blush from The Cosmetics Company. Bry was a sport and studied for an upcoming exam he has to take for work at Starbucks. But you guys, I could have spent ALL DAY at this place.

We had some delicious meals and ended up utilizing the BBQ at our hotel 3 nights too. I learned to swim underwater kindof and do a tennis serve. Bryan learned that sunblock should always go on the back of your neck and why the clearance rack at Barney’s Outlet is something to squeal over.

All in all, an educational and wonderful desert holiday!