husband tested, wife approved: harry's razors

we got crazy up in here. husband and i are doing a little switcheroo of sorts. he is having a go at this whole blogging thing and i am taking on the whole relaxing thing. let's see where this takes us....

husband here... writing my first blog post for pretty preened. i take this as an honor and privilege to share an amazing find with any and all of the gentlemen out there. ladies, feel free to share this post with the men in your life. better yet, give a shave...and give the gift of harry's. they will love you even more after their first swipe.

as you may have surmised from my last sentence, i am talking about a company that specializes in shaving accessories called harry's. perhaps you hip young cats have heard of a little company called warby parker. well they aren't just helping you to see and look better for poco dinero...they've branched out to whisking away those whiskers as well. jackpot.

as a fella that's always looking to be well groomed at a fair price, harry's is helping me to do just that. while a 12 pack of my gillette fusion cartridges cost about $35...i'm now getting a better blade at $25 for a 16 pack. i'm 5 shaves in and the blade is still going strong. score. one. for. my. pocket. and. face. 

harry's isn't just razors gents. they have stylish handles as well as shave cream. i started with a set called the truman. for a cool 15 washingtons i got a handle, 3 razors and an 8 oz bottle of shave cream. oh did i mention that they also have donate a shave program? not too shabby harry's. not too shabby indeed.

if you want to take a peek or dive right in, check out www.harrys.com. 

husband. out.

p.p.s..this is not a sponsored post.

vegan >> green smoothie

husband and i have been on smoothie kick since our august of 2012 return from our gluttonous honeymoon in turkey. we needed to detox and reboot our systems-- spinach smoothies were our answer. after numerous changes to ingredients, i finally settled on my go to recipe which i have outlined below. not only is this smoothie packed full of nutrients, it has enough protein to keep me going until lunch. i can't tell you enough how tasty this is....don't let the spinach or vegan aspect deter you. it is delish and so, so healthy. 

>> green smoothie <<

ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup frozen peaches
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp natural, low-sodium peanut butter
• 3-4 large handfuls of washed, fresh spinach
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 1/4-1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

instructions

layer the first four ingredients into the blender or smoothie maker as shown in the second picture below >> frozen peaches, banana, peanut butter and topped with as much spinach as you can jam in there. next, pour the orange juice and almond milk over these ingredients.  cover and blend until smooth.

we currently use a blender that is about 100 years old after our smoothie maker went kaput a few months ago. the white contraption you see alongside the blender in the second picture below is part of the smoothie maker.  we use it in our blender to stir the ingredients as we are blending...it fits perfectly in the top hole of our blender cover.  you could also use a spatula or wooden spoon of sorts to push the spinach down to make sure all your ingredients are blended.  just make sure the blender is off when you do this! someone in this house may or may not have ended up with extra plastic in his smoothie at one point.

husband uses this recipe but adds 2 large spoonfuls plain greek yogurt and 1 tbsp. low sugar chocolate protein powder to the mix. he likes his protein.

enjoy and please feel free to pin away and share with your friends and family. popeye would be proud!

new year, new nails

nail color: essie glamour purse / metallic bronze sharpie

let us get things straight, right off the bat. i am not. a. nail. person. i have maybeeee had two professional manicures in my lifetime and not one of them included fancy design or tips of any sort. one trip to the manicurist for nail purposes was on my wedding day and another time for someone else's big day. i have never clipped my cuticles (which is blatantly obvious if you take a close look at these pictures...you probably shouldn't do that) and typically stick with run of the mill short nails with a coat of polish maybe once a month or so. however, being sick in bed for the past few days got me itching to attempt something new and give this whole nail art thing a shot. it is all the rage these days. i really don't know how people do this or even this to their own nails. i have a hard enough time putting polish on my right hand.

i opted for a beginner's route with the use of a metallic sharpie. metallic sharpies are my new best friends and you will soon see that i have found other uses for them as well. stayed tuned for that on another day. as for the "how-to" for the beginner nail art, here is what i did-- 

>> first i painted two coats of the essie glamour purse nail color and let dry for a few hours.  i wanted to make sure the pressure from the marker wouldn't put indents in the nail color  >> next i created the polka dot pattern on all ten nails (see pics below) with the bronze metallic sharpie  >> i was unsatisfied with the results so i simply used water and a tissue to wipe off the marker and start again >> my next challenge was the chevron pattern which i drew free hand >> i was much more satisfied with the results (primarily on the left hand, pictured above)  >> lastly, i made sure to preserve my "art" by putting a clear top coat over the nails  >> volià, there you have it

husband and i had a good laugh trying to incorporate the nail art into a photo opp.  he and i both know that hand modeling is not and will never be in my future. the 50 or so photos we took to try and get a decent shot proves it and i don't even know we were successful with that.

happy painting all you pretty hand picassos.