Independence Day Cookies

Independence Day! The Fourth of July! Whatever you call it, make sure you celebrate it in style, like all Americans everywhere, eating to your hearts' content.

Try, for instance, this delicious Red, White, and Blue cookie recipe! This is completely my own recipe - so any complaints can be directed here. I haven't played around with it and have only made it once, but I thought it was DELICIOUS.

Anyway... here goes!




Jennifer's Red, White, and Blue Cookies

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 package white chocolate pudding
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tbs. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 scant tsp. of salt (if using salted butter, half this)
• 2 cups white flour
• 1/4 scant cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup of oatmeal (optional - I also blended mine in the food processor to give it a finer texture. I imagine 2 and 1/4 heaping cup of white flour would also do the trick)
• 6 oz dried cranberries
• 4 oz dried blueberries
• 1 package Nestle white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix together both flours, salt, baking soda, and oatmeal and set aside. I blended all mine up together in a food processor to make the oatmeal have a fine texture.
3. Combine butter, sugars, and package of pudding on high speed until completely blended and fluffy. About two minutes on stand mixer.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, until completely blended. Add vanilla and mix.
5. Reduce the speed of mixer and slowly add the flour mixture until just blended.
6. Stir in dried cranberries, blueberries, and white chocolate chips.
7. Scoop by the spoonful onto a nonstick or greased cookie sheet, and bake about 12-15 minutes at 325 degrees.
8. Let cool 5 minutes and enjoy!

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These were insane delicious. I don't normally like white chocolate or dried fruit, especially in my cookies, but altogether these were amazing. Daniel and my mom liked them too!
















I hope you enjoy these and have a very blessed Fourth of July weekend!

Over, off, and out,
Jennifer<3

Make-up Minimalism

I've never been one to cake on the make-up. First of all, I've been blessed with good skin (if only we could work on my thighs!) and have never had an acne problem. Second of all, I'm pale! When pale people wear too much make-up, they either look like goths or clowns! And, third of all, I have light eyes and dark eyelashes. This means that I have really good color contrast around my eyes, and too much make-up would only serve to make it look terrible, and take away from the natural beauty that my mama gave me.

But, I'm still a girl... I have to wear some make-up. I like to ENHANCE, not cover up my features!

So here's my basic summer make-up regimen. You should always try to play up the colors according to the season.

I should note here that I do not have either cool or warm colored skin - no olive or pink tones specifically. My skin has always been kind of a creamy color, even when I got a bit of a tan, it was a neutral color.

First things first, I start with.....

CoverGirl Trublends minerals loose powder in translucent fair, 405. The palest color they have. Minerals are all the rage right now, and I can't afford that expensive stuff on the infomercials! This is $10 at Wal-Mart and lasts about two months.

It's all I wear, no foundation or anything underneath. If you need more coverage, this might not be for you, but if you're into an au natural look as I am, well, here you go. You can barely feel this on your face, except that it makes it smooth and makes your skin look really good - in a natural way! I recommend using a little moisturizer first (and letting it dry) if you have dry skin.


Anyway, I liked the Trublends so much that I....



Also use it for blush! My color? Shimmering sands, 430.

And yes, I use the loose powder here too. Why? Because in my opinion, it makes your skin feel smoother. The ones with the applicators are more expensive, and I think you get more in the loose powders.

It's a little bit more messy, but it's not that bad.... in this day and age, you want your blush to blend into your skin, and not necessarily notice it... you know this 80s girl here. Especially if you're pale like me, you don't want it to be THAT noticeable!



I do like one thing to pop in my make-up regimen - my eyes.


Lashblast mascara, from Cover Girl. I'd always been a tried and true Maybelline Great Lash girl - you know, the pink container with the green lid - until this came out. I tried it, and I'm hooked! My eyelashes are already dark, and have some nice length to them, but aren't very voluminous, and I've always had trouble with clumps too, even with Great Lash. Lashblast to the rescue! This wonderful applicator separates and lifts my lashes, giving my eyes the pop that drives my husband crazy. It makes them look longer simply because they volumize so much.


No lash is left behind with Lashblast!

I use it in very black because no other color shows up on my dark eyelashes, but if you have light eyelashes you should be using brown-black and if you have blonde eyelashes you should be using straight-up brown! Otherwise you'll look like you're dressing up for Halloween!





And, lastly, everyone wants to have a lucious pout, right?



Recently, I've been using Cover Girl Lipslicks in Demure. I've been feeling burnt out from all the teenage-esque lipgloss, but I feel like I look 40 years old wearing straight-up lipstick. Well, Lipslicks is a nice middle ground. Shiny, but not too glossy, gentle color, nice moisturizers, and a good pout.

The only thing I hate about Lipslicks is how it tastes. Blech! It tastes AWFUL. Cover Girl really should look into getting rid of that nasty taste!


I'll be honest and admit I don't use this everyday. Sometimes I wear other various tinted lipglosses that I own. I hardly ever wear lipstick. Sometimes I just wear tinted chapstick, or softlips lip balm. But as far as a neutral color for natural looking make-up goes, the "Demure" color can't be beat.

And I just realized that every single one of these products was from Cover Girl! I promise, I'm NOT getting paid by them nor do they hold a more special part in my heart than any other make-up company! It just happens to be reasonably priced, good quality make-up.

To jazz it up, I might add eyeliner or eyeshadow. To play it down, I honestly sometimes just wear the Trublends loose powder without the blush and one coat of mascara. But this is a good place to start for the make-up minimalist like me.

All in all it takes less than five minutes to apply!

Over, off, and out,
Jennifer