Bossa Nova Style

Food Fun: Kool Aid Popsicles / September has arrived!

By B.Nova - Wednesday, September 04, 2013

September is here! Not only is it the most important months in fashion, it is also my birthday month! My goal is to go post crazy and bring you guys posts across the board from food and fashion to my birthday wish list and a few surprise posts of some things I've done and are planning on doing this month!

But let's kick it off with a great treat in my favorite color!

And as summer begins to wind down, I've snuck in a nice refreshing treat that is tasty and great for the budget! I've been wanting to experiment with popsicles and I found this cute mold on Amazon that makes the popsicles into the shape of a star. These took a total of about 4 hours from start to freezing time but it was well worth it!

Here is what I used. These are very basic ingredients and can be interchanged for other juices, based on what you have:

- Popsicle molds. Here are some similar here.

- Kool Aid or any juice flavor ( I used blue raspberry lemonade - my fav!)

- Sugar

- Pitcher for mixing

- Water (pictured in the next image)

The hardest part of this is picking a flavor to make! I used my normal amount of sugar that I would need for a batch of the drink. Then I added a pinch more just to ensure the popsicles would be sweet. I sampled mine, (go on you know you want to try yours too!) to make sure it tasted just right.

The piece on the stick that goes into the drink will not cause the liquid to rise too much. This also makes sure the stick is submerged into the juice.

Now that they are filled it's off to the freezer.

Into the freezer they go! I let these sit in here for close to 4 hours just to be sure they were completely frozen.

So I had to run just a little bit of water to get it out. Water that was a little warm worked just fine. You don't want it too hot or else you'll have nothing but liquid in your mold!

They turned out amazing! I couldn't eat this fast enough! Making these has already starting leading to other popsicle ideas!

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drinks

Simply Refreshing - Summer Lemonade

By B.Nova - Friday, August 30, 2013

There is nothing like a nice ice cold glass of lemonade. Some people think it's such a chore to make because they either put too much or not enough sugar, too much water, or they don't squeeze enough lemons. I have a fool proof way I make lemonade and it turns out great every time!

Here is what I use to make a full pitcher:

- 2 cups of fresh squeezed lemon juice (this amounted to about 8 regular size lemons, have an extra to slice)

- A large pitcher filled 1/3 of the way with ice

- 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups of sugar, depending on how sweet or sour you like your lemonade, (use 2 cups if you want to keep the sweetness to a minimum)

- 7 cups of water

- A glass to taste

Step 1: Starting with 2 cups, I add the sugar to the pitcher with ice. This will dissolve the sugar quicker once the other liquids are added. I wait to add the remaining sugar because once you put it in, you can't take it out.

Step 2: Add the lemon juice and give it a few stirs.

Step 3: Fill the pitcher with the 7 cups water. Keep in mind that you have ice already in the pitcher that will also melt into the lemonade. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste and add more sugar or water depending on taste. At this point I usually add about 1/2 cup more sugar because I like my lemonade sweeter, but it's all about what you like.

Step 4: Fill up your cup, add a lemon slice & straw. Enjoy your wonderful creation sitting on the deck!

**If you want to make only half of what I made here, a good general rule to making lemonade is proportion. To guarantee a great batch of lemonade use 1 cup of lemon juice to 1 cup of water, and 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water. This makes a fairly sweet lemonade, but the best way to find out what you like, you have to play with the proportions.

Enjoy!

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Fashion

Lady in Red

By B.Nova - Friday, August 30, 2013

Sometimes when you find something you love, you buy more than one. In this case, I found a dress at the Banana Republic outlet that I absolutely loved to the point of buying it in not only black, but red also.The black version of this dress can be seen here.

Check out the red version of this dress below. Since it is a bright color, I had to create a shape on my body so I wouldn't look like a red blob. This is also my first outfit with my Gravity T-Strap heels I bought from Lulu*s which I have to add are extremely comfortable!

|| Dress: Banana Republic | Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters | Necklace: Vintage (courtesy of my mom) | Cardigan: BDG | Quilted Bag: Alloy | Heels: Gravity T-Straps - Dollhouse ||

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outfits

Mixing It Up!

By B.Nova - Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I love to play with different pieces in my closet. Skirts are one item that I find myself constantly trying to find ways to wear because they are probably the one thing in my closet I wear the least. Although I enjoy sewing them, the challenge can be "how can I wear it?" So here is one way I've mixed it up!

|| Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters | Earrings: Claire's | Cut Out denim shirt: Urban Renewal for Urban Outfitters | Belt: Forever 21 | Leaf Print Skirt: Sewn by Me | Heels: Prabal Gurung for Target ||