So here we are, we've graduated from college, "paid our dues" in the work force and those images we carried throughout our teen and college years of spending our twenties sipping champagne wearing Chanel and Marc Jacobs have given way to reality which is that if we are drinking champagne its a bottle $5 Cooks and we will use the change to pick up some PB and J at the store so that we can eat for the next two weeks. This is your twenties and these are our opinions on how to survive or at least laugh your way through it.
any questions, comments or suggestions email us at champagneandpeanuts@gmail.com
This book is going to be genius. If you’ve never seen her on the city or the hills it shouldn’t take more than the title of this book to make you realize Kelly Cutrone is probably one of the few no nonsense people out there. I’d be surprised if her company even had an hr department. Anyways I can’t wait to read this or see her new Bravo show Kell on earth
This week we recommend going out and picking up a bottle or two or three of Cooks Champagne. With their regular sized bottles going at about $7 and their giant almost gallon sized bottles at $12-$15 you really can’t beat it.
And as always for those who love wine please visit http://www.conwayfamilywines.com/ to order a case of delicious California vino.
Or Grab yourself a case of Harpoon…And keep an eye out for Harpoons new year round beer a Belgian Pale Ale that was created by our favorite Harpoon Brewer Pooch coming to you in March!!http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/lifestyle/food_and_dining/x1530315195/The-Beer-Nut-Anticipating-New-Englands-finest-new-beers
According to an article in today’s Daily Mail UK the coveted anti-aging cream Crème de la Mer priced at about $865 US (although in my area it goes for about $925) only 5% of that is what the ingredients themselves cost, about $65. So whats the other $800 paying for? What makes this coveted cream so special? According to the researcher:
‘This is a variation on a basic water-in-oil formula,’ says Will. ‘What I’ve done is, of course, only an estimate. To give the benefit of the doubt, I’ve been very generous in my pricing of the sea kelp, which is the main ingredient.
‘Ultimately, of course, only the manufacturers know exactly what the recipe is, and how much their ingredients cost.’
The creators of this “miracle” cream Estee Lauder said that their formula was discovered by an aerospace physicist Dr. Max Huber. He created the formula after receiving bad burns to his face and hands and wanted to find a way to reduce his scarring. While the idea of adding oils and minerals to a cream back in the 70’s when it was first created may have seemed revolutionary but in 2010 that idea is fairly commonplace in creams found in the local drugstore. So why exactly is this cream so astronomicly expensive? Some suggest that Estee Lauder is just trying to trick the market, by making it so expensive it creates a desire of exclusivity that it can fulfill. Others say that Crème de la Mer uses only the finest ingredients stating:
La Mer uses nothing but ‘superb quality ingredients, and, in the case of the sea kelp, the cost reflects not only the raw materials but also the costs of helping maintain the ecosystem from which it comes by harvesting sustainably’….La Mer uses a special form of Californian sea kelp that is harvested just twice a year when it is at its most nutrient-rich, then shipped on ice to the Estee Lauder labs on the other side of the U.S., suppliers of skincare ingredients sell bio-fermented sea kelp for around £65 a litre
Regardless, all I know is that it may be expensive but I know plenty of women that have used every day anti aging creams and they don’t have skin nearly as beautiful as Jennifer Lopez or Marcia Cross (admitted users of the product). Now I’m not saying I’m going to go out and purchase myself a tub but I wouldn’t exactly protest if it was given to me…
and finally one of the best love songs ever written…If this doesn’t make you want to be from NJ I don’t know what would…
This video is great becuase I remember this performance when I was in highschool when the boss completely stole the show from Jacob Dylan…it was great. My mother was actually very funny when she saw this and said oh Bruce has a new song out? No mom he is just singing along to a current bands song he’s just better at it…
Living in NJ I felt it was necessary to do an hommage to one of the greatest home town hero’s of all time…here are few videos from the best of the best, The Boss, Mr. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
For those of you living under a rock Project Runway starts it’s new season tonight on Lifetime and they are back in NYC!!! Thank goodness they are because that LA season was not so great. For those of you who loved season 5 winner Leanne here is a link to an article in Time Out NY that takes on a trip into her closet http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/shopping/81985/inside-the-closet-of-project-runways-leanne-marshall Organic fabrics and all she is fantastic!
…now if only bravo would bring back Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style….
Lately I’ve been bored with my workout. I’m fine doing my weight training alternating days of arms (doing curls, kick backs, shoulder presses etc) and legs (squats, lunges, leg press etc) but my cardio routine is just not holding my attention. I typically would “run” on the eliptical (I don’t really consider that running since it mimicks the motion of cross country skiing more than running) for 30-45 minutes but I found myself getting lazy with it and just not really enjoying it. So then I switched to the treadmill. Since I have bad knees I took a tip from Real Simple Magazine and alternated 1 minute walking 1 minute fast walk/jog 1 minute of sprinting and would repeat that cycle for 30 minutes, but even that bored me. I would get tired or just plain sick of it and since I have very little will power at 5:00 am I would stop after doing 15 minutes or so and just move on to something else or call it a day early. Anyways becuase I was so frustrated with my cardio routine and knowing that cardio is really the best way to drop the pounds (weight training will just tone you up so that when said pounds are lost your body is nicely sculpted…or so I’m told) today I decided I’d swim for a half an hour. Instead of doing my cardio first I did it last doing my weight training first followed by a thirty minute swim. Now I used to swim a lot about 10+ years ago but I’m not nearly as good of a swimmer now as I was then. Walking into the pool at my local gym I immediately felt out of place I was clearly the youngest person there which felt somewhat ackward, but I thought I’m here may as well go for it I did what I thought would be a fairly simple work out in the water. 200 meters of freestyle, break for 60 seconds, 200 meters of breast stroke, break for 60 seconds, followed by doing 10 sets of 100 meters of freestyle with a 15-30 second break between each set, with a cool down of 100 meters of breast stroke. 
This took me about 30 minutes. The humbling part of this work out was that regardless of my age every other person in that pool was not only swimming faster but they weren’t NEARLY as out of breath as I was and many of them were doing a much more difficult work out. I just have to remember these things take time and endurance will build back up again. Regardless though I will say swimming is a great source of cardio you can feel it working your arms, back, legs, and core all at the same time. It requires great concentration and also forces you to engage all these muscle groups as if you slack off and say stop kicking you are going to feel it in your arms and vice versa. I’m sore today but I’m better off for it.
As mentioned in a previous post I recieved a manicure on New Years Eve using OPI’s new Gel Nail Polish. Said polish was supposed to last for 3 weeks with no chipping at all. Well needless to say about 7 days after the manicure the chipping started and it didn’t stop. I attempted to remove the polish using regular nail polish remover but it didn’t work…at all, didn’t even look like I put anything on it other than water, regular polish did not affect this stuff. So I called the salon and of course they close at 7 which is well before I get home from work so I asked how to get this garbage off my fingers to which she cheerfully tells me soak you fingers in acetone for 10 minutes and it will come right off. Thankfully I had no hang nails other wise this could have been much more painful. After work I went to Harmons Beauty and picked up some pure acetone. I set the timer in my kitchen and soaked for ten minutes…other than making a chalky white coating my nails the polish wouldn’t come off just by rubbing with a cotton swab or paper towel. So I did what I had to do…I filed the polish off using an emery board. After taking a good amount of it off I soaked my nails in acetone for another 10 minutes only the file the remaining polish off afterwards. my nails are currently scratched up and disgusting not to mention the dryness of my fingers from soaking in chemical that is so strong a drop of it would take the finish off my coffee table.
Please ladies take my advice and learn from my mistake DO NOT get a Gel Polish Manicure!!
YES!! I know it sounds crazy but Baby Powder has many great functions to help ailing hair and it fits right into your peanut butter budget. 
Don’t have the cash to get Oscar Blandi’s Dry Shampoo? Oversleep one morning and don’t have time for a shower? Sprinkle some baby powder along your hair line and roots to absorb the oils and add a slight scent, comb through (add more if all oil is not absorbed) and you’ll get more miles out of blow out and get out the door faster than ever.
No one wants to look like this kid so if you need to tame static in the dry, cold winter? Sprinkle a little baby powder in damp hair before blow drying, comb it through and your tresses will be tame for the rest of the day.
All you blonde’s out there want to bring your color up a few levels? Take a tip from Marilyn Monroe and sprinkle baby powder all throughout your hair to make it blonder than ever before.
