Cool as a Cucumber

Forget overpriced products that have probably been marked up about 60%, why not soothe your damaged dreads at home? Here are some recipes that I've rounded up (comments will follow on how successful they all were soon) OR you can let me know if you beat me to the punch as I am going to try and show some self control by spreading these out.

1) Ingredient: tomatoes

Yes, It works for skunks but apparently this Ph fighting kitchen favorite can counter other, er, more common smells. If you spent too much time swimming and your hair is full of chlorine then maybe a can of tomato juice or sauce will clear out the smell and guess what? restore your shiny natural hair color too! (don't judge my enthusiasm)

2) Ingredient: eggs

Thank god I haven't had to deal with this since middle school but eggs might be your quick, home made solution to dandruff. (yay protein shien and no flakes, its practically garnier)

3) Ingredient: honey & olive oil

Now, I'm usually the kind of girl that needs a specific result but I just like the idea of mixing these two ingredients (not to mention I have an abundance of both in the house). We'll see how this turns out but my prediction is that I will have shiny hair.

I found an extra bit of info on the internets claiming that greasy hair was a result of overbrushing and I can buy that. As a sidenote this really reminds me of the time I had my make up done at the mall (yes...I know I was that girl) and I was told that my not drinking enough water was tricking my skin into being oily because it was thirsty and overcompensating. If its possible for my skin to overcompensate, I bet the same is possible for hair. Just some food for though....or maybe hair, you be the judge.

Hairy Business

No matter what you do you can't get those fly-aways to sit just right and your $8 box of hair dye left you in wanting to crawl into a hole. You're having a really bad hair day. Whether your genes have you looking like an ape or a naked mole rat, we all have hairy issues to deal with every now and then. In fact, Kim Kardashian just declared in the September issue of Allure that her entire body is hairless thanks to laser hair removal. In honor of a pesky evolutionary trait that, despite a multi-billion dollar industry, we're never quite satisfied this week we're delving into the world of: hair

A Cake, Cake

Since being home with my family I have two new and lovely things to share: 

First: My mom and I made a banana chocolate chip walnut bread using THE most bizarre mold: a CAKE mold. I have never seen one of these and thought they fit in our bizarre, practically undefined theme.

Second: (note these will have their own picture post to come) My sister recently back from her internship in Paris. We grew up there but she got to spend the summer going back for a medical thing of some sort and brought me a back (through my best friend's mom) a bagful of macarons. People here often ask me if what I meant to say was macaroons so I thought I'd whip up some picks of the "real" macarons...well to me anyways.

- Deborah

Places where the illegal isn't

I was underwhelmed when my friend Ted (who is working on a hip hop documentary) dragged me along to see some graffiti. As I explained, very eloquently I might add, "I can see graffiti outside my place in Brooklyn". Turns out this is a mecca for graffiti lovers that I would never have stumbled across. Right outside the 45 court sq stop in Queens is a block sized area called 5 PTZ. Despite the fact that tagging is still illegal, people that believed and loved the art of it started looking for a place to do it anyways and this was it. From the 80's on, this building/block has turned into a sort of tourist site/monument/living and evolving art piece. Granted you usually can't take pics of people working and there is serious application process for artists that want to display their art. 

 

So long story short we randomly ran into different groups of French break dancers and watched a dance off between them and some local New Yorkers. Here are some pics, let me know if it whelms you to go, just where a mask...some of those fumes are INtense.

 

-Deborah

The Week of Nonexistence

Last week we disappeared because we are irresponsible and terrible people. This week I am going home to visit my family in Tejas which means that I am going to be abandoned on a lone island of despair. That despairs however comes fully equipped with A/C, cable and home cooked food. Despite this we're going to throw up a few misc. post on things that don't exist. I promise we will be up and functioning like normal human beings soon.

-Deborah

Bring on the Brain Freeze

T

Nothing captures the taste of childhood summers quite like a slushie from a street vendor. From mango to orange there's a flavor for everyone. I opted for the classics: lime, blue raspberry, and cherry.

- Kait

Pop-a-holic

I can officially think of something better to dip then dots...popsicles! Kait and I stumbled in on this NY snack gem on our journey out last weekend and despite not letting Reuben (one of the owners of Pop-Bar) know we were writing a post at all, he was quite possibly one of the friendliest people we had ever met.

Not only did we get our pictures snapped for the wall (yes, that is your cue to go look for our pic) BUT we each customized our own popsicle. I had a fruit based one: strawberry (no added sugar) and dipped in dark chocolate. Kait had a chocolate gelato dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in hazelnuts.

Reuben gave us a backstage peek at one of the newest hotspots, er, coolspots for the summer:


Where are you from originally (a little history on the operation) and what made you set up in NY?
"I am originally from Italy, born and raised, although I moved to NY over 14 years ago. My partner Daniel is also from Europe (Germany) but moved here at the same time as me. We feel 100% New Yorkers and we wouldn't have opened our first location anywhere else.... so we brought a little bit of Italy here."


What is your favorite flavor? Are you going to be launching any new flavors or toppings?
"We currently have around 30 flavors, 22 to 25 in the display at all times. We are working on launching new flavors, some such as Blood Orange and Mandarin were already soft launched with good results."


"My favorite flavor changes by day, for popSorbettos I usually go with a classic Strawberry half dipped into dark chocolate. For popGelato I have no preferences, although our Gianduia (an Italian blend of Hazelnut and Chocolate) is ranked very high in my personal list, especially when covered with fresh chopped hazelnuts"



Psst...do you have any upcoming promotions we could share with our readers?
"Stay tuned for a special promotion on August 4th, which marks our 3 month birthday. All I can say for now is we will have some freebies...stay tuned on our Facebook page!"

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us? (your secret?)
"I think the success we had in these few short months has to do with a couple of factors. The customer is definitely attracted by our colorful, unique display...but if popbar wouldn't taste good then we wouldn't see repeat customers, especially in a city like New York. The real secret is that our Gelato tastes good because it's made only with fresh, natural ingredients. Not many could claim to make their gelato on the spot on a daily basis, without using any artificial flavoring. Taste and freshness still go a long way!"

Now just for fun here are some pictures we got from pop-bar so you can get an idea of what you can custom make on your own!

individual shots: popbar, display shots:michael tulipan

individual shots: popbar,
display shots:michael tulipan

individual shots: popbar,
display shots:michael tulipan

'

And last but not least visit pop-bar or their facebook page for all the juicy deets

- Deborah


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