Tuesday, January 7, 2014



Let's just get this out of the way first -- I really love carbs. I also love my green veggies and fruits and try to eat as healthily as possible but I'm not one to shy away from a meal that includes multiple carbohydrates all living happily together in one single dish.

Initially I wanted to make a creamy tomato sauce without using any dairy to make it creamy, and came up with the idea to put a mashed potato in my sauce. It ended up making it more hearty than creamy but it was SO good, I definitely filed this in my "do-again" file.

You need: 1 crate of cherry tomatoes, a few tbsp. olive oil, 4 cloves fresh garlic (minced), 1 tbsp. olivio (or butter), some parsley, one baked potato (mashed), pasta

While your pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil on low heat and add the minced garlic. Cut up the tomatoes into slices (I cut about three slices per tomato) and add them to the pot with the olivio. Let it all simmer on a low heat until the juices from the tomatoes are starting to fill up the pot. Then add the parsley and the potato and stir until it's all well blended. Serve over the pasta and eat up! :)

One of my personal resolutions this year is to cook more often instead of always eating out or eating pre-packaged foods and so far I'm doing really good! I've been having waffles or eggs for breakfast every morning and cooking lunch or dinner every day. Yesterday I used the leftover pasta from this dish (I had some extra that I tossed with olive oil & put in the fridge) and combined it with butter beans and green beans in a skillet, and it was so yummy!

Monday, January 6, 2014

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=509809&u=475551&m=43745&urllink=&afftrack=

Modcloth is having one of their huge massive sales right now! yay! It's perfect timing for me because (I am not even kidding) I was cleaning out my closet last week and found five $20 bills in a coat I haven't worn in a few years. A hundred dollars!!! I don't even usually use cash so I have no clue where it came from. It must have been a gift from the shopping gods, I suppose ;)



A little sneak peek at my bedroom! :)

Right before the new year I re-dyed my hair and it came out so dark! It was one of those really cold icy days and I was still getting over being sick and I was dead-set on dying my hair, so when I saw that I was out of the conditioner I use to dilute the hair dye I thought "oh what the heck" and just applied it as-is. And wow does it come out dark when it's not diluted. It was basically black with an ever-so-slight blue/purple tint. I mean, this photo was taken after it had faded a bit with a few shampoos and it's STILL super dark. Right now it's getting a little closer to what I consider acceptable lightness (ex: if you follow me on instagram you can see what it looks like now, here) but I'm really looking forward to when it fades even more. It's funny, I have naturally dark brown hair and lived with it for 17 years but as soon as I (accidentally or on purpose) end up with a dark hair color now I hate it so much.

If you're curious, I used punky colors in violet. I like it most when it's almost completely faded, and it looks kind of grayish-lilac. When it first goes on, even when I dilute it, it's a little too blue. I bought some punky colors purple and I'm going to try mixing them for my next touch up :) I'm also going for a haircut this week and taking along a photo of Phryne Fisher from Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries -- is anyone else hooked on that show (and her hair?!) I love it! She's like a living flapper doodle!


dress - modcloth | blouse - thrifted | bow - topshop | shoes - c/o bait footwear

Sunday, January 5, 2014

I've really been enjoying reading the comments on the January giveaway post! So many fantastic random acts of kindness -- I get the warm fuzzies every time I approve new comments :) If you have a chance definitely read through some of them, both for ideas and for renewed faith in humanity.

Part of my new kindness resolution includes this new weekly series, kind of like Friday Favorites except everything is related to being kind :) Each post will include a free printable, a happy news story and ideas for random acts of kindness to perform during the upcoming week. Ready? Here we go!





First up, my first free kindness printable! The quote is from the series Derek (if you haven't watched it yet, it's on Netflix and I highly recommend it!) and I just thought it was the absolute perfect one to start with! Kindness really IS magic. You can download a free high-res PDF of my illustration here (just right-click and save!) and it's also in my society6 shop here.



You may have already heard about this but just in case you didn't, it's a pretty awesome news story! One web developer decided to give a homeless man a laptop, 3 textbooks and 1 hour of coding instruction each day for two months. The result? His student is now the proud author of an app that debuted last month. It's a carpooling app and it hit #1 in the travel category after only being in the iTunes app store for five days! Isn't that awesome?! You can read more about them on their Facebook page here.

And some random act of kindness ideas that are super easy and free --

1 - give a compliment to a stranger
2 - leave a positive comment on a blog that you usually only stalk
3 - call your mom and thank her for something
4 - let another car into traffic ahead of you
5 - collect your old towels & donate them to your local animal shelter

If you have any ideas for random acts of kindness (inexpensive or free acts are preferred) let me know in the comments and I'll include them in my next post! :)

Friday, January 3, 2014



2013 was the second year in a row that I kept a "good things" jar. (You can see my 2012 post here.) The idea is really simple -- just keep a jar somewhere in your house and whenever something nice happens, write it down with the date and slip it inside. On New Year's Eve, open your jar and you're reminded of all the pleasant things that happened to you that year!

Some of my big highlights from 2013 included adopting Arrietty (actually that was THE highlight of the year. She's amazing!) meeting Steve Carell, going to Disney World twice, meeting Sarah and Polly, getting my apartment and seeing Niagara Falls. I also wrote down a lot of little happy moments like baking cookies with my family last month, decorating my grandmom's christmas tree, when my dad & I surprised my mom with a gag gift of a year's supply of paper towels for her birthday, the first time that both of my cats snuggled up with me and we all fell asleep together, the first time I successfully made a soufflé (and it was delicious!) The little things are the ones I enjoy reading the most because they're usually the ones that slipped my mind. It's pretty hard to forget that you met your favorite actor or that you adopted the sweetest little cat on the planet, you know?

I already started my 2014 jar! If you haven't tried this before I definitely recommend it. I don't know if it really comes across here, but I struggle with being a naturally glass-half-empty sort of person and things like this definitely help me to look on the positive side. At the end of 2012 and 2013 I had jars overflowing with beautiful moments and happy memories. It's really the best way to start a new year with a good attitude and sunny outlook on life :)

ps. I reopened all of my shops yesterday if there's anyone out there who wanted to know that information.

Thursday, January 2, 2014


This year I'll be doing one giveaway every month (in addition to my blog anniversary & birthday giveaways) There's one catch -- to enter, you have to perform a random act of kindness today. It's on the honor system, obviously, I can't actually make sure that everyone does it, but I trust that you will. If you're stumped on what to do, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has a list of ideas right here! You can also get an extra entry by making a donation to your favorite charity (once again, honor system, but I trust you!)



What you'll win: One person will win this mint green faux leather scalloped satchel

How to enter: simply leave a comment letting me know that you performed or are planning to perform a random act of kindness today (you can choose to share what you did or not, it's up to you!) and some way to contact you (email, twitter, blog, whatever floats your boat!) You must be a follower to enter (and, please, none of this follow-and-leave as soon as the giveaway is over jazz.. that's super rude!) This giveaway is open to everyone on planet earth.

For additional entries: (
leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Tweet this "I just entered to win a mint scalloped bag on @kategabrielle's blog! http://www.scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com" (Only counts if you use this exact tweet. Entries from twitter accounts used solely to enter giveaways will not be counted.)
2. Tweet about your RAK and inspire others to do the same!
3. Pin the giveaway on pinterest
4. Follow me on facebook
5. Follow me on bloglovin
6. Make a donation in any amount to your favorite charity

Giveaway ends on February 1st at 12:01AM EST.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014



I hope everyone had fun ringing in 2014! I'm more excited about starting fresh & resolutions & such than I think I've ever been before. My mini personal goals for the new year are to go back to school to finish my degree, thrift more of my wardrobe, and to start cooking at home more often (Chinese food & pizza are major weaknesses for me!)

My big huge super resolution is more of a life mission. I've decided that I want to do everything in my power to spread kindness. In my day to day life, online, in my business, at school, everywhere. I want to find new ways to appreciate the kindness I receive and reciprocate it. I want to find ways to intertwine the things I do on my blog with my favorite charities (more on that later this week!) I want to come up with ideas for fostering a higher level of civility on the internet and spreading those ideas as best I can. I want to create artwork that inspires kindness and thoughtfulness. I want to shine a spotlight on sweet souls doing kind deeds and lovely bloggers who brighten the web with their good-hearted warmth.

In this era I think we're surrounded by negativity more than any generation has been before, but the world would be such a happier, more lovely place to live in if we all lived by one simple rule -- be nice to each other. I know it would be impossible for me to actually make any sort of dent in the collective rudeness of our species, but starting this year I'm going to try so hard.


dress, shoes, and hat - vintage

ban nha mat pho ha noi bán nhà mặt phố hà nội