a real good giveaway (anthro, raybans + more!)

Some people don't like getting older, but Blair (over at Wild & Precious) sure does and this lovely group of Blair's blogging buddies and I have teamed up to throw her a big birthday giveaway celebration in honor of her 30th birthday tomorrow!

I have never met Blair in person but in the age of the Internet it doesn't matter; she's just one of those people that I feel instantly connected to in that weird web way. (Bloggers, you get that right?) She's fabulous with a great sense of style and beautiful writing style. And she definitely has good taste in giveaways...

Our birthday girl: Blair / Wild & Precious

The Hosts:  Erika / Rouge + Whimsy  ..  Kacia / Coconut Robot  ..  Jessi / Suzie Studios

Moriah / Moriah Sunde  ..  Sandy / Sandy a la Mode  ..  Lindsy / LMR Photos  ..  Kara Kae / the Mom Diggity

The Prizes: Winner's Choice of Ray-Bans from sunglassesshop.com, $50 gift certificate to heels.com, $50 gift certificate to Conversation Pieces, $40 Anthropologie gift certificate, a fashionABLE scarf, brown panama hat from Gypsy Threads, $30 gift certificate to rouge + whimsy, and a boho head wrap from Suzie Studios! -- that's a loot over $375!!

Enter using the rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

good luck + happy friday!

Also, if you happen to win, can I suggest buying the "Erika" shades from Ray-Ban? It's like they were named for me...

xo, erika

asparagus oyster sauce stir fry

When I first started playing around with Asian recipes, I noticed that a lot of recipes called for fish sauce or oyster sauce. I had never cooked with either of these, and to be honest, the first time I removed the cap of a bottle of fish sauce, I was wary that such a strong-smelling condiment would be necessary or even good in a dish.

I was proved wrong, of course. Both fish sauce and oyster sauce are final touches to popular dishes ranging from curries to soups.

Now I have both sauces in my fridge and have found that both can be used to add a depth of flavor to most dishes, Asian or not.

Of the two, oyster sauce is a little more palatable on its own, so if you're hesitant about the fishyness of these sauces, I would try this one. Make sure you find one that does not have MSG or other preservatives in it -- like Lee Kum Kee's Panda Brand -- and remember, a little bit goes a long way.

I had a ton of asparagus on hand-- it's on sale everywhere here-- and with some brown rice, it made for a great lunch or light dinner.

asparagus oyster sauce stir fry with rice
1/4 lb of asparagus, washed and cut into 2-inch pieces (cut off hard ends)
2 garlic cloves, diced
a few slices of fresh ginger, grated (tip: keep your ginger root in the freezer-- it will stay fresher longer and will still work great in any dish)
2 tbs peanut oil or other high-heat oil
cooked brown rice

sauce:
1 tbs oyster sauce
3 tbs rice vinegar
whisk together
(I use a 3:1 ratio for the sauce-- feel free to alter for more or less people)

Heat a pan to high-heat and add oil.
Once oil starts bubbling, turn down heat to medium high and add garlic and ginger.
Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute
Add asparagus and cook for just 2 to 3 minutes until asparagus is crisp tender, but still bright green.
Stir in oyster-vinegar sauce and heat for 30 seconds.
Remove pan from heat, continuing to stir as the pan cools down.

Serve with brown rice. Drizzle remaining sauce in the pan over the rice if desired.

I was given Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce to try out in my cooking; all opinions are my own.

what i wore in nola (or how to style a crop top without showing your stomach)

Crop tops are everywhere but even if you have the stomach to show off, showing off your stomach in public is not always the best choice. So how do you style the cut crop top without flashing midriff?

I bought a too-short tee from my local thrift store (Value Village to me, Savers to everyone else) and hemmed it so it hit at belly button length. From there, I paired it with another thrifted skirt -- one I can wear at my belly button. The effect is the same-- a shorter, fun top, but rather than baring skin underneath, I'm merely showing off the waist band of my pleated skirt.

There's a ton of box-ier tees to be found at thrift shops (mine was $2) and if you're comfortable with a sewing machine (it's a super basic technique) you can hem one to the length you want.

happy friday!

xo, erika

new orleans

New Orleans was never on my radar to visit. It's not that I had anything against it, rather it wasn't a place I thought of to put on my list of must-sees.

But when a family friend gave us a free week at a condo in Nola and I began to research, I started to get excited. I had mistakenly thought the city was all Bourbon Street, but in reality, that one stretch of road is only a tiny slice of the cultural and historic city.

We stayed just a block outside the French Quarter and put some major mileage in walking -- mainly -- to places to eat. New Orleans is a food city and they have some incredible innovative local places that we tried to hit up in addition to the fried food that the Quarter offered.

I think the reason I like New Orleans so much is because of its local flavor. Whenever I go to a city, I want to eat at local places and shop at local-owned shops; I want to explore where the city residents go -- not just the tourist destinations or chain restaurants. In a city like New Orleans, there are plenty of tourist-y spots, but we were able to dig out some hidden gems as well.

Special thanks to the Nola city guide at Design*Sponge and Joy the Baker.

I'm listing some of our favorite things from this trip:

tourist-y activities: laura plantation // swamp tour // renting bikes to ride to city park // cemetery tours

eat- dinner: la petite grocery (my favorite meal) // cochon // royal house // felix // beignets!

eat- breakfast: merchant // surrey cafe and juice bar

drinks: organic banana in the french market (for fresh fruit daiquiris!) // tonique

nightlife: maison was our favorite for local music (and the rest of frenchmen street)

shop: stg in the french quarter // shops near jackson and magazine street

Now we're trying to consider what American city we should hit up in the next year or two. The husband thinks Austin, I'm leaning Nashville, or we both are considering about an East Coast tour of Boston + New York. Orrrr Italy. I want to go to Italy. ;)

xo, erika

finding the nugget

I actually giggle when I say the word nugget. I'm not sure why. It's a weird word.

But that silly little word has meant a lot to me over the past two months.

When I went to Uganda to work with Sole Hope -- blog with them and document their incredible work -- there was a sense of trepidation. How was I going to explain what I saw, what I understood in one blog post? How could I make anyone care?

One of the women on the trip -- Logan, I think-- said "Find the nugget. That's all you need to do. Find the nugget of truth in the day and write about that."

That stuck with me. Find the nugget.

In Uganda, there was so much truth, so much experience and picking the best little nugget of truth was hard to narrow down. Back home in America, I have the opposite problem: I feel like sometimes there is no nugget of truth at all.

I love the corporate day job and the evening job (etsy shop + blog) but many days I don't feel like I am making a difference. There is no nugget of truth to impart. I go to work, I come home. My life feels ordinary. In Uganda, it was so easy to see the difference I made, the way I could encourage the Collies, the way I could share their story, Sole Hope's story -- even by making a clinic go smoother-- I felt like my presence made a huge difference.

Then I come home. And I struggled and still struggle. Somedays, I feel as if all my hands do is vanity. There's a book in the Bible where the writer talks about the pain of every day, the feeling of thinking that no matter what we do, things will be the same.

It's a disheartening feeling to be sure. But the word nugget rings in my head and I've come to believe it's just as true in the U.S., where I am easily distracted by things and busyness and deadlines, as it is in the sweet community of Uganda.

Every day there is truth, there is goodness, there is a place to make an impact. But I need to seek it out -- I need to find that nugget and pursue it.

I truly believe we are where we are for a reason -- whether it be atop a comfortable mountain or in a valley of challenges. I don't know why I was born in my hometown and given every opportunity and why some people are not. But I have to believe that there is something to take from it, there is something I can do with it. I just need to find the nugget.

xo, erika

p.s. you can read more about my trip here.