Your Majesty

The event I've been looking forward to for SOOOO long has come and gone. Yup you guessed it the Royal Wedding!! I have been infatuated with the whole wedding. I was one of those crazy nuts that wanted to know EVERYTHING about it. (I think I even annoyed my sisters at times) But if I could have been anywhere in the world this week I would have been camping out in front of Westminster Abbey. Yes I know that may seem a little overboard but everything about this wedding has me hooked! The whole story of William and Kate is something I could only dream of. And can I just say this wedding didn't disappoint. It was the most beautiful wedding and I loved every minute of it. As women it's just natural for all of us to daydream about our own wedding.....the flowers, the dress, even the song for your first dance. So for me that's what this wedding was all about.....a glimpse into someone else's fairytale come true.

What would a Royal Wedding watch party be without a Royal Breakfast. Even though we're not british we wanted to eat just like the brit's do. So we made scone biscuits, fried eggs, bacon and sausage links. Plus a little mimosa to toast the new couple. Best of luck to William and Catherine!

Burnt much?

Last weekend I went on a kayaking trip with a friend and well to make a long story short I got typical kayaking sunburn. I blame my instructor, we only stopped once and for some reason I failed to reapply. Thankfully I am peeling now and my legs are very tan! Having this sunburn got me thinking about tips to make sure you dont suffer like I did. My Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual has all the tips to make sure you protect your skin.

First and Formost AVOID tanning beds at all costs!! Unless your going to be the Jersey Shore cast for halloween orange is never a good look for ANYONE! And not to mention completely unsafe!

Apply liberally- A teaspoon to your face and about an ounce or a shot glass full to the rest of your body everyday. The face, hands and back of the knees are high risk areas for cancer so make sure to apply liberally to those areas.

Protect your eyes- Wear sunglasses that wrap around your eyes and have 100% UV blocking lenses. Most sunscreens are to harsh to use on this sensitive area around the eyes. Im obsessed with RayBan and these glasses are perfect. So cute and what a great fun color for summer!You need to protect your skin all year around even when its cold or cloudy outside. The times between 10 am-2 pm are when the rays from the sun are the harshest so make sure to reapply frequently. Wear sunscreen with an SPF 15 or 30, depending on the season and length of the time your skin will be exposed. Hats and long sleeved shirts help as well but remember the sun likes to penetrate through loosely woven and wet clothing so protect your skin even when your covered.

These two sunscreens protect your skin amazingly. The Shiseido UV protection Cream is great. Its an SPF 35 and water resistant so its great if your sporty or just strolling in your city. If your on a budget the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer is also a great choice. It may not be water resistant but it makes up for that with the helioplex, which stops UVA and UVB rays from burning your skin.

I am a personal fan of the Neutrogena brand its lightweight and fragrance free so your skin feels soft and never greasy. Its also comes in SPF 70 and 100 which means less reapplying and since im in Texas,where we have 8 months of summer, the higher SPF is great for me!

**Just a little side note water resisntant sunscreens need to be applied/reapplied 20 minutes before entering water so the product can bond with the skin.

If you have sensitive skin use a cream based product and avoid sunscreens with tretinoin, which can dry out the skin. This Clarins Sun Care Cream is absolutely wonderful its an SPF 30 and is fragrance free which is great if you have any allergies to skin products.

I hope you can take away some info that you may have not known or regained some knowledge of how important sunblock is! Be safe this summer ladies!

our 1st guest post!

Today were guest posting on one of our favorite blogs....XOXO, Nina!

Were talkin' all about Spring Trends, plus Libby gives a really sweet recipe!

Check it out here!

*BIG thanks to the lovely Nina Holland for letting us!

movin' on UP!

As you know, we picked Nina Holland as our dossier dig Blogger Edition this month, well.......she moved! We wanted to make sure y'all knew about her new site, XOXO, Nina so you could check it out! It is so awesome just like her, so hop on over to www.ninaholland.com and show her some love!

i think you should borrow this....

Hey guys! I am so excited because at the end of this week my favorite book will be a MOVIE!! 

Ahhhh.....i can hardly contain myself, i apologize for screaming at you though! If you haven't read "Something Borrowed" yet, i suggest you get on it! It's the perfect summer read, you could lounge by the pool soaking up the sun and this juicy fun book!

Without giving too much away, incase you decide to read the book, it's about a girl who basically "borrows" something from her best friend, but her best friend has no idea, and totally has it coming to her. That's not exactly the best summary, but trust me this book is GREAT!

Libby and I are so excited about the movie, (i got her hooked on the book), Mandy's pretty stoked too, and i think were gonna make a whole girls night out of it! Expect a review coming your way....

P.S- I've read every book Emily Giffin has written & she is superb, you should check out her other books!

Beaded Out!

The last day of FIESTA has arrived (I'm holding back my tears) but of course in good 'ol San Antonio fashion we can't go out with out a big bang. Just get the whole city together grab some margarita's, marching bands, tons of food, and you have one of the biggest parties in SA......the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. It's our favorite event during Fiesta. Anything goes at the parade.....which might be why I love it so much. If you ever make it to SA during Fiesta make sure to bring along tons and tons of beads, some glowsticks a sombrero and you'll fit right in!

My Outfit

dress and sun glasses- Forever 21

belt- Target

ring, beads and medals- Fiesta Store

2 AM

My Outfit

Dress & Vest- thrifted

Shoes- Payless

I wore this the very first night we went to NIOSA (aka Night In Old San Antonio)....that was Wednesday. I would have posted this sooner but ive been so busy partying, recovering and partying some more, what a hard life I have. When i found this dress, i thought "why would you ever get rid of this", but i was also THANKING the previous owner, their trash is my treasure! 

PS-sorry these pics were taken with my iphone, a satchel can only carry so much!

What day is TODAY?

Today is Mandy's Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to you.... Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday Dear Randy... Happy Birthday to YOU!

We hope you have a GREAT and WONDERFUL Birthday.....You deserve it!

Now let's Party!

P.S- If you get a chance go wish MANDY a Happy Birthday!

beads, Beads, BEADS

During FIESTA you get a ton of beads, way too many to count. It gets boring wearing them the same way all the time so i decided to switch it up. I really love how it turned out!

Twisted Bead Necklace

You'll Need:

1st you want to start twisting your beads, you'll start by twisting a loop at the 2 ends of the necklace, then just start twisting in random spots on the necklace 

(you'll twist the string in between each bead, so that the beads lock into each other)

Continue to twist every necklace your using, i recommend using about 5 necklaces, it just gives it a fuller effect

Now gather all the loops you made at the end of one side of the necklaces, and feed your ribbon through all of them, tie the ribbon tight.

This part gets a little tricky... You need to twist all the necklaces together (one by one)

Lay your necklace on a table and spread the strands apart

Number them 1 through 5 or up to however many your using, this will make it much easier

I started with 5 first, but it would be the same if you start with 1.

Bring 5 over 4

Then bring 3 over 5

Then 5 over 2

Then 1 over 5

#5 should now be in the #1 spot.....repeat till all the strands are twisted

When you get to the end, feed another strand of ribbon through the other side of loops you made at the other end of the beads, tie the ribbon tight.

TA-DA.....now it's ready!

Tequila is LOVE

A margarita to me is like the BEST thing ever invented....I love tequila, i love limes but mix them together and it's magic! Living in San Antonio there is no shortage of tequila based drinks, I've had my fair share, but the classic margarita will always be one of my favs! It's actually really simple to make....

Just cause your not in Sa-town for FIESTA doesn't mean you can' get your drink on....Here's the recipe...

Classic Margarita

1 oz Tequila

1/2 oz triple sec

1/2 oz lime juice

1 oz sweet & sour mix

1/2 cup of ice

2 limes

margarita salt

for a more "fresh" taste you can add some (1/4 oz) fresh orange juice, it is so good!

Shake with ice & Strain...

If frozen is your thing just whip out your blender and blend it up!

Dressing your margarita is just as important, slice your 1st lime into wedges, and rub it along the rim of your glass, slowly dip the rim into some margarita salt, shake of any excess.

Slice your other lime vertically to get circles, cut a little slit at the bottom of the  limes and place it on your glass.

If your using a bigger glass like i did, just double the recipe. If your making a pitcher do the same... 

If you really want to impress your friends you can make your own sweet & sour mix, here's the recipe....

Homemade Sweet & Sour Mix

  3 cups water

3 cups sugar

2 cups fresh lemon juice

2 cups fresh lime juice

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan, let the sugar dissolve, then bring to a boil. Let the syrup cool, then add the lemon and lime juice. Chill in the refrigirator.

You can make the syrup up to a week in advance and it makes about 8 cups.

Now get to squeezin' you got some margaritas to make!

Blogs to Love!

We have a special treat on today's Dossier Digs Bloggers Edition. It was a unanimous decision that (drum roll please) NINA HOLLAND was our blogger that we were loving this month, well actually we just love her every month!! Her blog is so stylish and always gives us so much inspiration. Since we started our blog she has been really great to us. She is a devoted reader, subscriber, and is never short of giving us great comments! We have been reading her blog for a while and when we found out she read ours, needles to say we were starstruck! Now that we have gotten to know her better we consider her our friend. Were so excited for all her new projects and cant wait to be apart of them!! 

Thanks Nina for everything :)

Fiesta Munchies

If you haven't figured out yet we Castillo gals love to eat! Especially around Fiesta time. You could probably gain an extra 15 pounds just looking at all the food. But trying all the food is one of our favorite things about fiesta....my stomach is starting to growl just talking about it. Since Fiesta is all about tradition why not share some of our traditional recipes with you lovely folks. Today we're making Homemade Salsa and some yummy Taco's with Homemade Corn Tortilla's. So get your forks ready cause we're about to chow down!

The first recipe is a Salsa recipe that I got from this amazing mexican restaurant here in San Antonio, Los Barrios. They have some of the best mexican food around. This recipe is very simple, gather a 16 ounce can of whole tomatoes and a 4 ounce can of jalapeno chiles, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Throw everything into a blender and blend into a chunky puree (don't blend until smooth) Serve with tortilla chips, oh and have the recipe handy for everyone that'll be asking for it later!

Next up Taco's with Homemade Corn Tortilla's one of my favorite's! These homemade corn tortilla's are the best thing to put in your hand and gobble up....mmmm so good. We buy a package of cornmeal to make our homemade corn tortilla's so its pretty simple to make these.

For the filling for the taco's I like to make Chili Con Carne. You just brown up 1 pound of ground beef, add 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp cumin and a little salt and pepper to taste.

When making the corn tortilla's combine 2 cups of masa, 1/4 tsp salt and about 1 3/4 cups of warm water (you may need more or less water just depending on the consistency of the dough)
Mix it all with your hands to reach a dough that is similiar to mashed potatoes. If you need more water add it by the tablespoon. Mix the dough for about 4 minutes with your hands then allow the masa to rest for 10 minutes.

After the dough is good and rested cut two squares of wax paper you will need this when you press out the tortilla's. (I just used saran wrap) Form the masa into about 2 tbsp size balls and place a sheet of wax paper on both sides of the masa ball. Place the ball into the tortilla press and lightly press down to the desired thickness. When you finished presssing out all your tortilla's heat up a griddle or comal and cook the tortilla minus the wax paper for about 1 minute on each side. Next heat up some oil in a small pan and fry up the tortilla's for just about 30 seconds. Tada your done!! Homemade corn tortilla's for everyone.

We eat taco's pretty regularly in the Castillo house. We even make homemade flour tortilla's too. Maybe that should be my next post, oh who am I kidding I'd use any excuse to cook and eat. Bon Apetite!