I don't know about you but I would not be happy if Casey Anthony was spotted wearing my team colors! Go Blue! Boo OSU!!! Yes, I am from Ohio but Ohio State will forever be my nemesis. Go Casey Anthony for rocking their frock! Just where you belong!

Go BLUE Forever! Thanks for giving Ohio a bad name, Casey! 

New York City Summer Dinner and Free Concert in Central Park: Imelda May and Wanda Jackson and Luke’s Lobster Review!

Hello Upper-East Siders, Smartypanties here giving you a fabulous and somewhat free summer activity in New York City. Last night my husband and I decided that we were going to try out Luke’s Lobster on 81^st and cart it to the park and have a little picnic. Great date night, right? Then my work husband suggested that we hit up Central Park’s Summer Stage, which was featuring the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson and opening act, Imelda May. Don’t be fooled, I am not the most cultured person in the world. Until yesterday I had no idea who these people were, but I figured I’m going to the park and it’s free so why not check it out!? So glad we did. Imelda May was phenomenal, I’m definitely going to pick up her album (produced by Jack White actually!). Wanda Jackson was a living legend. She used to date Elvis, y’all! But aside from my gossip she still looked and sounded great. She even did a tribute to Amy Winehouse, who I’m sure she never expected to outlive considering she’s in her 70s! Anyway, I highly recommend hitting up Summer Stage’s free events! We brought in our dinner (the only thing you can’t bring in are glass bottles) and grabbed a couple of glasses of wine and some organic ice cream! Bring a towel (or snag a bleacher seat in the back) and come ready to have a good time!

Luke’s Lobster Review! Delicious! If you want a non-mayonaisey lobster roll with huge chunks of lobster, this is the roll for you! Howevs, as per the norm, the lobster rolls are by no means big. They are about the size of a small hot dog, but totally delectable. For $18 you get a lobster roll, bag of chips, Maine soda and a pickle. Not a bad deal! Also, I highly rec the clam chowder! Yum! Just got back from the gym to work these babies off but they’re totes worth the splurge!

Check out Lukes Lobster and Summer Stage’s Schedule!

Also listen up on Imelda May and Wanda Jackson! You won’t be disappointed!

Wahoooooooo! Fairway has officially entered the Upper East Side! We’re hoping they have an organic section like its West Side Fairway counterpart! Have you been to the UES Fairway location yet!? What are your thoughts?

Yesterday was my new Father-in-law's 60th birthday! As a new member (officially) of the fam I had to come out with guns blazing! Had to work it out and make some cheesecake lollipops. Afterall, cheesecake lollipops are the new cupcakes. Cupcakes are so out. So, the other night I undertook the task of making cheesecake lollipops for the festivities. Here's the deal with those little guys. Let me explain to you. They are a lot more work than they seem. So here's what you have to do.

What you'll need: Parchment paper, Cheesecake (baked), lollipop sticks, melting chocolate and assorted toppings. 

You need to make your favorite cheesecake recipe. I'll leave that to y'all. It has to be a baked recipe though because the non-bake cheesecakes will not stay together enough for what you put these little balls through. So what you do after you have the cheesecake is to let it cool, natch, and then use a cookie dough scoop (or your fingers) and make balls. You can choose the size, it really depends on the size of your (lollipop) stick. haha. Okay, growing up now. So once you roll the balls you place your lollipop stick into them and put them on parchment paper. Then you'll have to re-freeze them so they get hard enough that they won't fall apart or fall off the stick when you dip them into the melting chocolate. So after at least 2 hours in the freezer, you take a double boiler and throw that chocolate in and melt it. While it's melting you can prep the toppings, anything you like, sprinkles, coconut, crushed nuts, toffee, etc. So you dip the cheesecake in the melted chocolate then you sprinkle your toppings all the way around. You don't want to roll it in the toppings or the chocolate will fall off and make a huge mess. Trust me. Then here's the deal, you may want to get a piece of styrofoam to stick the pops in upright, or if you don't care then you can just lay them down on the parchment paper. That's what I had to do and they turned out fine but if you're a perfectionist.

Here is me cleaning the rest of the unused chocolate. I seriously ate 2 spoonfulls this size of chocolate. Yum!!!!!!!

Can't take credit for the delicious "60" icebox cake that my mother in law made! Yum!

And now here is where I shined, peeps! I used fake grass ( I guess that's what it is, I actually had to throw away the first grass I got because it smelled so awful. I don't know what possibly could have been in it but it stunk). Anyway, I made half of the cheesecake lollipops white and golf-ball size since my father in law is obsessed with golf. Cute, right?!? I was pretty proud of myself. 

Happy Six-TEE-eth Birthday, have a ball! Get it!?!? Pretty awesome idea if I do say so myself!

And here were the dark ones, it's hard to see but the plate says "In the Rough." Get it? 

Anyway, my mother-in-law made an amazing party and everyone had a great time! And my husband (and his bro) gave such nice speeches! Happy 60th Birthday, Scott! Wahooooooooo!

Look at the cute centerpieces!! Loved 'em!!

What a wonderful month for moi! Next weekend is my sister's wedding!!!! Can't wait to go to Cleveland and see my fam! 

Yesterday I decided to have a few friends over for a dinner party. Being that my husband and I rarely eat meat anymore I of course wasn't really in the mood to make a carnivorous dinner. So I had to choose something that would please the meat eaters without using any meat or much dairy. I was craving pasta that I had seen on Oh She Glows fabulous blog. But being a fat girl on the inside, just one pasta dish wasn't going to satisfy me so I settled on making it a side by side pasta party! I decided to make Creamy Avocado Pasta along with Vegetarian Bolognese sauce. 

I had alot to live up to because my Mom makes the most fabulous bolognese sauce in the entire world so I wouldn't be happy if it tasted to vegetarian-ey. I think I found the perfect substitute for meat in the recipe! No one seemed to miss the meat! Red Lentils! Even their colors lend themselves to this recipe perfectly!

For appetizers I made little mini-skewers of cherry tomatoes, red-pepper marinated olives and fresh mozzarella! We also put out some cheese and grapes to keep things classy

If you're wondering what's floating in the wine, that'd be frozen mango! We used this as ice cubes for the wine my friend brought that wasn't chilled enough. 

So here is the world's Best Vegetarian Bolognese Recipe! (or Vegan!)

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
3 large carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
8 oz. package white mushrooms, chopped not too small
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 cup dried red lentils
1 28-oz can crushed organic tomatoes (unsalted)
1 28-oz can whole organic tomatoes, undrained, chopped (unsalted)
1 c. dry white wine
1/8 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tsp. salt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (optional)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven (I used my Le Creuset!). Add the garlic, onion, carrot, celery and red pepper, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat up, add the mushrooms and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Lower the heat back to medium, stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except salt and wine, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are tender. This usually takes 25 minutes, but they may take longer if your tomatoes are salty. Add salt once you've determined the lentils are done. Add the wine at the end when the dish is simmering to keep some of the wine flavor. Then if you choose, just before you serve you can add whipping cream and parmesan cheese to give it a heartier flavor.

I served this over linguine but you can use whatever noodle you want! Naturally. The lentils are the perfect substitute for meat. You really won't miss it!! Or the calories!!!

The green pasta I made is 15 minute Creamy Avocado pasta, a recipe from Oh She Glows. It was so fabulous I can't even tell you. It was rich and creamy and VEGAN!!! Perfect summer pasta or accompaniment to any meal. It seriously takes no time at all. You throw everything in the food processor and you're done! 

I could tell that even my carnivorous houseguests were satisfied by their vegetarian dinners! Thanks for coming over y'all!

This summer, Slatkin introduces a range of refreshing scents designed to enrich and energize any surroundings. No matter where the season takes you, Slatkin & Co. brings the sweet scents of summer into your space.

Slatkin & Co.’s three wick candles ($19.50 each), available at www.bathandbodyworks.com , are sure to bring the scents of summer and light into your home:

Fresh Linen is my favorite scent I've tried so far! It makes my apartment smell like fresh laundry, and who doesn't like that clean clothes smell! (Especially on a day you're too lazy to do the laundry!) Plus these candles last forever and the three wicks really help disperse the scent.

What's your favorite scent?

*Smartypanties was given this candle in consideration for a potential feature*

How old is she really? Plastic surgery procedures, treatments and injections to the face will have you guessing. But, there is a way to get your “hands” on the answer. An gal’s hands are the biggest tell-all of her true age. When examining the hands, the marked loss of fatty tissue results in a prominent appearance of the bones, tendons and blue (reticular) veins. Aging skin is characterized by surface roughness, volume loss, laxity, wrinkles, brown spots, and broken blood vessels. This not only applies to the face, but also to the hands.

Advances in technology now allow for safe rejuvenation of the hands, which is more difficult to treat due to increased risk of scarring.

According to New Jersey Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Brian S. Glatt of Premier Plastic Surgery, “You can get your hands on a few quick fixes.”

1. Chemical peels or laser treatments can help improve the appearance of the hands. Lasers and light-based therapies such as intense pulse light, photodynamic therapy, q-switched lasers, and nonablative fractionated lasers (Fraxel re:store, Fraxel re:store DUAL) offer minimally invasive treatment options for rejuvenation of skin both on and off the face.  Multiple treatment sessions are necessary for these devices which improve, each to varying degrees, fine wrinkles, brown spots, texture and redness.  Your laser surgeon will help you decide which laser is the most appropriate for you to optimize your results.

2. Prominent hand veins can be successfully treated by injecting a medication into the veins (sclerotherapy) resulting in the disappearance of the injected vein. Advances in sclerotherapy including the introduction of Asclera (polidocanol), foam sclerotherapy, and new treatment methodologies offer more comfortable and effective means of treating unsightly veins.  Typically, one or two treatment sessions are required. Radiesse, calcium hydroxylapatite, can address multiple aspects of the aging hand. This injectable product restores volume to the backs of the hand while simultaneously decreasing the appearance of prominent veins, tendons, and bones resulting in a more youthful appearance.

3. Fat injections can give the hands a full and youthful appearance. Your surgeon will remove unwanted fat from a specific area, and then reinject selected fat cells into your hands. The procedure is done under local anesthesia and is painless with a quick recovery time.