Friday & Fabulous: babylady inc.

Let me start off by saying I am MORTIFIED that this feature hasn't arrived earlier. I have no excuse. No moving, no baking, no baby, no army should ever get in the way of featuring one of the most fabulous women I know. Now to sum up this baby lady who was not always with babies.... ;)

I met Kat Alcantara, now Kat West when I was a fresh faced F.I.T. student, barely 19...... I had some great connections and landed a job at the Columbus Avenue Betsey Johnson Boutique. I had known of Kat many years before when I was a kid sneaking into the village to buy rave tickets and records. She's maybe 5'ft tall, but she towered over that Patricia Field's (yes, the real pat field of sex in the city fashion styling fame) counter...cigarette in tow and septum ring of fury. She was this tiny little filipino girl that scared the crap out of me. When the day came that I had the honor of meeting her years later in that hot pink store, I learned she was anything but scary. She was warm and mothering and as we now know, that was her true calling. Kat and I spent a lot of time in that store crying over boys, giggling over boys, catering to ridiculous celebrities... ignoring washed up ones who apparently didn't get the memo and making a decent living doing what we loved at a very very young age. Our careers took us separate ways but we remained the closest of friends and always supporting each other in the hell that is Fashion. After conquering motherhood and missing her other true love... she has launched babylady inc., a beautifully crafted children's line that has been nurtured and creatively cared for the way only Kat could. I am so proud to be her friend and fellow "not just a mom" entrepreneur. We both launched our businesses at the same time with the same fears and here we are. Kick ass kitty, they haven't seen anything yet.




You can view the full BLI collection online here:


http://www.babyladyinc.com/fall_2010.html#1

*that gorgeous model Vivienne is MY goddaughter. mmmm hmmmmm......

Friday & Fabulous: Fusilli for you.

I know it has been a while since I've kept up with Friday & Fabulous but now being settled, I will get back on track. For all of our new fans to Bake Boutique, Friday & Fabulous is my personal blog post each Friday which features things, places, designers or whatever it may be that we think are.... you guessed it, FABULOUS. It is a creative off-shoot from my new life of baking to fill that fast paced creative void I left back in the world of fashion.

To kick off this summers first F&F post I am actually sharing a recipe.... yes I know, it's rare... and if I see it show up in the local deli I will ask you to name it after me. Anyhow, as a runner summer is usually when we amp up training, for me I just started 18 weeks of pure hell training just in time for our heat wave with 1000000% humidity right along with it! Every summer I create a new cold pasta salad to keep stocked in the fridge and I would feel bad not sharing this one because it really came out awesome. I hope you enjoy it pre- run or sitting on your butt in this unbearable heat. ;)

Florio's Fusilli Fuel

1 package of Fusilli (whole wheat or the real thing)
1 green pepper diced
1/2 onion diced
2 tsp garlic powder * or to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp onion salt
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
1 can of cici beans (chick peas for the rest of you)

boil your water and cook your pasta, read the bag if you don't already know.
in a saute pan coat with olive oil and brown your onions and peppers adding about 1 tbs of balsamic and your garlic powder. Let caramelize.

Take your cooked pasta in a bowl and add the turmeric, mix well spreading the seasoning all over and giving the pasta a nice color- don't add much more than suggested or it will overpower your flavors. mix in onion salt and a few dashes of balsamic and coat well. Mix in your cici beans and add your onion pepper mix to pasta- mix well and chill.

enjoy!

xoxo d