A friend and I caught up over lunch last weekend and decided that we wanted to try eating somewhere new. After consulting my Scoutmob app, we picked LiLLie’s Restaurant in Woodley Park. The coupon via Scoutmob offered us 50% off our bill (max discount of $15), so we figured that even if lunch went horribly wrong, at least we wouldn’t be paying full price. I was really impressed with the atmosphere at LiLLie’s. I think that may have been the most impressive part of my experience, actually. It was a small, cozy restaurant that had an intimate atmosphere that I could see being perfect for an quiet brunch or romantic date night. My friend and I were seated by the window, and I enjoyed the view that the seating provided. I ordered “the schnitzel,” which was comprised of “lightly breaded chicken breast, two over easy eggs, lemon, roasted potatoes, arugula.” The eggs and schnitzel were cooked to perfection and the arugula side salad with fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes was the perfect size. However, I would have appreciated more than four (small) measly roasted potato wedges as well as a more seasoned plate. The eggs and schnitzel may have been cooked wonderfully, but it was sorely lacking some salt and pepper. Easily remedied on my own, but our table didn’t have either, and our server was nowhere to be found for the entirety of our meal. Not once were my friend and I asked if we wanted anything to drink (we didn’t want anything besides water, but it’s customary to be asked), or how our food was, or if we wanted anything else to eat (dessert?). Not once did I even see our server, actually, so I’m not sure how we would have flagged her down had we decided to request salt and pepper or something besides water. It’s not like the place was packed; we were one of three tables and were the second of the three to be seated. Did I enjoy my experience at LiLLie’s? I suppose. But mainly because my meal cost a total of $12 including tax. Would I have enjoyed it if I didn’t have a Scoutmob? In all likelihood, no. There are some great restaurants in DC so I’d much rather be spending my time and money there rather than a mediocre one. The post Eating Out in DC: LiLLie’s Restaurant appeared first on Break the Sky. Want to continue the conversation? Follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription service. For $10/month, members get deluxe samples and full-sized products along with a tote bag to keep all the items in. Each month’s tote design depends on that month’s theme. The theme for May was Spring Fling. Ipsy COMPLETELY outdid themselves this month, guys. I know I am generally impressed with Ipsy every month (which is a great thing for a monthly subscription service!) but this is the best Ipsy bag I have received, hands down. (It definitely tops any Birchbox that I ever had.) Why is this month’s bag so great, you ask? Well, just check out the brands included (and the size of the items!) For previous Ipsy boxes I’ve received, check out this tag. ZOYA: Nail polish in “Blu” Zoya Nail Polish and Treatments puts beauty, fashion and style into every bottle with innovative custom color creations and fashion trend adaptation resulting in a truly luxury cosmetic experience. The award-winning, ultra long-wearing Zoya formula is also vegan friendly an

I am in love with this sporty Three Floor sweatshirt. I feel like 90% of the tops I own are sweatshirts, it is shameful. And in the summer I start to hack all of their sleeves off! But I won't be doing that to this one. We've had a freakish year in weather here in Texas, I'm very grateful that Mother Nature has put off the usual sweltering heat until later. P.S. these Free People jeans are my new holy grail pants. They're the dream jeans I've had in my brain for years, so when I found them I got two pair!! Wearing Three Floor sweatshirt (c/o), Charles Albert Alchemia cuffs, Free People destroyed ankle skinny jeans, Balenciaga booties, and Prada dinosaur bag

It seems as though sooner or later everyone monetizes their blog. Personally, I’m torn about the direction I want my blog to go in when it comes to advertising. Sidebar Ads I debated for a while with using Passionfruit Ads to host ads in my sidebar to other blogs. I’ve found that it’s a good way to discover new websites that are relevant to the website that the ad is on, and it’s a simple enough set up. Except that every time I view a site that has Passionfruit Ads enabled in their sidebar, it doesn’t seem to load. I don’t think it’s fair to charge someone for ad space (even if the rate is more than reasonable) for an ad that just won’t appear. (Something to address, Passionfruit! Take note.) Of course, I could always offer advertising space manually and have all the transactions done through Paypal. Automated makes life a lot easier but if the best automated system I know of doesn’t work as well as manually doing it, then that kind of decides the situatio

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there and most importantly, my mother! None of us would be the people we are today without our mothers, and I am forever grateful for the strength, courage, grace and poise of the wonderful woman who raised me. It means more than I can express that through the last two weeks or so my mom has been unfaltering in giving me her unconditional support during this stressful time. Mom, if you’re reading this (and I know you sometimes read this blog!) I love you and I hope you have a great, great day. Luckily, a major stressor has been lifted (more on this to come!) and I can fully focus my energies where they need to be for the next week and a half in preparation for my first business trip! I’m taking off on Friday to go to San Francisco for a few days, which is very exciting. I know it will be a lot of work before, during and after the trip, but this is a great professional opportunity and I am determined to get all I can out of it. On a personal note, I&#

When I went on vacation recently I went off the grid. No emails, no social media, no phone, nothing. It was glorious. So glorious, in fact, that now I am a little more indifferent towards being as vigorous about staying in the loop as I was before I went on vacation. I think this is a good thing overall; I was definitely a little too dependent on social media and email before. But I am a little surprised to see just how long it’s taking me to fully get back on the grid. It’s taking me a little longer to reply to emails, I check Twitter and Facebook more infrequently, and I struggle a little with coming up with blog idea topics. (The irony of writing this post is that I probably will start tweeting incessantly and come up with tons of blog entry ideas after I hit “publish.” Oh, well.) A big chunk of the reasoning behind my new-fangled stance towards social media is the fact that life has become incredibly busy and stressful this month, so my priorities have shifted temporarily and curre

This August 2008 editorial from Vogue Paris is one of my all-time favorites. The editorial was called Reality Show and showed high fashion and dressed-down versions of each of these looks. I preferred the street style looks! Such a timeless editorial. Photos from I Want To Be an Alt.

Around the World is a travel guide series where readers share what they love about hometowns, favorite vacation spots, home away from homes and everything in between. If you want to learn more, see what places have been covered and/or submit a travel guide of your own, check out the Around the World page. My friends and I went to St. Augustine for spring break senior year of college. We picked St. Augustine somewhat by accident; we had considered other beach-y locations but eventually had to rule them out due to cost. When I remembered that G has told me countless stories of childhood summers he spent at St. Augustine with his family, I suggested the city as one we, too, could go to. It was a brilliant decision as I fell in love with the city. St. Augustine has the distinction of being the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain in 1513; St. Augustine was founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. The city is filled with historic street

Last week was a whirlwind, what with jet lag and going back to work after vacation and a million and one other things I have going on in life. This week doesn’t look like the craziness will let up anytime soon, although thankfully I have well and truly recovered from jet lag. (I don’t really suffer from jet lag all that much anyway. I’m usually right as rain in a day of two, which is lucky when we’re talking about adjusting to a 12 hour time difference.) My planner says “Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake,” which are definitely words to live by in trying times. By the time this month is over, I am sure I will have wanted to eat many, many cupcakes. But that’s just how it is sometimes, isn’t it? Life throws you curveballs and all you can do is roll with the punches and hope for the best. At this rate, I’m pretty sure “hope for the best” will be my mantra for the month! Beauty This DIY blushing bronzer by The Beauty Department looks so pretty, and rela

About a month ago, I was craving some homemade cookies. That’s not altogether unusual, as most of the cookies I eat are ones made by me anyway (or catered for an event at work). My usual go-to cookie recipe is a chocolate chip one (simple, easy and delicious) but as I’d given up chocolate for a period of time at that point I decided to go for peanut butter cookies instead. These did not disappoint! Next time I make them, I might throw in some chocolate chips for a little extra decadence. Or perhaps even peanut butter ones? Ingredients 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1/8 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup peanut butter chips (optional) 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional) Method Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter and sugar. Add in the egg, beating until fully incorporated. Mix in milk and vanilla. In a s