Author: Megan

Mountain Ocean Skin Trip Coconut Moisturizer: Get This

| Megan

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Other than daily applications of Oil of Olay (the regular SPF lotion version), I don’t have a set beauty regimen per se. I wash my face in the shower every morning with Dove bar soap, and again every evening. I use a St. Ives Apricot Scrub when I feel like my skin is looking a little dull. And I use Trader Joe’s Honey Mango Shaving Cream. Those are my staples, I’d say.

As I approach my middle thirties maybe I should change my lack of beauty routine! Do any of you have tried and true beauty routines you subscribe to? All of those products aside, if I could have one beauty product while stranded on a desert island it would be Mountain Ocean Skin Trip Coconut Moisturizer.

Nothing compares to my love for the gorgeous lotion you see pictured above. THIS is IT. This is my tried and true BEST beauty serum, lotion, product I have used to date. And when I say used, I mean used year after year, all over the world, in a myriad of climates. But pretty much, every. single. day.

I LOVE Mountain Ocean Skin Trip Coconut Moisturizer. It is light and yet emollient. It moisturizes but doesn’t grease up your clothes. I slather it all over my body. I’ve used it as a facial moisturizer. The smell… AH! It is heavenly. Light enough to even be worn under another scent, but carries enough to stand alone. Love.

You can find it at most organic grocers. You can find it at Whole Foods. You can find it at Albertson’s if they have an organic/natural section. You can find it at Smith’s Marketplace. You can find it at Fred Meyer if you live in the North West. You can order it on Amazon and have it shipped right to your door, 10 or 12 at a time. This is the BEST PRICE I’ve found it for online over at Lucky Vitamin.

I love it.

XX, Megan

Linen Boy Shirts: Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

| Megan

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Let’s pretend these photos were snapped somewhere exotic– Kolkata, Tarragona, Mexico City. Preferably somewhere warmer than this 30 to 60 degree finicky Spring. Maybe then I could justify my linen shirt and mirrored sunnies. So yes, let’s pretend.

Listen, I’m not complaining. I am really enjoying the dramatic temperature swings, one day a sweater the next day a sundress. Hang in there and rely on those layers! If you notice my white knuckles gripping this straw bag, it’s only the wind chill. I’m just freezing. Cold. Tomorrow it will be different. Tomorrow will be sunny and 60 with a low breeze. C’est la vie, Spring!

May your Saturday be filled with sunshine, literally or figuratively!

XX, Megan

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Shirt: J.Crew (mens), Pants: J.Crew, Shoes: Frye Huarache (same, similar, save), Bag: Target (old, love this one!), Sunglasses: Oakley, Ring: Vintage, Cuff: Vintage, Lips: Buxom White Russian

StoryCorps Part II: YOU

| Megan

11084227_10153163209488622_401358385330647470_o What did David Isay do when he was given 1M dollars?

So what did David Isay, founder of StoryCorps, champion of the personal narrative, the people’s listener, do with his 1,000,000 dollar TED prize?

Drumroll, please…

David Isay and his StoryCorps team have taken their message of listening one step further. They have created an APP where you, your mom, your neighbor, ANYONE can record an interview for StoryCorps. That’s right, anyone, ANYWHERE.

In Isay’s own words, “My personal dream of the app is maybe someday people take this app and go into homeless shelters and hospitals and maybe even prisons and honor people who feel like their lives don’t matter … and asking them who they are, how do they want to be remembered. Interviewing them is kind of the highest use of StoryCorps.” (New York Times, March 25, 2015)

View Isay’s TED Prize Acceptance Speech below. It is powerful.

Can you say DEMOCRATIZE! Everyone MATTERS! (I’ve realized recently that part of my online persona incorporates the microphone skillz of Aziz Ansari. Ever heard him finish a punch line? ALWAYS in all CAPS, friends.) Link to Ansari’s comedy.

I really can’t think of anything more incredible than a way to truly record your loved ones so that their voices, their words, their stories will live on in perpetuity. Incredible. Check out the App here.

I’ve already downloaded the app to my phone, but haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. But this is BIG. This is EPIC. This is REVOLUTIONARY. This app will continue to allow StoryCorps to amass the largest body of human voices, stories, and interviews ever complied. It is incredible.

Personal Aside: My Tie to StoryCorps

The intersection between my personal story of StoryCorps really crosses paths with this app in an interesting twist. What I am saying is, this app allows us to go after something we, myself and my husband, wanted to do a long time ago. While researching StoryCorps for my Master’s Thesis, I found out that you could rent a small sound system to be sent from StoryCorps to our home.

I had listened to hundreds of hours of StoryCorps recordings at a sweet little desk smack dab in the heart of the Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Not an interview went by that I didn’t see the overwhelming merit in the exchange the two participants had. Not a voice crossed those headphones that did not speak to some unique aspect of the human existence.

Not only was I researching StoryCorps from an academic perspective, I was totally and completely hooked. Here it was. Here was our chance to join the movement! Here was our opportunity to listen a little more closely to those we love.

I don’t remember specific pricing of the sound equipment rental from StoryCorps at that time, but I remember that it was almost cost prohibitive for us as a young couple, living on a shoe-string in an expensive area of the country. (We lived just outside of D.C. in Virginia). At one point, we decided that we would actually order the sound recording system and have it shipped to Utah so that we could record BOTH of our parents’ interviews over the Christmas break in 2008.

Time passed, plans changed, and we never did rent the sound system from StoryCorps. But we didn’t ever forget about it. We also did a couple of other interviews one with my Grandmother the other with my Grandfather for the Veterans History Project, also an initiative to record the stories of Americans who served in the armed services during wartime, and archived in the Library of Congress.

What about you?

I know that you know some pretty amazing people. I know that you know and love someone whose voice you would like to have recorded for ALL TIME. What can you do? You can listen to David Isay’s TED talk. You can download the StoryCorps app. You can figure out the app (I’m right here with you on this step!) The app is designed to be a digital facilitator. You can decide the person you want to interview. You can NOT WAIT.

Record now. Cross the street, go straight to the X and push RECORD. Now is our chance– me and YOU. Make Isay’s dream ring out, across the globe, enabled by technology. “Help us spark a global movement to record and preserve meaningful conversations with one another that results in an ever-growing digital archive of the collective wisdom of humanity.”

Remember, that your listening will always stand as one of the most powerful acts of love that we are given as humans who inhabit this planet. I can’t wait to hear the interviews you capture and record.

XX, Megan

Other Links:

Podcast:

http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2015/None/DaveIsay_2015-480p.mp4

Interactive Transcript:

http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_isay_everyone_around_you_has_a_story_the_world_needs_to_hear/transcript?language=en

New York Times Article, March 25, 2015:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/25/us/politics/ap-us-storycorps-global-expansion.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Curves: Bold Prints and Belled Bottoms

| Megan

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Oh Thursday, sometimes you are the best part of the week. Getting to you feels like making it. Making it here feels like Friday will come! It’s coming!

In one of my first outfit photos I wore a pair of fabulous flare jeans. It was in this Valentine’s Day post, to be exact. When I posted the picture of those dark wash flares, plus a comment about how I felt that flares could really accentuate ANY woman’s form and figure, one of my good friends asked, “Flares? Really? Are they really back?!”

I’m here with this white pair of flared jean goodness to let you know that, YES! The flare is back! Badder than ever. I feel as though the time some folks must have spent tailoring them in the 70s is really paying off for the modern girl. Finding your fit is easier than ever. High-waisted, or mid-rise, big bell or perfect petit kick, there are so many options to choose from.

Try one of these: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. My current favorite are these Flea Market Flares from Madewell. I think the only real key to picking a favorite pair is making sure they hug you in all the right places. Honor your curves (and if you’re a straight shooter you’ll create instant vavooom!). Hips, butt, thighs, and wha-bam! A beautiful bell right down at the floor.

Hope your day is one you enjoy living.

XX, Megan

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Shirt: J.Crew (on sale!), Pants: Joe’s Jeans, Shoes: Clarks (similar), Bag: J.Crew (similar, save, or splurge), Sunglasses: Karen Walker ‘Super Duper’ Tortoise, Belt: J.Crew (similar), Watch: Invicta, Earrings: Madewell, Lips: Buxom White Russian

Sizzling Korean Beef

| Megan

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The flavor in this dish is DYNAMITE! Especially if you like the snap that fresh ginger brings to a marinade. The recipe comes from *The Six O’Clock Scramble. So savory and a real win over here at Refined + Rugged. Try it for yourself! I’d love to hear how yours turns out.

XX, Megan

Ingredients for main dish 

  • 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 lbs. skirt steak
  • 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (use wheat/gluten-free if needed)
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic, (2 – 3 cloves)
  • 1/2 Asian pear, peeled and grated
  • 1 yellow onion, halved top to bottom and thinly sliced

Served with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

Chop: Chop the onion in half top to bottom and then thinly slice. Grate the pear and the ginger. Mince the garlic (I use a garlic crusher.) Slice the steak into thin strips cutting across the grain.

Mix: In a large bowl mix the soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and onion. Add the steak and coat thoroughly.

Marinate: You can marinate this dish for as little as 10 minutes and as long as 24 hours. I am a huge fan of the 24 let. it. sit! But tonight we were strapped for time, so I gave it a good 15 minutes which is all I had to give!

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Start: If you are planning on using quick cooking brown RICE, you can start it now before you add the meat to the skillet. (I was using the 45 minute jobby, so I started my brown rice before I began any meal prep whatsoever.) Now is also a great time to start your steamed you broccoli.

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Sauté: Saute the meat by putting 1/2 of the meat (plus marinade and onions) into a piping hot skillet. Cook for about 4 minutes. Remove to a serving dish and then cook the remaining 1/2 of the meat for 4 minutes.

Steam: I actually sautéed our broccoli in 1 Tbsp. olive oil and then added 2 Tbsp. water and covered it for about 10 minutes (maybe less). I added sesame seeds and a Tbsp. of soy sauce to the broccoli just before it was done.

Eat!

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*The Scramble is a meal planning service to which you can subscribe here. For a fantastic price you will receive 5 weekly meals which means 5 recipes, complete grocery list, the ability to tweak the number of people you are making for, and full nutrition facts. PLUS tips as to how best to PREP your meal beforehand, add a punch of FLAVOR, and how to SLOW COOK almost every recipe if you’re especially slammed that night. This wonderful service really does live up to it’s name. You can come home at 6 p.m. and be sitting down to a DELICIOUS, HEALTHY, HOME COOKED meal by 6:30 p.m. most nights.