Valentine's Day Quiz: What Kind of Valentine Are You?

Having trouble figuring out your Valentine's Day plans? Don't know what is appropriate for your relationship? Take the quiz and find out your Valentine personality and a few creative ideas for your Valentine's Date.

1) How long have you been dating your Valentine?
a) less than a month
b) under 6 months
c) over a year
d) two or more years

2) What direction do you see your relationship going?
a) South. Get me out of it
b) I enjoy our time together but am unsure of where we are headed
c) I have a love jones
d) I am so in love that I am consumed

3) Select from the following statements to complete this sentence: Valentine's Day is
a) a lame Hallmark holiday
b) a day to celebrate each other and the fun that we have together
c) a super sexy and utterly sensual holiday that celebrates human sexuality
d) a for toasting French champagne and making love under the Eiffel Tower

4) What is an ideal Valentine's date for you?
a) playing Xbox at home
b) a movie and milkshakes
c) a weekend getaway for two, going to see live theater or the ballet, flowers and candlelight dinner
d) a five course dinner at Fleur de Lys and a suite at the Four Seasons with candles throughout the room and rose petals in the shape of a heart on the bed.

5) When you think of Valentine's Day gifts, what comes to mind? 
a) a card
b) sweet treats and flowers
c) a spa package
d) champagne, caviar and lingerie

*** Take the Quiz on FACEBOOK and share it with your friends!
Your Score: 
If you answered mostly B

• Easy Going: Somewhat shy, looking to share time but maybe not too much face time or intimacy because it's too new or you share a casual relationship that is comfortable. 

If you answered mostly C 

• Lover's Lane: This is the relationship that's vibrant and sexy, undiscovered and new. Get creative and spend sometime researching and planning a fun yet approachable date. You are spontaneous and open to new adventures, passionate and outgoing.

If you answered mostly D 

• A True Romantic: You don't need ideas, you already have them. Do what you do best, remain the romantic that you are.

If you answered mostly A 

• A Valentine Scrooge: You might want to get a new valentine or be your own valentine.

Sunday Supper: Braised Fennel and White Fish with Cherry Tomatoes Over Couscous

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone! Go Pack! This is a dish that Patrick and Lauren made for us and I have been hooked ever since. This ranks as one of the easiest, tastiest and quickest dishes to make and it can be ready in about 30 minutes. You can use any mild white fish such as cod, striped bass, orange roughy or tilapia. It pairs perfectly with a sauvignon blanc but my absolute favorite with this dish is the 2009 Thomas George Estates.

What You Will Need
3 T. Extra virgin olive oil
2 Thick slices of pancetta cut into 1" pieces (optional)
1 C. finely chopped fennel (I go heavy on the fennel and use a whole bulb for extra flavor)
course salt
red pepper flakes
1/4 C. water (more as needed)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (for added color, choose a pint with mixed colors such as yellow, red and purple)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2 lb.s fish
freshly ground pepper
2 T. shredded fresh basil (I also use more basil than this)
fresh greens (with your dressing of choice. I used Newman's Own Caesar Dressing)
couscous (make according to the package)
1 T. butter

What To Do
In a dutch oven, saute pancetta over medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain onto a paper towel reserving the fat in the pan. Add the slivered fennel and season with salt and red pepper flakes. Saute for 1-2 minutes until fennel sizzles. Add 1/4 cup of water. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan getting all the flavored goodies. Cover and reduce heat to medium low. Allow for the fennel to braise for 7 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add 1 T. olive oil to the pan and add your tomatoes, minced garlic and turn up the heat to medium and saute uncovered for 10 minutes occasionally scraping your skillet. When half of the tomatoes burst (approx. 12 minutes), add 2-3 T. of water and pancetta. Cover and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, begin boiling your water for the couscous and pat fish dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. ***Choose your own adventure: In an alternate skillet pan over medium-high heat, pan sear each fillet 4 minutes on each side then transfer fish to braise OR add the fish directly to the braise, cover and simmer over low heat turning the fillets at 4 minutes (8 minutes total). Stir in freshly chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste. Serve over couscous with a freshly tossed salad. It is the perfect dish and it makes my top 5 every time! Enjoy!

What to Wear This Valentine's Day: Kimberlee's Pick of the Week

Valentines Day:  The Mother of all romantic holidays celebrating sensuality, pleasure, and love.  Typically I advise, encourage, and adamantly shove people toward dressing for ones own self love and appreciation…but on V Day I say if you’ve got it, put your right hand on the curve of your hip and flaunt it for everything it’s worth.  If you don’t, buy it, add some red nail polish and sky high shiny black pumps, and sell it like you were born with it. 

My pick this week utterly embodies the latter of those two options, and oh how it embodies my body. 

This dress is an all out vixen creator revealing curves you didn’t know you had, and amping up the ones you were fully aware of.  I discovered The Miraculous Push-Up Ruched Bra Top Dress while perusing Victoria’s Secret online one afternoon in search of some new Valentine’s Day inspirational unmentionables.  Available in 4 shades of AMAZING, the dress is consciously constructed entirely of unbelievably comfortable and unrestrictive cotton modal with a generous blend of spandex.  The neck line is a halter design that ties in the back for a completely adjustable fit, and the body is ruched from bust line to hemline providing an element of texture and an exorbitant amount of forgiveness (i.e. You can actually eat that expensive meal sitting in front of you while wearing it).  Now let’s get to the miraculous part.  Sizing is selected based upon your bra size rather than your dress size because the dress is designed with its very own built in VS Miraculous Push Up Bra, hook and loop back closure and all.  Miraculous Push Up is an understatement.  The bra has significantly more volume and girth to it’s padding than any of my traditional VS bras, and claims to add 2 full cup sizes to your silhouette.  I’d venture to guess that’s probably very close to accurate.  Maybe a little less, but I’m pretty confident that I could give Jessica Rabbit a run for her money in this bad boy. 

Red nail polish, shiny black pumps, and all the body my Valentine can handle. 

XOXO,

Kimberlee

Build Your Brand Today in Four Easy Steps

Most of our beautiful country is snowed in today so what is a girl to do? Take the opportunity to capitalize on this time to build your own personal brand for less than $12 a year. I have been researching some very impressive individuals recently and found that they all have one thing in common: Strategy. They did the following four steps strategically and are a success as a result of it. I may not know them, but their brand makes me want t get to know them. If you think that you can't do this, you are wrong. If Snookie can do it, ANYONE can.


How to Create Your Brand

• Decide what your passion is: Narrow down who you are and what you do in two sentences or less.

• Find your niche: Who do you want to attract to your information? What community programs or social clubs do they participate in? Are they following any companies or groups on Linkedin? Do you have any common connections?

• Do something about it: Buy a domain name (godaddy.com) and link it up to a blog template to create an inexpensive website look alike.

• Start marketing yourself: Use free social services such as Linkedin to build your network. Connect on Twitter and Facebook to keep your network updated.

Personal Brands that I love....
Who are these people anyway? They started out like you and me just an average Joe. The difference is that they made themselves "someone" by sharing their thoughts and experiences online with their friends and clients. Tavi started a fashion blog at age 11. She now has a Wikipedia page. Take note.

Who I am following and why:

• Tavi Gevinson: She's brave, bold and bright. And now she is an icon.  the style rookie:

• Rosalee Eichstedt: I don't know her but want to. Why? Because her brand is appealing, well done and smart.  Rosealeeonline

• Gary Vaynerchuk: He is insanely energetic to the point where he is almost annoying BUT, I went to a book signing in Berkeley and he was approachable, down to earth and brings out the best in you. He started out as a kid selling wine in his Dad's liquor store. Now he is one of the most watched and most influential wine critics online today. I definitely recommend his book Crush It! Winelibrary.com

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