when beauty gives back!

I could not be more excited for tonight. 

Along with some of my most favorite ladies, I am hosting a fundraiser for Reclaim Childhood - a non-profit that seeks to bring the benefits of sport and play to girls and women in the Middle East.  Admittedly I am biased (I co-founded and now help run the grassroots operation), but even so, this event is going to be killer - if you're in the Bay Area, you do NOT want to miss it.

The Social Beauty Company is opening its beautiful doors from 6 - 9pm tonight for an evening of indulgence, all in the name of doing good. 

 

There, you can have a plethora of their awesome beautifying services done with 20% of proceeds going directly to RC. Hungry for more? Just book and pre-pay for any additional services and the gals at Social Beauty Company will make the same generous contribution to help RC empower girls and women in the Middle East.

While you're enjoying your do-gooding beautifications, sip on free wine and champagne as you munch on divinely delicious snacks, compliments of Claudine Dagit of Stiletto & Spice.

 

But the indulgences don't stop there: you can also shop Margaret Elizabeth's fabulous collection as you spoil yourself.  And with a portion of proceeds going directly to RC, you can feel extra good about that new pair of earrings or trend-setting set of bangles.

from here

The icing on top is the show-stopping raffle with chances to win some awesome prizes:

• The Complete Social Beauty Company Package including eyelash extensions, spray tan, brow design and facial!

 

 

• A Reboot Your Bod Session and Detox program from Tulita Health!

• A styling session with Head Over Heels with the uber stylish Melanie!

 

• Cooking classes from the fabulous Claudine Dagit of Stiletto & Spice!

• A coveted spot in Sarah Jenks' Live More Weigh Less program this spring!

 

Don't miss it!

Tonight (Jan 17) from 6 - 9pm

at the Social Beauty Company (2157 Lombard Street).

See you there!

xoxo

KK

ruta 40

After our near-lost-forever-in-the-wilderness extravaganza, our adventure was nowhere near over.  After replenishing our arsenals with a decadent steak dinner and copious amounts of wine, we suited up for a full day of white-water rafting along a famous river that snaked its way along the Chilean border.  

With the constant rain and snow the few weeks before, the river was higher than ever before (according to our expert guides whose warnings did nothing to quell my anxiety) and thus our trip down it was nothing less than eventful.  After 8 Class IV rapids, near-freezing 35-degree temperatures, and 1 very dramatic flip that resulted in our boat's contents (us!) strewn about in the whirlpool-style rapids, we were ready for another extravagant Argentine meal - this time tender lamb and succulent Dover sole with chocolate mousse and red wine sorbet for dessert.

You'd think we'd have had enough of the excitement, but not us - we had to rent a 4x4 and attempt to conquer Argentina's infamous Ruta 40 which traces the country down through Patagonia north to south.    

The mostly dirt-and-gravel road (with the exception of a few glorious paved sections like the above) is notorious for leaving unprepared travelers stranded for days without supplies.  

With gas stops 300+ miles apart...

...accommodations that leave you wishing you didn't need to stop for sleep...

 

See that white spot there?

Yep, that was our home for night #2 

...an obstacle course of suicidal Patagonian wildlife, and the terrifying Argentinean drivers who adore playing Russian roulette as they pass trucks around curves and down hills, the route is somewhat of a right of passage down South.  Anyone who learned we were attempting it would automatically bow to us in recognition of our bravery.
(Or shall I say: stupidity?)

No one for miles

 

Which way?

 

The route was exciting and nerve-racking and eventful, to say the least.  We hadn't been driving for more than three hours when (after we had parked right on the edge of a cliff overlooking a roaring river to enjoy our packed lunch of roasted chicken and baguettes) our car battery went dead.  After a long time of waiting, we flagged down a generous Argentine family who - while sans jumper cables - suggested we kick start the car by pushing it Little Miss Sunshine Style.  

After first rolling the beast back from the cliff (a scary proposition in and of itself as with one push the car often rolled back towards the cliff with more momentum), we began the process of pushing it along the shoulder of the road as hard as we could.  It took us five tries but we got it going - leaving us with a running engine that we rarely turned off from then on.

Our saviors!

Later that evening, we stumbled upon another shocker.  Alongside the road, we spotted a small tent, but no car in sight. 

Stefan popped out to see what the deal was all about.
(Because if you didn't know already, Stefan speaks about a bazillion languages and can make friends with almost every single person on this planet.) 
Inside the modest shelter, he found a Bolivian man who was biking his way (on a two-speeder) all the way from Bolivia down to Argentine's southern-most tip.

After almost dying in a motorcycle accident, the young man had received some words of wisdom from his then very sick grandfather:
"If I could go back and do it all again, I would have lived.  Really lived.  I got married, I had kids, they had kids, but I was just going through the motions.  I never took time to truly live.  Go see the world.  Savor every second.  Make it worthwhile."

And so he quit his job, spent all his savings on a bike and a tent and some warm clothes, and began his multi-year journey to see his continent in all its splendor.  And he was loving every second.

We left him our entire stock of chocolate as he left us full of zeal to squeeze the juice out of every second of every day we had left.  And squeeze we did.  

Happy Friday!  More stories next week.

xoxo
KK

a hike

So if you didn't pick up on it from yesterday's post, the honeymoon ended up being quite the adventure.  After two back-to-back red-eyes delivering us into Buenos Aires at 4:30am Saturday morning, we had two full days of sight-seeing, exploring, drinking and eating before we hopped on another 5am flight to Bariloche.  First on the itinerary was a two-day hike with an overnight in a mountain-top refugio (hut). 

We scrambled around town in preparation - registering ourselves with the hiking authority, renting sleeping bags, and stocking up on water and snacks.  After dropping our big bags at our inn for the following evening, we set off with our two-day packs and hitch-hiked to the trail head.

Because we had heard the route up to the Refugio Frey was on the easier side (coming in around 5 hours), we decided to spice it up by going an extra long way that circumvents a nearby lake in advance of the ascent.  The first four hours were heart-pumping, but leisurely.  We were full of energy and a sense of adventure - two newlyweds with their entire honeymoon before them.

The last four hours, however, were almost completely uphill and very steep.  Still, we were adamant - boldly rushing up the hill to try and beat those fellow trekkers we met along the way. 

 
We were thrilled (and exhausted!) when around 8:30pm (right before the snow and wind started to move in), we arrived at our little hut and were greeted by the hut's hardcore, live-in staff who were ready to whip us up one of their famous pizzas. 

 

Amazing.

After devouring our dinner, we headed upstairs to the communal sleeping area - our honeymoon suite for the evening. 

 

A large sign warned us photos were prohibited, 

so I obviously pulled an old, not-looking-into-

my-camera-but-oh-whoops-there-goes-the-click 

so I could document the evening.  

Think: raggedy, old, dirty mats haphardly thrown on the dusty floor and wooden-planked bunk beds.  With 15 sweaty, smelly, burly climbers snoring or shifting in their bed and the wind hollowing outside, that night's sleep was not the best.  I leapt out of my sleeping bag when the clock stuck 6 to head down to breakfast.

Post breakfast, we checked out the mountain hut's map and saw there was a back trail we could take down to avoid retracing our steps from the day before.  It looked a bit longer in distance than the way up but not by much, so we asked a fellow hut-mate (an ice-climber from colorado who had been living in a tent next to the hut for several weeks). 

"It's definitely doable man - a bit exposed, but a fun time for sure."

 

 

Stefan scooping out the map

 

Since we couldn't take the map with us, we snapped a picture of it with Stefan's iPhone and then studied it intently.  There were two very important turnoffs: the first one where we needed to head right to avoid heading on a several-day, super intense hike to a cabin deep, deep in the mountainy wilderness, and another one to avoid heading straight up the summit of one of the biggest peaks in the area.

After bundling up in our warmest gear to protect from the snow (my Lululemon yoga pants had to suffice), we set off for the "trail" - a series of painted red dots to indicate the direction.  The hike started with two steep ascents which required us to boulder over a series of large rocks. 

 

 

 

The last part was particularly challenging as the boulders had become particularly icy and snowy while the wind had really started picking up.  

 

 

 

 

Not the best day ever for glasses

 

 

After reaching the top of the top ascents, we consulted Stefan's iPhone...

 

 

 

...found the first turn off, and followed it.

We spent the next 2.5 hours following the dots as they scaled the ridge of the mountain.

We then watched as the dots moved across the ridge, over the mountain and to the over side. By this point the snow had really picked up and we were bouldering in close to 2 feet of snow not being able to see much.  Again, we followed the dots over the ridge, but this time, when we got to the other side, we couldn't find them - we had absolutely no idea where we were or where we were going.

We spent some time trying to find them but the snow was so hard, we could barely see 10 feet in front of us. We tried to check Stefan's iPhone but quickly learned that thanks to the extreme temperature, it was out of battery.  Given that there was only one small mountain town (and then a whole lot of Patagonian wilderness), if we missed that second turn-off and headed down the mountain the wrong way, we could be totally, totally lost.

(And the next 1-hour special on the Discovery Channel.)

 

Needless to say, we were not taking pictures.

We eventually took a chance and headed down one of the various descents, having no idea where it might lead. Time and time again we attempted to find the little, red dots - scaling back up the mountain and across to locate them.

Since I'm back home writing you all now, you know how this story ends.

We eventually stumbled upon a closed ski resort, luckily finding a gondola lift that had a mechanic inside its snowy hut. The kind gentleman carefully gave us instructions for how to get down - another 2 hour ordeal.

 

 

Civilization at last!

Ready for a shower, dry clothes, and a bottle of wine!

  

More stories to come.

xoxo
KK

home

After 24 days,
13,125 miles flown,
4237 miles driven,
1 little-miss-sunshine-style 4x4 kick started,
38.2 miles trekked,
6 border crossings made,
3 near-death experiences survived,
23 bottles of wine (and 7 bottles of champagne) drank,
19 jugoso steaks devoured,
7 spicy empanadas savored, 
1 crevasse-infested glacier conquered,
14 new friends (from croatia to canada to colorado) made,
10 bottles of wine purchased,
and 1 unforgettable kick-off to the Fischer Family reign...

 

...we are home from our Argentine (with a Chilean dessert) honeymoon.

I'll be back soon with stories.  
There. are. lots. 

xoxo
KK 

the gift of opportunity

Are you excited for the holidays?  Since Stefan and I are headed off on our honeymoon TONIGHT (hooray!), we opened a bunch of our presents last night, and - boy oh boy - were they good.  Mama and Papa Krieg know how to spoil us well.  (But more on that another time.)

Are you all set with your holiday shopping?  Still looking for the perfect gift for that person who has everything?  

Why not skip the expensive trinket they'll never use or the lackluster sweater they'll never wear and give them: 
the gift of opportunity?

By making a donation to Reclaim Childhood in honor of that person you love, you'll be helping to bring the benefits of sport and play to at-risk refugee girls and women living in the Middle East.  (Full disclosure: as co-founder and Director, I come with a bit of bias.)

In recognition of your generosity, RC will mail your special someone a beautiful holiday card with photos of RC's budding athletes-in-training. 

On the back of the card, your loved one will find information about Reclaim Childhood and its mission as well as a note telling him or her where exactly your donation is going:

$20: Buys four soccer balls 
$50: Buys uniforms for one basketball team 
$100: Allows one refugee girl to play soccer in the RC soccer league 
$250: Trains and pays for one refugee woman to serve as a RC coach for a season

Ready to give?  Click here to make your donation.

Still not convinced? 
Check out this video one of our volunteers put together during our soccer league this past fall: 

 

Find it on vimeo here 

password: reclaim

In addition to our fall soccer league, RC runs a series of athletic programs throughout the year: summer sports camps, a spring basketball league, Saturday sports clinics, and Mother-Daughter Days. In addition, we host coaching clinics to train refugee women to serve as our coaches - giving them a much needed source of income as well as an outlet to empowerment.

Ready to give?  Click here to make your donation.   Even small dollars make a HUGE difference.

xoxo

KK

christmas cookies

If you think Americans take their Christmas baking seriously, just wait until you encounter the Swiss around this time of year.  Baking (and then having a fully stocked supply of) Christmas cookies in the house is not an option, it is an absolute must.

Stefan introduced me to the joys of Swiss cookies last year around this time.  While we tried our best to craft traditional versions of his favorites, what resulted was almost identifiable. 

   

But to my credit, it wasn't all my fault.  Swiss cookie making requires a plethora of tools - not only your traditional food processor (to chop nuts and puree vanilla beans) and stand mixer (to knead doughs and beat egg whites), but also a whole host of other Swiss-made gadgets to propel your cookies to perfection: special cookie cutters and dough thickness measuring sticks.

Luckily this year - thanks to last year's Christmas presents from my mother-in-law and this year's wedding presents from some awesome guests, we were fully prepared for the feat.

It all started with those two wonderful kitchen appliances:

 

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer showing its stuff

Cuisinart Food Processor resting on the dish 

drying rack after a tough day's work

I'll be totally honest: the only reason I registered for a stand mixer was because I thought it looked pretty sitting on the counter.  I had absolutely no idea what I would use it for, nor if I ever would - all I wanted was for it to stand proudly, always conveying a sense of purpose.  Problem was: our shoebox-size kitchen wasn't exactly conducive to putting the beauty out on display, so it had been stored away in our cabinet since its arrival.

This cookie making extravaganza was its first debut and boy, oh, boy was I in for a treat.  Do you all have one of these things?  It is like 40 expert bakers packed into one.  It kneaded all four of my doughs into a perfect consistency, whipped my egg whites into the fluffiest, most decadent meringue, and then did all the dishes.  Kidding on that last one, but you get the drift.  I am officially in love. 

(For more profession of love for the stand mixer, check out Design Mom.)

Once my doughs were prepped (in next to no time, mind you) and rested (in quite a bit of time, unfortunately), it was onto the cutting.

Thanks to my trusty dough thickness measuring sticks, I rolled to perfection - optimizing for equality on all cookie dimensions.        

 

Basler Brunsli in process 

a delicious gluten-free, almond, chocolate, spice cookie

(check out saveur for the recipe)

Spitz buben

recipe here

Zimtsterne

another delicious gluten-free option, 

these cinnamon-almond stars are topped 

with a crunchy meringue 

recipe here

Basler Brunsli in boxes

Packing them all up 

Mailanderli included - recipe here

(as Stefan informed me: a must-make given 

they're the only recipe that calls for yolks; 

all the others require whites only - 

gotta love that Swiss optimization!)

All set to go to friends!

Although the process was a lot easier (and cleaner) than last year's, it still took quite a lot of time.  Even though the doughs were done in no time, cutting and baking required some serious manpower.  

Three nights' worth, in fact. 

 

The perfect excuse to catch up on the latest season of Nashville.  (Do you watch?  You should y'all.)

All in all - a successful year in this Swiss tradition.  And since it was our first as an "official" Swiss household, perhaps last years' disaster doesn't count?

 

Do you have any Christmas treats you make every year?

xoxo

KK