Muffins!

So I woke up this morning, feeling a bit under the weather, and was browsing through tastespotting.com (just looking at all the pictures makes me drool) when I saw this recipe. The ingredients seemed like ones I'd have, so I decided I might as well check. Luckily I could find them all (almost had to run to the store for cinnamon), and so I was set out to make these muffins.

They turned out sooo good. I've only had one so far, since they are quite sweet (and dangerous). My mom was surprised/impressed that I whipped out some muffins while she was out at work. My dog was eying them whenever I turned my back on her, and now my kitchen smells nicely of cinnamon.

The Itch for Fall

Every summer, about mid-way through I start to get this small, urging feeling that just cannot wait until fall. Not only for the cooler temperature (I never fare well in the heat) but for the clothes.

It starts mid July, when I stop looking at floral, light weight skirts and dresses and shift to oxfords and dark fall shades. I become obsessed with planning out what my "fall fashion staples" will be for the year (yes, I have a name for them!). My back-to-school shopping is never on whim, I know the dangers of "in the moment" purchases. I look through images online, different styles, and reflect on how I'd like to look.

The retro school boy/girl look has stolen my heart currently, I can't stop looking at pictures. I find myself trying on outfits inside my house wishing it was cooler outside. Ever since I saw An Education, I have been wanting to grow up in the 60's in Britain, just to wear the uniforms.


Besides Carry's lovely appearance in this movie (I love all her wardrobe, it was gorgeous), the London blogger Carrie has inspired me. These are a few of her more school girl like outfits:



I love these two shoe options, oxfords and the little ankle socks! They are going to be must-haves. I also love the button down under sweater look!


My other mission will be to find a reasonably priced coat, along side a more stylish book-bag for my school days. The Alexa is a dream! But a girl can dream, no?

1. Plaid skirts! (UO, $48), 2. Trench Coat (CLuce $70), 3. Peter pan collars! I love the look of them, 4. Red beret, I decided I will find one that works for my curly locks, 5. Briefcase/school bag, (Cambride Satchel, $158/ Mulberry Alexa $1250), 6. Oxford/Loafer shoes, they seem perfect for trotting down my schools hallways (Oxfords, $98/Seychelles Cheerrio Bootie, $90/Seychelles HOlidays Loafer, $49).

This is the first of what I'm sure will be many fall/winter fashion posts. It's my favorite time to dress!

New Dress!

So, this past sunday I took a little trip down to seattle. Unfortunately, my battery died mid-car-ride so I am picture-less of the adventure :[ But! I did end up snagging this lovely dress from UO. I'm in love with this dress, it was exactly what I wanted for this summer. Pink, floral, and girly!

So, after trying to photograph it myself (and failing) I ventured out with a dear friend of mine, Helloginkgo, and we took some pictures. I wore the shirt underneath because I'm not gutsy enough yet to wear it without (it shows off quite a lot of cleavage). But I'll have fun experimenting!

The rose garden is near my house, so we went right over and took some pictures while smelling all the different roses.

Shoes - Steve Madden, Dress - Urban Outfitters, Shirt - American Apparel

I've been making my own backgrounds for my laptop for a couple years now, because I could never decide on one image to post. I love playing with design and incorporating all the things I love into a new images. Each background has it's own feel and it feels so fresh to update it (I had my previous one for a longgggg time).

So far, I'm quite fond of this one. It has macarons, Miss Dior Cherie, Audrey Hepburn, SATC (an addiction of mine), shoes (another addiction), and a whimsical, girly, feel. The french phrase means, "I want to live in a world of dreams".

Cozy Days

I know I haven't posted in a couple days, and I know that I said I'd post a "what-I-wore" post, but things didn't quite go as planned. I did take some photos (by myself) but I didn't find them to be what I wanted, so I'm going to wait until I can barrow a friend to have a little shoot ourselves.

Above is what I call my winter sweater / cozy sweater. I found it at UO in the sale rack, marked down from $128, to $40! All because the "sash" was missing. Fine by me, I immediately snatched it up and have had it since. I love this sweater, it's perfect for almost all cold-weather/snuggling up occasions.

Also, I just have felt very lazy recently. I half blame the heat, 80's are enough to make me want to stay inside a cool, dark, area, rather than go out and enjoy the sun. My nights have been spent catching up on movies. I've watched Bridget Jone's Diary twice this week.

It's obviously one of my favorites ;]

Have a lovely week and I'll post again on Saturday!
x0x0

Lummi Island

Being an inhabitant of the North West, it's quick drive to a ferry (15 minutes) and a 10 minutes ferry over, to get to Lummi Island for a day's visit. It ended up being quite the journey, as my sister dragged me out on what she promised was "just a quick hike", which turned out to be over an hour of constant up-hill hiking, before I made her turn around and head back to the car. Afterward, we headed to the shore line (the first two pictures) but it began raining as soon as we sat down.

Then we went to the willows, and ate prawns. Prawn that we had to crack ourselves! These little beasts were quite delicious, and the view looked out on the blue shaded islands. After the hike, it was relaxing to just sit and enjoy the scenery. It was my sister's last day after her quick visit, so I was glad to spend some time with her. No pictures of us are included, because we looked quite nasty after our hike, and I don't wish to scar any curious viewer out there.

Next post will be a "what-I-wore" post, and I've just been too lazy to start them yet.

Macarons!

The batter, it was hard to resist.

The cookies are rising...

White chocolate buttercream...mmmm.

Today I went over to my friends house (who lives about 30 minutes away, deep in the woods. Needless to say I got lost) and we decided to make macarons. It was both our first time making them, and I had heard the first attempt never turns out well. Above are our finished product, these messy, cracked creatures may not look too good, but they taste great!

My mother's side of the family is pure Italian. Cooking seems like a natural talent that everyone seems to have. When planning family gatherings the question is always "what are we eating?" my mom can cook and bake, whereas between my sister and I, she's the chief and I have the baking skills. This has made for a pretty good balance over the years. Anyway, I'll probably post more pictures of my cooking adventures in the future.