Back to Blogging

My oh my it's been a long time since I've posted!  This last month has been crazy busy with the start of school again, but I think I've kind of gotten a rhythm down and I'm going to ease back into blogging.

Even though it's starting to get a bit chilly, I'm still trying to wear dresses as often as possible.  What I love about this outfit is that the dress and shoes were both $1 each.  No kidding.  I got them both from a huge garage sale a little while ago - most people probably wouldn't have the patience to sort through so many clothes, but if you look long enough, I think you can always find something good.  This dress originally had shoulder pads, but I couldn't let such an adorable dress go to waste, so bought it anyways and cut them out.  I also bought two other dresses that may be making appearances if I find time to fix them up a bit.  We'll see.

Mocha Cookies (aka The Best Cookies You Will Ever Have)

Yes. I said it. The best cookies ever. Let me explain.

These are rich chocolate cookies with just a hint of coffee...

So soft they basically melt in your mouth...

and of course, they're sprinkled with chocolate AND white chocolate chips.

Unfortunately, I didn't come up with this idea myself. I came across this recipe on My Starbucks Idea (Starbucks' blog), so if you would like to go check that website out, click here.

Whatever you do, you just have to try these cookies. Now.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup brewed coffee (or 1/8 cup extremely strong coffee)
• 1 1/2 cups and 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup and 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup (or more) white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped finely (optional: toast the walnuts before chopping)

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  If you haven't already, allow the butter to soften (if in a hurry, cut the butter into small pieces, lay on a plate, and it should be soft in no time)
2. Reduce the coffee by bringing it to a boil in a pot, then reducing the heat and letting it simmer until 1 oz of liquid remains OR if you don't want to wait that long, make 1/8 cup of very, very strong coffee or espresso.
3. Mix flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder in one bowl, and set aside.
4. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and coffee (reduced or espresso). Mix for 3 minutes, until it's very smooth.
5. Slowly add chocolate chips and walnuts in small amounts, mixing well (but slowly) after each addition.
6. Refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes before baking.
7. Roll the cookie dough into balls, and place them onto a greased baking sheet.  I like to make my cookies pretty small.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes.
8. ENJOY. :)

A Taste of Fall

I’m one of those people who doesn’t really care if my clothes correspond to the season.  I used to think it mattered a lot, but now, I really couldn’t care less.  I wear a sweater and boots when I feel like it.  So here you are, a little taste of fall in the midst of summer.  Ah well.  I mean really, who doesn’t love fall?

I love this sweater, these shorts, and these boots all for the same reason: they are all basic, versatile, and amazingly comfortable pieces that can really go with anything.  So wearing an outfit that included all three of them was bound to happen at some point.  Even if it is in the wrong season.  And of course, no cozy outfit is complete without a messy top knot.

Now I just need some tea.

Converse Nails

Hello!  I just recently saw a picture of someone with converse nails and decided to recreate it!  Its actually very simple as long as you have a black and a white nail art pen.  Lets get started! :)

 So I began by applying just a base coat on all of my nails.  I used about 2 coats of a white color by Color Club.

After the white coat has dried completely, you can do the next coat. Place your next polish brush in the very center of your nail and swipe across horizontally.  I think its best to do this quickly - it creates a straighter line.  Fill it in down to the cuticle.  The polish I used here was Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow. You can use whatever color you want though.  I think other fun ones to try would be pink and blue.

 Make sure that your white polish is completely dry before doing the next step.  I've learned the hard way never to be impatient with nail art.  This part is probably the trickiest.  Take your black nail art pen (mine was by Sally Hansen) and just draw a half-circle shape on your nail.  If you mess it up, just dab a Q-tip in a little bit of nail polish remover and lightly wipe the pen off, making sure not to take off the actual nail polish.  This creates the tip of the shoe.

 Next, draw on 6 dots, three on either side, using the white nail art pen.  These will be the markers for where you'll draw your laces.

Now that you've got your markers, you can go ahead and draw on the laces.  I did mine by making two V's in opposite directions - each connecting the outside dots of one side to the middle dot of the other side.

 Finally, draw 6 little black dots on the ends of the lines for the eyelets, wait for the nail pen to dry, and finish it off with some clear nail polish!

 

Now you have adorable yet secretly simple nails to show off! :)

Play All Day

 Yes, yes I am wearing a sweater in the summer.  This is the line I had to repeat over and over yesterday when my friends saw what I was wearing.  It was 70 degrees outside, and I was wearing a sweater.  But I did have reason to.  Yesterday I spent the day frolicking and having a picnic with friends, and then going to an evening outdoor movie.  Although I have to admit, I did get a bit warm during the day, I was sure glad of my long sleeves in the evening.  I'm someone who doesn't like to carry around jackets, especially in the summer, so pairing a sweater with a pair of shorts (high-waisted, of course) suited me.

I was about to run out the door with just that - a sweater and shorts - when I spotted this necklace hanging on my new jewelry hanger and realized that it matched the shorts amazingly, and just completed the outfit.  I love it when things work out like that.  So I threw that on as well and ended up with this summer outfit that took me through the day and into the night!

Downtown Classic

Okay, I just have to say this: I love red lipstick.  I've always assumed that it would look bad on me because I have orange hair, and the colors might clash, but I was pleasantly surprised with the way it looked.  Although I might just be blinded by the fact that I reeaaaally like red lipstick.

So anyways, I thought it might be fun to add a little pop of red to this outfit, because it has so much black/  I love the way that the red lips and the black touches work together to create this lovely classic feel.  I don't know why but to me, this outfit is perfect for walking around downtown on a warm evening. :)

DIY: Simple Jewelry Hanger

 I got the idea to do this after I saw a picture of vintage doorknobs.  My original plan was to make a coat/purse hanger using actual doorknobs, but I decided to downsize it and go for this cabinet knob jewelry hanger instead (although a vintage doorknob coat hanger may be in the future).  Although I might end up moving it (I'm not sure how much I like the white wood on my white door), I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Also, it was so easy and cheap to do.  It actually only cost $3 - way cheaper than anything else you could get.

All you need for this is one long piece of wood, a few cabinet knobs, screws, a pencil, and drill.  I got my cabinet knobs, screws, and wood from a place called the ReStore, which sells old appliance/building materials.  The cabinet knobs were $1 each, and I got the wood and screws for free.

 Start by making pencil marks wherever you want your knobs to go.  I made three, but you can make as many as you like.  Make sure they are all on the same level.

 Then, drill holes wherever you made your pencil marks.  I had someone more experienced do this for me, because if I did it myself, I probably would have somehow ended up tearing up the entire piece of wood.

Next, choose your knobs and decide how to arrange them.

 I decided to use these three, because they would be easy to attach.

Make sure you choose screws that are the right size!  If they're too short or too long, then the knob won't be firmly attached, and will fall off.  I got a wide variety of sizes just to be safe. 

Take an appropriately size screw and push it through the back of the piece of wood.

Place the knob of your choosing onto the screw and twist it on, as tightly as possible.

Repeat this for all of the rest of your knobs.

And then your done!  Just place it wherever you like (I put mine on my closet door) and nail it in.

And of course, don't forget to adorn your new jewelry hanger with your favorite jewelry! :)