Fun new summer nails!

I'm always cautious when it comes to trying new trends. Typically, I gently ease myself into them, starting small and then incorporating them more and more into my style.

I'm using the same caution with some new nail trends. This time around I'm easing myself into kelly green nails.

For this trend I'm using two coats of NYColor in High Line Green. It's vibrant and actually really cute. It definitely bring a preppy vibe.

Honestly, I wasn't sure at all about this trend. I never gravitated toward green or blue polishes so this was really new for me. For that very reason I decided to use a more inexpensive polish so that in case I didn't like it, I wouldn't be out more money than I would like to be. I also chose an inexpensive polish because I don't think this trend is gonna last past this summer. I don't want to be stuck with an expensive polish in a color that I won't wear anymore. This way I'm trendy but still budget-conscious.

For a trend test run, this was a success! It makes me want to try other summer trends as well, so stay tuned! Who knows what fun things are to come?!

xoxo,
Amanda

Pretty Little Surprises

Although I've had this surprise for over a month, I've been waiting to show it to you guys since I just got it back. But I'll explain that later.

Last time I went to NYC my boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Tiffany's. As we were walking around the Upper East Side, he steered me towards Tiffany's and as the beautiful facade came into view he said "Come on, let's go in!" Being one who isn't able to resist a good window shopping trip, I figured why not and amongst the huge crowds, we slipped inside.
 
Once inside, my eyes widened and I floated away to this beautiful dream, where I'm playing the part of Holly Golightly. We looked around the sidewalk level briefly before heading up to the sterling silver floor. Just about all my Tiffany jewelry comes from that floor so we figured that would be the funnest floor to window shop. While meandering around the floor I spotted a necklace that I've had my eye on for months.  I stopped, looked longingly at my dream, and then began to move on. My boyfriend pulled me back and urged me just to try it on. We've never been able to find it at our hometown store so, he pushed me to see if I really liked it as much as I did in the catalogue.

We found a super nice associate who gladly pulled the necklace out of the case for me to try on. As soon as the clasp shut, I was in love. The necklace was feminine yet chic and I loved it even more than I did before. After staring in the mirror for a moment or two, I unhooked the clasp a little more sad than when I was just walking past the case. Without a breath my boyfriend stepped in and quietly said, "We're getting it." After a little protestation on my end, my necklace was being wrapped up and I was as happy as a clam. Fantastic little blue bag in my hand, we walked out of the store, and I seriously felt like I was living a dream.

This little bow necklace came home with me and I couldn't love it more. I have a serious addiction to things with bows on them and this necklace has been on my radar for a while. The charm is delicate and pretty and makes the perfect accent to any outfit.

Bringing home something from Tiffany's NYC is always been something on my dream to-do list. It's such an institution, and although my local Tiffany's is great, it just doesn't have the history that NYC does. Being able to walk inside and buy something was such a dream come true that it really makes me love this necklace even more.

Although I got it months ago, I had to send it out for repairs since the chain was a little small for my liking. I just got it back last weekend and it's even more perfect than before. It fits exactly how I want now and looks so cute.

I still get all giddy thinking about that day and my cute new necklace!

xoxo,
Amanda

Weekly Pinterest bakes-part one

At this point, singing the praises of Pinterest is pretty much repeating the sentiments of a whole slew of internet users. Pinterest is pretty much a giant mixing bowl of fabulousity. That's why every weekend I like to, if possible, test out one of the many delicious recipes I "pin".

This week's bake-test was Lemon cake bars via Bakergirl. 

Follow me on Instagram and catch these pictures right when I post them

This recipe was super easy. Mostly this was just a dump and mix recipe which was right up my alley. It was about two big steps and then the glaze so the prep time was minimal and would be great in a pinch. It's also a new go-to because the recipe only called for ingredients I already had stocked in the pantry.

Flavor-wise it was stellar. I love lemon but I always find lemon bars too goopy, so I have been looking for a recipe like this for years. They very much have a dense brownie like consistency but the lemon flavor keeps them somewhat light. The lemon glaze really sets it off because it's especially tart and sweet and it gives the whole bar this really tasty zing. While tasty, I can only have small square servings because they are pretty sweet.

I totally recommend these to anyone in a pinch for a desert and certainly anyone who loves lemons like me!

xoxo,
Amanda

Summertime nailcolor

I seriously just found the prettiest nail color for summer. Mindlessly strolling through Target (as just about everyone else does) I spotted this cute shade and it just screamed summer to me.

 

The color is 224 Times Square by NYC Color. It's an inexpensive brand but the color and cute name make it so worth it. A good base coat and a coat of Seche Vite can make any lower quality polish stay for days.

I've been looking for this color for months. Nothing has been even close to this perfect strawberry shade. It's vibrant and warm making it just perfect for summer. I like it most because although it's a really bright shade, it's not obnoxious. It's fun while still being classy.

I'm a sucker for fun names. It's exactly why I've been loving NYC color's nail polishes so much.

These are two out of the three NYC polishes I have in my collection. My other color can be seen here! Beside the wide selection of fabulous colors, I really love this brand because of the super fabulous names. They're all named after New York City places and spaces. The polish on the right is called Manhattan and the other is Times Square. The color I wore for Christmas was called Broadway burgundy. I love NYC so this is my new love. Looking at the colors and cute names is so much fun.

Just another reason why nail polish is the best accessory!

xoxo,
Amanda

Easy Breakfast Baked Oatmeal

I love Breakfast. Hands down it's my favorite meal. Although I usually hate getting up for it, the thought of pancakes, eggs, and bacon makes me jump out of bed. That being said I'm always on the lookout for new breakfast recipes to try out. My only requirement is that it be easy, I can't really muster the energy for an intensive morning recipe. A few weeks ago I found this recipe for Baked Oatmeal and I was smitten. Oatmeal is usually my go-to easy and quick breakfast. It's hearty while also being healthy and its versatility make it the perfect option in a time crunch. This however is a little more special and perfect for a quiet Sunday morning.

Recipe from Inspired Taste: Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Banana, and chocolate

Oh my goodness this recipe is amazing! I couldn't stop eating it, it was so good. 

The recipe is actually really easy. I'm not gonna repost the whole thing here but the basic idea is you mix all the fruit and dry ingredients together and then dump them into the pan. Then you pour a milk mixture over the whole things and bake. It doesn't take too long to bake and there really aren't a ton of ingredients as well, it's basically everything you would already have in your pantry.

It comes out warm and delicious and you basically just wanna keep the whole pan to yourself. I also really like the recipe because you can totally change out the "featured" ingredients. Don't like strawberries? Replace them with raspberries, totally easy to do. My boyfriend "Mr. Picky Eater" loved it too, so definitely don't be afraid to give this recipe a try!

xoxo,

Amanda

Birchbox June 2012 reveal and thoughts

My June 2012 Birchbox just arrived and I practically squealed with delight once I opened it! I'll do the reveal and then give you guys my thoughts.

Totally loved the stamp print interior!

My June Birchbox contents:
Full size Stila one step bronzer
Stainiac by TheBalm cheek and lip stain sample
2 Comodynes self tanning towelettes
Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift fragrance sample
Luna chocolate peppermint snack bar

After an incredibly disappointing first box, Birchbox really won me over this month. I am excited to try everything my box came with and they are all products I've been wanting to try.

Last month one of my gripes with that I received a box with no full size products. I understand beauty boxes are meant to introduce you to new products but it's still hard not to feel slighted when everyone else seems to be getting something full-size and you don't. This month I lucked out by receiving the Stila bronzer that retails for $36.00! I was beyond happy when I realized that this was being included in my box. It makes Birchbox more than worth it for this very reason. Although it's only my second box it's seeming that the satisfaction fluctuates monthly. Some months you may get great boxes but then the next month's box is a dud. It's really all a surprise; good or bad.

My other products were really perfect for me. I've always wanted to try a stain so this Stainiac sample is great for me. Since self tanners became really popular I've been trying to find a good one to no avail, so I'm excited to give these towelettes a try. Plus Birchbox has a video on how to properly use them which I seriously love.

I actually really like Taylor Swift so I'm totally up for trying her perfume. This has been in boxes before I signed up but I've never tried it so I'm pretty pleased with this as well. I put a little on as soon as I opened my box and I kind of already love it. It's a warm but floral scent that is really nice to wear. I kept smelling my wrist all night because it smelled so good.

The Luna bar was my extra this month and I'm always up for making my snack choices healthier, so why not? The Birchbox site showed a peanut butter flavor as well but thank goodness I received the chocolate peppermint instead. I know the extra in other boxes was a Modcloth headband and I really wish I would have received that instead of the bar. I love both Modcloth and headbands so it would have been perfect for me. It's only really a small gripe but I ended up ordering the cute, green deer printed headband with my BB points, so alls well anyways.

Overall this was a huge improvement over last month and I can really see why people love Birchbox so much.

xoxo,
Amanda

DIY Pom Trim Pillow

One of my favorite new shows on TV is New Girl. It's seriously hilarious and I love the dynamic between all of the characters. During one of the episodes last season Zooey Deschanel's character Jess had this super adorable pom and rick rack trimmed pillow that I just had to DIY.

This DIY is fairly straightforward but it is a bit time consuming.

Supplies:
Plain standard size pillow sham
Teal pom pom trim-I used around 3 yards
Hot pink rick rack trim- 3 yards as well
pins, needle and coordinating thread.

Start by pinning your pom trim to the top edges of your pillow case. Continue pinning around the whole pillowcase. At the corners I folded the trim in the same way I did for my pom trim scarf. Refer to that tutorial for a more detailed explanation.

After pinning the entire pillowcase begin sewing the trim. I did a simple running stitch along the entire pillow.

Once the pom trim is sewn on, begin pining the pink rick rack just about the poms on the front side of the pillow. Use the same fold trick on the corners.

Again, once the rick rack is all pinned go ahead and sew the trim down using a running stitch. Because you are going to be sewing the trim on the top of the pillowcase you have to make sure you only sew through the top and not entirely through the pillowcase. This is a little difficult but not impossible, all in all it really just takes some time and patience.

Check your stitches and Voila!

xoxo,
Amanda

Cute and Yummy things

My super awesome boss just came back from NYC yesterday and brought me back these gorgeous macarons!

My love affair with macarons started the first day I landed in Paris. At first bite I was in love with the crispy and delicate outside and sweet creamy inside. The array of flavors is also spectacular, from rose to cafe, every single one is delicious. It's easy to say that I had more macarons than I can count while in France.

On one of my recent trips to NYC I stopped at Laduree and fell back in love. Being able to get my favorite Parisian treat in the US made my day.  Last time I was in NYC we didn't have the time to stop for macarons, so when my boss handed me this box I about squealed! When I realized it was the special Hello Kitty edition I freaked out.

I snacked on these during Pretty Little Liars and it was glorious. I tried the caramel and the new strawberry candy flavor and it was soo delicious. I tried to limit myself so I still have a few left to try but it's gonna be hard to resist them.

Also-how adorable is the box?! I'm totally gonna reuse it for makeup or something when I'm done, it's to cute to throw away.

Oh how I wish Laduree would fly macarons to my house weekly!

xoxo,
Amanda

Having my own movie moment

For anyone with a fun vintage-esque style like myself Modcloth is seriously the perfect place to find gorgeous clothes to fill your closet.

I scored a seriously awesome piece there a few weeks ago that although I talked about Twitter and Instagram I totally neglected to post on here.

Image courtesy of leamicheleweb.org

Rachel's Eva Franco heart print dress finally came back in stock at ModCloth and I pounced on it. Although it was a little bit expensive I loved this dress so much that I couldn't resist. It's so gorgeous and the heart print is so delicate that it's not only limited to a Valentine's Day dress. The pleating and patent belt are such pretty feminine details that this dress is insanely flattering. Since I'm on the shorter side, I am gonna get this dress hemmed so that it fits more like Rachel's. It's more flattering on me that way.

When I bought the dress Modcloth was also running their Hello Summer promo and I scored the best GWP ever.

The super cute tote came stuffed with all those goodies! Crazy right?! The hat is so different than anything I've ever had but I seriously love it. I've been wearing it everywhere, it's so French Riviera chic. The little dove necklace is so cute, and it gonna be adorable with the polka dot knot headband.

I shop on the internet a lot but none of the extras I've ever gotten have been this cool. Everything is stylish and I totally plan on wearing all of it. Totally made my Glee score just a bit sweeter!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter so you don't miss any of my fun finds!

xoxo,

Amanda

My favorite new vegetarian recipe.

Vegetarian meals have been making more and more of an appearance at my dinner table. While I haven't cut meat out of my diet completely, I have really started limiting my intake. In an effort to make this transition easier, I've started taking meals I love and finding ways to remove the meat without losing the flavor.

Last weekend I tried vegetarian lasagna for the first time and it was a huge success. It was so tasty and I didn't even miss the meat at all. In fact I couldn't even tell it wasn't there. The veggies made it hearty enough it didn't seem like anything was missing. The recipe is super simple and uses a bunch of really yummy veggies.

Vegetarian Lasagna-
1 box of lasagna noodles
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
1 zucchini
1 box of frozen spinach
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
2.5 tsp minced garlic
1 bag mozzarella cheese
fresh basil

First chop onions and peppers and saute together until tender. Add garlic and saute for a few more minutes. Add 1.5 jars of sauce and heat over low flame.

Slice the zucchini into quarter inch slices and blanche in boiling water for a ~5 minutes. After that season lightly and saute until slightly browned.

Boil noodles until al dente, drain and set aside.

Thaw frozen spinach in a colander by running hot water over it. Drain completely by placing spinach in a thin kitchen towel and ringing the water out. This step is important because the lasagna will be become runny if you don't drain the veggies completely.

Take some of the sauce left in the jar and some of the heated sauce and spread a small amount of both in the bottom of a glass baking dish. Then layer noodles over sauce. Place more of the heated sauce over the noodles then sprinkle some spinach and layer some zucchini over the sauce. Sprinkle cheese over the whole thing and start again with another layer.

Once you have enough layers to cover the dish (make sure you end with a cheese layer) cover with tine foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and a half until the internal temperature reads 170 degrees. To crisp up the top cheese layer, I remove the foil for the last 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let set up for a minute and enjoy!

Both my meat loving boyfriend and his dad were raving about how good this lasagna was. It was hearty and delicious, I didn't feel like it was missing anything despite being meatless. If you're looking for new vegetarian recipe to try out, I definitley suggest this one!

xoxo,
Amanda

Glee inspired cupcakes

Did everyone else catch Glee on Cupcake Wars last week? I thought it was a pretty cool episode but the cafeteria style cupcake challenge was a bit ridiculous. Taco cupcakes- I don't think so.

After watching the episode I totally got inspired to create some of my own Glee cupcakes, and this past weekend I spent in the kitchen being a whole different kind of creative. It was really fun and the results were seriously delicious.

I decided to make three different versions only because that's what they do on the show.

For all of these cakes I started with a basic vanilla box mix that only made a dozen cupcakes. I like these smaller mixes because it's easier for us to finish than two dozen that a normal box makes. For these three versions I used two of the smaller size boxes so that I got 8 of each version. Each box makes 12-two boxes make 24- 3 kinds, means 8 of each.

First I made the mixes and then divided them into three separate bowls.

Rachel "Berry" lemonade

For this cupcake I added the juice and zest of two lemons to the batter. Adding the juice did affect the cake rising but it's still very good nonetheless. For the strawberry part I add one of those new Duncan Hines flavor pouches to a can of plain frosting, I used the Strawberry shortcake flavor. I liked the flavor but adding real strawberries or jam would have given a less artificial flavor. I decorated the cupcake with a star lollipop and Wilton star sprinkles.

Everyone kept saying how much it tasted like strawberry lemonade. I loved the lemon cupcake but I'm definitely going to use real strawberries in the frosting next time.

Teenage Dreamsicle

For my Teenage Dreamsicle cupcake I only added a teaspoon of vanilla to the batter only to enhance the vanilla flavor. I used another Flavor packet in Orange Creme to add the orange flavor to my dreamsicle. For the bow tie, I took a rolling pin to some laffy taffy, and carefully cut the shape out with a paring knife.

My boyfriend seriously loved this one. He loves orange things and he went nuts for this one. I liked this idea but I just wish I could have thought of a way to make them more dynamic I guess. Maybe next time.

Finn's favorite banana bread cupcake

I won't lie, I was kinda stumped as to what kind of cupcake I should make to represent Finn. Then I remembered when Rachel baked him banana bread last season. For Finn's cupcake I added one smashed banana and about half of a packet of banana pudding mix to the batter. I iced the cupcake with simple milk chocolate icing and a candy football.

OMG this is sooo good. Easily my favorite of the bunch. The banana cupcake just tastes like heaven and the chocolate just puts it over the top. This is my go to recipe from now on.

I really loved that with a little extra effort I made a plain box cake mix taste so awesome. With one mix I created three distinctive and delicious cupcakes that everyone really loved.

This method of doctoring cake mixes is really going to be my go-to baking trick from now on.

xoxo,
Amanda

DIY Royal fascinator

With the Queen's Jubilee kicking off yesterday,  I figured it was only fitting to whip up a seriously fabulous fascinator for the occasion. With a cup of tea and some white gloves, this could totally transport you straight into Buckingham Palace.

Supplies:
Thick Sinamay or similar ribbon
Large silk flower
Button
Hair comb
Decorative feather floral picks
Needle and thread

First I started by cutting the stem and removing the center from the flower. I was able to pull mine right out but depending on the type of flower, you may need to cut it out. After that I hot glued the button in the hole for the center.

After that go ahead and start folding and twisting the ribbon into a shape you like. This whole project is very customizable so it's really all about what you like. Once you get the ribbon formed the way you like put a few stitches in with coordinating thread to secure the folds. Be sure and make the stitches discrete so that once the fascinator is done they are unseen.

Once the main ribbon piece is secured, you can attach the hair comb to the back. When you attach the comb remember to attach it so that the open end is toward the center of the fascinator.  You also want it attached so the comb bends along your head, so that it lays flat against it. I sewed around the teeth but you can also run a bead of glue along the solid part to add extra adhesion.

Now go ahead and slide the feather picks throughout the ribbon. I used hot glue to attach them within the ribbon.

Finally, I glued the flower to the center and Voila!

Brew up a pot of Earl Grey, slip on a pair of white gloves, and with your fabulous new fascinator you'll feel like royalty in no time.

xoxo,
Amanda