Friday, December 27, 2013

Sweater Leggings and Sparkles

The worst part of Christmas is always trying to find places to put my new presents! My drawers are packed to the max with all of my new clothes including this new hunter green sweater from Old Navy (thanks mom!) With the weather warming up a tiny bit I thought I'd shed some layers today and stick to my new sweater and my new sweater leggings!


The "Twelve Days Of Christmas" sales that stores were sporting this year was kind to me! I scored these sweater leggings from BB Styled and only paid shipping. I'm always a little unsure on buying leggings online, you never know how they'll fit or if they'll be see-through or too short but so far I can't complain about these leggings! These are meant to be hand washed and I hate hand washing so I'll admit I threw these in the machine and they turned out fine!


 
 
Sweater // Old Navy
Leggings // BB Styled
Necklace // Cato

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Aroma of Christmas!

In my family, it is a big holiday tradition to bake a TON of cookies for Christmas. Sometimes we share them with others...sometimes we hoard them to ourselves. BUT either way it's always a day full of flying flour, timers beeping, and the sweeeet aroma of cookies!!

Before we talk cookies lets talk about the very exciting little package I received in the morning before we started our cookie fiasco! I've been stalking the Lily Asher earring collection debating on which pair I need to buy first when I came across an amazing flash deal! I scored three beautiful sets of earrings so naturally I had to wear them right away!
Now I'll admit, I wasn't sure if they would be heavy or anything due to their size but I was so wrong! I've never had a more comfortable pair of earrings! These are definitely a must have! Visit Lily Asher for TONS of gorgeous prints, colors, and sizes!

Our cookies vary year to year but the one we always have to make are the sugar kringles. Now I'd love the share the recipe with all of you so you can experience these magnificent cookies for yourself, but I've been sworn to secrecy regarding the recipe. In fact I haven't even been given the recipe, so I don't know it myself. It's a cookie that my grandma has been handed down
and is now the keeper of the recipe! I can tell you that it involves the dough being rolled out on the counter, cut into little strips, then coated in sugar and baked. These cookies are so light and airy they just melt in your mouth!
I stole a glimpse of the recipe!!

Since I can't give out the sugar kringle recipe I'll give you my other favorite! A shortbread cookies with dried cherries and white chocolate chips, a take on a raspberry shortbread cookie recipe.

We follow the cookie recipe and add half a bag of dried cherries (this year we did a fourth of a bag of cherries and a fourth of cranberries) and half a bag of white chocolate chips (just eyeball it!). The glaze is good on the cookies but we don't typically put it on the cookies, they're fine without it!










My little Christmas helper :)

 Merry Christmas everyone!! and that's a wrap on our baking cookies and Lily Asher earrings!


Monday, December 16, 2013

Christmas Wear

Holy cow, eight days until Christmas, can you believe it?? I know I sure can't. I began Christmas shopping in September and thought I was getting a sneaky jump start on my shopping this year, unfortunately I haven't finished yet! I better get on that today I suppose. 
 

While on a recent trip to visit a good friend in Chicago she began pointing out holiday outfits while shopping and I realized I don't have anything planned yet! Fortunately I was at Forever21 and discovered tons of adorable outfits perfect for those holly and tinsel filled days ahead. Here is one of my favorite outfits:


 
During Christmas there is always an air of tradition from classical songs to baking cookies and decorating the Christmas tree and I treasure the classy feeling that accompanies the holiday. The cut of the silver dress exhumes class in my opinion, and the floral print adds an awesome texture without being too loud. Tights are always my staple for winter, they provide a tiny bit of extra warmth for those snowy days. The geo bib really emphasizes and compliments with neckline of the dress and adds a little pop of color without being gaudy. Now I typically prefer peep toe shoes, but when I wear tights I typically lean more towards a closed toe just to hide that awkward toe seam on tights. 


 
 
What is your favorite part of Christmas?
Any exciting Christmas traditions?
 


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Fun Facts

This week has been crazy, hectic, and stressful due to the ever lovely college finals. Since finals have been dominating my week, lets be honest, I haven't changed out of sweat pants all week! So with this in consideration I thought today would be a good day to let my readers get to know me a little more and hopefully get to know each of you a little better in turn!
A little more about me:

1.  I'm a college student (as I've mentioned) I'll be receiving my associate degree in biology this spring and then I'll be changing my major to journalism.

2.  My dream job is to be a princess in Disney World or a stay at home mom...only problem is that colleges don't offer degrees for those.

3.  I think my love for Disney World is due to the fact that I never got to visit the parks as a child, my first time was when I was 14 and it was to perform with my dance studio (I've performed twice at Disney World).

4.  As I mentioned, I danced for 8 years and had to leave my studio when I turned 18 (due to studio policy) I primarily performed Irish dance and Appalachian clogging although I am experienced in a wide variety of dance styles from ballet to belly dancing to ballroom dancing


5.  Yes I'm an Irish dancer and yes I've been to Ireland...twice. I recommend stopping at Queen of Tarts in Dublin!! Not only am I an Irish dancer I'm also Irish and my birthday is on St. Patrick's Day.

6.  When I was in middle school I took acting and modeling classes, ever since then I've been trying to make my way in the modeling business. I've finally gotten a decent project as a showgirl at a casino. (No we don't dance, we greet people and take pictures, like Disney princesses).

7.  In highschool I participated in the spring musicals. My senior year was my best role- Anita in West Side Story (yeah explain that.. a blonde playing a Puerto Rican).

8.  As you may have noticed I have large blonde curly hair and because of it my highschool tennis team nicknamed me the lion.
9.  My mom once said "Leave Dallas alone in a store and she'll find anything pink, sparkley, with a bow or a combination of all three" and it's very true.

10.  I'm obsessed with the shows: NCIS (and NCIS:LA), Dance Moms, House Hunters International, and Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. My guilty pleasure is Glee (thanks to Damian McGinty)
11.  DIY is my life, just ask my boyfriend. He also will tell you I instagram evvvverything. I make dinner and he asks if I've taken a picture of it yet or if he can take his plate (he's learning well)

12.  If I could only eat one thing the rest of my life it would probably be nutella; today anyway, tomorrow it could change.
13.  I'd love to travel the world; Greece, Italy, and Paris are on the top of my list.

I'll be visiting a friend in Chicago today so don't worry I'll have lots to post about on Tuesday! Have a great weekend! :)

Monday, December 2, 2013

Oh, Cold Weather..

Oh cold weather, we meet again!

So I found this hat in my mother's room the other day and was like "uhh mom where in the world did this come from?? I need to blog it!" Turns out she purchased this hat at a little craft show so I found it appropriate to wear it with my renovated sweater!


This sweater was a pull over from Old Navy that I just did not like on so I cut it and made it into a cardigan and added some elbow patches! (Sparkly, of course!) I also made up this little scarf not too long ago on a rainy day crafting spree.




A closer look at my attempt at detail on my sweater

 
Anyone interested in a tutorial on spicing up some of your old sweater favorites? (Such as I did with this sweater)
What are some of your favorite renovation projects??