A New Year

2016 is here. It's here and I couldn't be more excited. The reason I'm so happy is because I feel very accomplished in having had a super successful 2015. This past year I kicked school in the tail, discovered my love for accounting (leading me to a change of major), and just generally did what I love to do. I have never been more satisfied with a completed year in my life.

Here are a few photos that highlight my 2015. This year I saw the beauty in every place I went, adopted a cat, catered a wedding, and wrestled with the fact that my sister is moving away from me. 

New Year's Eve was by the numbers at my home this year. My family and I made snacks, watched a movie, and played poker.  We played Hold Em with my Pa's old monogrammed chips and I think he'd cringe to witness my poor poker skills. I made spicy chard and Italian sausage pizza for snack time.  It's my favorite way to go out of the year: with my four favorite people. This New Year's Eve I discovered I have a bit of a gambling problem, I should make pizza more often, and sparklers are so much fun.  

I haven't got a huge long list of resolutions for 2016, but I do have plans. I plan to seize every opportunity that is given to me. I will spend five weeks in Africa (more on this later.) I'm going to study hard, work hard, and love well. I'm hopeful for you, 2016. May you exceed the greatness 2015 has awarded me. 

Peace and love. XXX

Back to School Guide to Low Stress

Holy moly, do students know a thing or two about stress! Between working, social lives, and our studies, we are some pretty strung out people. Don't let stress bring you down this semester! There are so many ways that I've found to calm down and relax when I'm feeling overloaded.

1. Find your stress reliever. Everyone has something that calms and relaxes them. Some people need to go for a jog (not me lol), some read books, and some watch a television program. I find that I'm calm when I'm baking or playing music. Find anything that relaxes you and helps you forget for a bit what's stressing you out, and stick to it. Let it be your security blanket (cause that's totally okay and necessary.)

2. IT'S OKAY TO NAP. I know some people feel lazy if they get home from classes in the middle of the day and just nap for a few hours. I'm not one of those people. I'm not suggesting you nap the semester away, but every once in a while it's fine to have a little snooze. We are tired people as students and adding the stress of classes and work on top of that is not a good mix. I don't think any good or rational decisions were ever born out of sleep deprivation, but then again, I haven't done the research. If your feeling stressed and anxious, ask yourself when the last good night's rest you had was and go from there.

3. Find songs that relax you. You don't have time to go for a jog or take a nap? Fair enough. We are busy individuals, after all. When you've got house work or homework that just can't wait, put on some soothing jams. I made a Spotify playlist of all the songs that relax me when I find myself in that kind of situation.

4. Drink tea. If you are now like I was three years ago, then you're laughing at this statement and tea's inferiority to coffee. I am a coffee person 100%, but coffee makes you tense and jittery and can contribute to stress. Chamomile tea has many benefits including reducing aches and pains, treating menstrual cramps, and reducing anxiety and tension.  


All of these are steps you can take to reduce the stress in your life. Try a combination of any of these things or find other things that calm and soothe you. Free-diving breathing exercises can physically calm you down, meditation can relax your mind, burning the right scented incense can positively affect your mood. There are literally hundreds of ways to reduce stress, and I implore you to find at least one that works for you. Life is short to be lived with anxiety.

Peace and love. XXX

Back to School Style Guide!

I'm not here to tell you what to wear or presume to know what's cool and trendy. My primary goal with this post is to guide you to achieving the look you want! There are just a few things to remember when picking out new fashion:

1. Thrift shops are your friends. I can't stress this enough. Sometimes, thrift shops are associated with gross and worn out clothes, but that's not always the case! If you're living on a college kid budget, like I am, then clothing is not on the top of your shopping list. However, a thrift shop can mean the difference between a $25 sweater and a $2 sweater. Still not sold? Okay. That's not the only way to find affordable clothing. Places like Marshals, TJ Maxx, or Plato's Closet are all stores that sell clothes at lower prices than retail. The things you find will give you a unique look and, trust me, you will look fresh (and not like you've been dumpster diving.)

         


 2.Find a pattern or print you adore and make it your thing!! I mentioned in a previous post about my love for Hawaiian prints, but I also love tribal prints and anything with giraffes on it! These have sort of become my "thing" that I wear; almost like my trademark! Even though some of what I wear is not what's "in," I still love wearing it! It is very important to love and be comfortable in what you wear. Fashion is for yourself, not others.

     

3. Find versatile pieces! Ask yourself when you're shopping, "How much use will I get out of this?" If the answer is "so much!" then buy it! Find items that can be dressed up or down and worn with lots of different colors. Of course, there will occasionally be a unique piece that you just can't live without, but that won't go with much and that's okay. However, you don't want to always be filling your closet with items that need other specific items to complement them. The other day I was in a shop and I literally thought to myself "I love these shorts, but I'm going to need to buy a shirt to match them." I realized then that I was not shopping smart. Buy things to match what you already have and that can be worn many different ways.

    

These three points don't stand alone, but work all at once! Look for affordable pieces in prints and patterns you love that are also versatile. It's actually quite simple: pick a max price for single items and then just know what you want! Again, I don't really know what's in, but I know how to dress myself in a way that makes me feel good. This school year, find a style you love and don't let it go for anything!

Peace and love. XXX.

Back to school!

For many people, school is starting back in just TWO DAYS.  While part of me is excited the other part is dreading this necessary evil. Whether it's college, highschool, or middle school: school itself is  just plain stressful. We, as students have to deal with buying books, meeting deadlines, working with difficult project partners, and just trying to keep our grades up. But that's just the academic side. Then there's keeping a job, making friends, nourishing and taking care of ourselves. People wonder why students all claim to have depression or anxiety, but it's not the least bit surprising.

I don't think I'd go so far as to say I'm an expert at being a student, but I've figured out many ways to keep myself calm, (sort of) cool, and collected during these trying times. It only makes sense for me to write a "Back-to-school survival guide" (of sorts).  I'll break them up into a series of posts starting with:

1. Back to school style guide.
2. Back to school guide to low stress.
3. Back to school study guide.
4. Back to school health and wellness guide.
5. Back to school guide to social lives.

Again, I'm not an expert, but rather an idiot who's made enough mistakes in life to fill a book. The good thing about mistakes is that, more times than not, we learn from them. I've discovered a lot of valuable tips and tricks to surviving school simply by doing the wrong things. Education is an awesome thing, but also can put you through the ringer. On the first day of school, just a take a deep breath and go into the new year with a clear mind!

Peace and LOVE. XXX
(and good luck!)

My favorite things from JUNE!

June is well over and gone, but that's not going to stop me from telling you what I loved about it!

Lately, I've been very in love with aloha prints (more on this later.) I found this beautiful pink floral blouse at JCPenney last month and I've adored it ever since.  In the store, it was paired with a matching maxi skirt, but I really like the casual look I get with blue jeans! I paired this outfit with my vintage Hush Puppies suede oxfords. I bought mine at a thrift shop near my house in perfect condition for seven dollars. For dressier occasions, I wear this top and shoes combo with a navy and white polka dotted skirt. I liked wearing this outfit when I was downtown getting coffee and thrift shopping with a friend!

During June I baked a lot of goodies, but I think my favorite was the Swedish prinsesstårta. I was searching for some Swedish pastry recipes to try out and this one caught my eye like no other. It was beautiful and delicious; plus, the assembly was pretty simple. The layers were spongecake, lingonberry jam, whipped cream, more spongecake, vanilla custard, a HUGE dollop of whipped cream, MORE spongecake, all covered in tinted green marzipan! I have to say, after making this cake, I have a new found love for almonds! I put almond extract in practically everything! I found a very good video tutorial, but it's in Swedish. You can get the general idea of what to do just by watching though!

This month I've fallen in love (once again) with Altar'd State department store.  I took my little sister shopping and I wish we had gone there first on our trip! She found some cute dresses and tops with tassels. I really loved that all the clothes were very fun and cute, but still modest! The only thing I didn't love was the pricing. For a girl who loves thrift shopping, $70 seems like a bit much for a simple cotton dress. We visited the store when there was a MASSIVE sale going on, so I felt good about all the purchases!  They have some really precious pieces, so you should definitely check them out online or in store if there's one near you! 

This month I tried some delicious sodas from Joia all natural sodas that I found at World Market. My favorite flavor (not pictured) was the lime, hibiscus & clove. It was so fresh and had a wonderful flavor. I had the grapefruit, chamomile & cardamom flavor with a lamb bacon burger (recipe found in Bon Appetit Magazine's May issue.) The blackberry, pomegranate & ginger flavor was not my favorite. I love all those things individually, but the soda was just too sweet for me. These sodas are perfect for a summer barbecue and/or pool party. They're refreshing and fun and oh-so yummy! The colors are so fun and festive.

I made some super tasty sweet buttered polenta pancakes during the month of June! Polenta is just cornmeal that has been cooked down to a thick porridge originating in Italy. I bought my polenta at World Market pre-packaged in a tube, but you should be able to find it most grocery stores. I sliced the polenta into 1/4 inch thick discs and cooked them in a buttered skillet until they were crispy on the edges. I served them with a pad of butter, a sprinkle of powdered sugar, summer berries, and copious amounts of maple syrup. These were a yummy, but healthy alternative to regular pancakes; and they were easy to make too! This was by far my favorite meal from June!

Peace and LOVE. XXX.

Candied Orange Slices in Spiced Chocolate

Father's Day was not too long ago and I was contemplating what to give my dad. He's always loved chocolate and fruit; and since cooking happens to be my specialty, I  decided to make him something special! Here are the instructions for making delicious candied orange slices dipped in spiced chili chocolate. (NOTE: these take about 1-2 days to dry out.)

You will need:

Organic oranges (I used about 2 & 1/2 small oranges.)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar + extra for coating

1 cup water

Chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate baking chips.)

Powdered chili

Small or medium pot (depending on how many orange slices you're making.)

A note: I doubled the sugar syrup because I had a lot of orange slices to candy.

To start:

1. Wash the orange(s) thoroughly with warm water and dry. Slice your orange(s) into 1/4 inch discs. You can even cut these circles in half if you want smaller candies.

2. Next, you're going to blanch these slices. Put them in a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil. Strain them using a fine mesh sieve and put them aside. Repeat the blanching process, except this time, put the slices into an ice bath when they're done.

3. Now its time to make the sugar syrup! Put the sugar and water into the pot and set it on medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Once the syrup begins to bubble, stop stirring it. 

4. Put the oranges in the syrup and let them candy uncovered for approximately 1 hour.

5. After 1 hour, place the oranges on a cooling rack for about 15-20 minutes. Once this time has elapsed, coat both sides of the slices in sugar and place them back on the rack. 

6. Let the slices dry out for 1-2 days (or until you just can't stand to wait anymore.) 

7.Melt your chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave. I always use the microwave to avoid my chocolate seizing. Stir in a pinch of chili powder and begin dipping! 

8. place the orange slices on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

I really loved making these delicious angels! The chocolate with the chili and the citrus was such an amazing combination! You could even substitute oranges for grapefruit or blood oranges! I used World Markets autumn colored single serve pie boxes to wrap these beauties up! I hope you enjoy making these and have fun sharing them! 

                                           

Peace and love. XXX.

My Favorite Things from MAY

The spring has been crazy and May has been the craziest month so far. I haven't blogged hardly at all lately so I'll re-cap this month with my favorite things that came about during it!

I absolutely love this dress! I needed something to wear for an event the next day and wanted something classic and floral. Goodwill had already closed, so I was hunting at JCP for the perfect frock and discovered this gem! I wore this floral shift dress with an old pair of my mom's shoes (which she will never see again.) I Painted my toes orange because it went too perfectly with the flowers on the dress. For the accessories, I mixed metals: gold elephant bracelet, copper zodiac sign necklace, gold arrow earrings, and silver rings! All in all, this one my favorite outfits (this month!)

Ahhhhh, baby pears. They were just begging to be poached! This month I poached four pears in Chardonnay and Ginger Ale! I added a lemon peel, cinnamon stick, and 3 whole cloves to the mixture along with a bit of sugar. When the pears were done poaching I fished them (and all the spices) out of the pot and let the liquid reduce. Meanwhile I candied some pecans by dipping the tops in melted butter and then brown sugar. I used my cooking torch to melt the sugars. The yellow stuff in this pic is just cold vanilla custard spread out on half of the plate. Once the liquids had reduced to a kind of thin syrup, I drizzled it on the other half of the plate. This dessert was heaveeeeeen and my best creation this month!

This month I had a pickup installed in my guitar and I was so nervous about it. I was worried that look of my beautiful acoustic Takamine would be distorted. Luckily the guy at my local music shop said that nothing would show on the outside of the guitar and he could put the dials inside! She came back beautiful, so the next step was to find an amp. I stopped at my friends pawn shop to look for an amplifier and they had a Marshall Mini Stack in great condition! Not only did it have a great and clean sound, but they had it priced at $150! Normally these run $400-$450. This good investment in May will benefit me forever (or until I accidentally blow the amp.) The moral of this story? Pawn shops and thrift stores before retail!

I was at World Market about a week ago going absolutely crazy buying coffee and cookies and such when I came across this organic sparkling drink. I had the Lemon Flower Sipp soda and it had such an interesting flavor. It was lemony and grassy and floral and just really really delicious. If your looking for something refreshing I think this is it! I need to get back around to World Market just for these sodas! Also, Bon Appetit Magazine was especially wonderful this month of May. It focused on travel, and while I'm missing my sister who's exploring Italy now, it was a perfect read. 

I was having lunch with a friend this month, and she suggested a place called "Slim Chickens." As I was looking at the menu, I realized that I had never had chicken and waffles and couldn't quite call myself a real southerner until I had. The fact that the waffles were shaped like Texas was the deciding factor. I actually (much to my surprise) really liked the chicken and waffles! There was no sauce that came with them so I just used ketchup, which was not bad, but I think maple syrup would've been better. This was one of the best discoveries of May for me!





Peace and love. XXX