Tuesday, April 1, 2014

March Roundup

Hey guys! Long time no see. I'll be honest with you: this semester has been absolutely insane, the weather has been REALLY bumming me out, and I spilled some water on my Macbook a couple of weeks ago. These things combined to make for a pretty bad blogging environment, so my apologies for the radio silence. I figured I'd give you guys an Insta-roundup so you can see what I've been up to in the past month!
1. My dog likes to hold hands sometimes // 2. Finally reunited with some of my high school friends! // 3. Tried some Yuengling...it's really hyped up around here! // 4. My neighborhood is pretty even with slushy snow. // 5. Boston malls are so intense. // 6. Got my laptop case all decked out! // 7. Anyone recognize the obscure Johnny Depp reference above my wine bottle shelf? // 8. My weather app lied to me and I was stuck on campus with useless sunglasses on a cloudy, chilly day. // 9. My apartment decor is coming along nicely! I might give you guys a living room tour in a few days.







Thursday, February 13, 2014

Post-Valentines Breakfast


Hey, guys! Sorry, not done waxing on about Valentine's Day quite yet. It's on a Friday this year, which is much more exciting than when it falls in the middle of a school/work week and makes everyone's lives miserable. It also opens up a world of possibility. I'm going to propose something that will make your significant other/BFF/self/whoever really happy: extend the love right on out into the weekend.

C and I are embarrassingly obsessed with cooking breakfast. We have accumulated a very extended repertoire of egg, potato, tofu, waffle and pancake recipes from which to draw, and I have to say, we would make damn good brunch hosts. Breakfast/brunch totally rules, and it's a really fun thing to surprise someone with. Your SO thinks Valentine's Day is over on Friday night? Boom. Heart-shaped red velvet pancakes the next morning. What a fun surprise, and it'll show that for you, the romance never ends. Or, y'know, comfort your roomie who has given up on love entirely and make your own Galentine's Day with some insane waffle sushi. Whatever your situation, breakfast food makes everything better, and your recipient will be so happy you whipped up something special for them.

WAFFLE SUSHI. What the what?! This is a very neat recipe if you're an early bird who's looking to put 110% into a creative and fun V-Day breakfast.

mm, the classic Breakfast Parfait. This is a pretty little treat that gets a little Valentines flair with the strawberries. This would be great option for a health-conscious valentine (or a chef who is too sleepy to whip up a huge breakfast).

Yum! Red Velvet Pancakes! This is a Valentines staple, and it's sure to impress and delight. If your sweetie has a sweet tooth, this one's for you.

Spinach Artichoke and Brie Crepes with Sweet Honey Sauce. I could die. My breakfast taste skews more to the savory side lately, and these look totally amazing! Crepes can be a little tricky, but they're universally loved, and lend themselves to all sorts of fillings.

Heart-Shaped Egg in Toast. Martha Stewart, you never let us down. This is tried, true, and not too taxing. It's definitely the most literal interpretation of Valentines-themed breakfast food, and for that reason, is sure to draw a laugh and an appreciative smile.

What do you think — do you like the idea of Valentine's Weekend Brunch? What are your plans for the big day? Spill!


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Valentines Playlist!

Hey, guys! Boston is a snow globe right now, so my classes were cancelled (hooray!). I thought this would be a fun opportunity to share some of my favorite love songs with you, in honor of Valentines Day next weekend. Personally, I'm a big Valentines fan...for some, especially in the blogging world, it's a very controversial holiday, but I'm a total sap, so I live for it. Bring on the cheesy Hallmark over-the-top love! C and I go to see Casablanca every year at a great indie theater in Cambridge, and it's a really fun tradition.

Anyway, if you too are smitten with Valentines Day, this playlist is for you! If you aren't...I will note that when I put this playlist together, I had a harder time finding happy love songs than sad ones, so seek comfort in your fellow indie-music-playing love-haters. It's crazy how many melancholy lyric slip by me when you set them to acoustic guitars, hah! Enjoy, guys!



Saturday, February 1, 2014

Adventures in Apartment Decorating: My Bedroom

Hey, guys! Both in life and in blogging, I've kinda been boycotting January. I'm going to be real with you here for a second: it is 100% my least favorite month. It's unbearably cold, slushy, and without Christmas, snow really lacks a certain winter wonderland quality. I've been spending a lot of time bonding with mugs of tea and Netflix, is what I'm saying.

So I figured since I have nothing super fun to report on my life in the outside world and, as much as I love you all, I refuse to brave the Polar Vortex to take outfit pictures...I'll show you my hibernation cave bedroom! I've been working on decorating it and making the space say "me" ever since I moved in back in September. You guys seem to like my decorating sense...my DIY Vanity post has driven by far the most traffic to this blog, and clocked in more views than any other post last year. I used that piece as a visual guide for the room and designed around it. If nothing else, this post will help you understand my depth of love for Marshall's and IKEA. It's hard to make a space speak to you when you can't really use nails or paint the walls. So, to all of those looking to spruce up a rental, this is for you!

Welcome to my Crib! (I kind of feel like I'm on an episode of MTV Cribs) I decided to pop an "A" on the door to differentiate from my dear roommate's "L." That's just a wooden letter from Michael's and some very sweet scrapbook paper! The Jaws poster is to ward off intruders.
My bed is so obnoxiously bright, it definitely serves as the focal point for the room. I found this duvet cover at IKEA and absolutely fell in love, and I got a rug (barely visible on the left) and a lamp (just to the right) to match. It even ended up matching my Casablanca and Breakfast at Tiffany's posters...swoon. Speaking of those, all 3 of my posters were actually gifts from my boyfriend, but there are definitely similar inexpensive posters floating around the internet. I think they're a great way to add some personality to the walls, no hooks required. The painting was a very cheap find at Marshall's...aren't those just the sweetest lovebirds?



As I mentioned before, you guys are probably familiar with this vanity. The daisy chain of photos is a new addition. It's not a super original decorating technique, but it certainly makes me smile when I see it over there! Never underestimate the power of having photos of loved ones floating all around your place. They really make a rental feel like "home," and as you can see, I have a lot. Also, I totally forgot to organize the vanity caddy before I took these photos. How's that for "real?" hah.

Here is my ode to my semester abroad in Europe! I love this little shadowbox (also from Marshall's) to show off my mementos, and the Minnie ears are the perfect finishing touch.


Here begins my long and passionate ode to knick knacks. They are far and away my favorite thing to decorate with. Some fun and colorful souvenirs and flea market finds are the perfect compliments to a nice collection of photos. We don't need to talk about how heavily stuffed animals factor into my decor scheme. Who says you need to be an adult at 21, right?
That bird is actually another scrapbook paper-wooden figure creation. They're very easy to make, but I love the extra color they give the space! Those fun, bright frames are also from IKEA. They're actually reversible, so you can pop even more pictures in there and flip it around, which is awesome.
 The fun bicycle frame is from Pier 1, and the embroidery hoop is from the lovely Alyssa from Ten Feet Off Beale. The savings jar is for a trip next Spring Break, but I decided to decorate it with Alien from Spring Breakers because...uh...why not? It makes me laugh every time I see it now. I think "more than a touch of whimsy" is both my design motto and my best advice to those looking to inject some personality into their white-walled rental. Fun fact: Freddy Krueger's hat is signed by Wes Craven! Pretty neat, huh?
You can't go wrong with a little Rosie the Riveter! This is my dresser.

 Here's the other half of the lovebirds! The flowers were all found on sale at Michael's, along with the colorful planter. I think that adds such a fun element to the dresser top. It draws your eye over there right away, and makes it feel just a little bit like spring even when there's snow on the ground.
I tried to make my closet a little Old Hollywood...that Cinema sign was a really sweet thrift store find. It makes getting ready feel a little bit more grand!

So I guess if there's anything to take away from this very insane hodgepodge, it's that the best way to combat boring, white-wall blues is to surround yourself with pictures of friends and family, find plenty of fun knick knacks and posters that speak to you, and do not shy away from color! If you stay near the primaries (ish...), or pick another palate (like pastel) it will probably look fine. I picked red as my main color, but all the accents work with it to create a fun and warm rainbow that almost makes you forget all the white and brown around the room!

I hope you enjoyed the tour! Has the winter made you pick up your decorating game, too?


Monday, January 6, 2014

Blogging and Life in 2013

Hey, guys! Can you believe it's 2014 already?! My fingers can't even figure out how to type that. I hope your New Year's Eve was absolutely fabulous — I know I had a lot of fun! :)

So, full disclosure, I sat down to write this a few days ago and realized that deleting my old Wordpress site was a big, big mistake. I ended up with broken images for every post pre-Blogger move, and I haven't quite completed that bit of housekeeping. It's such a pain! But it's what I get for not thinking harder about that sort of thing...so, most of my travel posts and some other things from early 2013 and all of 2012 will be out of commission for a while while I sort all of that out. What a way to start the year, eh?

But I'm here writing this with a sleeping dog on my knee, and I have to say, it was a pretty great year overall. I got to work at a Halloween store, I got a fiction piece accepted for publication at my school, I went on tons of summer adventures, I moved into my first apartment, I turned 21, I crossed the halfway mark of college (this is both good and bad, y'all, I'm not going to lie to you), and I took in so much great art, tons of tasty food, and even a few fantastic plays with lots of the people I love. There were bittersweet moments, especially my experience at the Boston Marathon bombings, but I think those have just made me love and appreciate life even more than I did before.

I also gained lots of new readers to this little blog! My most-read posts, and the ones that brought a lot of you guys my way, were my DIY Vanity and my Boston Marathon reflection. I'm also linking to a few of my favorite outfit posts, DIYs, and recipes you may have missed.