Friday Four

TGIF!

We did it guys, we finally made it to the 3 day weekend. I may or may not have played hooky today at work to extend my 3 day weekend into a 4 day weekend (whoops). Since my cousins have been home this past week, with plenty of other friends arriving as the week went on, my motivation to actually go into the office was severely slacking and may have ended with a few half days. I figured this is the last week to really celebrate summer so why not go out with a bang. 

Here is what I'm loving this week:

TMNT

Okay, I'm pretty sure the only girly thing about me is my love of fashion. This week I went to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to relive my childhood, please tell me I'm not the only female out there who had the action figures as a kid. The movie was definitely a guilty pleasure and reminded me of the good old days hanging out at my grandmas house playing the Ninja Turtle game on Super Nintendo (remember that?!).

Trivia

Whenever I'm with my cousins we always find time to play trivia, whether that be homemade trivia (we have a tendency to make up games) or bar trivia. Monday night we went to our local Bomber's Burrito Bar for some margaritas and trivia. However, we were severely disappointed when we found out we would be playing math trivia. Let's be real, I haven't done math since my senior year in high school so I was pretty useless when they started asking about (x-3) + 42 - y = z.... 

Cousins Day Out

So when my cousin Josh is home from Chicago we always plan a cousins day out with my younger cousins and my Aunt Marge (hi Aunt Marge, I know you're reading!). It started off as a back to school lunch years ago and morphed into a full day of family fun. So last Sunday we had dinner together followed by some good old fashion mini golf and ice cream. It's quite the experience trying to play mini golf with 9 people, but being the competitive family we are, it ended up being a full on battle that came down to the final hole. Congrats Aunt Marge for pulling out that hole-in-one to break the 3 way tie for first!

Saratoga Racetrack

Saturday afternoon I'm headed to Saratoga Racetrack with a bunch of friends who I went to Costa Rica with. Most of them are from Chicago and have never been to a horse racing event so I'm looking forward to showing them one of the most popular events in upstate NY. I'm not very lucky so I don't know how much betting I will be doing, but I am looking forward to dressing up and wearing a big hat. You can check out my track outfit ideas: here.

What are you loving this week?

xoxo

Think Pink

It's been pretty hot in the 518 this week so I've been looking for ways to keep cool and still look put together. Last weekend while shopping I picked up this paisley top in Francesca's. Lately I've been on a Francesca's kick since they have had so many really cute dresses and tops. Sometimes their clothes fit me weird but this summer everything has been true to size for me. I was trying to stay away from buying summer clothes since I'll only be wearing them for a few more weeks but I decided to break my rule when I found this fun top. There are so many colors in it and I can pair it with so many different accessories and bottoms. 

Top Francesca's

Skirt Express

I've also been on a sneaker kick. I typically wear my converse all year long but during July and August I tend to choose sandals over sneaks but these Keds matched my skirt perfectly! I need to be better about searching my closets for forgotten shoes and bags because I ended up finding both the sneakers and the clutch for this outfit tucked away (yay for hidden gems!).

Clutch Coach // Sneakers Keds // Bracelet Macys // Bow Ring Kate Spade

xoxo

End of August Pinspiration

I seriously cannot believe that it's already the end of August. This must be a sign that I'm getting old because I'm constantly talking about time moving too quickly, haha! Lately I feel like I've been so busy that I have been neglecting Pinterest. I typically love spending a weekend afternoon getting inspired by various pictures, fashion ideas, or recipes but I've been so busy lately that my pinning activity has been slacking. However, this weekend I found a little bit of time to not only catch up on the magazines that have been piling up around me but also get some quality pins in. 

Here is my fall inspiration:

I'm loving this look for the beginning of fall when it's still warm enough to rock bare legs.

Cut-out booties are on my fall wish list!

How amazing does this macaroni and cheese chili look, think it might be one of my Sunday fall recipes!

Blazers + shorts combo = LOVE!

My favorite appetizer of all time is probably spinach and artichoke dip, however I've never made it from scratch. Think I'm going to try to find a recipe I can make in the crock pot.

Possibly a road trip to check out the upcoming fall foliage?

What's inspiring you lately?

**Follow me on Pinterest to see the rest of my inspirations**

xoxo

New Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Happy Tasty Tuesday!

So here's the deal. When I started this blog I decided that once a week I wanted to share a recipe that I have personally made with all of you. I really enjoy cooking and I'm constantly trying new recipes at home on weekends, attempting to recreate something I ate in a restaurant or fulfill some crazy craving. The whole point in the recipes that I share is that I have made them first-hand, I don't like to post a random recipe that I've never tried making/eating because who knows if it was going to be any good!? But coming up with new recipes each week can be difficult. Since I post something new every Tuesday, I have to come up with 52 new recipes every year, and that is a lot of time spent in the kitchen. 

So since I haven't tried making anything new in the past two weeks I decided to give you a recipe I made a couple years ago when I first bought the KitchenAid Mixer. I had my eye on this mixer for years but it's super expensive. When we finally bit the bullet and invested in it I knew I wanted to make something complicated that, without the mixer would have been a lot more work (mainly because I hate stirring bowls...). Enter this amazing chocolate peanut butter cake. It was very delicious and very fattening but a great way to break in the new mixer. So pardon the not so great photo of the finished product since I took this years before I had a blog and realized that when I cook I need to make the picture pretty!

Ingredients for Cake:

• 1 box devils food cake mix 
• 1 large package of jello instant pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups of peanut butter cups chopped
• More peanut butter cups for topping garnish

Ingredients for Frosting:

• 1 cup shortening or crisco
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large bowl, combine all cake ingredients except peanut butter cups so that everything is mixed completely (it will be thick so use those muscles if you don't have a mixer!). Then add chopped peanut butter cups.
• Pour batter into cake pans of choice (I use ones similar to THIS). 
• Bake in oven according to the time on the devils food cake box (plus add 10 extra minutes). You can use a toothpick to determine whether the cake is done or not--- clean toothpick means its done!
• In a second bowl, combine shortening and peanut butter mixing them until light and fluffy (use a mixer is possible!). 
• Add sugar and continue creaming until blended, then add salt, vanilla and whipping cream until frosting is fluffy.
• Once cake is cooled, frost it! I did a little design using decorator tools and then topped it with even more chopped peanut butter cups!
• Enjoy!

What is the most complicated recipe you've ever tried?

xoxo

Weekend Haul

This weather really needs to get itself together because my wallet is not happy. You see, despite being super busy in the summer with fun activities, I actually tend to save money in the summertime because I spend most of my weekends by the pool instead of the mall. However these past few weekends have sucked, to say the least. It's cloudy, rainy and kinda cold so my days at the pool have been few and far between. This means I'm spending my days at the mall instead of the pool. 

So the bad news is I tend to spend my paycheck quicker than I anticipated but the good news is I got a jump start on the items that I wanted to invest in for fall. We are in full back to school mode so there are plenty of sales to be had and I was trying to take full advantage of them this weekend. One thing I was searching for was a pair of ripped boyfriend jeans, which I successfully discovered at the Gap for 40% off, yay! In addition I picked up a fabulous faux leather sleeved top for Ann Taylor that I ended up getting for $10 with a rewards point gift card and a pair of suede navy booties on sale at Macy's. Typically anything Sperry is hard to find at any discount, so when Macy's was running a special one day sale that included designers, I took the plunge. Overall, I wasn't planning on doing any shopping this weekend but I'm happy I did because I got some quality pieces to add to my fall wardrobe.

What are you looking to invest in this fall?

Faux Leather Sleeved Striped Top // Boyfriend Jean // Navy Suede Harlow Bootie

xoxo

Sunday Thoughts + A Weekend Recap

Happy Sunday friends!

Why oh why do these weekends go by so quickly? Luckily I have a short week ahead of me because I'm playing hooky this Friday! That means I have a 4-day weekend to look forward to with Labor Day next Monday as well, hooray! 

Here is a quick recap of my weekend:

• Friday was a night for getting ahead of the game. This week is going to be hectic and I wanted to make sure I was on top of everything before all the chaos arrives. Getting some posts done for the upcoming week was high on my priority list.
• Saturday was cloudy so I went to lunch with my mom followed by a trip to the mall (mistake #1) and ended up scoring a bunch of fall items on my wish list (mistake #2). I wasn't planning on spending any money this weekend but I was happy to score some great deals when I did.
• Today is going to be a little hectic. My cousin is home from Chicago so I plan on sitting by the pool for the beginning part of the afternoon. Then the rest of my cousins are joining us and we are taping our audition tape for Family Feud (yeah, we have issues) and then we're going to a cousins dinner with my Aunt Marge followed by mini golf.... phew, I'm exhausted already!

What did you do this weekend?

xoxo

Weekly Outfit Recap

I seriously can't believe there is only one more week of August! It really has me digging through my closet making sure I get to wear all my white, linen and super summery tops before the first of September. 

Top Banana Republic // Skirt Macy's

Green Bangle Nordstrom // Boys Make Passes Bangle Kate Spade

Top J Crew Factory // Skirt Ann Taylor // Chain Link Necklace J Crew Factory

Bracelet Wantables

Didn't have time to take pictures before work for this outfit... whoops!

Top Target // Skirt J Crew // Necklace J Crew Factory // Sandals Steve Madden

Bracelets Talbots & Macy's

Maxi Michael Kors

It was so dark and rainy today, definitely doesn't do this dress justice!

Bracelet Lilly Pulitzer

Dress J Crew (on super sale!) // Necklace ?

Belt Kate Spade // Bracelets Kate Spade

Is anyone else rushing to wear all your summer outfits before Labor Day?

xoxo