Special Thanks

Just wanted to give a special thank you shout out to Kelly from Kelly in the City because I won her giveaway! I am so excited to receive my Chloe + Isabel Coral Branch Cuff in the mail! I am a huge fan of Kelly, she has such an amazing sense of style and I really admire the fact that in addition to being an awesome blogger she is also a teacher! I don't know how she finds the time to do it all! 

Thanks again Kelly!

What do you all have planned for this weekend?

xoxo

Black Friday Deals

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I'm currently recovering from a food coma so I'm sorry this post is going up late but I'm pretty sure I still have tryptophan coursing through my veins. I've spent my morning in my pajamas doing a little Black Friday shopping on my computer. Online shopping is so much easier than getting into a fight over the last cashmere cardigan with some stranger at the mall! Today I'll let you know of all the deals going on in stores and online!

J Crew: 30% your entire purchase with the code HOLIDAY (now through Dec 1)

J Crew Factory: 50% the entire store with code HOLIDAY50 (through Dec 3)

LL Bean: 10% off your entire purchase plus a $10 gift card with $50 purchase (through Dec 3)

Banana Republic: 50% off one item until 1PM, 40% off entire purchase with code BRGIVING

ASOS: 20% off everything in the store with code GIMME20 (through Dec 2)

Ann Taylor: 40% off everything with code GET40

Kate Spade: Up to 75% off selected items in special online sale

Kate Spade Outlet: 50% off entire store plus an additional 20% off your purchase!

C Wonder: 30% off 3 or more items with code GIFTS30

PLUS Macys, Bloomingdales and Nordstrom all have awesome individual item sales too!

Do you go out shopping on Black Friday?

How was your Thanksgiving, are you in a turkey coma too?

xoxo

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

I am so excited to spend the day with my family and friends surrounding by delicious food. I can't believe that 2013 is almost over but I am super blessed with how far I have come within the year. I have so much to be thankful for this year mainly because so much has happened and changed this year (in a good way!). Not only am I thankful that I finished my Masters I am so happy that I finally got a big girl job after taking some me-time over the summer. It was a much needed break to re-focus myself on what I want in life. 

So with further ado, here are a few things I am very grateful for this year... 

Misa

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went"

My friends

Literally don't know what I would do without them.

 They make my world a better place to live in.

Summer

Summer has always been a time for me to clear my head. 

Sitting by the water is the best therapy a girl could ask for.

My Cousins

I've said it before but as an only child my cousins have been my "siblings" all my life.

 I am so excited to see what adventures are to come with them by my side.

My Parents

 (and selfies in hotel bathrooms with my parents in matching outfits)

So lucky to have such an awesome support system to be there for me during the good and the bad!

What are you thankful for?

xoxo 

Exciting News!

I am so excited to announce that during April break when my students are off from school I will be going on vacation to Costa Rica! Each year my cousin plans a huge vacation for a big group and this is the first year I am done with grad school and able to attend! We are staying in Tamarindo Costa Rica at the Villa Alegre Resort and it looks absolutely beautiful. There are 25 people going so we have the entire house to ourselves and we have our own private chef to make us breakfast and lunch every day! 

This will be my first time out of the United States so I just filled out an application for my passport. I am excited to vacation with two of my cousins, meet some new people (since I don't know all 25 people in attendance because most are friends of my cousin from Chicago) and have a little adventure in my life, especially after I promised myself that I would break out of my shell more this year and do things I wouldn't normally do. There are so many fun excursions we get to choose from and although not everything has been nailed down yet we are definitely going to tour the rain forests and visit a volcano in the area! Plus this will be excellent practice for my future stint on the reality television show Survivor (which I applied to last week... so I can cross that off of my 25 Before 25 list)!

Check out some pictures of where I'll be headed...

Overview of Tamarindo Costa Rica

The beach is a few feet from our private pool

Our house for the week!!! Doesnt it remind you of something you would see on The Real World?!

Hammocks on the side of our house by the pool

There are plenty of fun activities for us to do... 

On our list is an excursion through the rainforest!

This photo was taken from the house we are staying in. 

Monkeys everywhere!

What vacation spot is on your bucket list?

xoxo

New Recipe: Sausage and Peppers

Happy Tasty Tuesday! I'm sure if you're Italian or if you've ever attended a party at an Italians house than you have definitely had sausage and peppers. It's one of those staples at any of my family events that I grew up on. Everyone makes sausage and peppers differently but today I will share with you my version, which is pretty quick and easy if you ask me.

Ingredients:
- 1 package of hot sausage 
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 small onion
- 1tbsp of oil (either olive or vegetable)
- 1/3 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat large pan or skillet over medium heat- add oil
2. Take sausage out of casing and break it up into little pieces and add to the skillet
3. Add garlic to pan
4. Cook sausage until no longer pink in the middle
5. In the meantime, slice peppers and onion into stripes and add to cooked sausage
6. Continue to cook sausage, peppers and onions until peppers/onions are soft and sausage has browned up
7. Finally add 1/3 cup tomato sauce and mix thoroughly and leave it on for an additional 1-2 minutes
8. Serve and Enjoy!

xoxo

Gifts of Gold

The holidays are filled with sparkle and shine so going along with holiday gift theme I thought I would highlight some of my favorite gift ideas with a gold theme! One of my favorite bloggers Mason Like The Jar posted about some of her favorite gold gifts last week and I was so inspired by her post that I figured I should share mine as well. Some of my favorites on my list include the gold tree jewelry holder, glitter ballet flats (perfect for upcoming holiday parties!), and the adorable greyhound bookends. As a dog lover I feel that I need to find Akita bookends that look like Misa to decorate my shelves. 

Do you prefer silver or gold (Judging by this post I'm more of a gold girl)?

Are you embracing your sparkly side with the holidays coming up?

iPhone 5 case  // Gold Idiom Bangle  // Keds Sneakers  // Gold Belt

Glitter Clutch // Carrie Bradshaw Print // Glitter Ballet Flat // Gold Tree Jewelry Holder

Sequin Scarf // Greyhound Bookends  // Champagne Glasses  //Rabbit Ring Tree

xoxo

Weekend Recap and Sunday Thoughts

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, it seems they always just fly by! This weekend for me was pretty relaxing which was just what I needed after last week. On Saturday I did a little shopping with my friend Megan. We started at this local store in our area called Wits End, its basically this amazing Christmas store that sells amazing decorations and ornaments but also sells a variety of jewelry and clothing items (including brands such as Lilly Pulitzer and Vera Bradley). This place is literally heaven, its so cheery and definitely put me in the Christmas spirit. I scooped up a birthday gift for a friend, two ornaments for my parents and a pair of earrings for my mom. 

Toy soldiers outside of Wits End

Baubles

Christmas Heaven

After Wits End we headed to the mall really quick. I was very proud of myself because I didnt buy anything for myself, instead I focused on scoring some items for my mom for Christmas. My mom is my favorite person in the world to shop for because she has such a great sense of style. I wanted to go to Ann Taylor because everything in the store was 40% off so I was able to grab two cute skirts, a cardigan and a blouse for her at a discount. It felt good to knock some Christmas shopping off my list of things to do. 

It was freezing this weekend! 

Saturday night was the perfect night to stay in and have a fire.

My cousins and I in warmer weather... 

I miss summer looking at this picture!

Today I woke up to snow on the ground... yuck! But I am headed to my uncles house for a pre-Thanksgiving luncheon. I always jump at the opportunity to hang out with my family, especially my cousins because we always have so much fun together. 

How was your weekend?

Did any of you do any Thanksgiving prep to get a jump on Thursdays festivities? 

xoxo