Sometimes people ask me what my hobbies are; if their eyes start to glaze over at the first mention of my blog, I resign myself to the fact that I don't have much else to tell them about. But it's whatever makes you happy that matters. 

Happy Friday to all my lovely followers! Here's a reminder that you should be sleeping in. I sure plan on it today, that is, if I get some more posts written up.

IFB, my main bitch blogging info-source recently posted a great article entitled, "20 signs you're a real fashion blogger," and it made me laugh out loud. Good thing I'm not working in a cubicle anymore. I'll openly admit to about 11 of these posts, secretly knowing that the other 9 are just as true. Not sorry. 

One of my most favorite textile-themed ornaments is this jewel-toned tassel. 



I could not resist snapping a picture of a third-grade craft project: a glitter picture frame hanging next to a new mini-snow globe with my name printed on it! 



Our family loves classic Disney films--we've had this Simba & Nala set in our collection years before we adopted our cat of the same name. Call it fate if you will, but they have their own space on the lower level branches so that the two can see eye-to-eye. 



For the father who has everything, and loves all thing musical and Christmas: a set of flying-v guitar ornaments from Restoration Hardware. I earned major points in high school for finding this particular one--which still gets first pick on the tree. 




Lastly, the pièce de résistance: an a eiffel tower ornament and beaded fleur de lys! Not only do these two reflect my love of all things French, my upcoming move to Paris and my intense love of glitter,  these both have a vintage feel to them that look great on our Douglas Fir tree. 

Are their any new decorations you've stumbled upon this year? Please share!



xox,

Suddenly, last weekend, the thrifting gods smiled upon me and offered up a lovely {and reversible} fur vest with light pink lining. Too good! Despite the suddenly-summer turn that DC weather has taken, I'm planning to wear this baby out on the town.



Deliciousness: close up

I've only just joined Pinterest, but it seems as if I've already written countless posts about how it has changed my life for the better. I've created  a handful of boards divided into specific themes: recipes, workouts, fashion, various craft projects, you name it... but I had yet to actually attempt any project I'd pinned, food or otherwise, until tonight.

Sunday night boredom-turned-hunger led me to browse through dessert recipes in search of a delicious and yet guilt-free snack to devour. {Bonus points for a recipe that required only 4 ingredients or less.} Enter a dairy-free, fat-free, chocolate & banana shake that tastes like better than ice cream. Say what?! 

easy, peasy, recipe-sey.

This particular item had been making the rounds on my Pinterest dashboard, for good reason. It's pretty simple {see graphic to your right} and takes no time at all. First, cut up a banana or two and stick 'em in the freezer. Once they're ready, throw them in the blender with a teaspoon of cocoa powder and blend. Voila, c'est facile! 

I was intrigued nonetheless, so I found some already-frozen bananas hiding in the arctic depths of my freezer and whipped up a batch of my own to try, fully expecting this to be a failure in the making.

Not only am I'm eating my words, I'm eating this ice cream-esque concoction like it's going out of style. Seriously, this stuff is so great, I want to cry.


Throwing together two ingredients in a blender takes, what, half a second to make? It's awesome and convenient. Since the "ice cream" texture comes from being frozen, you can avoid any dairy-based mix-ins, and avoid any sneaky fat calories.

No need for chocolate bars either: just add in as much cocoa powder as you want. Plus, some fellow pinners commented on this recipe, raving about how adding peanut butter can make this a perfect breakfast shake. Ice cream? For breakfast?! G-e-n-i-u-s! For someone who hates eggs and any breakfast-related cooking in the morning, this seemed like a no-brainer. What better way to trick myself into eating healthily while convincing my taste buds that they're still in control?


xox,

Finding this quote was such a relief to my psyche. Over the past month or so, I've had the same conversation with many a friend {often after a few drinks, mind you} centered around this very idea, and that of choices and relationships.

No matter whether your idea of love refers to a person, a job, a hobby or field of study, be sure to choose the perfect fit. Too many people fear leaving behind something they've invested time into, in the name of progress. But isn't life too short to settle?

xox,

The shape of this jacket is quite classic and the inner lining has a gold chain trim running along the inside, rather Chanel-esque and a fun surprise! The bold color of the jacket matches one of my silk blouses perfectly, so I paired the two together with a simple straight jean. As I'm a sucker for gold jewelry, I added a thrifted chain, which upon further examination seems to be a replica Van Cleef pattern. The front pleat detail on this new favorite blouse features two tiny covered buttons. Très adorable!






xox,

Happy Monday, everyone! The days are getting longer {and colder} which only encourages me to hit the snooze button more times than usual in the morning, and to be frank, I'm okay with being a little late to work!

This weekend's errands called for some quality time spent at my local Target where I came across this adorable singing sock monkey. I should have taken him home with me, but I'd already gone over-budget on nail polish and other necessities. So instead, I snapped a quick video of him rocking out to some top 40.

 Here's to a musical and magical Monday morning!


xox,

Here's a glimpse into my NYE ensemble. Sequins & leopard & velvet? Oh my! Stay tuned for more...

To be fair, I went ahead and bought myself the Nikon d90 in preparation for Blogging 2.0: living in Paris. But besides that, I'm keeping all of these items on a permanent do-not-buy status, in hopes that Santa may find it in his heart to bring me a few choice picks.

Love it? Hate it?

xox,

Late night tumblr-browsing led me to this lovely photo. Cold & dark Sunday nights seem to make everything seem dreadful but instead I'll think of Monday mornings as a fresh start.

xox,

This what happens when your wisdom teeth turn into dry sockets and you spend your Tuesday night watching skinny-little-somethings walk down the runway of the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Fage yogurt + InStyle + bananas = the breakfast of champions.