Want//Need: Cutesy Kitchen

I have a love/hate relationship with cooking and baking.  I think it's fun and relaxing, but at the same time, I don't want to spend all that time in my kitchen.  What does motivate me into the kitchen though is when it's full of cuteness.  Craving kitchen accessories must really make me an adult, huh?  Here are a few of the things on my wishlist:

1. Stacking Mugs / 2. And Another Ampersand Bottle Opener / 3. Skirt the Rules Mug / 4. Scottie Shadow Potholder / 5. Foiled Dot Napkin Set / 6. Penguin Kitchen Timer / 7. Market Street Place Setting / 8. Streak Dye Bowls / 9. Heart Cutting Board / 10. Retro Apron

P.S. My dad is going to kill me for posting that cutting board because *he* makes custom cutting boards too.  His are beautiful, but unfortunately not actually sold anywhere.  Sorry pops, maybe it's time to get on that Etsy shop!!

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Wednesday Words

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” 

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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Inspiration: Bookcase Styling

Last week, the boy and I made a very adult purchase - this beautiful media center from C&B:

Tyler Media Consol

We haven't gotten around to decorating it yet, although his fantasy football trophy seems to have already found a home:

I was home sick yesterday, so I spent a lot of time laying on the couch staring at it (and apparently watching what looks like it must have been some interesting k-pop music videos) and trying to decide how to decorate it.  I think some storage baskets on the bottom shelves would be nice, but the rest is still up for grabs.

Some of my favorite bookcase looks:

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Now I need to get off of my butt and actually start decorating!





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Ensemble: Dinner Date

Hi lovelies!  I hope you all had an amazing weekend, mine included quesadillas and footsie pajamas, so  it ended up being a bit more relaxing than I initially anticipated.  I've been trying to fight off disease all winter with immense amounts of vitamin c, but I think it may have finally caught up with me.  

I wore this out to dinner with my former roommates a couple of weeks ago.  Boots and a blazer are my favorite pieces to polish up an outfit in an instant.  The clutch is from Etsy, I originally saw it over on Coffee Beans and Bobby Pins and knew it had to be mine.  

Top - H&M / Blazer - NY&Co / Jeans - Gap / Boots - Enzo Angiolini / Clutch - Jessie Blume / Watch - Michael Kors / Bracelets - Target & ASOS

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Slothing Around

Happy Friday everyone!  This weekend I hope to be doing a lot of this:

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I'm not sure how much slothing around I'll get to do though as I seem to have filled my weekend with a plethora of interesting plans, like going to a high school basketball game.  Have a great weekend!

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Valentine's Day Gifts For Him

1. Jambox by Jawbone: A speaker that connects wirelessly to his iPhone, because boys like anything that's wireless.

2. Mini Robot Vacuum: He loves robots.  You love when he cleans up his crumbs.  This tabletop vacuum does both!

3. Polo: A red polo says "Valentine's Day" without screaming, and it saves him a shopping trip.

4. Ron Swanson Card: This printable from Etsy tells him exactly how you feel.

5. Apple TV: Wirelessly connects all of your Apple products to your TV.  Man approved by my boy, he was super excited when I got one for him.

6. Archer Season 3: Because what says "romance" more than a dead fiance coming back as a murdering cyborg? 

7. Heart Boxers: Super cute, and since he never shops he'll probably actually wear them.  Of course, if hearts are a little too girly for your boy, try some red plaid shorts instead.  

8. Rapid Beverage Chiller: This little guy chills a can of beer 40x faster than in the freezer.  Added bonus: it also fits a bottle of wine.  

9.  Homemade cookies: truly the key to a man's heart ;)

What are you getting your guy for Valentine's Day?

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Wednesday Words

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

- Walter Bagehot

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Ensemble: Dots, Stripes, and Spring

It.is.so.cold.

All of this dreary weather is making me seriously crave some Spring in my life.  So I pushed past all of the black and gray in my closet, and found this pretty coral sweater.  Just wearing something happy like this outfit made me feel (at least a little) better about the current weather situation.

To cope with the weather, my boyfriend and I are trying to plan a trip somewhere warm to get away.  We're thinking New Orleans - I've never been before so I'm super excited to check it out!!

I even added some pretty pastel purple nail polish to top it off.  This polish originally came with a Essie summer sampler, but I wasn't feeling the color at the time.  Now I want to wear it every day!

Shirt - LOFT / Sweater - Old Navy / Skirt - Express (similar here) / Booties - Kelly & Kate
Necklace - New York & Co (old) / Watch - Michael Kors

How are you coping with this winter weather?



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Current Pinspirations: Pastels

Soft, pretty pastels are all I've been dreaming of recently...

1. / 2. / 3. / 4. / 5. / 6. / 7. / 8. / 9. 

Follow me on Pinterest here.  What's (p)inspiring you?

Additional Twitter Fun

Two weeks ago I posted about how I hadn't followed my boyfriend back on Twitter yet.  Well, I started to feel like that was mean so I ended up adding him.  It turns out he doesn't tweet.  Like, ever.  I actually had to teach him how to retweet something last week.  So I guess not that big of a step in our relationship after all ;)

While I was perusing my Twitter followers, it turns out there was someone else of importance I hadn't followed back yet:

Sorry Britney, that's a my bad on my part!

Dreaming of: Closets

I imagine that every clothing-obsessed girl dreams of a gigantic, well lit closet with everything on display.  My dream closet would also include a chaise lounge in the middle for impromptu fashion shows and a chandelier on the ceiling.  I'm moving next month, and while I won't have a gigantic Cribs-style closet, I am going to have a little walk-in which I'm very excited about.  The chaise lounge may not quite fit, but that doesn't mean I still can't make it pretty!

A few of my dream closets:

I love how organized this closet is - almost like a boutique! (source)

I love the Jackie O photos in the back!  (source)

The chandelier and flowers are so pretty!  (source)

The wallpaper in this room adds such a fun touch (source)

I love the pouf and the black and white (source)

The mirrored vanity is so pretty and would be great for storage (source)

Three way mirror: perfect for making sure you look good from every angle, or to make sure there's nothing stuck to your butt.  (source)

My dream closet would definitely include a vanity station too.  Also a tv that constantly played reruns of The Hills.  It would be like getting ready with your girlfriends every day! (source)

Egg and Bacon Muffins

On days when I manage to eat a real breakfast, like scrambled eggs, I always start the day in a much better mood and manage to stay full until lunchtime.  Unfortunately I'm usually scrambling in the morning or, more likely, the pan I was going to use is dirty.  So instead I eat a bowl of cereal (ahem, or leftover pizza) plus eighteen more snacks before noon.

Did you know eggs are super easy to reheat in the microwave?  Like, if you reheat an omelet in the microwave two days later, it's basically exactly the same as if you had eaten it immediately.  When I saw this recipe for Bacon Egg Cups, I thought, "Perfect!" A quick and easy way to have a real breakfast, all in a cute muffin package.  Apparently I will eat anything if it was cooked in a muffin pan.

I followed the recipe to the t, so if you want a delicious breakfast treat hop over to Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body to try it out.

P.S.  A lot of the comments suggest pre-cooking the bacon.  I had my boyfriend test-kitchen this (when I say "had" I really mean "tricked into") and we determined that pre-cooking is unnecessary and makes the end product not nearly as pretty.

Obsession: Nude Booties

Do you ever get it in your head that if you don't find the perfect pant/shoe/bag there's no way you'll ever be able to put together another outfit?  I often find myself with this urge, and end up online and real life shopping for days until I realize I must have dreamed the item I'm frantically searching for because it doesn't really exist.

For the past week, I've been searching for the perfect nude bootie.  I wanted a really light color with a small heel or wedge, preferably leather rather than suede, with a really short shaft, that wasn't particularly "cowboy-y".  While I still haven't found my dream shoe (this pair that Annie was rocking comes pretty close), I did spy some very cute options along the way:

1. Eager Beaver - BC Footwear / 2. Ester - Rachel Roy / 3. Gili - Aldo / 4. Chelsea Boot - Madewell / 5. Roterdam - Steve Madden / 6. Valerie Booties - Fossil / 7. Camcord Ankle Boots - Gianvito Rossi

Ensemble: Tied with a Bow

Happy Monday morning! I know, your favorite.  I had a pretty fun and productive weekend - got to check out a few new restaurants, saw Zero Dark Thirty, and had a craft day for my brother's wedding. My sister claims she hates crafts and that she was coerced into attending, and then yesterday she texted me that now she has several craft projects planned.  Yay for converting the non-believers!  

This skirt is seriously one of my favorite items at the moment (I also wore it here and here).  It's so versatile and flattering, I wear it both for work and for play.  Do you have a favorite piece you always go back to?

Thanks to some Christmas presents, I'm starting to get a serious case of blogger wrists ;)  

Shirt - H&M / Skirt - LOFT / Necklace - F21 (similar here) / Belt - ASOS / Bracelets - Target and ASOS / Boots - Enzo Angiolini

Friday Flop: Plating Fail

So I was going to share a pretty picture of the delicious enchiladas I was making, but somehow they turned my entire kitchen into a disaster area.  This is just what happened when I tried to get them onto the plate:

I also managed to get the filling all over the table and floor, sent a saucy spatula flying across the room, and knocked one of the knobs from my stove into the oven while it was on, where it tried to become one with the oven.  Don't tell my landlord.

Seriously though, these enchiladas were really good.  Totally worth the huge mess.  Black beans + corn + cheese + spinach make a fantastic combination.  And the homemade sauce is waaaaay better than anything that comes out of a can.  If you want to try them out, the recipe for these Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas is from The Garden Grazer.  I recommend adding a teaspoon or two of cayenne pepper to the sauce, yum! 

Happy Friday everyone, I hope you have a great weekend!!

Crochet Earwarmer and Infinity Scarf

One of the tricks you learn as a crochet addict is how to pawn off all of your creations on unsuspecting friends and family members.  Unless you have a particularly chilly neck, there's no way you could possibly need all of the scarves you end up making.

I usually choose to give away my creations as Christmas and birthday presents to give a purpose to my craft.  Ahem, hence those hats... This year, I was inspired by Mrs. Micawber's Ribbonberry Stitch and decided to make an infinity scarf and ear warmer for my soon to be sister-in-law.

This stitch looks complicated but it's actually really easy.  Compared to some of the other patterns I've attempted recently, it was incredibly fast to complete.  

For the scarf, I followed the ribbonberry pattern exactly, crocheting until it was a nice length and then using a slip stitch to connect the two ends.  For the ear warmer, I started with just two slip stitches, and added another stitch each row until it was sixteen stitches wide.  Then I followed the ribbonberry pattern, except leaving 2 slip stitches at the beginning and end of each row instead of 4 slip stitches.  

Once the ear warmer was long enough (I may or may not have used my own head to measure) I started decreasing one slip stitch each row until I was down to two stitches.  Then I chained on about 15 to make the loop.  I finished it off with a button from my button jar.  What, you don't have a button jar?  Does that make me the weird one or you?

Personally I love this stitch, it makes everything look much fancier than your basic crochet stitches but is still really easy to do.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have a blanket to finish that I've been working on for, you know, the past eighteen months or so. Somehow it isn't even halfway done...

Want // Need: Delicate Jewelry

Statement necklaces and big, bold bracelets have been everywhere this year, including just about all of my outfits.  Lately though, I feel myself drawn to smaller, daintier pieces.  After the bling overload, they seem like a breath of fresh air.  The femininity and delicateness of the jewelry I'm craving below seem like the perfect addition to the spring wardrobe I've been dreaming of.

1. Arrow Charm Necklace - F21 / 2. Engraved Snake Double Wrap Ring - House of Harlow / 3. Delicate Heart Silhouette Ring - Ariel Gordon / 4. Sun Gold Bar Bib - BaubleBar / 5. Pave Ring - Ariella Collection / 6. Pink Arrow Ring - BaubleBar / 7. Mini Letter Bracelet - BaubleBar / 8. Tiny Arrow Stud Earrings - Etsy / 9. Gold Arrow Ring - BaubleBar / 10. Forget Me Knot Ring - FredFlare / 11. Wee Heart Ring - Anthropologie / 12. Skinny Mini Bow Stud Earrings - Kate Spade / 13. Chevron Cuff - Madewell

Quick Fix: Lengthening a Necklace

I've been having some serious jewelry struggles lately.  Necklaces tend to look best on me when they're shorter and hit completely above my bust line.  Sadly, this means that almost all of my necklaces are too short to sit under the collar of my button down shirts.  In yesterday's post I was wearing the only one of my necklaces that could work with a collar.

Necklace - LOFT

Instead of buying new jewelry or giving up, I decided to use some of the resources I had laying around my makeup table.  By adding a couple of safety pins I quickly extended one of my favorite necklaces.  Since it was going under a shirt with a collar, it was impossible to tell that the necklace had been extended.

Do you use any quick fixes to make your wardrobe work?

Ensemble: Dots & Chambray

Good Monday readers!  This outfit is actually from a couple of weeks ago.  I had some stitches in my leg, so I had to rock my flare jeans for a couple of days while they were healing.  I realized that I haven't worn them on a regular basis in six or seven years.  Oh, the joy of pants just slipping off instead of fighting to unstick them from my calves! 

Shirt & Sweater - Old Navy, Jeans - Gap, Flats - Payless, Necklace - H&M, Bracelets - LOFT

My brain actually had a hardish time coming up with ways to wear flared jeans after all of these years, but I ultimately decided most of my regular combos worked just fine, hence chambray and a sweater.  

Of course, once the stitches came out I went right back to my trusted skinnies, because really, they're much easier to wear with boots.  And boots in the winter in Chicago are important for ensuring you don't end up with little feet popsicles.  But perhaps my comfy flare jeans will come back into play once Spring decides to roll around.  Have you found any older pieces in your wardrobe you want to start rocking again?

Big Time

Quote - Jim Rohn

2013 is bringing some pretty big changes to my life.  The most important one?  After two years of dating, my boyfriend just started following me on Twitter.  I haven't yet reciprocated.

I tweet about all kinds of important things, like what I ate for dinner and my dreams.  You can follow along at @yesitskris.  Or not, that's cool too.