Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Yesterday I shared with you my desire to go to a sunnier, warmer tropical paradise and that desire didn't fade overnight. First thing I did this morning, with my green tea in hand, was start up the computer to do a little online 'window' shopping.

I am a dedicated online shopper. Not a day goes by that I don't visit the wonderful land of online shopping. My carts are always full at J. Crew, Shopbop, Nordstrom... and the list goes on. But today I had a mission. I was looking for swimsuits. You see I have an unnatural obsession with bathing suits (swimsuits, bathing suits... whatever it's called? I use both). I blame this on growing up at the beach. Every year I have to buy at least one new swimsuit (or two, or there). Forget about the fact that I have more than I can even wear already. And when a beach vacation is on your mind it is only natural that I start shopping for the appropriate attire.

Here is what I have my eye on at the moment...

Lilly Pulitzer - think I'll buy this at work tomorrow

Zimmermann - I die, literally

Mara Hoffman

Tory Burch

 And of course there are cover-ups...

Lemlem

Tory Burch

Bop Basics

Now that that's out of my system, today's task is to go through my closet... it is literally busting at the seams and I know there are things I don't wear just crammed in there, so I am finally taking the time to organize. Hopefully I will find a little extra space and maybe I'll even get rid of some of those bathing suits I don't wear anymore.

J - just a heads up - if you don't hear from me for a few hours I might be buried underneath the mountain of clothes in our closet.

The Weather Outside is (Del)ightful...

The weather in Austin is warming up again after a dreadfully windy day on Monday. But just because it's warm and sunny in February doesn't mean I'm not thinking about sunnier beaches somewhere else.

Lately I have been dreaming of a beach vacation. I want a vacation where I can lay on a beach chair, stare at the ocean, enjoy a cocktail (or two) and do absolutely nothing else. Anywhere would do really, well anywhere South of Austin. I would love to go Wilmington but it's just too cold. We will have to save that for the summer.

Here are a few of the places I would love to hop on a plane and visit...

Aruba, again

Hawaii

St. Lucia

Thailand, because I watched the Bachelor

Champagne Cupcakes

So y'all already know we had an Oscar party on Sunday and where there is a party, there is always dessert (and champagne). When looking for recipes I stumbled upon champagne cupcakes and thought they were appropriate for the glitzy evening. I got the recipe here and followed it exactly. Here is the end product...

And they were a success! Next time I will have to experiment making them gluten free so I can try them. The icing was delicious though. :)

We also had a make shift photo booth at the party and our friend was nice enough to make props!

Red Carpet: The Oscars 2013

Last night were the Oscars and you better believe I watched. We had friends over last night for a viewing party and it was a lot of fun. J and I had seen most of the movies nominated and I feel like over all there were a lot of good movies in 2012. And I was really happy with most of the winners last night. But who am I kidding? What I really want to talk about is the Red Carpet! Here are my favorites from last night... along with my least favorites.

Jessica Chastain in Armani Prive

Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta

Charlize Theron in Dior Huate Couture

 My absolute FAVORITE...

Naomi Watts in Armani Prive

 These were my favorite After Party looks...

Nina Dobrev in Naeem Khan

Jennifer Lawrence in Calvin Klein Collection

And my least favorite....

Anne Hathaway in Prada

I was expecting sooo much more out of Anne Hathaway. This dress was a little crazy in the back but I almost liked it because it made it more interesting. The front is just so blah. It looks like something from 1999.

Well that is it... Let the countdown for next year begin!

What were your favorite or least favorite looks from last night?

Snail Mail

I have to admit, I love snail mail. I mean, who doesn't love getting a hand written note in the mail? In this world of texting and emails, we don't take the time to write a thoughtful note. I'm not talking about thank you notes.. I've been doing that since I could write. But actually taking the time to write a note, just because, is something special.

For Lent this year I have decided to write more letters. It has taken me a while to get started but today I wrote my first. And there will be many more to come before the end of March.

Do y'all still believe in snail mail?

Vanilla Cupcakes for Two

This afternoon I enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea with a cupcake. This isn't unusual for me considering my love for baking. There are always sweets around the house. But if you are like me you don't want to bake a whole dozen cupcakes every time you want one. For me it's because I will eat the whole dozen if they are around.

With that in mind I wanted to share with you my recipe for vanilla cupcakes for two. The perfect proportion for you to share with someone special (or for you to keep all to yourself).

Vanilla Cupcakes for Two

serves 2

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with 2 liners.

1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour (I use King Arthur's multi-purpose gluten free flour)
1/4 heaping teaspoon of baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons milk (I use almond milk)

• In a bowl, add the egg white and sugar. Whisk until combined. 
• Add the vanilla and melted butter. Stir until fully mixed. 
• Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until smooth. 
• Add milk and stir.

Divide batter equally between the 2 cupcake liners.

Bake at 350 for 12-18 minutes, or until cake is set.

After they have cooled completely, frost cupcakes as you please. I used leftover vanilla frosting. And to make it extra special I topped it off with some cinnamon sugar.

And, as a bonus, here is Gracie as we waited for the cupcakes to cool. She was begging pretty hard. She usually doesn't sit this still for the camera.

What I've Been Pinning This Week...

Hi there! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was great. We spent most of it relaxing and hanging out with friends. Nothing too eventful and of course I didn't take any pictures to share. :(

I didn't get around to it last Friday, so here is what I've been pinning recently...

Gift Ideas

Homemade Housewarming Gift

Monogrammed Soaps for a Hostess Gift

Recipes to Try

Power Salad

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

Runny Salty Caramel Brownies

Style Inspiration

BaubleBar earrings

Red, White & Blue

Valentine's Day Essentials

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! It's no secret that I love holidays and themed occasions and Valentine's Day is no different. I love Valentine's Day. Of course, you get to be all lovey dovey with your Valentine but there are also lots of sweets involved. Can it get any better? Here are a few of the essentials I look forward to every year on February 14th...

Spending time with my hubby.

Flowers of the pink variety

Cute cards and sweet notes

Champagne (my drink of choice)

Baked sweets (with some chocolate on the side)

Pretty underpinnings (really necessary everyday)

And last, but not least,

A chick flick

Game Day

You might not know this,, but I went to the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. This morning my facebook feed was littered with game day posts singing praise for UNC. Today is the day. The first UNC vs. Dook game of the season.

This day makes me miss North Carolina even more than usual. The energy felt in Chapel Hill on this day is electrifying. I am pretty much alone in my excitement here in Texas. J is of course now a UNC fan and he is learning about the awfulness that is Dook but it's not exactly the same. I desperately need to meet some UNC fans down here. But for now J and I will be watching the game at home because let's be honest... I can't watch this game in public. At least not without fellow UNC fans around me.

  
There are several reasons to hate duke but this video sums it up pretty well. This was made my senior year at UNC and it is still awesome!

 

Rah Rah Carolina-lina, Rah Rah Carolina-lina, Rah Rah Carolina-lina Go to hell DOOK!

 

Weekend Recap (a day late)

Hey y'all! I hope everyone had a great weekend and a decent Monday... because let's be honest a decent Monday is all you can hope for. We had a pretty decent Monday but our weekend was excellent!

As I mentioned it was J's birthday. Since his parents were going to be in town for the actual day I wanted to do something nice for him before they got here. On Friday I had the brilliant idea of making him breakfast in bed because we don't do that enough. I went all out and made waffles with sprinkles and heart shaped bacon and there were even sparkler candles. Let's not even talk about what a disappointment the candles were, there was no spark! The bigger disappointment was that I totally spilled the whole tray on the way to the bedroom.

(Note to self: remove all liquids before carrying tray)

I ended up serving my hubby coffee soaked waffles, which he claims were better, but I still am not sure if he was just saying that to make me feel better. He spent the morning eating what remained of his breakfast as I cleaned the coffee off the carpet. It wasn't a perfect morning but I think it's the thought that counts and at least I got some pics before I spilled everything. These came in handy so I could show him what it was supposed to look like.

The rest of the weekend went off without a hitch. We enjoyed great meals at Salty Sow and Azul Tequila (our fave Tex-Mex of the moment) and had a great time celebrating with friends on Saturday night. Of course I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the weekend so you will just have to imagine (sorry!).

But I do want to share a picture of Gracie! This was taken last weekend at the park... it's just too darn cute not to share.

Look at all that grass stuck in her beard.

Oh... I almost forgot today is Fat Tuesday! Lent officially starts tomorrow. I haven't thought about if I am going to give something up... looks like I have till the end of the day to decide.

Do y'all observe Lent? Do you give something up or set goals for yourself during this time?

What I've Been Pinning This Week...

Well, I've really dropped the ball on blogging this week. I promise I'll be better, I've just been super busy this week. But there are fun things ahead this weekend... tomorrow is Justin's birthday! We are celebrating tonight with his family and tomorrow will be just us.

Anyway, here's what I've been pinning lately...

Style Inspiration

Issa Spring 2013

Kate Bosworth

J. Crew

Recipes to Try

Banana Bread Muffins

Gluten Free Cookie Dough Bars

Holy Yum Chicken

For the Home

Hotel soaps on display

Wallpaper