..Cross Seasonal Pieces

The deets: Everly dress; Trend Snag necklace; ShoeMint booties; Michael Kors watch; J.Crew tights; Steve Madden bag.

I love when you can take a piece that's been sitting in your closet since the summer collecting dust and rework it with a simple pair of tights to make it wearable for the wintery months.  I basically survive on this trick when packing for long trips home since they usually work for day and night activities.  This just so happened to be my Christmas Eve outfit (which my little cousin helped me pick out - thanks, Sarah!).  Happy to be back in the blogosphere!  How were your holiday breaks?

..Merry Christmas!

These are our 2012 Christmas cards.  Since I have no adorable children to share with the world, I send my fur-babies out annually (see last year's photos here) in silly poses and costumes.  Some may call it crazy, I call it magic.  I really think I should have pursued pet photography as my profession, don't you?  Hope everyone has the best holiday ever.  I will be taking some time off from blogging while I'm up in NJ for Christmas but will be back sometime next week. Cheers!

..Christmas Wreath Cupcakes

As promised, here is the second cupcake recipe for the week.  Coconut cake with cream cheese frosting.  Super festive and not too hard to execute :)  Now go fourth and bake, my friends.

Cupcakes (recipe concocted by yours truly)

1 box white cake mix

2/3 cup oil

1 cup coconut milk (from the milk section, not the sugary canned kind)

4 eggs

1 box coconut cream pudding mix

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon imitation coconut extract (seriously a little goes a long way with this stuff)

2/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Bake on 350 degrees for 20 mins.

Icing 

recipe here.

Wreath

When I have to dye my own icings those non-pastel hues I end up having to use so much dye and it gets a bit runny so I cheated a little and bought the red and green Cake Mate icings with this four pack of icing tips.  I used the starred one for the green wreath part and the small circle one for the red bow.  I threw on some sprinkles but they kinda went all over the cupcake so you can leave that part off if you don't dig it.

..Patterned Pecils

 The deets: J. Crew tee and skirt (old); DV Dolce Vita heels; Ray-Ban sunnies; Michael Kors watch; gifted necklace (not sure where it's from); Steve Madden bag; Andrew Marc New York jacket.

Although this isn't the most flattering piece I have in my closet, it's rare to find such a bold pattern that also doubles as a neutral that can be paired with just about anything, so for me, it's a keeper.  After all it's really not the skirts fault, is it?  It's probably all those parties involving candy stations, cupcakes, cookies, specialty cocktails and all sorts of deliciousness these love handles just refuse to refuse.  Officially off the wagon until December 26th, peeps.

Also - Don't forget to enter the $50 giveaway to Nyopoly here!  Easy Entry.  Winner will be announced tomorrow.

..Snowflake Cupcakes

So it's been quite a while since this self proclaimed cupcake connoisseur (mostly on the eating part, less emphasis on the baking) posted any recipes but lucky for you (unlucky for your thighs), there will be not one but two in the next week.  I made these for an office party last Friday and since in an office you have mixed faiths, I thought I should stick more to the general "winter" theme instead of Christmas.  LOVED how adorable they came out!

I simply bought white chocolate chips, put about 3/4 a cup in a icing piping bag, melted them in a microwave on the defrost setting for 30 second intervals for two minutes, cut a tiny hole in the tip of the bag when the chocolate is nice and melty and drew little snowflakes on wax paper.  When they dried I plopped them on top of the cupcakes.  Some are cuter than others but hey, no two snowflakes are the same in real life right?  Full icing recipe post here.  Chocolate cupcake recipe below.

1 box Devil's Food cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup veggie oil
1 chocolate instant pudding
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bake on 350 degrees for about 17-20 mins.

..Nyopoly and a Giveaway! (Closed)

So what is Nyopoly?  It's a pretty awesome website that lets you haggle down the prices of all your purchases, which is amazing 1. because who doesn't like to bring out their inner bargainista and put those deal hunting skills to good use and 2. it puts more moolah back in your pocket in more than one way! You get 20% back in Nyopoly money if your first offer is accepted! Yay all around.

They have all kinds of cute stuff up in there but some of my personal picks would be this because every girl absolutely needs a little black clutch and if you are looking to splurge, how pretty is this Badgley Mischka watch? I know. They even have some fancy pants perfumes up for negotiation which always make great gifts this time of year.

BONUS: Enter to win $50 to Nyopoly here simply by registering.  Loads of extra entries available too.  Get on it!  Winner will be announced in one week.

CONGRATS LAUREN!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

..Work-Wear

The deets: J.Crew pencil skirt and top (similar); Target heels; Banana Republic necklace; Steve Madden bag; Andrew Marc New York jacket; Urban Outfitters sunnies.

You guys are going to be getting a whole lot more work wear over here as far as outfit posts go.  My photographer (aka Mike) is finally home before I leave a few mornings a week since law school is out and on the weekends I usually don't look put together until it's already too dark for photos.  Here's to hoping you guys like pencil skirts and blouses. 

 

..Challah Bread

Oh yes I did.  Super proud baker right here.  Since I have zero bread making skills (quite frankly yeast scares me in the kitchen) I followed this recipe (very exactly) and it came out great! Mike is half Jewish so I decided it would be nice to make something special for him for the first night of Hanukkah, which was Saturday.  A new tradition that I intend keep up every year.   I can't say for sure if I'd ever pick challah bread again (as it was seriously time consuming to wait through three rises of the dough and I'm still not sure if that braid is right) but it was definitely delish. We have intentionally set some aside for breakfast as I hear it makes the best french toast in all the land.  Happy Hanukkah if you celebrate it and if not, Happy Monday!

..Gift Guide for Any Budget

Topshop Painted Leather dress: $250 - Pink Clarisonic: $195 - Rag & Bone Floppy Brim Fedora: $175 - Clare Vivier Leopard Clutch: $165 - Sarah Chloe Gold Heart Necklace: $119 - Ivanka Trump Kaydena Sparkly Pumps: $105 - Ann Taylor Cashmere Lined Leather Gloves: $98 - Nars Travel Brush Set: $75 - Diptyque Scented Candle: $60 - Kate Spade iPhone Case: $30 - Navy Ikat Dinnerware: $10-14 - Essie "Beyond Cozy" Nail Polish: $8

..No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

Not only is this recipe so easy your least domestic pal could totally nail it, but it also tastes like sparkly unicorns are having a disco party in your mouth. YOU DON'T EVEN NEED AN OVEN! I changed up the crust (because who doesn't want to add more chocolate to their lives?) and edited the portions from the original recipe I found because they were all weird (like 19 oz of cream cheese? That makes no sense as there are 8 oz in each package, right? - also I just don't get all that grams business) so just follow the one below.

Ingredients (recipe adapted from here)
Two packages cream cheese
1 jar of Nutella (the small 13 oz one, not the giant one)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1.5 packages of chocolate graham crackers
1 stick of butter, melted
6 crushed Ferrero Rocher chocolate balls

Directions

1. Grind up chocolate graham crackers in a food processor and gradually mix in the melted butter.

2. Press crumbs into your baking dish, or spring-form tin, and then pop in the refrigerator to harden while you make the rest.

3. In a bowl mix the cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth. Then add in the jar of Nutella and continue to mix. Lastly, add in the cream and keep mixing until smooth.

4. Put mixture into pie crust and smooth over the surface.

5. Throw your Ferrero Rocher crumbles on top and pop in the refrigerator for a few hours or if you are impatient like me, the freezer for about 45 minutes.

..Woodland Creatures

The deets: Macy's blouse; J.Crew pants; ShoeMint heels; Steve Madden bag; Ray-Ban sunnies; Michael Kors watch.

I rocked woodland creatures to the office today, the bunnies are my favorite, and that's about all I have to say about that. Title inspired by my friend Katie, who also dragged me to a spinning class tonight which is the reason for the brevity of this post.  Need to go lay down and die now, toodles.