Thrifted Thursday: Plates and Bowls

When thrifting, have you ever noticed all the single plates and bowls just chillin' on the shelves? They sit lonely, no matches in sight. It makes me sad. So, I have started buying these quirky singles, rescuing them from their thrift store prison. And now I have a little collection (meaning four) that I use for varying purposes. It's cool.

1. First up, we have the white dessert plate that rests on my nightstand. The pint-sized beauty is pristine white with lacey edges. I use it (once I'm in bed and too too tired to get up) to hold any jewelry or hair accessories still present on my body that would interrupt my beauty sleep (i.e. bobby pins, earrings, hair-ties, etc...). Got it for $1.

2. Next, meet the black and white, provincal-style bowl. It sits on my dresser and holds my long earrings. It's very French chic and obviously classy. I love it and it loves me back. Bought for $3.

Me and the pops. Yes he's a ginger. Yes he had a 'stache.

3. Third, meet the green, asian-inspired saucer (no teacup included). It's whimsical leaves and white flowers make me feel like a young, Japanese geisha every time I put my rings or earring studs on it. The asian saucer sits on my dresser where its eclectic beauty shines. Mine for $1.

4. Finally, meet the green, glass, flower bowl. This bowl is super unique with a 70s vibe, and it makes me happy. I use it for any odds and ends that I don't know what to do with (think extra chapsticks, rubber bands and safety pins). It also sits on my dresser and really pulls the my room together. Added to the collection for only $2.

I hope you enjoyed meeting my thifted, china family. We love each other as if we were a set.


P.S. I bought all of the above china at For Pet's Sake in Breckenridge. Check it, yo.

Vinho Verde - A Cool Wine or Not?

I'm in love, with Vhino Verde. Have you ever tried it? It's sooooo good. Light, dry, crisp and bubbly, almost like champagne, but not. Vinho Verde is a Portugese, (typically) white wine translating to "green wine" not for its color but for its youth. Vinho Verdes are best enjoyed within a year of bottling and thus, are usually inexpensive, costing around $8 a bottle. Tasty and cheap equals my kind of beverage.

But here's the thing...I feel like Vinho Verde might not be a cool wine. Like it might be considered in the same wine genre as White Zinfindel. Gasp! I know.

I've tried looking up it's cool factor. So far I've learned that Wine Lovers Page calls it cheap and good; Bon Appetit writes it's "delicious, zingy, lively, clean and cheap...if it were a soda, it would be Mountains Dew" (but is it cool to drink the Mountain Dew of wine?); and Food and Wine proclaims it's "light and lovely...the perfect lunch wine."

It seems that the overall consensus of Vinho Verde is that it's a light and refreshing, budget-friendly, summer-time wine. I like all those things. They seem cool to me. So am I in love with an uncool wine? Don't know. Don't care. It's my party blog and I'll cry drink Vinho Verde if I want to.


P.S. My favorite Vinho Verde
P.P.S. A Vinho Verde wine tasting party

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

I don't have cable. Did you know that? I don't even really miss it, except when the Oscars are on and I want to watch them but I can't. That stinks. So what's a girl to do when everyone in the world but her is watching the boob tube? She bakes peanut butter cookies, then eats them all.

These cookies were super easy to make and most importantly, super chewy (which cookies must be to be good).  In order to ensure chewiness, DO NOT over bake them. Even if you think they're not done, they are. Bake them no longer than 10 minutes. Trust me, my first batch was as crispy as a Girl Scout cookie.

Get in my belly.

And then I added choco chips because I'm a bad girl. 

Peanut Butter Cookies (from Smitten Kitchen)
makes 36 small cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
(optional) chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter and peanut butter until fluffy. Add sugar and brown sugar. Beat until smooth. Add egg and mix well. Mix int the milk and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips (if desired).

Roll dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using a fork, gently indent cookies with a criss-cross pattern (don't flatten the cookies too much). Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 8-10 minute (do not over cook, even if they don't look done). Cool cookies for 1 minute then move to a rack to cool completely.

Friday Link Love

TGIF! Any fun plans for the weekend? I'm headed to Monarch on Saturday for "work." Should be really hard skiing in the 30 plus inches of snow they've gotten! I'll keep you posted on the fun had and jello legs next week. Sunday the bf and I are throwing a little Oscar Party. Nothing crazy, just some yummy food and fun friends to watch who will win best picture (I'm rooing for Argo because I love me some Ben Affleck!). I hope you have a great weekend too! Enjoy my link love from this week. xx


Mountains [Rhone-Alps, France].


Mode [Emerson Fry Spring 2013- I need everything].


Vogue endorses Uggs.


I'm going to make this with my new food processor.


It's crazy how much eyebrows can affect your appearance...


London Fashion Week street style.


More tips on how to take better iphone photos.


This cocoon coat will be mine (one day...).


Quick-dry your manicure with this tip.


JT is back on SNL.


I want to look this cute for a coffee break.


These Jewish treats look yummy.


Loving mint for spring.


This makes me want to unplug too.


Just finished this book. I may the only one not so sure about it. Book review next week.


These before and afters.





Image via Pinterest

Thrifted Thursday: The Sweater

I've always saved the best for last. Like when I eat a burger, I eat all the way around the edges and save the middle for the last. So it's no surprise that I'm sharing with you today, on this Thrifted Thursday, the best item I picked up the day I hit the motherload.

Meet the J. Crew, fair-isle, turtleneck sweater. I love it. Not only is it beautiful, but it's soft. Merino wool soft. I know. Score. Picked it up for a mere $7. And to be honest, I may or may not have worn it every other day in some form or another since I bought it. It's a little on the cropped side, but truthfully I'm diggin that. A little, pasty, white-belly exposure never hurt anyone...

P.S. Some Thrifted Thursdays you may have missed...
*The Loafers
*The Vase
*The Wine Glasses

Hump Day

As the day suggests, I'm going through a hump. Ill be back to regular posting tomorrow. In the meantime, please enjoy this chocolate chip cookie dough and imagine me eating the entire bowl of it, which I did...

Winter Hiking: Baker's Tank Trail

Remember how I made a vow to get myself outside every day? Welllll, it honestly hasn't happened. Sometimes I'm too busy or tired or (insert some lame reason). However, like I said last time, I always feel better when I'm breathing that fresh mountain air; so today, I would like to share with you another fantastical winter hike the pup and I did.

The day was (last) Sunday, the weather was sunny, the temperature was balmy (35 degrees) and the booty was burning. Zig and I did the Baker's Tank trail in Breck and it may be a new favorite winter hike/summer trail run. Starting at the trailhead, we hiked steadily uphill for the first three miles. Once we got to our destination, Baker's Tank, you loop back to the trailhead on Boreas Pass Road (which in the fall is the most gorgeous place on earth). Although most peeps (everyone) on the trail were either snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, there was no need. The trail was completely packed down and easy to walk on. We finished the 5.5 miler in under two hours and both got the Vitamin D we needed to put a refreshing smile on our face. Baker's Tank Trail. Do it.

Forgotten Cookies

I told you I was going to make these Forgotten cookies for V-Day and I did, and they were ah-ma-zing! Like a merengue, but chewy in the middle. So good, so light, definitely a new favorite cookie. However, do not attempt without an electric mixer. I'm telling you from experience, it's not worth it. I made these at the bf's house, where there is not an electric mixer to be found and I paid the price with 40 extra minutes of beating and an extremely sore and tired shoulder. Blast.

Forgotten Cookies (adopted from Sugar and Charm)
makes 24 cookies

INGREDIENTS

3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup mini, dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips. Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Place cookies in the oven and turn the oven off. Forget about the cookies and leave them in the oven overnight and, ta da! You have Forgotten Cookies! (If you don't want to wait until the next morning, they only need about 2 hours in the oven until they're done.)

Friday Link Love

Happy {snowy} Friday everyone! I woke up feeling refreshed and happy to a few, new inches of snow (again) and a forecast for more! Hopefully I'll get a few runs in today and tomorrow. Also on the agenda is finishing up some DIYs that have been taking up my house. I'll give you a hint, they include chalkboard paint and frames. Any guesses? You'll just have to wait for the reveal next week! I hope you have a swell weekend too and enjoy my Friday link love.


Mountains [the 10 Mile Range, if you're interested in traversing them this summer].


Mode [obsessed with everything at the Valentino Spring 2013 show, especially this dress].


I'm not there.


Free downloadable graphics for your blog!


Omg. I need me some of this.


I've noticed this trend and I want it, but I just don't think it's practical in the mountains, do you?


American food gifts to give to French people.


Monochromatic blue. I will recreate this.


I've been debating this with myself since last February...do you dare?


Post-breakup hair.


A conversation with the Man Repeller and her husband.


Breaking the dessert habit. I shall never.


10 Real Blogging Tips: Part I & Part II.


Grammy's Best (and worst).


Although I could never pull this off, PeaceLoveShea looks absolutely stunning.


Just another example of middle, part hair that I want.





Photo via This is Glamorous

Thrifted Thursdays: Valentine's Day

Happy V-Day lovers. Today is about telling those you love how much you love them. So here it is, I love you. I love you like a fat kid loves cake. I love you like peanut butter loves jelly. I love you like a back-alley hooker loves crack. I love you all a lot. 

That being said, welcome to Thifted Thursdays, Valentine's Day edition. It's pink and red and sweet all over. I hope you like it. The skirt is the main attraction. Bought it for $4 at Summit Thrift and Treasure the day I hit the motherload and I love it. It's preppy meets Clueless meets a four-year-old toddler. Although the top (which is a turtleneck) isn't thrifted, it might as well be. I've had it since Christmas '98, fo real. Finally, the boots. Yes they're my Monica Geller boots. Yes I love them. And oh ya, the coat. Thrifted for $30 at the consignment boutique Funky Trunk. Brown chicken, brown cow.

Turtleneck: Old Polo, love this fair isle version

Skirt: Thrifted J. Crew, cute black and white version

Boots: Old, similar

Coat: Thrifted Martin & Osa, Similar

Lemon Cake Pops

Cake is good. Frosting is good. Let's mash them together, dip it in chocolate and call it a cake pop. Genius!

These cake pops are delicious to eat and great as gifts (hello, Valentine's Day is tomorrow...). The recipe is super easy (especially if you use a boxed cake mix like I did) and essentially foul-proof. But beware, don't attempt it without a few hours to kill. The baking/cooling/assembly can be a biatch and takes a couple of hours to yield a finished product.

Lemon Cake Pops

makes approximately 48 pops 

INGREDIENTS:

9 x 13 cake, cooled (I use Pamela's Classic Vanilla Cake Mix and add 1 tbsp of lemon zest and 1 tsp of lemon extract)

1 cup frosting (I use this lemon buttercream recipe)

2 bags dark chocolate chips

lollipop or popsicle sticks

sprinkles

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, crumble the cake into small pieces. Add the frosting and mix until combined. Using your hands, roll the mixture into desired-sized balls and set on a baking sheet with wax paper. Stick the lollipop sticks into the cake balls. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes or until firm.

While the cake balls are chilling, melt the dark chocolate chips in a glass bowl over boiling water. Remove the cake balls from the freezer and using the lollipop stick to hold, dip in them in the chocolate. Add the sprinkles to the top. Chill in the fridge. Enjoy! 

The Middle Part

Do you notice hair trends? I do. I feel like last year was the year of the bang (as seen here and here). This year, it seems to be all about the middle part, and I want it.

You would think that because hair is so easily transformed, it would be easy for me to just hop on the hair bandwagon of my dreams; however, my genetics hate me and I was born with a cowlick [damn shit] that constantly prevents me from wearing the trendy hairstyles I desire, like the middle part! I present exhibit A and B:

A: Super gross.

B: Close up. That's a spicy meatball.

So what's a girl to do when she wants to wear the trendiest hairstyles but has a cowlick? She makes the best of it. She settles on an off-center, "middle part" and then secures it down with bobby pins...

An off-center, "middle" part. P.S. Smirking is not attractive ...

2nd Place

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