My Style Friday

Top: Old Navy Crops: LOFT Sandals: WHBM Necklace: Pandora

 

I apologize for the terrible picture quality.  I was having some technical difficulties with my tripod.  I wore this on a day off this week when I had to run errands.  SUPER comfy and cool for the hot summer weather.

**WHBM=White House Black Market

Pinspiration Thursday

Healthy Potato Salad

This week's pin


Brought to you by skinnytaste.com

This week I was looking for a healthier version of potato salad to make and came across this recipe on Pinterest.

What You Need:

4 cups baby red potatoes, cut in small pieces

1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced

1/4 cup red onion, finely diced  (I used yellow onion)

3 scallions, diced

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise (I used low fat Miracle Whip)

salt and fresh pepper

What You Do:
Boil potatoes in salted water until soft, approx 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.

 

While the potatoes are boiling, combine red onion, green pepper, mustard, olive oil, vinegar and mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and let the flavors marinade while the potatoes cook.

 

Once the potatoes are done and cool, mix into the bowl and add scallions and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve room temperature or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Hair Ties

I am that girl who has that one hair tie that she uses every single day for months and even when it is stretched out she still won't throw it away.  Seriously.  I don't know what it is, but I did not want to buy any other hair ties. 

I recently came across these cute hair ties that claim to be gentle and not break or leave a crease in your hair.  I searched the web and found a seller on Etsy with a ton of colors to choose from for a great price.

Here is what I got

I actually got 7, but one of them is in my hair right now!

 

The came from CoCoChic Couture on Etsy.  Visit her shop here.

 

I got to pick what colors I wanted all for $4!!!

 

They hold up my hair just as well as my old faithful hair tie, and they have added cuteness :)

Hot Cocoa

Lately I've been craving hot chocolate in the morning over my usual coffee (maybe it's the cooler weather?).  When Jas and I were vacationing in Michigan we bought some locally made coca to try, so I busted it out last week and now it is almost gone!

It is made by a company called Fireside Coffee.  They make all flavors of coffee as well as chai tea and cocoa.  If you want to check them out head over here and don't forget to add some cocoa to your shopping cart while you're at it.  If online shopping isn't your forte, you can locate a store near you that sells their products.  Happy sipping!

Diamond Candles

I recently discovered this company that makes amazing soy candles with a twist.  Each candle has a ring inside of it worth anywhere from $10 to $5,000!  Kinda makes you want to run out and buy one, doesn't it?

Luckily for me, about a couple weeks after I discovered these candles there was a Groupon for them!  Of course I couldn't pass up the deal (I mean, it was fate, right?)  And shortly after, these beauties were on my doorstep.

I can not tell you how hard it was to pick out which candles I wanted.  There are so many different scents to choose from.  I decided to go with "Summer Time" and "Gingerbread Latte" and they both smell out of this world!

Naturally, the minute I opened the box I had to get one started (I wanted that ring!) and you want to know why I know these candles are super high quality?  It took FOREVER for the wax to melt enough for me to get to the ring!  I eventually got impatient and went in with a knife to pull it out (not much can stand in between me and jewelry, not even hot wax). 

The moment I was waiting for had finally arrived.  I opened up that foil pack to reveal my new ring.



Tada!

Totally one of the $10 rings, but it's my birthstone so I love it!  If you have small fingers like I do the ring will probably be pretty big.  It fits on my thumb, first, and middle fingers only, but I love it nonetheless.

I'm already anxious for the holidays to get here so I can legitimately light up my gingerbread latte candle and find out what it has for me.

So, what are you waiting for?  Go get a candle!!!  Click here to go to the website and start shopping for your new ring candle.

My Style Friday

Top: Loft Pants: Banana Republic Belt: Banana Republic

This is a simple work outfit I wore this week.  Being that I wear a lab coat at work I wear a lot of sleeveless tops even when it gets cooler outside. 

Check out those ugly work shoes!  If you're in the market for a pair, I wear Privo's by Clark.  They're easy on the feet for long days of standing but not so easy on the eyes ;)

Happy Friday!

Pinspiration Thursday

DIY Laundry Detergent #2

Today's pinspiration is brought to you by this pin


If you remember, in this post I showed you how to make your own laundry detergent.  It is super easy, but I found one that is even easier (I know, right?)!

What you need:
3 T Borax
3 T Super Washing Soda
2 T Dawn dish soap (the blue kind)

What you do:
Pour all 3 ingredients into a gallon jug.
Pour in 4 cups of boiling water. 
Let cool.
Add water to top of jug.

I love seeing my DIY detergent next to my DIY softener!

***I use about 1/2 cup per large load of laundry

You're welcome :)

apple & bee

I picked up this super cute little makeup bag at Francesca's the other day and just had to share it.

How cute is it???

It is from apple & bee which is an Australian owned company that uses organic cotton in all of their bags.  They sell everything from pencil pouches to tote bags and part of their profits go to environmental organizations.  Head over to www.appleandbee.com and check them out!

Eye Makeup

I am nowhere near a makeup artist, but I definitely know what I like. 95% of the time I will be wearing brown/neutral shades of eye shadow.  That being said, my go to palette is NAKED by Urban Decay.



The primary colors I wear are SMOG in the crease and outer corner of the eye, HALF BAKED over the lid and VIRGIN right under the brow.



I use a black pencil eyeliner to line the top lash line only then Clinique mascara to both top and bottom lashes.

The mascara I used in this photo is Clinique high impact mascara.  The brush has a million bristles which help to avoid clumps and it goes on super easy.

DIY Workout Shirt #2

Wanted to share my latest DIY workout shirt.  This one I cut out big sections of the back of the shirt then tied 2 pieces of the sleeves around the middle.  There are so many possibilities when making workout shirts.  I'm in the process of working on another one which I will definitely share when finished :)

My Style Friday

Top: Gap Crops: Loft Shoes: Gap Necklace: Charming Charlie

This was an outfit I wore on a day off to run errands and lounge around the house.  Such a comfy outfit and coral is a big color right now that I've been buying a lot of!

Happy Friday!

Pinspiration Thursday

As promised, here is the project I did to make part of the new art in our master bedroom.
This was my inspiration pin

What you need:

Blank canvas

Doilies

Spray Paint

I found all the doilies at WalMart in the cake decorating area.  I also saw them at Michaels.

All you do is place the doilies around the canvas in a way that is appealing to you (get creative!) then spray paint the entire thing

 

After the paint has dried, remove the doilies and you're done! Instant work of art :)

Sock Bun

All I have to say today is that I accomplished my first ever sock bun.  My family is proud :)

 If you don't know what a sock bun is, google it.  It will blow your mind.

Crock Pot Pork

This is a super easy and healthy recipe I made on Sunday to feed us Monday and Tuesday while I was working.  Prep is literally 5-10 minutes depending on your chopping speed  :)

Ingredients
4 pork chops
2 green peppers
1 onion
cumin
1/2 cup barbecue sauce

How To
Slice green peppers and onion and place in crock pot

Place frozen (or not) pork chops on top of peppers and onion
Sprinkle chops with desired amount of cumin

Pour barbecue sauce over everything **I used Kraft original barbecue sauce because it is fat free and has the lowest sodium content I could find

Cook on low for 4 (or so) hours

Enjoy!

DIY Bedroom Art

As you may remember from one of my previous posts, I have been working on making art to fill the void over our bed in the master.  I finally completed the project yesterday and am so overly excited about it.  I am obsessed with how amazing it turned out!

The piece at the far left is a project I saw in Pinterest.  I will be explaining how to do it in this week's Pinspiration Thursday, so come back then for the details. 

The top middle is simply a wooden frame and a metal script "Love."

The top bottom is a framed mirror. 

The far right is a picture I took in Jamaica of a hut we sat under blown up and framed.

There is no better feeling than filling a blank, boring space with something you absolutely adore.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

Family Weekend

The Ohio State Sporting Clays Championship was this weekend, so my mom, dad, and sister came to stay with us.  We had a big family dinner Friday then Saturday my dad and Jas went and shot all day.  We ladies paid them a visit in the afternoon then came back for the dinner in the evening. 

Summer is better spent with family :)

My Style Friday

Cardigan: Gap Shirt:??? Crops: Banana Republic

Coco is such a camera hog! She's so used to me taking pictures of her she couldn't resist jumping in to the photo.

I'm obsessed with the J. Crew inspired bib necklaces.  It took everything in me not to buy more than one! I chose yellow because I have no other yellow necklaces and I just love yellow for summer.  This was a work outfit and is probably one of my all time favs.

Would you wear a statement necklace?

Happy Birthday, Jas!

I interrupt the regularly scheduled Pinspiration Thursday for a very important announcement.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAS! The most loving, caring, supportive husband any girl could ask for!

Today is all about you :)

Let's All Just Lay Around

After an 8 day stretch at work all I want to do is lay on the couch and clear the DVR.  Everyone in the house thinks it's a pretty good idea.