It's Here!

So here it is- our brand new blog. Our goal in doing this was to create a brighter looking, and more organized page. We hope you like the result. To celebrate we are launching a bunch of new features, and filling the whole month of February with giveaways- one for each week. But more on that later.
Right now we want to share with you our new features and what they are all about. Each day is going to be devoted to a specific thing that we love, and you can check back each week for new posts in your favorite categories. Here they are:

Monday- "She Cooks..."

All about our adeventures in the kitchen and fun recipes we find along the way.

Tuesday- Fresh Finds

Let's face it. The world is a pretty cool place. This is our day to share the world in all it's coolness with you. Fresh finds from our travels around the internet AND the real world.

Wednesday- Closeted

In an effort to get more out of our closets, and be creative in our everyday dressing, we've decided to devote one day a week to delving into our closets, and coming up with a new wardrobe mix-up to share with you.

Thursday- Something Crafty

Yeah, the name isn't that exciting, but trust me- this feature is. Every Thursday, we will be sharing a new craft idea with you, complete with pictures and tips on how to re-create the item yourself.

Friday- Inspiration Friday

An oldie but a goodie, right? We decided to keep this feature because...well because it's awesome.

Saturday- Book of the Month

One Saturday each month, we will share a recent read of ours, and what we thought of it.

Whew. We made it. Now time for the fun stuff. The giveaway. In celebration of Valentine's Day and all things crafty, we're giving away a set of Martha Stewart glitters in red and pink. Because really, who couldn't use more glitter in their life?

Here's the scoop: We'll run the giveaway until next Tuesday when we'll announce the winner. All followers will be eligible, and the winner will be chosen at random. That's it. So simple right?

Thanks to everyone for sticking with us over the last year. We are so excited to share our new blog with you!

-alison & ana

It's Coming!

We've been working so hard on our big blog re-launch, and its almost here! Tuesday, February 1st, we'll be launching the new site, along with new features, and a giveaway to get everything started off right. We couldn't be more excited, and we hope you'll join us in our celebration!

-alison

Inspiration Friday

My school has an event this weekend called Winterfest. I'm really bad at explaining this event, but it involves a theme, costumes, games, and much winter festiveness. I am on the costumes committee, so all my free time this week has been spent sewing and hot gluing costumes. Since the theme is a secret until tonight, I can't really post about what's been inspiring me this week.

1. William Elliott Whitmore

First let me say that not all of you will like him. I know that goes without saying for all music, but especially with him. However, I think he is great! I'm awful at explaining music so here is a video for you...

If you're thinking "Did that voice really just come out of that scraggly white guy from Iowa? " Then you are thinking the same thing I do everytime I listen to him.

2. Fashion Blogs Such As...

do.think.wear.see.love.dream
My friend Angie told me about this one and I love it! This girl is so cute and her style is very similar to my own I feel (except that she is so much cooler than I will ever be).
I found these two blogs through this one and they are also new favorites of mine
jill gg's good life (for less)
Kendi Everyday
I'm kind of a 5 year old when it comes to blogs and I usually just scroll through the pictures, but I really like actually reading this one as well as looking at the pictures. She is really funny and when she talks about being overdressed for work, she reminds me of my sister.

3. These Books
I saw these this summer and immediately called my mom to tell her about them. I finally got one for Christmas and I would love to have all of them someday.

4. Cowboy Boots
I recently bought some cowboy boots from Target for $20 (Yes, you have permission to envy me). However, they are size 11 and I wear a size 8. My reasoning was that they were cheap, they fit over my calves, and they were pretty small for a size 11. I wish I could wear them everyday, but I have restrained my self to a few times a week.

*since first writing this post, I triped down the stairs in my boots while telling someone I hadn't fallen in my size 11 boots.

5. Penguin Cafe Orchestra
My friend Laura told me about them. If you need to get some studying done or just want some chill music, I would highly recommend making them your next Pandora station. Again, I'm not good at explaining music, and I couldn't find a good video, but check them out on Pandora or iTunes or here.

-Ana Kristina

This Cookie Is Boss

Be honest. How many times when whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies have you thought to yourself, "how sweet would it be if I just made one giant cookie out of this?" If you're anything like me, it's nearly every time you make them. So, last night I decided to live the dream. That's right. Instead of many small cookies, I decided to follow Martha Stewart's advice and go super sized with this one.



It turned out about as awesome as you might think it would. Really though, when you are baking up a huge skillet full of butter, flour, eggs, and chocolate, can you go wrong? I think not.

On her website, Martha recommends serving this pie-style, and topped with ice cream. Not one to go against the word of the venerable Martha, I of course followed the suggestion. Normally, I would consider chocolate chip coookies AND ice cream a bit of overkill, but oddly cutting it in the shape of a pie somehow makes it all seem ok.

(Actually, in my case, because I am impatient and couldn't wait for it to cool, it's more of a giant slop pile than a slice of pie...but lets not be picky, ok?)





All in all, it's a fairly simple recipe that doesn't differ much from your standard chocolate chip cookie. Is making this cookie going to turn out to be your most exciting kitchen adventure of all time. NO (at least I hope not). Does baking it in one giant pan make it seem slightly more awesome than normal? Yes. Oh yes.

Want to try it for yourself? Check out the recipe here.

-alison

[photos: marthastewart; my own]

Year 1: We're Kind of A Mess.....

So, the blog has been up for a year, and while we're having a blast doing it, it hasn't been quite as spectacular as we had hoped at the outset. Although enthusiastic, we find ourselves disorganized, and admittedly, we haven't been doing so great with our original goal of posting at least every weekday. In short- we're kind of a mess.


We've decided to tackle the bull by the horns, so to speak. We are going to take some time to re-evaluate, and possibly re-design the blog. In February, we will unveil a more organized, and hopefully more intersting site. Old favorites like Inspiration Friday will continue, but we hope to add new features such as weekly outfit inspiration, and a more regular cooking/baking feature. We coudln't be more excited about the changes, and we hope once you see them, you'll be excited too.

Keep checking the site, as we will be continuing with regular posts through the month of January. Thanks dear readers for sticking with us through our rookie year of blogging!

-alison

[images: apartmenttherapy]

Yarn Bracelet

Let me start by acknowledging that I take the most awkward pictures of myself ever! Sorry, I try to be cool and artsy, but I really just look weird...

So, the point of these pictures is to show you the bracelet I made last week. I had this outfit planed, but I felt it needed something, so I took an old ugly neon blue bracelet from Claire's and found some yarn that matched the outfit and hot glued the yarn around the bracelet. It was really simple and only took about 10 minutes and it was a good way to remix something that I would've probably never wanted to wear again.There are a lot of other ways to do this. You could use embroidery floss and knot around it like you would a friendship bracelet or you could crochet or knit around it to make it look a little more interesting.

-Ana Kristina

Inspiration Friday

It's Friday! Who is ready for some inspiration?!?!?!

1. Buntings and Garlands



I constantly have to fight the urge to hang these all over my house. I love them so much, that if given my own way, I would have at least one strung in every single room. Maybe it would be a bit much, but when it comes to something so cute, who really cares?



2. Tent Engagement


As much as I love my own engagement story, I can't help but be a little jealous when I see this. What in the wide world is cooler than being proposed to in an awesome fort? Answer- nothing.



3. Lucia Johnson



She's one of my favorite etsy sellers. Her work is simple but with whimsy aplenty. Plus, with works titled "Oregon Weather is Not for Sissies," and "Ice Lady and Her Red Hot Shoes," how could she not be cool?



4. Mrs. Lilien Styling House



There is NOTHING that isn't awesome about this blog. It's a perfectly curated collection of lovelies put together by the always fab, Mrs. Lilien. If the rollicking visual fun of her posts don't put you over the top, the descriptions to go along with them will. Why? They rhyme. All of them. Every sentence. Every post.



5. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus



Admittedly, watching this movie feels more like an acid trip than anything else. It's by far the strangest film I've ever seen, but also the most visually stunning. Every scene and costume looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale, albeit a weird one.

-alison

[photos: ruffled; 100 layer cake; luciajohnson; mrslilien; imdb]

Making Whoopie.....Pies

For Christmas I received what might possibly be the coolest cookbook on the planet. It's called "Whoopie Pies," and (shocker) it features nothing but mix and match recipes for making dozens of varieties of these fantastically sweet snacks. The authors Sarah and Amy, are super cute, and they have managed to create a super cute cookbook as well.



The other night I tried out one of the many combinations of flavors they suggest (there is a mix and match guide in the front), and I ended up with mocha flavored pies with vanilla buttercream, and dark chocolate ganache filling. Your stomach just got a little excited right there, didn't it? I know mine did.



In my opinion, whoopie pies are by far the most fun dessert to make, and these were no exception. And friends let me say- they turned out amazing. The combination of the sweet filling with the coffee flavored cakes was to die for. I cannot wait to try another recipe. I think my next endeavor might be chocolate chip with caramel cream filling......nom nom nom........

P.S. For those of you who read this whole post thinking "what in the good world is a whoopie pie...?" It's like what would happen if a sandwich and a cupcake had a baby. An awesome baby. Here's a video to help you understand their awesomeness.




-alison

[images:chronicle books; my own]
[video: youtube]

Felt Flower Pin

I recently saw this picture somewhere and thought it was a cool look so I saved it. I was looking at it later and realized that I saved a tutorial for that flower a long time ago and I have that shirt. I also happened to have some red felt on hand, so I decided to make it. Here is my version...

It was kind of tedious cutting out each petal and gluing them, but I found that it was easier to use hot glue instead of fabric glue. While I was making it, I was convinced that it would look like a 5-year-old made it, as felt projects sometimes do, but once I put it all together, it didn't matter that the petals weren't as perfect as the picture.

You can find the tutorial here.

-Ana Kristina

The Earlybird's Guide to Valentines Day Giving

I'm fully aware of the fact that Valentines Day is over a month away. However, I firmly believe that it's never too early to start searching for that something special. I just love gift giving, and now that Christmas is over, I need something else to look forward to. These picks from Etsy have me more excited than ever.



What a simple, sweet message from AnnaHailey.



In our case the "D" is for Daughters, of course. I love the look of these distressed metal letters. I can think of at least 10 places in our house I would like to hang this.




I'm sort of in love with everything from the Love Naturally shop, but this one is by far my favorite. Cute without being overly girly, it kind of seems like the perfect way to express your love without involving anything mushy, or the color pink.




The only facial hair I shall ever approve of, from LennyMud.




Because really, who doesn't love Conan? Plus, if your Mr. is into photography and art like mine is, you'll score major points with this.




Maybe this wouldn't work for every guy, but I'm fairly sure MY husband would think these ties are the coolest things on the planet.







I'll admit that these last two things, aren't the manliest items on the planet, but I couldn't help myself. French Toast Friday has SO many cute and romantic little notions in their shop...its almost too much to handle.

-alison

[photos: annahailey; monkivintage; lovenaturally; lennymud; ello govna photography; toybreaker; frenchtoastfriday]