I've recently had an epiphany - if I can actually pull off wearing hats, then why don't I? So I went out and bought myself a fedora. I got mine from Forever 21 (that way if I decided I hate it a few weeks from now I won't worry about wasting $12 - I've spent $12 on worse things). I couldn't find a picture of the exact one I bought, but here's another one that caught my eye. I've only worn mine once, but I'll be bringing it out again tonight for my New Year's Eve outfit.

     I've been obsessed with these Vivienne Westwood shoes since I first saw them. Considering they're made of plastic and have a giant heart, you'd think they'd be a little tacky, but it's almost like a more sophisticated version of little girl's dress-up shoes. No wonder I love them so much.

     My family tried out this new recipe the other day and I thought I'd share... It's quick to make (only takes 10 minutes to cook!) and taste great. My mom said that next time she'd try a different kind of cheese, but I loved the goat cheese. Either way, its an easy recipe to alter if you want to switch things up!

Asparagus Chicken Roulade

4 (1 3/4 lbs. total) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and ground black pepper

4 tsp. Dijon mustard

8 slices prosciutto

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

8 asparagus stems, cut into 2-1/2 inch pieces

1. Heat broiler to high with rack 4 inches from heat. Line a baking sheet with foil; set aside. 

2. Slice chicken breasts horizontally into 2 thin pieces. If necessary, layer between sheets of plastic wrap  and pound to 1/4  inch thick. Lay breasts, smooth side down, on work surface; season with salt and pepper. Spread each with 1/2 tsp. dijon. Layer with prosciutto, goat cheese and asparagus. Roll up, starting at the wide end of each breast; place on the baking sheet, seam side down. 

3. Coat lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with pepper. Broil until chicken is cooked through and tops are golden, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. 

Serves 4; 337 calories per serving

I love a good jumpsuit. But I'd take off that awful belt and switch it with this one from J.Crew!

     I'm out for the weekend! Here's a photo from an impromptu holiday photoshoot with my brother and our dog, Chloe, that we had earlier. I'm finally wearing my business casual outfit that I bought about three months ago! I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe holiday weekend. One last thing though - here is a great toast that I stumbled upon...

via

Bandage dresses will always have my heart. (P.S. Click on the image for the link!)

     A little late, and I apologize. However, if you're like me and the rest of my family, we're still doing our shopping!

1. Urban Outfitters Desert Boot, $58 - I just bought my boyfriend a pair of desert boots (although not from UO) for his birthday. GREAT shoes for a guy. 

2. Bobby Flay's Throwdown Recipes, $17 - I feel like every guy should know how to cook, even if its just a few recipes. Who better to learn from than Bobby Flay? 

3. Home Beer-Tap System, $290 - What guy wouldn't want this? No explanation is necessary for this one.

4. Mix Tape Pillow Case Set, $25 - These are my favorite on this list! Such a unique gift. 

5. Urban Outfitters Mass Wayfarer, $18 - These are a classic. 

6. Time Squared LED Clock, $50 - Comes in red or blue, but I'm liking the blue better. 

7. Customizable Chuck Taylor All Stars, $62 - I love the idea of customizing your own shoes. 

     The best part about the holidays is the food, hands down. Lucky for me, I've taken advantage of all of the great food since around Halloween (when the famous pumpkin cheesecake was first discovered) and I haven't stopped since. I'll be paying for my excessive eating come January, but until then I plan to stuff my face and enjoy every minute of it. What better way to begin my break from school than to make Christmas cookies? My mom made these a few years back for one of her annual Christmas cookie parties (shout out to my mom!) and I'd been hoping she'd make them again, but when she didn't, I decided to take it into my own hands. After using granulated sugar instead of confectioners' sugar (seriously, how many times have I made frosting? A LOT. Major rookie mistake.) I finally got them to turn out, with the exception of me being lazy and not poking the second half of them with a fork before putting them in the oven. They were still delicious, only now a few had air bubbles. Once again, they were a  big hit with my family - they were gone the next night! - but the only thing I have to warn you about is that they are REALLY small. Almost too small. Meaning you're going to want to eat twice as many as you normally would. But then again, that might not be a bad thing.

The recipe follows! It definitely didn't yield 4 dozen like the recipe said, but it still made a good amount.


Christmas Cookie Sandwiches


Cookies:
1 cup butter (no substitutes!), softened
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups all-purpose flour
Sugar

Filling:
1/2 cup butter (no substitutes!), softened
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Food coloring

In a mixing bowl, combine butter, cream, and flour; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until dough is easy to handle. Divide into thirds; let one portion stand at room temperature for 15 minutes (keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll out). On a floured surface, roll out dough into 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with a 1-1/2 inch round cookie cutter. Place cutouts in a shallow dish filled with sugar; turn to coat. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork several times. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until set. Cool on wire racks. For filling, in a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla. Tint with food coloring. Spread about 1 teaspoon of filling over half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies.

As the new year is coming (and finals are FINALLY almost over... one more tomorrow!) I have a list of things that I'll be posting about: 


- Delicious Christmas cookies I'll be making later today
- Gift guide for the boys in your life
- New Year's Resolutions
- My upcoming trip to Chicago! (Although I'm not going until January so you'll have to wait for that one a bit)
- My upcoming 21st birthday party, which will be more like an extravaganza because my roommate and I are combining our birthdays and she is literally making a wedding cake for the occasion. Not to mention that I am going balls out with decorations.
- My new favorite blogs
- More recipes, yum
- Review of shellac nail polish!

This is something that I am very passionate about. Even if you are unable to help or are not interested, it is important to be educated on our world's current events. 

{post via}

Can we eliminate poverty?  Yes.  We.  Can.

Some facts:

• The number of people living under the international poverty line of $1.25 a day declined from 1.8 billion to 1.4 billion between 1990 and 2005.
• The proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing regionsdropped from 46 per cent to 27 per cent.
• The World Bank estimates that the effects of the economic crisis will push an additional 64 million people into extreme poverty in 2010, and that poverty rates will be slightly higher in 2015 and beyond than they would have been without the crisis, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.
• About one in four children under the age of five is underweight in the developing world, down from almost one in three in 1990.
• Between 1990 and 2008, the proportion of underweight children under fivedeclined from 31 percent to 26 percent in developing regions with particular success in Eastern Asia, notably China.
• Over a 25-year period, the poverty rate in East Asia fell from nearly 60 per cent to under 20 per cent. Poverty rates are expected to fall to around 5 per cent in China and 24 per cent in India by 2015.
• Southern Asia alone accounts for almost half the world’s undernourished children. In all developing regions, children in rural areas are nearly twice as likely to be underweight as those in urban areas.
• In contrast, little progress has been made in reducing extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, where the poverty rate has declined only slightly, from 58 to 51 per cent between 1990 and 2005.
• The estimate of the number of people who will suffer chronic hunger this year is 925 million, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN — down from 1.023 billion in 2009, but still more than the number of undernourished people in 1990 (about 815 million).

There’s still a lot of work to do but poverty is something we can defeat.  Find out how you can help.

    If you know me at all, you know that I'm constantly painting my nails. I don't just do a single color, I do stripes, rhinestones, decals - you name it, and two days later I'm back to work because my polish has already chipped. I've tried numerous top coats - extra shiny, matte, even "hard as wraps," and as much as I hate to admit it, I've wasted a lot of money because none of them really work for longer than a day. But it's looking like I've found the answer to all of my nail problems. I recently heard about Shellac manicures, costing about $30-45 (depending on where you get it done), and the selling point is a manicure that lasts two full weeks without chipping. And there is absolutely no drying time. This is the answer to all of my manicure problems.
      Nail technicians use special Shellac (a hybrid nail polish containing no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP!) that you put under a special UV lamp after each coat of polish. There are four coats total - a base, two color and a top coat, but how nice would it be to actually be able to reach into your purse for your keys without ruining your just-done manicure? For the amount of money that I've spent getting my nails done and buying a ridiculous number of top coats, it's about time that they last for more than 5 minutes when I accidentally bump them trying to get in the car.
     Although you can't take Shellac off with regular nail polish, it only takes 10 minutes at the salon. A sticker is placed over each nail (so you can do something else while waiting, an added bonus), and after ten minutes the polish slides off. Check out the Shellac polish website for more information about how it works, where you can find a salon that offers it, and the colors available. I will definitely be getting this done over Christmas so be looking for a review of it. If anyone tries this before then, let me know how you like it!