Afternoon Adventures

This semester has been an absolute whirlwind. I'm applying for graduation, finalizing my major and minor, locking in my levels and weight, and just all around getting ready for the real world. Without a doubt, my ass is being kicked by the to do list I've been keeping. What's really been getting me through are my friends and my family. My mom is my number one supporter and, even after I've let her down and pushed her past her limits, she's never given up on me. But sometimes it's hard to lean on someone who lives so far away. It's times like now that I'm glad to have the friends I do.

One of my very best friends Sarah (you can find her here) was looking to get away from Oklahoma City last Sunday and called me for some back up. It ended up being only a couple of hours, but wow I am so beyond glad she called. We'd had an original plan to find a pumpkin patch out of town and grab a couple to make our living areas more seasonable. While things didn't exactly go as planned, the day was wonderful.

We first headed over to the OU campus in Norman to grab a sweet treat from Hurt's Donut Company. Holy cow. Now only are there amazing donuts like Maple Bacon and Fruity Pebbles, but they make a milkshake to compliment each donut. I got myself a mint chocolate donut and the shake to match. It was heaven. 

Outfits & Essentials: Made For Walking

I'm not going to lie to you; this trend is close to my heart thanks to Mr. Harry Styles. I've been loving his style for the past year or two (and I'm loving the long hair, by the way). From his YSL obsession and his love for hats and headscarves, boy has a style all his own. Aside from the skinny jeans, his signature piece is definitely a pair of Chelsea Boots.

I got myself a heeled pair this past Christmas (now unavailable from Forever 21) and I've been absolutely in love ever since. I'm not a big spender, as you know, so here are some of my favorite Chelsea Boots, all available for under $50. (Hint: H&M seems to have the most variety of styles!)

Info & links under the cut.

One Direction: Our Moment

I've said it once and I'll say it forever; I love One Direction. When I first heard that the boys were releasing a fragrance I immediately put it on my Christmas list. My family, being the wonderful people that they are, got me not only the perfume for Christmas, but the whole gift set which includes a body lotion and shower gel. When I went back to school I didn't take the set with me, afraid that it might get jostled or busted up through the traveling, so I have only just been using the set since mid May. And oh boy. I love this stuff.

Well firstly, the packaging is gorgeous. The gift box has all five of the gorgeous guys on it, so duh I love it. But the inside is super sturdy and I've been keeping everything inside the box even as I've been using it. It's been keeping out the dust and keeping all the products together has reminded me to use them together. (Full disclosure; I haven't used the shower gel yet because I share a shower and don't want anyone else to use it up on me!) 

Like To Be Bad

Okay, so this might be crazy but I used to hate wearing nail polish. I used to be constantly aware of it on my fingers and I thought I could feel the added weight on my hands; like I said, crazy. Well, I when I went off to college I decided that I wanted to love it and after painting my nails time and time again I have reached the point where I hate having unpainted nails.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago my aunt and I went for pedicures and she'd picked up a couple of Essie polishes and gave me this one; #798 Like To Be Bad.

This color is a little sheer and I've been using three to four coats to achieve the really opaque look, but it is seriously the most lovely baby pink color. In the bottle it appears to be very shimmery but once applied the pink glitz really blends out. I would consider this to be a a pretty flat and neutral color, but I am truly in love. I can already tell that this is going to be a repurchase. No chipping for days and pretty for every season. Neutral, but still adds a subtle pop of color! Totally my color for summer.

What are some of your favorite polishes? Any that you've been absolutely loving for summer? Let me know!

Happy Sunday and best wishes for the week ahead!

Homemade French Macarons

For months now I've been dying to try my hands at some homemade French Macaron cookies. Some of my family came out to spend the day for Father's Day and my aunt suggested that we give it a shot. After heading to our local grocery store to pick up some ingredients we got to work in the kitchen.

I've been watching Byron Talbott's YouTube videos for a while and have been really wanting to try one of his recipes, so after clicking around on his website for a little bit I decided to base my cookies off of Byron's Salted Caramel Macaron recipe. I even went ahead and followed his instructions for making homemade caramel filling from a can of sweetened condensed milk, and guess what! It totally worked! We also used some seedless jams and peanut butter to fill the other cookies too!

Following his instructions, this really wasn't too tough to do! There is quite a bit of patience required when making these cookies; having to whip the egg whites into a meringue, letting the batter dry for 15 minutes prior to baking, cooking in the oven for at least 10 (depending on your oven), and the thirty minutes of cooling time before you can fill them but wow these cookies were so worth it!

I'm thinking some red, white, and blue ones for the Fourth of July!
Hope everyone had a nice Father's Day!