Closet Fashionista

As I mentioned in the first post about Christian's IONIQ 5, we will hopefully be doing a lot of road tripping and "car camping" in our new electric car! What I mean by car camping is: sleeping in the car rather than spending a night in a hotel while we're on long drives. We will also take it with us on our annual camping trip to Vermont (undecided if we'll use a tent for that trip since that's tradition, ha ha.)

We did a good amount of research and YouTube video watching and so far have gotten a fair amount of supplies for the car. Here's what we bought (and DIYed) to make car camping easier!

Mattress

One of the first, and most important, items on our list was something to sleep on in the car. We ended up going with a 3in memory foam camping mattress that comes with straps attached so we can roll it up for easy storage. We will probably just use normal blankets instead of sleeping bags just because they will pack up nicer. Over the weekend we did a test night in the car and aside from some slight hip pain (side sleepers) it was pretty comfy!

"Garbage" Can

Trash is inevitable on a road trip. Take-out bags, napkins from spilling water, snack bags, you get the idea. Rather than just keeping a bunch of plastic bags in the car we wanted something a little easier on the eyes. We chose one by Lusso Gear that will fit behind the center console. It has hooks if we use an old grocery bag and want to keep it in place and side pockets for any smaller items we may want to store like wet wipes and napkins.

Kitchen Supplies

We will keep paper towels, wet wipes, etc. on hand for cleanup. We already had some of the items we needed for our kitchen/takeout setup but need a few more things that will pack easy. Here is some of what we have bought or will be buying soon:

Stainless steel flatware sets
Easily Packable/non-breakable Dinnerware (considering these or some from Target)
Portable Induction Cooktop (no more propane grills for us!....well, maybe for actual camping)
Stackable Pot & Pan set (considering this one)
Cutting board, knives, etc. for cooking (will take what we already own for now)

Refrigerator/Cooler

A pretty important item when camping or road tripping is somewhere to keep snacks and cold items. We thought about using a normal cooler but decided to try a portable fridge instead. We've got a huge battery, why not use it? Christian ended up choosing the Alpicool Portable Refrigerator which will fit nicely in between the front & back seats. We scored it on a lightening deal so it was under $200.

Dishwasher

We were ALMOST going to buy an adorable mini dishwasher, named Bob, that I found recently but the day Christian was going to pull the trigger (after agonizing over the decision because it's super frivolous) the price went up $50 and the delivery estimate went from July to September - so sad! Guess it's still a little bucket and camping safe soap.

Electronics

Christian is big into tech and gaming so we definitely needed an entertainment system setup. To get started he bought a 300W power inverter for one of the cigarette lighters in the car. That way we can power normal AC powered devices through the car battery. He also picked up a portable monitor so we could play games together on his Nintendo Switch and watch movies.

Another random item normal drivers may not need is an OBD Check scanner so he can monitor the battery temperature and other driving diagnostics.

Window Covers

Window covers are key for when you want to sleep in your car. They keep out prying eyes as well as light for when you need to rest. If you use reflective covers they will insulate the car from both cold and heat. It would have been very expensive to buy custom window covers that fit the car properly and buying cheaper options would not look that great so we decided to DIY them! You can google how others have made these but we combined a few approaches. I'll put a quick guide below, let me know if you want a full blog post (I may do one anyway.)

Supplies:

Kraft paper roll (or printer paper/newspaper and tape)
Pencil or Sharpie
Reflectix insulation roll
Black fabric (we went for cotton but almost bought fleece)
Quilt binding
3M Hi-Strength (90) Spray Adhesive
Heavy duty sewing machine needles

Directions:

Use paper to make a template of your window. Trace the outline of the window onto the paper and cut out. Place back in window to make sure it fits properly.
Cut out your Reflectix insulation using the template. Place in window to make sure it fits. Trim if necessary.
Either cut out your fabric with the same template or cut your fabric a little larger than the insulation
Use spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the insulation (spray both sides and wait until tacky before putting them together.) We left one side without fabric so we could use the reflective properties of the insulation when needed.

If you cut out your fabric larger than the insulation: trim after gluing or use the extra in place of binding.

Using glue or a sewing machine attach your quilt binding around the whole piece. You could also use duct tape for this step.

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It's always so hard for me to take outfit photos in Winter, yet they are usually some of my favorite outfits. I always feel bad making Christian stand out in the cold taking photos so sometimes wee don't take pictures. As was the case last weekend when we went to visit my sister. I wore two cute outfits, but no photos. Maybe I'll rewear them so we can get some pictures.

I wore this a couple weekends ago to visit my Grandparents for a bit. We hadn't been over in a while, for obvious reasons, but Grandma does get sad when she doesn't see us so we still try to go every few weeks. I don't think Grandpa minds seeing us either, ha ha.

Leopard Print Cashmere Sweater: Nili Lotan 'Abbey' sweater in Shiraz c/o Shopbop

Jeans: Mother Denim c/o Marshalls

Faux Fur Vest: Simply Vera Vera Wang faux fur shawl vest c/o Kohl's

Boots: Vince Camuto 'Davilla' (Marshalls/eBay - I have 2 pairs, this is my replacement pair, ha ha)

Bag: Dark Purple Chloé Faye (eBay)

Welcome to the first wardrobe update of 2022, wow that snuck up quick! No purchases so far this year but I did get a few gifted items from my longtime featured brand Aurate. I'm hopeful that I will be very thoughtful with my spending this year and only add items that I love. Even last year I fell victim to sales and buying things I will hardly wear.

I will most likely be doing a closet clean out soon to weed out those items and anything else I don't see myself wearing in the future. I'm sure it will be very hard because some items I don't wear have sentimental value. Those pieces may stay for a little longer until I can let go.

THE (modified) RULES

Be mindful of purchases
Quality over quantity
Basics are best

MY PROGRESS

Clothes:

None yet

Basics:

None yet

Shoes:

None yet

Handbags:

None yet

Accessories:

None yet

Activewear/Swimwear:

None yet

Gifted from Brands:

NEW! Pearl and Gold Bar Duo Stud Earring - Rose Gold c/o Aurate
NEW! Gold Bar Stud Earrings - Rose Gold c/o Aurate
NEW! Gold Bar Stud Earrings - Yellow Gold c/o Aurate

Spent in January: $0

Spent in 2022: $0

I mentioned back in July that Christian would eventually be getting an electric car. Before we get into the new car let's do a little (long) recap. TLDR below if you don't want to read it all.

Christian has been wanting an electric car for many years and has been tirelessly researching for the past few. In late 2020 we decided to let go of his old car (a Dodge Avenger he had for almost 10 years) by handing it down to his niece on a visit to Missouri in May 2021. The original plan was to be a one-car family for a few weeks until he got a used Chevrolet Bolt. Spoiler alert: that didn't happen. Due to chip shortages, prices on used and new cars skyrocketed. Instead of being impulsive/impatient and paying $4K+ more than it was worth we decided to wait and see if prices went down. They didn't.

We ended up getting my new car before his, which was an unexpected treat for me! I was assuming I'd be driving my Chevrolet Cobalt until it died. It started having a few old age issues in June and we didn't want to be left car-less if something else happened. We were lucky enough to find my perfect car - a bright blue 2018 Mini Cooper! The Cobalt would still be around for Christian to occasionally drive to the office (he's still working mostly remote,) but the Mini became our main car.

Christian's reasoning for wanting a Bolt was because they were relatively inexpensive and then he could trade up to a newer electric car in a few years when the technology advanced. Because of the Bolt price hikes, it pushed us to decide on a more expensive car that we plan on keeping for many years. Christian originally pre-ordered a Volkswagen ID4 that was supposed to be delivered in November 2021. We got an email in mid-December that it wouldn't be ready until JUNE 2022...WHAT?!

I think the universe was telling us to wait. At the beginning of December, Hyundai finally released the pricing for their new electric car - the IONIQ 5. Christian had been watching the news on this car for quite a while but never thought it would be in our price range. When the pricing was released he decided it was the better option when taking into account all the features. There were MANY pro/con lists and spreadsheets involved in the decision. The IONIQ 5 started arriving at dealerships in the USA the week before New Years and we happened to find the exact version and color he wanted at a local dealership.

They were marking up the price quite a bit but, after calling around to other dealerships and finding that they weren't marking up, we decided to test drive the car and see if we could talk down the markup. We were able to get them to remove most of it (by trading in my Cobalt) and Christian decided it was worth the slightly higher cost so....we bought the car and picked it up on New Year's Eve! That means we'll be able to claim it on our 2021 taxes. It qualifies for a $7500 federal tax credit which makes the price tag a liiiittle easier to digest.

TLDR: Christian has wanted an electric car for a while. He originally wanted a Chevrolet Bolt but prices skyrocketed right as he was ready to buy. He then ordered a Volkswagen ID4 in July 2021 but delivery was delayed until mid-2022 instead of December 2021. We ended up buying a better car, a 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5, on New Years Eve!

This is probably the coolest car I've ever ridden in (including my cousin's Tesla.) I love the exterior design and the interior feels so big, especially compared to Merlin, my Mini Cooper. We're planning on doing lots of road tripping in it and I can't wait for all the adventures. I'll definitely be sharing them on the blog (with better pictures, I mostly did videos this trip because I wasn't planning on doing a post.)

Another cool thing about buying the car is we get 2 years of free charging at Electrify America charging stations. We'll basically be paying nothing to drive it for the first 2 years (you know, apart from the car payment, haha!) We can charge for an unlimited number of 30 minute sessions, but those sessions need to be an hour apart. Super easy to do, especially when road tripping. You also don't want to constantly charge to 100%, the max we'll be charging to is 80. The IONIQ 5 charges from 5%-80% in 18 minutes - although when it's cold out it takes longer.

We went on a mini adventure this past weekend. Originally we were going to drive up to Vermont but the weather was looking REALLY cold so we settled on driving up to Mystic and maybe heading to Newport and staying there for the night. We ended up just going to Mystic and watching the sunset in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. We charged once on the way up and again right before we got home. We could've gone straight home but there's a fast charger near our house so we topped up before heading home. Then we wouldn't need to charge at home.

Have any electric car questions? Leave a comment and I'll have Christian answer them in a future post!

Charging the Hyundai IONIQ 5

Tried The Shipwright's Daughter for a late brunch

Brioche French Toast, Little Sis' Burger and Chicken Fat Home Fries

Our masks keeping us warm outside!

Always need to pick up a treat from Sift Bake Shop - Macaron Framboise & Lemon Bergamot Tart

Still a bit of the holidays on a boat | Hello, pretty car!

Enjoying the (cloudy) sunset & testing out the "entertainment system"

Since we plan to use the car for road trips/car camping Christian bought a small portable monitor so we can play his Nintendo Switch, watch movies, etc. Obviously these will not be in use while driving.

Seeing how much power we're drawing. The car is in Utility Mode which is what we would use when sleeping in the car overnight. To put it simply - it let's us use the climate system as well as power/charge electronics through the various plug in ports without the car being on.

Cloudy, but pretty!

I haven't been doing many new recipes lately, but I've still been baking at least twice a month. Not in the height of my "one recipe a weekend" groove from lockdown but good to still be in the habit of making something instead of being on my computer or watching TV all day. I did make a couple new things for Christmas celebrations which was fun!

Orange Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Christian came up with the idea of doing a chocolate and orange cake for Christmas Eve so I found a few recipes and this is the one we ultimately went with. Plus we were able to use the new bundt cake pan I bought with a gift card! It was a big hit, I wish I could've eaten the whole thing myself. We followed the recipe above but made our candied orange peel with strips rather than chunks.

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Pull Apart Christmas Tree Garlic Bread

The second I saw this on Tieghan's instagram I wanted to make it for another small Christmas gathering! I accidentally overcooked the tree because I got a phone call and forgot to check on it a couple minutes before the timer went off. Luckily it didn't ruin it but it's a little darker than I wanted. We also made a wreath-type thing with the leftover dough after making out tree/triangle.

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Cinnamon Bread - A Redo!

The first time I made this it came out very flat because my loaf pan was slightly too big. This time I doubled the recipe and quadrupled the cinnamon filling. Sooooo much better looking and more cinnamony! A really fun treat to make so I'm sure I'll make this again and again.

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Brown Sugar Maple Cookie Pie

Christian and I made this pie for our family Thanksgiving. I saw it on Tieghan's instagram and it looked so fun. We even made our own crust for this one instead of using store bought like we did for the last pie we made. It didn't come out the greatest, but it was edible, ha ha. (We have discovered most of our recipes from HBH haven't really come out and I thought it was me, but might be the recipes.)

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Brown Sugar Maple Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Another recipe I remade. This time it was for a family get together since no one but Christian and I got to enjoy these bars last year (darn Covid!) So delicious and perfect for Fall/the Holidays.

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Stromboli

I've featured stromboli in these posts a few times before but this is yet another recipe for the dough. I'm still not sure which I like best, I think I need to make each of them in the same week so Christian and I can better decide which dough we prefer.Normally it's a week or two between strombolis so we can't really judge.

*This post was made in partnership with Responsival. Thank you for supporting brands I feature*

What better way to start off 2022 than buying something pretty? If you're going to buy new jewelry this year, consider classic sustainable jewelry from Aurate! The New York based brand is doing what it can to make the jewelry industry more ethical and sustainable.

All of Aurate's gold is sustainable; it's 100% recycled and is able to be reused without losing quality or harming the environment. In addition to their gold, Aurate only uses sustainably harvested pearls from family-run farms. I found this pretty cool video showing how on farm sustainably grows and harvests their pearls.

If gold and pearls aren't your thing, never fear because their diamonds are also ethically sourced using the Kimberley Process. This ensures that the diamonds are not from conflict regions and there are no human rights violations behind the scenes.

This is what I wore for our Christmas Eve celebrations. I actually ended up changing into burgundy jeans once I got to my parents because I realized the suede coating on these was peeling away from the pants, not a cute look. So, sadly, this is the last outfit post featuring these faux-suede pants.

Sweater: Inis Crafts Fishermans Sweater (Marshalls)

Faux Suede Jeans: Blank NYC 'Persuede' jeans (South Moon Under)

Sandals: Lanvin studded leather 'City' sandal (The RealReal)

Bag: Purple Prada Cahier in Viola (Rebag via Vestiaire Collective)

Some other sustainable and ethical brands to shop:

Everlane - Longtime readers will know of my Everlane tee obsession. Pretty much all of my tshirts are from the brand, but they're getting a bit worse for wear, so I may need a stock up soon! I also love their cashmere sweaters!

Stella McCartney - If you want some high fashion sustainable clothing look no further than Stella! I have a polar bear sweater and crazy pair of jeans I love. If budgets weren't a thing, I would own much more.

Sézane - I haven't bought anything from Sézane yet, but many of my blogger friends swear by the brand. I've been meaning to make a purchase, perhaps 2022 is my year to buy one of their gorgeous sweaters or dresses!

Resale/Pre-Loved - Another great option is shopping resale sites. Buying something pre-loved instead of brand new will keep clothes out of the landfills and give them a second life. Roundabout is one of my favorite local places (they ship too!) but I also frequently check The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective when I feel like browsing my favorite designer brands or looking for a specific item.

It's my last wardrobe update of 2021. This year seems to have flown by now that we're at the end but I know there were some months that seemed to drag on forever. Another weird year done, hopefully next year is better.

As expected, this year was very light on clothing purchases. Having nowhere to go really helps to curb my spending. I do miss having new things in my closet but since I'm not going many places aside from visiting family it doesn't make much sense.

THE (modified) RULES