No new purchases this month, although I almost bought a pair of Tevas for the beach/camping this Summer. What do we think, should I splurge on some with my Shopbop gift card? (Can't decide on a color though!)
THE (modified) RULES
- Be mindful of purchases
- Quality over quantity
- Basics are best
MY PROGRESS
Clothes:
- mīere the label Women’s Cotton Knit Sweater in Terracotta ($68.87 including shipping)
Basics:
- FRAME Denim Le Skinny de Jeanne Crop in Sunnyside ($30 via Poshmark, retail $189, $18.67 after ad money)
Shoes:
- Splendid Harvest Mules in Tiger/Cheetah Print - also here ($25.80 via eBay, retail $118, used ad money)
Handbags:
- None yet
Accessories:
- None yet
Activewear:
- None yet
Gifted from Brands:
- Vintage Emerald Cut Ring - London Blue Topaz c/o Aurate ($50 after gifted amount)
Spent in May: $0
A couple weekends ago Christian and I went out to eat for the first time since February 2020 and boy was it weird! It was so nice to have hot food delivered to you at a table rather than opening up slightly cooled takeout (which is still delicious.)
I won a gift card to Sherkaan in New Haven back in April and was super excited because I was always jealous of my food blogger friends enjoying their tasty food and never made it there before the pandemic! The gift card was pretty big so I invited my brother and sister-in-law because they've wanted to try it out too! We got a bunch of different dishes to share. It was so nice to be out somewhere.
Dress: Who What Wear x Target floral dress
Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Clara' Sandal c/o Shopbop
Sunglasses: Gucci Aviators (bought in Italy)
Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli Medium in Nile Shark Embossed Leather (Bag, Borrow or Steal)
Necklace: Olive Branch Pearl Necklace, bought in Santorini
Photos of everything we tried!
As I've said a couple times in passing, haircuts were the first thing on our list after being fully vaccinated! We had our second shots at the end of April and scheduled our haircuts for the first Saturday after it took full effect. I haven't had a haircut since before our honeymoon in 2019...YIKES! Normally I go once a year and by the time the year mark rolls around I'm getting frustrated with the length of my hair. Waiting the nine extra months was a little crazy but since I wasn't going out anywhere why risk getting a haircut until it was safe to do so.
Christian goes more often than me, obviously, but I think his last cut was September 2020. We masked up and went to our usual salon. It was so nice having someone else wash my hair for a change and I left feeling a few pounds lighter!
After my fresh cut I had to take outfit photos. Why waste styled hair, right?
Cardigan: Max Studio
Tee: J.Crew
Pants: G.H. Bass c/o Clinton Crossing
Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Clara' Sandal c/o Shopbop
Necklace: AURATE X KERRY Lioness Pendant c/o
Bag; Bought in Venice
*This post was made in partnership with Responsival. Thank you for supporting brands I feature*
Name a better gift for Mom than beautiful gold personalized necklaces! They can be made special in so many ways with initials, birthstones and zodiac signs. You can personalize them for your Mother's birthday or even with your/all her children's birthdays. AU-Rate has plenty of options to choose from! If you're not a birthstone or initial fan you can just choose any of their pieces and select your Mom's preferred color - gold, white or rose! It's impossible to not be able to find the perfect piece of jewelry.
Aurate also released a new collaboration with Kerry Washington last week called The Birth of Mother featuring beautiful organic pearls and seashell motifs. Order by May 5th for regular shipping and May 7th for overnight to get your gift in time (in stock items only, not made to order.)
If your Mom isn't a jewelry lover there are plenty of other options to make her smile! Mine will never say no to a beautiful candle, my favorite brand to splurge on the past number of years has been Voluspa, but I also discovered L’or de Seraphine last year! Both are a bit on the pricier side, but when it comes to gifting - go for the high end!
For the Mom with a sweet tooth you could bake her something yourself (check out my baking posts to see what I've made lately) or order her a fancy dessert she wouldn't buy for herself! Maybe some Ladurée macarons or Dō cookie dough! You could even find a local donut shop that makes over the top donuts! Around here we have Donut Crazy!
Side-note: How beautiful is this london blue topaz and diamond ring from Aurate? I had to buy it when I saw it matched one of my favorite necklaces that my Grandmother handed down to me.
Double V-Neck Cashmere Sweater: Calypso St. Barth 'Gylden' (Gilt)
Floral Jeans Target Flipside Denim
Sandals: Zigi Soho Velvet Floral Embroidered Open Toe Mules (TJ Maxx)
Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs 'Natural Selection Mini Messenger Bag' (Saks Fifth Avenue)
Sunglasses: Gucci Aviators (bought in Italy)
Blue Topaz & Diamond Necklace: hand-me-down from Grandma
Ring: Vintage Emerald Cut Ring with London Blue Topaz c/o Aurate
This month I had the pleasure of preparing for another sponsored post with Aurate (see the post next week!) I opted for something over my gifted amount and paid the difference. Boy was it worth it! I chose this topaz ring to match a vintage necklace my grandmother gave me years ago that I wear quite frequently. The shape is different but it has the same 3 diamond pattern on the sides, how weird is that? Meant to be!
In other news - we're getting our second dose of the vaccine this morning! YAY! So excited to finally be able to go back into the grocery store (Trader Joe's, here I come!!) and get a haircut, ha ha. Although I'm sure we'll still be taking advantage of all the curbside pickups other stores offer.
THE (modified) RULES
- Be mindful of purchases
- Quality over quantity
- Basics are best
MY PROGRESS
Clothes:
- mīere the label Women’s Cotton Knit Sweater in Terracotta ($68.87 including shipping)
Basics:
- FRAME Denim Le Skinny de Jeanne Crop in Sunnyside ($30 via Poshmark, retail $189, $18.67 after ad money)
Shoes:
- Splendid Harvest Mules in Tiger/Cheetah Print - also here ($25.80 via eBay, retail $118, used ad money)
Handbags:
- None yet
Accessories:
- None yet
Activewear:
- None yet
Gifted from Brands:
- Vintage Emerald Cut Ring - London Blue Topaz c/o Aurate ($50 after gifted amount)
Spent in March: $50
Time for more baking! Today I'm sharing quite the mix of things - chocolate, savory, lemon, pastry! Everything and anything. Have you baked anything exciting lately? Anything I should try myself?? Always looking for new things to try.
Say the words molten and chocolate and I'm all in! I thought this pie would be a great twist on my usual favorite - chocohotopots. I used a storebought crust and it got a little bit mushy at the bottom, but the filling was amazing! The perfect mix of gooey and a little bit of crispyness on top.
Disney World Cheshire Cat Tails
I have yet to have these at Disney World and was trying to wait to make them until I had them in the park but I just couldn't wait anymore and decided to make them in February! It was super easy and they're delicious! I made a chocolate crème pâtissière instead of vanilla the recipe called for and it was super tasty. I found that with american puff pastry (at least the brand I bought) it was better to make 3 tails instead of 6 because of the size of the puff pastry square.
We made this for Christian since I don't like mac & cheese and we figured having smaller portions would be perfect for him to make for lunches/snacks. He loved this recipe and said it was really good! Plus it looks adorable in my ramekins from Le Creuset.
Another recipe from Nadiya Bakes on Netflix! This one didn't come out quite as good because the basil we got from the grocery store was dying and I didn't have many leaf options. The perils of using grocery store pickup, you can't be too sure of the quality! But it's a super fun bake that I will definitely be trying again with basil from our own garden!
Christian loves lemon and I don't so I made this planning to let him eat all of it. I did take a taste and thought it was super delicious! I only had a couple thin slices but next time he'll be splitting the loaf with me. The creator likens this to the Starbucks loaf and I can certainly see the resemblance, but this is way better in my opinion! Much more lemon flavor.
Easy Chocolate Cinnamon Crunch Knots
These knots are so delicious and chocolatey! I never think to bake with chocolate and cinnamon even though I know they go well together (I add cinnamon to my hot chocolate!) I don't think I'll be forgetting the combo any time soon! I actually used less chocolate than the recipe called for in case I didn't like how they turned out and I didn't want to "waste" my mini chocolate chips. Next time I'll use more.
