Pinteresting: With Speculoos!

I went to Trader Joe's for the first (and second) in my life.  I meandered down all the aisles.  I grabbed up cheeses, bread, granola bars, fruit leathers, and of course, speculoos cookie butter.  Now I have to decide what to make with it.  I know, I know.  I could take full advantage of my drawer full of spoons with this cookie butter, but that seems somehow wasteful (waist-full?).  I immediately thought of ice cream and buttercream frosting (not at the same time) and went off to Pinterest to see what inspiration I could find there.  Here's some of what I came up with:

Vanilla macarons with speculoos filling

 

Specudoodles

My original plan was actually chocolate cupcakes with cookie butter frosting.  Yummy!

 

Cookie butter cups.

 

Speculoos ice cream with syrup waffles.

 

 

I think I'll stop now before I have to run 10 miles to make up for all the calories in this ooey gooey eye candy.

Pinteresting for the 4th of July

 

I love the idea of using food dye (probably Wilton's cake dye over McCormick's) to color the noodles for a festive pasta salad. 

Here's a manicure you can actually do yourself.  There's a touch of gold glitter polish over the white polish.

 

This pin takes you to a site with 17 decoration ideas for your party.   I like the printable matchbox labels idea.  Of course everyone needs matches on the 4th!

"Sometimes all it takes to be patriotic is a few well-placed sprinkles."

 

Have fun and enjoy your family, freedom, food, friends, and fireworks!

 (I was amazed by the smiley face fireworks when I went to the Macy's show in New York years ago.  I think it was the smiley introduction to the show that year and they've been included in bigger and better ways every year since.  Getting off the way back train now--that must have been nearly 20 years ago.  Eep.)

What do you have planned for your holiday celebration?

Pinteresting: Summertime

I fell back down the Pinterest rabbit hole!  In honor of the start of summer, here are a few summer-themed pins for you to check out.

 

Thai quinoa salad with fresh herbs and a lime vinaigrette.   Perfect for a light lunch, or add some chicken, shrimp, or crab meat for a hearty and healthy dinner.  Best of all, you won't heat up your kitchen making this!

Need something a little "stronger?"  Enjoy a simple strawberry lime mojito.  Skip the rum and the kids can have some too.

 

Always a good time for a reminder to eat local and wear sunscreen.  Though some wellness practitioners would tell you to get outside for 15 minutes without sunscreen to get your Vitamin D for the day.  Doctors never agree on anything.

 

Summer could be a good time to create an inviting place for the fairies to visit?  Try a bird bath fairy garden.

 

Buzzfeed always has the best dos and don'ts.  Check out this one for summer.

 

I would be remiss if I didn't suggest a sewing project.  I've had my eye on this weekender bag by Amy Butler for a while.  I highly recommend checking out this blog post for a helpful link roundup if you are considering taking on your own weekender.

I'm pretty sure I'm heading to Houston and Las Vegas this summer.  First time for both!  Do you have any summer travel plans?

Pinteresting: For the Super Bowl

I love sporting events, especially football.  I don't have a favorite team though.  Whenever people ask me who I'm rooting for, I always say "GO BLUE TEAM!!!!"  It's a totally unscientific way of picking the winner, but it works for me.  If there isn't a blue team, I cheer for whichever team looks better in the pants. 

Super Bowl parties are always loads of fun.  So much delicious food is consumed at these parties.  So much food.  Remember my bacon cheese twisty things?  Bring some of those to your party.  You will be the VIP at every event to follow.

Here's the pin too.

 

Pizza poppers.  Don't forget the marinara for dunking!

 

 

Made from scratch meatballs

Bacon, jalapenos, butter, cheese.  What could go wrong?

I was also digging these bingo games.  You could have a buy in with them, so players could win some money.  I guess it depends on how your Super Bowl parties go.  We are never in front of the TV the entire game.  Short attention spans I guess.

 

One for commercials

 

And one for the game itself.

Whatever you are doing for the big game, be safe and don't drink and drive.  I'm not a big proponent of PSAs, but I think that's a necessary one.

And GO BLUE TEAM!!!

Pinteresting: With some Halloween Decorations

I'm one of those people who decorates for NO HOLIDAY EVER.  I put up a 3' Christmas tree, if I put a tree up at all.  Don't get me wrong.  I love parties and I love to host parties, just not at my house.  I'm thinking Matthew or Ryan should have a party soon, so I can get my hostess with the mostest on.  I made pumpkin cheesecake and pear pie for Matthew's football get-together Sunday.  Recipes for me to post there.  I need to make that happen.  So much to do, so little time...  Have some decorations:

I love this for the simplicity.  I love this for the nontraditional colors.  I love this.  I think it would look stunning for v-day with l-o-v-e instead of boo.

One of my friends got gel splatters and handprints to put on the door.  I think those are fun!  Here's a door runner version.

 

If you ever wanted to know how Paula Dean decorates her house for Halloween, here ya go.

Vampire Pumpkins! I would also like to see these with bubba teeth.

I'm not sure what this is made out of.  Foam board?

 

Glow-in-the-dark paint.  Not just for Halloween.  Paint your own shapes on the ceiling in the kid's room!  Who needs star stickers?  Pshhh.

 

These bats are my favorite, but this is actually a link to 40 decor ideas.

 

Do you decorate for the holidays?  Let me know how into holiday decor you are in the comments below.  I may be late with my pinteresting today, but at least I'm here!  

Pinteresting: with Halloween Makeup

Yes!  More Halloween stufffffsss!  I can't resist!

How simple does this look?  I think I would wipe all the makeup away by the end of the night, but it looks awesome!

Creepy/amazing

 

I can only aspire to have makeup that looks this good.

 

For those that need more subtlety, have a little Jack Skellington.

 

Bats left your belfrey?

 

Trick or treat

 

I love the glitter and how it looks like there's a spider in her eye.  Do you think that's a contact?  Or just photoshop skills?  It's SO cool either way!

 

That's it for this week!  More Pinteresting next week!

Pinteresting: With some Costumes

I listed nearly all my old Halloween costumes on ebay last week, so I've taken to Pinterest to find inspiration for this year.  I'll hopefully have some money to spend on a new costume, or, better yet, come up with a crafty idea to make my own.  I used an LBD and about $5 in supplies to make my costume last year.  I was a black widow spider.  It was a piece of felt from the fabric store ($0.35), a hair comb ($3 for 8), a package of spider webbing ($1.97), and some black tulle ($1).  I think it was my best cosume so far and it cost me almost nothing--perfect because I was going to drop a few grand on a vacation a month later.  Anyway...on to the costumes.

Love the honey badger

 

Wonder if I could find this in football version?

For that "special" man in your life

adorable kid's costume

 

Love this!

 

You may be looking at my Halloween costume right here.  I could totally pull this off.

 

This pin has 29 DIY costumes for adults.  This one is my favorite!

 

My mom is a huge fan of Halloween.  She dresses up every day in October.  I think that's too much like work, but she enjoys it.  What are you wearing for Halloween? Let me know in the comments!

Pinteresting: with some skates!

I keep seeing "Skater Dress" all over the fashion world.  While the name is new(er), the style certainly is not.  This silhouette has been around since at least the 80s and is reminiscent of the babydoll dress of the 90s.  The style gets it's name from the resemblance to ice skating costumes.

 

The skater dress is fitted at the waistline and skims over the hips with a full circle skirt.  The hem typically falls from the mid-thigh to just above the knee, although you can also make that skirt longer for modesty (or comfort).

 

And, most importantly, did you see that skirt?  Maximum twirlability, which means maximum winning for me as twirliness is paramount for me in a good dress/skirt pattern.  I just purchased the lady skater pattern by Amanda of Kitschycoo and I'm pinning style ideas like crazy.

 

Simple, classic Tartan. Let the fabric do the work

Mid-length skirt; another classy option

 

This cut-out back is very fun, especially with the tie.

I love this radiant red V-neck version

Great twist on a classic design; high neck front, low scoop in the back.  It reminds me of my ballet leotards.  :)

Two fabric version is an easily achievable look.  This skirt is justasmidge too short for me though!

 

Stripey version is one of my favs.  I love stripes.  They are so interesting.

 

Knot-front creates a sweetheart neckline.  I added this pin specifically because of that bodice detail. <3

Another simple black version with a shorter skirt.  I prefer this length.

Options if you weren't already sold on the skater dress

Another great bodice option

crepe inset makes for a dressy version in red

more proof this is such a versatile look

Where was this dress this summer?  I need one of these.

 

In sum, I am smitten with the skater pattern.  This is one I can make again and again and one that I can toss in my suitcase and wear over and over on my travels.  I have some Icantevenremember black knit fabric that will be perfect for my first skater.  I have to pick up a some clear elastic stuff and then I can get on it. 

 

You can make your own skater dress using this pattern that's only about $10!  Leave me a comment and let me know which is your favorite look.

~elle