March 31, 2016

Cable Knit and Suede




















I love this outfit for this time of year for a few reasons: it's comfortable and it's simple so it leaves room for a lot of statement opportunities.   I've had these earrings from Lisi Lerch earrings for a few months, but I haven't found the right opportunity to wear them.  But, the simplicity of the white sweater looks great with the fun, blue tassels.   They're pretty heavy at first but after about 20 minutes you won't even feel them.  

I'm also in love with these espadrilles.  They're everything I could ever want in a shoe, and I've been getting a lot of compliments on them. I can hardly take them off! 


March 30, 2016

Dallas Restaurant Guide

I've been living (and eating) in Dallas long enough that I feel like I can produce a really great restaurant guide.  I have a lot of favorite restaurants, but there are just so many in this city that there are still so many I want to try.

While traveling in San Francisco a few weeks ago, I relied heavily on other blogger's restaurant guides and I realized a Dallas guide could probably be really helpful to some of you, if you're traveling in Dallas!


Bread Winners: This is my Mom's favorite brunch spot when she comes to visit me.  It's a great casual place to go for brunch because they have a really big menu and a lot of great/unique items.  My favorite is the Southern Benedict (Eggs Benedict with brisket, biscuits and fried onions) and the cheesy grits.  

Common Table: A consistent favorite among my friends; I've been to countless birthday dinners/brunches here.  Almost everything I've had is delicious especially the burger and mac and cheese.  Brunch is really great and the skittles sangria is a favorite amongst some of my friends too!

Nick and Sam's Grill: I've had some great customer service here and although I've only been for brunch (can you tell brunch is a big deal in Dallas?), I've heard the food is always good.  The omelet bar is amazing and so are the cinnamon rolls! 

Taverna: Great Italian food in a cute area with a little bit of shopping right around it.  I've one (of the many) risottos, a carbonara dish and bruschetta (highly recommend) an everything was delicious!

The Standard Pour: In Uptown, there's a great spott hat has amazing mac and cheese and other great dinner options.  They're known for their jumbo moscow mules that serve about 4 or 5 people.
This is a fun place to go on Friday or Saturday nights.

Diggs Tacos: This was one of the first restaurants I ever went to near SMU and it's still one of my favorites.  I love the brisket tacos because it's a great mix of Texas Barbecue and Mexican food!

Meso Maya: While most people turn to Mi Cocina for Mexican food, my favorite is Meso Maya! My Spanish teacher recommended it last year as the best and most authentic Mexican food in Dallas, and I would completely agree.

Pecan Lodge: For great barbecue, head to Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum.  Be prepared to wait on a line (sometimes it can be pretty long), but I promise it's worth it.  The barbecue is really good! You can find this spot on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, which also happens to be my favorite show.

St. Ann: I've never heard of anyone disliking this restaurant; it's just so good.  Every time I've been I have ordered the scallops because they're just so delicious but I have also tried the truffle mac and cheese which is incredible too. The atmosphere is really nice especially in the warm weather because they have a great outdoor patio!

Sissy's Southern Kitchen: This is my favorite typical "southern" food in Dallas.  Tons of great comfort food options, but I personally love the squash puppies and the shrimp and grits!

Al Biernat's: A great steak restaurant in Dallas! The sweet potato mash is out of this world.  I've never really been a fan of sweet potato mash, and I'm still not-- unless i'm eating it here! I don't know how they make it but it's just mouth watering.  Another favorite of mine here is the salmon!

Steel City Pops: It gets hot in Dallas, so popsicles are a must in the summer time! Steel City Pops has a lot of different popsicle options.  Some are juice based and refreshing while others are milk/cream based and a little more decadent.

Cane Rosso: A new addition to my favorite restaurants list is Cane Rosso for their delicious pizzas! The Honey Badger is so good and is technically not on the menu.  Ask your waiter about it because it is truly amazing.  Some sort of spicy sausage and honey drizzle (I can't describe it well but trust me, it's great).  Also the desert pizza is so yummy!



Anyone else starving after reading this post?! I'm ready to go get something to eat..


March 28, 2016

Soft Joie Dress

















Dress / Jacket (Similar) / Bag / Boots (they don't have this exact color but similar ones!)
 Necklace (Similar here and here (only $7))

Finally!!! A new outfit post! It's been more than a few weeks since I last posted an outfit because not only was it difficult to get out and take some photos, but I was also a little unmotivated by my ability to take my pictures alone.  

Most of you probably don't know that I usually take my photos on my own with a tripod and a remote! So it's just me and the camera-- which can actually be pretty lackluster.  I found that my poses were all the same and the creativity behind the shots was fading.  

So I decided to do something a little outside of my comfort zone-- have someone else take my photos! I contacted Taylor from Dallas Style Blog to take my photos and she did an amazing job! I was a little nervous before I went to get the photos taken because I didn't know what it would be like, but Taylor is incredibly nice and directed me on a lot of new poses.  It was nice to have someone taking my photos who was a confident photographer and knew what to do.  I've definitely found some new much needed inspiration from being able to work with someone else on my blog content! 

This outfit is one of my favorites for this time of year because it's great for the not cold, but also not hot weather that I really loathe.  I hate that now when I walk to class in the mornings it's very cold, but when I am walking back to class it's almost too hot.  It makes it just really hard to dress! 

Layers are the answer, so this light cotton dress is perfect because it's comfy but goes well with the denim jacket.  I also love that I can still wear my winter-loved Stuart Weitzman boots with a dress in the transition to Spring.  




March 21, 2016

Sporty Chic Footwear

via
Recently I've found myself putting on a pair of sneakers or slides almost every morning.  Maybe it's because the weather isn't quite cold enough for riding boots anymore, but the mornings aren't warm enough for sandals.  I never used to wear sneakers with normal outfits because I felt like they didn't suit me.  However, ever since spring break I've been wearing my white converse or hot pink espadrilles every day. 

Sporty footwear is perfect for this time of year.  A cardigan, t-shirt, jeans, and cute sneakers can look comfy but just cute enough. 

Here are some of my favorites!





March 18, 2016

Friday Finds // Mar. 18

The Nutty Honey at Emporium Pies

Happy Friday!

ONE // Pi Day!
On Monday, I headed to a delicious pie shop (Emporium Pies in Dallas!) with a few of my friends.  We definitely weren't the only ones craving Pie on Pi day because the line was down the street! We waited for about an hour and forty five minutes, which gave us plenty of time to learn the number Pi to the twentieth decimal place, which would earn us a free slice.  Upon arrival I only knew 3.14, but by the time I made it to checkout I could recite 3.14159265358979323846 and got me free slice!

TWO // Zara Spring
I hardly ever shop at Zara because there aren't really a lot near me.  However, there's a Zara about 20 minutes away from my school and while a friend and I were shopping at that mall we popped in to reminisce about our trips to Zara while studying abroad this summer.  I fell in love several times while meandering around the racks and had to take several trips to the dressing room because I was picking up so many items.  If you'd like to see a haul with what I purchased comment down below!

THREE // Creative Pollution PSA
We all have short nose hair to protect ourselves from dirt and other particles coming up our noses and contaminating our bodies.  This PSA exaggerates this part of our bodies to raise the point: what if pollution causes our nose hairs to grow out of control? This is an interesting video that's a little silly, but a big wake up call to bring together efforts to fight pollution, especially in China.


March 17, 2016

J.Crew New Arrivals


1 / 2 / 3 / 4

5 / 6 / 7 / 8

J.Crew has definitely gone back to their roots.  Stripes and gingham galore, the new collection definitely reminds me of when I first started shopping at J.Crew.

When I first saw the new arrivals, I really wasn't that impressed.  But, the more I looked at them, them more I realized this is exactly what my wardrobe has been craving.  I've missed the classic, easy to wear pieces that J.Crew was known for.

Sweaters and gingham shirts used to be an easy go-to of mine, but recently it's been hard to find some that I really love.  I'm obsessed with the cable knit sweater and large gingham popover because they would be so easy to wear together with jeans on a colder spring day.

I've also recently been wearing an old pair of j.crew espadrilles I have that are bright pink.  I've gotten so many compliments on them recently, so I am delighted to see that there's a pair of suede (my favorite!!) espadrilles in the new line!! Considering how often I'm wearing my bright pink espadrilles, I think I would wear a pair of neutral ones a lot.

What are your favorites from J.Crew's newest collection?

March 16, 2016

Copper Mountain Video


I promise this is the last spring break post! I wanted to share the video I made for my trip from the go pro footage we took on the mountain.  I love making these GoPro videos, and after making my first one from my trip to Iceland (2 years ago!) I've made quite a few.

I can't believe this trip is over and I'm so happy we have a video to re-watch when we're feeling nostalgic from our trip!

If you made a similar video for your spring break trip comment with the link below! I love watching them!

March 15, 2016

San Francisco Recap

I headed to San Francisco for the last two days of my Spring Break after Colorado because my family was headed there on the first part of their break! I had never been to California, and was excited to see what the city was like.



Unfortunately, I ended up getting in about 5 hours later than I was supposed to after over sleeping and missing my shuttle to the airport in Colorado, so when I arrived to SF it was dark, and rainy.  I went straight to meet my family at The Slanted Door.  I was starving and tired, so I really think any restaurant would've sounded incredible.  I ate some of a squid dish, cauliflower, dumplings, and cellophane noodles and everything was delicious.

The next morning, we all woke up around 7:30 to get ready for the day.  We had planned on heading out to see the redwoods, but because of the rain decided against that plan.  Instead, we went to Mr. Holmes Bakehouse for pastries for breakfast.  The line wasn't very long since we got there just about 45 minutes after it opened.  We opted not to wait in the cruffin line, and instead had the Ferrero Rocher and Bananas Foster Donuts, Turkey and Pesto Danish, and a Artichoke Danish.  I thought everything was really good and the cute neon lights in the shop we so insta-worthy (which I loved!).


After that we went to check out the Goyard store, per my request.  I loved staring at the pretty bags and am looking forward to the day where I've saved up enough money to feel comfortable purchasing one!



From there, we went over to Fillmore Street and stopped in Toss Designs, which was the cutest little shop! They had tons of gift items including matches, napkins, small cosmetics bags, etc.  I love stores like this, and was delighted to find so many cute items.  Lots of preppy, fun, and colorful products! I'd really recommend stopping in if you're on Fillmore!


We then walked over to The Bud Stop to look at the flowers.  I read about them online, but nothing I saw before did this cute spot justice.  All of the flowers were so fresh and they had a lot of unique blooms to choose from.  I loved that they wrapped up the bouquet in brown paper after you've selected the flowers you want!

For lunch on our first day we went a little outside the city (over the Golden Gate Bridge!) to Farm Shop in the Marin Country Mart.  The food was amazing.  We started with the avocado hummus-- which was a beautiful mix between gaucamole and hummus topped with some pistachios.  It was delicious and unlike anything I've ever tasted before.  Since we were starving, we also ordered a pizza to share, which tasted just like the pies I had in italy this past summer! For my main, I had the pappardelle bolognese, which reminded me of italy as well!


After the day, we were tired but kept driving around, eventually landing on Hayes St, which reminded us a lot of the West Village in NYC. There were a lot of cute shops, and it was probably one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city.  Lavish was my favorite store that we popped into, which reminded me a lot of a cuter paper source!

In the same neighborhood the following day we headed into a candy store called Miette.  Filled with bright colors of candy, it's hard not to find this place especially cute.  I purchased raspberry turkish delights that were really yummy and unlike any gummy candy I've really had before.


For another sweet treat the night before, we went to Smitten, where they freeze the ice cream as you order it.  You select your flavor, and fillings, and then they put it in a nitrogen mixer where it becomes the solid ice cream we all know and love! It was really tasty, even for someone who doesn't love ice cream too much like me.

My favorite meal in the city came from Park Tavern, where we went to brunch right before I left.  The food was really delicious, but the deviled eggs and avocado toast really stole the show.

If you go to San Francisco, the one thing I must recommend doing is stopping by the Fortune Cookie factory! Nestled in an alley in china town, there's a small fortune cookie factory where you can watch a few cookie be made, and even make your own fortunes to put in a few cookies! My brother got a few made to say "PROM?" and will use them for his prom-posal later this month!


I wish I had more time-- and sunnier days-- to explore San Francisco but unfortunately my spring break had to end!


March 14, 2016

Colorado Recap

It's the Monday after Spring Break and waking up this morning was definitely more difficult than last Monday.  I can't believe how quickly the week came and went.  I'm so grateful to have spent a week with six of my best friends and six new ones in Copper Mountain, Colorado.  I had never been skiing out west so I was very excited to get the chance to see what skiing would be like out there.  In fact, I hadn't put on skis in five years!


I wasn't sure what would happen on that first run, but was pleasantly surprised to see I still knew how to ski.  Though, I definitely was not as good as some of the others on my trip.  I mainly stuck to blues for the duration of the week with about five other people from my trip.

Since we stayed in an apartment instead of a hotel, we had the opportunity to cook most of our meals.  We went grocery shopping on the way into Copper Mountain, and had all of our meals mostly pre-planned.  Let me just say, we all felt pretty "adult" during the trip, cooking and planning our own meals.  I'm pretty impressed by the organization and cooking talent within our group because pretty much every meal was delicious.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to play charades! I have really never played the game fully, but we had so much fun playing all together a few of the nights.  Things got really intense when the word was "decent" but the guessers only got to "descend".


On our second night we took a twenty minute trip into Vail to get a change of scenery and happened to stumble upon the US Open closing ceremony.  Right as we were walking by this stage area with a massive crowd, Shawn White was given his medal! After dinner, we went back to the stage to see the end of GRiZ perform! It was a nice surprise to our night.



At the end of the week, it was almost 40 degrees, which is by no means warm, but since it was the warmest day we decided to wear our swimsuits.  This ended in many laughs-- and pictures of course! It was actually really fun skiing like this and we even got a little bit of a tan!


For our last night, most of us stayed up pretty late to finish all of the groceries and things we had purchased for the trip.  It was lots of fun staying up chatting and having fun, but major note to self-- if you go to bed at 4am the night before your flight, set multiple alarms! I always wake up on my first alarm (I don't even snooze) on a normal day, but I swear I must've turned off my 6:15am alarm that morning and ended up waking up at 8am, completely missing my 6:45 shuttle.


Luckily, after many delays and a flight change I made it on my way to San Francisco, where I spent the last two days of my Spring Break! I'll be posting about what we did in SF tomorrow!

Happy Monday, folks!

March 8, 2016

Books for the Coffee Table






In just a few short months I'll leave dorm life behind for good! (YAY!).  I'm so excited to be able to live in an apartment next year and take advantage of all the extra space.  Plus, I'm so happy be able to cook again.  

A topic of the questions I've been getting a lot recently on Tumblr, is about coffee books.  I don't know if I've ever done a post like this, which I'm surprised about.  I enjoy finding different books to collect and display (even in my tiny dorm room now).  It'll be nice next year to have a coffee table to actually display these books.  


March 7, 2016

Amuse Bouche with Bite Beauty



Beetroot
Gazpacho
Gazpacho
Beetroot
Pepper
I love experimenting with new lipsticks, so I was really excited when I got sent these new colors from Bite Beauty! These colors are definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I really love how they look and I would definitely consider wearing them out in the future! 

The three colors that were sent to me were Pepper, Gazpacho, and Beetroot! 

Pepper is the lightest, most natural color.  I feel like it's very similar to my natural lip color just a little more purple/nude. 

Gazpacho is a very typical red color and I love it.  I will definitely wear this one most out of the three.  

Beetroot is a classic red with a little more purple added to it.  I would've never purchased this color for myself normally, but I actually like how it looks against my skin tone!

*Please note that this these products were sent to me from Bite Beauty. 



 

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