color love | burgundy

Oxblood, wine, crimson, burgundy... 

whatever you call it, I'm definitely craving more
of this autumnal hue in my life. xo.

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love & lust | wedge booties

I am dying over these wedge booties, y'all! I saw the Jack Rogers booties the other day and fell in love... until I saw the price. Yikes! Not good on my wallet. I decided to do some digging and found a very similar pair for a steal! The Etienne Aigner booties from Macy's have a nearly identical silhouette, a great heel height, and come in a variety of colors.  For $99, you can bet these are on my fall shopping list! Are you into wedge booties for the fall? xo.

Jack Rogers Booties / Etienne Aigner Booties

cookie in a cup

Recently, I was in the middle of a huge sugar craving and decided to whip up one of my Pinterest finds: a cookie in a cup! I'd seen several similar recipes floating around the web and finally went for it. I was not disappointed. In fact, I admit I've made this little snack several times since. It's that good! xo.

Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup

[via Number 2 Pencil]

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar

1 Tablespoon of firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar [I used light brown]

3 Drops of Vanilla Extract

Small Pinch of Kosher Salt

1 Egg Yolk (discard the egg white)

Scant 1/4 Cup of All Purpose Flour

2 Tablespoons of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips 

Directions:

Start by melting your butter [in your favorite mug!] in the microwave. Add sugars, vanilla and salt. Stir to combine. Separate your egg and add the yolk only to your cup. Stir to combine. Add flour, then stir again. Add the chocolate chips, and give a final stir. Cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, start checking for doneness at 40 seconds. *Mine takes exactly 47 seconds!

monday must-haves

Right now I am obsessed with vintage-inspired jewelry, structured bags with interesting textures, and demure peplum--especially in emerald and ruby hues for fall. Touches of gold and nude pull everything together. xo.

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color love | cobalt

I've got the blues [in a good way!]

Do you? xo.

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put some grey in it

"Greige" [grey/beige] was a huge nail trend last year. If you ask me, I don't think it's going away anytime soon. In fact, I am seeing lots more of this non-color mixed with other hues like blue, green, and purple. The combinations are truly endless! From a gorgeous, true grey to a dusty blue, here are my top five picks from the web. xo.

1 - Timeless / 2 - Trustafarian / 3 -  Merino Cool / 4  - Greycian Goddess/ 5 - Evvie

the dallas flea

Saturday was an absolutely perfect "fall" day. Overcast, cool, and breezy--it was truly dreamy! My mom and sister drove up to visit for the day and we set off for the Dallas Flea. If you aren't familiar with this event, I highly recommend it! Vintage, artisan, and antique vendors take over the first floor South Side on Lamar [a downtown loft building with a cool industrial vibe] and show off lots of seriously awesome and unique loot.

I could have definitely spent a lot of money there, but walked away with a few treasures that I knew I just wouldn't be able to live without.

Vintage Samsonite luggage bag [hello, new purse!], vintage cat eye sunnies,
some old keys for a future craft project. Pictured with: Trader Joe's 2 [now 3] buck
Chuck and Cookie Butter that everyone RAVES about.

After a couple hours browsing the Flea, we headed back to Fort Worth for some al fresco dining at Shaw's Patio on Magnolia. Being my first time at Shaw's, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, the cheddar/bacon/tomato panini I ordered was delicious. It's definitely made my restaurant rotation! I can't wait to eat on the patio again now that fall weather might be here to stay.

 We ended the day with a quick visit to Trader Joe's, Bath & Body Works [can't get enough of those candles!], and some petite desserts at McKinley's.

Seriously. Best day ever! Can't go wrong with fall + shopping.  xo.

no-bake [healthy] pb bites

I always find the best recipes when I get really desperate. The other day I was really craving something sweet. I remembered pinning this recipe for No Bake Energy Bites from Gimme Some Oven and happened to have all the ingredients on hand except the coconut flakes. Luckily the recipe suggests adding in extra of another ingredient to replace the coconut. Perfect.

This recipe makes 20-25 bites, but since I didn't want that temptation sitting around in my kitchen, I divided the recipe so it would yield 5-6.

The best part about these is that the ingredients are for the most part pretty healthy! It's also easy to make substitutions if you don't have these specific ingredients.

No Bake PB Bites
[adapted from Gimme Some Oven]

*Slightly less than 1/4 cup dry oatmeal [Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats]
*1/8 cup coconut flakes [I replaced with extra oats]
*1 heaping tbsp. peanut butter [crunch or smooth. can use any type of nut butter]
*Slightly less than 1/8 cup ground flax seed or wheat germ
*1-2 tbsp chocolate chips
*1 tbsp honey
*dash of vanilla

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until evenly combined. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Form mixture into 5-6 round balls. Enjoy! Store in an airtight container.

Have you tried this recipe or one similar to it? What are your favorite add-ins? xo.

lately

Hey, there.

I know it's been a while. It's been a very busy few weeks; in fact, I've been trying harder to carve out more time for artistic pursuits, which digs in a bit to my blogging time. I'm working on a little project that, if it comes to fruition, I am excited to share on here very soon!

Anyway, last weekend was a fun weekend. It was the first in a while that I was actually home! Saturday started off with the Color Me Rad 5k. Colored dye [temporary], gorgeous weather [hello, 70 degree temps!], and a run along Fort Worth's Trinity River was just what I needed.

I'm rocking the neon green sunnies!

After cleaning off, I picked up some ingredients to whip up this recipe I found on Six Sisters for Copy Cat Chili's Skillet Queso to have during the A&M vs. Florida game. One word: Perfection. My husband is a big fan of this appetizer and gave it raving reviews. I also stopped by one of my favorite local bakeries, J. Rae's, for some Texas A&M themed sugar cookies. Delish. Despite the Aggies' devastating SEC debut, it was still a fun and relaxing afternoon.

Adorable and colorful cookies!

I'll ignore the fact that the apostrophe definitely goes in front of the e. :)

While at J. Rae's, I couldn't help but snap a few pics of the up-and-coming Foch Street area. It's really starting to look great and I'm excited to visit this area a little more often [especially the new Urban Outfitters expected to open soon!]

Wag [pet store] and Blow W7 [blow dry bar]

Reservoir- a restaurant/bar that looks like it'll be pretty awesome!

The Reservoir's patio area. It's huge!

One place on my bucket list I've still got to try!

Hope you all had a great weekend and a wonderful rest of the week. xo.

the scents of fall

Hope you all had the best Labor Day! Even though fall temps won't come around in Texas for a little while longer, I'm already in an autumnal mood with Bath & Body Works' roll-out of fall scents. This weekend, I stocked up on Leaves and Bonfire Maplewood candles [an old favorite and a new one to try] but am already super excited to get different scents during their next 2 for $20 sale!

What are your favorite fall scents? xo.