A New Unexpected Outfit

This was a little treat of an outfit. Something i found when I wasn't particularly looking. In most cases, I would never recommend buying something you didn't realize you needed until you saw it. But, since the pants and top fit so spectacularly and the price was excellent, I could hardly resist. Dress - Plato's Closet 

Black Skinny Jeans & Purse - T.J. Max 

Earrings & Shoes - Target 

p.s. I love the red seat cushion of the patio furniture. Such a great pop of color especially in that last photo. Makes me think I should accent the outfit with some red shoes next time...

Linking up with I Feel Pretty.

A Winter Smoothie

Today God blessed us with some incredibly gorgeous weather. A little unexpected oasis of sorts right smack in the middle of what is supposed to be a treacherous Minnesota winter. We soaked up all of its 50 degree goodness. I even put my brand new blender to good use and made some delicious Strawberry Orange Banana Smoothies! The recipe is simple and a bit different every time because I don't measure, I just toss things in.
  Here is the list of my main ingredientst: 

1) One frozen banana per serving.

(These work great as long as you peel them BEFORE you put them in the freezer). 

2) Frozen strawberries or blueberries.

(Fresh would be amazing but I used a store-bought frozen bag). 

3) 100% orange juice.

4) Greek vanilla yogurt. 

5) A vanilla flavored whey protein powder. 

(Though I didn't use this today because we were all out).

We don't always have orange juice in the house, so every now and then I will substitute whole milk in its place. And when I don't have a frozen banana on hand, I'll put in two ice cubes per serving instead. Such an easy delicious treat... I'm thrilled to have a blender again.

What do you put in your smoothies?

p.s. Linking up with...

From My Tree Onto Me

You remember my hand-made Christmas tree garland from this post? Who would've thought such a thing could double as a human accessory? Brilliant I know. I delightedly wore it about our apartment as I took down our Christmas decor yesterday.

Anyone else have the cleaning bug in their system this month? I feel a sudden motivation to purge and organize afresh for the new year. We brought six grocery bags (and counting) full of stuff to Goodwill tonight! And it has left my closet looking like this...  

What a wonderful feeling to have clean spaces and to know all of what I own will be used regularly.

I'm off to shop for a 2012 planner. Anyone know of a good (and beautiful-looking) weekly planner that is sold online? I decided to go back to a written planner/calendar this year. It's been three years since I've had one, and I'm afraid I miss it. No more ical for me...

Love to all,

Beautiful Water

With each new year comes this wonderful motivation to improve, grow, and seek out positive lifestyle changes. However, I know I won't be able to sustain any of my desired improvements if I try to make them all at once. Instead, I thought it would be fun to choose and develop one new habit each week. This week I will be focusing on drinking plenty of water throughout each day...

Source

Drinking more water is such an easy change and does wonders for your skin, your energy, and your overall health.  This photo makes it look so beautifully appetizing. It makes me want to add pretty flavors to my water like slices of cucumber or strawberries.

Do you like to add things to your drinking water?

Staying Fashionably Warm

Happy New Year dear readers! Before I write any posts about my endeavors for this brand new year, I want to share a little project I finished last month...a lovely ear-warming headband... 

I'm loving how the star-flower applique turned out. 

 

I didn't take any photos of myself wearing this delightful little ear warmer, but hopefully (from the pictures I did take) you can imagine someone wearing this on their head...

 

I sewed on two buttons to create adjustable sizing for the perfect fit. 

 

If you're not a winter hat wearer, a headband like this might be a fantastic alternative for you. They're much kinder on the hair-do and keep one looking quite fashionably adorable.

I'm still truly enjoying mustard hues this winter... How 'bout you?