I've been so incredibly lucky to have been able to travel to Hong Kong numerous times throughout my life and it never gets old. You'd think that Hong Kong is a tiny city, but you would be so wrong! Each section of it is worth spending a bit of time to explore and there are small islands and new territories to visit as well!
There are some things about emerald green and cobalt blue that make me happy. They are colors that can be worn all year round. By themselves, they are beautiful colors that look good on anyone & any skin tone, as is evident on Allison Williams,Lupita Nyong'o, and Jamie Chung in cobalt blue and Sarah Hyland & Lupita in emerald. But together, they are a bold and powerful visual force that are so aesthetically pleasing.
HAPPY SPRING! Too bad the weather celebrated the first day of Spring with a small blizzard. Perhaps it was winters way of bowing out gracefully. Hopefully.
Since I've been wearing tons of color lately, I thought I'd tone it down a bit. Of course I choose to wear a more "wintery" look when the weather is finally 40 degrees above zero. Basically shorts and a tank top weather around here. Hopefully for a good while. We've had enough of you, Chiberia.
If you follow me on Instagram, you might know that I've been doing a super fun #StyleMeMarch closet remix challenge that the lovely & adorable Hilary of Dean Street Society puts together. Each day there's a theme to give you inspiration to see your closet in a new light and piece together an amazing outfit for your day. At times, I can put together an outfit in no time, while at other times I am in total struggle bus mode. But I love it! It's supposed to be a challenge! Here's this month's challenge:
Mocha Club has been a part of my life for over 5 years and I have been encouraged by the works that they do in Africa. I know I've shared about this amazing organization in past gift ideas posts [1,2], but I thought I'd dedicate a post about how you can get involve and make this a gift to yourself by becoming a member of this organization. When you join, you will receive awesome free products from their store, but that's not truly what I mean when I said this would be a gift to yourself...
I know, I know. Some may think of it as another Hallmark holiday, but sometimes we need a reminder to tell someone you love them, whether it's your significant other, your friends or a stranger in need.
For those of you who are procrastinators or struggling with Valentine gift ideas, hopefully this post will help you out. Today I'm sharing my top 5 favorite Valentine gift ideas.
Sorry (I'm not sorry), I'll tone it down a notch. I have officially passed the 8 month mark of M3 year and it blows my mind. But really I'm most excited about my first real break I've had for a whole year! And I get a whole month of it! (Cue happy dance!)
Alright, now that that's said, I'm sharing about 5 "first times" that happened this past month or are happening this coming month.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family & friends! I certainly did especially since I got to spend it with great friends & we feasted on amazing food.
Since I'm on call tonight and need to sleep, I'm keeping this High Five for Friday short & sweet! I'm linking up with Lauren today!
5 reasons to give thanks this year (by no means a complete list):
I'm sure many of you already have your Black Friday shopping strategies ready. I mean...considering they're opening stores the night of Thanksgiving (crazy!), it's like they're expecting ridiculous amounts of shopping to happen. But before you head out to those Black Friday sales, I'd like to share my gift guide that not only has great gifts for the special people in your life, but can also positively impact the world. The best part is getting to shop via the internet! Yup, no camping-out-in-the-freezing-cold necessary to snag these made-with-love items!
1. Mocha Club
Mocha Club is one of my favorite causes and probably one I've been supporting the longest. I may be biased since some of my favorite musicians are a part of this cause (Matt Wertz, Dave Barnes, etc.) and it's a beautiful thing. It's amazing what giving up 2 mochas (or whatever your coffee drink of choice) each month can do to positively change the lives of people in Africa. Giving $9 each month can support various projects such as providing clean water, education, helping women at risk, caring for those with HIV/AIDS, or caring for orphans. But you can also help by purchasing "I need Africa" items where 100% of proceeds go back to Africa. Inspiring.
Read more about their vision here.
2. FashionABLE
One of Mocha Club's partners, FashionABLE, is another favorite of mine. I've already shared about this great cause in a previous post, but just to give it some more much-deserved exposure I'm sharing about them again. FashionABLE's mission is to help empower women in need in Africa by providing counseling and teaching them how to be self-sustainable by starting small businesses making scarves & leather goods. This organization also ensures that they are paid fair wages and hired fairly. Amazing. Read more about their commitment here.
3. The Little Market
Lauren Conrad & Hannah Skvarla started this beautiful cause with a beautiful vision. They view The Little Market as "a place where a global community can come together to combat poverty, empower communities, and create social justice." They traveled the world to find artisans in developing countries and are funding their work by selling their fair trade and locally made items. Beautiful.
4. The Giving Keys
Caitlin Crosby started this beautiful cause by engraving empowering words on old keys. She sold them and told people to embrace the message on the key and then pay it forward by passing the key on to someone you feel needs the message. The cause has blossomed and spread and Caitlin's vision became one to empower the homeless by employing them and help them transition out of homelessness. Lovely.
Do you know of any other great causes that are positively transforming & impacting the world and we can support with Christmas gifting? Post a comment below!
I have finally had a moment to breathe and attempt a few Fall recipes just in time for Thanksgiving! Who else is as excited as me for the excuses we have to stuff our faces this time of year? Specifically, stuffing our faces with Fall flavors. One of my favorites is pumpkin. PSL anyone? If you aren't up to speed on Starbucks lingo, that stands for the pumpkin spice latte. Yum.
I came across this recipe and had to make them! They are so delicious, quick, simple & perfect to serve at parties, church, etc.
And while I say this recipe is quick, it really is, but be careful and read the labels on your spices or else you might be adding a few tablespoons ground black pepper to your batter instead of cinnamon...oops! (I scraped off the top layer of the batter and lost a couple muffins.) This is why early morning baking is not for me. If you don't make a similar mistake as mine, these will be delicious & will disappear in no time!
When life is a constant marathon and you don't have time to notice nature's beauty around you, it's a problem. When the leaves just started changing this Fall, it took me a week to notice the obvious beauty of some climbing vines in the city alley behind our house. Cue the realization that I need to slow down and stop being so absorbed with the lists of things I need to get done and instead, take the time to soak in the beauty of God's creation.
I love how the colors of these vines bring life to the usual drab of our little alley. Jess came up with this brilliant idea to use it as a backdrop, so sister style part 2 came to be.
Fall is all around! I must say, it's one of my favorite seasons, but I was trying to figure out why, so I came up with a list of my five favorite things about Fall. Which fits perfectly with my usual Friday linkup with Lauren for High Five for Friday!
1. Fall leaves
This picture of the alley behind my house is all I need to say.
Happy Friday friends! I can't believe it's already November! Plus, I'm officially halfway done with M3 year! WHAT?! :) *Cue happy dance*! PTL!! God is good!
Again, I'm linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday. Now let's get on with my five recent favorite things!
1. Favorite Quote
I recently read this beautifully written article called "Single and Not Waiting". One of my favorite reminders in the article was, "I’ve been living like I’m waiting for someone to get here. And it isn’t Jesus." It's easy to get caught up in this notion that my life would feel more complete when I'm married & have kids. But my life was already filled & complete when I accepted Jesus in my heart. He is enough.
2. Favorite laugh
Boy talking to himself while pooping. He has such a grown-up palate! "Poutine...chocolate thingies..." Okay well we never grow out of loving chocolate thingies.
3. Favorite sound
Recently Matt Wertz & Elenowen played in Chicago & it was amazing! At the end, Matt and Elenowen and their band jammed IN the crowd! How fun! You can check out a snippet of the awesome-ness on my instagram! And be sure to check out Matt Wertz & Elenowen!
Elenowen
4. Favorite memory
Last weekend my good friends got married & I played the violin for their ceremony. The bride walked down the aisle to Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" which stirred up tears in everyone's eye, including the groom! Aww!
My beautiful friends!
5. Favorite eat
In an attempt to make me eat healthier, my sister made a delicious hummus-based pesto. It was so delicious!!
What are some of your favorite things? Have a wonderful weekend!
When I have parties I've been serving dishes out of mixing bowls (the scratched up metal ones). Not classy. So I decided it's about time I invest in a nice serving bowl. I ran to Target thinking I'd be spending about $20-$30, but I scored a beautiful glass bowl from Target for only $7.99! My favorite part is that the bowl is wide at the bottom so I can use to not only serve salads or pastas, but also pretty layered desserts.
So this is where the banana pudding comes along. It's always been one of my favorite desserts, to eat and make. No baking or cooking necessary! Plus it's always fun finding new ways to present the dish. I hope you try this recipe & have fun decorating it!
Ingredients:
1 8oz package of low fat cream cheese, softened
1 (5oz) package of instant vanilla pudding
3 cups cold skim milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (8oz) tub of cool whip, thawed
1/2 (12oz) package of vanilla wafers or chessmen cookies
4 bananas, sliced (optional: soak in 4 Tbsp concentrated lemon juice + 1 cup cold water to avoid browning)
In a large mixing bowl beat the softened cream cheese until it's fluffy. Add the pudding mix, milk and vanilla and beat until mixed well. Fold in the cool whip. Refrigerate the mixture to set for a few minutes while you do the next step.
In your serving bowl, line the bottom with a layer of vanilla wafers. On top of that add a layer of bananas.
Remove the pudding mixture from the fridge and carefully add a layer of pudding (about 1/3 of the mixture) in the serving bowl until the bananas are covered.
Add another layer of cookies and bananas. If you have a clear bowl you can line some cookies and/or banana slices around the walls of the bowl for decoration. Add the remaining pudding and banana slices.
Then start decorating the top! I went simple with just Nilla wafers broken in half, but you can use bananas, cookies, cool whip, strawberries, chocolate curls, etc.
If you haven't heard of The Urbaness, it's an amazing Chicago city guide & lifestyle website that I love to read to get creative ideas to make the most of living in this great city. And I'm so excited to share with you guys this Fall feature on the website that I "modeled" for a couple months ago! And by "modeling" on my part, I mean lots of laughing as you will see. It's funny seeing these photos since one of my patients actually told me that I was too happy while interacting with him the other day.
I had so much fun with my fellow beautiful models, Amina, Erin, Bianca and Lisa! We had a great time getting pampered & working with talented people. We had our hair done at Blow by Blow hair salon, makeup done by Mollie and our outfits were styled by Cashmere & Wit. I think our favorite moment was when we found out the models were being fed and we could actually eat the beautiful & delicious food prepared by Chicago food blogger, Kit. Such a hard life, getting pampered and sharing a meal with awesome people among a beautiful picnic-scape set up by The Eventful Life.
Please head over to The Urbaness to check it out! One of my favorite experiences! Enjoy!
Usually when I hear "gluten free" in the name of any dessert it's a total turn-off. I've eaten a few gluten free baked goods and spit them right back out. I always want to cry for anyone who says they have gluten intolerance because they miss out on wa lot of amazing desserts I could not live without.
However, I can't spend all my tears on these sad realizations and being a "fixer", I had to fix this situation. So I decided to challenge myself and trek to the ends of the earth to find THE best gluten free dessert so that my gluten intolerant friends can enjoy a dessert of mine. And by "trekking" I mean "Pinterest-ing".
Some recipes were boring. Pudding? Anyone can do that.
Gluten free breads requiring a million types of flour substitutes that I never knew existed and sound scary/gross? No thanks.
Peanut butter cookies that require only THREE ingredients? YES please!! Match made in heaven.
It took me a couple tries before I got these perfect & I had to add a couple ingredients, but I am so happy with the result & I hope anyone who is or isn't gluten intolerant will enjoy these with me!
Recipe (adapted from AllRecipes) Makes about 36 cookies Ingredients:
1 cup Peanut Butter
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
Dash of cinnamon
Optional:
Mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark)
2 Tbsp White granulated sugar for decoration
Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil.
In a medium mixing bowl mix peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, baking soda, cinnamon and optional chocolate chips with a fork until mixed well.
Cover dough tightly and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to bake cookies, remove dough from fridge. Roll dough into 1-1.5 inch balls. Make sure they are no bigger than 1.5 inches. Do not flatten dough.
Bake for 6 minutes, remove cookies from oven. Place the white sugar in a shallow bowl and dip a fork in sugar and lightly press fork on a cookie in an "X" pattern as shown below. Do NOT press too hard because cookies will flatten too much. Re-dip fork and repeat on each cookie. Place cookies in oven for 2 more minutes.
(If you do not want to do this optional step, bake the cookies for 8 minutes straight through.)
Remove cookies from oven and let them cool COMPLETELY before moving them because they will fall apart if they are still warm.
So thankful that this week has been so much better than last week. Still working with a crazy schedule of commuting back & forth, but I've enjoyed getting the chance to work downtown & people watch. Creepy? Please, you know you do it too.
It's so much fun looking at people's unique sense of style. But it makes my day when I spot adorable little children with the most impeccable style that I get green with envy. Okay, so it's the mothers' doing obviously. I can't wait to make my kids look good! But probably not in Burberry. Sorry future child(ren), I refuse to put you in expensive clothes you'll spill juice on & won't appreciate. Oh wait, but I still spill on myself.
While I am thankful for the smiles that those adorable kids put on my face, I'm most thankful for the life God has blessed me. I'm imperfect & I grumble more than I should, yet He's given me a beautiful life with clothes on my back, food on my table, a roof over my head & the most amazing family & friends. So I just need to step away from it all & spend time to thank God for His mercies that are new everyday.
Today I'm linking up again with Lauren for High Five for Friday! Here's to looking up to greater things to come!
1. Favorite New Show
Masterchef Junior is the cutest cooking show ever! Not only do they make me feel even more inadequate in my cooking and baking skills, but they also blow me away by their maturity at ages 8-13. I absolutely recommend this show not only to watch their skills in the kitchen, but also to see how they interact with each other. They're competing against each other, but through the first 2 episodes I have seen nothing but encouragement and positive words for one another! HOW BEAUTIFUL. Watch it.
2. Favorite Outfit
This past week I made it a goal to hold my chin up & face the week boldly. Aka. in style & my most important accessory, my smile. You can check out my looks on my Instagram. If you're an Ig-er, please follow me! Here's my favorite look from this week:
Dress: Old Navy | Cardigan: LOFT | leggings: Old Navy | Boots: Steve Madden | Necklace: ILY Couture
3. Favorite Smile
I love most musicians you find in subway stations. It makes me take my headphones out of my ears & actually listen to live music that's all around us. This adorable man put the biggest smile on my face. How cute does he look with his instruments on all 4 extremities??
4. Favorite Food
I've been so bad these past two weeks. While working downtown is great, there's food everywhere. EVERYWHERE. As some of you know, I already eat a lot. But this takes the cake. I've been eating SO much that I've actually gained weight. What. M3 fifteen! Here are two of my favorite things that I've indulged in:
Potbelly's Oreo Shake
Chipotle. Obviously.
5. Favorite New Music
I came across The Saint Johns on iTunes radio last week & fell in love with their song Your Head and Your Heart which was featured on one of my favorite shows, Nashville! Super cool! Their debut EP Open Water is incredible. They're also on tour with Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors and Stephen Kellogg, so check them out & see if they'll be visiting a town near you.
Thanks for reading friends! Have a beautiful weekend :) Don't forget to show a little love to someone because we all need to reminded that we are loved from time to time.
Psst...Sorry about leaving you hanging if you're following my Maize & Blue style series! I promise more looks to come soon! :)
I don't think I've complained this much in one week in a long time. So to avoid that ugliness, let's focus on the good things that make us smile. Today I'm linking up with Lauren for High Five for Friday! This edition is a summary of September favorites.
1. Favorite Eat
Vora is hands-down my new favorite restaurant in Chicago for authentic Taiwanese food, one of my favorite cuisines. The restaurant is modern and the food is served with a modern twist, but once you bite into their food it's like being transported to Taiwan. I can't find all the food pictures I took, but that just means I'll have to go back asap! Here's a photo from my Instagram with my pretty foodie friends who introduced me to the place:
2. Favorite Sounds
Everything Pentatonix creates is nothing short of amazing. Their cover of Lorde's "Royals" gives me the chills every time I listen to it. And it's been on repeat since it was uploaded. Listen & be prepared to rub away those goosebumps.
I'm also obsessed with New Heights' cover of Avicii's "Wake Me Up". I love any artist who recreates a hit and makes it another hit in and of itself. Breathtakingly beautiful. More chills.
3. Favorite Outfit
Even though Fall weather is not in full swing yet (why is it 80 degrees out?!), I am still wishing it was here & brought out the boots last weekend. Because that will make Fall weather come sooner, obviously. I think another reason I love boots is the fact that I usually pair them with leggings and a dress especially the shorter ones that I don't feel comfortable wearing without opaque tights/leggings; my dresses tend to get more mileage in this season.
Dress: old | Cardigan: Mango | Leggings:Old Navy | Necklace:ILY Couture*** | Bag: Asos | Boots: GoJane
4. Favorite Memory
My birthday was one of the simplest birthdays I've had, but one of my favorites. We had a rough shift at the hospital and my amazing team brought in cupcakes to surprise me & made the day so much sweeter! Plus, I made it home in time (in the torrential rainstorm) to spend a quick but special half hour with my sister for a birthday dinner consisting of delicious Vietnamese food before she had to leave for night call. I love my friends & family! You guys are the best & know how to make a girl happy :)
5. Favorite Emmy 2013 Looks
Allison William's Ralph Lauren gown was by far my favorite. I love how the dress is so simple yet so stunning. It fits her like a glove, the color is perfect & so is her minimalist gold jewelry.
My favorite outfit out of the guys was won by the adorable & brilliant Nolan Gould. It was the tiny details of his look that won me over. Just check out that snazzy white tie with black trim and the texture of his suit. Obsessed. Plus I just want to pinch his cheeks.
I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a fundraiser for an amazing organization called Pursue Scholars. What they do is nothing short of amazing.
While there are many organizations that provide the monetary resources for students to attend college, Pursue Scholars goes beyond that and provides support in other ways. The organization supports them throughout their college journey by providing life coaches and by keeping in touch with them often, praying for them, sending care packages and cards for birthdays and other occasions. How amazing is that?
The fundraising event took place on a boat cruise on Lake Michigan and thankfully the weather was perfect for dresses! The sunset & my favorite skyline were breathtaking as always.
Dresses: Hong Kong | Necklaces: ILY Couture (Also seen here & here) | Earrings: Betsey Johnson | My shoes: Anne Klein | Jess's shoes: Naturalizer | Purse: Asos (also seen here & here)
Thanks for reading! And please be sure to comment below if you know any other great causes that I & other readers should know about!
My local grocery store had bags of sweet peppers on sale so I bought a bunch. But I may have gone slightly overboard in my purchase and had a bunch of sweet peppers that we could not possibly finish. Luckily, I just happened to come across this delicious dip recipe using sweet peppers and simple everyday ingredients on Pinterest. It is delicious with vegetables or chips! I hope you try this :)
About 20 sweet mini peppers
2 teaspoons honey
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
16 oz reduced fat cream cheese - softened (leave out for an hour before)
3/4 cup greek yogurt
Pinch of salt or pepper to taste
Remove the seeds from the sweet peppers (I sliced my peppers in smaller pieces to quicken the food processing, but you can just cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds).
Combine sweet peppers, honey and lemon juice in a food processor. Process into small pieces.
Add cream cheese, greek yogurt, and the salt and/or pepper to food processor and process just until well combined.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the dip to harden.
Then dip chips or vegetables! This is how I served the dip. YUM.
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