What's For Dinner?: Easy Peasy Salad

Here is a salad dish that is great for a lot of reasons. Some of which are its yummy, healthy and easy!


The ingredients are as follows:
(feel free to substitute or add your your favorite things)
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Garlic
Shrimp
Tomatoes
Red onions
Dried parsley
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Onion powder
Avocado
Bacon


Defrost the shrimp. Cook the bacon (a little crispier than I would normally like) and crush it between 2 paper towels.

Chop up red onion, tomato, add a small portion of each and add garlic, onion powder, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper and the shrimp into a bowl and mix to marinade while you get the rest ready.


Chop up everything else and get the lettuce washed and broken up.


Grill the shrimp. (We did this on our George Foreman Grill)


While shrimp is grilling toss lettuce with onions, tomato and mushrooms with the lettuce.


Portion out lettuce mix and add the shrimp, avocado and bacon to your plate and add dressing (we used ranch which was really good)


BON APPETIT!

Red White and Blue

This weekend, Wednesday (July 4th) and next weekend will probably be filled with cookouts and get togethers. And pretty much every weekend from now until the end of the summer. I love the red white and blue combos any time of year but this is prime time for it. Mixing and matching red, white, blue, stars and stripes is fun and easy. Here are my favorite patriotic looks:

Simple by easypeasyglam featuring denim jean shorts

Quiz striped dress, £25
Stripe dress
Graphic tank, $13
Levi Strauss & Co denim jean shorts, $34
Pierre Hardy platform heels, $417
Görtz 17 Stars Stripes, €20

I know the heels are $417 but I really liked them, I'm hoping I'll find similar ones tomorrow at DSW! (I'll let you know if I do!)

Work to Weekend

It’s finally Friday again and I am really excited about the weekend! It's a busy one for sure. As far as tonight goes, I’m going out to a bar (which I don’t do very often because I’m sort of lame) with my boyfriend and some of his family. I have to go right after work and run errands for my plans tomorrow so I won’t have time to go back home before I go out. Since I won’t have time for a wardrobe change I planned accordingly. If you pack your work purse/bag with a clutch and makeup you can be all set to head out on the town! Since I won’t have time for a picture I figured I’d try this out. It’s incredibly close to what I’m wearing today. Except I don’t have that clutch. Except now I do because I just bought it.

Dorothy Perkins ivory shirt, $29
Hot pink blazer, $37
Oasis leather skinny jeans, £55
Promise Shoes platform pumps, $50
ASOS leather clutch, $58

A Day Without Heels

Today was terrible! Besides the fact that it was a million degrees and humid and only Thursday, I forgot to change my shoes. I know it sounds trivial but it was awful. Backstory: I got dressed this morning and then took the dog out for her morning walk. I threw on my red toms (which I love and you can find them here) because walking the dog in heels is obnoxious. So I get back from the walk, put my pup in her crate, and head out of door with my guy, my purse and coffee. We get to the garage and get in my guys car (we work together) and he asks, "No heels today?" WORST. He then locked the car door "so we wouldn't be late" and I couldn't run back into the apartment. Cruel and unusual punishment in my opinion. LUCKILY my toms went with my outfit. Sort of. They we're the right color anyway. To make up for my lack of fashion and height I bought 3 pairs of heels today. 


That was a bit of a long explanation to tell you why I bought 3 pairs of shoes but I needed to vent.

               

These Elastic Strap Wedges (left), from Baker's for the Fourth of July (only$20!) These Mint and Wood Heels (center) from Lulu's. And these Neon Pink Heels from Shoe Dazzle (*you have to sign up for shoe dazzle to get the shoes but it's free and you get 20% off your first item!)

I really like these Coral Platform Booties (left) too which are also from Lulu's but I'm not sure if I would wear them once I got them. I may order them tomorrow. Either way they're super cute.

Last Minute Date Night

Another outfit post! Last night my guy took me out to dinner at one of our favorite places. It’s a nice place so we tend to dress up a bit but we had just gotten back late from a company softball game in 98 degree heat. So after a quick shower I had about 15 minutes to pick out an outfit and this is what I ended up in-

The black tube top is from H&M but they sell them pretty much wherever- F21, Express etc. My cardigan is from J. Crew. I got it from the factory store but there are similar ones here, here and here. My skirt is actually a thrift store find but I found similar ones here, here and here. My heels are Alecia in red suede from Bakers.


**Fixed the links!

What's Cookin': Creamy Mushroom Tilapia and Rice Pilaf

Tonight's post is a recipe! My guy and I go out to eat way too much so we're trying to cook at home more often. Tonight we made Creamy Mushroom Tilapia and Rice Pilaf 


We cheated on the rice pilaf.. we just bought the box. Easy enough!


Tilapia Ingredients:
(there was no precise measuring but if I were you I'd want me to be specific so I'll guess)
5 frozen tilapia filets
10 oz can of cream of mushroom soup 
3 cloves of garlic- minced
panko bread crumbs 
1 tbsp parsley (dried) 
1 tsp pepper 
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp seasoning salt 
1 tsp onion powder 
1 tsp garlic powder




defrost filets (the package should have directions) and preheat the oven to 375


butter baking dish, dip the filets in bread crumbs (since they are moist the bread crumbs will stick well enough) and put breaded filets in dish. Rub about a clove of garlic onto the filets

mix cream of mushroom soup and a can of water, the rest of the garlic, parsley, pepper, salt, seasoning salt, onion powder, and garlic powder into a bowl (we added corn too because we had 2 cobs left over from dinner Monday night)

pour creamy mix over the filets and place in oven


bake for about 30 minutes


(while the tilapia is baking prepare the rice pilaf)

Then serve! It doesn't look super fancy because we started eating before I took a picture. Typical. It was super good though and (maybe more importantly) super easy! 

* note: you can go easier on the garlic if you want, we just love garlic!

         

Who to Invite to an Arm Party

I've been seeing a lot of pins on Pinterest that are of a ton of bracelets all on one wrist. I decided I wanted to try out the trend so here are my picks and suggestions on a mix and match arm party.

                   

gold and green cross - chevron charm -mint bangle - neon skull - pyramids - bolts - green leather and chain - neon glitter ID - chain and rhinestone balls


Let me know what you think! I'll be arm party shopping this week and I'll show you how it goes!


Stay Glam!

Fashion DIY- Color Block Belt

Here is another DIY and a great solution to a problem I have. I have an annoying number of skinny brown belts in my closet from pairs of shorts, dresses and skirts that I bought. If you know what I'm talking about, you'll know most of them look very cheap and I usually just use the skinny belts I bought separately. This is an easy way to revamp a belt!

Here's what I started with: 

**I used sparkly string because I love sparkles, but you could do any color combo!

Step 1: krazyglue the first color string to the back of the belt, wait until it dries

Step 2: wrap the string around the belt keeping it pretty tight

Step 3: krazyglue the top half of the back belt and stick the string there until it's dry (this is just to make things easier on you) and tie a knot with the next color you want to use

Step 4: krazyglue the knot and the first wrap of the new color then start the process again

Step 5: when you reach the holes, you can stop as pictured or keep going (I kept going) If you chose to stop just krazyglue the strand to the back and you're done!

Step 6: if you keep going wrap up to the hole or holes you will want to leave available and glue the strand before the hole and cut the string

Step 7: krazyglue on the other side of the hole and start the process again

Step 8: when you reach the end, krazyglue the last 1/4 in and wrap til you can't anymore

YOU'RE DONE!

And now you have a glam belt to wear with a fun summer outfit! (Excuse my creepy boyfriend in the background)

**I just want to warn you- this takes a while and it's pretty tedious. I suggest putting in a good movie and wrap while you watch or sit outside and soak up some sun. I did both.

DIY- monogram koozie

Since I joined Pinterest, I've bought a ton a craft supplies because there are a bunch of DIYs that I've wanted to try out. I end up getting random supplies that don't actually work together though. So today I went to the craft store with something specific in mind.


Altouhgh I wasn't going with the intention of getting koozies, I found a purple and a pink sparkly pair and couldn't say no. Not that they need much jazzing up but I wanted to personalize them a bit more. I had puffy glitter paint and decided monograms would work perfectly. 




Here's what I started with:

Step 1: Find a font you like and practice writing it in a size that fits the koozie. (I chose this font)

Step 2: Once you have that down, draw it onto the koozie in marker (I used permanent which ended up sorta messing up mine, but the one for Heater came out great!)

Step 3: Use the puff paint to follow the letters and voila! 

As you can see mine (the one one the right) ended up slightly less awesome than I had hoped. But really, when everyone's drinking no one will notice!


These are really cheap, and would be great for a bachelorette, bridal shower or as part of a summer gift basket.

Things I Bought Today

Sales will be the death of me! I’m trying so hard not to buy anything! I don’t need any more clothes, or shoes, or jewelry, or makeup but I couldn’t help myself.

There are a ton of sales going on right now. Here are some sites to check out-

Express

lulu's

Dorothy Perkins

Venus

Aldo

Victoria's Secrect (their semi-annual sale)

Last Call Neiman Marcus

Ann Taylor Loft

 

I LOVE this swim top from Vicky’s in all three color options and I’ve seen these heels (to the left) all over Pinterest and I LOVE them!

I have an aldo store in my mall so I will be checking out the in-store options before I order online but at Express I bought this leopard dress (on the right and this sequin skirt.

I am currently checking out Dorothy Perkins jewelry and I’m probably going to end up with these these gold cuff bracelets and I bought this bracelet, (on left) minus the pearls, last week but I really like the pearl/spike combo!

Happy shopping and happy weekend!

Casual Friday

I thought I'd try out the outfit picture post. Casual Friday isn't really an event in my office. We're pretty casual everyday but this is a great casual outfit for work or for a lunch date on a weekend or since it's so comfy, swap the heels for flats and run all those errands that I typically leave until Sunday night. I also loved this outfit because most it cost under $30! That is mostly because my best friend gave me the jeans and my sister gave me the shirt. BUT the jeans I'm wearing are here from Express (which is having a sale by the way) and right now they're buy one get one 50% off!


I'm wearing a mint layered top and although I'm not sure where it's from I do know mint is everywhere! Here is a very close option and here is another one I really like.


My sweater is from Urban Behavior from a few years ago but this one seems like it would be similar in weight (mines very thin) This would also be a cute option. I really like that coral color with mint, but you don't want too many ruffles or you'll look wider than you want to.


The shoes I have on in this picture are the ones I wore to the wedding over Memorial Day Weekend. They're sold out but I posted some options in Back From Outerspace 

Rainy Wednesdays

We’ve had rain here EVERY Wednesday for the past 5 weeks. This Wednesday was no exception. I tend to get pretty upset when I can’t wear heels so finding rain boots I liked was difficult. I actually got very lucky and found a pair of Patent Marc By Marc Jacobs (my favorite!) boots that aren’t really rain boots, but they’re waterproof and calf height so they work wonderfully for most rainy days. Unfortunately they are sold out at DSW and it seems like that is the only place that they were sold!

Here are a pair of actual rainboots from Marc at DSW that are super cute tho.

If I hadn’t found those boots when I did I would have bought a pair of Hunter rainboots in graphite or royal purple (vermillion is a great color too) in the ‘Original Tall’ High Gloss style. Here is the official website but I would have bought them from Nordstorm.

Here are a bright option that are very cute from Sperry and here are a leopard print pair that would look great with a black trench raincoat.

For a rain boot with a not-so-obvious look, Hunter sells this ‘Cece’ rain boot which I love in black/café (on left).

TIP: Something I’ve learned the hard way- if you’re going to buy something expensive, or inexpensive really, if they have it available at Nordstorm, GET IT THERE! They have amazing customer service and what they sell they stand behind. I hate the horror stories people have about returns like buying a $150 pair of shoes and having a strap break but because you wore them you can’t return/exchange them.

Try and keep your hair, satin blouses (which I stupidly wore today) and socks dry and remember- just because it’s rainy doesn’t mean you can’t look glamorous!

Day of Dads

When holidays start creeping up I typically jump right online and virtually shop for everyone on my list. Inevitably my dad, uncles and boyfriend’s dad are the hardest people to shop for. Of course when Father’s Day comes up I kind of freak out. So in an attempt to keep myself on track and maybe help you out a bit I put together this easy list of last minute ideas of what to get for the Dad’s in your life.

1.       Concert/Event/Sports Tickets

• Check live nation, ticket master, and stub hub for tickets. My boyfriend and his sister got tickets for them and their parents to see Bruce Springsteen play at Fenway. Especially awesome since dad's favorite team is the Sox!

2.       Media/Gadget Stuff

• Going to stores like Brookstone, FYE, and Best Buy you can find the latest tech gear. Keep in mind that doesn't mean you have to spend a ton- iPhone cases, game controllers/add-ons, and music and DVDs are cheap enough that it won't break the bank (which I'm sure your Dad wouldn't want anyway)

3.       Outdoorsy Things

• Stuff like grilling sets, gardening tools, or drills and such are all great gifts (if your Dad likes that kind of stuff) Not only are the tools important but so is the organization- handy places to keep all his man-stuff is pretty useful

4.       Home(or semi-home)made

• This is where the creative side kicks in. Things like "coupons" for chores, help and activities are great, or a certificate with the same idea. Another great idea is a framed photo from when you were a kid and a similar one of when your Dad was that age. (I may do that!)

If you want to check online and pay for express shipping, gifts.com have a ton of great ideas. I actually got this Grill Daddy Grill Cleaner for my dad since we got him a new grill last year and he despises cleaning it.

There are a million things to get Dad's but they are the hardest people to buy for! I mean you could always get him a restaurant gift certificate and an iPad. 

Back from Outerspace

Ok so I wasn’t really in outerspace but I’ve been sort of all over the place, I had a wedding weekend over Memorial Day and then moved out of my apartment the next weekend and last weekend I was trying to get my life back together. No excuse really but I’m sure you’ll find it in your hearts to forgive me. Of course even though I took a break from blogging I clearly didn’t take a break from shopping.

 

This is the dress I bought. I ordered it from Nordstrom a while ago and I loveeee it. It's super comfortable and appropriate for any wedding (the high neckline and not-too-short length). You can find it here in a few different colors. (I think I may actually buy the coral one too!) The great part about this dress is it's totally wearable to dinner dates, holiday parties or any event really. In my picture it looks more teal but I think it was just exceptionally bright out when we were taking pictures.

I searched EVERYWHERE for a pair of earrings to go with my dress and shoes I bought for the wedding. Since the dress is one shoulder and I wore my hair up (my guy liked the updo rather than leaving it down) I knew I had to find fun, and eyecatching earrings. My shoes also had embellishments on them and I wasn’t willing to switch my shoes so the earring hunt became an issue. I ended up with the ones I'm wearing on the left which I found at Francescas Collections (in store). (similar here and here) They ended up looking great but I bought these as a dangle option. (I kept them both obviously)

 

Somehow I got through the entire night without getting a great outfit shot but this one helps you get the picture. (No pun intended)

I also did a more dramatic eye for the evening reception than for the afternoon ceremony. Using darker green on the crease and the outer half of the lid and a light green on the inner half of the lid with gold under the brow and under my bottom lashes. 

The shoes were a lucky find. I got them in the DSW clearance rack, for $12 with coupons! I swear that place is magic. Unfortunately they are sold out but they have very similar ones here and I actually almost bought these instead. I’m only 5’1 so I typically go with pretty high heels but wearing the same pair of shoes for 10 or more hours can be pretty problematic. I went with shorter heels and I brought a pair gel insoles and some flats so I wouldn’t be end up barefoot.

It is wedding season and I have another one coming up and I promise I’ll make some time to keep you in the loop!