I took a bit of a baking break before and after our cruise but now we're back in the game! In this roundup I was able to use my Le Creuset tarte dish and classic pie dish, items I don't use often because I'm not a huge fan of pies or tarts, haha! 

 

Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart 

I have had this recipe saved for quite a while to make and just never got around to it. Finally decided to make it for a somewhat last minute "big game" get together. I don't really care about football but I go for the food, ha ha. This was fairly easy to make, but I had some difficulty with the crust at first because Christian and I are used to making pie crust, not tart crust, so when the recipe said to keep pulsing the dough in the food processor until it came into a ball it seemed like it wasn't working and not coming together. But we just had to leave it going for a whiiiiile. This was my first real time making caramel, so that was fun. And ganache is old news at this point, so easy to make (and so good!) This one came out a little thin, but I went with it. 

 

Life Changing Chocolate Pie

This was our Valentine's Day dessert. It was super easy to make, no baking involved, but very expensive becasue of the price of chocolate these days. Worth it for a special occasion though! I needed to make the whipped cream a little stiffer and the filling was a little loose overall but it was delicious! We still have one slice left each as of writing this paragraph...yum!! 

Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Yogurt Muffins

These popped up on Instagram and Christian always has Greek yogurt on hand for breakfast so I decided to whip these up. I DO NOT like yogurt, but luckily you can't really taste it in this recipe. I could tell something was a little different but it didn't gross me out too much so I call that a win, ha ha! The recipe uses maple syrup and extra virgin olive oil as well, very interesting! I will definitely be keeping these in the rotation, super easy and "healthy."

Whipped Cream Dream Cake

 

Date Night Chocolate Fudge Cake for 2

Made this to use a little bit more of the leftover heavy cream from the other bakes! They were easy and pretty tasty. I still prefer chocohotopots because they are even easier and I love the texture of them more. These got a little too cakey for me, which is what they're supposed to be so nothing wrong with the recipe, just my preference.

 

Madeleines

I got myself a madeleine pan just after Christmas and have been trying to find the perfect combo of recipe and method to get the perfect bake with tall humps. I trolled reddit for tips and even watched a youtube video where someone tried a ton of recipes. I decided to do orange zest instead of lemon for all my attempts. So far I have tried recipes from Daniel Boloud and Sally's Baking. I have been starting them at 450 and then lowering the temp to 350 after they start to puff up a bit.

My first attempt was Daniel's and I overfilled them so I think that contributed to them not having humps; a few of them had small ones. The first time I tried Sally's recipe exactly as written they didn't get humps and were very light in color. The next time I followed tips I had found for cooking the batter in the fridge, filling the molds and then freezing the pan before baking. When I did that method her batter was too crumbly after refrigerating BUT the did have humps! My next attempt will be Daniel Boloud again and I will fill them less and freeze for longer before baking. 

 

2 months into the new year already, wow... No new clothing items purchased this month, but I may be going to Roundabout tomorrow after an appointment so that might change and I'll update, haha! I did do a sponsored post that resulted in a couple new pieces! A pair of gorgeous Marilyn Monroe inspired earrings as well as a pearl necklace that hasn't arrived yet (made to order)

Christian and I don't usually go crazy for Valentine's Day, especially on the actual day. Normally I just make one of our favorite dinners and a fun dessert and then we might go out for a fancier than normal dinner on the weekend. Since Valentine's Day was on Saturday this year we went out for a lunch date in Mystic. 

Before we get to the activities of the day, let's talk about my outfit! I decided to pile on some of my favorite jewelry from Aurate. They have everything from dainty diamond necklaces and gold rings to pearls, gemstones and more! There's something in every price range and style. My favorites are their earrings. 90% of the time I'm wearing a pair of Aurate earrings, I wear them in the shower, to sleep, everything! 

For those of you that are new to Aurate, here's a quick intro. Their mission is to offer sustainable, ethical handmade jewelry at affordable prices. They use recycled gold, ethically-sourced diamonds, and sustainably harvested pearls. The pieces are handmade by artisans, not a machine churning out hundreds a day. I've been a fan since 2018 so I have amassed quite the collection and gifted pieces to family members as well!  

It's still very cold around here so my coat was the major part of my outfit, ha ha. I wore my Burberry coat since it is bright red, perfect for Valentine's Day (and Christmas.) Normally I'll wear some form of red as part of my outfit to be festive but this year I just wore a comfy sweater, jeans and loafers since my coat took care of the red. I got these shoes for Christmas and haven't really had a chance to wear them because of all the snow and slush.

On our day date we headed to Mystic, one of the cutest towns in Connecticut. We decided to try a new restaurant this time and headed to The Port of Call. But before lunch we took a stroll around Old Mistick Village, there are so many cute shops we love to stop in - especially the olive oil & honey store, Sticky Situations. We made it out without spending any money in that store but we did walk away with donuts from Deviant Donuts. 

Sweater: Rachel Zoe (Marshalls) 

Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)

Bag: Chanel Classic 2.55 Double Flap (Madison Avenue Couture)  

Shoes: Sam Edelman Kyana Loafer in Plum Wine Suede (DSW)

Coat: Burberry Brit Wool Minstead Duffle Coat In Military Red via Marijane Boutique 

Jewelry c/o Aurate: Crossover Ring, Pearl & Gold Bar Stud Earring, Pearl Stud Earring, Simple Pearl Bracelet, Medium Paperclip Chain Bracelet, Toi et Moi Gemstone Mini Heirloom Ring with Citrine & Amethyst, and Pearl Lariat Necklace (no longer available)

Shop the outfit:

A look at the rest of our day: 

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*This post was made in partnership with Responsival.*

The end of the month sure snuck up on me! I didn't make any new clothing purchases this month, but I did pick up some new undergarments from Soma and Victoria's Secret during sales. Always nice to start the new year fresh, ha ha. I almost bought a couple pairs of pants (jeans + cargo pants) from The Outnet earlier in the month but when I went to actually make the purchase later in the day the price of both items jumped up in my cart but not on the product page, very annoying! Chat was of no help so I stood my ground and resisted because they weren't necessities. At the extra sale price they would have been worth it.

I had my eye on a few pieces to add to my wardrobe last year, but this year I don't really think there's anything specific I want. I may get a couple new bathing suits, because all of mine are years old, and Summer dresses/tops, but otherwise I think I'm pretty set. Of course there will probably be a few random things that catch my eye. It's hard for me to say no to a really cute sweater.  

Last September after I went to the zoo with my best friend and her daughter I upgraded my ticket to an annual pass for Christian and I! We've always talked about getting a pass for this zoo because it's close to home and the perfect place for a morning walk on the weekends. We went the weekend after New Years to get some steps and fresh air. 

I put some comfortable arch support inserts from PowerStep in my favorite Winter boots. I have walked miles and miles in these boots and the inserts really help make it painless. They fit in so man of my shoes so it's nice to be able to move them to whatever pair I'm waring for the day. To make them even cozier (and warmer) I added some fur FlatSocks! 

We spent a couple hours walking around the Beardsley Zoo and saw some of our favorite animals! The American Red and Mexican wolves were enjoying a snack so they were super active and we spent a lot of time with the adorable Red Pandas! I also finally got a good view of the Brazilian Ocelot, it's always been napping out of view when I'm there. It may have been cold but the zoo does have a few indoor areas so we could warm back up while still enjoying the animals. 

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Sweater: Mīere the Label women's cotton knit sweater in terracotta

Jeans: J Brand 811 Mid Rise Skinny Leg Jean in Moral (Gilt Groupe)

Boots: Vintage Snowland Moccasin Ankle Boots (from Grandma - their first appearance)

Bag:  Loewe Mini Puzzle Bag in Pomodoro red classic calfskin

Purple Coat: Greylin Longline Shirt Jacket in purple (Anthropologie)

Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop   

Scarf: Madewell Houndstooth Patchwork Scarf

Ombre Hat: Disney World

Here's a peek at my shoe insole stack!

Happy end of December and end of 2025. Let us hope that 2026 is a better year. 

In the meantime, I got a couple new items of clothing for Christmas! A purple cardigan top and some purple loafers!

Hello!! We've got an interesting assortment of bakes for this roundup! Some holiday bakes and random "I'm in the mood for this" items.  I hope everyone had a great holiday season and is ready for New Years Eve! We will be having jukn food at home on the evening and then depending on weather will smoke some meat or make pizza on New Years Day! 

Fudgy Brown Butter Brownies

I wanted to make something quick-ish and easy and these brownies fit the bill! I don't think I had the right type of dry milk powder, because my mixture was a little chunky, but the flavor was still amazing and the texture worked itself out during baking.  

Moelleux au Chocolat 

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Apple Cider Cake

I have made this cake multiple times and it always comes out great. The first time in a loaf pan and some mini cake pans, the next few in my bundt pan. I made the glaze for the first time, normally I skip it to make it a little less sugary, ha ha.  They always came out a little short because my bundt pan is a 12-cup capacity and the recipe is for 10-cups. This time I decided to scale up the recipe to see how it would turn out. That did the trick, obviously. Now I'm going to have to scale up all my other bundt cake recipes! 

This is the bundt pan I use and, as mentioned above, its a 12-cup capacity. Note: I bought a bundt cake keeper a few years ago and it comes in really handy for storing and taking the bundt with me somewhere. I also put other baked goods in it to keep them air tight.

Gingerbread Cookies

Confession: I have never made gingerbread before. I just don't really care for the flavor or super crunchy texture. I decided to finally try Jenna's recipe because she said on Instagram that it wasn't too "spicy" and wasn't dry. I actually kind of enjoy them! Plus they were fun to decorate.

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Raspberry Frangipane Bars

I have had this recipe in my "to make" folder for a while and thought it would make a nice Christmas treat! It was fairly simple to make and I really enjoyed them! There were so many desserts at our celebration that we ended up with a bunch leftover. Fine by me! Ha ha. I didn't get a great photo of the finished bars because we were crazy with celebrations, so we'll have to go with these.

Pizza (King Arthur Baking Class recipe)

I'm going to count this as baking, because it went in an oven! But not the regular oven... my parents surprised me with an Ooni Koda 2 pizza oven for Christmas! I wish my mom caught my face on camera when I opened the box because I'm sure I looked nuts. Of course our first order of business the day after Christmas was heading to BJs to get a propane tank and fill it up so we could use the oven! 

Our first pizza was a bit of a fail because we don't have a pizza turner yet (this was a test to see what accessories we actually needed, haha!) and it was too big to turn with a small grilling spatula. So we split the next ball of dough I had made in four to make mini pizzas that were much more manageable! I can't wait to try a bigger pizza once we get our tuner!

For our second Thanksgiving I was able to dress up a little bit more since we'd be at my Aunt's house with no dogs to jump on me, ha ha. I had wanted to wear this outfit back in October for my birthday trip to Woodstock but figured it would be impractical for walking around and saved it for Thanksgiving! 

For holidays - or any day really - I always love to break out my Aurate jewelry! They've got everything from beautiful gold rings and gemstone jewelry to diamonds! For this look I stacked a couple of my station necklaces and wore my pearl studs. If you're still on the hunt for the perfect gift for a loved one I highly suggest checking on their offerings! There's something for every budget and I am always complimented on my pieces. I grabbed my sister a cute pair of pearl drop earrings!

This is my first time wearing these booties since I got them fixed at the cobbler! When I bought them over 10 years ago they had some wrinkles in the insole so I got them "cheap" and thought I could get past the annoyance. But I found the more I wore them the wrinkles were too big to ignore. So they sat mostly unworn until I finally brought them to the cobbler this year! They aren't perfectly smooth now, but much better than before! Excited to wear them more often again!

Also broke out my vintage leather skirt. I found a very similar skirt that you can buy, it might actually be exact. When I bought this skirt in 2013 (for $10 at Coco's on the Green!) it was actually midi length but I had my Mom shorten it because it overwhelmed me. The skirt I found looks much l like my original and could be shortened to get the same effect!

I expected it to be a little chilly on our drive home so I grabbed my Burberry coat too!  This and my Prada bag are two of Christian's favorite pieces I own. He likes to say he talked me into buying them, ha ha. I almost didn't buy the coat because I didn't need one, but I did really want it. So the fact that he really liked it pushed me to splurge. So he did make me feel less bad about my decisions ;)

Sweater: Marc by Marc Jacobs cropped sweater (The RealReal) 

Leather Skirt: Sienna Studio (Coco's on the Green)

Lace-Up Suede Booties: Gianvito Rossi 'Finlay' lace-up boot (Marshalls)

Bag: Purple Prada Cahier in Viola (Rebag via Vestiaire Collective)

Coat: Burberry Brit Wool Minstead Duffle Coat In Military Red via Marijane Boutique

Earrings c/o Aurate Pearl Studs (rose gold)  

Necklaces c/o Aurate Organic Pearl Station Necklace & Endless Gemstone Station Necklace in Rose Quartz

Shop the look: 

We had a couple different Thanksgiving celebrations this year, as we do most years. First was at my Mom's with just my siblings; this year we also had my sister-in-law's brother and girlfriend over. Since there would be dogs and lots of food at this gathering I went with a comfortable outfit of jeans and a sweater. 

I've been wanting to break out these old Free People flares for a while but I need to wear them with tall shoes so it had to be for a special occasion. They are so fun and always make me feel very tall! I think the last time they made it on the blog was 2019, yikes! Their first appearance was September 2011, so they're 14 years old! I was able to find a couple on eBay and linked them below if you want a pair!

Funnily enough, the major pieces are all from Marshalls throughout the years. Funny when that happens!

Sweater: Marled (Marshalls)

Jeans: Free People (Marshalls) 

Pumps: Coach 'Nacie' pump in burgundy (Marshalls)

Bag: Chloé Alphabet Mini Saddle Bag in Red and Brown leather (ebay)

Necklace c/o Aurate Aura Beaded Necklace 

Necklace c/o Aurate Toi et Moi Gemstone Heirloom Ring