Closet Fashionista

Time for part 4 of my baking escapades! This only covers through Thanksgiving so I'll share my "holiday" bakes later. Sadly I didn't make much over the holidays, must have been burnout. Have you been trying any new recipes (baked or non) lately? Or maybe you've tried takeout at some local restaurants you hadn't tried before to help the local economy?

Chocolate Coconut Blondies

This might be the favorite recipe discovered during quarantine. I tried it to make use of some coconut I wanted to finish up and after I made it I bought 2 more bags so I could make them again and again! Christian is obsessed as well. I'm not usually a blondie fan but I think the fact that it's chocolate, coconut and a perfect mix of crispy and gooey converted me. We use all different sized chocolate chips so it adds even more texture. Make these, you won't regret it.

2-Hour No Knead Bread

This is becoming a weekly staple in the house. Christian is working from home for a few months (hopefully longer) he doesn't need regular sandwich bread so I switched over to this crusty no-knead bread to have with fried eggs. It's super simple and easy! You'll need a dutch oven to cook it but it's very simple.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had never made cookies with browned butter before. I didn't know what I was missing! These are SO GOOD. I only made half the recipe when I made them because it used a lot of butter and I didn't want to waste it if I didn't like them. Next time I'll be baking a full batch - and buying some chocolate wafers to get even more melty chocolate (we used chocolate chips and chunks since we had them on hand.)

Easy Baked Glazed Chocolate Donuts

I was always afraid of making donuts. Just like with bagels they seemed too hard. I started my donut journey by trying out a simple baked chocolate donut. They came out really good except for our icing job, we need to figure out the right consistency. Maybe next time I'll be brave and try FRIED donuts. I'm also going to try these Cinnamon Braided Donuts very soon (maybe even before this post goes live.)

Easy Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Christian grew lavender in our garden this year and I decided I should try cooking and/or baking with it. I searched for an easy recipe to do and came upon these shortbread cookies. The texture is amazing! Some bites were a little too perfumey for me but overall these were a nice change from my usual chocolate desserts! And they're pretty.

Mini Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookies

Pretty basic oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies. I didn't have the right size mini cast iron skillet for these and they were annoying to clean so I probably won't remake these as the baker says they won't cook the same if they aren't in a skillet. But they were tasty!

And of course we have remade some of our favorite recipes as well.

Pizza Express Dough Balls and Homemade Pizza with King Arthur Flour pizza crust recipe

Two easy things we've remade a bunch of times. The dough balls are super easy (I just need to get better at cutting them) and I'm getting better at the pizza crust recipe. Sometimes I stretch it too much and it gets too thin, whoops!

We pair the dough balls with garlic butter or - even better - with our favorite pesto from the local farmer's market! If you're in Connecticut see if they sell near you! It's $8 but well worth it!

Pizza is similar, we LOVE making a chicken pesto pizza (but I'll also settle for pepperoni!) This time we topped with chicken, pesto, caramelized onions, sweet piquante peppers and pepperoncini peppers (Christian's half.) Delish!

It's the last wardrobe update of 2020! And last post too. What a wild year it has been.

I almost made it through the month without a purchase and then J.Crew Factory did a 75% off clearance sale so I picked up a few things on the 27th, still waiting for them to arrive. I got 2 leopard tops (because I'm addicted) and a purple men's sweater (that I also got Christian for Christmas) because I can never find a good dark purple in women's clothes! I used ad money so I don't feel too bad.

A couple items for a sponsored post in February also arrived. Now I have a whole month to take the photos, woohoo!

THE (modified) RULES

Be mindful of purchases
Quality over quantity
Basics are best

MY PROGRESS

Clothes:

FARM Rio Amazonian Ombre Mini Wrap Dress c/o Shopbop ($127.50, retail $170)
Burberry beaded owl sweater via eBay ($75, retail $2950 in 2012)
Stella McCartney Wild Cat Skinny Ankle Jeans via eBay ($15 after ad money, retail $735)
Ba&sh "Perla" dress in Green Light c/o Shopbop ($236.25, retail $630)
Nili Lotan Cashmere Abbey Sweater c/o Shopbop ($133.88, retail $525)
Mickey Mouse Football Jersey in purple ($28; used gift card)
Disney State Fair Connecticut Tee ($17.47; used gift card)
*NEW!* J.Crew Leopard Terry Sweatshirt ($12.50, used ad money, retail $49.99)
*NEW!* J. Crew leopard cotton tee ($6.25, used ad money, retail $24.99)

Basics:

J Brand 811 Mid Rise Skinny Leg Jean in Moral ($0 after $25 credit & ad money, retail $228)
Madewell Camp Shorts in Faded Rosebud c/o Shopbop ($35, retail $50)
*NEW!* J.Crew Washable merino wool-blend crewneck sweater in aubergine ($15,used ad money, retail $59.99)

Shoes:

Ancient Greek Sandals 'Clara' Sandal c/o Shopbop ($221.25, retail $295)
Sperry Rio Aqua Slip-On Sneaker ($14.83 via DSW, retail $64.99)
Ancient Greek Sandals 'Faye' embellished leather sandals via Net-a-Porter Sale ($112, retail $289; used side hustle money)
Ancient Greek Sandals 'Clio' leopard-print leather slingback sandals via Net-a-Porter Sale ($74, retail $185; used side hustle money)
Marc by Marc Jacobs buckle boot in burgundy via Cocos On the Green ($48, retail $495; used ad money)

Handbags:

Madewell Medium Slim Saddle Bag c/o Shopbop ($118.50, retail $158)
3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli Medium shoulder bag in Nile Shark Embossed Leather via Bag, Borrow or Steal ($220, retail $895)

Accessories:

Ray Ban 'Erika' Sunglasses in Havana c/o Shopbop (retail $163)
Shashi Princess Leia Necklace c/o Shopbop ($55)

Activewear:

SPANX Look At Me Now Seamless Leggings in Indigo Leopard c/o Shopbop ($68)

Gifted from Brands:

AUrate Pearl Studs in Rose Gold (retail $150)
AUrate Medium Chain Bracelet in Rose Gold (retail $50)
AUrate Gold Twist Huggie Earrings (retail $80)
AUrate Stackable Twist Ring (retail $80)
AUrate Mini Infinity Ring (retail $70)
*NEW!* AUrate x Kerry Lioness Pendant (retail $150)
*NEW!* AUrate Infinity Heart Ring (retail $80)

Total spent in December: $0

Total spent in 2020: $324.83

Total in 2020 with ad money and gift cards included: 1895.99 (1,158.38 was Shopbop gift cards)

Christian decided to do some experimenting with these photos and I love the way they turned out! This Autumn Cashmere landscape sweater remains one of my favorite pieces in my closet. It's super soft and the print makes it fun! Perfect for an afternoon walk in the park. Right after we finished these photos the clouds rolled in so we caught the lighting at the perfect time!

I brought my new Phillip Lim Pashli bag even though I didn't need it because it hasn't been worn yet (I bought it in September!) and I thought it deserved a proper blog debut!

Sadly I can't find this sweater anywhere for resale BUT I was able to find a ton of similar styles on etsy and ebay!

Sweater: Autumn Cashmere Landscape Sweater, Pants: abercrombie + fitch corduroy pants, Mules: Franco Sarto 'Dolly' (DSW), Sunglasses: Gucci Aviators (bought in Italy), Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli Medium shoulder bag in Nile Shark Embossed Leather (Bag, Borrow or Steal)

It's been a while since I've done a baking roundup on the blog! The last one was in June, whoops! (and check out part one.) I was going to share in order of what I made but then I decided since I made so many pecan recipes I would group them together for this post (plus some misc. recipes)

Maple Oatmeal Sticky Buns - my Aunt's recipe

I'm a big cinnamon bun fan and this recipe is one of my favorites (although I haven't tried to make many on my own.) I prefer maple sticky buns to ones with frosting - unless we're talking about tube cinnamon buns or Cinnabon at the mall, YUM!

My aunt's recipe uses a bit of oats for added texture. This was the first time I made them without my Mom and I followed the recipe and only rolled the buns out to 10x4. Next time I'm going to roll it out more so there will be more swirls.

Butter Pecan Sheet Cake

This is one of two recipes I found a week or so before Thanksgiving that I decided to make. I ordered a couple bags of pecans to prepare and set out on my mission! I tried this recipe first because I figured I would like the second one better (it included chocolate!) I only made half the recipe because it used a LOT of butter. It was really tasty and a nice light dessert, we could have had it for breakfast too.

Brown Sugar Maple Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Here's the second recipe I made Thanksgiving week. Christian and I made it together for our solo Thanksgiving celebration. I really love this recipe because I love pecan pie filling but not pie crust (I'm weird) so having the cookie-like crust on the bottom made this the perfect combo. Plus - who doesn't love chocolate chips!?

Braided Pesto Bread - my own concoction

Christian and I attempted to make pesto with basil from our garden but unfortunately it didn't come out too great (we didn't have enough basil) and the cheese was too chunky - I don't like cheese to begin with. SO I decided to make pesto bread out of it! I used a super simple bread dough (1 cup warm water, 2 tsp yeast, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp salt,) rolled it out, spooned on the pesto, rolled it up, cut it in half and braided it before making it into a circle.

Sugar Cookies

I wanted to use up some shortening we had from when I made beignets earlier in the year and decided to see how it would work in a sugar cookie. A super simple, easy treat!

Chocohotopots

Something I make all the time and one of my favorite easy desserts! All you need is butter, chocolate, eggs, flour and sugar. I made these on my birthday with new Mickey Mouse ramekins Christian got me, so cute!

Dutch Baby Pancake - various recipes (I think I used this one)

We love having breakfast for dinner and some nights I feel like making it extra special. I've made a few dutch baby pancakes and they get better each time! I don't think I've mastered the art yet but at least they taste good!

I can't believe it is already December. For the first time in what feels like forever, I'm sharing an outfit! This year has been so strange and I hate that I haven't been sharing many outfits. But I haven't been going many places other than the grocery store and when we do that Christian doesn't want to stop off to take photos very often. I wore this for an outside distanced visit with my parents and siblings in early November. It was nice to be around people besides Christian for a change, ha ha.

P.S. How gorgeous is this tree? My parents planted it the year my sister was born so its 2 years older than me, ha ha. It always looks super pretty in Fall.

Vest: Ella Moss 'Nico Faux Fur Vest' (Marshalls), Striped Sweater: Madewell waffle knit sweater, Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop), Ankle Books: Vince Camuto 'Davilla' (Marshalls), Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop

I can't believe it's December tomorrow. We've spent over 8 months of the year being socially distanced from the world and it's strange to know that it will continue at least a few more months. It's had an interesting impact on my shopping. On one hand I don't need anything new since I'm not going anywhere. But on the other, shopping is one of my hobbies so I still find myself window shopping online for pieces I've wanted for years or just anything new.

I didn't buy any clothes in November but I did splurge on a Cuddle Clone of Layla during their $60 off sale (and have to wait 8 weeks for them to make/ship her) and got some new beauty supplies from Sephora's Black Friday sale (plus a random 20% off coupon I got!)