Neons

 A huge trend this spring is neons. At first, I wasn't crazy about this loud new trend, but I've come around and actually love it now! It all started with my purchase of the J. Crew striped/neon color blocked tee pictured above. Its a subtle way of embracing the trend without being too loud. After shopping this weekend, I saw a ton of cute neon clothes and accessories that I'm itching to buy. The main neon items I want this spring are neon nail polishes, fun neon sandals, and bright blue pants. I especially love the new Essie polish color "lights" and the blue khakis from Gap I saw this weekend (both pictured above).

I purchased this Gap tee, which is gray in the front and neon pink color blocked on the back. It was steal at only $10 with a rewards coupon. I love it!

Favorite Nail Polishes

Alissa and I love nail polish. We love to try out new colors and new nail trends. It's kind of an obsession. Earlier this week, I dumped all my nail polishes out on my bed to decide what color to use. My roommate was weighing in on the decision and asked me what a few colors were called. She loved how I knew the names by heart, so I had her quiz me on all the color's names. She was slightly distrubed that I only missed 5 out of around 30 colors. I love and use all my polishes, but I always seem to favor a select few. It was a hard decision, but here are the my top colors, in no particular order.
Essie 'Island Hopping'. I love this grayish-purple color. Its unique and I get tons of compliments on it.

Essie 'Status Symbol'. You always need a classic bubble gum pink color, especially in the summer.

OPI 'My Private Jet'. I like the idea of black nails, but they always seem to look goth. The sparkles in this color make it fun instead of scary.

Essie 'Watermelon'. This is a favorite for my toes. Its bright and cheerful.

Essie 'Sassy Satchel'. I love to break this out in the late fall and winter. The deep red color is a nice contrast with my pale skin.

OPI 'You Don't Know Jacques'. I love this color and wear it all year around.

Essie 'Chinchilly'. Chinchilly may be my favorite nail polish right now. I always graviate toward it.

What are your favorite nail polish colors?

Inside My Make-up Bag

Alissa inspired me to do my own make-up bag post. I love seeing what kind of make-up my friends, Alissa, and my Mom use. It always makes me want to try new products!

1. My make-up bag is from Victoria Secret

2. Visine A eye drops. I use these every morning to wake up my tired, red eyes. They also take the redness out of pimples.

3. Sephora eye shadow in Exciting Safari.

4. Lorac Baked Eye Shadow Trio in Superstar

5. Styli-Style flat eye liner pencil in Berlin

6. Sephora eye lash curler

7. Sephora eye brow/lash brush to separate my lashes before mascara and smooth my brows

8. Maybelline Falsies Volum' Express mascara in Blackest Black

9. Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer spf 20 in Porcelain.

10. Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer in Light Golden

11. Bare Minerals Bisque in 1B to cover up any marks/pimples

12. Body Shop bronzer stick (Shade 01)

13. Tweezer Man tweezers

Girl Scout Cookies

It's officially Girl Scout Cookie season!! My two favorites are Thin Mints and Somoas. I actually don't think I've even tried the other ones. Thin Mints and Somoas are enough to keep me happy!

I've been on the look out for Girl Scouts selling cookies at my local Walmart and Kroger, but unfortunately, I have yet to come across any. I went on the Girl Scout website and found a tool where you can put in your zip code and the site will tell you where and when Girl Scouts will be selling cookies (http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/). They aren't selling cookies in my area until Febuary 24th. I don't know if I can wait that long. In the meantime, I might just have to buy these Girl Scout Cookie ice cream flavors to hold me over.

Yum!

I came across these Girl Scout Cookie lip balm made by Lip Smackers at Walmart last weekend. I totally forgot about Lip Smackers! I had a huge collection. I would have gone crazy over these!

What's your favorite Girl Scout Cookie flavor? Have you gotten your hands on any cookies yet??

S'mores Recipes

I am highly obsessed with s'mores. I seriously love them and anything resembling them. Fortunately, Alissa also shares my fondness for s'mores and we have made some really good s'mores recipes.

These three recipes are my favorite s'mores creations.
S'mores cookies are a staple and a favorite of Alissa and mine. We follow the recipe at
http://www.sprinkledwithflour.com/2011/01/smores-cookies.html.

We recently made s'mores cookie bars and blogged about them a few weeks ago. Seriously so good! http://www.lovintheoven.com/2008/12/day-11-smores-cookie-bars.html

I made these s'mores brownies over the summer and loved them. My mom thought they were too rich, but I don't really think that's possible. http://www.beantownbaker.com/2010/10/smores-brownies.html

Here are some s'mores recipes I've been eyeing. Maybe Alissa and I will try a few out when I visit her for spring break.

S'mores cake in a jar. Looks very promising. http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/04/smores-cake-in-a-jar/

S'moretini shooters. These look so good! Marshmallow vodka and Bailey's are in them! Yum!

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/11/smoretini-shooters/

S'mores Martini. Also looks like it could be good! http://www.creative-culinary.com/smores-martini

S'mores milkshake. I don't have a recipe for this one, but I would assume a combination of milk, chocolate/vanilla ice cream, marshmallow fluff, and graham crackers would be involved.

I think I would like a birthday party next year revolving around s'mores. A smorgasbord of s'mores desserts and drinks would be like a dream come true.

Classy Cheetah Print

After stripes, my favorite print to wear is cheetah. I remember in elementary school wearing a velvet black jumper with a cheetah top and a matching velvet cheetah headband. My obsession started early. My mom encouraged my infatuation with cheetah, but made sure I didn't go over the top. My mom is probably one of the classiest dressers I know. Alissa and I got our sense of style from her and strive to maintain her classiness. Here are some of the ways I wear cheetah without looking trashy.
Cheetah flats are such an easy way to incorporate a little fun into an everyday outfit. This is the exact pair I have from Target. I keep the rest of my outfit simple and throw on these shoes to spice it up.

Cheetah print scarves are another great way to wear just a little bit of animal print with an everyday outfit.

Cheetah flats and scarves are good statement accessories, while a cheetah cardigan is more of the focus of the outfit. I just got a cheetah sweater from the Loft for Christmas and love it!

These are some looks from two of my favorite fashion blogs: Kendi Everyday and Cupcakes and Cashmere. I haven't purchased an animal print skirt or dress yet, but I think these outfits are a great example of a fun, classy take on cheetah.

How do you wear animal print?

Favorite Golden Globe Dresses

Last night, the Golden Globes aired. While I find the actual award show boring, I love to look at all the stars' dresses the next day. This year, I found a photo album on people.com that uploaded the stars' pictures as they arrived, so I followed along and picked out my favorite dresses. Here are my top ten dresses of the night, starting with my favorite.
1. Julie Bowen. I thought she looked so pretty. I absolutely love her light pink delicate dress and the little added flair of sequins on the shoulders. I think her retro hair completes the look nicely.

2. Debra Messing. Even though this is just a black dress, I think the details and ruffles are gorgeous. She looks great in it!

3. Kate Beckingsale. Her dress is sparkly and simple, which is one of my favorite looks. She looks great in it too. She followed along with the major trend of the night: light pink/nude colored dresses.

4. Elle Macpherson. Here another light pink dress, but with a twist. She went a little more daring and interesting with the tulle.

5. Charlize Theron. Yet another light pink frock...she made it stand out with the short, ruffle section.

6. Jessica Alba. She looked great in this light purple dress embellished with delicate detailing.

7. Michelle Williams. I tend to go for more classic looks, but Michelle Williams stood out to me. Her dress is unique and different from the others. It not something I would choose, but I think she rocked it and looked great. Plus her pixie hair cut is adorable!

8. Shaliene Woodley. The girl from Secret Life of the American Teenager! Haha. Apparently she is in a major movie with George Clooney and was nominated. I thought her dress was classic and pretty.

9. Evan Rachel Wood. I really do not like her, but I think her dress is interesting. I like the dark green, emerald color and the intense detailing. It looks like her train is made of peacock feathers.

10. Jenna Dewson. I absolutely love the color of her dress, but I just wish it wasn't so see through at the legs! I takes away from the classiness of it.

What was your favorite dress of the night?

My Resolutions for 2012

I was inspired by Alissa's post to set some more resolutions for the year. Here are a few of mine, all health related.

1. Eat more vegetables, especially green vegetables. I want to aim for 2 servings a day.
2. Drink at least 8 cups of water a day.
3. Run 3x a week. My goal for the month of January is to run a total of 30 miles.
4. Get 7.5 hours of sleep a night, which means an 11:00pm bedtime. This one may be hard for me.
5. Take my multi-vitamin and fish oil capsule every day! I am so bad at forgetting.

Green Monster Smoothie

One of my New Year's resolutions is to eat more vegetables, especially green veggies. I do a horrible job of eating green veggies besides lettuce in the cafeteria while away at school. This morning, I decided to get a start on my resolution by making a green monster smoothie for breakfast. It looks disgusting, doesn't it?

It's not as bad as it looks though. I followed a recipe I found at the blog, Full Measure of Happiness, (http://www.fullmeasureofhappiness.com/2011/06/06/cookie-dough-green-monster/) for a cookie dough green monster. The recipe calls for spinach, uncooked oatmeal, a banana, and milk. I figured it would be a good way to start the day and jam in a ton of protein and nutrients.

Too be honest, I didn't love it. It definitely did not taste like cookie dough, but I would probably make it again because its an easy way to get in a few servings of fruit and vegetables. I think it would be better with strawberries or blueberries to mask the spinach taste and make it sweeter. Hopefully, I'll figure out a concoction that works for me.

See, we don't always stuff our faces with carbs and cookies (only most of the time)!

2011 Highlights

The start of 2012 got me thinking about my year in 2011, so I thought I would put together some of my favorite moments of the year. I didn't realize what a fun and busy year it had been until I started going through pictures. Here are my highlights of 2011 in chronological order!
Kicked off the new year by celebrating Jess' 21st birthday in January.

Went to Atlanta during the first week in March for spring break with Alissa.

Celebrating Mardi Gras with Alissa during break. Went to Chattanooga for the second part of break to spend some time with my best friend Rachel.

Anna's 21st birthday in March.

A weekend visit to Atlanta to see Alissa during the first week in April.

Easter at home with Justin and Benny.

Sarah's 21st birthday celebration in April. Dressed up for a college event in April.

Rachel and Hilary visited NJ for a week in May.

New York City trip with the girls to kick off the summer in May.

Lots of beach trips during my summer at home, including two visits from Alissa and one from Justin.

Road trip to Indianapolis for a weekend in August.

A late August Phillies-Reds game in Cincinnati.

Labor Day fireworks with friends.

Craving pumpkins at Beth's house in Columbus.

A fun afternoon at the Yellowsprings street fair in early October.

Celebrating Halloween as Kim Kardashian, stuffed butt and all.

Running my second 5k at the end of October.

Celebrating my 22nd birthday in December.

Christmas with my family was a great way to end the year!

Looking forward (and kind of nervous) for what 2012 has in store. I'll be graduating from college and starting my first real nursing job. Hope its as great as 2011!