06.18.2014

Hot Nights and Ice Cold Sangria.


Putting outfits together is such a fun and easy thing for me to do, but hair challenges me a little bit more.  And makeup? Let's just say I haven't quite won that battle yet. But I thought I'd tackle the biggest battle I've faced so far in womanhood...cooking (well, kind of). The idea came to me when Kelli and I were walking through the aisles of Walgreens trying to decide what we should drink for our Saturday night pre-game besides Redbull-vodka and vodka lemonades. We literally stood there in the middle of the aisle Googling "easy mixed drinks", got frustrated, and ended up settling for a cranberry-strawberry mixed juice that was slightly underwhelming.

My craving for Sangria came on when Tyler and I went to dinner last night at Malo (located in the Des Moines Social Club) and I was in dire need of a drink after a long Tuesday at work. Oddly enough, a lush like myself had never tried Sangria before and it happened to be one of the cheaper things on the menu ($5), so I thought i'd give it a try. It was love at first sip. So now here we are with my newest post on how I made my very own jug of white wine Sangria.

I was pretty excited to get home from work to get to cooking (ok more like mixing). I told Tyler I was extremely busy blogging and Kelli was busy studying, so I had the whole apartment to myself. I stopped at my neighborhood Dahls to stock up on groceries for my Sangria adventure. I decided to get oranges, peaches, and mango because those always seem to go well together and then stopped by the liquor aisle and picked up a 1.5 liter bottle of wine, and of course a bottle of champagne for good measure. I figured I would be masking the taste of wine with lots of fruit so quality wasn't my biggest concern and ended up splurging for the $7 liter of Moscato. I may or may not have grabbed a $50 bottle of Veuve Clicquot to put it in my basket before quickly realizing how poor I really am and how many outfits at TJ Maxx that one bottle would buy me. So once I came to my senses, I settled on the good old $10 champagne and called it quits.

Besides cutting the fruit (and my finger) and setting it all up for a picture, this was probably one of the easier things I've ever made. I also had to feature my beautiful star gazer lilies and peonies that I got last weekend from the farmers market for $7.50. Since everyone can use Google I won't give you a step by step on what I did. But I did break this down and 1.5 liters of wine made into Sangria only cost me $1.50 for juice, $2.90 for oranges, $1.00 for mangos, $4.25 for peaches, and $7.00 for wine, which ends up being around $2.75 per cup. I was pretty proud of that since Malo charged $5.00 a glass and mine was just as good if not better!

I had to include pictures because the Sangria looked just as good as it tasted. Boo was even interested in wtf I was doing placing flowers and booze on the living room floor in the middle of the afternoon. Even though this may only last Kelli and I a day or so, it is a fun and easy summer drink that we could enjoy on a Saturday night. In conclusion, Sangria may or may not be my new favorite drink.

06.10.4014

Femininity That's A Little Rough Around the Edges.

Since everyone is too busy for me lately and Kelli decided that studying for her medical school boards was more important than devoting all her time to my blog, I decided I had to double up on my picture taking efforts last week. So if you notice some similarity in hair styles/makeup/venue/ and weather patterns, then you my friend, have a good eye. Yeah, maybe my models consist of my best friends who were forced to change in the front seat of a Oldsmobile Alero during a rain storm, but hey I warned you that I would be blogging on a budget!

Between the speedy outfit changes and the rain storm I was able to get two more ensembles out of Kelli and Heather. They both feature one of my best buys in the past few years, a leather jacket. I was at Target one day and saw this leather (okay pleather) jacket for $36, and for those who know me, that was pushing the upper limit of my budget. I decided that I would wear it at least 36 times which meant I would get my money's worth (self justification). Well it ended up being the right call because between myself, Kelli and any of my other friends that steal my stuff, it has paid for it's self and then some.

Leather is often associated with masculinity (think biker gang), but it is obviously one of my favorites so I thought I would pair it with a few of my (Kelli's) most feminine pieces and let the contrasting styles compliment each other. The first look I put Kelli in is a gorgeous pink lace dress from Charlotte Russe for only $18, matched with my leather jacket. Kelli originally bought it for a wedding which it was perfect for, but now I wanted to give it a dressed down/tougher look that you can wear for a night out/ dinner date. I have noticed a big transition in my jewelry choices in the past year. I used to be in a serious relationship with anything silver, and the thought of cheating with gold would have never crossed my mind. Now I can match gold with anything and everything, hence the gold overload on Kelli's arm.

The next look features my favorite summer trend, floral. Whether it is a floral top, dress, shorts, or in this case a romper, I have become obsessed. I actually just purchased another floral top from Marshall's the other day for $9.99 that my even my 11 year-old sister approved of. Unfortunately for tall people like myself, rompers are NOT our best friends. They are always too short and give you that unfortunate camel toe (TMI?). So for my petite/short girls out there, rompers were definitely made for you. Kelli came home with this floral romper from TJ Maxx ($15) and I immediately yelled at her for not getting a bigger size so it would fit me. When I settled down a little, I thought this would be the perfect match for my leather (yes, yes I know PLEATHER) jacket. Wedges are another thing I don't think you can make it through summer without. I paired  both these looks with wedges and it definitely dressed up both looks. If you want to go a little more casual with these outfits, add a pair of flats/sandals and you're set.

Kelli's Look

Leather Jacket- Target- $36

Lace Dress- Charlotte Russe- $18

Wedges- Target- $25

Bracelets- Premire- $ 20 a piece (party discount)

Watch- Michael Kors- Christmas Present

Total- $99

Heather's Look

Leather Jacket- Target- $36

Romper- TJ Maxx- $15

Wedges- Target- $24

Necklace- Charlotte Russe- $5

Total- $80

06.04.2014

You don't have to be in the military to wear a military jacket.

So between all the "hard core sports" I've been playing, squeezing in roommate/friend time, and being mildy obsessed with my boyfriend since he's been home, I've been slacking in my blogging duties. I decided to step it up a little and give you a little 2-for-1 on this post.

A month or so ago Kelli came home from a shopping trip with this beautiful dark green army/military jacket that she got at Old Navy on sale for only $10!!!! I was in love from the moment I laid eyes on it and have been plotting my next photo shoot since that moment. I know that it's a little late for a jacket post since it's early June and was 85 yesterday, but I just couldn't hold out until next fall. I tried to make these looks as summery as possible since I know it's not super realistic to wear a jacket in the middle of summer, but plllllease bear with me.

Last night was the first free night that we have all had in quite a while so I reserved as many friends as possible (ended up being only two). Of course the one free night we had they were predicting storms, wind, hail, and even tornados, but I was determined to blog and wasn't going to let the weather stop me. I apologize that these aren't the best quality pictures- we had a 30 minute window to get as many good pictures as possible. Soooo again please bear with me :)

Kelli was up first, she didn't have a lot of time to get ready so don't mind the crazy hair and lack of makeup ; ).  Of course the outfit is centered around the green military jacket. Heather had this brand new tank she got from Nordstom, that I really loved and had to feature as well, and Kelli got the acid washed jeans at a super sale for $15 (yes flash back to the 90's).  This outfit is more casual and again, not super summery (because of the jacket) but I am in love with it and would wear it on several different occasions. I have the best time shopping in my friend's closets, putting outfits together, and forcing them to model them for me. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are three to show you how well this look came together.

Like I said earlier, I have been the worse blogger in history lately, so I wanted to give you two looks in one post. As soon as we came back from Kelli's photo shoot, I forced Heather to throw her hair up and put on the outfit I had lined up for her. At this time the rain had picked up a little, so we had to find some cover for her photo shoot. There are some apartments down the road that have all these gorgeous brick archways so we took shelter there. Again I apologize for the low quality of these picture. Heather's look is attempting to channel summer as well. She is slightly obsessed with bunnies so I thought this shirt of her's was perfect. You can also ditch the coat (even though that is sort of the point) and wear this tank with the short, necklace and sandals for a full-fledged summer night out.

Kel's Outfit
Jacket- Old Navy- $10
Shirt- Nordstom- $10
Jeans- Younkers- $15
Sandals- TJ Maxx- $15
Necklace- Target- $12
Total- $62

Heather's Outfit
Jacket- Old Navy- $10
Shirt- Macys- $18
Shorts- Forever 21- $18
Sandals- TJ Maxx- $15
Necklace- Premier- $20 (discount for hosting party : ) )
Total-$81