What to Wear: Thanksgiving Day

With just two days until Thanksgiving, I'm a big fan of this week's What to Wear Where theme! A lot is asked of a Thanksgiving day outfit: it has to be appropriate for a holiday (one in which you may be seeing people you haven't seen in a while), for eating way too much food in, for sitting on the couch after the meal in, for scuttling around the kitchen to bring the mashed potatoes to the counter...you get the picture. 

This year, my family is going to a Thanksgiving buffet at a beach club in my hometown, so I don't think sweatpants and a large long-sleeved shirt will be acceptable attire. I found this dress (and created an outfit around it), and I think it strikes the perfect balance of comfort and fashion for Thanksgiving:

Striated Lace Dress, on sale now for $171

Love those fall colors!

Cerulean Drop Necklace, $28

Statement necklace that doesn't compete too much with the dress

Nine West Amped Up 3 Wedges, on sale now for $40

These are sensible enough for a family dinner...

...but let's be honest...these would be more fun...

Rachel Zoe Hudson Wedges, $235

At six inches (with a two inch platform), these would probably make your boyfriend's grandmother raise an eyebrow, but doesn't everyone need the appearance of longer legs when you've just eaten your weight in turkey and dressing?

Here's wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, and fashionable Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

E

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had a busy, but fun, one. Engagement party for friends, a Clemson win, brunch on Sunday...doesn't get much better in my book! Of course, we're doing it all over again in a few days when Clemson plays South Carolina!

The Clemson-South Carolina game will be our first (and only) home game at night this year. When I was shivering on Saturday night, I began to think about my outfit for a week later, when the game wouldn't even be starting until 7:00! I'm originally from Florida, so temperatures under 55 degrees still send my teeth a-chattering.

On my wishlist for next week...

Gloves like these:

A scarf like this:

In a perfect world, earmuffs like these:

Santa, if you're listening, I'd love an early visit. Help a chilly girl out!

xoxo,

E

Happy Friday!

I've got a busy weekend coming up with a friend's engagement party and the second to last Clemson home game...exciting stuff! I'll leave you with this precious nugget picture that makes me want to stay in and cuddle:

Have a great weekend!

xoxo,

E

Quinoa Salad

There are some things that make you feel healthier just by putting them in your grocery basket. I think quinoa is one of these foods. Until this week, I had never tried quinoa. I figured something that healthy couldn't possibly taste good.

But recently, I've been trying to forget that pizza I ate this past weekend eat more cleanly and since I don't really like cooking meat for just me, I figured I'd better give some meat-free options a try. I'd heard quinoa was a complete protein, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm so glad I did, because this salad is really tasty! I kind of made it up as I went along and didn't really measure, but my basic recipe is below.

Quinoa Salad

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 can of chick peas

1/2 block of feta (cut into small pieces)

a few tablespoons chopped mint

1 lemon, juiced

about 2 tablespoons olive oil

ground pepper, to taste

Mix the quinoa in the boiling chicken broth, cover, and simmer for 12 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to bowl. Add in all other ingredients and mix thoroughly.

So easy and so tasty! I feel healthier just looking at it!

xoxo,

E

What I Wore: Casual Engagement Party

Why can't party invitations include what the host or hostess plans on wearing? I feel like that would make life so much easier than trying to decode what "festive casual" means. This past weekend, the bf and I went to his cousin's engagement party. On the invitation, the only clue about attire was at the bottom: "Cowboy boots welcome!" Um, what?

I gathered that meant casual and then found out the party would be almost entirely outside, so this is what I came up with:

HUE Original Jeans Solid Legging, on sale right now for $30!

I've been wanting some burgundy in my closet for this fall, and these are so comfortable and perfect!

Old Navy Vintage-Style V-Neck Tee, $7.50

Who doesn't need another white t-shirt?

Gap Cashmere Cardigan, $128

This isn't the one I wore; mine definitely isn't cashmere, but it looks like this.

Steve Madden Intyce Boots, $129

I love the caramel color of these boots. It worked well with the burgundy jeggings.

I love imagining the perfect outfit to wear to different occasions, but this one is one of the few that actually came pretty close to what I was envisioning when I pictured what to wear to this party. I was comfortable and warm the whole time, while still being on trend! Plus, the party was lots of fun :) Here's to deciphering all the upcoming holiday party invitations and their attire!

xoxo,

E

Homemade Granola

Happy Tuesday! Sorry for the brief break last week...writer's block and all that. After thoroughly enjoying my baked oatmeal last week, I changed it up by making granola to go with greek yogurt for breakfast. It was super easy and is SO delicious!

I followed this recipe (via Cupcakes and Cashmere) pretty closely...it was much easier than I thought it'd be. I feel much better about adding this to my yogurt when I know exactly how much oil, sugar, etc. is in it! My favorite flavor to combine this with right now is blueberry Chobani, though black cherry is a close second.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

E

Stove Top Potpourri

Have you ever walked in your house or apartment and noticed that it just doesn't smell that fresh? Living in a one bedroom apartment means that if I decide to cook beef and broccoli, my whole place smells like it for the rest of the night. Same thing goes for if I forget to run the garbage disposal after cooking. Not the worst smell in the world, but definitely not what you want to come home to after a long day at school.

Well Pinterest has come to the rescue yet again! This pin has been circulating for a while, and I finally gave it a shot. 

I love the mix of the lemon, rosemary, and vanilla extract...it's a citrusy, herby,  sweet mixture that is just enough of everything you want in your home fragrance. I really think that if you left out one of the ingredients, it would be too one-note.

Of course, when I looked in my cabinets, I had everything on hand except for fresh rosemary. Dried rosemary worked just fine, but I'm sure fresh would've been even better.

Try this now!

Who Wants to Go Apple Picking?

Happy Friday!

source

I know this week's posts have been pretty food-dominated, but when the weather turns cold, my mind turns to what my mom calls "yummy tummy" foods. The kind that warm you from the inside out and make you forget about how chilly it is outside...until you have to take the dog out again.

Unfortunately, not all of us get to lay around all day in our snuggies...

I have been craving an apple-picking outing, so I'm hoping I can convince someone to go with me tomorrow (are you listening, BF?) so I can bring home WAY too many apples for one person to ever eat. (Fingers crossed for honeycrisps)

Here's a round-up of some apple recipes I promise to make you if you go pick apples with me (and, yes, most of them involve a crust):

• We've all loved on some blueberry pancakes, but apple pancakes? Something tells me they could give the blueberries a run for their money.
• What's that you say? You're in too much of a hurry to sit down for apple pancakes? That's OK, just grab an apple hand pie for the road.
• I know we had apples for breakfast, but I just had to bake you some caramel apple pie for dessert.
• Some of us aren't pie people (I say "aren't pie people" in the same way I might say some "aren't puppy people"), so why not try some caramel apple cheesecake bars? 

I hope you have a happy weekend!

xoxo,

E

Baked Oatmeal

Lately, I've been making more of an effort to eat more cleanly instead of focusing on counting calories so much. I find that after a couple of weeks counting calories, I get annoyed with it and stop, which usually puts me back to square one. Eating cleanly, however, allows me to feel like I'm not on a 'diet' and can eat more like a normal person. I've never been the type of girl to deny myself as far as food goes, so I am less likely to "rebel" if I feel like I'm eating something I would want anyway.

This baked oatmeal is SO. GOOD. I'm not usually an oatmeal fan, something about the mushiness, I think. But this is really great heated on a chilly morning with a tiny pat of butter and  some milk poured over it. I can make it on a Sunday afternoon and eat it for breakfast for the rest of the week. Drive-thru breakfast is a lot less tempting when I have this sitting in the fridge for me!

Fresh berries! Yes, they are at a premium at this time of the year, but they are totally worth it.

Bananas line the bottom and soak up the syrup-y, cinnamon-y goodness.

Ingredients pre-oven, pre-bubbliness, pre-crusty-yummy-happiness!

Look at those berries and oats! You can't smell it, but there's cinnamon, pecans, and vanilla extract in there, too. Dee-lish.

Here's to tasty, healthy breakfasts!

xoxo,

E