Color Me Spring

Despite picking off my nailpolish usually within twenty-four hours of application, I love nail polish. I try to change my nail polish color at least once every couple of weeks or even more often if I have a special outfit that I want it to match. :)  My absolute favorite brand is Essie. I can always count on Essie to have the most selection of colors in almost every shade imaginable.

How many different shades of red are there??

My favorite season. To coordinate my happiness that the warm weather is back (and right now, the perfect temperatures for a few more weeks), I love to pick out cute, bright shades of nail polish Though I have a bad habit of picking nail polish off sometimes within twenty-four hours of application, I am a sucker for it. Particularly if it comes from Essie. My favorite of their spring colors are

Little bit of lavender!

This turns out to be a beautiful light blue (hi Christine :D)

My favorite!

and in honor of the beautiful cherry blossoms I'm about to see in Washington, DC this weekend, I bought the brightest pink nail polish I could find at J. Crew ...

Perfect for the cherry blossoms, right?! I'm already sporting the color (and trying hard not to pick off the polish..yuck!). You can obviously tell I'm taking my excitement a bit out of hand... coordinating nail polish? Every detail is attended to :)

Speaking of Washington DC... I found the most fitting outfits this weekend while in Orlando with my family and my sister's friend Angela.

My little sister, Lexie, and me on Friday night after dinner

I had a very successful shopping trip at Premium Outlets (definitely the best of the outlet malls) and Mall at Millenia. (The best mall, hands down. They're even getting a Pinkberry!)

 

Now, as you can see, I went a little nuts on the same piece in different colors (ahem, Celosia cardigan, numbers 1 & 8) and the ever-popular chinos (#4 & 9). I now have these chinos in seven colors.. wow! Obviously they are a staple for me. I opted for some longer shorts this time because of my upcoming trip to Israel in July. I need modest shorts that cover the majority of my thigh so I went with the 5" chinos instead of my usual 3" chinos.  Number seven I already own in white (it was too cute to resist in plum!) and ten & six come from Vineyard Vines to celebrate the coming of my favorite season!

Most importantly out of all of these items... I found my cherry blossom outfit. Instead of going with a dress, I decided for a very springy skirt, sweater combination (think numbers 1 and 3). They're both from my favorite J. Crew. I can just imagine strolling with Devon through the cherry blossoms looking perfectly floraly (is that a word?) festive. Then, for dinner out (hopefully our favorite District Chophouse if we can afford it!), I'm going to go with the Double in Brass by The Lake & Stars Chiffon strappy dress (#2) from Urban Outfitters. This look is a little dramatic for me so I'm hoping that I will be able to pull it off with some super cute nude Steve Madden pumps that my mama is lovely enough to overnight to me :)

What do you think? All of this DC talk is making me more and more excited! I love the anticipation of a great vacation! Especially because ....

I miss my far away boyfriend and cannot wait to fill in that gap!  ^^   :)

Printemps à Paris

Springtime in Paris!


Being Springtime, it brings back memories of my first trip to Paris. I first went to Paris when I was eight years old and the last time I went was in seventh grade. I missss it! So tonight's post is dedicated to everything Parisian, particularly everything I'm missing from Paris right now.


First - La Ladurée. This is my favorite place to hit up for some yummy desserts. Can you imagine sitting in this parlor
<><> <><> <><>

Ladurée salon

buying macaroons from this adorable counter


<><> <><> <><>

Is this real life?

devouring some of these DELICIOUS macaroons

or some of these super creative cupcakes

<><> <><> <><>

I would definitely have to make an exception to my hating any kind of cake to try that Pistaschio Griotte cupcake.  I absolutely love anything pistaschio... especially gelato! They even have a Ladurée in one of my favorite Paris department stores Printemps.

Heavenly, right? My friend Kacy makes the best macaroons of anyone I know and I'm not sure if this is her recipe, but one of the best recipes for some delcious macaroons is:

Ingredients

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 cup plus 3.5 tablespoons of ground almonds

7 egg whites

A  yummy filling (meringue flavor that goes well with the type of macaroon you're making)

Flavored food coloring (such as strawberry or raspberry)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 335 degrees. Line two baking trays with parchment paper

2. Grind the almonds until very finely ground

3. Add the confectioner's sugar and process until it's in a fine powder. Make sure to remove lumps.

4. Beat the egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer and medium speed while adding the food coloring. Beat on high until the whites hold 'stiff, glossy peaks'.

5. Quickly add the almond-sugar powder (made in steps 2 & 3)

6. Mix from center of bowl outwards to create smooth, lightly colored mixture

7. Spoon batter into piping bag (with 1/4 inch round tip) and pipe inch-wide macaroons onto baking trays (about 1.5 inches apart). Make sure to peak the batter at about the height of a Hershey's Kiss.

8. Cook for 8-9 minutes and leave oven door a little ajar

9. Remove the macaroons from the oven. Pour some water between baking tray and parchment to make it easier to lift macaroons off tray after coooling.

10. Cool completely for about 30 minutes

11. Peel macaroons from the parchment and sandwich a thin layer of filling between two of the macaroons (ganache, jam, whipped cream or marmalade)

12. Leave refrigerated for 24 hours (whipped cream macaroons must be kept in the fridge but others can be kept in a container at room temperature for about three days)

I'm not a very good cook or baker (yet at least), but I'm definitely going to have to try to make these sometime. Yuuummmm :) 

In my dream trip to Paris that I wish I were on this spring, I picture myself running around Paris in this adorble Louis Vuitton dress from his Spring 2011 collection

<><> <><> <><>

How perfectly Parisian

and Flower Field shoes, also from his Spring 2011 collection

Of course being a pretty avid traveler, I have figured out that backpacks are way more fun/way easier to carry around when you're on the go all day on vacation. That in mind, the Hervé Chapelier N918 Backpack ($108 online) would be the perfect.

I have been a huge fan of Hervé Chapelier for years and have just about every color of their shopping bags! Their inexpensive for how adorable and high-duty they are. You can get them in just about any size and any color. My first Hervé, red and pink shopping bag looks the exact same today as the day I bought it. Definitely recommend this brand!
<><> <><> <><>

CB965 Travel Bag

<><> <><> <><>

N925 Shoppng Bag

<><> <><> <><>

N19 Pencil Case

<><> <><> <><>

FF21927 Accessory Bag

So cute and so practical!   Some of my favorite Parisian shops include

Printemps

64, boulevard Haussmann

75009 Paris

Galeries Lafayette

40, boulevard Haussmann

75009 Paris

and last, but definitely the best find,

Monoprix!

It's like an upscale, French Target. They have everything from great cosmetics to cute clothing to home goods to groceries. All around one of the best shops plus they have multiple locations.

Since I cannot actually go to Paris, I will just have to settle for watching some my favorite Parisian-set movies such as

A Little Romance

Gigi

and

How to Steal a Million

Bonne journeé!