mombox

It's my mama's birthday today! Instead of being all boring about picking out a gift, I compiled a few mock BirchBoxes I called "MomBox" and stuffed them full of goodies I know she'll like. Included inside: a cute summer tank top, cupcake liners & patterns for decorating them with sprinkles, EOS hand lotion & a mini makeup bag from Le SportSac

I'm glad I got to recycle my Birchboxes in the process, too- they've been piling up in my closet for the past few months! Despite BirchBox being a pretty green company already, I always feel good about re-using things I have around the house :3

raspberry chocolate chip scones

Let me start off by saying that this recipe took about 15 minutes to put together, and the result was one of the most delicious desserts I've ever eaten. I found it on Jess's blog the other day and made some last night- boy was I impressed (:

For a more detailed recipe check out her post, but here's the basics:


3 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup raspberries
1 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
2 cups cold heavy cream
2 tbsp butter/ melted
sugar for sprinkling


Preheat oven to 375. Mix the first six ingredients in a large bowl, then add heavy cream until you have a sticky dough. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out your dough into a log, then divide it into three equal parts. Don't worry if it seems like the dough isn't sticking together enough- crumbly, barely together dough makes for crumbly pastries! Pat and roll these sections into round, flat discs about 6-8 inches in diameter, then use a pizza cutter to slice into triangles (should make 4-8 per disc). Paint with melted butter, sprinkle sugar on top & bake for 20 minutes, until the tops are golden.

Trust me- for the time and ingredients these require, they are SO worth it!

thrifting finds

In Weare, NH it was town-wide yard sale weekend, here are a few snapshots of what I snagged!

Painting: $2

Books: $8

Hello Kitty + Pony ornament: $1

Also not pictured are 4 coloring page wallpaper landscapes of animal & forest scenes I grabbed for 50 cents, and a DMB cd for another 50 cents

Thrift anything awesome lately?

bleach blonde 2.0

Hey all, I dyed my hair again! Went a little higher on the tips than last time with the bleach, I might add some color eventually but I like the way it looks now (especially when I put it up in a ponytail). Here are some pics of the process- I just used a cheap $7 home bleach kit I picked up at Sally's, left it in for a little over an hour and it did the job well!

Top left is what I started with, and bottom left is the finished product

What do you guys think?

winner winner

Check it out- I won Gizmodo's Shooting Challenge this week! The Memorial Day themed challenge was pretty broad, so I submitted a pic from the beach, where I spent my day. Here's the winning photo, along with a few others from our trip.

Any other photography-lovers out there? These challenges are a great way to learn new camera techniques & have fun with friends, let me know if you give it a shot! (no pun intended)

great make [4]

While reading a copy of Bead Soup I picked up last weekend, there was a cool article for crafty people who (like me) struggle choosing color palettes! Check out this bead site where Monday Mixes are released every week- I was inspired by the Autumn Monday mix to make an anklet with coral and green compliments this morning.

Happy crafting! Don't let beads limit you, these mixes can be used for almost anything in the crafting world!

what i wore: plain pastels

A lousy, rainy day outside calls for a photo shoot inside! Lately I've been wearing plainer outfits like this, and adding accessories like this scarf I picked up in Italy, or a big, chunky necklace. The shirt is Forever 21, the pants are from American Eagle, and the shoes are Blowfish.

love voxbox review

Greetings all! I've been away for so long and I feel like so much has happened recently, most of it positive and very exciting for me (: Over spring break I went to Italy with the Fairfield University Glee Club and had a FANTASTIC time. I might do a picture post sometime in the upcoming days. But for now, I've been meaning to post about the products I've tried from my Love Voxbox that I received about 2 weeks ago. 

(I opened my products before I could photograph them so I stole this photo from Sweets & Beauty)

Admittedly I haven't tried all the products yet, but the ones I have I really enjoyed.

1. Gillette Venus & Olay Razor: I usually use pretty cheap, disposable razors so this was a wonderful change for me. The lather is built around the blade so you don't need to prep with soap or shaving cream, and I didn't knick myself at all from using the brand new blades. Unfortunately it got kindof smushed and broken on the plane ride back from Italy so I had to throw it out, but I got a solid 2 weeks worth of use from it.


2. Stash Tea Herbal Tea Sampler: I had a cup of the Acai Berry tea before bed one night & it was perfect for falling asleep soothed.  A little bitter with the berry taste but overall good quality when steeped for a few minutes and sweetened with honey.


3. Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk Creamy Devotion Bar: So I gave up dessert for Lent... but snuck a tiny square of this oh-so-irresistible chocolate. What can I say besides it being melt-in-your-mouth delicious? 


I'm not a huge fan of artificial sweetners, even though Truvia claims to be "natural" I'd prefer using actually natural cane sugar to sweeten my coffee or tea. Something about having no calories can't be completely healthy, hmm? The cheetah print nail decals aren't exactly my style so I haven't tried them yet, but if I'm feeling feline-adventurous one day I might give them a shot. 

Life has been pretty awesome for me lately, and oh man this weather just makes it easier to be happy.

great make [3] & a pony surprise

After a week's hiatus I'm back with my great make: my application to become a member of the Orientation Support Team here at Fairfield.

I've been working on this for the past few days, semi-hurriedly since I've been very busy with school work and studying. The text talks about my personality, my love of nature, and my creativity, which manifest themselves into characteristics I find in myself beneficial to a person leading freshman through Orientation. 


In other news, I received my giveaway prize from Pony People! I can't decide if I want to send the postcards or just hang them around my room, they're too cool :3 I totally adore the Animal Farm reference of "4 legs good, 2 legs bad" they used as their theme.

Not to mention they threw in this tiny plastic pony as well, he'll be chilling near my bed for the rest of the semester (:

great make [2]

Here's my belated make of the week- my hair! Between packing and being out I didn't have time to post about it yesterday, but here are a few pictures to show you how it came out :3

After 2 rounds of bleach, this is what it looked like

I love how it looks! I'm hoping it'll stay this color for a while and won't fade much.

As of today I'm back at school, hopefully I'll be able to keep up blogging as usual!

you've got mail

A few days ago I got some mail from Lola Blue Blog, aka my giveaway prize! I'm always excited to get mail and this was no exception (: Here's a peek at what I got!

I can't wait to use that polish! And the samples of course, I've tried the perfume & it's lovely (sweet and warm, and reminds me of this scent from Victoria's Secret). I've always wanted to try using eyeshadow primer so this is the perfect opportunity. I've been getting more into makeup and beauty products lately, maybe since I started my Birchbox subscription?

Only a few more days till I'm back at school, I feel like this weekend will include lots of packing & organizing (which happen to be some of my favorite things!)

what i wore: shades of yellow

Dress: gifted

Sweater: Macy's

Tights: Anthropologie

Belt: Anthropologie

Leg warmers: Joyce Leslie

Boots: Target

Jewelry: handmade

Nails: Pacific Blue 420 by Sally Hansen & Snow-man of my Dreams 368 by Nicole by OPI

This shoot was fun but chilly! I'm hoping to get one more outfit photo shoot in before I go back to school, but only if the weather holds up.

great make [1]

As part of my New Year's Resolution I've decided to do a weekly themed post, so I'm finally introducing...

This is going along with another goal of doing something crafty every day, I'll pick my favorite thing each Sunday night and say a few things about it. Whew. Now the introduction's over, here's what I made this week!

A few doodles here, a few doodles there, mostly the result of watching shows on Hulu while being at my desk and playing too much Pokemon, heh. I got some pretty huge watercolor paper for Christmas so in the future I plan to outline/paint a whole landscape, who knows when I'll have time for it though.

I'm nearing the final countdown of going back to school, hopefully staying busy and making this last week count!