home-made granola

Granola has become one of my favorite foods -- I love the crunchy texture of the nuts and oats and the sweetness of the berries! I eat it as cereal and on top of yogurt. (Greek yogurt + chopped strawberries + granola = best parfait ever!) Today, I'll show you how to make granola.

Ingredients: oats, almonds (or pecans) , applesauce (or grated pears), cranberries, honey, and shredded coconut (optional)

Put all the ingredients into a big bowl and mix the them all together.

Then, lay the mixture evenly on a flat pan. Set the oven to 350 degrees, and bake until golden brown.

simple and casual

Today's outfit is inspired by a casual dress Rachel Bilson wore while out and about. I like how she accessorized the dress with a chunky brown belt and sandals.

Instead of a blue dress, I wore a solid black dress, but I stuck with similar sandals and a belt.

I wanted to keep things simple, so I wore a small, flower pendant necklace.

I like the small buttons on the sleeve and how the brown belt stands out against the black palette of the dress.

{h&m long-sleeve scoop neck dress + h&m sandals + forever 21 necklace}

home-made stationery

A few weeks ago, I wanted to make a card for Father's Day, but I didn't have any colored pencils or crayons with me. I only had markers and pens, but I needed something for coloring. Then I wondered, would make-up do the trick? It actually did! I used lipgloss, blush, nail polish, and eyeshadow, and I discovered that they have the capability to create gorgeous textures on paper.

I used a paper cutter to form this lovely flower pattern. I then used nail polish to add metallic glitter to the bottom edge of the card.

I used various shades of lipgloss to color in the hearts, and I used my fingers to smudge the lipgloss. I used lipgloss and blush to create the circles.

I used blush, eyeshadow, and nail polish to shade in the four corners of the heart.

office appropriate

When I started working this summer, I realized that I needed to start dressing more professionally, and I was in dire need of a pencil skirt. Luckily, my sister came to the rescue and lent me one of her skirts! This blouse and skirt combination is one look I've worn in the office.

I kept my accessories to a minimum (a pearl necklace and metallic headband) because of the bold print of the skirt.

I love this bold, floral print!

{american eagle floral skirt + forever 21 ruffled blouse + rampage mary janes}

neon and white

I love the neon trend this season because it's just the perfect representation of spring and summer! The best thing about this trend is that it's versatile -- it can be either bold (a color-blocked chiffon dress or neon colored denim) or subtle (shoes or even nails!) Today, I took this trend on with an orange polo shirt and white denim.

{j.crew cotton pique polo shirt + j.crew stripe boating belt + vanilla jeans shorts}

I love how the blue and white stripes contrast with the orange to make it pop!

The navy headband and simple pearl necklace add the finishing touches to my outfit.

banana froyo (using only a banana!)

After several trips to Haymarket,  I started freezing my fruit, and after a long day, I've come home to enjoy frozen pieces of bananas and oranges. One day, my sister put the frozen banana pieces in the food processor and after a few minutes, brought me a bowl of what looked like banana ice cream. It was amazing -- the texture and taste was just like froyo, but it was only a frozen banana! Here are the steps to making your own banana froyo!

First, put the frozen banana pieces in the processor, then pulse the pieces repeatedly, lightly tapping the button for a second at a time.

After the pieces start to cling to each other, hold the pulse button down longer, for several seconds, and you should see the banana starting to thicken.

ribbons and full skirts

My outfit today is a simple blouse and skirt combination that can worn with flats or neutral-colored heels for a day at the office, or with wedges for a special occasion.

A long, lightweight skirt is one of my favorite things to wear during the summer, and because of its versatility, it's definitely a summer must-have!

{j.crew silk tie neck blouse + piplette by alice ritter alia full skirt from urban outfitters + n2 wedges}

a sailing we will go

Today’s outfit is inspired by a modeling campaign by Express that I saw while perusing an issue of Vogue. I love how effortlessly chic the models looked in their nautical inspired outfits.

 Instead of white pants, I opted for my pastel shorts because I was dying to wear them! This flowy shirt and the updo were perfect for today because we had our biggest heat wave of the summer so far!

My favorite parts of this look are the bun, headband, and sunglasses. The accessories definitely tied the whole look together.

{old navy blue ruffled striped tank + j.crew chino shorts + h&m sandals + forever 21 braided belt}

berryline

Today was a hot summer’s day, perfect for a walk to Berryline! I ordered an original with pieces of mango, pineapple, strawberry, and mochi. It was absolutely delicious! The original is tart, and the fruit and mochi added a perfect touch of light sweetness to the frozen yogurt. I’ll definitely be going to Berryline more often!

chiffon and lace

I bought this lace skirt in Japan years ago, and since then, it’s been laying in my closet. Today, I found it again and decided to wear it! I love the textures of both chiffon and lace. They complement each other quite well!

I accessorized my outfit with a single strand of pearls.

The bow is my favorite part of this blouse! Details like bows are what I look for when deciding to buy blouses.

{forever 21 bow neck chiffon blouse + lace skirt + gap sandals}

broken pieces

I accidentally dropped one of my sister's favorite plates from Japan, and we were out of super glue! Luckily, we thought of something that might have the same effect -- clear nail polish. We were doubtful that nail polish would be able to hold all the broken pieces together, but sure enough, it worked!

Lather a generous amount of nail polish on each edge of the broken piece. Then, fit the pieces together individually and hold them together for a few seconds.

Finito!

prim and proper

 Statement necklaces can be worn to add a touch of glamour to an otherwise plain outfit. A popular trend is to wear a statement necklace with a collared blouse.

 I wore my (recently purchased!) statement necklace with a bright, pink               blouse, a j.crew skirt, and heels for a fun, school-girl look, a la Blair Waldorf.

{charlotte russe necklace}

{pink blouse + j.crew pimm skirt + goldenbleu clutch + heels}