Anthropologie Win

I have an announcement to make. This is what I'm wearing today:



After last week's post, my generous, thoughtful, and sweet boyfriend surprised me with the Anthropologie pencil skirt I was drooling over. It fits like a glove and I am so excited to pair it with all kinds of colors and textures! Just wanted to share my happiness with you all.

{pardon the messy chaos that is my bedroom and my poor self-portrait skills}

Reading, Writing, and Relationships

Many of you know that I moonlight as the editor of Fringe Magazine's blog. I wrote a post today about reading and its importance in romantic relationships. It's something that I think is part of a larger debate on what people look for in a significant other. Do they want a mirror of their own tastes and hobbies, or someone who can show them new and different interests?

It's not a black or white area, as far as I'm concerned, but an interesting debate nonetheless. Check out the post!

Flower Power

I love this rosette pillow in Nina Gotlieb's New York farm house--the color, shape, and idea are just gorgeous!

{via DesignSponge}

The Cherpumple: The Craziest Dessert You've Never Heard Of

What do you get when you bake an apple pie inside a spice cake, a pumpkin pie inside a yellow cake, and a cherry pie inside of a white cake, stack them on top of each other, and then frost them with cream cheese frosting? It's called a Cherpumple and it's one giant dessert monstrosity.

Some bold and enterprising friends decided to take on this challenge to celebrate their respective birthdays this past weekend. Below, a few photos that document the beautiful insanity that is the cherpumple.

The pumpkin pie, nestled in its pan of yellow batter.

The apple pie receives its delicious spice cake bath.

The finished product. The weight of all they layers caused quite a bit of damage to the structural integrity of the dessert--a common occurrence, I fear.

The pie fillings oozed together to form a sweet and sticky taste explosion! Or some kind of explosion...

*images courtesy of Kerry Skemp, resident cherpumple extraordinaire

Apologies to Anthropologie

I have always had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder about Anthropologie. Sure, the dresses often make me swoon, and if I'm passing by a store, it's a treat to stop in and browse. However, I have never purchased anything there. Why? Because to me, the clothing is a poorly made, slightly more pretentious big sister to the hipster threads at Urban Outfitters (the two stores are owned by the same company), and nearly every item comes with a jaw-dropping price tag. This isn't to say I've never shopped at Urban (I have) and I do own one item from Anthropologie that I wear constantly--the lovely earrings at the bottom of this post that my boyfriend got me for a gift.

Cut to a couple of weeks ago when the January 2010 Anthropologie catalog turned up in my mailbox (addressed to my apartment's previous tenant). I decided to flip through, not expecting to see anything too extraordinary. Boy, was I mistaken. The catalog is chock full of lovely photographs, beautifully styled outfits, and unexpectedly wearable pieces. Here are just a few of my favorites:

If only I could pull off the jaunty scarf, skinny capris, and snappy oxfords look.

Love the innovative bodice on this one.

The SKIRT. The blouse goes gorgeously, but oh that skirt....

This is probably the dress I would get the most wear out of from the catalog--here's a closer look.

The perfect springtime ensemble. It makes me yearn for sunshine.

I wasn't the only fan of this season's catalog: Check out what A Cup of Jo and Jezebel said too!

Boston Weekend 1/15-1/18

It was a great long weekend, complete with cupcakes, lazy afternoons, brunch, tapas, burgers, an open mic night, and candlepin bowling! Here are a few highlights:

Coconut cupcakes--my first attempt at making cupcakes from scratch and they turned out ok! 

Pretty cupcakes! Mint chocolate, raspberry, and coconut, all made by me and my roommate. 

Bacon chocolate chip pancakes!! 

The weekend wrapped up with a trip to Sacco's Bowl Haven, a candlepin bowling alley straight out of the 1950s. So charming and fun! 

Bowling shoes rule. 

Here's to this week speeding by and another weekend on the horizon! 

Beef Stew!

As you know, I got a crockpot for Christmas this year. I didn't quite know where to start, so my good friend Kim came over to show me the ropes. We went marketing and got celery, potatoes, onions, and carrots, stew beef, red wine and a can of beef broth.

When we got back to the apartment, we chopped and sliced the veggies, then dredged the beef in flour.



Once the meat was dredged, we browned it in a skillet, which Kim insists is the only way to cook meat in a crock pot.


Once the meat was ready, we popped it in the pot, covered it with the veggies, and then put in two cups of red wine, a can of beef broth, some crushed garlic, and a couple of bay leaves. I cooked it on high for 6 hours--since I was in the apartment for most of that time, the smells were so delicious it was torture to wait so long!


The end result was worth the wait and as a bonus, I used the remaining veggies to make crockpot chicken soup yesterday--all I did was put a couple of frozen chicken breasts in the crock with the vegetables, equal parts chicken broth and water, and some garlic. After a little over five hours on high, I took the chicken out, shredded it, and then put it back in for another half hour of cook time. Simple, fantastically easy, and perfect for another snowy weekend.

Hit the Reset Button

I spent this past weekend holed up in my apartment, working on a project for work that turned out to be much more time consuming that I had originally anticipated. For some reason, January in the office has been brutal and I have been super busy. I found myself in a cranky rut, especially after having not gotten the lazy weekend I wanted. So yesterday, I skipped the office and went to Diesel so I could get more work done on the same project. I don't know if it was because of the coffee or because I was working on my own schedule, or what, but I felt so much more productive and motivated than I do when I'm in the office Monday through Friday. I even found time to do my laundry, tidy up the kitchen, and run a few errands, which further boosted my mood.

I'm back in the office today and feeling the pull of busy exhaustion again, but luckily, I have a major reset in the form of a long weekend coming up! Forecasted: birthdays, cupcakes, cocktails, dancing, boyfriend time, chocolate chip bacon pancakes, karaoke, and candlepin bowling. CAN'T WAIT.

What's your reset button?

*image credit*

Winter Sock Dilemma

As I've mentioned a few times, one of my Christmas presents this year was new snow boots. In Boston, snow boots are a must, but for me, they are an absolute essential as I have a paralyzing fear of slipping and falling in the ice. I tend to wear my snow boots out pretty fast each winter, so this year, I asked for a heavy duty pair. Here they are:


Now, these boots are pretty fantastic: warm, good traction, a cute plaid pattern. However, I seem to be having a problem keeping my socks from bunching up and rolling down around my toes. I cannot STAND this, and had the same problem when I was a little kid. I asked some friends what I should do about it, and I got a recommendation to buy boot socks. Boot socks?! Why, I didn't know such a thing existed! Apparently, they are designed specifically to avoid such boot/sock battles that I've been struggling with. I plan on going out and buying some this weekend. Other weekend plans include coffee with friends, making beef stew in the crockpot, and working (fun fun!). What are your weekend plans?

Crock N Roll

Happy New Year all! One of my resolutions this year is to cook more--as in, make at least one new meal or baked good each week. It may sound easy, but when it comes down to it, it's difficult to fight the urge to pop in a frozen pizza after coming home tired from the gym on winter nights!

One of my Christmas gifts this year was an awesome red crock pot. I'm super excited to get cooking, but I'm not quite sure where to start! Does anyone have suggestions of blogs, favorite recipes, or a good slow cooker cookbook to recommend??