Pretty Apartment Essentials

Happy Friday lovely girls! Only one more week until I make my big move to Dallas and I’m getting so excited! Having inventoried all of the stuff I have (really just a bunch of clutter and things I don’t need) I made a little list of things that are on my “to buy” list. That “little list” keeps growing though. The sheer amount of things that a girl can accumulate in the name of it being cute is quite surprising!

Number one on my list is a gray or cream-colored tufted headboard. I can’t stand my bed just up against a wall with nothing to pull it together so to speak. A bed should be a space you go to relax and sleep. Frankly, if it isn’t orderly and somewhat dream-like, then sleep simply doesn’t come easily to me. Not sure if that makes me high-maintenance or not but I’m betting that’s what a few people are thinking. What can I say though, I like a pretty space!

The second thing on my list is a great standing mixer! My mom has a white Kitchen Aid mixer and it’s so useful. I’m not much help in the kitchen, but I do like to bake! Funny story though, I have the tendency to forget if I’m baking something and simply let it burn until I remember. I’ve done this with place and bake cookies quite often!

Finally, I’m hoping to get a great, high quality frame for a photo of my boyfriend David and I. Having pictures of family and friends around the house makes a space so much more personal. I found this Kate Spade one at Dillard’s a few weeks ago and have been admiring it ever since.

Comment below with your apartment wish list! 

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5 Ways to Love November

Today’s post is all about celebrating the last bits of fall and enjoying November! I feel like we jump from Halloween to Christmas too fast and don’t get to relish in the forgotten but equally important month of November. For whatever reason, we lump Thanksgiving and Christmas into one big event! The stores are stocking Christmas trees already, Hallmark channel is playing their cheesy Christmas movies, and I’ve seen more than one eggnog latte being sold. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving gets a little shelf filled with silly looking pilgrims and a turkey. In the spirit of enjoying this month, here’s 5 things to put on your to-do list.

How to Enjoy November

1. Take a walk- It’s amazing how very little people get to enjoy the outdoors. Whether you’re going to walk down a city sidewalk or a country road, go feel the crisp air and smell the freshness of it.
2. Bake a legit pie- Not a frozen one or anything that says “Marie Calendar’s,” a real one that you baked yourself from scratch.
3. Plan your Thanksgiving table- Whether you have a big crew coming or it’s you and your cat, bring out the linens that need pressing and the china you only use once a year.
4. Buy fresh pumpkins- The ones you carved for Halloween are probably a little soggy and rotten. There are plenty left to choose from at your local farmer’s market though! Create the perfect front door display for Thanksgiving!
5. Create a leaf garland- A Pinterest DIY that’s sure to be more difficult than it looks, but give it a shot anyway! You get points for creativity at least.

Share with me what you might add to this list with a comment below! Follow me on Twitter to find out what sweet thing my mom left for me as a welcome home present! Is it annoying if I say #blessed?

5 Fall Recipes to Try

Yesterday I was sitting at Starbucks (shocking) drinking a PSL and scrolling through my Pinterest. Like any good pinner would do, I repinned all of the fall-themed things to my “Everything Autumn” board. I’ve had a Pinterest account for the last 4 years and have accumulated over 13,000 pins, a few hundred of those are pretty much all things pumpkin. After going through a few of those pins, I came across several recipes that I thought I might share with you! As promised, they’re centered around fall! They’re all linked below to the original pin. Click on the pin when you get there and it’ll take you to the website where you can get the recipe. I can attest to how good that Crockpot Apple Crisp is!

–Brie and Cheddar Apple Beer Soup

–Crockpot Apple Crisp

–Candy Corn Pudding Pops

–Pumpkin French Toast Bake

–Fall Popcorn

Please feel free to share any recipes you really enjoy this time of the year!

Baking Basics List

If you’re in the eastern part of the United States right now, then you know its raining like monsoon season in Asia. Since I can’t go outside to chop wood or reseed the lawn (like I’d do that anyway), I’m inside doing some planning and prepping for when I finally move out and get my own place!

I’m focusing on the kitchen and making a list of things I’ll be needing. From utensils and sauce pans to basic mixing bowls, I’ll be buying out all of Williams Sonoma! Given my budget though, it might be more like the housewares section of Target. After looking through my list, I’m noticing a trend: I really only care about buying baking supplies. Quite honestly, I don’t care if I have the supplies needed to steam veggies or grill a steak because neither of those things I’ll ever be doing anyway.

I found a fabulous company called Sur la Table and they specialize in cookware. Their selection of baking products is awesome though! Here are nine things every girl needs in her kitchen.

1. Very basic, a stand mixer. My mom got one for Christmas a few years ago and it has been loved and used ever since.
2. Measuring cups and spoons. Do I need to explain this one?
3. For the messy baker, an apron. Sur la Table has plenty of adorable ones to choose from!
4. Simply because they look so cute, a tart pan!
5. I love a cute cupcake so these cupcake liners are a must for every cupcake connoisseur.
6. Tea towels. I literally can’t buy enough of them, partly because our chocolate lab loves to steal them and run around the house.
7. Cookie cutters! Seriously, sugar cookies are for all year round.
8. For the love of all things pretty and Paris themed, a cute spatula. It’s a basic for baking right?
9. A cake stand. There’s nothing more adorable than a pretty pastry sitting in a glass display.

What’s on your baking basics list? Leave a comment!

Simple Gingerbread Cookies

Well friends, a miraculous thing happened the other day- I baked cookies from scratch AND they didn’t burn. Gingerbread cookies always seemed like a difficult thing to make but aside from a few technical terms I had to Google, they were fairly simple.

I started out simply wanting to try my hand at making something tasty and sugary for Christmas. When I couldn’t find the pre-made Pillsbury gingerbread dough, I had to improvise by making the dough myself. Betty Crocker poked her way into my personality for a few hours and I was a baking wizard in my mom’s kitchen. Who knew such things were possible?

As it turns out, I’m not all that bad when it comes to baking. The gingerbread cookies came out warm and soft without a single burnt edge. Even my mom was proud of my new-found abilities! She actually enjoyed this baking endeavor of mine! If I had all the time in the world and a limitless grocery budget, I might actually do a little more in the kitchen.

Here’s the amazing recipe I used that got good reviews from tons of people! It really was tasty!