Ranked: Best Chick Flicks

A friend of mine at work was showing me a list of the top 20 western films of all time according to another blogger. Not being the connoisseur of western movies that he and his other male counterparts are, I decided to try to win at their game by writing my own list of top chick flicks. You girls may want to add a few or even take away some, but if I had a 48 hour drive somewhere and I needed to kill time, I’d be packin’ heat with these lovelies.

Top 15 Chick Flicks

15. Letters to Juliet– It’s romantic, funny, and set in Italy. All the elements of a good girl movie.

14. Aquamarine– Flashback to my middle-early high school days! Seriously, the best Disney/Nickelodeon cast of teen girls ever.

13. The Notebook– I love Rachel McAdams and James Marsden is my man. You read that right, I didn’t swoon over Noah in the movie, I was in love with Lon. Sue me.

12. It’s Complicated– This movie is awkwardly hilarious. I was stuck on a plane coming back from Orlando and this was the only movie that I could get in while up in there. Is it weird that I love this movie only because she’s an amazing baker and Steve Martin is in it?

11. The Devil Wears Prada– Meryl Streep is the epitome of #girlboss in this movie and her hair is on point. I love the little look inside the elusive fashion world we all sub-consciously wonder about.

10. Twilight– Edward Cullen *swoon*. I’m Team Edward. Deal with it.

9. Made of Honor– Patrick Dempsey is such a cutie and he really knocked it off the park with this rom-com.

8. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants– Such a classic for us girls! A story of best friends, exotic travels, and even more exotic men (if you’re Lena that is). What more could I ask for?

7. Clueless– This is a cult classic. It just is. Rich, unassuming girl spending daddy’s money and trying to do good in the world? How cute.

6. Mean Girls– Regina George. On Wednesdays, we Wear Pink. Everyone gets those references. Nuff’ said.

5. Cinderella– Not the 1950s Cindy, the new Lilly James version that came out this year. It struck a chord in me. I can’t get over how beautiful it was. Prince Charming was also just swoon-worthy. When Ella says that everyone is looking at him, he replies “Believe me, they’re all looking at you.” How sweet is that?

4. How to Marry a Millionaire– An old Marilyn Monroe movie that is as vain as it sounds. These ladies want to marry money and they’re having a hard time finding it. Story of my life. Oops, I shouldn’t say that.

3. The Princess Diaries– Most of us grew up wanting to be princesses and we were able to watch Anne Hathaway actually become one. Not to mention we rekindled our love of Julie Andrews. The woman never ages and always looks beautiful.

2. Legally Blonde– Elle Woods. Need I say more?

1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s– My best friend would kill me if this weren’t at the top of my list. Audrey Hepburn is an icon and this movie is her legacy. A helpless girl who has a love affair with expensive things and the wrong guys, sounds like me for sure.

What did I miss? Let me know!

Kentucky Derby 2015 Style

Happy hump day lovelies! I’m counting down days until the weekend when all of my fun can start! In the mean time, let’s focus on something important that will be here before we know it: the Kentucky Derby. One of the oldest sporting events in America, this year horse lovers, millionaires, and preppy college students will flock to the racetrack on May 2nd!

In a previous post, I talked about my trip to the Derby in 2013. While it was memorable, I won’t be going back until I can get in an executive club suite to wait for the races to start. For those of you who are going this year, I suggest wearing this new Lilly Pulitzer shift that just came out! Bright, flamboyant colors are very appropriate for this day as ladies (and a few gents) go big or go home for the event. If there’s no rain in the forecast, try wearing espadrille wedges in a muted color like these Jack Rogers. Accessories wise, you can never go wrong with Kendra Scott! These earrings bring out the green in the dress beautifully.

Here’s the most important part of the outfit: the hat. Women wear some pretty incredible hats as part of the Kentucky Derby tradition. As someone who spent more time hanging out with other college-aged girls under the Vineyard Vines tent in the infield, I can tell you that this age group stuck to their monogrammed, wide-brimmed floppy hats. Older age groups wore more eccentric hats. The hat I featured is from The Palm Gifts.

Let me know if you plan on going to the Derby this year! I’d love to know what you’re wearing!

Beyonce’s 22 Day Diet Plan

It’s February and I broke my “clean eating” resolution about 3 weeks ago. It got boring and expensive. For your daily dose of inspiration though, Beyonce has announced a 22 day diet plan that she and her trainer have put together that will get you on the right track!

This plan is completely vegan and essentially cleans out your insides of all the gunk you put in it on a daily basis. Sounds great right? Meals delivered to your door and everything is completely measured out for you. There’s nothing better than knowing you’re getting enough kale in your diet. All good things come at a price though, and in this case, a high one. Each meal costs between $9-16. 

Here’s my hangup with it- too expensive. I get why Beyonce is promoting this diet; it’s healthy and with her star power she can make a few (million) dollars off of it. However, truth be told, if we all had the money she does to spend on our diets, we would be eating just as healthily as she is. Well, most of us would. I would love to be able to make my favorite salad of toasted walnuts and pecans, chopped grapes, goat cheese, strawberries, spinach, and balsamic vinegar everyday. My budget doesn’t allow me to eat like this though. Most of America’s population can’t either.

This country is interesting because the poorest people tend to be the most overweight because they only have access to pre-packaged, high calorie food, which is cheaper. Due to our nation’s large geography, most of our fresh food is loaded on trucks 700 (or more) miles away and delivered to our stores. Economically speaking, in order for the farmers and stores to make a profit, they have to price the goods at a rate that will cover growing and shipping expenses, plus pay the people that are part of the process. The strawberries at my grocery store come from a totally different region of the United States and the price is reflected in that. I’m not angry at the farmers, the stores, or anyone else; it’s simply part of life. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to enjoy this luxury too often.

3 Ways to Eat Healthier

So what can we do to improve our diets? I really wish I could give you a simple answer to this, but there really isn’t one. I do have a few suggestions though.

1. Plant a small garden- Pick out a few of your favorite fruits and veggies and plant them in the ground. For you city people, choose plants that don’t require deep soil so that you can plant them in window boxes and clay pots on your deck or in your window. You may not be growing enough veggies to feed your family for an entire season, but every bit helps.
2. Go vegan one or two days a week- Like I just said, every bit helps. Reducing your intake of animal-based food to only five days a week can help cleanse your digestive system and it won’t ruin your budget.
3. Juice it- I love a smoothie on days when I’m just too busy to eat a normal meal. These days can be for a juice cleanse. Try it weekly on your busiest days. There are tons of great recipes for healthy smoothies with fruits and veggies mixed in. My suggestion would be to buy the frozen fruit packages for cheap and spend the extra on buying the green goodness that goes in smoothie.

I think the key to a good diet is not about depriving yourself of everything (whether healthy, good stuff or chocolatey deliciousness), but enjoying it in moderation. If you’re a recent college graduate like me with lots of debt and no job offers, this rule is what we live and die by.

P.S. For any of my Jordanian readers, my thoughts and prayers are with your country in the wake of the horrific death of your pilot.

A Gilmore Girls Experience in my Hometown

Hello loves, hope your Tuesday is a beautiful one. This past weekend was a bit packed for me between homework I forgot to do, Saturday evening church services, and then dinner with a sweet someone. All in all, it was good even though I’m exhausted.

I decided I want to give you a little peak inside my weekend so I took pictures of an event I went to with my best friend and fellow blogger, Lindsey. It was called “A Taste of Saint Mary’s” in our town square. Vendors from all over our county came and were giving out small samples of their food. To taste almost everything it was about $20 total but well worth it. Great seafood, steak, desserts, and other yummy things. Lindsey and I had a really nice time walking around the square and then down at the wharf on the riverside. My town totally reminds me of Stars Hallow in Gilmore Girls during events like these. I’m for sure Lorelai and my friend Lindsey is Rory without a doubt. Now where can we find a Luke… 😉

I’ve put captions on all of the photos to guide you through my experience so hopefully you enjoy it. I certainly did. Leave me a comment about your weekend! I love hearing about everyone’s life!

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Medieval Times Review (and a day on the water)

Saturdays are always good aren’t they? Ok, maybe not. Luckily for me, my Saturday was pretty darn good. I went to a little beach near my hometown and laid on the sand for a few hours listening to music and eating fruit. The sun was strong and the breeze was stronger. The water was a great temperature and judging by the crabs awkwardly walking along the shore they enjoyed the sun and water too. It was such a lovely day.

A big surprise and unplanned event occurred when an older man pulled up on his jet ski and parked it along the shore. He offered me a ride on the river to which I happily said yes. I put on a life jacket and then got on the back of the jet ski. He warned me that it could go pretty fast and to hold on. He wasn’t kidding when he said it went fast. We were at a cruising speed of about 50 mph and going through the wakes of other people’s boats we hit 75 mph. What a thrill ride that was! Sadly, I have no pictures only a great memory of fulfilling my need for speed.

Man in the right hand corner on his horse is our knight!

Later that afternoon a handsome boy I recently got to know took me to Medieval Times- a place I had heard about my entire life but never managed to get to. It was very theatrical! I was impressed. Some people really have a flair for being in the spotlight.

The performance began with the King of the court presenting each of his knights and the section of the arena they represented (our knight was blue). Each knight was then given several challenges that tested his skills and abilities. These guys were pretty good! Their horses were even better! Most of the knights had dapple gray horses as their trusted steeds. The horses also demonstrated their abilities in terms of obeying commands and dancing. They were gorgeous to watch.

After this, the knights were given more difficult tasks to accomplish including jousting. It was so entertaining to watch someone get knocked off of their horse. The effort they put into making it look elegant was incredible. I would have fallen off with a thud and then freaked out. I was never very good at riding though. The first time I got on a horse I got on backwards. Oops. That was awkward. Ok, moving on…

Finally, at the end of the tournament the king selected the knight he thought did the best. Our blue knight won! It was such a Disney “dreams do come true” moment because the knight then chose a girl out of our section to make his princess for the day. He chose a little girl named Lilly and gave her a crown, sash, and rose. It was the most adorable thing to watch! That kid’s face lit up the room. Such a sweetheart!

Chris and I!

I feel like I’m forgetting an important element here. Oh yeah, food. How could I forget? It was quite tasty even though you had to eat with only your hands- no utensils! They didn’t have silverware in the 11th century so we used the next best thing. Our starter course was garlic bread and dragon’s blood (tomato bisque soup). After this course the servers brought out “baby dragon” for the main course. It was roasted chicken breast marinated in rosemary, lemon, and pepper. Additionally, they gave us the option of having a baked potato with dinner. The dessert was a favorite of mine- apple turnover! Warm, gooey, cinnamon apple chunks falling out of a puff pastry is just such a great way to end a dinner.

This place was really charming and lots of fun and laughs. People of all ages were there so it isn’t just for children. There were some frat boys sitting near us who seemed to be having far too much fun! It was definitely an evening worth remembering.

Tell me about any experiences you’ve had similar to this. I’d love to hear from you!