Sugar Cookies... MmmMmm ♥

I have a habit of making a dessert weekly. This week I tried Pioneer Woman's Angel Sugar Cookies. This recipe is amazing ladies!! These cookies are the perfect, melt in your mouth consistency! Ryan says they're the best cookies he's ever eaten in his life. I think I might agree...

2 Large eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar (plus extra for the tops of the cookies)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vailla extract
4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

To make the dough, cream together the eggs, oil, butter, sugar, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for 45 minutes to an hour. Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to drop balls of dough onto an uncreased cookie sheet. Smear a dab of butter on the bottom of a glass, then dip in sugar. Use the glass to flatten the balls of dough. Make sure you dip the glass into the sugar for each cookie. Bake for 9-11 minutes at 350 degrees.

Seriously girls, these cookies are amazing!! No, they're not diet food, but they're well worth every calorie ♥

Oh, and they go fantastic with coffee. *swoon*

Weekend Recap

Friday

Friday was a rainy, kinda icky day, but I wanted to have a great weekend regardless. Ryan and I spent sometime at the mall, but hunger took over before too long! Instead of settling for food-court food, we headed over to McAlister's Deli. Mmm... I love this place ♥ It's especially good on a rainy day! After eating, we were going to just head home and catch up on tv (I know, we're exciting like that), but we got a text from some friends seeing if we wanted to get some drinks and catch a movie. Um, of course we did! So we met up at the same place we all went to last weekend and enjoyed a good hour or so of talking before we all went to see this movie...

It was absolutely fantastic!! The whole theater was laughing pretty much non-stop. I highly recommend this movie!

After the movie, we all still wanted to hang out more, so we went to hang out at The Roost. A nifty little bar, which happened to be having karaoke night. Oh my, there were some good ones to say the least! There was a Will Farrell look-a-like that had the whole place laughing with his cheese-tastic performances. All in all, a very fun night!

Saturday

Saturday I got to spend pretty much the whole day with my mom and sister! We've all been really busy lately, so this was the first girls outing we'd had in ages. I'm now kicking myself for not getting any pictures... I know, I'm a horrible person/photographer/blogger for not doing so.
We had so much fun together! We all went to see this amazing little movie...

Maybe it was just me, but the 3D on this movie seemed extra fantastic! Oh, and the movie it's self... It was just darling ♥ I think I'm going to drag Ryan to it later this week, it was just so wonderful! I definitely recommend you all go and see it. Another great thing about the movie, is it had a preview for Toy Story 3 in 3D!! I'm so excited for that movie... I'm kinda obsessed with Dreamworks/Pixar cartoons ♥

After the movie we went and had dinner at...

If you live in Springfield, and haven't been to The Grotto, you need to go ASAP! It's one of the few places in town I can get a totally vegan meal without feeling like I'm missing something. Oh, and they've got a nice craft brew menu, if you're into that sort of thing.

We had such a great time talking and just enjoying all being together! I can't wait until summer when everyone is out of school and I can spend more time with my wonderful family ♥


How was your weekend?? I'd love to hear all about it ♥

PS, I want to thank you all for the wonderful comments you've been leaving!! I'm sorry I'm behind on responding, but I promise I'll catch up ASAP ♥ xoxo

10 dresses under $30

I don't know about you, but this Spring weather has me in the mood to buy some dresses! And what girl doesn't love a good deal, right?

There's a dress for every occasion here. From a night out on the town to a nice walk in the park!

Forever 21 - $14.80

Forever 21 - $22.90

Forever 21 - $22.90

Forever 21 - $11.50

Forever 21 - $27.80

Forever 21 - $27.80

Forever 21 - $24.80

Forever 21 - $17.80

Forever 21 - $24.80

Forever 21 - $19.80

Ladies and Gentlemen: Mark your calendars!

Mad Men returns for it's 4th season on July 25th!

I was so happy to hear this news! Mad Men is hands down one of my favorite tv shows. From the beautiful cinematography to the breath-taking costumes and sets, this show embodies the glam and drama of the 60's.

If you haven't seen the past seasons, you're seriously missing out. I highly recommend that you rent the dvds and get caught up before this new season starts!

Fun times with wonderful friends ♥

Saturday night we went to a going away party for some friends. It'll be sad to see these two go, but they're not moving that far away, so I think keeping in touch will be pretty easy.



The party was so much fun! We all started out at a local Mexican restaurant, where Ryan ordered this vegetarian burrito. Wow, was he shocked at the size!

(please excuse the quality, these are phone pictures)

After dinner we all headed out for some drinks, dancing and watching the Cardinals in a almost never-ending ballgame!



Seriously, if all weekends could be like this, life would be awesome! But then, I'd be very sleep deprived...

Oxfords for Spring

I'm really loving the Oxford trend right now. I sadly don't have a pair yet myself, but hopefully that'll change soon!


These are perfect for everyday! I can just picture these with shorts and a tunic top...

Bakers Shoes - $49.99 (also in black)



Picture with a cool grahpic t-shirt, cuffed destroyed jeans, and maybe a little vintage jacket...

Bakers Shoes - $49.99 (also in black)



It's like an oxford mixed with a ballet flat! And it has a wedge! It's like the shoe gods designed it just got me...

Bakers Shoes - $39.99 (also in gray and black)



Um, yeah... These are awesome! I would totally wear these on a night out...

Urban Outfitters - $128 (also in white)


So which one is your favorite?? I think I'm kinda leaning towards the first pair. They're basic, classic and would go with everything!

What can you get for $10 or under?

Well, if you check out Urban Outfitters sale... You can get all sorts of wonderful things! I already made my order, cause things are going fast. In fact, one thing I wanted was already OOS by the time I went to check out :(

They've got everything from sunglasses, to tops, to a hedgehog nail brush!



Oh, and if you order, don't forget to use Ebates! And there's a 10% off code (UOUOUO) going around so add that on there too!

Now I'm waiting, rather impatiently for my order... Once it comes I promise lots of pictures!

If all days were like this...

...then life would be perfect! ♥ ♥

First thing on the agenda today, hitting up our favorite flea markets! I probably should have taken pictures there... But they were packed and I didn't want to risk knocking anything over with my camera. But I ended up finding two adorable little Pyrex cups at a steal of a price - Only $1.40 for both!! And they go perfectly with my little Pyrex refrigerator dish, which I use as a k-cup holder!



Before we knew it, it was time for lunch. For lunch we hit up a great little local spot, The Purple Burrito. It's such a great little place. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the outside, but I didn't... The building is painted bright purple and inside all the tables are made out of raw cheap particle board and metal. Sounds odd I know, but it works and is very charming!

Oh and the food... It's amazing California style Mexican food. And they've got some great vegetarian options. I always get the vegetarian burrito, which is stuffed full with green peppers, pico de gallo, cheese, guacamole, sauteed onions, sour cream, rice and beans... Oh, and it comes with a side of chips and your choice of salsa from their salsa bar :) I promise this picture doesn't exaggerate... It really is so huge it can't fit on the plate!



After this we headed over to Jordon Valley park, which is a favorite of ours. Set right by the heart of our downtown :)

We found a hilltop and claimed it as ours...




From our hill we had quite the view! In front of us was the rest of the park...



To the left overlooked the part that branches back to downtown...



And behind us was the ballpark...



I took a few pictures of Ryan...




And he took a few of me...




I love this park! It has everything...

From beautiful flowers...



To dinosaurs...



Oh, and on the way home we stopped at local wonder, Andy's!



We split a peanut butter cup sundae! And oh my... It was blissful! Just like our day ♥

Happiness is...

1. My sweetheart making me the best French Toast ever for breakfast ♥
2. Long talks with friends ♥
3. Trips to the zoo ♥
4. Photo outings with my photog buddies ♥
5. Having a fabulous hair day ♥
6. Finding treasures at flea markets ♥
7. Skype convos with my bff who lives across the globe ♥
8. Reading in the sun ♥
9. Playing music until my fingers hurt during jam sessions with Ryan ♥
10. Cuddling ♥

She & Him.

If you haven't yet listened to the latest album by She & Him, you are missing out! First of all, I would like to say that they were brilliant to release this just in time for Spring and Summer, as the music just calls for lazy summer days in the park. I can just picture how magical it would be to listen to on a picnic, during a breezy Spring day!




I love the soft folksy sound that this duo infuses into their songs. In my mind, they can do no wrong.



If you haven't yet tried their music, I encourage you to give it a go! Here's a little taste for your music pleasure :)