What I Wore: Die Die My Darling

Hello! Here is my outfit for today! Mondays are always rough, so it's best to have the cutest outfit planned for that day. Or at least that's what I tell myself as I put my clothes together late Sunday night.

Cardigan: Hot Topic 

T-Shirt: Hot Topic 

Skirt: Forever 21 

Leggings: Target 

Legwarmers: a shirt that I cut the sleeves off of back in 2004! 

Necklace: Forever 21

I hope you know how lucky you are to have two Sonny appearances in this post! I love this shirt. It is such a comfy fit and I love that it says Fiend Club and I love pairing it with super cute, super sweet cardigans and the fluffiest skirts. But mostly it makes me think that I haven't listened to the Misfits for FAR TOO LONG. So here you go, let's listen together:


Have a good night! ♥

Recipe: One-Pot, Good-For-You, EASY, Turkey Chili

I'm not the world's best cook, not even by a long shot, but there are a few things I'm proud of. One of those is the turkey chili I whipped up yesterday! It was so good & yummy that we're having the same thing today! It's really filling, I like to make it spicy, easy and inexpensive, and pretty alright for you! I mean, it's not the BEST, but if you have a craving for chili, this will get the job done. Wanna know how I make it?

Ingredients: 

• Lean Turkey (I used 1.25 lbs)
• 2 14.5-oz cans of diced tomatoes (I picked ones that were "Spicy Red Pepper")
• 2 chili flavor packets
• 1 14.5-oz(ish) can of navy beans
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 12-oz bag of frozen corn 
• Spices! (I used salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, red peppers, and garlic powder)

Instructions:

1. Chop up onion into little squares and put into your cooking pot with the beans, undrained. I let the onions and beans cook on medium heat for a while until they are both pretty much all cooked up and soft.

2. Add in the turkey and continue cooking on medium heat until cooked through. I add in some spices here, just whatever I want and had in my cupboard. It depends on how spicy you want it, but when is all said & done, I probably put 5-6 dashes of chili powder and red pepper into my chili. I go crazy with the garlic, because, well, I love garlic.

3. Alright, so your turkey is cooked! Add in both of the chili seasoning packets & both cans of tomatoes, undrained. Stir them all up and let it come to a boil.

4. Once it is at a boil, add in your bag of frozen corn. You can dump it all in there, totally frozen. Stir it up, cover, turn down to low-heat, and let it sit for 15 minutes to let all the yumminess combine and mix together. (This also gives the corn a chance to be unfrozen.)

5. Eat it!

Some other ideas:

• Add mushrooms (that's what I did today!) 
• More beans! We've made it with big fat butter beans before, and that was also delicious!
• Eat it with plain greek yogurt, a good alternative to sour cream 
• If you aren't concerned about calories or fat (lucky!), add cheese on top and eat with a layer of Fritos on the bottom. It sounds kind of trashy, but I like the crunchy texture mixed with the chili.
• Drink with a big, ice cold beer :9

And that's that! I added it all up, and that big pot has about 2250ish calories and 55.5 grams of fat. Divide that up into five or six servings, which you'll get out of there easily, and that's not bad per bowl. It's really filling, like I said, so a bowl is all I needed for lunch.

What do you think? I love chili! How do you make it? As I said earlier, I'm not the best or most exciting cook (I used flavor packs, c'mon), but I'm also happy with how it turned out.

Happy eating! ♥

Crocheters: I Need Your Help!

I want to make these.

I seriously want these so bad. Really bad. I saw them on tumblr,of course, and of course, the original poster didn't include any sources or anything. However, I don't think an original source would tell me how to make them!

I'm pretty sure I can figure out the general idea of making a crocheted pair of these. What I need from my genius yarncrafting friends is: what YARNS and OTHER TECHNIQUES should I use while trying to recreate these? Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated! They are so cute and fluffy and perfectly messy and ... the outfit to go with them is pretty mint, too. Thanks everyone! 

Hyrulean Travel Posters

These are so awesome that they definitely deserve their own post. I wish I had an extra $60 or so laying around for the set of five. That's not a bad price for some limited edition (sweet) art.

The Hyrulian Travel poster series, created by Dean Walton.

Things I Love

Here are some cute things that I've seen around the web that I want to try to do or I just plain old want!

(via The Tanooki)

These crazy Ocarina of Time pendants! Seriously, so awesome.

(via Flickr)

Little teacup shaped coin purses. I could make this, right?

(via ASOS)

One of my very favorite parts of Valentine's is that the world becomes as obsessed with hearts and pink and red and candies and pretties as much as I am year round. If I could have a world where there was constant Halloween and Valentine's stuff for sale, I would be a happy girl.

(via CraftPassion.com)

This DIY for fabric macaron coin purses looks soooo do-able, but I can see myself getting frustrated sewing the insides and outsides to the zipper. But I want to try it really bad!

(via Flickr)

This Flickr leads to her Etsy shop, which is awesome, but I want to figure out how to make my own! Someday..

What have you been looking at lately online? Anything in particular catch your interest?  ♥ Happy Thursday! One more day until the weekend!

Style Check: BELTS

I admit it. I'm not the best when it comes to accessorizing an outfit with a belt. Sure, I've had my fair share of pyramid stud belts that I've worn with jeans (my favorite was the fuzzy leopard print one!), but as far as matching a belt over a dress or a top? No clue. I want to try it, but I have a hard time finding a belt to go with an outfit. HOWEVER:

It is the belt I just bought at Forever21, matched with a dress from Target I got a year or so ago! And, of course, my new HK cardi. Do you love it? I was so proud. I love it. I just can't believe I've finally successfully matched a great belt with a cute dress. Well, after that, I was just so excited and I've gone on a Pinterest-belt-photo marathon. Here are some more belt-style inspirations. Enjoy! (Images linked to source listed on Pinterest.)

Which is your favorite? I really love the second to the last one, with the leopard print. I want to invent in a ton of new belts, especially ones that I can knot! Let me know about your favorite way to wear a belt, and your favorite stores to shop for them!

Mall of America with Mom and Ellen!

Last Monday, I skipped out of work a few hours early to go on a day-date with my mom and littlest sister, Ellen, to the Mall of America! The Bloomingdales at the mall had announced that they were closing, so we wanted to check out any sales! The whole store was 10-40% off, but I was mostly interested in Betsey Johnson stuff. That was only 20% off and 20% off a $100+ item is still a little out of my price range. It was still fun to look, though, and we did other shopping, of course!

Our first stop was the Ruby Tuesday on the second floor. I got this delicious seafood-y trio dish, with lobster, shrimp, and a crab cake, along with some brown rice and DELICIOUS zucchini! It was reallyyy good, especially since I really didn't eat lunch that day.

Here is Ellen and me at the restaurant, where she looks super cute and I'm making a weird face. I was so happy for that shrimp, I think.

As you can see, the mega mall is a land of wonder, with Dora the Explorer ferris wheels and a gigantic mecha robot built of legos. Naturally.

Here is what I wore! (In not great lighting..) I think I've worn all of these things in previous What I Wore posts, so.. let's just say that the dress, shoes, and cardigan are from Hot Topic (Tripp, Iron Fist, and Lucky 13, respectively.) That lighting makes my hair look like candy, though, so I love it.

Here is a close up of my shoes, my favorite part. Not shown: cute little bows on the sides! I should look online to see if there are any more Iron Fist flats available.. I love these guys.

The mall was fairly quiet, but it was a Monday evening. I took that picture right outside of Forever 21, looking down to the first floor. I love that spot because it's above where Lush is, so it smells delicious! I was not really happy with much of Forever21.. it was all prints I didn't like, fits I wasn't a fan of, and crop tops. Crop tops, still! Can we be done with that? Even so, it was a successful day! I was so happy to spend it with mom and Ellie!


Here is what I ended up getting, all (mostly) thanks to gift cards!
 

I love this dress! I got it at the store Superdry, which is also one of my new favorites. This was full price, but we got 10% for liking their Facebook. I love that it is long sleeved and it's short, but not too short. Super duper comfy.

Ever since I read San's makeup post, I knew I had to try this mascara. Thankfully, I had a Sephora gift card! The good news and bad news is that I love it. It's good news because I'm happy to find a mascara I'm so pleased with, bad news because when it's out, I'll have to fork over ~$20 of non-gift card money for a new tube. Oh well!

Two of my three purchases I made at Forever21. I bought the belt, this awesome!! coat, and a pack of anklet socks all for under $30. I can't believe my new coat was only $16. However, it was on the sale rack next to a LOT of fluffy, furry jackets, so I'm going to have to work on that with some heavy duty lint rollers. Worth it! I wanted a new coat for when I go to Japan. I love my yellow one, but it's pretty dingy and really bulky. This black peacoat is a lot sleaker, a tinier bit light weight, and flattering with a comfortable fit!

What a fun day! Have you ever been to the Mall of America? I think it's funny how big of a deal it seems outside of MN; when you get here, you realize that it's just any old mall, just really big. The restaurants are great, though, and it's pretty cool that there's an amusement park in the middle. Some of my favorite stores there are: LUSH, H&M, Forever21, Betsey Johnson, Heritage/For Love/whatever those "other" Forever21 stores are, Superdry, Caribou!!, Williams Sonoma, the crepe restaurant, and Macy's. We did peek in the new Bettie Page store, and while it was cute, it was super expensive and stuff I'd never see myself wearing. It was more of the sexy, slinky, tight-fitting styles of the 50s, and not the cute Bettie Draper dresses that I'd rather wear. There were some very cute cardigans, though!

Now I want to go shopping again! ♥

Work in Progress: Granny Square Blanket, The Beginning

Well, I started. Again. A granny square blanket.. Do you think I can do it? I hope so! As of right now, I have 12 completed squares and six half completed squares. So, uh.. only about 160+ left plus construction. BUT. Come on. I can do it, riiiiight?

Good thing I finished this gigantic bag, huh? I bought two skeins each of six colors (so far), plus two skeins of my border color, and it fits all 14 of those with probably room for 14 more. I'm glad to have the bag to hold all of that plus the finished motifs.

A stack of finished squares. I haven't blocked these yet.. Not looking forward to it. I'm thinking of buying one of those clear, big rectangle ruler things, so I can make sure they are exactly 4" by 4" each.

I am definitely happy with the blue I chose for the border color. I cannot WAIT to see what they look like when I get 50, 100, and more. They are so fun and quick to make, the only thing that is getting me is weaving in the ends. Have you crocheted a blankie? What were your dimensions? I want it to be larger than a throw, but we'll see how many squares I can bust out in the next few months.

Featured on loveelycia.com!

This January I was so happy to be a sponsor on one of my favorite blogs, ♥elycia! Her blog is the best - super fun and inspiring for everything I love (kitties, crafts, crochet, thrifting, new clothes & fun hair!) and Elycia was so nice to post a feature on her sponsors! I have a few new followers on Bloglovin' and GFC, so I thought I'd be sure to say hi!

I also recommend going to the sponsor feature on ♥elycia, because ever girl on there is amazing! I'm now following all of them, of course!

Another note: I've put up a sponsors tab on Me! MaDonna! so be sure to check that out for the (free!) options!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Yesterday I crocheted the day away and now I'm going to brave the freezing rain to drive into my part-time retail job for inventory. Wish me safe travels~

Winter Sunnies

So, it actually snowed yesterday! It was not so fun driving in, but I'm happy to actually see some fluffy on the ground. Who knows how long it'll last. Yesterday it was nice and gloomy in the morning, but by the time I went to lunch, the sun was majorly shining, which made the world super bright. Snow is blinding, it's true. So in honor of the awfully bright snow-sun, I'm going to show you some pretty sunglasses that I've found online!

I don't usually shop for designer eyewear online, but sometimes its fun to window shop. These are all Vera Wang brand glasses in Giza, Sarda, and then Cosma at the bottom. I'm a sucker for tortoise-shell, though. While I usually tend to gravitate towards Betsey Johnson and off-brand styles, there are some other name brand sunglasses that I wouldn't mind having a pair of. Liiiike the Vera Wang Giza in the top left there.

Some more: (all in True Religion) Ava, Madison, Olivia. I love bug-eye sunglasses, still. SORRY. They fit my round face way better than smaller styles. I wish I could pull off way-farers, but they just don't sit right on my cheeks.

It's fun to window shop, buuut I think I'll stick with my Betsey Johnsons I found at TJ Maxx for $12. For now, at least!

Finally Friday: Pay Day Style

via Pinterest

Pay day .. FINALLY. (For me at least.) And this e-card is definitely going to be a reality in about eight hours. Have a good Friday!

Take Action

Please, whatever you're doing today, take a second to sign this petition to End Piracy, Not Liberty. SOPA is a real and scary thing, and we have to all be aware of what's going on. Here is a video that helped me understand the situation better!

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

What I Wore: Science Genius Girl

Here is what I wore on Thursday! It was cold, but I did not care. 

T-SHIRT: Freezepop shirt! Science Genius Girl ♥  
CARDIGAN: American Eagle  
NECKLACE: Jay Strongwater charm from Markie  
SKIRT: Forever 21  
TIGHTS: WalMart, eek  
BOOTS: Delicious lolita knock-offs from Hong Kong that I bought a few years ago

I love this shirt because, for one, it's American Apparel, and their t-shirts fit me so well. And secondly, its Freezepop! I bought this when I saw them at Ground Zero a few years back, and the design makes me smile every time I have it on. It also makes me think of the time that Freezepop did a signing at my Hot Topic and I got to meet them and then go see them in concert in my town!

Blast from the past, 2009!

New iPhone Cover!

I got my iPhone case in the mail! I love it so much. I got it from Strapya World. I've gotten so much stuff there, you should really check it out. Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma, Doraemon, San-x, a ton of awesome Japanese charms (food, train station signs, maneki neko, etc), Ghibli stuff and more. I've seriously spent a lot of money there.

This cover is awesome. It snaps on really tight, but isn't super heavy-duty so my phone feels weird. The sticker on it looks really realistic, and it's perfect, since my iPhone is the same size and shape as a Nintendo controller. It makes me want to go play some Bubble Bobble! In fact, that's what I might just do tonight..

You can see the case here, but it's sold out! Eep. What do you think? I'm in love~