OOTN: Luke Bryan Concert

Recently I went to see Luke Bryan in concert with my Mom and cousin! This is the second time i've seen him. The set was the same and I was disappointed that he didn't play any of the new songs from his new albums, but it was fun!

Here's my outfit from the concert:

Necklace: Francesca's

Top: Forever 21

Jeans: Old Navy

Boots: Laredo

Lilly Pulitzer Unboxing: Endless Summer Sale {2}

The second dress I purchased from the Lilly ESS sale is this adorable t-shirt dress. Originally $98, I got it for $29 during the sale!

                                         

First Day of School: OOTD and Reflection

Today was my first day of Senior Year! Overall it went pretty well! I had AP Calc, AP Psych, Honors World and AP Bio! I can't tell which class is my favorite yet. I'm glad I have calculus first, so that I can get it over with. I had homework in 3 classes, but it wasn't too bad, yet. I think i'm really going to enjoy my classes this year! 

Here's my outfit from today!

Dress: Francesca's

Belt: Forever 21

Shoes: Jack Rogers

Lilly Pulitzer Unboxing: Endless Summer Sale {1}

I just got one of my orders from the Lilly Pulitzer ESS, and i'm super excited about it! For those of you who don't know, Lilly Pulitzer has a 3 day sale each year, and most summer and spring items are marked WAY down! Although for the past 2 years, the site hasn't been the most customer friendly, the staff at Lilly are always helpful and the shipping was very very fast!

This dress, the Ginny dress, caught my eye as soon as the sale opened up! Originally $188, it was marked down to $49!

DIY Decorated Mason Jars

Mason jars are great for organizing anything small! I'll definitely be taking a bunch with me when I go to college next year, plus they're really cute!

What you'll need:

Mason jars- any size and as many as you want!

Painter's tape

Acrylic paint and glitter- any colors!

How to:

Tape off any patterns one the mason jars with the painter's tape (stripes, scallops, etc). Paint with chosen color and peel tape off when dry. You can add glitter wherever! I like to add it in the clear spots where the tape was. To add glitter, use glue and then sprinkle the glitter on and shake the excess glitter off!

                                       

Mine are now on my desk in my study area! They look great and are perfect for organizing everything I use while studying!

Back to School {2}

For some reason, one of my favorite parts of the entire year is shopping for new school supplies and Target is my favorite place for this!

Here is what i got for school this year:

• 2- 1.5 inch binders
• 1- .5 inch binder
• A notebook
• 2 sets of dividers
• 1 pack of sheet protectors
• Sticky Notes
• College ruled paper
• Lots and lots of pens and pencils

And of course I can't forget my Lilly agenda! I use it year round; for school and for planning out my busy life!

Pancake Recipe!

These pancakes are great for any meal! I especially love making breakfast for dinner, and adding some chocolate chips!

Pancake Recipe (from socialcafemag.com):

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk (add more if needed)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray

Mix all dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, add dry to wet. Cook on medium/high heat on in a pan or on a griddle prepared with cooking spray! Occasionally I will substitute a low cal butter spread instead of real butter, and it's just as good! I usually double or even triple this recipe for a family meal, and make some with chocolate chips and some with blueberries!

OOTD: Traveling Down South

Today I'm going down South to visit my other family for a few days, and then I'm going on a few college visits. This will be a fun last full week of summer! Senior year starts is 10 days, it's crazy!

Shorts: Lilly Pulitzer

Shirt: Forever 21

Belt: American Eagle

FlipFlops: Rainbows

Happy Friday y'all!

Today I went shopping with my Mom and my Mom's best friend at a local town's annual sidewalk sale!  I got a lot of really good items, which I wasn't expecting since today was the last day of the sale, and i wanted to share them with y'all!

The local Lilly Pulitzer store was having 50-70% off of spring and summer styles! I think i tried on 5 dresses, 2 shirts, a sweater and 2 pairs of shorts in total and got 1 dress, a pair of shorts and the sweater. It literally took forever, but i am really happy about the items that i got!

Next we went to Francesca's! This is one of my favorite stores, they have really cute clothes and decent prices. They were having BOGO 50% off of clothing, so i used that to my advantage and got a top and a dress. I also got a statement necklace! Lastly we went to a store that sells brands like Vineyard Vines and Southern Proper. I got a new t-shirt from Southern Proper.

We went to a deli for lunch and an ice cream shop in the afternoon! It was a beautiful day, and a good way to start winding down the summer!

Bakin' a Cake

I felt like baking last night, so at midnight, I got up and made a cake. The cake is a mixture of a few recipes, and it turned out awesome! I'm actually very proud of how it turned out. I wanted to share some pictures and my recipes...

Chocolate Chip Yellow Cake Recipe:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 8 oz chocolate chips

The best thing about this recipe is that the entire thing can be made using only one bowl!

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add in the butter, milk and vanilla while beating with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time. Once the batter is made, stir in the chocolate chocolate chips by hand. 

I used two 8 inch pans, and it took 35 minutes to bake all the way through.

Next, I frosted the two cakes together using frosting-

Milk Chocolate Frosting recipe (from sweetlavenderbakeshoppe.com)

• 1 and 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 2.5 cups powdered sugar
• 2.5ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4  tsp vanilla 
• 1/8 cup heavy whipping cream

Soften the butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds, then beat with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and mix. Add salt. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Add melted chocolate and mix. Lastly, add the heavy whipping cream and mix.

Once the two cakes were together, and i had one tall cake, i made the buttercream icing for the outer icing layer.

Amy's Bread Buttercream Icing:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk

Soften butter in the microwave. Mix butter and small amounts of powdered sugar together until all is incorporated. The milk and vanilla can be added at any point.

I frosted the outside of this cake with a frosting knife, and moved on to the marshmallow fondant.

Marshmallow Fondant (adapted from diy.wed-central.com):

• 16 oz. bag mini marshmallows 
• 2-5 tablespoons of water 
• 2 pounds of powdered sugar
• Gel Food Coloring 

Microwave the marshmallows and 2 tbsp of water for 30 second intervals. Mix between. Continue this process until all are melted. Begin incorporating the powdered sugar. Once the mixture is more of a solid, remove from bowl and continue mixing the powdered sugar in by hand. Once the fondant is done, fold in food coloring by hand. 

I let my fondant sit in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastics wrap, for about 2 hours. I then used parchment paper and rolled the fondant out flat with a rolling pin, so that i would be able to cut out my shapes.

In the end, the cake is a chocolate chip cake with milk chocolate buttercream filling iced with buttercream frosting!