Wreath in the New Year

Christmas time has come and gone. How can that be?

I feel like the tryptophan got the best of me, I took my annual after-thanksgiving-meal-snooze-sesh and woke up to gifts under the tree all wrapped and ready to be opened.

Not complaining there, Santa was very good to me this year. Being able to spend the holidays with my loved ones is what I treasure most and I got to do plenty of that this holiday season. However, it flew by. Faster than Comet, the reindeer. And that's fast, I would know. I love Christmas.

During the holiday season I did get a chance to do some crafting. Not as much as I hoped (possible new years ressie anyone?!) but I had enough time to sit down and make another wreath.

Since my first wreath experience turned out well, I gave it another go. I'm smitten.

The colors are a bit more christmas with the cream and red, but it can live throughout the holiday season and into the new year. Wrapping the wreath this time with the yarn was a bit harder than my first wreath that I've made. To figure out my "peppermint" theme I wrote on the wreath to make a grid. This grid I could follow as I wrapped. I just wen every other, red then cream then red and so on. 

After two hours I finally had a peppermint looking wreath, it helps if you put on a Christmas show while you wrap so you've got some entertainment. Just make sure you don't wrap into a different color section!

After that, I took out the hot glue gun and added some embellishments I had leftover from the holidays. I think my favorite part of this wreath are the little jingle bells. Sorry to the snowflakes, they didn't make the final cut. They kind of disappeared and seemed out of place, maybe next year snowflake, maybe next year. 

Hearing those bells every time someone comes into my home make me smile. It's the little things...

This wreath took me the same amount of time as the other did. I did have to stop for a few days because I left it at my sisters home, but we're going to pretend we didn't pause on this project due to forgetfulness. 

I'm really proud of this Christmas spirit wreath....

Merry Christmas!

Stopping in to share some Christmas cheer. Merry Christmas to all. I hope each and everyone of you has a holiday filled with love, family, laughter and magic. 

This is my favorite time of year, and I cherish each moment as they come. I can only wish you all the same, and that Santa has brought all you good girls and boys everything you wanted and more. 

Wardrobe Wednesday

We have a special guest today...Miss Sophie

As I was about to take my photo she decided she wanted to get in on this blog post. Today, my sister is having a small dinner party/get together. I'm really looking forward to it, seeing as sometimes during the holidays its hard to get together with friends, have a meal, and just enjoy one anothers company.

To step back for a minute and enjoy this time together, the most wonderful time of the year. Holiday season is one of my favorites. Since this get together is just low key, I decided to stay casual myself.

Today I am in head to toe, Lucky Brand. My jeans I'm wearing today are one of my favorite skinnies that I own. They are so comfortable, the wash is dark enough that I can dress it up and dress it down, they are made in NC, USA and they have just enough stretch in them to do daily activities and be comfortable but they feel more like a raw denim. With 99% cotton and 1% spandex, they are the best jeans. My shirt, is older Lucky...I can't find a link for it, but in the meantime this shirt is a great subtitute! Heck, I may even get it, with it being the same shape as this shirt and the color it can go with more in my wardrobe. Simple classic colors are great to build a closet. 

I LOVE VERA! Seriously, there isn't a print that I don't like. Obsessed. So when I found out they have pet collars, you better believe I grabbed one in my favorite print, Ellie Blue. Sophie has been wearing it for about a month now and seems to love it. She is a very active dog, loves to play, loves to go outside. She is a dog that digs, so the fact that I can throw it in the washer like you can with any Vera Bradley fabric product was an added bonus. Right now there are only two prints available, they go fast!

Wardrobe Wednesday

No Work,  No Class.

This calls for a Jammy Day.

Not to be confused with a day where you jam out to the most recent single from Lady Gaga all day. That happens too. But not on jammy day, that day doesn't get a name, because I haven't come up with one yet.

Jammy Day is a great day. It's a day where you have nothing to do, and I mean nothing. Nothing. It's something that I know in a few years I will be looking back on wishing I still could do. So with that, I relish in these days.

You can either:
- stay in your existing pajamas you already have on for the whole day
or
-put on new clothes, but these clothes need to be forgiving, comfortable, usually of the Sweatpants/material and most important- COMFORTABLE

Today's wardrobe Wednesday isn't like any other, I apologize this may not be as "fashion forward" or stylish as ones in the past. It just happens that jammy day landed on Wednesday. We all have these days, and don't lie and say you don't.

My Tshirt, is from the college I attend, Villa Maria College. Three words- Fur Lined Hoodie. I got this back in October and its perfect for these cold days. I seriously love this hoodie.

So how about you? When do you have Jammy days? C'mon I know you do....

From This Point Forward

Many of you may not have known, but I have been keeping this fashion/lifestyle blog for my Social Media Marketing class, as an on going assignment for the semester. December 6th marked the end of my last fall semester as a college student.

I have one more semester to go, and then I graduate with a BFA in Fashion Merchandising. Crazy how fast the time goes by. It feels like its only been a few months since the eve of my college orientation when I had a meltdown in front of my parents about how I was scared to enter this new part of my life. Talk to me come May and I will probably have the same melt down. I'm not a person who does well with change,  but find me a person that is...am I right? We all deal with it differently.

Originally I was nervous to start a blog, but I always toyed with the idea. After reading so many blogs, I thought I can do it. Then, I took the SM class and found out it was our assignment for the year. A sign, a sign that I needed to have a blog and make it one to be proud of.

That I am. I am very proud of this little blog that could, and can. I am still learning like I said and have said in this disclaimer. So with that, you are all the first to know that I have decided to keep this blog past the semester and into the future.

I have big plans for The Little One, and plans for myself. I will be doing the same thing I always have on here, creating relatable content, being transparent with each of my posts and myself, as well as having posts that reflect my lifestyle and my eye for fashion.

So from this point forward I would like to say:

Thank you.

Thank you for reading, Thank you for following, Thank you for inspiring me, Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts, and enjoy!

You stole my vegetable you say? I artichoke you.

Thank you, I'll be here all night!

Lame jokes aside, I decided to make a family recipe today for lunch. This meal took me 45 min to make from start to finish. I'm all for quick meals and meals that are delicious, aren't we all?

So what did I make? Italian artichokes. 

My mother got this recipe from her grandmother who married a man from Italy.  My mother learned a lot of her cooking and baking from my great grandmother. I love that, family teaching one another, and spending time in the kitchen. My mother passed that to me, I do prefer baking but I can cook here and there. 

All I needed was bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil and artichokes.

The artichokes work best fresh. April is the best month for artichokes however, sometimes your grocer can bring them in during the rest of the year. Sometimes they look good and sometimes they just look okay. This week they looked amazing, so I grabbed them. 

I just washed them and cut the artichokes off from their steams. 

I took two pots and filled them with water and placed them in the water, and brought them to a boil. I kept them in the boiling water for 15 minutes.

Took them out of the water and placed them in a glass Pyrex 9x13 dish. Be careful they will be hot, but separate the leaves a little so you can stuff them. I just took a handful of breadcrumbs and made sure they got on each of the leaves or a significant amount. Then, I did the same with the Parmesan cheese, but I really love Parmesan cheese so I may have added a little more to some. 

Preheat your oven to 350° and once your oven is preheated place the artichokes on the top rack for 30 minutes. 

Watch them to make sure they don't burn, and then pull them out when the timer goes off. Enjoy!

It's one of my favorite meals and for a lunch it's just enough food to enjoy and be able to go about your day and not feel like your stuffed. 

Wardrobe Wednesday!

Finals are upon me, I'm surprised I even had time to braid my hair. I'm not joking, I have a lot of hair to braid and very little time. I love being a college student and being in this point of my life, but once finals week comes I want to just crawl into a ball in my bed as I catch up on my TV shows.

Tomorrow is going to be hard for me, I have 3 finals back to back. I'm not complaining, please don't think I am because I am so blessed and thankful to be going to school, to be getting a higher education and knowledge that will bring me further in life, but I cannot wait for winter break. It will be a bittersweet one, as I am graduating in May. My very last winter break.

Oh you know, just being comfortable as usual. Yesterday I had to wake up early to scrape snow and ice off my windows and today I'm wearing this to class. I don't understand weather or meteorology sometimes, actually ever. 

I have written about these brown riding boots many times, I love them, they are totally broken in and go with everything. Seriously, challenge me, i'll find an outfit I can wear them with.

Leggings have been my close friend lately. As long as you can dress them up and not look sloppy, I say, Work 'em. Solid T's are such a staple, they are best for days like this where you have no time to really get dressed but they are also great layering pieces. I'm a very simple yet classic dresser.  Lately, scarves have also been a close friend, but you know what, they're a great friend to have. They are easy to throw on and complete a look and when you get cold, you can unwrap them and wrap your arms up in them.

How about you, are there any pieces you have noticed you are wearing more often then others? Any investment pieces like my riding boots that you are so happy you invested in? I would love to hear in the comment section below!