Girl Crush

It is completely normal to have girl crushes- I am actually more open about my girl crushes than that embarrassing stint of crush I had on Joe Jonas. Don't worry I have grown up and found more mature, celebrity love interests. Ryan Gosling, Luke Owens, Kevin Costner, the list goes on and on.

Currently crushing on: Olivia Palermo.

We almost all remember Olivia's less than sweet personality on The City, but her fashion sense has never been anything less than fabulous.

Images all found here, with the other beautiful people. 

Not only her style, but I love her hair and have been shamelessly copying this braided look for the past three days. 

Possible Halloween costume?

Seeing Spots

I was informed by a sweet 10-year old last week that I wear far too many polka dots (and that my polka dot ensemble looked like chocolate chip cookie dough). At first I was a little hurt, but then embraced the comment, because it is true; this girl loves polka dots. I had polka dot sheets growing up, I love a good spotted manicure, and I really loved 101 Dalmatians.

1. Free People Polka Dot Pant (Free People pants are the absolute best!)

2. J. Crew Dot Pullover

3. Dotted Mug

4. BCBG Sheer Tights

5. Top Shop Nail Wraps

6. J. Crew Pajama Pants

7. Madewell Notebook

8. Target Spotted Blouse

You'll recognize me by my spots.

Caramel Spice Cookies

Because I hadn't blogged a recipe in a while, I forced myself to make something tonight that would be blog-worthy. Well out of the four things I made tonight, only this cookie recipe will make the cut, but that is alright with me because it was fantastic and perfect for fall.

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon bourbon 

1/ 2 cup mascarpone 

2 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spices (or nutmeg)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bag Hershey's caramel-filled Kisses

1. Cream the butter and sugar together.

2. Add the egg, vanilla, and bourbon, mixing well.

3. Add the mascarpone.

(This is when I started smelling the wonderful scent coming from my mixing bowl)

4. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

5. Add to the wet mix until combined.

6. Refrigerate the dough in plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes.

7. Bake at 325 for 10-11 minutes.

8. Unwrap the kisses and place on the center of the cookie (pushing down lightly).

9. Cook for 1 more minute.

10. Let cool.

These can be a little messy with all the ooey-gooey caramel, but absolutely delicious.

There might have been a Melted-Caramel-Kiss fight going on in my kitchen between me and my tasting audience. This is not required in this recipe, but highly recommended.

Dough not recommended for anyone under the age of 21. 

October Birchbox

Another wonderful Birchbox for October! 

I don't think I will ever get tired of this monthly gift.

{Luna Fiber} Chocolate Raspberry Bar

Yum Yum Yum, and only 110 calories

{La Fresh} Eco-Beauty Nail Polish Remover

This is so perfect for on-the-go and one of my must-haves in my purse!

{Supergoop!} City Sunscreen Serum

I should probably be better about wearing sunscreen all the time

{Sprout} Lip Balm

Super creamy and I can already feel the difference in my dry lips

{theBalm Cosmetics} Mary-Lou Manizer

Three-in-one highlighter, shadow, and all over shimmer. The clear winner from this Birchbox!

More beauty from The Beauty Department

Book Club

Welcome to A Peony for your Thoughts Book Club. Up for discussion today is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I started hearing buzz about this book from my two most reliable resources- Kathie Lee and Hoda on the Today Show. After seeing it on their show I made a quick reminder in my phone notes to buy it and forgot all about it. It wasn't until I saw someone reading this book on a plane that I remembered that I needed to buy it and get reading before school started again and I ran out of time.

I finally bought the book in August and embarrassingly just finished it this past weekend. I do not want that to be an indication of how much I liked it, because I LOVED it, but would find myself holding my eyelids open as I tried to read just a chapter a night. It was an absolute page-turner and I would have loved to stay up through the night and finished it but my body wouldn't let me. 

The beautiful and clever Amy and her journalist-turned-bar owner husband, Nick, are five years into a marriage that, to put it mildly, hasn't gone as planned. Cut loose from their New York magazine jobs, forced to dig deep into Amy's trust fund to bail out her fiscally hapless parents, hit with news that Nick's mom is fatally ill, they swap their Brooklyn brownstone for a rented McMansion in Nick's recession-busted Mississippi River hometown of Carthage, Mo.

Then, on their fifth anniversary, something else goes terribly wrong: Nick returns home to find the front door open, signs of struggle, and Amy mysteriously gone. The disappearance quickly gains widespread attention, in large part because Amy happens to be "Amazing Amy"—the real-life inspiration for her psychologist parents' best-selling children's book series.

The urgent search for answers moves along parallel tracks. While detectives embark on an official missing person investigation, Nick pursues a trail of clues meant for him alone: messages in a scavenger hunt orchestrated by Amy, designed to lead him step-by-step to a surprise anniversary gift. This annual marital tradition has been an ongoing sore point, another fault line in the couple's crumbling storybook romance. Do Nick's failures to tap into his wife's thinking reflect a troubling narcissism and waning commitment to his marriage? Or is something else going on? Who is Amy really?

This book jerked me each and every way. I usually can tell where a story is headed, and this one threw me for a loop, well really about six loops. The minds of the characters are so twisted that you get drawn in just to discover you have no idea what is coming next. I found myself taking this book in the car to read at stoplights. While I was enjoying this, my fellow drivers were not.

If you are looking for a great read, then I recommend Gone Girl; you can even borrow my copy.

My next great read? I am not sure yet, but Nicole had some good recommendations here

Always looking for good suggestions!

Take Care

Something about the last two weeks has had me in a fight against the hours in the day. There was never an outrageous amount going on in my life and yet I felt like everyday I would race against time and fall asleep feeling like I had accomplished nothing. I also found myself in a war against the things I "need to do" and the things I "wanted to do". I, without fail, picked the things I wanted to do and then found myself sleeping on my couch because my own bed was too messy to sleep in (#1 on my "Need to Do" List: clean room). Don't worry, all of those things have been moved to their rightful homes, the floor, and I have taken over my bed again. 

When this past week was coming to an end, I found myself needing some alone time to take care of all things I had been neglecting for over a week. I found this list of 55 Ways to Take Care of Yourself when you are "busy, busy, busy". It was exactly what I needed to take me into the weekend and yet another week of lots going on. 

To "take care" of myself this weekend and remove some stress I turned off my phone a few hours before I went to bed an didn't turn it back on until lunch the next day. I also lit one of my favorite candles, listened to John Mayer, and took a long shower. This week I am not going to be afraid to say "no" to people and things, and I vow to blog a lot, because it somehow gives structure to my life and gives me something to look forward to.

Don't forget about you.

Free Soles

Image via. Mimi+Meg

and so are all of these.

I never knew that Free People had such rocking' shoes-- now I know, and so do you!

One of each. Size 8.5. Box 'em up!

Sit Down and Get Writing

I couldn't help but double post today when I came across this Etsy shop.

I love clever desk accessories as much as the next clutter bug and I have the perfect place to keep these witty pencils... right next to my confetti and polka dot pencils.

It's important for bloggers to have writing utensils around at all times, especially when cuter pencils stimulate my creativity.

Shocking that these are what sparked my interest.

In honor of Mean Girls day, yesterday.

 

Did I mention the pins?

Get it Right, Get it Tights

Ombre Tights--

Fab or fug?

I'm calling fabulous on this. 

I am not sure if I could pull off the yellow or orange hues, but would love to have the coal, fuchsia, and midnight blue from this etsy shop.

Etsy lovin' part 1.

Girls Guide to the Matchbook Life

At the start of each new month comes the excitement of new weather, thrill of planned activities, and the arrival of fresh editions of your favorite magazines. 

As a child I would wait impatiently for the newest American Girl magazine to come each month. I would read the stories, take the quizzes, but most importantly punch out the paper dolls that each magazine held within it's pages.

As I grew up and grew out of American Girl (well who really grows out of American Girl) my monthly obsession was Teen Vogue when I could cut out fashion spreads, read up on the pressing issues of our youth, and read the horoscopes, of course. 

Now, I love getting my monthly House Beautiful in the mail for it's exquisite layouts and ideas, but there is no magazine that I look forward to more than my online Matchbook Mag.

October cover featuring Steven Alan

This month did nothing less than deliver it's usual swooning over every page.

A feature on how to create the perfect jewelry box, fashionable treats to please everyone, and my favorite new addition to the Matchbook goodie box-- checklists. Perfect little checklists for all the Matchbook Girls.

These checklists can help build your perfect closet to the perfect bar cart--just what we all need, especially in the changing season!

Being the movie fanatic that I am, I started with the classic Matchbook movies and started marking off those I had already seen. Now I just need to print this list off and have a movie marathon this weekend.

A big batch of movie popcorn and my favorite, oversized fleece blanket and I will be ready to start marking more movies of this list!

I was a little alarmed when I started marking off the closet checklist when realizing I am missing some vitals. I think I will start with the 'baubles' and work my way through the list, investing in some pieces and bargain hunting for others!

This year...

Paper Products

I love love love working at a stationery store, especially one as cute as the one that I get to work at. Everyday that I work I decide that I need to throw a party, or write a million letters on sweet notecards, or decorate my room with sweet whimsies. 

My most recent paper obsession was featured yesterday in one of my pictures from my dinner party.

Paper placemats available at No Regrets in OKC.

I swooned over these gold, chevron paper placemats when I first saw them, and then went totally over the moon when I realized that I could print custom monograms on them! 

They were the perfect addition to my dinner party, and a wonderful way to make your guests feel so special. 

A glimpse of our dinner table, complete with hot pink, snakeskin napkins.

My guests took their placemats home with them, some complete with pasta sauce stains. But this got me thinking that I should try to make a set of placemats more durable for everyday use. Us teachers sure do love our laminating machines!

Another paper product that I love came from a blog that I have been crushing on since last week.

Eat Drink Chic is a lifestyle blog that also offers FREE downloadable images that are fabulous.

I immediately was drawn to these clever "Let's Do Coffee" cards that act as a perfect business cards for those who love to catch up and chat over a steamy vanilla-honey latte.

These cute cards give me just one more reason to meet with friends over my favorite beverage.

Eat, Drink, Chic also has girly business cards for meeting for cocktails and ice cream- just the other two delights that are best shared with company.

Killing trees in the name of cuteness.