{being realistic} yoga pants & v-necks (day 19)

Dear Victoria's Secret,

Let's talk about your yoga pants for a second here, shall we? I wear them nearly everywhere & have styled them into everything from prep to gym-goer to girl-next-door. (Okay, wouldn't this be such a fun challenge? A yoga pants challenge! As in, yoga pants for 30 days styled 30 different ways?!? No seriously, this could be genius) Can I be the rep for them, please? I've been quite the loyal customer over the years- from my 1st pair as a naive freshman in college to my 10th pair bought a few months ago. In between, I've cheated on you with only one pair of inferior yoga pants from Old Navy but I've also shared your charms with TONS of girls who ended up buying them. Not exaggerating! Although I do have to give a shout out to my friend Margaret here for showing me the wrongs of my clueless yoga-pant-less ways in high school.

Honestly though, I was so close to skipping the photo and pretending this day didn't exist. A pair of Victoria's Secret yoga pants and a pink v-neck is not the most stylish combination around. However, if you want  to 1) be comfortable for a full day of classes,  2) get hit on/honked at by random boys, and/or 3) spend the entire afternoon in the kitchen... then this is the perfect outfit for you.

{adventures in twin dressing} leopard flats & black tights (day 18)

Bows give these flats a more sweet and preppy vibe

Love perfect fall days when my coat consists of a large scarf

ann taylor shirt, f21 cardigan, f21 skirt, tahari flats

Jennifer and I both wore black tights and leopard print flats today! Haha, great minds think alike. Even in fashion! I got this pair of leopard print flats LAST fall before the animal print frenzy started, which proves how original and not trend-following I am. Not sure where I read/heard about this, but whoever said "leopard print is now a neutral" is proabably on the right track. Currently I'm craving a leopard print scarf... it would be the perfect cold-weather solution to all my black & white ensembles.

{what's the story} morning glory? (muffins)

I woke up. I baked. I cleaned. In that order. And it's 10am! Who am I?!

These muffins are truly glorious in that they're full of good-for-you ingredients such as carrots, apples, pumpkin, oats, flaxseed, greek yogurt.... and on and on! Talk about the breakfast of champions-- muffins are truly the new health food. Since I finished the last bit of my zucchini muffins over the weekend, I knew I needed to make another batch of muffins for my upcoming week!

I used this recipe as a base but modified a lot on my own. I substituted brown sugar and maple syrup for white sugar; pumpkin for apple sauce; milk, greek yogurt, and cranberry juice instead of orange juice and canola oil. So feel free to have fun with it and add your own touch to the recipe. These muffins are definitely breakfast muffins. So if you want something a little sweeter, I think some dark chocolate chips would go really well!

In case you were curious, I did listen to the Oasis album while I made these.... duh!

{inevitably experiencing} a case of the mondays (day 17)

f21 cardigan, casette jeans, converse sneakers, tibetan scarf

So glad that Monday's over. (almost) It has been an extremely long day, but at least there was Gossip Girl to look forward to at the end of it. (for those of you that did watch, OMFG, right?) In regards to today's outfit, let me just say that it is incredibly hard to dress with glasses! I don't know how all these girls do it, but "geek chic" and "sexy librarian" somehow just becomes geeky librarian on me. Anyway, I decided that this would be my "dressed to blend in" outfit. You see, I'm wearing glasses and no make up. I'm wearing jeans (yes I know! Jeans! I never wear jeans!) and converses and a plain white tee. I feel so college. The one thing that I really love about this outfit is the scarf though. I got it when I traveled to Tibet a few years ago-- clothing is totally the perfect souvenir.

30 for 30 Week 3: recap

Click on this picture if you want to enlarge it.

Sorry for the sloppy editing job on this one! Otherwise I consider this week a definite success- this is my favorite week of outfits so far. Perhaps it's because the weather is finally cooperating and acting like fall, which is what I originally planned my 30 pieces around.

My favorite outfit this week is actually day 14. It's not necessarily the prettiest or the most creative this week, but I really like it because the boyfriend chinos are definitely out of my comfort zone. And it's a great feeling to wear something that differs your usual style, but still feel comfortable in it!

My favorite of Jennifer's is 

She wore this outfit on Monday- the layering and the colors are such fun ways to brighten up the most dreaded day of the week. Good job!

{happy belated} football saturday (day 16)

J crew shirt, f21 dress, thrifted belt, rocket dog flats

Happy belated football Saturday... from the ladies room! Yes you might recognize those familiar tiles from your own little private moments. Well, a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do to get her outfit photos.
  
I love the gingham on gingham for this outfit. Since I spent the entire day writing articles, I thought this outfit was perfect for a school-spirited journalist. 

On another note, our team is 5-0! Although I might have more fun exploring my maize & blue outfit options on game days than I do watching the game. Just kidding!

{falling in love with} autumn in ann arbor

I did not realize how I lucky I was to live in such a beautiful town until I took a brisk walk to the People's Food Co-op today. With Jack Johnson on the ipod, a toasty northface, and streets lined with trees changing colors, the walk could not be more pleasant. Ann Arbor is such a gem in the midwest-- it has so much culture to offer. In a mere15 min walking-distance radius from my home- I go to college, get heirloom tomatoes at the farmer's market, drink fresh locally roasted guatemalan coffee, listen to indie & rock concerts, attend global film festivals, take pilates classes, peruse used bookstores, and shop the latest Nanette Lepore... and that's just the beginning. From fine dining to thrift shopping, this town's got it all. 

I finally got some fall nail polish the other day. I'm currently sporting OPI's "Espresso your style". I also picked up the "You don't know Jacques". Love them!

the reading may be tedious... but at least I have pretty nails!

Of course, to continue the fall theme, I made some chili for dinner. I really dislike using anything processed or canned, so I boiled my own black beans and used fresh tomatoes- it was so tasty! If anyone dares to tell me that chili is unhealthy, they definitely have not had mine!

Fresh & Healthy Chili

Ingredients:

black beans- 1 cup (pre-cooking)

ground beef- 1 lbs

tomatoes- 3 big round ones

sweet onions- 4 small ones (I just happened to have small ones on hand, one or two larges are okay too)

peppers- an assortment (I used an orange, a green, a red and some real spicy ones)

carrot- 1 stick

garlic- 5 cloves

herbs: cilantro, parsley, basil, marjoram, oregano to taste

Directions:

1. Boil the black beans in water on medium. Meanwhile, chop up all veggies. (keep the tomatoes in a separate bowl)

2. Brown beef and drain excess oil. Sautee beef with all ingredients except the tomatoes and herbs.

3. In a large pot, cook the tomatoes with the herbs on medium to high. For approx. 10 min.

4. Combine beef veggie mixture into the pot of tomatoes. Mix in black beans (drain excess water). 

5. Cook on medium until done. (approx 15 min) Season with sea salt and red pepper flakes.

Note: This makes a really large pot. So expect to have a lot of leftovers. I love having one-pot dinners with all the nutritions I need, so this works perfect for me.