Current Favorites

Hey everyone!

Hope your week has been going well. It's been off and on hot and humid by me, which was great for the day I had my job interview because I stepped out of my building and my hair promptly frizzed up. Good thing I had curled my hair that day so it was less noticeable!

On that note, I think the interview(s) went well - at least I hope so! Fingers crossed.

Anyways, with all of my traveling so far this summer (I can't believe how little time I have spent at my apartment... it's just become a dumping ground for suitcases bags!), I have had a few consistent items that I always make sure to have in my bag when I'm leaving home.

Current Favorites - July 8 by leopard-spot featuring a cotton tank

Lands' End Canvas striped tank top - Love the cut, the thickness of the fabric, and the colors of these! No layering needed so they're perfect for the heat of summer. I have the navy and the turquoise colors and some other ones might be making their way into my closet soon... 

Old Navy Diva cutoffs - I raved about these shorts earlier this week. Since then the price has gone slightly up (from $12 promo price to $15 promo price) but right now you get 20% off if you use the code ONSAVE20 or 30% off if you use your Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic card and the code STUFFSAVE. 

Sperry Top-Sider Angelfish boat shoes - These were my first pair of Sperrys and I can finally say that they're completely broken in and probably the most comfortable shoes I own. I have been bringing them with me everywhere because they are comfortable for walking, driving, shopping, or hanging out outdoors. Might be time for another pair of Sperrys... 

Longchamp Le Pilage - Love this tote! I've had mine since freshman year and it works everywhere. It works so well for traveling because of its size. I use it as a carry on when I take the bus to and from home and it's my "purse" when I travel in the car so I can keep my essentials (sunglasses, wallet, laptop, water) handy. I'm thinking about adding a new tote in natural to my closet as well...

Ray-Ban Aviators - A classic and something I've taken really good care of. They go everywhere and match everything! 

Vaseline Spray 'n' Go lotion - Super lightweight and unbelieveably easy to use, this is perfect for summer! No excuses not to moisturize. 

Tervis Tumbler, 24 oz. - I have this with a lid and it's perfect for any drink (water, iced coffee, booze...)! It also fits in a standard cupholder which puts it above my CamelBak water bottle! It keeps everything cool and that's obviously a requirement for summertime. 

Coffee - I've been obsessing over diner coffee and this International Delight iced coffee. When I'm at my boyfriend's house, these are the major ways I've been getting caffeinated. 

Jennifer Aniston - She is so beautiful. So, so beautiful. I've been watching a lot of her movies lately and I just love her hair, her clothes, her incredible body - she's a major inspiration for me right now. (#girlcrush alert part II)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay tuned for some exciting things to come next week! 

xx, Amy

Bringing Jorts Back

Hi everyone!

The temps in Wisconsin have hit the high 80's recently and it's officially time to put away anything but the lightest, easiest clothing. After spring break I decided my old denim shorts were not cutting it anymore, so I began hunting for a new pair. After trying shorts from Gap, American Eagle, J.Crew Factory, and the like, I stumbled upon these shorts from Old Navy. I picked them up on a whim and they're now my favorite shorts! The back pockets are the perfect size and have great placement - not too high, too far apart, or too low!

These shorts have a 3.5 inch inseam and can be worn cuffed or uncuffed. I like wearing mine cuffed but I might try out the new pair uncuffed and see how I like it. I find the shorts run true to size - I wear the same size shorts as I do all other bottoms at Old Navy but they run slightly larger than say, shorts from J.Crew. 

I paid $15 for my first pair and earlier this week I snagged a second pair for $12. Not too shabby! Hurry over to your local Old Navy store or OldNavy.com to get a pair - here's the link!

While you're shopping, check out Old Navy's Rockstar jeans - I love them! Right now the jeans are priced starting at $12.97!

This dress is also fab! I wish I had seen it in store but it might find its way into my online shopping cart... link here. 

Have a great Tuesday!

xx, Amy

Some Wisconsin Weekend Shenanigans

Hi everyone! 

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I'm linking up today with Sami from Sami's Shenanigans for the Weekend Shenanigans link up. 

My weekend started on Thursday afternoon. I had a 7 page paper due and a meeting with one of our deans to figure out a graduation requirement snafu, so once I was done on Thursday I headed home to relax. I finished the last few current episodes of Revenge, took a long hot shower, made some high waisted denim shorts (check 'em out below!), and waited for my boyfriend to get into town! Once he did we hung out and watched an episode of Game of Thrones (he's really behind!) and fell asleep reeeeally early... very exciting, I know! 

Friday was way more exciting - I got my first pair of cowboy boots! They were my birthday present from my boyfriend. He unexpectedly had the day off so we had planned on making a road trip to a store a few hours away to find some but we got lucky and there was a horse expo in Madison so we only had to make a 15 minute trip (and pay an arm and a leg to get in) instead! These Ariat boots were the winners - I liked the plain brown leather, classic look, and minimal ornament. I wanted something simple so I wouldn't feel pressured to be "matchy matchy" with a certain color on the boot and instead get used to working them into my wardrobe as a "brown boot" and not a "cowboy boot", if that makes any sense. 

Ariat Heritage Western R-Toe

Brand new and fresh outta the box!

Since we were at the horse expo and because it was cold, we walked through all of the barns on the way back to the truck. I got to indulge my inner child and pet all of the horses and relive the days where horses were the coolest. The best part was when we discovered MINI HORSES! They were pretty much the size of my childhood golden retrievers - could you imagine having one!? I wanted to take all of them home and their full size counter parts... if only. 

Once I got my boots, my boyfriend and I headed back to campus because I had to work (woo!). He hung out at a local... establishment and befriended one of the .... drink pourers and basically had a grand old time while I was doing my thang at the store. Since I gave him my keys to my apartment, he decided that instead of making me walk home and buzz myself up, he would come and meet me at work to walk me home (cue the awws). While he was waiting he may or may not have looked like a homeless man, which once my co-worker and I figured it out, gave us a pretty good laugh. After he picked me up, we went to a local barbecue place and got dinner. We were both wayyy too hungry to snap a picture of our food before we started eating so I only got a picture of the cider I tried, ACE Fermented Berry Cider. I liked it, it was tart and light and almost reminded me of wine. A nice change of pace from the craft beers I normally drink! The boyf and I both got pulled pork sandwiches with a side of mac & cheese - I mixed some of my pulled pork into the mac & cheese and topped it with some BBQ sauce... yum! Can't wait to try making my own version of that soon. 

ACE Cider (click for website)

Saturday was the big show day. It was my first cow (or any animal) show so I was kind of quiet and followed my boyfriend's lead all day. I was trying not to stand out too horribly as a newbie/"city slicker" and I was trying to stay out of everyone's way as they prepped their cows for the show. While the weather was supposed to be in the 50's and sunny, it ended up being very windy and very very cold in the show ring itself. The boyfriend and I were not exactly prepared for that and we should have worn another layer under our jackets.... we were in need of some coffee and extra warmth (read: Bailey's) after a couple of hours. Once we got some of that we were set for the remainder of the day. I learned some handy dairy cow judging things from my boyfriend (he's kind of really good at it.... national college champ kind of thing kind of good) so hopefully by the end of the summer I will have learned a thing or two! His knowledge plus my art history background (see, I knew it would pay off someday!) should make it a bit easier for me to learn. After the show, we headed to dinner at Red Robin (#yum) with his best friend and his girlfriend. We were starving and absolutely demolished our food plus two extra baskets of fries (whoops!). Once we got home we were in such a food coma plus completely tuckered out from our day that we took a looong nap and ended up missing out on everything going on that night.

Sunday was uneventful. I almost missed work (oops) and when I got there it was so slow I only stayed for a couple of hours before leaving. I did get a white oxford and tried on a couple of sweatshirt tees - super comfy and casual! I love them and will be picking up two (green and gray) later this week. When I got home I relaxed and watched a couple of episodes of Smash - I love the show and cannot get enough of it! I also decided (on a spur of the moment whim) to cook my boyfriend dinner because he had a rough day at work. I had a serious craving for pasta and instead of heating up some jarred pasta sauce (obviously I had to do better than that for the boyfriend!) I checked Pinterest for some spaghetti sauce recipes. After consulting I came up with a pretty good version! Not my grandma or mom's recipe, but it did in a pinch. Seriously - it was so easy I have no idea why I ever bought jarred pasta sauce in the first place! I even made cheesy garlic bread from "scratch" and despite me completely forgetting to add garlic to the topping mixture, my boyfriend loved it. "It will be even better the next time you make it because you won't forget the garlic!" Hey, if he's happy then I'm happy. 

Look for the recipe coming soon!

Whew! Well forgive me for being a little bit late on this one - hopefully I can make it up with some of the awesome things I have planned for this week!