Decorating Your Dorm

With the return to campus, everyone is trying to make their new living space comfortable and cute...if you're stuck on ideas, check out this cute list of tips to make your room the place to be!

(p.s. You'll want to click the photo to view larger)

Provided by Mint.com

Also, if you want a few more ideas, check out this article for tips and tricks.

Have fun decorating!

-Candice

Fall Favorites

With fall just around the corner, it's fun to think about cooler weather, fall leaves (we don't have much of that where I am, unfortunately!), and cute fall fashion. Even though it won't cool down here for awhile longer, here's a few of my must-haves every time this pretty season comes around. 

*Boyfriend Blazer: this is light enough to throw on for a cool morning or to dress up a simple tee and jeans. 

*Oxfords: I love the classic look of black oxfords..it evokes such a schoolgirl vibe, and can be worn with a floral dress and tights, or under a pair of cute pants.

*Nude polish: Goes with everything, and has a Chanel-like vibe.

*Colored Pants: One of the top trends for fall, and they are so fun! I have a pair of red skinnies that I'm really excited to wear!

*Tinted Lip Balm: When you're running to a morning class, or heading to a meeting, this can make you look awake and fresh while adding just the right amount of color! I'm loving the Palladio tinted lip balm in Rosey. 

All of this makes me so excited for fall...how about you? Any fall favorites?

-Candice

Black Swan

(it's a tad blurry...since I had to quickly snap it as soon as they finished)

Melanie Hamrick

(Corps de Ballet memeber with ABT)

Sarah Lane

(Soloist at ABT in New York)

Saturday evening I attended the Festival of Stars ballet performance featuring many international guest artists from some of the top companies in the world. Among them, Sarah Lane, whom you might know as Natalie Portman's dance double from Black Swan. (Sarah was truly the one who did all of the dancing in that movie..just so you know, but that's another post in itself) It was a splendid performance, captivating from start to finish; the dance ranged from modern pieces to the finish of the Black Swan pas de deux from Act III of Swan Lake performed by Sarah Lane and Jose Manuel Carreno. After the performance, I went backstage to meet with some of the dancers, truly an incredible moment! They were all so kind, and willing to chat and take photos. (eek!) Have you been to the ballet before? If not, you should definitely go!

Happy Monday!

-Candice

Weekend Wishes

(photos via tumblr)

Have a wonderful weekend! Have any exciting plans?

-Candice

A Very Special Teatime Thursday

I have a fun surprise for you guys today! Hope you enjoy!

Find our cute earrings here

& check out Cecilie Melli's Facebook Page

Find our favorite reads here, here & here

Current Favorite Tea:

Lisa: Green Tea with Lemon Twist

Candice: Raspberry Peach Iced Tea

Teatime Thought:

Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company.  ~Author Unknown

Fact of the Day:

Drinking tea, 2 -3 cups per day, could add years to your life.

Happy Thursday!

-Candice (& Lisa)

Reflections.

Here's a bit of this weekend's adventures..we've been exploring gardens, shopping, met John Maxwell, and got a touch of sun at the beach. There's still so much more fun to be had..I just love having company! 

There's never a dull moment with this group...

I'm not sure why Monday always gets a bad rap..I'm always excited to have a new start to the week, and time to get some more things accomplished. Usually the weekend helps me to get recharged and motivated to be productive in the upcoming days. 

With a weekend this fun, this week's bound to be just awesome!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend...

-Candice

Weekend Wishes

(images via pinterest)

It's the weekend! 

I've got a bunch of good friends staying with me for a few days, so we're doing some exploring around the city, and getting some sun at the beach. 

What are you up to?

Somewhere Fun Friday

Thrifting is something I've become a huge fan of within the last 2 years. I absolutely love going through all the racks of assorted things, and finding the perfect decorative piece, book or clothing item. Many of my friends have also gotten into this recently too, so we like to all go together and hunt around. I always remind myself that you have to think of what things can be, not what it looks like now..this helps me to be a bit creative with my purchases, especially clothing, and usually the result is great! Since I have a bunch of friends staying with me for the weekend, we decided to all go together..the following photos are a bit of what ensued..it was hilarious.

(excuse the terrible quality of my cell phone photos)

I ended up with a few new good books, and a cute pair of black cigarette pants, perfect for the transition into cooler weather!

If you're looking for a fun and relatively cheap activity, thrifting is definitely a great option! 

Happy Friday!

-Candice

Be Thoughtful Thursday

(via pinterest)

"There is something undeniably beautiful in a handwritten letter. It’s personal, it touches something. "

Today's theme is all about doing something for others, perhaps it's not a big thing, but even the littlest of kind acts never go unnoticed. I don't know about you, but I love to get things in the mail, especially handwritten letters. In the world where texting and emails abound, it's fun to go back to the way things used to be, and write out a few lines to friends. I actually keep most of the letters and notes people send me in a heart shaped letter box in my room, and go through them from time to time when I'm needing some encouragement.

 Today I did a bit of letter writing to a few friends of mine, and it was so nice to see the words flowing from my pen scratching across the page, and to hear the thud of the mailbox door as I put them into the mail. Have you written any letters or notes recently? I encourage you to do so, as it is a wonderful surprise to find a little note in between the busyness of life. It will make someone's day just a little bit brighter.

Just a thought!

-Candice

What's Cooking Wednesday

Second to reading, cooking is such a lovely past time. Whether it's baking with some friends, creating new recipes from things in the pantry, or perfecting and improving on a long-time favorite, I'm always happy to spend some time in the kitchen.
I recently came across this recipe in a magazine, and it just begged me to try it. The fact that peaches are one of my favorite fruits, and just happen to be in season at this time might have been a factor too. Maybe.

(via here)

Peaches Castellano
Ingredients
6 peaches halved and pitted (I only used 4)
12 Tbsp bleu cheese at room temperature
 (use double the amount of peaches you're using so you have enough for each half, so I only needed 8)
12 Tbsp roasted almonds or pecans, chopped
(again, double the amount of peaches)
Honey


Directions:
Preheat a grill to medium high. Grill the peaches cut-side down until well marked and lightly cooked. Arrange the peaches cut-side up on 6 plates. Fill each cavity with a tablespoon of bleu cheese, a tablespoon of nuts and drizzle honey over the peaches. 

(via here)

When I did mine, I actually tweaked the recipe to save time, so I microwaved the peaches, once filled for about 2 min, instead of grilling them, and it turned out to be quite delicious! The grilling would certainly add some extra flavor, but when you're in a pinch for time, it's nice to know that it also works well this way! Any good recipes that you're loving?

Happy Wednesday!

-Candice

P.S. Thank you for your book suggestions! I can't wait to check em out!

Time to Read Tuesday

I love love love to read; in fact, I usually read about 2-3 books at a time. I try to keep them in different genres though, or else it can get a tad confusing. I once studied for a government class and read Twilight, and somehow found myself looking for Edward as an answer to an exam question...hmm, weird.

 Here's a few of my favorites as of late. 

-Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

-Unleashed by Erwin McManus

-Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

-Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

Have you read anything interesting lately? I'm always open for new good reads!

-Candice

Make Something Monday

Hope you had a great weekend! As you might remember, I'm doing a themed post for each day this week based off this cute thing!

So, today, being my craft day, we're going to make some hairpieces! They're really simple, and look quite pretty; in fact, I've had to make and wear lots of these for different shows, and they always gather compliments. Ready? Let's do it.

Gather all of your supplies and work out a design idea. I was in a floral mood, so I picked up a few flowers, although, you can really use anything you want. 

You'll Need:

-glue gun

-metal hair barrettes (large is best)

-silk flowers

-loose rhinestones

-ribbon or fabric

-any other decorative embellishments (feathers, buttons..etc.)

I wanted my flower on the end, and luckily, these flowers came with a wire attached, so I wrapped it around the barrette to secure it. 

Even though it's got a wire wrap, I always reinforce it with hot glue. This way you'll know it's going stay on, especially if you're dancing around :)

Here's where you get to express some creativity, and decorate it till your heart's content! 

I found these pretty embellishments in the scrapbooking section of Michael's, and they turned out to be really cute on top of the flower!

These loose rhinestones really sparkle, and kind of make the colors of the flower pop!

(and who doesn't like a little extra glitter?)

Once you've finished embellishing it, you're done!

Simple, fast and pretty!

Enjoy!

Happy Monday!

-Candice