Food Filled Wednesday Wonderfuls

Hey everybody! Its been a week since my last post and I'm sorry! the holidays and work have been so crazy! Gotta love retail in the holiday season! Today's wonderfuls are going to be my 10 favorite go to comfort foods. I had a long day at work and all I really want right now is something to make me happy and these 10 foods really do make me happy =) even if some are so simple.

1. Twice Baked Potato Soup! My mom's receipe is my all time favorite and she makes it just right. She knows that if I am having a terrible day or I have been sick that this will always make me feel better. And this soup is the best in the winter! It just warms you up from the inside out and fills you up so you can just bundle down and go to sleep. Its amazing!


2. Toast! This is literally probably my biggest comfort food of all time. And it is so easy! This is what I had for dinner after getting off work and it always tastes so good. This is a food I never get tired of and its really not that bad for me! Thats always a plus! Toast is what I will make when I am really hungry but too lazy to make something more in depth.


3. Chocolate Chip Bars! So not healthy at all but so stinking good!! This is a food that my family has a lot in the summer. It has been a tradition to always take a tin full of chocolate chip bars with us to the Lake of the Ozarks when we go down in the summer. These are so easy! Just follow a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe but instead of making cookies just put the dough in a baking pan that you would put brownies in. Soooooo good and I recommend everybody try this!! It will make you smile! =)


4. Paninis!! Ahh these never get old! I can never get enough of these at Bread Co (or Panara if you arent from Saint Louis). I get the Smokehouse Turkey without the mustard and its so amazing! But by far my favorite one I ever had was a mix of turkey, ham and cheese at the Nordstrom Bistro at Nordstrom in Chicago. Maybe it was just because of the location but it was phenomenal! I know these are probably filled with calories but who cares!! If it tastes good it doesnt matter! (as long as you dont over do it...)

5. Prezel m&m's!! Ok I know these are terrible for me but they are so good!! As my mom always says...moderation! Thats the key word with these but for me they can always make me feel good if I am having a bad day or just even a bad moment. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

6. Boneless Wings from Buffalo Wild Wings!! Some of my favorite food!! I get the boneless wings with honey BBQ and dip them in ranch. The best stuff ever!! I can get tired of this if I have too much but I just try not to. These are so good and not too spicy for people like me who dont like spicy stuff much.


7. Mac and Cheese!! Ok I never get tired of mac and cheese! This has always been one of my favorite foods for as long as I can remember!! So good for just an easy dinner idea that tastes absolutely wonderful!! This is particularly one of my favorite foods in the winter because its yummy and warms me up =) My go to brand is still and always will be Kraft!


8. Starbucks!! Yea this isnt a food but I couldnt help myself. I love getting Starbucks on a really cold morning and just having it warm me up while I'm being lazy in some comfy clothes. Or when I am going to church so that it wakes me up so I can keep up with the little ones in class! Gotta love Starbucks!! Who doesnt!?


9. Clam Chowder!! I dont get this very often but when I do I cant get enough of it. I tried it for the first time about 2 years ago when I was one a vacation to Baltimore and Washington D.C. I had some amazing chowder in the little resturants in Baltimore but the best I have ever had to this day was at the Capital Building in D.C. if you can believe that! It was so amazing and I have yet to find one that even compares to this. But back here in Missouri I love this in the winter because like all the other warm stuff it warms me up and makes me sleep good! I know I am weird.


10. Pita Bread and Asiago Cheese Dip!! This may sound weird but its the most amazing thing I have ever had with pita bread. For all of you that live in my area, go to Calico's in O'Fallon and get this!! They toast the pita bread and melt the asiago cheese to wear it is that amazing stringy cheese when you dip it in. Literally I go there jsut for that sometimes. Well and the pasta. Thats also amazing!! This is the stuff I crave in the middle of the night!!


So there we go! There are my 10 favorite go to foods for the winter season or when I am just having a bad day. Now I am even more hungry and craving all of the that! What are your favorite comfort foods? Thanks for reading! Check back tomorrow for something else! =)
-Ashley

Gotta love a good scarf!

This week has been so gray and gloomy and today I wanted to just wear a cute scarf that was fashionable and functional at the same time! So I am totally having a scarf day! I absolutely love scarves and in my mind you can never have too many. There are so many ways that they can be worn from different ways around our necks to even on our heads such as the hijab.

Heres a little bit of interesting background information on the evolution of scarves. I found it very interesting.
-Queen Nefertiti is one of the first known scarf wearers.
                                This was used as a status symbol in ancient Egypt. I learned in my art appreciation class this semester that the queen and the pharaoh who was Akhenaten at the time changed how the cutlure viewed the art in Egypt. There was a bust form made of her and she has so called "perfect" features.
-Chinese warriors used cloth (scarves) to show their rank in the military.
-Croatian Mercenaries did the same thing in later times. The soldiers wore plain cotton scaves and the officers wore more expensive silk ones.
-France loved the colors of the scarves and the men soon began to wear the scarves to show their political affiliations.

From this point the scarves became more and more accepted and began to evolve to what we know now. We wear them for fashion but they really started out as showing of a person's status. Personally I am very thankful that scarves evolved into what they are today or I would be without some of my cutest accessories!! Today I decided to wear one of my favorite types of scarf which is the Pashmina scarf. Technically they are called shawls but I love how they are large and I can have them around my neck and look larger so that it keeps me warm like I wanted to have today! The one that I wore today is reversible like many of the pashminas are and I love it because you can wear it two totally different ways!

Between my mom and I we have 4 different ones and when I say different I mean totally different!! But they all make an outfit look so cute! And two of them I actually got at the mall when it has little booths through out the mall. The guy selling them was right outside my work so I went there as fast as I could!

So anyways mine I wore today was discussed but here are more of what I really love and how stinking cute they are.

The infinity scarf is one of my personal favorites because there are so many different kinds. I have a few that are light weight for summer (summer scarves) but I also have a few that are for colder weather too. These scarves are very versitile which is what I love about them!! They are so easy when your about to run out of the door and either need something to keep your neck warm or to just jazz up your outfit a bit.



This is an example of the summer
scarf that I would wear with probably
just jeans and a t-shirt. This one is
from Old Navy and is $16.94

This would be a winter one that I
would wear. I found it on Nordstrom's
website and it is $42! and Steve Madden!!

More scarves that I love are the big winter ones that are so soft and comfy! I could just wear those all the time in the winter and love it!  My favorites are the cable knit ones that are really big so that it really covers up your neck when it is cold but it still cute when you wear them. We have some at New York & Company that are so soft and so cute and have been on a great sale so those have been selling like crazy!!                                   

Right now these are on sale online for $7.99 on http://www.nyandcompany.com/! That is a great deal from the original $22.95 so you are saving 65%!!

This scarf is from Urban Outfitters and it also a cable knit scarf that is the huge scarf that I love. This will be my next purchase from Urban Outfitters!! $24.00



Here are more of the different scarves that I just absolutely love and can be worn in however way you want!

This is the Urban Renewal
Remnant Circle Scarf from
Urban Outfitters and is $20!



This is the Nordic scarf from J Crew
It is more expensive and is $49.99







This is the Fair Isle Scarf from Eddie
Bauer and is $19.97. I have become
a HUGE fan of Eddie Bauer!!



This is the Jacquard Muffler from Pendleton
Wool Mills and is $62.



I am currently in love with all the tribal looks and patterns that are in style right now. The Pendleton Wool scarf is probably my favortie out the the four that I have above. My mom used to have a Pendleton Wool skirt that she kept and last year I actually took the skirt apart for one of my sewing classes and made the cutest clutch out of the wool fabric!

I know its not a scarf but that is just so cute! That is the clutch that I made out of my moms old skirt!

There is probably an infinite amount of scarves of different colors, patterns, shapes and sizes to choose from so go out and wear the cutest scarves that you can find and spice up an outfit! Thanks everybody for reading!!

-Ashley

Wednesday Wonderfuls!

Hey everybody!! It's Wednesday so it's time for the Wednesday Wonderfuls!! Last week I did the 10 things that made me smile for that day. Today I have decided to go with the 10 wonderful places that I would like to travel to. Obviously if you know me then you already know that I have WAYYYY more than 10 places that I would like to travel to and this list does not at all go in any order. These are just the 10 places that came to mind today =) I have the worst travel lust ever and these places just scratch the surface of where I am going to go one day!

1. Turks & Caicos! Seriously how can I not want to go there?! Look how beautiful it is. This is a place that I would totally just be fine with sitting on the beach and enjoying the sun and not dealing with any problems!



2. Greece! This place just looks absolutely amazing and peaceful! Chance I may be going this coming summer so let's keep my fingers crossed! Just want to exprience that beauty and the culture of such an old place!! And just look how the blue roofs accent the amazing blue water!!



3. Alaska! I dont normally want to go to places that are freezing like Alaska but I'll just go during the summer when its at least a little bit warmer. I would love to go there and see the glaciers and all the iceburgs and what not! Perferably I would love to go on a cruise to Alaska so that I would really see the ice close up.



4. Istanbul! So many people that I have told that I want to go here tend to ask me the same question... Why? Well I had learned all about the area in one of my classes this past semester and I learned that this city is full of culture and religion. The three major religions exsist here and all the places of worship that exsist look so fabulous I would jsut love to see the art of these places along with the architecture! There is also a Grand Bazzar here too and I LOVE shopping so this would be perfect for me!!



5. Tuscany! Wine, food and landscape! What more could you ask for? I watched an amazing show all about Italy yesterday and showed a family that lived in Tuscany and owned a resturaunt and a winery. The food look so delicious and so fattening!! Thats the best kind of food. The views just looked amazing and I would love to actually get to experience Tuscany!



6. Maine! From everything that I have seen Maine looks like a classical coastal state. I would love to stay right on the water so that I can see sailboats that I am so obsessed with! I want to be able to see all the cute little houses and shops in the towns!



7. Crete! The models from America's Next Top Model All Stars went to Crete towards the end of the season and stayed this amazing hotel that was right on the water and it just looked so cute and nice. It looks like a place you would have the time of your life while still relaxing and enjoying the views.



8. Maldives!! This picture just makes me want to cry because it's so amazing! This room is the room of my dreams and I would love to be able to just walk down and get in the water from my room!Or to sit in that cute little sitting area that close to the water! And from what I have looked up the snorkeling in Maldives is amazing and the water is so clear so that everything is visible. Can I just go there now?



9. Rome! Um its Rome! If somebody doesnt want to go there they are crazy! There is so much culture and art that came from here and I need to see it! And being one of the smaller fashion capitals I would love to go there and see the fashion that is made there. Also keeping my fingers crossed for this since this would be part of where I would be going if I go this coming summer. So pretty!!!



10. Africa! Some people also don't understand why I would want to go here but there is so much to see here! This is where I will be going to do my shark cage diving and its also where I will go on a safari at. And I would love to go to Cairo and Giza to see the Pyramids but I will wait until tensions calm down a little bit there. I would also love to do missionary work in Africa for the people that really need our help. There is so much we can do for those people and somebody needs to do it. There is just so much to see and do in  Africa and I will go there one day.




There are this weeks Wednesday Wonderfuls!! I would love to know where everybody else would like to go one day so let me know please! I think it is so interesting to hear where people want to go and why. Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!!
-Ashley

You can't ever have too many BOOTS!!!

Hey everybody! I know its been a few days since I have posted. Working at the mall around Christmas time is so insane and busy and after work all I do is sleep. Yup I'm lazy. But today I'm talking about boots!! My favorite shoes of all time and it's winter (technically not yet) and boots are the main thing anybody should have this winter.

Boots, as I'm sure everybody knows, come in so many different styles and heights so they all have a different look to them and can make or break an outfit. Most of the time the boots always look great because its pretty hard to mess up how boots look. In my opinion some look better then others. So lets go!

Lets start with the "thigh-high" boot. These ones have come in and out of fashion over the years. Even back in the beginning of the 20th century there were some men that wore so called thigh high boots such as The Three Musketeers. They again became popular in the 1960's with the Mod style. They then became popular towards the end of the 1990's and then into the 2000's. Right now I am not a fan of these. They are on the runway a lot but they are mostly shown with jumpsuits or short dresses. Personally I am not a fan of any boots that are worn with a dress that not one part of the leg is shown. To me these boots also send a sort of "sex appeal" that I am not a fan of.  There are some celebrities that are really into these boots. Lady Gaga being one of them. (big surprise there...) Picture of her on the side.

Also Victoria's Secret is big on the thigh high boots. Here are some pictures from their website. (http://www.victoriassecret.com/)

Next is my favorite kind of boot which is the knee high boot but is not as extreme as the thigh high. These boots were originally made to project a person's feet from whatever elements they were in. Such as fisherman or stable hands or clammers. They used the boots to either keep their feet dry or clean. Hence the "rain boot" look. Now we use the knee high boot or a little under that for some of the best fashion looks around. My personal favorite of the knee high boot is made by Diba called the Diba Combat Boot and can be bought at DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) for $69.95. I have these and wear the almost all the time. They are so comfy and look good amazing with jeans and just a simple shirt. It looks very casual but still cute. DSW has so of the best boots around and they are sold at a cheaper price than the regular retail price. Another pair from DSW that I really like but do not have are the SE Boutique Patli Riding Boot which are sold for $149.95. The riding boot can also be classified into the knee high or a little under the knee sections.



My next favorite is the western boot. Absolutly love these ones and its hard not to love them with the different varities of boots that there are. My favorite brand for this section is Frye Boots. So amazing and so cute and they last forever!! They are very expensive but so worth it. Here are some of my faves from their website which is http://www.thefryecompany.com/

 

These are the Billy Pull On in the Smoke color.

 I love the detailing on the boot.

They are cute and they have a wonderful,

what I will call, vintage look to them.

 These ones cost $348.00

 

These are the Carson Pull On in the Saddle color.
These I love the simplicity. They are classic but cute.
Loving the slight distressed look to them.
These ones cost $348.00







          





These are the Veronica Slouch in the Black color.
I have always loved these because they will
literally go with anything!!
These ones cost $368.00

Now it comes to the "booties" boots or can also be called ankle boots. These ones are amazing and can range from little flat boots which would be the ankle boots to heels of wedges that have a boot look on top of them. Lets talk about the ankle boots first. These are mostly worn under pants and are made for men and women. This type of shoes was worn by many men during the beginning of the 20th century as everyday shoes. These come in a varitey of looks and styles so here are some example of the ones that I like and where they came from. Both of the shoes below came from www.victoriassecret.com

 

I LOVE Uggs!! They are so warm and comfy!!
They sell a varity of styles and hights but
these ones are the ankle ones. So many
different colors! These ones are the Classic
Short Boot and cost $150.



Although I am not a huge fan of
 Skechers these ones are very
 cute and I would love these with
 legwarmers under them and a cute
 pair of skinny jeans. These
cost $65 and are called the
 Lace-up Bottie With Faux Fur Cuff.


























The next are the Booties which the pictures on this one are from DSW (I'm really into Victoria's Secret and DSW today!) I love the booties!!



This is an example of the Wedge Bootie.
I love these because when I have long
pants on these give me some hight that
I so need and still look cute coming out
of the bottom the the pants. These are
called Madden Girl Estyr Wedge Bootie.
They cost $59.95 and I love Madden Girl



This is an example of a Heeled Bootie. For me
I would have to have the exact right outfit
in order to actually pull this style off. I think
it would just end up looking weird on me but
I do love them so much! These are the Unlisted
High Score Bootie and are $39.95 on DSW.com.
HUGE saving since these are $90 retail price!!





















There are so many other kinds of boots than just the ones I talked about because boots are seemingly limitless. But thanks to everybody who is reading!! I sure love boots and you already know what my favorite kind is! Whats yours?!
-Ashley

Today's Colors -- Brown and Orange

Outfit for the day time!! I have really been in a brown type of mood today so I just picked a random color to go with it and that color is orange!! This outfit is a more casual outfit for the day. Its freezing here so I have been all about being comfortable but still cute. Hope everybody likes the outfit!!



Jeans from New York and Company
nyandcompany.com
Skinny Bootcut Jean - Vintage Shore Wash
$59.95



These are my favorite jeans. I work at New York and Company and since working here I have fallen in love with the jeans. They are really the only ones that fit me for my weird body shape. They are so flattering and they add a little bit to the outfit with the tiny bit of distress. I got these in average length so that I can wear heels with them too.





Top from Forever 21 (forever21.com)

Rolled Racerback Tunic -- Orange

$5.80 (great price!)







Here the pop of orange since the rest of the outfit is browns. I like having just a simple colored top under a jacket or sweater so that the color really set off the outfit.



Shoes from Toms Shoes (toms.com)
Metallic Tweed Women's Classics
$54 on Toms website
$38.55 on shoecanvas.com!





So these Toms will be my next shoe purchase!! I love the tweed look that has the tan color and the brown mixed in like in these shoes. It makes it so that the shows are very versatile with many different outfits!











Sweater from Tilly's (tillys.com)
FULL TILT Crochet Panel Womens Sweater
In Brown
$21.79

Simple, lightweight sweater for inside. Obviously since its freezing in Missouri this wouldnt be good for just outside! But its cute and easy! And its not insanely expensive either which is always a plus!












Necklace from Mod Cloth (modcloth.com)
Paws-itively Purr-fect Necklace
$33.99








I saw this and just couldn't help myself!! For anybody that doesnt know me I am probably the biggest cat person you will ever meet and I am almost tempted to buy this right now because its so cute!!!!












Purse from Fossil (fossil.com)
Maddox Turnlock Crossbody Bag -- Dark Brown
$128






Last but not least, I have to put a purse on here. I have a Fossil purse on the outfit again. Fossil for me is my "go to" brand for a casual outfit where I dont need to carry a lot around with me. I love this because it is small. Small purses are so easy to function with!











Well there we go! There is the outfit for today. I love winter clothes and adding on different cardigans to my outfits. With this outfit you could even take out the necklace and replace it with a cute winter scarf. I would go with a litter brown or even a cream color. Thanks for reading and I hope you all like it!! Check back more!
-Ashley