Petite Fashion Challenge #16: Summer Wedding

Summer Wedding--Create an outfit for a summer wedding (the dress code is up to you). For bonus points (and this is what I'll be doing!) try to make your whole outfit, head to toe, come in under $100! (Or, exclude shoes and accessories to meet the $100 mark.)
Hosted by: Petite on a Penny

I event plan on the side, so when I saw the this Petite Fashion Challenge come out, I knew it'd be the perfect one for me to start on.  I'm also at the age where all my friends are getting married, so finding a unique outfit that comes under $100 for the events is a must.

For my high school friends' wedding.. CONGRATS, CHRISY & IRWIN!!... I had to find something functional and comfortable.  It had to be something I could set up and break down the wedding in, yet still look like a presentable guest.  With some effort and thought, I came up with this little number.

 

I like to think I'm an in-between petite, a little on the 'taller' side at 5'2", maybe I just have a longer bottom half?  After 28 years, I'm still trying to get to know my proportions, so bear with me.  This H&M dress would definitely fall at a nice length for shorter ladies, but I suppose that depends where you like the hem to fall, too.  I'd like for this dress to do double duty, but with the length just a tad bit short for the workplace, I'll just have to keep it for fancy occasions.

Dress: $23 H&M, bought with 35% off coupon (orig is $34.95)
Shoes: $20 Nine West via Nordstrom Rack
Clutch: $12 H&M (old)
Belt/Scarf: $5 Forever 21 (old)
Necklace: $8 Forever 21
Bracelets: $20 O.co, bought with 7% off coupon, $14 Asos, other one is gifted
Grand Total = $102

Ah! $2 over!! Well, if I only wore 2 of the 3 O.co bracelets, do I get to prorate the price? If I do then, I'm really at $96.  The challenge for me was keeping my accessories under, so I had to keep changing them.  It was difficult coming up with pieces that complemented the outfit, and didn't get lost or forgotten.  I also lucked out that I used coupons to buy some of these items, otherwise, I'd be way over budget.

I had a great time doing this challenge! Thank you, Lauren!!

See the rest of the stylish Petite Fashion Challenge entries over at Petite on a Penny:

Thanks for reading!!

<3 roe [a roesy life]

tee it up

Good morning, readers!

We've got a special treat for you today.  The lovely and stylish anhie from yoohooanhieboo has been so kind as to guest blog for us today.  I may be a little biased but anhie is the most thoughtful and stylish person I know.  I've known her for about 10 years now, and I'm glad she approached this lonely, pig-tailed, little, college freshman one day, while I was sitting on the quad wall.  I've learned so much from her about make up, style, shopping, but most importantly friendship.

Check out more of anhie on her blog.  I hope you all enjoy her white tee remix.

------------------

the best part about a simple white tee is that you can dress it up or down! :) i paired mine with a sparkly H&M skirt and a denim shirt to turn this into more of an everyday outfit. :) add a little skull necklace and red lips for some fierceness, and voila! that's my rendition of the white tee! i'll admit, there's nothing i love more than throwing on a white v neck on the weekend with some jeans and calling it a day, but sometimes you just gotta bedazzle yourself a little bit right?? :D

thanks so much FLAN ladies for letting me be a guest blogger! hope i get the opportunity to do this again soon!!!

here's my strawberry remix!!!

keep up the good work FLAN! i love reading the blog!! <3

xoxo anhie

28 & growing

Good morning, readers!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who sent birthday wishes my way via twitter, fb, text, etc.  I'm so honored to be so loved!  Thought I'd share some snippets of a wonderful birthday celebration!

*Warning, picture heavy

never too old for balloons!

My sisters and me (missing the two older bros) lined up in age order from youngest to oldest

"Cheers to your face!!"

There was a pizza making party! (look at Taiko trying to catch some floor action)

my outfit for my actual birthday //blouse: j.crew // skirt: H&M // Shoes: Sam Edelman via Nordstrom Rack // Belt: from a F21 dress // clutch: ann taylor // necklace: F21 // arm candy: Kate Spade, Asos, Things Remembered, gifted

and can't wait to fly to NYC tomorrow evening!

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading!!

<3 roe

Readers: any suggestions or 'musts' while I'm in New York?

rolling with turkey meatloaf

Always on the go, I like cooking things that are fast and easy. When I know I will be having a busy week, I like to cook this turkey meatloaf because it'll feed me for several days. I did a little tweaking and added several veggies into this recipe. The original recipe can be found here.  I've also made this recipe with ground chicken before which was pretty good. You don't have to bake it in a muffin pan but I like putting my muffin pans to use. :)

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground turkey (or ground chicken)

3 egg whites

1/2 cup cooking oats

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp yellow mustard

2 tsp pepper

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 small onion

2 celery stalks

half medium size red pepper and orange pepper chopped

1/2 cup of shredded carrots chopped

Preheat oven to 375˚ F. Spray the muffin pans with canola or olive oil. Mix all seasoning and oats together in a large bowl and stir with a spoon. In another large bowl, add the veggies to the ground turkey and mix with your hands. After the veggies are fully mixed with the ground turkey, slowly add the seasoning and mix by hand. Next, roll the mixture into balls and place in the muffin pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Makes about 24 rolls.

turkey meatloaf rolls with steam veggies.

I hope you enjoy them! :)

<3, phu

gROEwing up

Happy Birthday, Roe!

You are...
the mama
the organizer
the enforcer
the sanity
the glue that holds this FLAN together!

I'm so happy you were born and brought into my life!
Love you!

Please leave a comment with a birthday wish for Roe or your favorite memory with the woman.

<3 C

strawberry margarita cupcakes

It started when my good friend, Anica (who's also my fashion photographer), wanted to bake cupcakes one day. Since then I've been on a baking craze, especially cupcakes that's alcohol infused (highly influenced by my friends here, of course). Since Cinco de Mayo was this month, I wanted to bake something with tequila in it for my friends so I decided to bake these strawberry margarita cupcakes.

This cupcake recipe was taken from The Baker Chick but I did a little tweaking to the recipe (see below).

Cupcake:
3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 limes, zested and juiced
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Strawberry Tequila Puree:
1/2 of 16oz container of strawberries
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2 cup of Patron tequila
3 tablespoons of sugar

Frosting:
1 cup shortening
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/3 cup strawberry tequila puree

Directions:
Preheat the oven  to  325˚ F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir with a fork to blend. In a separate large bowl, combine the salt, sugar, and eggs and blend together with a mixer (I don't have a stand mixer so I used a hand electric mixer instead). Next, beat in the lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla extract into the mixture. After it is all blended, mix in the dry ingredient by alternating it between the buttermilk and dry ingredients until it is all incorporated. Divide the batter evenly into each cupcake liner (about 3/4 full) and bake for 20-22 mins, or until a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool and remove from the cupcake pans.

In a blender or food processor, add the strawberries, tequila, sugar, lime zest and lime juice and puree until there are no more strawberry chunks (I used a little over half of the 16oz container).  Set aside.

In a large bowl, creme the shortening and butter until it is fluffy. Next, add 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar at a time while alternating between the 1/3 cup of strawberry tequila puree.

To fill the cupcake, I used a spoon to spoon out about half an inch of cake out of the middle and filled it with the strawberry puree.

Spread the frosting over the cupcake with a spoon or use a piper to pipe on the frosting. For garnish, you can use limes but I used strawberries instead because it is the Fresh Pick of May 2012 :)

 My friends seem to enjoy these cupcakes, I hope you do too! :)

instagram: phuphubear

<3, phu

phu's white tee

Hello hello! :) I'm going to admit, I didn't own a white tee till about a month ago which is probably why my remix is the last haha. As mentioned in my introduction, my eyes are instantly attracted to colored tops/dresses and a white tee doesn't fall into that category. For years I've tried on different types of white tees and I didn't like any of them. But hooray! I found this tunic white tee from Zara that is a keeper. :)

white tee: zara; shorts: forever21

bracelet: old navy, toms: nordstrom, belt: forever21

I was super comfortable hanging out with my friends on this day in my remix outfit. The belt I used to tie around my waist is the belt that came with the shorts. I even went fancy one day at work by dressing it up with more accessories and a blazer. :)

necklaces and bracelets: h&m and forever21; toms: nordstorm (instagram: phuphubear)

I hope you readers learned new ways to style your white tee through my girls and I - I sure did! :) 

<3, phu

life-locked & color-blocked

Good morning, readers! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Last week, and this past weekend, was definitely eventful.  I've made some changes to my life, may have been a little hasty, but I'm locked in now, no going back.  I believe it was a good decision and that the future will be great!

I'm thrilled to say that I also got to hang out with some life-long friends this past weekend.  I haven't seen some of for awhile, but it was great seeing friends that I have met through the years.  A timeline of my life, if you will.

I found this simple sheath dress when I was taking advantage of Forever 21's friends & family day with some of my girls.  It's been awhile since we all shopped together.  It was a quick, time-limited trip, but it was well worth it.  This was probably my favorite piece in my haul and I couldn't wait to wear it out.    I knew immediately, that I wanted to wear it with my orange red UO suede pumps.  The smallest size they come in is a size 6, so I bought these Dr.Scholl's gel cushions, and they did they trick.  I pulled out my new and trusty Longchamp bag, threw on some of my favorite accessories, my new birthday sunnies, and headed out.  As for the dress, unfortunately, the material is wrinkle friendly, so I'll have to make sure the next time I wear it I won't be sitting down often.  Aside from that, it'll definitely be a go to dress in the coming months.

{Outfit}

Dress & Scarf: Forever 21

Blazer: H&M

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Watch & Sunnies: Kate Spade & here

Necklace: J.Crew

Purse: Longchamp

Arm Candy: Stella & Dot, O.co, Asos

Thanks for reading and joining me today!

<3 roe

Readers: Have you made any life changing decisions for yourself lately?  and/or what will be some of your go to pieces this summer?

moola for college and loan$

Happy Friday!!

Since Roe blogged Mint Green Savings, I felt that I need to share how I do some of my online shopping. Like many people, I have student loans (boo to them!) from my undergraduate degree that I, unfortunately, have to pay back. If you have loan(s) from Sallie Mae, Upromise is a great way to do your online shopping because you get a certain percentage back from what you spent that can be directly deposited back to your student loan payment. I suggest comparing the percentage of money you get back on both websites (if you are using Ebates), since one may give back more than the other.

If you're still in college or want to save up for college or your children's college, the amount you get back can be allotted for that. You can also register your credit/debit cards so that when you use it at participating restaurants, you get money back, as well. Get $$ back for eating?! YES PLEASE! Whatever money you receive back from Upromise, you can decide what you want to do with it. How awesome is that?!

Thank you for reading our baby flan, especially audiences in other countries! It's an awesome feeling knowing that we can reach out to people outside of the United States. :)

And just because, another picture of how beautiful Chicago is. Have a wonderful weekend everyone! :)

at BP bridge in Millennium Park (instagram: phuphubear)

<3, phu

ooh girl

One Wednesday in May...

in Chicago, Illinois

in Daly City, California

in Oakland, California

"I said ooh girl..."

<3 C

MGMT - Electric Feel

Plain White T(ea) Time

School's out for summer! ...And, apparently, so is my brain. I had big plans for my Hanes white tee and strawberries, but they never came to fruition. (Maybe I'll come back to them in a future post.) Unlike my counterparts, I rock white tees on the regular. They're a staple in my closet and best paired with jeans in my opinion; simple and comfy, just how I like it. I decided to try a bit harder by adding gold accessories and kitten heels. I actually sat in on an interview and attended an exhibition opening in this 'fit and was told I looked fancy. I don't know if that speaks to the ability of gold and heels to complete a look or my inability to do so usually.

I took a look at what I had in the pantry and refrigerator and decided on strawberry lemon scones. I fudged the recipe a bit based on what I had on hand. So if you try this at home take a look at my suggestions or feel free to experiment too. If you come up with something good, leave a comment so that I can try ;) Next time I think I'll sweeten things up by adding a lemon glaze on top, just fresh squeezed lemon juice and confectioner's sugar mixed together.

Strawberry Lemon Scones

Dry Mixture

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (2 1/2 would be better)
• 2 Tbsps white sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt

Liquid Mixture

• 2 Tbsps white sugar
• Zest from one large lemon
• Juice from 1/2 large lemon (just squeeze the whole thing!)
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 cup milk, buttermilk, or heavy cream (start with a little less and add more if you need it)

Solo Ingredients

• 8 Tbsps unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1 cup strawberries, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Sift Dry Mixture (I don't have a sifter and things came out fine)
3. Mix in diced butter with your fingers until there are no clumps
4. Whisk Liquid Mixture
5. Add Liquid Mixure to Dry Mixture (now with butter) and squeeze with fingers into a soft dough
6. Gently fold in chopped strawberries
7. Pour out onto heavily floured surface and gently kneed until outer surface is smooth
8. Transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper or stoneware with no parchment paper (thank goodness I have my Pampered Chef stoneware because I never have parchment paper when I need it!)
9. Pat into any shape you like
10. Bake until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes

Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee in a My Dear Darling mug!

Let's be honest. You don't read my posts for the style tips or recipes. So I assume you're here for my clever writing. (That's ok. I laughed too.) But come on, "Plain White T(ea) Time"? That's genius! From my little, nerdy, Frank A. Longo-crossword-loving heart to yours...

<3 C

Secretly dedicated to Phu. I hope you think of me and this song whenever you're passing time at the bean :)

Plain White T's - 1234

Mint Green Savings!

Good news for all you shoppers out there!  For Ebates's birthday (referral link) they are offering 13% cash back on 132 of their stores! If you're like me, an avid online shopper, then Ebates is like the hot fudge on your mint chocolate chip ice cream!
*Note: Clicking on the referral link may result in commissions


Speaking of mint chocolate chip, that was my FAVORITE flavor growing up, and is still my go to.  That's probably why I've been swooning over mint everything lately! Mint jewelry, mint tops, I have a mint dress on my wish list, and of course mint bottoms.

I spent a good solid month looking for the perfect mint bottoms.  Loft would've had the win with their mint skinnies, but I wanted something more casual as most all my pants these days are skinny pants, so I opted for Zara's Mint Chinos.

I wore this little number to my friend's all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ/Cinco de Mayo birthday party.  The relaxed fit of the chinos helped me feel comfortable while I indulged in all the Korean goodness and daintily sipped on all-you-can-drink margaritas.  I paired it with this peach floral top I impulsively bought at H&M, but hey, sometimes impulsive shopping pays off.  To finish off the casual look, I pulled out my blush Born Ibis Oxfords, my Ann Taylor clutch and some arm candy.  The perfect Spring outfit to enjoy indulging on a perfect Spring day.

{Outfit}

Top: H&M

Pants: Zara

Shoes: Born via Nordstrom

Belt: H&M

Bracelets: Kate Spade, J.Crew, O.co, Asos, H&M

Thanks for reading!
<3, roe

Passing time at the Bean

instagram: phuphubear


One of my favorite places to eat during my lunch break is at Millennium Park where the bean, called Cloud Gate, is located. If you ever get a chance to visit this amazing city, Millennium Park is definitely a place worth checking out.


One of my pastimes is people watching (not in a creepy way haha). I like watching how people take pictures at the bean. I've seen a couple take their wedding photos, groups of friends taking jumping pictures, people pretending to lift the bean, etc. I've seen an international couple arguing in the middle of the park where the girl is screaming while the poor guy has his head down. I've seen elder couples holding hands (which I love love love to see) as they walk through the park with blissful smiles on their faces. I've seen a group of people holding signs who were offering free hugs. I've seen a man dressed as a zombie who walked through the park like a zombie making zombie noises. The list can go for awhile.

Although I am easily entertained by the numerous people that come through the park, my most entertainment during my lunch break (if I don't have company) is pigeon watching where the boy pigeon is trying to court a girl pigeon. Basically, the boy pigeon puffs himself up and walks in circles as he coos to the girl. You might think I'm a little crazy but it's the most entertaining thing in the world.


This one time while I was pigeon watching, the girl pigeon was eating while the boy pigeon was doing his little dance. She would fly a foot away and he would fly straight to her. As she walked away, he followed. She kept flying away but he was persistent and kept trying to court her. As I watch in amusement, I'm thinking, "Dang, if I was trying to get my grub on and some boy was trying to get my attention that I didn't want to give, I'd be so annoyed." Of course, I giggled to myself as I thought this. An even more entertaining sight is seeing two boy pigeons trying to court one girl pigeon at the same time. Reminds you of people at the club too, don't you think?

There's been so much entertainment as well as scenery at my beloved lunch spot. I can't help but feel blessed to be able to enjoy such a wonderful and beautiful place to have my lunch. :)


Tulips, one of my favorite flowers, are planted through out Chicago & Millennium Park during the Spring



Where's your favorite lunch spot and past time?



<3, phu

let's stay together

Mother's Day is quickly approaching. Traditionally, flowers and cards are sent to our mothers, telling them how much we appreciate them. Growing up my family did the whole brunch thing, but later as my sister and I moved away from home it was more difficult to get everyone together. I remember in my first year of college I made arrangements to surprise my mama with a visit. She hates surprises. So I told her the day before. She was so upset because she had ordered a box of fresh fruit tarts to be delivered to my dorm room on Mother's Day. Of course this makes no sense to most folks because I am not a mother, but it's typical for my mama to show her girls love on this day because we "are the reason she's a mother and happy to be one." I might argue that my dad and courvoisier are the reason, but that's another story. My mama dislikes any kind of special attention. She doesn't like to be photographed or bragged about, but let me just say that's she's pretty much the dopest person I know... and I know a lot of dope people.

Actually, I was lucky to see a lot of those folks this weekend when I flew home for a quick visit with the family. Here's a recap in photos to Al Green's Let's Stay Together, my mama's jam. (See how dope she is?)

1. jade bracelet and gold bangles

(found in my mama's jewelry box)

2. simple gold ring

3. rain boots in the last bit of rain

4. sister time in Spring

1. fried garlic lobster

2. belgian waffle with chocolate covered strawberries

3. glazed donuts ;)

4. chinese steamed rockfish

5. champagne, cocktails, and wine to toast a beautiful marriage

6. early mother's day homemade brunch in the backyard

Happy Mother's Day, Mamas!

<3 c

Let's Stay Together - Al Green