hearts & candy

Yet another holiday with the purpose of reminding us to tell our loved ones how much we appreciate them. Go buy some chocolates for someone :)

In these photos:

Thrifted Land's End sweater

H&M belt

Forever 21 skirt and shoes

Now, for a delicious recipe! It's always nice to have something special on Valentine's Day, so I came up with this Rose-Pistachio Buttermilk Biscuit recipe, based on one from the Fannie Farmer cookbook.

Rose-Pistachio Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup butter or shortening

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped pistachios (if salted, they should be rinsed first)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease to 8-inch cake pans. Put the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the butter using two knives, a pastry blender, or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk all at once and stir just until the dough forms a ball around the utensil. Add more buttermilk if it looks to dry, but be careful not to add too much! Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 14 times (really, that's what it says, it's not just a Valentine's Day thing). Pat or roll until 1/2 inch thick. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out biscuits. Place about 1/8th inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve with raspberry or cherry jam and mint tea.

For the icing:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp rosewater (Very affordable at Halal markets!)

Optional: Crumbled rose petals

Stir ingredients until well mixed. Drizzle over slightly cooled biscuits.

Fall Brights

Yesss, new clothes! I love getting new clothes, but who doesn't??
I ordered a few things from www.felicee.com and can't wait to style them all! It took a whole 5 days for my package to get here. That's incredibly fast, considering it was shipped internationally.

Isn't this sheer skirt lovely? It's a little see-through, but nothing some spanks won't fix. Other than that, it's perfect! It fits really nicely. I was afraid it would be that really itchy tulle they use under prom dresses and such, but it's not. It's comfortable and light, and is quite nice to wear. Plus, it was under $16!! You can find it here along with a lot of other awesomely affordable things. For instance, the leopard-print belt I'm wearing! It set me back a whole $4.46. Pretty great deal, huh?


The magenta jacket is new too, but it was a lucky find at a thrift store. It's 100% wool! I wish I could have taken more pictures, especially better ones of the detailing, but my feet were killing me, so I had to cut the photo shoot short.


Look at the pin-tucking on that jacket, though. Definitely a quality piece!



In these photos:
Skirt and belt from Felicee.com
GAP merino turtleneck
Chloe flats
Vintage wool jacket

So far so good

I haven't bought any clothes in June! I know it's only June 6th, but that is still a good start! I almost bought a sweater at an estate sale, but it was too much and didn't fit in the arms. I've been thinking I might make an exception for really cheap things at estate sales, since that is my favorite hobby that I rarely get to do, but honestly, I would just be cheating.

Instead, I've been working a lot more lately. I'm not working full time, but it feels like it with all the driving. I might even pick up a little more work at a fifth job! It would just be temp work for a small high-end consignment shop on Queen Anne, but that's if it works with my cafe schedule and if the nice lady will have me.

In these pictures I am wearing a wool sweater. Yes, wool in June. The very next day, the temperature soared above 70 for the first time in 2011. Such a sad city made ridiculously cheerful by a little heat. People waved, actually waved, at me as I drove by in my car. It's amazing what an impact some sun can have.

In these photos:
Forever21 sunglasses
Forever21 skirt
Vintage wool sweater
J.Crew denim shirt
Aldo bag & shoes
H&M scarf