Something Old, Something New {Friday}

{Something Old}

Last weekend was the perfect weekend for a picnic! It was probably one of the last weekends of the year warm enough to sit outside in the grass for an entire afternoon. I met up with some friends in the Sheep’s Meadow area of Central Park, and we each brought something to share — cheese and sausages, a savory tart, and some delicious eclairs for dessert! We thought about bringing a bottle of wine to sip on as well, but I’m glad we decided against it — there were park rangers writing up tickets for public drinking left and right on that day (I didn’t realize it was illegal)! I have many fond memories of sitting with friends in this spot and sharing food and good conversation (and wine — but don’t tell the park rangers!).

{Something New}

With the swift arrival of fall comes one of my favorite past times: cutting the tags off the new fall clothes that I’ve been slowly buying over the past few months! Today, I’m debuting my new pair of Frye Engineer boots which I bought in an attempt to be more practical this year. Even though our winter was mild last year, I still wore my ballet flats far too often resulting in chilly feet all the time. This year, I’ll be rocking my boots with pants and with dresses and tights!

Have a lovely weekend!

Top photo by Christopher Schoenbohm via Flickr

Recipe: Mango Coconut Chocolate Bark

A quick, simple, and DELICIOUS recipe for you today! Remember a few weeks back when I made those chocolate bacon truffles (go check ’em out if not!)? Well the thing about making truffles is that you need a lot of melted chocolate, and you don’t necessarily end up using all of it. So what to do with the extra? Make chocolate bark, of course!

I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper, and then spread my leftover melted chocolate into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Then, I diced up some dried mango that I had in my cabinet (I love to snack on Trader Joe’s Just Mango slices!) and sprinkled it over the chocolate along with some unsweetened shredded coconut. Then I just popped the whole thing in the fridge for an hour and broke into pieces after it had hardened!

This was such a tasty treat, and it took almost no effort to make! The flavor combinations you can make here are endless — I’d love to try a dried cherry with almond bits next! No chocolate shall go wasted in my apartment!

Falling for UNIQLO

Fall is just around the corner, and I’m definitely ready to trade in my current state of undress (seriously… this summer has made getting dressed sort of unappealing due to the heat) for layers! I’ve already started stockpiling a few essentials for the fall, and I’m finding that UNIQLO is spot-on this season for awesome basics and a few not-so-basics as well.

I’ve always been a big fan of UNIQLO. For those unfamiliar, UNIQLO is sort of the H&M of Japan, but with higher quality and more basics than trend pieces. I’ve found that the UNIQLO quality is really superb, especially for such a low price point — pretty much everything I’ve purchased there in the past 3 years or so is still in constant rotation in my wardrobe!

This year, I’m really digging the Easy Leggings Pants, which are just under $20 a pair! I am absolutely NOT a leggings kind of girl, but they really don’t look like leggings other than the elasticized waistband. The material is substantially thick to pass as a pair of pants and not at all see-through! They even have rear pockets, which make them that much easier to disguise. And as if the solid colored pants weren’t good enough, the Leggings Pant was released in various plaid and hounds tooth patterns as well! Score!

I also picked up this adorable felted hat. I’ve never been much of a hat person, but for just $20 I couldn’t pass up this floppy 70s style chapeau! Let’s see how often I wear it, but I think it will look pretty fantastic with my favorite riding boots.

Of course, UNIQLO’s signature item is their affordable cashmere. I’ve purchased a few of these over the years, and they never disappoint. The crewneck and V-neck sweaters for women are just $89.90, and they come in so many great colors! Definitely recommend adding a few of these to your fall sweater stockpile.

UNIQLO has a few locations in New York, but it looks like they will be opening more stores in the US soon. I’ve also heard that they will open e-commerce in the US pretty soon, so you may be able to get your fix online!

Something Old, Something New {Friday} (or Monday)

Better late than never! Here’s what was going on last week…

{Something Old}

I finally updated the music on my iPhone this week, and re-discovered No Doubt’s Return of Saturn! I was the BIGGEST No Doubt fan back in the day — I mean, I still am, really. But I’m thoroughly enjoying jamming out to old favorite tunes like “Simple Kind of Life” and “Artificial Sweetener.” And I may or may not be wishing that I had pink hair.

{Something New}

I did something completely new last week that I had never done before — painted a wall! I knew that I wanted to give our bedroom a new color, and decided that I wanted to do it myself. Frank was more than happy to let me have at it — he’s done the other paint jobs in our place since he used to work summers painting apartments, but when I arrived home to find that he had conveniently pushed back the furniture and set up all of the supplies for me, I knew it was my turn. It was a fun project, but definitely a workout. I’m really happy with how it turned out though, and it brings a little bit of sophistication into the room despite our mismatched furniture (everything in time).