Get Ready With Me: Holiday Glam

Earlier this season I was toying with a kind of festive "party" look that wouldn't be over the top (as so many are) and this is what I came up with!

All right, well, to start, I used Clindamycin Phosphate Lotion as a moisturizer (it's prescription, I recently broke out a bit and wanted to get that in check) and touched up some acne bits with benzoyl preoxide gel (there are really mixed reviews on whether or not you should use this for cystic acne, but a friend of mine suggested it, and I think it's really been helping me). For my primer, I used ALMAY Smart Shade Luminous Primer WHICH I think I like better than the ALMAY Smart Shade Perfect & Correct. It kind of reminds me of the Dr. Brandt "pores no more" Pore Refiner which, as you may remember, I was OBSESSED with (but way too poor to purchase). 

Then, I used NYX Above & Beyond Full Coverage Concealer to cover up any blemishes, discolorations, or complexion flaws haunting me. I REALLY like this stuff. It kind of reminds me of clay for some reason. For my liquid foundation, I mixed together NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat liquid foundation with Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free liquid foundation. I don't know how people generally feel about the "mixing two foundations" thing, but the Neutrogena stuff is runny and too light and the NYX stuff is too heavy and dark, so mixed together they worked really well for me. 

Anyway, I topped that all off with Maybelline Shine Free Loose Powder. I think it's kind of underwhelming, but it works. Man, oh man, I just wish I still had that Tarte Amazonian Clay finishing powder. But alas. I used it all. And I don't have the funds for $30+ foundations. Siiiigh. Anyway!

For my eyes I used basically everything I own. Just kidding. But I usually JUST do one layer of mascara and skip on the eyeshadow (because ugh time right?) so this is WAAAY more than what I normally do. Okay, so I started off with LORAC eyelid primer. Then, I used bareMinerals "Ice Queen" all over my lids from my lashes to my brows. Then, I used 

Okay, so then, to really party it up, I used TWO blushes. "That's excessive," you say. Quietly, I agree. Okay, so first, I like to use NYC Cheek Glow Powder Blush by dusting it over my cheek bones in an upwards angle, true Deanna Troi fashion (though, admittedly, it's quite a bit more muted in color than Deanna Troi would rock.) Next, I used Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Mineral Blush by grinning and then swooping it around on the apples of my cheeks.

For my hair, I sometimes like to do the milkmaid braids paired with a golden, braided headband. It's a pretty simple hair style but looks really nice. So, I start by parting my hair in the middle (or middleish, my part just doesn't really like being in the middle. It does everything it can to avoid it) and then put it into two, low pigtails. Then, I did a simple, standard braid on each side. Then I just kind of twisted and flipped them upward, and held them in place with a TON of bobbypins. Then, I slipped on the gold braided headband and hairsprayed the crap out of my hair.

This is the finished hair product. There's still a BIT more I do for the entire look. Starting with...

Lips. (Okay, you can tell from the picture on the right that I actually changed before doing my lips. But, whatever. Okay, so, I've been using this Cake Batter ChapStick to moisturize my lips and I REALLY like it. It's so yummy. Then, for my lip color, I used NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Amsterdam!

Finally, clothes! As it turns out, you have to wear them. EVEN during the holiday season. I know, I know, Gasp. So, I picked my green tights (Target), this little black dress I've had for eons (no clue where it's from), this set of fake-diamond necklace and earrings (Macy's), and my new favorite tall black boots (Payless). The dress and earrings have a proper party feel to them, the green tights kick in a bit of holiday spirit, and the boots are my hands down favorite shoes for the time being so they throw in a bit of comfort. 

Film Fashion: Snow

Okay, so... It's kind of hokey, but one of my favorite Santa films is...

So, uh, here's what happened:

Snowmints!

Is it just me, or does Christmas make you REALLY nostalgic? Well, in honor of holiday-induced nostalgia, I thought I would share a recipe from my youth with you. I think this recipe originally came from an American Girl book/catalog/magazine thing and I remember always having a lot of fun making it...

Fair warning to parents: this recipe is a bit messy. So... I think this is a recipe that kids would probably SUPER enjoy and it's pretty simple and stuff... but they'll probably get really sticky and covered in powder and possibly turn blue in the process. I mean, I'm an adult and I managed to do all of those things. 

Okay! So, what we're going to be making is SNOWMINTS. They're like mints that look like snowmen. That's... it's... pun.

For this recipe, you will need:

• 1 tbsp softened butter
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp mint extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• food coloring

Mix everything (except the food coloring) together. I find it works best to add the cup of powdered sugar in 1/4th cup increments. You can stir with a spoon at the beginning, but it, erm, needs to get to the point where you knead it. 

With about 2/3s of the mint-dough, form little snowmen bodies. That's pretty simply just rolled up balls stacked on top of one another. 

Now, you're going to want to mix some food coloring into a little of the remaining dough (seriously, a very little of the remaining dough...) for noses. Preferably, you'll mix in both red and yellow to get a nice orange color so their noses look like snowman carrot noses and not remarkably like beaks. But, you know me: I never have all the right ingredients when I set off on one of these projects. 

Anyway, then you form little noses and stick them to your little snowmen. 

Then, add blue food coloring to remaining dough. Then, fashion little hats, scarves, earmuffs, capes, or whatever else you'd like out of the blue dough and fasten them to the snowmen. 

Thus making adorable little treats. But also super sugary/sweet treats, so I'd advise against popping an entire snowmint in your mouth in one go. 

Film Fashion: Christmas Kiss

Okay. So. To preface: I have a strange adoration for truly terrible holiday themed romantic comedies. I mean, I have a strange adoration for any truly terrible romantic comedy, but holiday themed? YES PLEASE. Anyway. That is to say... I AM going to write this whole fashion blog blogpost about the movie Christmas Kiss but I 110% don't recommend watching it unless you're looking for a cheese-tastic illogical flick that induces both giggles and extreme bouts of discomfort.

Right. Good. Let's get started.

The movie begins with this little scene in a theater and I can't remember what's actually discussed here, but I think it's included in the film to set up a few things. Like: That dude in the workshirt has lots of sage advice and compassion, the girl in the colorful layers and fur vest (kind of a Lizzie McGuire vibe, yeah?) is a costume designer for the theater, and the girl in blue with the button down was a set designer but now she has some non-theater related job with a thankless and horrible boss. I'm not sure why she's so happy, though, she has a thankless boss and her button down is doing that horrible bust button gape that makes you anxious about your otherwise adorable outfit for the entire day.

The Quest To Make The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay! So, one big part of Christmas in my family is cookie baking. I mean, back in the day, we would have "Cookie Bake Weekends" at my house and my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins would all come down. And we'd bake SO MANY COOKIES. It was a lot of fun, and I have a ton of really fond memories from then.

Anyway, my favorite kind of cookie is, naturally, chocolate chip cookies. And unfortunately, I suck at baking chocolate chip cookies. So, I decided to pursue the perfect chocolate chip cookies. I am by no means claiming to have achieved chocolate chip cookie perfection. But! I made some changes to my baking process and it really seemed to help. So! I thought I would share those tips with you!

1. Start with softened butter. 
This piece of advice comes from my cousin Emily. She also recommends microwaving your butter if you want to get to your cookie-baking faster. I, however, do not own a microwave. So I just had to leave it out for a bit to get nice and room temperature.

2. Use a wooden spoon.
This piece of advice also comes from Emily. To reconfirm it, though, the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had were made by a family friend who used to watch me on Wednesdays when my mom had meetings, and she also hand stirred everything. Seriously, it's laborious but I think there's something to the "don't use an electric mixer" tip. This is also why you should start with softened butter. I mean, can you imagine trying to hand stir rock hard butter? No thank you.

3. Add a little extra flour.
This tip came from one of my best friends, Laura. One of my big issues with chocolate chip cookie baking is that they get thin and flat when they're baking, and adding a little bit extra flour helps combat that. In the interest of full disclosure, Emily was appalled by the thought of adding extra flour. Anyway, I think it's a good idea if your problem is thin/flat cookies, but definitely be wary of how much extra flour you're adding.

4. Use dark chocolate chips.
Nobody really gave me this tip, but dark chocolate chips are the best chocolate chips. So I definitely would recommend it.

6. Use parchment paper.
Nobody gave me this advice, but my mother basically demanded it. So, parchment paper is great because it protects your pans and makes your cleanup process way easier. But! I was surprised to find that it also acted like some fantastic cookie saver. Actually I have no idea whether or not the success of this batch of cookies had anything to do with my use of parchment paper. But like a sports fan's unwashed red socks, I'll be using parchment paper while cookie baking from now on.

Seriously. This batch of cookies turned out amazing. Santa's going to be so stoked this year.

If you have any other advice to help me on my quest to make the perfect chocolate chip cookies, please leave it in the comments! I'm seriously eager to know!

Christmas Decorating!

Okay! So, to kick of this December, I decided to get into the Christmas spirit by decorating my room! Now, obviously, if you're going to put up decorations, you have to start by cleaning up a bit. Which also means packing up some of your nicknacks that might be strewn about. (Like... I personally have the ceramic statue collection of a 76 year old woman.)

Okay! So, you might be thinking, "Woah-ho, Katrina, you definitely still have a lot of nicknacks strewn about" and if you're thinking that, you'd be right. BUT it's significantly less than the before pictures (if I'd taken before pictures) would have shown.

Anyway. Since my space is kind of tight and cluttered to begin with, I tried to keep things simple when I was decorating. So, as you can see, I've added a festive touch but not... well, transformed it into a Macy's in mid-December.

Right, so, here are a few big room shots, but I'll also show you some of the little Christmas touches up close. I think your best bet for decorating a space like this is to keep the decorations simple understated. (Yeah, I don't really know what I'm talking about. Let me just show you some more pictures.)

Okay! First and foremost: Christmas Trees. If we're talking about decorating a more spacious area, I'm definitely ALL for real trees. But I was obviously pretty limited space-wise, so I just have two, small, plastic trees. I've had each of these for quite some time. The one on the left is small and you can switch it "on" so that the tips glow different colors. It's pretty nifty, and it is technically on in this picture, but I just don't think it was a feature that I could capture in a photograph. On the right, I have a bit larger of a tree. I decided to put it at the corner of my desk where there's this kind of elevated platform. It's in the corner of my room and really able to kind of be a focal point there. Anyway, it's decorated with a few decorations that I made when I was younger and some little ornaments that I bought in a pack. I have placed a winter themed candle from Bath and Body Works next to each one, giving them a nice warm glow and making my whole room smell like a winter wonderland. Also, I decided to place the ceramic cat next to the larger tree because she really looks like she belongs in that scene, you know?

Next: Christmas Lights! The lanterns hanging next to my winter are there all year round, but I've added a few strands of lights going around my window and then up and across one of my walls. I decided to go with the plain yellow lights because my room is already kind of chaotic. But I totally support the multi-colored lights, too. Along that wall I also hung a paper chain that I made out of red and green decorative paper. It looks really nice running parallel with the yellow lights.

Okay! So, the situational stuffed animal can totally look like a decoration. Unlike the mouse on the right, the sock bunny on the left isn't innately Christmas themed. But since he's setting next to a bobble head from Rudolph, some Christmas lights, and a Vanilla Cookie candle? He looks like a proper Christmas decoration. On the right, I have a Christmas mouse (he goes with a book that I think was actually titled Christmas Mouse...) and his red scarf makes him look kind of festive to begin with. But then since he's setting next to a "letters" boxed wrapped in Christmas paper he definitely looks festive. ...Right, so, by "situational stuffed animals" I mean: you can make your stuffed animals look Christmasy just by setting them in Christmasy situations.

Wreaths! This particular wreath I made with some styrofoam, yarn, and Christmas tree ornaments. I wanted to go with monochromatic color scheme, but a colorful one could be fun, too.

And finally: my favorite decoration. This is a Christmas Tree made out of baby food jars, some tinsel, and Christmas Tree lights. I've had it, well, since I was a baby. And I really really adore it. I remember when I was younger plugging it in around Christmas time, laying on the floor, and staring at it until I fell asleep.

Okay! So, that's it for this blogpost. Please let me know in the comments down below what YOUR favorite decoration is (for whatever you celebrate!). AND keep your eyes peeled because there will be a video coming up shortly that takes you through how I made some of these decorations.

Tomato Parmesan Croissants

Hey! I hope you all are enjoying this chilly November weather. (I'm just assuming that by the time I publish this the weather is still chilly. While I'm writing this, it's like 28* out. But yesterday it was in the 70's, so there's really no telling.) Anyway! Cold weather calls for warm and rich food stuffs so I'm going to provide you with a DELICIOUS party appetizer that is perfect warming your core.

I LOVE making stuff out of croissants, and this has been one of my favorite creations, so I hope you enjoy it. Okay! First things first! Gather some ingredients:

You'll need a roll of crescent rolls, some cherry tomatoes, and fresh parmesan cheese. It's not included in this picture but you also need some spices ("Which spices!?!?" I don't care, man, it's your life. Get whatever.) and some butter. ("But I bought buttery crescent rolls." So? You still want to add more butter. Unless you hate yourself. If you hate yourself, don't use butter. I don't care. No, I care, don't hate yourself, I think you're awesome.)

Okay! Let's get cookin'.

Spread some butter on your croissants. Then, add a pinch of parmesan cheese. Then, add a few slices/wedges of tomato.

Next, add some spices. "Which spices?" We've been over this before, I really don't care. Personally, I used garlic salt and basil leaves. You can use whatever you want, though. Sea salt, pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning, parsley. Whatever. "How about cinnamon?" Sure, fine, whatever, ya' nasty.

Seriously, don't use cinnamon. That sounds gross. No judgements, but ewe.

Then, fold them up. You can roll them croissant stile, but there will probably be a lot of stuff spilling out the sides. So, instead, I recommend folding the corners of the triangles in and pinching closed any gaps. They turn out kind of like delicious cheese/tomato filled rolls. Add a bit more parmesan cheese to the top and then bake them!

They turn out pretty delicious, so I hope you enjoy!

Film Fashion: Clueless

Okay, so, any 90's kid will tell you: the epitome of fashion is, was, and will always be represented by Clueless. Clueless is a modernized telling of Emma by Jane Austen. Since Emma is Jane Austen's best novel, it's no surprise that Clueless is one freaking great film.

It starts out with this montage of our main character, Cher, and all of her cool/rich friends, which Cher describes as, "So, okay, you're probably going, 'Is this, like, a Noxzema commercial or what?'" It quickly sets the fashion tone with tall boots and socks, miniskirts, and monochromatic or dichromatic color pallets. Everyone is so happy and fabulous.

Skincare Product Reviews

Okay! So I have a bunch of skin care product samples (given to me by friends, stores, or birchbox) that I have decided to review on this here blog. Explanation over, let's get to it!

VASANTI "BrightenUp!" Exfoliating Cleanser

A Bit About It:

This was given to me by my lovely friend Nikki who gifted me a bunch of samples to try out and review for my birthday! It is "enriched with papaya, micro-crystals, and aloe." It claims to "dramatically improve your skin's texture to reveal softer, brighter, and younger looking skin."

Pros:

• It felt super cool. Like, it felt the way I imagine rubbing kinetic sand on your face would feel. I can't really explain it any other way.
• I had like no acne while I was using it. Which is impressive enough for your average day, but the no acne phenomenon became more of a phenomenon because it kept me acne free even throughout my period. (Which, let's be real, because your hormone levels are off while you're menstruating, it's pretty common for women to break out kind of badly then. I usually do. But I didn't! It was crazy.)
• It didn't smell like anything. Which is great because sometimes you use a face wash and it smells like hospitals or glue or sweat and chlorine. 
• It really did make my skin feel softer. 

Cons:

• I'm not really sure it "brightened up" my face. And since it is called "BrightenUp!" I feel like that's the one thing it really should do. 
• It didn't smell like anything. Which is a bummer because sometimes you use a face wash and it smells like fruit or bubblegum or Hilary Duff or 2003. 
• It didn't reduce any discolorations. I know it didn't claim that it would, but... Well, I have red-splotched-scarred-skin and am trying to even out my skin tone. So, I was just a little bummed that it didn't. As I am a little bummed whenever anything doesn't help even out my skin tone. 
• It's $34.00 for 4.23 oz of face wash. I know that's not TERRIBLE, but it's also not GREAT and I'm borderline broke so I'm going to have to put that price on my con-list. 
• It possibly compliant in a weird allergic reaction I had that caused my lips to swell up and get tight and kind of burn. But then again, that could have been something else. It occurred right at the end of my Vasanti BrightenUp! trial period. 

Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Cleanser

A Bit About It: 

I got this stuff in one of the last Birchboxes I ever received. Birchbox is an awesome way to try out new products that are too pricey for you to buy just HOPING that it'll work for you. It's also nice to get those little sample size things that you can bring with you traveling. Anyway. This came in a Birchbox, but then I discontinued my Birchbox subscription to save money. 

Pros:

• It kind of feels like it's stabbing your pores when you use it. I love skincare products that hurt. But who knows, that might not be your thing.
• My skin was slightly better than "usual"...

Cons: 

• My skin was way worse than it was when I using the Vasanti BrightenUp! stuff. WAY WORSE. So that super bummed me out. 
• It looks like a weird putrid slime that you're coating your face in.
• It smells like old people and decay. 

Masque Bar: Anti-Blemish Mud Mask

A Bit About It:

My lovely friend Sarah gave me this and some other stuff to try out for my birthday. It is supposed to soothe irritated skin and leave skin feeling calm and looking clear. So that's cool. 

Pros: 

• Mud masks are fun. That's just a fact. There's a reason that they're featured in like every movie teenage girl sleepover ever. 
• It contains tea tree which, as we all know, is incredibly good for your skin. 
• It makes your skin feel nice and soft and smooth after you take it off.
• It's opaque, which is nice because when I wear mud masks, I like to take pictures like this:

Cons: 

• It didn't really prevent or reduce any breaking out, but I guess it's possible you would have to use it more regularly--every couple weeks or so--in order for it to be effective. 

Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser

A Bit About It:

Okay, I got this from a magazine. Clearly. It came with a one day free trial thing and a coupon for $3.00 off or something like that, so I ended up buying the stuff. Don't read that as a recommendation too eagerly, though. I'd only had a one-time sample size to use before buying it.

Pros:

• It really seems to draw out junk from your pores, which is cool.
• I honestly can't think of any other pros, but that "draws junk out of your pores" one is pretty top notch, I think.

Cons:

• It hurts like a mother. Seriously, you know me. My skincare philosophy is "if it doesn't hurt a little it isn't working" but my goodness this stuff makes me want to sob. It's like torture. Egad.
• The smell gives me the sensation of sucking on really gross cough drops. I can't explain it, but if you use it I'm sure you'll understand. 
• It's the color of granite. It doesn't look like granite when it's all on your face and stuff and I get that it's made out of charcoal but it's still hella weird.
• My face has recently began flaking off. I can't prove that it's related to this face cleanser. But still, it's unfortunate.

How do I end these things? Do I, like, make some sort of decision? Or do I just? I'm not sure. Skincare products. They exist. Woohoo.

Best Dressed On TV: Part 2

Okay! So! Here it is. The much anticipated sequel to my Best Dressed on TV blogpost. Just kidding. It's, like, possibly anticipated by some of my friends who had a lot of suggestions after my last post went up. But I thought I'd do another couple "best dressed on TV" segments because holy moly there are a lot of well dressed women on the televisions, yeah? Like before, these are in alphabetical order by first name. Just because that's how they were saved in my little file deal. Right. Let's get going.

Abby Mills - Sleepy Hollow

Abby Mills rocks strictly neutral colors. She layers up camis, t-shirts, and jackets. She has one serious tough-chick jacket collection. Her clothes are always well fitted. She's always wearing a "seriously fed up with this nonsense" facial expression and her favorite accessory is a super hot angry-old-man-in-a-young-man's-body. There is a reason that everyone who meets her immediately becomes instilled with the desire to help and protect her. And that reason is that she is freaking fabulous. 

April Ludgate - Parks and Recreation

April wears a lot of loose clothing and she usually wears layers. Often, she'll wear pants, a loose t-shirt, and a cardigan but she also likes to pair button downs with loose sweaters. When she wears dresses, she usually wears pretty simple cuts that hang loosely around her. Her preferred accesories include: a biting wit; Champion, her three legged dog; Andy, her goof of a husband; and a sour expression. Straight up, April Ludgate is a goddess and we all kind of want to be her, right? 

Belle Gold - Once Upon A Time

Straight up, what was her last name before she married Rumpelstiltskin? Anyway, Belle is pretty pro at "wearing exactly what she feels like." Sometimes, she's like straight out of a 1930's film, and sometimes she's dressed like a hot modern hipster, but no matter what she looks preppy and polished. Yeah, even that time she paired a pattern button down sleeveless shirt with a high-waisted miniskirt that quite frankly didn't match anything in all of Storybrooke. You know the time I'm talking about, right? No? Oh well. Anyway, she's super stylin' which is impressive because she went from the enchanted forest to a 28 year sentence in an insane asylum. Like, she did not have 28 years to acclimate to modern era attire like the rest of Storybrooke did. AND YET, she did not pull a Captain Guyliner and insist on wearing her old threads once she got her memory restored. It's impressive. The big downside to Belle, though, is that she is literally always with Rumpelstiltskin. Like, she's smart and cool and has a whole host of awesome lady friends but can you find her hanging out with anyone who isn't her greasy-haired hubby? No. (I know, I know, usually I'm like, "check out the dude who puppy dog style follows her around" but in this instance? I don't think he's good enough for her. So sue me. PLUS the other ladies in the show who are in relationships I approve of still get to hang out with people who aren't their significant other. You know what I'm saying.)

Emily Fields: Pretty Little Liars

All of the little liars are pretty fashionable from time to time... but unlike Hannah or Aria, Emily never wears rose-patterned leggings with a weird jacket dress. That's not a real outfit reference, but Hannah and Aria both wear really weird things from time to time. And unlike Spencer, Emily has yet to go to sweatpants/sweatshirt/unbrushed hair/drug addiction levels of depressed. Anyway! Emily wears a lot of fitted jeans, long sleeve shirts, vests, and jackets. Plus she has gorgeous hair. Like seriously, seriously gorgeous hair. And there's always some pretty girl following her around, trying to make out with her. Okay, sometimes the "pretty girl following her around" isn't "trying to make out with her" and is "trying to ruin her and her friends' lives" but whatever. You get my point. 

Felicity Smoak - Arrow and sometimes Flash

Felicity Smoak is super kind and super smart. And I think kindness and intelligence are top notch stylistic attributes. She's also brave enough to rock bright blush and lipsticks. Sometimes she wears really short and fitted ensembles which makes you totally not suspect that she's assisting a super hero. Her signature look is the pulled-back-ponytail but she'll let her hair down if she's got a date. Or if she's acting as psycho-serial-killer bate. Point is, if I was a billionaire vigilante, I'd be crazy in love with her, too. (Also sometimes the people in love with her are just billionaires or just vigilantes but if Oliver Queen could just get over his obnoxious bullspit we wouldn't have to worry about the other billionaires or the other vigilantes and she could have the whole billionaire/vigilante package. Sigh.)

Jessica Williams - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Okay so TECHNICALLY Jessica Williams is a person and not a "character" per se, but she's well dressed and lovely and on TV so... she counts. Jessica Williams is SO FUNNY. She's seriously SERIOUSLY funny. And lovely. And I'm in love with her. Anyway, you know how I said kindness and intelligence are stylish attributes? Well, humor? SO STYLISH. Jessica Williams fashion wise is awesome. She wears a lot of suits, which is really exciting because women look good in suits and one time Tina Fey said that the first woman to be a late night TV show host would probably be a suit-wearer and I would watch the heck out of Late Night With Jessica Williams. Also, she can really rock a costume. Plus her hair always looks amazing. And did I mention that she's super funny?

Kira Yukimura - Teen Wolf

Kira wears a lot of tights, mini skirts, patterned dresses, and leather jackets. She wields weapons like a pro, is super pretty, and always hangs out with other well-dressed and gorgeous ladies. She pulls off every look from the "hoodlum about to steal this stuff" to "sporty about to steal this base" to "gorgeous about to steal this heart from this dude right here." Also all the wolves are in love with her.

Sookie St. James - Gilmore Girls

Sookie is so cute. Seriously, seriously cute. She's always doing something fun with her hair: ponytails, braids, curls, and bandanas. When she's cheffin' it up, she wears chef's jackets with really cute and fun patterns and bandanas to protect the food from her hair. Outside of the kitchen, she wears cute skirts, patterned button downs, and cardigans. And whenever the town is having some cool shindig, she's 110% in, which is why in that picture on the far right she's rocking the victory rolls and a vintage dress. And! When there's a fancy event, she's always dolled up in pretty dresses. (Also props to Gilmore Girls for promoting female friendships/relationships and for having a curvy character who is never mocked or scolded or even insecure about her size AND gets everything she wants! You have no idea how hard I clutch onto Sookie St. James from Gilmore Girls.) 

Sophia Burset - Orange Is The New Black

Pre-transition, Sophia hid her femininity beneath masculine clothing. But even then she seriously loved beautiful things. The bulk of the show is set in a women's prison, so 99% of the time, Sophia is dressed like all of the other ladies in bland jumpsuits (although, her hair and makeup are always scores better than the rest of theirs. PLUS she has a really cute robe and made herself some super stylish duct tape shower shoes, so there's that.) But before being arrested, her style was really polished. She primarily wore solid-colored dresses and took tips from her wife to dress polished.

Okay! So, those are my nine features for this segment of "Best Dressed On TV!" I will probably be doing another one of these posts someday... SO leave any suggestions for well dressed women in the comments and I may feature them next time around!

Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate

The weather's getting colder and that means... it's the perfect time for warmth and chocolate and toasty drinks. One of my favorite drinks this time of year is salted caramel hot chocolate. So, here! Have a recipe!

You're going to want to warm up some milk on the stovetop. You should set your burner on a fairly low setting, like two or three. 

Pick your favorite milk--I prefer vanilla almond milk, but it can really be whatever--and pour out one cup. 

Warm up your milk in a saucepan on the stovetop.

Now you have to add some stuff to your saucepan milk. Otherwise you'll just have warm milk. Anyway, you want to add 2-3 spoon fulls of Nesquick and a few drops of vanilla and 1 tsp of sugar.

So add all that stuff to your saucepan and stir everything up so it's nice and even. Keep it on low heat, okay? Because if you take it off the heat too soon it'll become just fancy chocolate milk.

Now get out your mug and caramel syrup. 

Drizzle some caramel syrup around the bottom of your mug. You can do a pretty design. I tried to do a pretty design but it turned out kind of rough, huh? It doesn't matter, you'll pour hot chocolate over it and nobody can see it.

Take a little skewer guy and roast a few giant marshmallows over one of your burners. My brother calls this a "gross waste of energy" though because so much heat escapes and goes nowhere I guess. Anyway, I don't know if it helps with the energy thing but another option is to stick the marshmallows on an oven-safe plate and broil them for a minute or so. They probably won't get all fireside golden, but they will get gooey in the middle and that's really the main effect that you're shooting for.

By this point, your hot chocolate should be all hot and chocolatey so go ahead and dump it into your caramel drizzled mug.

You should have enough marshmallows to completely cover the surface of your beverage. I did not roast enough so I tore a fourth marshmallow into smaller pieces and filled in the gaps. Since they were torn and their little marshmallow insides were exposed it made them nice and gooey so they fit right in with the roasted ones.

Now, drizzle over your marshmallows with some more caramel sauce. The golden brown of the roasted marshmallow looks nice with the golden brown of the syrup. Am I right, or am I right? Oh, yeah, and they taste awesome together, too.

Now, get out your sea salt. If you're someone who hasn't ever had salted caramel or salted chocolate you might be a little standoffish at this point, but trust me, it's the tastiest thing in the world. Oh! And it has to be sea salt. I mean, I've never tried it with table salt and that MIGHT be fine but let's be real it isn't, so go ahead and get out your sea salt.

So, sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top of your hot chocolate. This is totally to taste. If you're wary of salted-sweets you might want to go light on it for your first try. If you're a total sea-salt-chocolate-caramel fiend like I was freshman year of college, go wild, dump a whole bunch on. It's all about your preferences, friend.

But there you go! There you have it! A delicious warm and toasty treat.