DIY Valentine Garland

It's a return of the yarn pom pons. Instead of Christmas, I'm incorporating them into my Valentine's Day decorating. Today I have a little DIY for pom pon garland!

I'm a big Valentine's Day fan. I'm not talking about the sappy romantic Valentine's Day, I like the sweet lovable Valentine's Day that means putting little notes in your friends mailboxes in the 3rd grade, wearing pink and red all day and getting chocolates from your daddy.

To make the garland all you need is yarn and a pair of scissors.

Start by wrapping the yarn around two fingers. Wrap around about 50 times. This will give you the perfect little pom pon.

Slip the wrapping off your fingers and cut a little piece of yarn to tie around horizontally.

Make sure you keep a little tail so your pom pons can be tied onto the garland later.

Now you have cutie little pom pons! Next, simply tie them onto a long piece of white yarn and cut off the tails to create your garland.

xo annie

Tuesday Pick Me Up

I told myself 6 a.m. yoga would be a good idea last night, but I knew it wouldn't really happen. My body decided to naturally wake up at 5:15 and there seemed to be no other choice but to go. Tuesdays are usually a pretty good day. They aren't Monday, and they aren't hump day, but for me they are busyyyyy. Now that I've been awake for near 3 hours I'm thinking it's going to be okay. To keep the day along I have some links for a little Tuesday treat!

Queen B just being cool. Beyoncé makes Tuesdays a little better.

What food represents you? This food quiz will tell ya. I'm a sandwich which I don't really think is accurate, but take it and let me know what it says about you!

Blue, Blue and more Blue. Blue is popping up everywhere and I don't mind.

The Sugar Diet...now that's something I can get into.

A Life Size sequel. Every little girl's dream who grew up in the 90's. Fancy fast food. This guy created a blog taking a fast food meal and using only the ingredients from the meal to recreate it into fancy food.

A free online video of my favorite workout. It only takes 10 minutes! Awkward dating card. For all you in betweeners who don't know what to do with Valentine's day coming up.

Happy Tuesday!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Baby bites this week. I thought I had more pictures to show off from the week, but my camera roll was lacking a bit. 

After having Monday off for MLK it was back to the grind on Tuesday. Wednesday was full of lots of firsts. The first time I experienced a school shooting (thankfully it was just a misunderstanding and was actually machinery that backfired) and the first time I was in a halftime show. A friend and I willingly volunteered ourselves to be dunked over at an OU basketball game. It was borderline terrifying considering the guy who was dunking continually missed in the warm up.

Friday was relaxing and consisted of laying in bed with my best friend watching Captain Philips and eating a caramel sundae. Saturday was a mardi gras themed date party and reliving the days in New Orleans. Yesterday I had lunch with my mom while she was in town for a meeting and then had a Bachelor wedding/Grammy's watch party with all the gals.

-Happy hour cheese ball on our day off from school

-the BEST almond butter I have tried to date. I only bought the squeeze pack to try, but will definitely have to go back for the whole jar. My three favorite flavors in one. Vanilla, espresso and almond.

-Wednesday night's dinner. It definitely didn't photograph as well as it tasted. I used this recipe for our greek quinoa bake.

-A little Carrie inspiration for my last post and end of the week!

xo annie

Not Just For Playing Dress Up

So this one time I got a tutu for my 16th birthday. Sounds strange, but it is a totally normal thing I would ask for. I recently discovered Space46 and their tutu's on Instagram. I think I know what I'll be asking for on my 21st birthday.

I've seen images of tutu's on some of my favorite bloggers. They pair their's with cozy knits making them acceptable for everyday wear.

images via Marcus Design and Pink Peonies

Space46's skirts are made up of long layers of tulle, creating the perfect, modern ballerina look. They claim "any day is a good day for a tulle skirt," and I agree. 

images via Space46 Boutique

Then there is the girl who started it all.

image via cosmopolitan

Tutus aren't just for playing dress up.

xo annie

Old Fashion Sugar Cookies

If you didn't already know, sugar cookies are my favorite kind of cookies. I know that may seem bland or boring, but I love them. I've posted a few times about my signature iced sugar cookies, but today I'm giving you a new recipe!

They are a simple cookie but packed with flavor. The combination of almond and vanilla extract makes them mouth watering! They are friend and family tested and approved so you need to make these and try them for yourself!

My laptop is one of the most important tools when I bake.

The dough is crumbly, but bakes up perfectly.

The cross fork technique gives them rustic look and creates little crevasses for the sugar to sit in.

Old Fashion Sugar Cookies adapted from Eat, Live, Run
yields 3 dozen

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups all purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Combine the two sugars, then add the vegetable oil, extracts, salt, eggs and baking soda. Whisk well to combine. Add the flour and stir to combine. The dough will seem crumbly and dry (I had to get my hands in there to finishing combining). Use a cookie scoop or roll out ping pong size balls of dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Make a cross with the bottom of a fork then sprinkle with sugar or colored sprinkles. Bake for 8 minutes.

Annie