Girl Scout Samoa bars!

Thank you Martha Stewart for having this recipe for me to make on my Sunday Afternoon! :) -with my own pictures added in...

Ingredients

• 3 cups finely ground cookies (12 ounces), such as graham crackers or chocolate wafers, or a combination
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly splash a 15-by-10-inch rimmed baking sheet evenly with water, then line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter until combined. Evenly press onto bottom and up sides of prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating halfway through, until firm, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool, about 20 minutes.

3. Sprinkle cooled crust evenly with pecans and chocolate. Pour condensed milk over the top, spreading to cover completely (do not let it drip over the edges). Sprinkle with coconut.

4. Bake until coconut is toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely. Trim edges, if desired, and cut into equal-size bars.

They are SO good! And also...not very healthy.

Farmer's Market!

 In a place where Frida Kahlo gets her own cafe and T-shirts (awesome!) what's not to love? In the following pictures you will see homemade candles (wish I would have bought one) a solar/bike powered smoothie maker, myself holding the much sought after lemon spinach, the man who has a piano hooked on the back of his bike (you can never complain about biking to this guy), utensil windchimes/thing, lil' sis, sandals...and you DON'T want to miss those videos! :) Man playing guitar- very animated, olympic cup stackers? (the one on the left is much more into it), and man playing the steel drum.
Basically...I love the farmer's market!

4th of July!

A simple arrangement. Super good tip if you own no cool vases...get a cup and wrap one of your colorful rags around it, and then tie it on with a ribbon...walla, cool vases for free!

And I'm proud to be an American. Where at least I know I'm  free!

I have been WAITING for the 4th just so I could do this! Fruit flag. Blueberries, watermelon, and ice.

This was the epitome of my 4th this year. This arrangement and flag. No really. I worked all night. And during the day I helped some people move furniture around. Felt kindof weird not watching the fireworks and all. And even while I was working, I was just so worried about the fire on the mountain- I couldn't even think of fireworks. 

So please everyone pray for those fires to be put out SO quickly and that no one will get hurt!

and

God bless America!

soapbox about style and fashion and clothes in general

There are a lot of people who think fashion is over rated, and a lot who are a little bit-way too much obsessed with it. My personal opinion is this. The way you dress should make you feel confident in yourself- and that's all there is to it. However you have to do it. I know I'm always a little more confident when I feel pretty. If you think that's shallow so be it. But sometimes I curl my hair and wear heels and a skirt just to feel a bit braver and adventurous and like I'm really something great. And mostly I'm talking about style- finding your own (not the changing of the wardrobe every couple months because the celebrities do = fashion). Finding your own personal style is more important than following trends. (but wait, there's more after these- some pictures of some favorite things about my personal style)

Hello too expensive anthropology outfit- but I can dream right? But I love this- bright colors, skinny jeans, and kind of flowy (is that a word?) shirts.

Skinny jeans. I don't know what I'd do without them. I don't know how to explain it, but it just fits something in my personality.

Because curling my hair seriously may just make me feel more outgoing.

And a terrible self taken photo to put out there one more time how worth it a maxi skirt is.

That's just the thing. Dress however you want! It's fun, it's an art for some people, it's a creative process, and it shows who you are. I read once on a blog that our own personal fashion statement is a combination of people we admire, the person we are, and the person we want to be. And we show it through clothes.

And then there is this thing about fashion. You attract what you dress like. And this goes both ways.

Girls dressing immodestly gets a lot of a attention with this point. The more skin you show, the more you are going to attract guys who are only interested in what's on the outside. It's totally true.

But also it goes the opposite way. If you wear sweats and baggy shirts constantly and never get ready when you go out- you have no right to get mad at the boys for not tripping over the way you look. If you chose not to care about it at all- that's your choice. But understand that it is going to bring you different guys than dressing up would, and they may treat you differently. 

You will be treated how you dress. 

Dress classy and you'll probably attract some classy gentlemen, stay in your exercise clothes and you'll talk to a lot of jocks, dress like a hippy and you'll have some friends who are trying to start their own band. You get my point right? It's simple really. 

But that's what I have to say about that.

Friday night hiking- looks like a poem...?

Hiking in a skirt is becoming a habit.

Yes Maxi skirts are all they are cracked up to be.

Sometimes it's okay to spend Friday night's alone.

Sometimes I go places simply because they are filled with peace,

some of those places also happen to be filled with memories I hold very dear.

The little lake up by the boulders- just before sunset.

Random tidbits from a camera

If I was an Instagram-er then this would be a "lately in Instagram" post. Unfortunately, all I have is a breaking down camera that's held together by rubber bands- and it captures the little moments that are slightly noteworthy to me. :)... so lately...

Spending a rainy day inside Barnes and Noble just reading random books- and wishing that I was very rich so I could buy all the incredible ones I stumbled upon- with my best friend.

Blogging/laptop party with dad over a bowl of cherries. And the magazine that I've been super into reading lately. It's a Scientific American about the difference between men and women- psychologically mostly. It's very interesting.

Because there's just something about driving a truck in the summertime that makes you feel good. (Except for the price of diesel gas...that does not make you feel good.)

It's probably embarrassing to show a picture of a messy room. But this is just how it is- maybe I feel weird in the such a big bed. All the clothes that I go though every time I get dressed and nothing seems to work- they all get placed to cover up the other half of the bed. ...?

Going total dork status on shoes for work because we aren't allowed to show our ankles if we wear shorts...? Don't ask me why, it's just a thing. So we get scrunched up high socks- because who really owns any socks that aren't ankle socks?

The perfect activity for summer nights- albeit one that tends to make me feel very nostalgic. 

Found a good home for this baby's breath once it dried out.

These potato yam things have been in that basket in the corner of the kitchen for who knows how long? But they are actually growing. Weird right? That really says something about growing where you stand. Some are placed in great soil and given water and sunshine- and some are forgotten in a kitchen corner- but we all have to make do with what we're given and grow anyways. Those were my thoughts when I saw it anyways.

Summer wreath

Because one simply has to have a hobby to keep themselves from getting the crazies.
...

And some credit must be given to Pintrest for inspiration.

And thank you Hobby Lobby for having a 50% off sale on flowers!