I Heart Scarves!

Check me out modeling some cozy and adorable scarves on my internship's blog!  You can never have enough scarves!  Hmmm, considering doing a scarf tying tutorial tonight???

 Blazer by Zara and tank by Asos (both from Buffalo Exchange in Philadelphia)

Visit Arcadia to see these scarves and other amazing stuff!

Stay cozy!

-Sam

First Vlog EVER! Goodwill Haul!!

Hey guys check out my first VLOG ever (of many I hope!).  Subscribe to my YouTube Channel @ samstyleify.  Sorry if it's not perfect but I'm a lil video baby, so I hope they get better!  Stay tuned for my hauls, makeup tutorials and styling and beauty tips.  Thanks my lil muffins!!

Christmas Flashback

So although no one in my family celebrates Christmas, the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree has always seemed to fun and excited and festive to me, so I am so happy to be apart of Pete's family traditions!  Every Christmas Eve they go to the Brandywine River Museum, then to Wendy's (totally makes sense...not, but i'm not complaining!) and finally home to decorate the tree!

Sadly enough, this year, Pete and I both had to work so we didn't decorate the tree until 10:30 at night!  The excitement kept me going of course, and the very rotund tree looked so pretty at the end!  Pete's mom even got us a little ornament which I of course made Pete put on the tree with me!  I just love embarrassing him.  Here are some pictures I snapped to commemorate the lovely occasion :)

I have a love for anything with little eyes that I can hold in the palm of my hand, aka, every Christmas ornament ever invented...

Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

PS. I am currently in the process of uploading my first Vlog!  Stay tunes !

Hanukkah and Christmas Loot

Some things I'm very excited about receiving from the Santa and the Hanukkah Fairy!!

A French Press!  This is the purest way to drink coffee in my opinion.  It's so easy, and they are not that expensive in my opinion.  Check these out for 24.99, and such cute colors!  I envision myself spending long and lazy mornings sipping from my classy French Press in fuzzy slippers and reading magazines...Oh wait I've already done that.

My dad got these Philosophy sets for my sister and I when we were kids, the ones flavored like pumpkin pie and cinnamon buns.  This year he got me the Pure Grace body wash and lotion set.  It smells so clean and fresh, and the packaging is too cute!

Pete's parents got my this Cake Pop set, which I'm ecstatic about!  The first time I made them a few weeks ago, they were way harder to make than you would think.  I added too much frosting and they looked more like mini burgers than pops.  After repeated freezing, they finally looked presentable!  This Babycakes Cake Pop Maker makes donut holes too! Did I mention it comes with a filling injector? Keep an eye out for some experimental flavors!!

I am so grateful to be able to spend the holidays with such amazing people.  Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

"Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah."

The holidays always go so quickly.  First comes Hanukkah with my family, then Christmas with Pete's!  It's a smorgasbord of delicious foods; latkes (potato pancakes of deliciousness), monkeybread (aka raw dough in the shape of a donut) and a full fledged turkey dinner!  My mouth is just watering thinking about these little tokens of food memory (I'm the kinda girl who remember things by what I ate, call it a food photographic memory, a 6th sense).  Gaze on in jealousy :)

I wait all year for this!  It's cinnamon buns cut up and stuffed into a baking pan and microwaved with sugar and butter.  It creates this glorious ring of sweet and gooey lusciousness.  Apparently it's called Monkey Bread, but I call it breakfast, lunch and dinner.  See that little empty space?  That's me.

Latkes are potato pancakes, fried of course, because that's so healthy.  Tomorrow I'll be going to my sister's Hanukkah party to have latkes for the third and final time this year.  Then I will just have to wait in anticipation for these fried flying saucers next year.  Is there such a thing as a half birthday for Hanukkah?

Hanukkah cookies for the dogs!

When Pretty Girls Love Ugly Shoes

Ok, after a somewhat lengthy hiatus I have decided to begin blogging again (not that I actually got into a habit of doing so).  But I am interning in Philly again for the Winter at Arcadia Boutique, and being back in this wondrous city has inspired me to get my shit together, and let my fashiony freak flag fly all over this blog.  Lucky you :)

After hmming and haahing over what to spend my internship allowance on (this store has the most amazing collection of EVERYTHING: jewelry, clothes, scarves galore), I slid my feet into these Swedish Hasbeens in the Sky High style.  After about approximately ten minutes of wavering, I decided to take the plunge, especially considering the flats I walked to work in pinched my little toesies. (Sidenote, I have little patience once I decide to purchase something, ten minutes was a long time for me)

I didn't know about the magic of Swedish Hasbeens until I started interning at Arcadia, but now I find myself lightyears better for plunging down this rabbithole.  The company is based in Stockholm Sweden, and their slogan is "Happy toffels make happy people."  Now I couldn't tell ya what a toffel is from a schnitzel but they are handmade AND environmentally friendly, double yeah!

Did I mention I got them on sale?!  I find myself wearing them with literally every outfit, tights and dresses with slouchy socks, jeans and blazers, and just clip clopping all over the darn place!  SO they may not be chunky Jeffrey Campbells or Frye boots, which everyone and their mutha has, but they are freakin awesome, and I just can't help but declare my love for them!  I love you Swedish Hasbeens clogs in soft buttery leather that are oh so comfortable, I love you!!  Check out Arcadia boutique or the Swedish Hasbeen site to slide into your own wooden clogs, you can thank me later :)

Got A Wedgie?

Now I am the first to poke fun at the token girl who just has to wear heels to class, and she's weebling and wobbling and she looks like she just might fall down.  I mean who does that?  There is a time and a place for stilettos, and we're in Newark after all, not NYC or Miami.

That being said, I'm eating my words because I literally cannot wait to wear these new desert boot wedges to class with skinny jeans and cozy sweaters and flannels.  OMG and paired with scrunched wool socks?  I simply can't contain my excitement.

I came across these babies on a day trip to Kennett Square with my dad at Ashley Austin.  They have a great selection of accessories, shoes, and jewelry at great prices.  These Kelsi Dagger booties were $98, and I see myself wearing them everyday until my feet are unbearably sweating inside in the hot summer months.

Wow just uploading this picture I get a flutter from how beautious they are!

Keep a heads up for these babies on my feet when it starts to cool off!

RAV-enous

Bonjour! Oh wait...that's not Italian.

Giada in all her cooking goddessness.  

Time to get down with the cooking side of this blog jawn.  One of my idols is Giada Laurentiis, I own every one of her cookbooks, carve out a solid hour to watch her on tv almost everyday, and am planning the best way to accumulate every piece of her new cookware and products for Target.  She just makes seriously good and easy food, PLUS she's classically trained, meaning she can talk the talk and walk the walk.

Last week on an episode highlighting food off the coast of Italy, she made ravioli from scratch filled with roast chicken in a basil and olive oil sauce. Sounds like waaay to much effort right? NOT.  The pasta is made from flour and water.  Chicken and tomato sauce makes me gag a little, so I did my own classic filling for these lil guys.  Not to mention I got to use a round cookie cutter that I picked up at one of the antique markets with my sister!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of flour (and extra for dusting)

1 cup boiling water

1 cup fresh basil chopped

6 or 7 tomatoes cut into small cubes

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

3/4 cup shredded parmesan

1 egg beaten

salt and pepper

The raviolis:

Combine flour and boiling water and mix, the dough should be firm and not sticky, set aside for 10 minutes.  Roll out on a floured surface until its very thin.

 Mix ricotta, parmesan, and 1/4 cup of the basil in a bowl.  Place a teaspoon of the mixture in the center of your dough, creating flaps for folding over the top.  Brush around each mound with egg wash, and fold the dough over towards the middle, pressing around each mound to seal.  Using a round cookie cutter, carve out the raviolis, pressing around the edges to seal in the filling.

Drop raviolis into boiling water until they float to the top.  This means they are ready.

The sauce:

Saute garlic and onions until translucent, add chopped tomatoes and stir, cooking on high heat until sauce  thickens slightly.

Add the remaining basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

 

With a slotted spoon, add raviolis from the boiling water directly to the sauce and toss gently.

Serve up with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese for extra deliciousness.

The finished product!

These raviolis made from scratch are so easy to make and will impress even the most discerning Italian.  Use wheat flour for a healthier pasta, and take advantage of the sweet and juicy tomatoes that grow like crazy in the Summer months.  This is a great way also to use tomatoes juuuust about to turn!

Ciao!

When my extraordinary sister moved to the Reading area a few years ago, my visits usually consisted of afternoon naps and sushi dinners (not a bad deal i'd say).  It was only in the past few weeks that I discovered a hidden gem that is quite plentiful around her home, antique markets!  No, these are not your run of the mill markets where you spend all day digging through crapola to come out with one cool trinket and smelling like rust.

These collections of chatchkes have everything from iron skillets small enough to cook one egg to piles of vintage jewelry that could make even the flashiest of bubbys swoon (i was in heaven obviously).  

So instead of celebrating my 21st with the usual frippery, i binged on baubles.

Some of the saweeeet selection at Shupp's Grove, don't ya just wanna pile every piece on?  Would that be too much?  Obviously a rhetorical question...

That's alotta coca cola...

If i knew anything more than how to sew a button, i would be all about this vintage sewing kit.  Peep the cool green case.

this baltimore woman, aptly named Coco had a gorgeous collection of gold pieces.  i was dying for one of her vintage engagement rings complete with wedding dates and inscriptions.  she was so sweet and i was so happy to catch her during closing at Renninger's Antique Market.

Seriously if you're looking for some unique pieces for absurdly low prices, check out these two antique markets, plus tons of others in the area. Post about my own purchases coming soon, gotta snap some artsy pics...not.  

and now I leave you with this...

My sister's raucous lab Bailey trying to escape the bathroom stall.  He was successful in case you were wondering.

Come on Irene!

So I have a personal vendetta against this Hurrican Irene chick!  I was supposed to go on vacation with my dad this weekend, but as Maryland is on a state of emergency, our trip had to be postponed :(

No worries!  We went to Kennett Square to walk around and I got some amazing Kelsi Dagger boots (will post a pic as soon as I get out of this brick fortress known as my humble abooooode) and some fruits and fresh baked wheat bread from the farmers market!  Plus I got seasons 2 and 3 of Sex and the City!! 

In the spirit of Irene approaching and the fabulousness that is Sex and the City, here are my hurricane essentials (some sensible, some obviously dreams).

1. Burberry Prorsum Trench (http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/2007/03/exclusive_to_ma.html)

2. Diptyque Feu De Bois and Figuier Candles

3. Trivial Pursuit! (fun even with the power on!)

4. Bat Torch *no batteries required! (http://www.thisnext.com/item/B96EF018/B7E14CC2/Bat-Torch) 

5. L.L. Bean Duck Boots, classic and functional

Welp, stay dry, hope you got your lifetime supply of powdered milk, canned peas and bottled water! Come on Irene!

A Side of Fries: A Biography

As much as I can't get enough of skinny blondes with California tans and Ray Ban aviators posing prettily in their Acne leather jackets and sky high Jeffrey Campbell chunky heels, I can't help but ponder WHERE HAVE ALL THE REGULAR GIRLS GONE!?

Do they not have style?  Are they too normal to be fabulous? Welp, not that I'm regular, but I like to shop just as much as the next shiny haired yet slightly aloof girl.  Not to mention my affinity for tearin' it up in the kitchen!

SO. This is a blog for girls like me...and you, broke students who like to look cute, eat, and be happy.  Hope you can appreciate that :)