a message to my valentine

& that's saying something.

__________________________________________________________________________

wearing - 5/50

turtleneck - Forever21 // skirt - h&m // boots - TJ Maxx // heart earrings - Claire's

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I present to you a mostly black but kinda reddish outfit! I really, really love this skirt, but honestly, it is the absolute funkiest cut in my whole closet. It's from a couple springs ago, which could probably be pinpointed as the pre-hi-low era. The down side to the dark components of this outfit are that my hair falls out like it's got some place to be & some of those places are my black turtleneck, my black tights or my black boots... Maybe even woven into my black gloves, if I'm lucky. The upside is that it's long enough to wrap around my neck (twice) on especially cold days. Probably weird, but also warm.

Somehow, this is two style posts in a row, which should never, ever happen. It's been a crazy week, which has found me out & about, & Jared working late, leaving our apartment & our routine schedule abandoned. Blog posting included. But! It's my baby sister's birthday today and it's snowing (again!) outside and there's a 5-day-old baby sitting next to me and my 13-month-old niece is trying to snag this laptop out of my lap, so all signs point to see ya later, alligator.

wearing - 4/50

jean jacket - AE // sheer blouse - Pacsun // skirt-that-everyone-has - Forever21 // tights - Urban Outfitters // boots - Old Navy

I don't even want to talk about the quality of these pictures. Okay, I do, but only because I want the world to know that both me & my trusty photographer are appalled by them. This is what happens when the entire week consists of seeing each other only after 7pm, when the sun is down & the comfy clothes have been put on. Tragically, I kinda like this outfit, but I don't think you can much see past the grain.  UGH. I want these pictures to hide forever in the depths of blog hell, but BY GUM! I POSTED AN OUTFIT THIS WEEK. 

In other, less high-ISO news, we got ourselves a new nephew today! Happy Friday, everyone!

what the winter olympics does to me

The Olympics have started. (^ That's what Jared would look like in Russia.) Here's what that means around here:

• I will have goosebumps for the next 16 days.
• Goosebumps will only be interrupted by bouts of crying as medals are won & heartfelt stories of the journey to the Olympics are told.
• I will start justifying my skill at sports that I definitely sucked at growing up as potential sports that could get me into a future Olympics. #rio2016
• Figure skating is my jam, & I will award the gold medal to any skater that performs to a movie soundtrack that I recognize. 
• Bonus points for a good costume with minimal flesh-colored fabric & any sort of bedazzled skin jewelry.
• Just kidding, I'm actually a really tough figure skating judge.
• I will investigate volunteer opportunities for both the next summer & winter olympics at least once.
• At some point, I will turn to Jared & describe to him, in depth, the different things that will be going on in our lives the next time the Winter Olympics roll around. I'm pretty sure we were supposed to be snuggling with at least one puppy in NYC for this one. 
• If you want, I can reenact Tara Lipinski's short program (ANASTASIA, HULLO.) while explaining to you how she beat Michelle Kwan in the 1998 Nagano games.
• I'll become obsessed with one snowboarder & one figure skater & start planning the wedding for a pair figure skating team.
• Bob Costas will be referred to only as Vampire Bob. It's already happened once, & Vampire Bob, I hope your eye gets better real fast. Just stay away from the garlic, friend.
• What's that? You want to make plans for tomorrow night? Or the night after that? Can't, sorry. Olympics-ing.
• What's that? You haven't been watching the Olympics? Ummm. Huh. 
• I'll tell Jared that I can't think of a better godfather to our future children than Scott Hamilton. 
• I will astonish the people around me with my math skills as I calculate scores & averages, something this communications major is not known for.
• We'll probably watch Blades of Glory, to be completely honest.
• Scootch over, Jennifer Lawrence. We gotta make room for Johnny Weir on this couch.
• Emily & I will text our really educated commentaries & opinions to one another every single night.
• By the end of the games, getting an Olympic tattoo will seem like a really rational, good idea that Jared will need to talk me out of.

Please tell me I'm not the only Olympic freak?

eat - sweet breakfast crêpes

There was a period of time that my dad woke up every Saturday morning, cracked open what I'm convinced is a first edition Joy of Cooking (read: well-loved) & made a double batch of crêpes for whatever daughters & however many of their friends were around to eat it. They were pretty renowned, Papa Essmann's crêpes. As the years have passed, less people are around on Saturday mornings & my younger sisters seem to be a little bit healthier in their breakfast choices (how did I miss that gene?), & the crêpe making has waned off into By-Special-Request Land.

I've been brainstorming about Valentine's Day festivities, as V-day breakfast has fallen into my court this year, & crêpes were my Aha! moment. Do I think I'll be able to execute these thin little pancakes? Absolutely not. Seriously, it's really like everything my culinary skills are not. But am I going to try & then wait for Jared to step in with his natural kitchen talent? Heck yes. 

& so! I thought I'd share the wealth with you all, in case you ever find yourself thinking, "Holy crêpe! I need a fancy breakfast, stat!" (The puns are endless.) Papa E. graciously agreed to make his infamous crêpes while I documented the process, & I got a lesson from the master. (It won't help.) I'm here to tell you that it was, as always, delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
flour
salt
baking powder
powdered sugar
eggs (2)
milk
water
vanilla
toppings - goat cheese, cinnamon + sugar, grapefruit

Sift:

3/4 cp all-purpose flour

Resift with:

1/2 t salt

1 t baking soda

2 T powdered sugar

Beat:

2 eggs

Add & whisk:

2/3 cp milk

1/3 cp water

1/2 t vanilla

Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients.
Whisk together to mix - Ignore any lumps in mixture. 

Heat skillet.
Grease with teensy bit of butter.
Add a small quantity of batter.
Tip skillet to spread batter.
Cook over moderate heat until crêpe begins to pull away on the edges.
Flip and cook other side.
Dad says your first crêpe will always be ugly, so you should just go ahead & eat it.
Use small amounts of butter to grease pan between each crêpe.
*note: this recipe is adapted, but mostly the same as the original Joy of Cooking "French Crêpe" recipe

Toppings:

Grapefruit, because Valentine's Day = pink! (salmon?), duh!
Soften goat cheese.
Mix in cinnamon & sugar.

  Cut grapefruit from peel. (Easier said than done. This how-to helped.)

Assemble crêpe! 

We topped our crêpe off with some extra cinnamon + sugar & goat cheese. Because always more goat cheese.

Other favorite Essmann crêpe toppings:

Cream cheese, cinnamon + sugar, strawberries or jam

Chocolate chips, cinnamon + sugar

Powdered sugar, strawberries, lemon juice

Nutella, banana

Potentially serve with a love note about how you think they're just the crêpe-est & you love the crêpe out of them.

Click the "read more" below for the recipe sans photos