Well, I made it out to my school party for a little bit, and it was weird being a blonde.  I was Twiggy, and I was surprised at the number of people who didn't know who she was.  Oh well, I guess I should have known better than to think law students knew anything.  It was still a lot of fun to dress up though and the people who did get it made it all worth it.  I found this perfect pink dress at a vintage store here in Austin, though it was a maxi and I had to cut it off!  The rest of the costume was just makeup and a wig disco balls from a craft store turned into earrings and white tights, easy enough to do.  I hope that you have a fun Halloween tonight! 

Halloween weekend is here.  I am very excited, even though I don't have many plans (except the interview of my dreams today) and may spend much of the time in bed.  I will be going to the law school party tomorrow night. Do you have any fun plans?  What are you going to be?  I didn't really get into the decorating spirit for Halloween but I did buy lots of candy... and I will probably be making some "fall" decorations in the coming weeks.  I have seen lots of ideas that I look forward to trying.  Hope you have a happy weekend!

Some Things:
All Saints + Not for Sale = pretty shirts
I love warm bread when it's cold out
These might be more work that I'm willing to do, but... they are cute
True words, on a rug 
A great way to waste time and smile, giraffes (a million of them)

Well, the weather called for rain... so I decided to dress brightly.  I always like the idea of wearing bright colors on cloudy days for two reasons: 1)  It brightens up the day when everyone else seems to dress in dreary blacks and grays and 2) without the sun shining on brights, they don't blind people who look at them.  Unfortunately, when I got out of class, the sun was out.  Hopefully my pants didn't cause too many wrecks while I was walking home, not to flatter myself by saying everyone was looking at me, but I did feel quite reflective. 

One great thing about Austin is that you can have warm cookies delivered to your house.  Shortly after I arrived home from class yesterday and was feeling terrible, I had a knock at my door with a box full of chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and dark chocolate brownies.  I couldn't help but smile, not only because I love cookies, but who doesn't like to get surprises.  The boy sent them to me since I told him I wasn't feeling well and he wanted to make me feel better... and it worked.  At least it lifted my spirits.  

I had never tried the chocolate peanut butter ones before but I may have a new favorite!  I always forget how much I love peanut butter in cookies.  Hopefully, someone will come over and share some of these cookies with me because there is no way I will be able to eat them all myself.  I didn't take a picture of the plain chocolate chip but... they are delicious.  

As wonderful as these sweets are, the best part is the note that said how tough he thinks I am and that I am an inspiration to him.  I appreciate how lucky I am to have him.  

I have never been the girl who likes to take medicine, even when I need it.  I just don't like the idea of putting a lot of pills into my body, so for the last year I have been obsessing over Help Remedies.  I love their philosophy of taking less of the dyes and coatings and buzz words and simplifying the whole business.   The simple eco-friendly packaging is very stylish, but minimalistic, and I love the way they are named after the symptoms they help.  Anyway, with cold and flu season coming up I thought I should share! 

Dogtoberfest was an event to raise money for Austin Dog Rescue Groups at the Domain this weekend.  I took Lua since the weather was so perfect, and she got all A's on her vet report card.  I spent an hour Friday night hot gluing some fabric together to make her this Queen of Hearts costume so that she could be a part of the costume contest (Surprisingly she didn't even mind wearing the crown!).  She was perfectly behaved and even enjoyed the attention.  Everyone kept saying to me how she looked like she was posing and like she was trying to talk to them.  She didn't win the contest, but it was still a great day overall because she got lots of treats and to sniff a lot of other dog's butts.  

I have also been having an insatiable chocolate craving so I whipped up these flourless chocolate cookies, and they are so rich and just melt in your mouth.  I didn't get around to carving pumpkins but maybe I can do that sometime this week while I am working on my halloween costume!

I have finally gotten in the Halloween Spirit, and I don't know why it has taken me so long because normally I know my costume in September and start work on it early in October.  This year I couldn't even decide on a costume until yesterday.  I am excited about the costume and ready to get to work on it over the weekend.  I have a lot of fun fall festivities planned for the weekend and it looks like the weather will be perfect! Do you have any plans for the weekend? Have you decided on a Halloween costume? 

Some things: 
minimal fairy tale posters, for baby shower gifts
something I have been wanting to make for awhile, pumpkin coffee cake
Mixer decals
another reason why i love ATX
Pumpkin Prep in argyle

I love legwear, and it is finally time to start wearing it.  It is a great way to get by with wearing a short skirt or shorts in the winter months.  I don't care how warm it is in Texas, it is inappropriate have bare legs after mid-October in almost all cases, but as I said in my previous post, I adore breaking fashion rules (even the ones I make up). There is no need to go plain with your tights either, as they can add as much to an outfit as a scarf or a pice of jewelry. 

These tights from Patternity are very geometric, and not exactly friendly to your pocketbook, but they do make a statement and I love the idea of pairing them with bright solids that are so in this season. 

These adorable tights from Hasel from Basel are like very stylish sweaters for your legs.  The material seems thicker than on most tights and the patterns that they have created are definitely unique. These are a few of my favorites from their site, though there are many more that I would have picked if I didn't feel like it might be over kill. 

Asos is one of my favorite places to find trendy and unique pieces that are not over priced, and since tights never seems to last forever anyway, I thought it would be a great place to check. I was right.  They have a lot of different options of tights from the more conservative to the more adventurous. 

Good luck on finding some to warm up your legs in these fall/winter months!  

Black and brown together was always something I was told not to do, so I can’t help myself but to do it.  I can’t keep myself from wanting to do the things I am told not to, so even though I am studying law, I break the rules I can.  I threw on my leather jacket to complete my rebellious look.

I have been looking through bridesmaid dresses for months trying to find something that seven girls, one who will be seven months pregnant, will look good in and that is affordable.  It is not an easy task, I am just glad it isn’t my wedding.  Finally, the bride and I found about six dresses that we thought would be acceptable to the other girls.  We had a little dinner get together where she made dinner and I made dessert for a few of the local bridesmaids to get together and see what they were thinking on the dresses.  It is hard to marry the styles of all of us, and I think there was some hesitancy on some of the girl’s parts… so we didn’t figure much out.  If anyone knows of a nice, inexpensive place to get bridesmaids dresses or have them made I would love to hear your tips!

Anyway, I brought these dark chocolate cookies with cayenne pepper and dolce de leche, because I didn’t want anything too sweet.  I love dark chocolate and so does the bride, and we all love a little spice.  The cookies made a different kind of dough than any other that I have ever made and I was excited to use my new cookie cutter that I got last time I was at Home Goods.  They lasted for a few days but that was due to restraint on my part.

I adapted this recipe from Cookiepedia. 
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter - room temperature and cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg white
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (preferably mexican vanilla)
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• Filling: 1 - 14 oz. can Dulce de leche

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl of a mixer, combine the sugars, flour cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. Mix at low speed for a minute or two until all ingredients are combined.
2. Mix in the butter a piece at a time until the butter is thoroughly incorporated.
3. Add the eggs and the vanilla and continue to mix until a dough begins to form.
4. Turn the dough out onto a board and form it into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight until firm.
5. When you are ready to bake the cookies, let the dough warm up for 5 - 10 minutes. Line 3 sheet pans with parchment paper. Cut the dough in half and roll one half out until it is approximately 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut rounds out and place on a parchment lined sheet pan.
6. Place the rounds on the sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until cookies are dry. Let cool.
7. When cookies have cooled, stir the dulce de leche and spread about a tablespoon on the bottom of one cookie. Top with another cookie and "squish" until the filling reaches the edge. Repeat with remaining cookies.
8. Store in an airtight container.