New Earrings

These earrings were a thank-you gift from my fabulous honorary Aunt Mary. Aren't they beautiful? Just thought I'd say thank you and show them off :]. Thanks again Aunt Mary!

Vovito Caffe and Gelato

Today was the opening day of the new Vovito Caffe and Gelato at the Bravern in downtown Bellevue. I read about it in this article in the Bellevue Reporter and decided to go and check it out.

Now I know that this is at least 50% a cafe and not mostly a gelato shop, but in my personal opinion the value lies in the gelato. They have 26 different flavors that they make fresh every day, with a large selection of both fruit and dairy flavors. The whole place feels very authentic which, according to the article, was the goal of the owners.

I tried both the tiramisu and coffee flavors, and they were both fantastic. The smallest size, piccolo, at $3.50, is a bit on the expensive side, but it's definitely worth it for this gelato - which is of the best quality. The piccolo size was definitely plenty as well because the gelato is very rich, in a good way of course :].

Fish and Chips!

Fish and Chips are my favorite food ever. EVER. And I truly mean that. Whenever I travel somewhere and they fail to provide me with some decent fish and chips I am immensely disappointed. For my mom's birthday the other day on July 25th, my family all went to Spud Fish and Chips over in Juanita, and it was absolutely delicious. We all ordered the same thing - fried Cod and fries. And they had the BEST tartar sauce!

Speaking of tartar sauce, it's probably the real reason I love fish and chips so much. A truly amazing tartar sauce can really make a meal, and mediocre tartar sauce can ruin one, so whenever somewhere has fantastic tartar sauce, I get really excited and automatically like their food. Ivar's tartar sauce is just as good, but some of the best tartar sauce I've ever had is the spicy Cajun tartar sauce that they serve at the fish stand at the St. Louis Zoo! The only downside to this tartar sauce and the delicious fish and chips (here actual potato chips, not fries - how strange!) is that the stand is only open during the spring and summer! This particular food stand at the zoo is in conjunction with the Sting Ray travelling exhibit, which is only open during the spring and summer because during the fall and winter the sting rays travel to Arizona. Getting some of these delicious fish and chips and the perfect tartar sauce is definitely at the top of my list of things to do when I get back to St. Louis! Also as a St. Louis Zoo employee (I work at the Build a Bear in the zoo), I get to pet the sting rays for free!!

Peak's Frozen Custard

Today I had the pleasure of going to Peak's Frozen Custard for the first time, and let me tell you, this stuff is SO MUCH BETTER than any other frozen custard I've ever had. It blows St. Louis local favorite Ted Drewes Frozen Custard out of the water. They always have chocoalte and vanilla, they have a flavor of the week, and they have a flavor of the day. The flavor of the week today was Chocolate Chocolate Chip, and the flavor of the day was Chocolate Raspberry Delight, which was chocolate custard with fresh raspberries and swirls of marshmallow mixed in. It was one of the best things I've had in a long time. I actually ordered their lunch special, which is custard, a drink, and an entree of choice, for a decently low price.

In fact, I was so impressed by the quality and deliciousness of their custard that I may go back tomorrow for their daily special of Latte Chocolate Swirl. When we mentioned this flavor the cashier working there got this dreamy expression on his face and told us "that one is GOOOOD". So hopefully I get to go back tomorrow. Here's a link to their flavors calendar.

Oh and their goal is to be entirely environmentally sustainable!

Top Pot Doughnuts

Mmmmm maple bars. What a fabulously healthy breakfast :]. I can't help but love a good doughnut, even if they are miserably lacking in nutrition. We just picked up a six-pack of maple bars at the groccery store and mine is already in my stomach.

My favorite doughnut place though is called Top Pot Doughnuts, and it's local to the Seattle-area, although there is one on the Eastside in Bellevue by Panera Bread Co. Doughnuts here are a little on the pricey side, but every so often I pop in to get one because they are definitely worth the extra dollar. My favorite are the crullers, and I adore anything they make with raspberry or maple icing! Here's a list of their doughnuts, click on each for the flavors they come in.

My very favorite thing about Top Pot Doughnuts? They occasionally sell them at all the local Starbucks'! But only the local ones. I recommend the apple fritter. :]

New Crayola Vans

I have weird-shaped feet. Very few shoes actually fit me, and so I usually find a brand of shoes that are comfortable for me and buy as many pairs as possible. As a result I am now the proud owner of 10 pairs of Converse and 6 pairs of Vans. I also get email updates from Vans, and just now as I was checking my email I opened an email advertising the new crayola-inspired line of Vans. They look kind of like a composition notebook, with the marbled colors, and I think they're fairly gorgeous. Have a look for yourself. This is my favorite pair, although these are a close second. Unfortunately, it's nigh on impossible to justify buying myself another pair :].

Victoria's Secret Clothing

Yes we all know of Victoria's Secret as a lingerie retailer. And by now most of us have probably realized that they also sell lotions and perfumes, but I've always thought their clothing line was a bit questionable. Mostly I refused to acknowledge that they sold any clothing besides sweats, pajamas, and work out gear. Until yesterday.

I had been collecting various coupons and dollars off savings cards for VS over the last few weeks, and I decided when I got off work yesterday to make a trip up to the VS store to use them all before they expired. It was there that I discovered an absolutely adorable skirt made by Victoria's Secret PINK. Thanks to my various coupons, I ended up buying the skirt and it is now my favorite thing ever. The fabric is cotton but looks like pink with black lace over the top. It's possibly one of the comfiest things I've owned in a very long time. I'll have to keep my eye on the VS clothing line in the future.

Just a few months ago I discovered that the VS swimsuit line is downright reasonable as far as pricing goes, and can even be considered a very good deal if one also has a coupon. I bought this one, which features a bandeau top and an adjustable string bottom, in tropical blue and it's absolutely adorable. I'll never see VS as just an underwear store again.

Back-to-School Wishlist

1.) Brita Water Pitcher, I really love the 80 oz. one in orange that they sell at Target, but I think the smaller 40 oz. ones sold at Bed, Bath, and Beyond are really more practical.

2.) Animal Stepstool from the Container Store, although I'll probably be getting this more practical one from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, as I'm not entirely sure that the animal ones are meant to hold an adult's weight, and it'd be nice to have one that folds up for easy storage.

3.) Vera Bradley Imperial Toile Messenger, which I ordered from a lady a few days ago and arrived in the mail today! I love it, pictures later.

4.) Clear Insulated Tumbler from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I really love this line of glasses and tumblers that have a layer of air between the inner and outer layers for better insulation. It's slightly too much for me that they come monogrammed, but I'll probably just use it as an excuse to decorate it with sharpies :].

5.) A copy of Eat, Pray, Love for me to read throughout the semester. I don't have that much free time for reading, but I do love reading and prefer to have at least one good book around at all times for me to read whenever I get the time.

6.) A Bear Discounts Card for discounts on a lot of the stores, restaurants, and services around WashU. The discount for the on-campus Subway is that I get a free cookie with every sandwich - and boy do I love their cookies!

New McCafé Smoothies

There are advertisements for these things everywhere! I've been watching a lot of Lost on Hulu.com (a LOT), and the commercials always repeat, and one of them is for these new McCafé smoothies. And as I work at Build-A-Bear, which is very conveniently located just across the hall from McDonald's, I've been very tempted to try on of these new smoothies. The come in Strawberry Banana and Wildberry. Well today I had a coupon for a free 12 oz. one of them, and so I tried the Strawberry Banana and my mom tried the Wildberry.

Let me tell you, McDonald's has actually managed to make something taste good and be remotely healthy. The 12 oz. versions of these smoothies (size small), are only 210 calories, the 16 oz. mediums are 260 calories (fewer than almost every Jamba Juice smoothie, except for some of the dairy-free all-fruit flavors), and the 22 oz. larges are 330 calories. That's not bad at all! So I say if you haven't tried one of these yet, you definitely should - just try to avoid the fries while you're in there!

Mugglenet.com

I love Harry Potter. I mean it. I REALLY love Harry Potter. I'm definitely one of those people. And for the rest of those people, I highly recommend visiting mugglenet.com. It's an absolutely fabulous compendium of all things Harry Potter, and it's chock-full of those people.

My two favorite parts of this website are the list of mistakes found in the Harry Potter books (I think it's fun to read and look for mistakes on my own and see how many of the recorded ones I found), as well as a short list of recipes for Harry Potter foods. My favorite recipe is for butterbeer, and I've made it a few times already. The only downside to the butterbeer is that it's probably about 500 calories per 8 oz. That's because the only three ingredients are butter, butterscotch syrup, and cream soda.

I can't wait to try the official version of butterbeer, presumably made with a different recipe than the one on Mugglenet, at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando Studios! Going there is my new life goal. It is the true Mecca for Harry Potter fans, especially those of us who are PPD, and I think I'll faint in ecstasy the second I set foot through the gates. I've been reading tons of reviews and watched opening day videos and it seems like the most wonderful thing ever! Someday (hopefully soon) I will get to go the Harry Potter World, and I promise I'll write a hell of a blog entry about it afterwards.

An Excess of Handbags

I recently took a survey to possibly participate in a consumer survey conducted on behalf of Vera Bradley. There was a question on the survey that asked how often I purchase a new bag. The options were once a year, twice a year, three times a year, or four times or more a year. My question is, why in the world is the most frequent category only four times a year? Is that a lot? I for one don't think so. Since I've been home for the summer, I've already acquired seven new bags, and though most of them were extremely cheap or free or handmade, the survey question didn't distinguish between expensive and inexpensive bags.

I definitely have a favorite style of bag. Four of the bags I've gotten since I got home are all cross-body hipsters of around the same size. One of them is from Target, one of them I got with a Vera Bradley coupon, one of them my Mom sewed and I made an beaded heart appliqué to decorate it, and the last one I bought this morning for $6 at a thrift store, 15 hours after I saw it in the new window display last night (photo: VB, thrift store, Target, hand-made). I just couldn't let this one get away. It's completely covered in beads and sequins with a long gold chain as a strap. Tomorrow I will take pictures of at least these four bags.

Meze and Spice Route

Well I haven't been quite this full in a number of months. Today for lunch I went to an Indian restaurant called Spice Route, where there have a lunch buffet for $9.95 during the week from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. I basically ate my weight in butter chicken and paneer tikka masala, and it was easily some of the best Indian food I have ever had in my life. My only caution is that it's nearly impossible not to overeat, and I almost always skip a few meals after eating here.

As far as favorite restaurants go, I also really love Meze's restaurant in Kirkland, which serves delicious Mediterranean food both as a sit-down restaurant and a deli take-out counter. I love their hummus and shepherd's salad, but the real reason I love to go there is for their zucchini pancakes - or Mucver - which are really light and fluffy and taste much more like vegetables than starchy carbs. At $2 each for a pancake 1.5x the size of my hand, the food is a little expensive but well worth it due to the fresh ingredients and homemade dishes.

It's High Time for a Tea Post

If there's one thing that I absolutely love, it's going to a tea shop and having high tea with my mom. We search for places that serve a traditional high tea with tea, scones, tea sandwiches, and desserts. So far we've been to quite a few places, but we are always looking for me. My absolute favorite place to go as far as food quality is concerned is called Remedy Teas, and it's actually a tea shop (similar to a coffee shop) that also serves high tea. They serve it anytime (which is a fabulous luxury as far as high tea is concerned), and they don't take reservations so everything is for walk-ins. They have 150 flavors of tea that are all named and numbered to be kept track of easily, and they can all be served hot or iced. The only downside to Remedy Teas is that they are a medium sized shop that seems to be quite popular among locals, and because they don't take reservations it would be difficult to bring more than five or six people and do high tea. I would recommend a group of four people as the ideal high tea group here.

The high tea menu at Remedy Teas is a little interesting because in addition to picking your tea, you also get to pick which sandwiches, which truffle, and which dessert you want. My favorite sandwich by far is something called the Apple Pie, which is apple butter and cheddar cheese grilled on date walnut bread. It's so delicious that my mom and I made our own version of it at home, only we added apple slices, which I think are a very nice touch. My favorite flavor of tea there so far is something called #49 Silk and Citrus. It has a creamy taste that is due to vanilla (although the tea doesn't taste like vanilla), which complements the citrus flavor beautifully. Even if you don't like vanilla, this tea will probably still appeal to you, so I suggest you hold off judgement until you try it. I prefer it hot - it isn't quite as delicious iced.

Etsy Mania

Who doesn't love Etsy? Seriously, for those of you who have yet to join the Etsy bandwagon, get a move on! You are seriously missing out on some really awesome stuff! So the basic concept of Etsy is that artists or small stores create an account and sell their hand-crafted wares online. They sell all sorts of random things, but my favorite by far is the jewelry! Big surprise as I wear a moderate to large amount of jewelry every day. I'm always searching for more, and I'm a really big fan of good, cheap finds. My favorite places to look are flea markets, because at almost every decent flea market there are always a few stands that sell ziploc bags full of old jewelry for bulk prices. My very, very favorite place to go is a stand at the Fremont Sunday Market, where they always have a bin of dollar jewelry. I've gotten some of my very favorite pieces there.

But back to Etsy. Lately I've been eying their nature-inspired jewelry, and especially the pieces concerning roses. I absolutely adore the silver orchid earrings pictured above. Here are some of my other favorites:

Pearl Rosebud Earrings

Bird and Leaf Necklace

Orchid Necklace

Rose Lariat Necklace

Summer Boot Sales

Well today was the kick-off of the Nordstrom Anniversary sale, and let me tell you the mall was pretty busy, with a steady stream of people coming and going through the Nordstrom doors. To me, the best part of these summer sales (Macy's is having one too), is the fact that there are lots of fabulous leather boots on sale. In fact, my second and favorite pair of leather boots were purchased at Nordstrom's Anniversary sale last year.

Right now I'm really craving a pair of high-heeled lace-up boots in a nice dark chocolate brown or black (no gray please). I'll even settle for flat heeled lace-up boots - I just really like the way the super tall knee-high lace-up boots look. It's a shame they're so expensive. I tried on a pair of knee-high boots earlier today at Macy's, but they didn't fit at all and they were pretty low quality - too bad because they were actually a reasonable price, I'm sure that's why.

I also really like Doc Marten's (while we're on the subject of expensive beautiful shoes), and they come in some beautiful rocker floral patterns. These are some of my favorite boots: a flat pair, and a high-heeled pair. These are some of my favorite Doc Marten's: this white pair, this floral pair, and this roses pair.

Sewing Lessons

This summer I decided I needed a project, and since I despise paying lots of money for clothing, I have decided to try and learn how to sew. As a result I am signed up for weekly sewing lessons. They aren't overly-structured, and each student brings in their own projects to work on, and the instructor, Mrs. Barbara Mar, helps everyone along. So far I have shortened an old Prom dress and made a large lined tote bag - complete with pockets! My next project is a tunic that I am making from a Butterick pattern. I'm making it out of this gorgeous dark aqua fabric and I hope it really turns out well. I will post a picture when I am finished, which I definitely could not do without the help of my mother! That's because I'm doing this project at home, and am working on a dress at my next sewing class.

I'm not yet a very skilled sewer, but I love to browse patterns on the internet. The best brands to look through are Butterick, McCall's, and Simplicity patterns. Eventually I hope that I can make something like this, as I think that it's absolutely adorable - I do love coats and outerwear!

I might have a slight addiction...

...to Vera Bradley. I don't understand it at all, because just a few years ago I really extremely disliked the entire concept of quilted handbags and Vera Bradley in particular because I thought it was so 'old lady-ish'. And just this morning I ordered four items from their website. I ordered a pair of pajama pants in Peacock, the old messenger bag in Pirouette, and the new student agenda and card holder in Barcelona. In short I am completely and utterly addicted. It doesn't make any sense, but I shop their website quite often and am pleased with their products overall. Some of the patterns are just not my style, but a lot of them are, and I love that their products are high-quality without being too over-priced. Once sale prices come into play, most things are downright affordable.

My favorite purchase so far has been something called a "Rosie Posie Hipster" in "Make Me Blush". I may post a photo later. The one other thing that I'm dying to get is called the "Petal Wallet" in "Slate Blooms". Both of these two things are part of what VB calls their 'Frill' collection, which features products made of a more patent-y type material instead of their traditional quilt. I like them because they are modern and they are very easy to clean. My favorite color of all time is called "Peacock", and is pictured above.

In other news, today I signed up for a consumer survey that will pay me $40 to taste test two types of tortilla chips and fill out four short online surveys. I am absolutely thrilled. Especially because both of the tortilla chips are brand that I am already familiar with: Mission and Tostitos. Can anyone guess where that $40 might end up?

My sleep schedule is a disaster. Every night I go to sleep at 2 am or later, only to wake up around Noon when the day is practically over. There isn't even anyone awake to talk to this late. I need to fix this. Bonne Nuit!