Top 10 Albums of 2014

I love music and 2014 had some amazing releases that I have been listening to nonstop. These are not the only albums that have come out this year, these are my favorites. Let me know in the comments what your favorite albums of 2014 are! 

These albums are in no specific order (except for the top 3) which are my absolute favorite albums. 

Here we go!!

Top 5 Movies to Watch on Christmas

Christmas movies are some of my favorite kinds to watch, especially snuggled on the couch with a fire in the fireplace and a big cup of hot chocolate. Now these aren't the only movies I watch and it was hard for me to make this list because of all of the great movies that take place during the holidays. I could probably do a top 10 list, but I wanted this to be short and sweet! 

DIY: Hand Painted Coffee Mugs

The last DIY project I'm working on are hand painted coffee mugs. This is the easiest and fastest project I think. Now I've seen quite a few different tutorials on how to do this so I just took a few tips from each tutorial and wrote them here. I'm so happy with these and I can't wait to make more mugs for birthdays and holidays.

Let's get started! 

DIY: Handmade Etched Wine Glasses

For your wine loving friends I bring you this super fun idea. Etched wine glasses. I made a set of four for my friend for Christmas (but I'm going to to show you two of them to keep the rest a surprise.) This was really easy and I cannot wait to make more of them for myself!

Let's get started!


Supplies needed:
Armour Etch (I had to order mine online because it wasn't stocked in any stores)
Wine Glasses (these are from Target)
Masking Tape
Stickers (I used them instead of stencils)
Latex gloves
Paintbrush

Step 1: Make sure glass has been washed and dried. Place sticker where you want it and cover the surrounding areas with masking tape so the Armour Etch won't run and make a mess. 

Step 2: Put on latex gloves and begin to cover the entire area with the Armour Etch. 

Step 3: I've seen a lot of different tutorials varying in times to leave the Armour Etch on. I found that it looks best if left on for 10 minutes. 

Step 4: Rinse off the Amour Etch under cool water until the cream is completely gone. After, wash the glasses and dry them. 

Step 5: Pour some wine and enjoy your brand new glass!

Thanks for reading!!

xoJess

Check out my previous post: 12 Days of Tartemas!

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12 Days of Tartemas!

Christmas season is here and one thing that makes me really excited are advent calendars! When I was younger, the chocolate ones would suffice, but now I've replaced the chocolate with something just as good: Makeup! Tarte Cosmetics is a brand that I've recently discovered and when I saw that they put out an exclusive product with Ulta, I jumped at the chance to buy it. (Plus it's and you should buy yourself a Christmas present!) 

The Petite Treats 12 Days of Tarte Deluxe Collection is full of minis of some amazing Tarte products. I was especially excited to get the mascaras and eyelash primer, no surprise there honestly. It was $37 at Ulta and has since sold out. I was contemplating how I was going to write about this product, whether I wanted to write multiple posts or not. Anyways, I'm writing one big post about it because I am actually so happy I decided to buy it. 

Let's get started!

DIY: Monogram Chalkboard

The second DIY project is such a fun gift to give! It's very personalized and I even made one for myself. This chalkboard will not only be a cute Christmas gift, but a great birthday gift too. This took a while, but it is so easy to make. Let's get to it! 

Supply List: 

• 13 inch, wooden letters (mine is from Joann's Fabrics)
• Challkboard paint (There are tons of brands, I used Martha Stewarts)
• Paint brush
• Chalk
• Ribbon

1) Sand the edges of the letter to smooth any rough sides. 

2) Paint on coat all over the letter and let dry for 1 hour. 

3) Paint second layer of paint on letter and let dry for another hour. 

4) While second coat is drying, it's time to put the chalk in a cute little package. I cut about 7 inches of ribbon to tie the chalk together. 

5) After drying, it's time to condition the chalkboard. All you have to do it rub chalk all over the letter then wipe it off. 

6) After the chalkboard is wiped clean you are ready to show it off. I'll be hanging mine next to my desk! 

Let me know if you try out this DIY project and who you are going to gift it too. I also made one for my sister as well as a couple friends. Happy Crafting!

Thanks for reading!!

xoJess

Check out my previous post: Fuzzy Sweaters and Suede Boots

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Fuzzy Sweaters and Suede Booties

Yesterday was my family's annual Christmas party. We eat, drink, talk, and have a wonderful time. I wish I had taken a picture of my makeup that I did with this look because it was probably one of my favorites recently. Anyways back to the outfit, this is just a quick OOTD post, I only was able to get one picture of the entire outfit. 

Now this dress is sleeveless and I knew it was going to be way too cold to not wear something over it, but I didn't want to wear a standard jacket so when I found this sweater I knew it would be the perfect layering piece and I've actually fallen in love with how soft it is. It's all I want to wear now. Staying with the layers, I added some black tights to stay warm as well. 

Detail: 

Dress: Charlotte Russe

Sweater: Target

Bag: Gift

Booties: Target

Rings: Wet Seal/Forever21 

I hope you all have so much fun at any and all holiday parties that you will attend this year! 

Thanks for reading!!

xoJess

Check out my previous post: DIY: Mason Jar Candy/Candle Holder

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DIY: Mason Jar Candy/Candle Holder

Happy December Everyone! I can't believe we are here already. This year has really flown by! Christmas is just around the corner and this year I decided to get crafty and make an assortment of gifts for my friends (and a few for myself) who live quite far just to let them know how important they are to me. There will be a few different gift ideas in the coming weeks that are of course simple, but so adorable.

Today I'm going to show you how I made these super easy candle/candy holders. Now when I send the ones I made for my friends, I'm going to be filling them with Christmas candy and of course a little Yankee Candle tea light for after the candy is gone. I got my supplies from Joann's Fabrics and Michael's Craft Store, but you can pretty much find this stuff anywhere.

RECIPE: Bacon Mac & Cheese

California hasn't had very many cold, rainy days this year, so when we do get one all I want to do is curl up on the couch, candles lit, a movie on, and a hearty comfort food on my plate. Macaroni and Cheese is my favorite comfort food by far. So I made it for the family but with a little twist. I added bacon! Normally my recipe doesn't call for bacon, but to celebrate a rare, rainy day I just went for it. This would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving spread this year too! (With or without the bacon)

November Love with Food Unboxing!

Baby it's cold outside. At least that is the theme for November's Love with Food box! Unfortunately, California isn't getting the type of Autumn I was hoping. Nonetheless, that isn't going to stop me from enjoying Autumn as it should be enjoyed! As always you can click this link to get your first box for FREE!  You all know how excited I get when my monthly snackbox gets here, so let;s just dive right in! 

RECIPE: Restaurant Style Quesadillas

Do you ever just crave a food and all you can think about is getting home to make it? Well that was me this week. I was craving a restaurant style quesadilla, but didn't want to go out to a restaurant. Quesadillas are pretty big in my family, they can be a whole meal. if you pack it full with veggies and protein. This is a quick and easy meal that will leave you full and satisfied. 

Let's get started! 

Love with Food Unboxing

Happy Halloween week! This month's Love with Food box theme is Monster Mash, perfect for Halloween! Stuffed full with tons of great snacks for on the go. I am always so excited to receive this box as you know and if you click this you can get your first box for free! Alright let's take a look inside! 

I'm All Naked!

There is nothing more amazing than opening a brand new makeup palette and using it for the first time. Okay maybe that first cup of coffee in the morning is a close second. The Naked 2 Basics palette came out recently and I definitely needed to add it to my collection. Having used all 3 of the Naked palettes before there was one thing I was missing: an everyday look. Now don't get me wrong, Naked 1, 2, and 3 are great palettes, I would recommend them to anyone who needs a trusty eyeshadow, however I don't want to wear shimmery and glittery eyeshadows everyday. When I saw that Naked 2 Basics had 6 taupe-hued matte neutrals (with 5 brand new shades) I knew it was what I was looking for. 

After playing around with the palette for a week or two, I decided to try a whole eye look, just using this. The outcome was great and it has been a look I've been going back to for the days where I only have time for one palette. Let's get started! 

Candles, Candles, Candles!

Burning candles just makes me feel so happy. They make the room so warm, inviting, and smell amazing. I love buying fall scented candles because that means all of the pumpkin scents are coming out and if you know me, you know pumpkin anything is my absolute favorite smell. These aren't ALL pumpkin scents, but I can tell you that they will make whatever room you light them in smell like an autumn night. Grab your blanket and put on a movie cause you'll be super cozy. Let's get started!

In Love with Food!

I received my second Love with Food box this week and I'm so excited to write about it again! The theme for this month was Spice Up Your Life. I am always excited to see the red box on my doorstep when I get home from work. The items from this month all were very different than I expected, but all amazing.

Mermaid Tea Party!!

Besides coffee, I love drinking tea. When I first heard about My Beauty Tea on Instagram, I was intrigued by their loose leaf blends. I have only ever used tea bags for my tea time, but definitely wanted to try using loose leaves and a steeper.

My Beauty Tea is an online business based in Canada whose mission is to provide their customers with  original, natural tea blends that don't compromise taste. All teas are sugar, carbohydrate, and calorie free, so you don't have to feel bad for something that tastes so good!

Autumn Lookbook!!

Happy Autumn everyone! It's one of my favorite times of the year, the weather isn't super cold yet and I can still get away with skirts and shorts. Even if I do get cold, tights are a great way to layer and stay warm during the crisp Autumn nights. Currently, California is ranging between the mid-60's to low-80's North and South. We never really get to experience a proper Autumn season, but regardless I like to try and pretend we do!

Below I have put together 5 of my current favorite outfits that I plan on wearing this Autumn season. All the details for the outfits will be listed as well.

Friday Inspiration

Tazo Pumpkin Spice tea and the latest InStyle to boost my fallspiration!! 

Silence Explained

I know I've been pretty quiet on here for a while and I'm not going to make excuses. I just wasn't feeling inspired recently. Since coming back from a trip down to Southern California, I am so excited to start working on anything and everything autumn related. It's one of my favorite times of year and I cannot wait to start cranking out blog posts more often. (It also seems right to say, I saw One Direction last weekend and it was absolutely perfect) Anyways that's where I've been and how I'm feeling, I'll see you soon with a new post.

Thanks for reading (and bearing with me)!!

xoJess

Breakfast Break 3: Toast Edition

I have a love affair with toast. Honestly think I could eat it for breakfast everyday with a different topping on it. You can make it sweet with honey and butter or hearty with mustard and turkey. All around a very versatile breakfast choice. These are my two favorite ways to eat whole wheat toast in the morning (or in the afternoon as a snack.) 

First up is toast with cream cheese and mashed avocado. Everyone knows how much I am in love with avocado. I could put it on anything, and when it comes to breakfast, it's a fantastic choice. Seasoned with a bit of black pepper, Himalayan pink salt, and a dash of lemon juice, this quick breakfast is full of vitamins too. 

Coming in a close second is this toast topping. Hummus is one of my all time favorite snacks to have with carrots. It can always make me feel fuller longer, especially when eaten on toast. I like to have a little bit of a kick in my hummus so I will usually mix in a few sprinkles of cayenne pepper before spreading it onto my toast. 

Those are my two favorite toast breakfasts/snacks. Let me know if you try these out and if you like them!

Thanks for reading!!

xoJess

Check out my previous post: Wet Seal Haul

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Wet Seal Haul

The end of summer is here and even though I'm really sad about summer coming to a close I am happy that I found out about a sale that Wet Seal was having (Thank you Lauren!!) I took this opportunity to get a few things on sale that I could transition into the fall. With a trip to Southern California coming up in September I hope to wear these items there! 

RECIPE: Sweet Potato Fries

You can say I'm a bit obsessed with sweet potato fries. Normally, I don't like sweet potatoes at all, except in fry form. I have bought frozen fries to bake for a snack, but I wanted to see if I could come up with a recipe that was easy and still yummy. Luckily, I think I've got one!! 

Let's get started!!

Recipe: Sweet Corn & Squash Fritters

I'm always on the hunt for vegetarian recipes that are delicious and when I found this one I was so excited to try it. Now I didn't stick exactly to the recipe. I believe in changing it up to make it your own which is exactly what I did. 

You can find the original recipe here

Let's get started!

 

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Breakfast Break 2

Weekends are a time for relaxation and an amazing breakfast. Normally I would be ready to eat up some pancakes, but recently I've been on an egg kick. My favorite way to eat them is scrambled, I'm obsessed with scrambled eggs. 

Saturday I decided eggs were the way to go and usually I'll have toast with them, but I had half of a bagel instead. Of course I knew I needed a little green on my plate so I opted (of course) for half of an avocado. 

To spice up the eggs I added some fresh ground black pepper, some Himalayan pink salt, and tarragon. With a little sprinkle of cheddar cheese and some avocado on top, my eggs were ready. I toasted the bagel, spread some cream cheese, and my trusty avocado mash. 

This is probably going to turn into my favorite weekend breakfast and it really doesn't take up that much time either.

Thanks for reading!

xoJess

Check out my previous post: Crop Tops and Skirts Too

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Crop Tops and Skirts Too

I've never done an Outfit of the Day post on here mainly because I rarely escape from the jeans/t-shirt life throughout the week. But hey it was the weekend, I was going shopping, so might as well pull out all the stops!

Since I knew I was going to be out shopping and trying clothes on all day, I wanted to wear items that were easy to take off in the dressing room. I opted for a black cotton skater skirt and a boxy crop top to be comfortable, but stylish all day.

Crop top- H&M

Skater Skirt- Charlotte Russe

Booties- d&b shoes (They are only stocked in brown now)

Sunglasses- ZeroUV

Thin Silver Rings- H&M

Turquoise Ring- Vintage

All photos by Miranda Schikore

Thanks for reading!

xoJess

Check out my previous post: I'm in Love!!! (with Food)

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I'm in Love! (with Food)

I have been on the hunt for a monthly snack subscription box that I actually wanted and I think I've finally found it. I had heard about Love with Food maybe around February and thought about trying it but just never committed to it. Finally the end of last month I gave in and started my subscription. I received my first snack box this week and I'm so excited to write about it! 

Here's a little bit of a backstory on Love with Food. All of their snacks are organic or all-natural and delivered to you every month. If you like a certain snack you get you can buy it online in their store. My favorite part is that with every box sold they donate a meal to a food bank! They have over 100,000 meals donated already and the number keeps rising. 

Below the jump you'll find an offercode that will get you a FREE snack box (a $10 value) and all you have to pay for is the $2 shipping. 

Breakfast Break

You hear it all the time "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." But most of us don't have time to make a huge breakfast that will satisfy us until lunch. I've decided to start posting about easy and quick breakfast ideas that won't take too long in the morning and will keep you satisfied. 

This morning I was craving avocado (more than usual because I always want avo) so I scooped a half of an avocado into a bowl and smashed it up. For seasoning, I used 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice, black pepper, pink Himalayan salt, garlic powder, and a ton of cayenne pepper. Then I toasted half of a bagel to spread my avocado mixture on. Of course I had to have my daily cup of coffee with unsweetened almond milk. I was so pleased with the taste and how filling it was. Plus the avocado provides a lot of essentials vitamins and nutrients that your body needs. 

Thanks for reading!

xoJess

Check out my previous post: 5 Camping Essentials

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5 Camping Essentials

So every summer my family and I go camping and honestly I leave a good amount of makeup and hair products at home because ain't nobody got time to be all made up when you're just gonna sweat it off. That's not a cute look. However there are a few items that I definitely bring with me just to liven up my face in the morning and my hair after a day of swimming. 

7 Favorite Hair Products

Since I do a lot of unhealthy things to my hair, I tend to spend quite a while in the hair care section trying to find products that will keep my hair as healthy as possible. From dying to straightening, my hair has gone through a lot the past 4 years and I'd like to think what I use in my hair has a lot to do with how good it looks now. These are my current favorites to use in my hair to keep it healthy.

Mascara Madness

There is always one makeup product that a girl will rely on. Mine is mascara. If I had to choose one product to use for the rest of my life, I wouldn't even hesitate saying mascara. I've used SO many kinds of mascara (lengthening, curling, waterproof, colors, growing, volume) by so many brands. I have my likes and my dislikes. If there is one thing I overbuy (besides nail polish) it's by far mascara. I currently have 6 in my collection that I use regularly. A couple of them are favorites, some are new, and some are just kinda there. I suppose this will be a review of sorts. (I'll probably mention a few that aren't currently in my collection that I love.)

Graze.com Unboxing and Review 2

I received my second graze.com box this week and will show you my unboxing and review on each of the four new snacks I got this week. As always I'll leave my coupon code at the end so you can get your first and fifth graze.com box for free! You can read more about graze.com and their ideas for snacking on their website that will be linked below. 

RECIPE: Pasta with Veggie Filled Sauce

I'm all for trying to stick to having one completely vegetarian dinner a week. It just makes me feel better. I have made this recipe once before (minus the bell peppers) and my family loved it, so when I said I was going to make it again they were all for it. This recipe is just a little twist on the normal spaghetti and red sauce, it is PACKED with delicious vegetables that will keep you full and happy. Now this is basically me chopping and tossing veggies into a pan to cook a bit before adding it all into a red sauce. I'm going to give you a grocery list and a (almost) step-by-step guide to making it!

Here is the final product: 

Warped Tour Recap!

As you all know I went to Warped Tour recently, the Mountain View and Chula Vista dates. I went with my friend Jasmine to Mountain View and got to see a bunch of other friends while I was running around trying to see as many bands as I could. For the Chula Vista date I went with Lauren (best friend), my sister (Miranda), her best friend (Michelle), and my brother (Richie). Both dates were so AWESOME and I got to see so many incredible bands. Below the cut I'll just show you some pictures, talk about some bands, my reviews of both venues, setup, and merch.

Graze Unboxing & Review

I was given an offer to try Graze Box a little while ago. Before I dive in to my review here's a little background on Graze. Graze's idea is to give it's recipients a new way to snack, offering 90 different snacks with millions of different box combinations, you can get something new with every new box. And with the snacks already portioned you don't have to worry about eating a whole bag of chips (which I'm guilty of).  I received my box this past week so here is my review and unboxing on my NibbleBox. 

My Warped Tour Essentials!

It's summer which means it's my favorite time of year: WARPED TOUR! If you've never been, I suggest going. A sweaty, long, hot day dedicated to amazing music. I've been going since 2011 and since then have learned that you don't need to bring EVERYTHING in your daily bag with you. I have narrowed it down to all essential items that will be shoved into my fanny pack (yes a fanny pack) this week. Here's a look inside my bag:

NEW VIDEO: Defend the Ink. Happy Thursday!