East Idle

Meatloaf   •   Salmon   •   Chicken   •   Mac&Cheese It's alllllmost Christmas! The anticipation is almost unbearable, I can't wait. My family and I have our trees up and ready to go. We haven't put any ornaments on them because we think the warm white lights look beautiful on their own, but we decided last minute to hang ornaments so we'll do that tomorrow morning. We're going with a red and gold color scheme. My sister and I also looked up recipes to make for the weekend and I am so. so. so. excited. Lots and lots of food coming up. Tomorrow morning we will make shakshuka , for lunch we'll make seafood risotto and shrimp scampi , and for dinner we'll make roasted salmon and roasted asparagus . For Christmas morning we will make a buttery breakfast casserole , for lunch we'll make lemon & garlic chicken , and for dinner we'll make mac&cheese , turkey meatloaf ,  roasted sweet potatoes / brussel sprouts , and creamy garlic mashed potato...

Happy Wednesday! I'm currently typing away with my freshly brewed ruby red chai from Trader Joe's. Cup o' tea in my left hand, typing with my right hand. Yes, one-handed typing. Hashtag mad. skillz. Just kidding, that would be an unsafe situation. For my laptop. What if I spilled the piping hot ruby red chai all over my keyboard... oh, the horror! Burned right hand? No problem. Ruby red liquid seeping into the electronic veins of my precious laptop? Yikes. No, thank you. How imaginative of me though... that's what sipping on ruby red chai from Trader Joe's will do to ya. Also, Trader Joe's is one of my favorite places to shop at. Hello, cookie butter. Hello, pretty much errthang in there . But, again: hello, cookie butter . Insert heart-eyes-smiley emoji. Now that I've gotten my tea/Trader Joe's-related tangent out my system, I'll move on to the embellished wrap dress . This isn't a dress I would normally gravitate towards. I don't particul...

Fa-la-la-la-la. Only 6 more days until Christmas! Woohoo. If you haven't had the chance to purchase or make presents for loved ones already, now is the time to do so... less than a week to go, crunch time! 'Tis the season to be jolly and generous and kind and loving and everything Christmas-y. Although I bet you're like that year-round... :) This year, instead of purchasing different presents for each family member, I decided to get things that everyone can use... utilitarian gifts that, I am assuming, will not go to waste. Practicality never killed the cat, I say... or something along the lines of that. I did not include those presents in this wishlist because my family ~sometimes~ reads my blog... By sometimes I mean like once a year, if even that, (ahem, I'm looking at you, G...) but the once a year moment they decide to visit my blog could fall sometime during this coming week and then they'll wonder about what I got them and then they'll get a slight idea o...

Jacket  •   Top  •   Leggings  •   Bottle Happy Friday! I have some news... I have transitioned from being a former Division-1 tennis player to now being a squash player. Ya read that correctly... I am now a squash player . (Kinda-ish. I played once.) Since I wasn't involved in some sort of competitive or sporty athletic activity this semester (no, I, running on the treadmill, secretly "competing" against your treadmill neighbors, does not count), I decided to try out for the club squash team at my school. It was my first time ever playing squash, and I was so excited I could not wipe the huge grin off of my face. Luckily, squash is fundamentally similar to tennis. However... the ball does. not. bounce. And you have to lunge and use your forearm a lot... versus in tennis, you need to bend your knees and swing all the way through with your arm. Also, two players in one closed-off court roughly half the size of a tennis court was unusual to me. Let's ...

Clockwise from top-left: Skirt  •   Skirt   •   Skirt   •   Skirt Happy Wednesday! Today is December 7, which means only 7 more days until I am back home in California... woop woop. Let the countdown begin. I just took out my luggage last night in preparation for packing... #excited. Note: packing for me includes listening to music and taking sips of wine and dancing and all that good stuff in between. I let the process ride out for a while because I've had my fair share of intense, omg-i-am-in-such-a-rush-why-did-i-wait-last-minute-to-do-this packing moments and let me tell ya, those were not pleasant times. Consequently, I try to make packing as enjoyable of a thing as possible. What can I say, I'm an optimist. On another note unrelated to packing... a recent trend has been suede, like all suede errthang. I don't normally follow trends (e.g., choker necklaces, no-no for me) but I am I, and I like suede, a lot. Take these suede skirts....

Jumpsuit  •   Jumpsuit  •   Jumpsuit Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was fun-filled with exploring and studying. How can studying be fun, you say? It can be if you're studying with friends who are fun study buddies. (This will be the last week of the semester, so it is crunch time. ) Also, wine -ing with someone is always a good time, amiright? One thing though is that it has been getting cuh-old (although... wine = *much appreciated* alcohol blanket). I mean, brrrr ... Boston, your winter chill is creeping up on me . The temps have been in the 30s, and according to my handy-dandy Apple Weather App, it should remain that way for at least this upcoming week or so . Good thing I have enough gear to keep me warm ! For going out at night in these lower temperatures, I would opt for a jumpsuit instead of a dress simply because ya gotz zee legz covered... any added warmth is a win in my book. I found these jumpsuits on Nordstrom and I love the v...

Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress I have been fond of Black Halo dresses for the past few years (I also like their jumpsuits ). They are simple, chic, and seem like they are closet staples. From the solid colors to the sheath silhouettes, I can't help but to fall in love with them. I would love to start a collection of these. The above are a few of my favorites... and see more down below! xo, I Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress   •   Dress