Warming up from the inside

This weekend, it broke 50!!!!!! AND SUNNY!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!

A few weeks ago, on a particularly snowy and cold Saturday, I made some Mexican hot chocolate that my dear friend Kate got for me when she went to Mexico in December.

However, I discovered however that all the instructions are in Spanish! So I Googled for a recipe online, and of course the kitchn had one. That site is a great source for any recipe you can think of and in general very useful tips.

Also - How adorable and unique is the mug?! Kate also gave me it from Mexico (made in Mexico!). She said she likes sipping her coffee out of special mugs - and now I see what she means!

This one has become my favorite, and I use it every weekend now for my weekend coffee.

One last funny note: At dinner last night with some girl friends, they shared a funny meme that's going around the internet - but I couldn't find the image!

I made one quickly myself on someecards:

Haha! Hope you're having a nice weekend!

How to combat the winter blues, a guide

1. Buy yourself potted winter-season flowers - and watch them bloom!

Mine died too quickly... Time to buy another pot!

crocuses

Image source: me! (Jane W.)

2. Make a new dish. I made this in college and haven't made it in +4 years...

Recently saw it on Cupcakes & Cashmere blog...

and went to the recipe that she followed!

soba noodles with peanut sauce

Image source: me! (Jane W.)

Image source: me! (Jane W.)

3. Start a new show. Nick and I are HOOKED onto Game of Thrones now!

We're halfway through Season 2 now. We're trying not to *binge* watch and keep it more measured... Several episodes on the weekends, and 1 episode a weeknight (almost every night but not every single night). Yes, ok, this is still somewhat binge-ing...

Game of Thrones

Image source: Geek Exchange?

Fur-ocious

Um, how amazing is this?

Image source: Anthropologie

Faux fur Rochelle jacket from Anthropologie - currently on sale for $159.95 from $248.00.

I was hanging out with two girl friends yesterday - just some brunch & shopping on a mission: to find a dress for one friend to wear to a wedding in a week! One friend and I got onto the topic of FUR, and we both agreed that we couldn't do real fur. It's just too... much.

I live on the Upper East Side in NYC, and I definitely often see older women (age +50) walking around in luxurious floor-length fur coats... But it's kind of creepy.

Anyways, I've got my eye on that Anthro one - but it's not very practical for me. I could NOT pull of wearing that to my work - a LARGE financial services company. Maybe I should just get a new job (HA HA!).

Style blogger Anh wore it beautifully here when she visited NYC for Fashion Week last week.

Image source: 9to5 chic

Winter Blues

...has been combated through shopping (mostly online but a little in-store at Ann Taylor and Zara, la la la).

Zara has been KILLING it this year. It's definitely become my weakness. I walked through and checked out the recent in-store new items (and browsed online) and flagged several things I liked.

I'm trying to stop! Shopping ban in effect end of February! through June! Eeps.

The snow has been literally paralyzing. I'm afraid to leave my apartment.
I cannot bring myself to do anything but sit on the couch.
Ahhhhhhh.

Snowfall from January, from my boss's office in NYC

I'm into it - Pink coats

I think I'm a little late on this trend, but I've finally come around to it.

Or maybe it's trendS* with an S at the end. Several trends.

1) pink coat
2) pastel
3) oversized coat

I posted about it here a couple of weeks ago...

The writer of this blog - Stripes & Sequins- recently bought it! Love! She posted some great options, too.

These are some more that I'm diggin'.

Image source: Asos

Image source: Zara

Hey Ma! Look what I made!

As follow up to this post:

Last Saturday afternoon, I took a leisurely trip to a specialty grocery store near my apartment, Agata Valetina.

Image source: Agata Valetina

Specialty grocery stores like this in NYC are amazing - fresh produce, baked breads, cheeses, seafood, olive oils and coffee, freshly made pastas and gelatos (seriously - freshly made gelato that they sell in cartons).

Anyways, I was inspired to pick up a few random things and try out combining two of the inspirations from that post: a combination of the crostinis and figs.

Tada!

May I present to you...

Crostini with fresh ricotta, dried Turkish figs, honey and mint

Image source: me! (Jane W.)

I wish I took more photos of the process, but alas, I just snapped a couple pics on my sad ol' point-and-shoot and called it a day.

(A DSLR is on my *wish list* but it'll have to wait for now.)

To be honest, I was STARVING when I made this dish, and I scarfed it down in 5 minutes! It ended up being my early dinner / late afternoon snack.

I was intending for this to be an "appetizer" to dinner (main course supposed to be roast chicken I picked up from Agata Valetina) -- but FUNNY, when I returned home from my trip out, Nick had ... *wait for it* ... ordered himself a personal size Dominos pizza and eaten it all by the time I got home!

Boys! What are you going to do with them!

No more football!!!

Since dating Nick, I have to say that I have looked forward to the Super Bowl so much as I do now. Why? It means the end of Football Season, and now Nick can join us in the world on Sundays, and we can make full-weekend plans!!!

Here's a Goodbye video to football...

Bad Lip Reading did another NFL video, and it's just as good as the first. (Maybe what they say is a bit wackier, but still good!)