The Dressing Room Chronicles: Peplum

I've been a huge baby about jumping on the peplum train this season, admittedly. When things with super-defined waistlines come my way, I immediately get nervous. I've always considered my body to be a little weird; my natural waist falls somewhat lower on my torso, and having broad shoulders makes me VERY hesitant to add volume elsewhere on my body as my only narrow parts are from my hips to the ground.

And fear #2: I have a baby belly - in a place where I really was convinced the cinched waist would hit me. It's this weird spare tire-ish thing right above where I normally wear the waist of my pants - and it's the widest part of my mid section. The LAST thing I ever want to do is have any seams, hems, waists, etc hitting me. There was just no way peplum was going to work on me.

Then, a friend randomly brought up that she though the peplum cut was made for my body? What? Are you on crazy pills? She's been nagging me to try one on for months now - and with my boyfriend out of town last weekend, I had time to occupy myself with shopping adventures - one of which was my first brush with peplum.

I chose the blog-popular Anthropologie peplum tank as my peplum devirginizer:

Immediately after putting it on, I knew I had been sorely, sorely mistaken.

First of all, it is one of the most comfy things I've ever put on my upper half. So stretchy and just sits wonderfully.

Looking back at this one, I think the seam might be a 1/2 inch too low - see that crest of a donut on my side? I think I can easily either have the straps shortened, or opt for a smaller size (I didn't know they made an XS until I revisited the site!). But needless to say, I'm excited to sport this puppy around town.

I mean, can't you see the excitement on my face? Duh.

I am SO glad I got over my stupid, stupid peplum prejudice before this trend came and went. Now I'm all about coming up with outfits to pair it with! Right now, I'm thinking:

This guy (really in any of the gorgeous colors)

OR

This one for a little more texture? 

OR

These swoon-worthy beauts (on sale in (almost) my size!).

& obviously...

These little adorable shorts! I mean, really...I almost can't handle them.

Are you on board with the peplum trend? Am I the only one out there who was irrationally afraid of it? Probably. How do you style your peplum?

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge

After seeing this post and having a totally free weekend ahead of me, there was no way I wasn't embarking on this endeavor. Really, what is better than chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven on a lazy weekend? That's right, nothing.

Apparently the magical secret with these is two-fold: 1. the mixture of cake flower and bread flour rather than all purpose, and 2. the excruciatingly long refrigeration period of 36 hours.

But I had to know if these really were the "end-all, be-all" of choco chip babies.

Clearly I made a bit of a mess - and I won't lie, cleanup was not a fun process.

It did make for some interesting motion play, though.

And I really do love my mixer, so dragging it out for a few photos was more than worth it...

 BUT - when it was all over, I was stuck waiting THREE. FULL. DAYS. to eat them? Insanity. But I knew I had to do it right.

And 36 hours later...I FINALLY got to eat one! (dead camera=iPhone snap)

So were they as good as advertised? I'm still undecided. Obviously, they are amazing. Like, out of this world. BUT, I think the hype might have ruined my reaction a little bit - that and the combination of being too impatient to wait for them to fully cook. The recipe recommended using a 1/3 cup to scoop the dough balls, but at least in my oven - they wouldn't cook through in the middle.

Don't get me wrong; I am ALL about cookie dough - but I like my cookie dough and actually cookies completely separate - and believe you me, I got PLENTY of dough from the bowl while I was making them...

I only baked about 1/3 of the dough for the 6 above...just wait for me to come back tomorrow having baked smaller lil puppies that put me in a coma from freaking out over their perfect. Just. wait.

Lazy Mornings.

This weekend, I finally had some downtime (and alone time, if we're being honest). The boyfriend was out of town and I got some much-needed shopping, cooking, baking, laundry -  you name it - done while he was away.

By Sunday morning, I was exhausted (mainly from being woken up at dawn by a needy puppy), and though I had plenty on my to-do list, all I wanted was to lay in bed and enjoy the morning sun...

So I did. Armed with my new beaded coffee mug, berry colander and some extensive apartment hunting (though those plans may have been slashed in the 48 hours since...), I indulged - and the only guilt I felt was that half of my english muffin - Nutella, you are (and always will be) my downfall.