$15 designer t-shirts anyone?

let me introduce you to my newest obsession everlane  

say $15 luxury t-shirts and i'm likely to be intrigued. i'm always on the lookout for a great t-shirt so I definitely had to check these out. 

but go read what they say about their company first:

It's an industry fact: Your typical designer shirt sells for 8 times what it cost to make. But it doesn't have to be this way. We've set out to challenge conventions and build a new retail model.

We have no physical stores, no middlemen taking their cut and no crazy brand markups. Instead, we create our own luxury basics and sell them exclusively at Everlane.com. New designs each month, never over $100.

Online only.

By operating entirely online we save on all the costs associated with physical stores and gain tremendous flexibility in production.

Smart manufacturing.

We seek out the best factories in the business—the very same ones that produce your favorite designer labels—to create the shortest path from our hands to yours.

Edited design.

We never compromise on quality. Our collections are intentionally pared down so that we can design with the closest attention to detail.

i think it's a really interesting concept and what they're offering looks absolutely fabulous. i couldn't resist ;) go check them out right here and have a happy weekend :) 

lasagna soup

sorry for the bad picture. i hadn't really planned on blogging this recipe until a bunch of you instagram followers asked me to. so here it is and believe me it is delicious and tastes a lot better than it looks. this is a great recipe to add a bunch of vegetables into so feel free to adjust as you please. just make sure to maybe add some more liquid if you add a lot of extra vegetables. my toddler loved this and even ate all of the vegetables in it, which has been a struggle lately.

lasagna soup

ingredients

for the soup:

1 tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs of sweet italian sausage (for any locals: i use giant eagle's sweet italian sausage because it is deliecious)
1 cup of chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 tbs. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1-2 large carrots, peeled and chopped or sliced
a handful of mushrooms, sliced (really however many you like)
1 zucchini peeled and cubed
1 container of chicken stock (about 4-6 cups)
8 oz. lasagna pasta broken into smaller pieces
some fresh basil if you have
salt and pepper, to taste

cheese mixture:

10 oz. ricotta
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pepper, to taste

mozzarella cheese to sprinkle over top

preparation

heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. break up the sausage into bite sized pieces and brown it for a few minutes. add in the onions and cook until soft. add tomato paste and stil well. cook for another 3 minutes or until paste has turned a rusty brown color. now add garlic, italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. stir again.

add the diced tomatoes, bay leaves and the chicken stock. stir to combine. bring to a boil and add the carrots, let simmer for 20 minutes. now add the zucchini and mushrooms and simmer until both are soft. (about 10 minutes). add the basil, salt and pepper to taste, right before serving.

also cook your pasta separately when your soup is getting close to being done.
cooking the pasta separately will allow better storage for left-overs.

while pasta is cooking prepare the cheese mixture. in a small bowl simply combine all ingredients and mix well.

to serve, place about a generous tablespoon of the cheese mixture in a bowl and top with soup and pasta. sprinkle some mozzarella on top and dig in!

Source:  adapted from 300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds, as seen in the February-April 2011 edition of At Home with Kowalski’s magazine

diy: t-shirt make-over part I - sequin collar t-shirt

over the next few weeks I will feature a series of t-shirt make-over tutorials using basic white t-shirts. each week I will show you a different way to add a little something special to a plain white tee.

this week's make-over is a super easy one using some stretchy sequin trim to embellish the collar of a t-shirt. no sewing skills needed! 

you'll need:

a white v-neck shirt (i used fruit of the loom men's shirts in size S) 

1 yard of gold sequin trim (the stretchy kind) mine is from wal-mart

thread in the same color as your trim 

white thread

a needle

place the end of the trim where the collar makes the v-shape. start carefully hand stitching it in place starting from the back and leaving some extra to tie it off with. go around stitching the trim to the collar until you come back to the v. i mostly just went through the holes in the sequins and it's not noticeable at all. overlap the ends slightly and cut your excess trim. make sure to stitch the end well so that the elastic part won't unravel. 

i also folded up the sleeves and stitched them in place with some white thread. that's of course optional.

to wash i would recommend turning the shirt inside out and air drying or drying on a low temperature setting in your dryer. 

now wear it! best of all: no necklace needed. 

style files: chambray, cords and boots

skinny cords: jcrew, white tank: zara, chambray shirt: jcrew (similar), boots: thrifted (similar), watch: michael kors (similar), bracelet: gift, branch earrings: c/o love stitched

the weather here in pa has momentarily cooled down just a little bit. we are back in the 80's now but had a pretty cool day on saturday. it was honestly fine by me since i'd been dreading the outfit posts a little bit lately... i am mostly a shorts and t-shirt kind of girl when it's super hot outside and that's not necessarily anything to brag about on here. wink wink...

so instead of the heat we got a nice little glimpse at what fall is going to be like and i started outfit planning in my head. can't wait to get my scarf collection out again!

the chambray shirt that has seen lots of wear through spring and summer is also going to be a go-to piece in my fall wardrobe and so are jcrew's toothpick cords. here i paired them with some nicely worn-in boots and a simple white tank. i stayed comfy and warm all day but was able to shed a layer when the sun peeked through in the afternoon.

i will definitely be wearing lots of different variations of this outfit in the fall.

what items from your summer wardrobe will help you transition into fall?

happy birthday

it's this guy's birthday today. 28 years!!! 9 of which he's been spending with me. i am one lucky gal :)
last night we shared some delicious cheesecake, opened gifts, used such gifts to play peek-a-boo and had a few good laughs.

so happy birthday to you J, logan and i are incredibly lucky to have you in our lives and we love you more than i'll ever be able to put into words.

bits + pieces

bits + pieces from a good day

1. A small harvest fresh from the garden.

2. Carrying his favorite doll.

3. Out of focus hugs

4. Hiding from the dogs but secretly wishing they would come find him. 

5. Da! Lights are being pointed and looked at all day every day.

6. Left behind.

7. Puppy paws and dirty long nails that need some attention.

8. Wood+Stripes 

9. Puzzles keep little guys busy.

10. My most favorite in all the land.

11. Ladybugs.

12. Best buds. 

13. Testing how far one can go. 

you're my wonder woman

source

you know those days where you don't sit down from the time you get up in the morning until you go to bed late at night? where you run around all day from one chore to the next? where every time you feel like you're done you come across another task you just can't let be for another second? but it's not a bad day, it's actually a really good day and it feels great to get things accomplished.

yeah that's the kind of day I had yesterday.

don't get me wrong, there are many times where I let things go and don't worry about whether something really should have gotten picked up, cleaned or folded (yeah I hate laundry). but then once in a while I get this weird surge of energy that won't subside all day and makes me turn into sort of a super woman.

maybe yesterday it had something to do with logan deciding that sleeping in until 10.30 am was in order and just overall being super pleasant and balanced all day? don't you love it when you walk in their room in the morning and you can immediately tell that it's going to be a good day for everyone? that's how our day started off.

i showered without a rush while J was on breakfast duty (turkey bacon and eggs, yum!), grabbed a quick bite and went off to the grocery store. i didn't even get mad when a rude senior citizen cut in line in front of me, while everyone around me including the cashier was giving him the hardest time about it - didn't break my stride. by the way, he just told everyone that he didn't know what all the fuss was about since he only had "a few things" (like 25 few maybe).

then i ran to the bank to deposit a few checks. putting money in the bank is always a good thing.
jason left for work right as i got home and logan and i played for a while before he went down for a 2,5 hour nap. holy cow! that kid can sleep.

i called my parents in germany and had a nice long talk with my dad which hadn't happened in a few weeks. then i moved on to cooking up some lasagna soup and chocolate chip muffins and had dinner ready for when logan woke up. we ate, he played while i cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and while I folded and put away laundry. i cleaned him up, we played some more, story time and bed.

you'd think now would be the time to relax and watch some olympics or read one of the 278 magazines that are sitting on my nightstand...
but noooo my wondrous surge of energy forced me to change the sheets on our bed, pick up the room, water the plants, clean off a table in the kitchen, oh yeah and how about watering the vegetable garden in the dark? what? another load of laundry done? tomorrow's blog post?.... ahhh you get the point.

in the end, i sat down and thought about how much i appreciate all the things my mom did (and still does) for me, my brothers and dad while we were growing up.
in my early 20's, getting married, moving away and running my own household truly gave me newfound appreciation for the things my mom gave up to make my life easier. it brought us closer and we became friends, not just mother and daughter.
having a baby and becoming a mother myself just made that relationship blossom even more.
i am sure that all along she was probably thinking to herself that one day i'd understand, understand what it takes and why she made the choices she made for us and our family. how patient and kind she was while we danced around the house with little regard for the time she had put into keeping it clean and warm for us.
and i do understand now more than ever before. it's not always fun and sometimes you drag yourself out of bed and know the day will be horrible, but then you have days like this one where you are reminded of how much fun it can be and how rewarding it is to see the smiles on the faces of the ones you love. that and the taste of warm, fresh out of the oven gooey chocolate chip muffins.

so thanks mom! thanks for always being there and for always getting out of bed, on the good days and the bad ones too. you're my wonder woman.