Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I went home for part of my birthday weekend and went on a baking frenzy with my mother.  I woke up (late), worked on a book binding project and then decided to make my favorite fall treat–Pumpkin Spice Cookies! Here's the kicker though...these cookies have chocolate chips in them!!! I doubled the recipe because I wanted to share them with my sorority sisters and friends and they go like crazy. People devour these cookies and ask for more. I kid you not–they're very addictive. Because I doubled the recipe, I put it in a giant, metal bowl so I looks like a lot and was a bit intimidating, but now I have plenty of cookies to share!

Ingredients:

2 cups butter (4 sticks softened)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 can of Libby's Pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla

5 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

2 teaspoons ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups of chocolate chips (my favorite part!)

Happy fall! 

- Nicole

21 & Back on Track!

Hello!

So, I need to apologize. I've been a terrible, terrible blogger, but my life took a crazy turn in early July when I was in a pretty bad car accident. I was at an intersection and was struck by two large trucks–tiny me was hit by two HUGE trucks. It was a terrifying experience. I was injured, had a totaled car and was haunted by it day in and day out. I was afraid to drive all summer. I fell into a slump and blogging did not seem very fun at the time, especially since I was wearing a gauze wrap around a second degree burn that covered most of my right arm. The accident threw by back out of alignment, making doing anything extremely painful. In short, I was just in no mood to take pictures of myself or share my thoughts.

Since, I've seen a chiropractor and I no longer have to keep my gross burn under wraps (haha). So I'm doing much better and I've gotten into a normal routine after heading back to Des Moines and getting past my sorority's recruitment. So now that I am 21 (my birthday was Wednesday) and blessed to be alive, I am going to start blogging again! Given the fact that I am an over-involved student, I'm going to aim for one blog post a week. If I have time for more than one, I'll go for it! I just don't want to overcommit myself. I feel like that's been my problem all my life–I hate saying, "NO!" It's just a word I don't care to use too often. So, I'm going to start small for now.


And last but not least, cheers! It's a whole new year of my life and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it doing the things I love with the people I love!

Things I Love: Mint

Right now I've been obsessing over anything mint hued. Here are some pretty pictures of the pretty, feminine color.

Juxtaposing

What I wore: Dress - A boutique in Nîmes, France | Sweater - Forever21 | Shoes - TJ Maxx | Neckalces - Betsey Johnson & a local flea market | Ring - Etsy

Today I wondered around downtown Peoria, purchasing fresh fruits, veggies and breads from the downtown Farmer's Market. I even did a little reminiscing, venturing off to where my old ballet studio used to be. I used to perform in ballets for the Illinois Ballet Company--what a whirlwind that was! Sometimes I definitely miss it, other times I'm glad to be doing what I'm doing now. 

I love the old brick that can be found in city areas. It has such a rough and tough aesthetic and then when you pair it with my very light and feminine pastel get up, you have a very interesting contrast. 

Two Girls, a Ukulele and a Beautiful View

Yesterday I finished up my classes for the week and spent the whole afternoon and late evening with my best friend, Kelsey. We ate food (of course, that's what girls do with their best friends!), shopped, watched trashy TV, and finally wound up at the adorable pond by my house where we horsed around and took lovely pictures. It felt like a perfect start to the weekend!

What I Wore | Shirt - TJ Maxx | Skirt & Belt - Von Maur | Shoes - A boutique in Georgia | Bracelet - Forever 21 | Earrings - A local boutique | Glasses - Rayban

And now meet my best friend, Kelsey of Four String Melodies, a cute (and new) lil' blog where she will be playing little diddies on the ukulele! 

I've been asked to design her blog and I cannot wait--I have so much cuteness to work with!

Have a fantastic Friday, everyone! 

BranDay {Tuesday}

Hello all,

Here are some of my branding picks of the week!

by Josip Kelava
http://www.brandingserved.com/gallery/Melbourne-Dance-Company/2437569

by Beatrice Menis & Mara Rodirguez (both students)
http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/2012/05/mud-student-work.html

by Jay Ressler (student work)
http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/2012/05/lucky-layla-farms-student-work.html

Sorry for the lack of style posts! I'm hoping to get back at tonight during golden hour (5 pm). I've been

really busy doing, well, art for my studio art classes I'm taking this summer. Once I accomplish some things, I'll be sure to put in on the blog. I may even photograph some of my work from semesters' past.

So far, I'm loving my advanced drawing class. The professor is so passionate about art and about teaching--it's truly inspiring! I can also sense that he's going to push me...a lot. I already know my weaknesses and I know I'm afraid to push my drawings into abstract, so I have a feeling he's going to move me away from subject matter and more towards emotion and feeling. It's going to be tough, but I feel it could be really rewarding. But I'm also hoping for some creative freedom. I really want to diversify my portfolio and hope to work on some collages and mixed media drawings. But we'll see. I'm excited to see what I create. 

Je manque à Paris

I miss Paris.

This longing for the city of lights stems from my friend's return to the United States after a semester abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark as she discussed her time in the beautiful city.

A year ago, I was returning from my own adventure in France. I immersed myself in the country, speaking the language, marveling at all the art I studied in my art history classes--it was a dream! I was even mistaken to be French several times, which was quite flattering. In short, I felt like I belonged there and would do anything to live and work in Paris as a graphic designer.

Today my outfit is rather reminiscent of the quintessential striped shirt often associated with the French culture. Little did I know when I put on this shirt this morning that I would be missing the city it is often associated with.

When searching for videos on typography (yes, I'm THAT nerdy when it comes to type), I stumbled across this sweet little film about Paris and the French language. I was in love. The type is quite beautiful, as well as the French language.

Outfit Details

Shirt - TJ Maxx

Leggings - Target

Belt - Target

Necklace - Craft Fair in Des Moines, Iowa

Shoes - Sperry

Glasses - Rayban

Rainy Days Go Away

Hello all! Yesterday was so incredibly dreary, wet, windy and chilly. While Illinois definitely needed the rain, it made it hard to get out of bed and have a life. I did pull myself out of bed, made myself socially acceptable looking and actually had a great day despite the weather. By the time I took pictures that evening, the sun was starting to come out and my rain attire was no longer necessary. Regardless, I continued to wear my rainy day gear.

I absolutely love these rainboots, simply because they always cause quite the commotion anywhere I go. Some people will openly tell me they're ugly, while others fawn over them--this is what interests me so much about people's personal aesthetic choices and opinions. Everyone is so different and I think that's why I love people and looking at them just to get a glimpse at what they're personal aesthetic is. Personal style and fashion is just that--a personal aesthetic showcased daily! 

Outfit Details

Rain slicker - Target

Top - TJ Maxx

Skirt - Urban Outfitters

Tights - Target

Rainboots - TJ Maxx

Purse - Vintage Coach

Ring - A flea market in LA

Umbrella - Von Maur 

Better Late Than Never

Hello all,

Sorry for the distance! I've not only been traveling all over the country, but also helping my mother plan my grandfather's 89 and a half birthday party which occurred over Memorial Day Weekend. It's no excuse, but I've just been so busy with family that I haven't had much time to even think about this blog. There will be photographs of my outfit to come tomorrow as well as photographs from my grandfather's party!

For now, I will leave you with some awesome music.

Enjoy!

Brand Day Sunday

Branding is by far one of the most fascinating facets within graphic design. It takes one little nugget or idea and expands on it, translating it into various mediums to create a compelling marketing tool. Because of this, I love branding design! There are so many possibilities and it allows the designer to fully develop and evolve an idea. It's an exciting process and I can't wait to get more experience in this area as I continue my studies in graphic design. Because I am oh-so fascinated with branding, I have decided to devote every Sunday to branding design.

Here's this weeks branding!

This awesome branding was created for Egg & Dark, an urban development company and was designed by Toronto designer, Tyler Smith. 

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Egg-Dart-Identity-System/2678753

Check out more of Smith's work here!

The First Day of Summer

My first day of summer wasn't exactly exciting, but it was a much needed day full of lazing around in my sweats, surfing the web, watching ridiculous cat shows on Animal Planet, etc. While it sounded completely uneventful and lazy, I still kept busy (I can't sit still for long!). I unloaded my car and unpakced my various garbage bags filled with contents of my life. One of the major things I was to accomplish was finishing sending/addressing invitations for my grandfather's 89 and a half birthday party. I designed the invites during finals week, which was probably not the smartest idea but in the end they were finished and turned out rather cute considering I was working with such a tight time frame.

I feel like this design was perfect for my grandfather--dull colors, a neutral sans-serif. It was perfect! And it allowed me to continue my long-lived run with Helvetica Neue Condensed.

After I was done lazing around and working on my grandfather's invitations, I met up with my best friend since kindergarten for dinner and a little bit of shopping. Oh, and froyo of course! We went to my all-time favorite restaurant, One World. It's this hip cafe-esque restaurant with some really incredible food. It's also located in downtown Peoria, which means there was some really old brick buildings to take pictures by. I wanted to take more, but I'm new at this and was already receiving weird looks from people. This is definitely something I will have to get over.

What I wore...

Dress - Target

Sweater - Anthropologie

Shoes - Toms

Bag - Fossil

Pictures by Nicole Dyar (me); pictures of me done by Kelsey Phillis