#GirlCrack: S'mores Treats

Well, the snow has just about melted, and this batch of #girlcrack is just about gone.  Last week, when we were stuck in the house for 3 days, I got a little stir crazy.  Around hour 48, I started looking through my baking cabinet for something to make.  We had an unopened box of s'mores cereal from an old sponsored post, so I decided to dig out all the graham pieces and finally make a batch of #girlcrack.  This stuff first became famous at my and Mike's bridal party weekend getaway, more than 3 years ago.  All of our friends brought things to share, and Mike's friend James brought a variation of this.  Basically, it's rice krispies treats made with graham cereal, and it's soooo good.  I decided to add a drizzle of chocolate to the top to make the perfect s'more.  It's kind of been a running joke that I never shared the recipe, but joke no more!  

Ingredients: 

5 cups graham cracker cereal (Golden Grahams or S'mores)

3 tablespoons butter

1 package (10oz) of mini marshmallows

1/3 cup cream cheese frosting

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/2 cup milk chocolate

Directions:

1. Heat butter in a large saucepan on medium.

2. Turn stove to low and pour in marshmallows, stirring until melted.

3. Add cream cheese frosting and vanilla extract.

4. Remove marshmallow mixture from the heat and stir in graham cereal.

5. Grease an 9x12 pan and press treats into the pan (spraying cooking spray onto your fingers helps a lot with this).

6. Allow to cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

7. When set, melt milk chocolate and drizzle over the bars.
8. Allow to set for another half hour and cut into squares.

So yeah, making these was a perfect way to spend another snow day.  So that I didn't eat the whole batch, I bagged them up and delivered them to neighbors.  Everyone deserves a treat after being cooped up inside for 3 days!

Out of Office - Snow Day! Re: Lilly Pulitzer After Party

Whoever thought I would write these words: it's a snow day in Charleston!!  I'll be back next week with plenty of photos and stories, but for now, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites from the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale going on through tonight.  I purchased a couple of pieces in the sale, including (finally) a pair of my favorite shorts in the coveted Oh Shello pattern as well as the La Fortuna top and Alpaca romper below.  Lilly added a bunch of new pieces late last night, so I included a bunch of those here, in case you haven't re-shopped the sale.

Head in the Sand ||| Oh My Cod ||| Rock the Dock ||| Keep on Trunkin

Coco Safari ||| Alpaca My Bags ||| Catch and Release ||| Al Fresco

Thursday, 10am update: all of the above (except Rock the Dock Elsa - however, click here to see what is still available in that pattern) are still available.  Also, a whole new batch was just added, included a bunch of dresses, vests, luxletic, and accessories.  Here are a few of my additional favorites - happy shopping!

Oh My Cod ||| Summer Sunset ||| Onyx ||| Breezy Babe

Sparkling Sands ||| Drop Me a Lime ||| Beach Loot ||| It's Eelectric

Winter White + Beach Blue

My hometown: it gets me every time I'm there.  In the smallest state, right on the ocean, with the best little shops and restaurants... in the summer.  Then there are the townies, like me.  My parents still live there year-round with a few other thousand people, but every Memorial Day, the population more than doubles.  Even Taylor Swift has a home, just a few hundred feet up the hill from where these photos were taken.

While I love all those colorful beach umbrellas and bright, sunny days filled with homemade ice cream, I have to admit that fall and winter days are some of my favorites.  All of the shops have closed for the season, but the waves are still crashing, and when the sun is out, you can still feel the summer warmth.  

I love going back home every holiday season in the dead of winter when no one else is on the streets.  While I love Charleston, there's something about this tiny little town and having a winter off-season.  I love this place, and it was the perfect day to remind me why.

crochet trimmed top ||| ankle pants ||| booties ||| essie - berry naughty ||| jewelry collection

Winter in Rhode Island

I love my hometown.  It's a quaint little stretch of beach right on the Rhode Island shoreline.  While summers in the ocean were my favorite, I also always loved when the tourists packed up and it was just us "townies" in the winter.  Mike and I never forget to stop by my boarded-up town beach when we make trips back to the Northeast around the holidays.  This year, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect - almost 60 degrees!  

Unfortunately, my favorite mini golf course is now just sand (thanks to Hurricane Sandy), but it'll only be a few more months until the snack shack and my favorite ice cream window are back open for summer 2016.

dress (similar) ||| monogrammed vest ||| earrings ||| pineapple necklace |||

bracelets ||| booties (similar) ||| nail color

Christmas in New England

I don't even know where to start.  The last 12 days over Christmas and New Year's were awesome!  We spent so much time with family and friends in five states and ate all of the food.  Basically, this post is filled with a lot of selfies, snapchat screenshots, and captions.  Sorry in advance for the photo dump, but if I were to write everything out you'd be reading until Biana's linkup next Monday...

Pre-Christmas bowling, pool, and coffee dates with old friends

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Mike's family

The cutest dude's first birthday party

Meeting up with Biana in Boston!

Cousin time in Delaware

Rhode Island visit

New Year and wedding planning (dress shopping and cake tasting) with my sister-in-law!

How To: Winterize Your Nails

January is definitely the worst month of the year.  I'm sorry to be a negative Nancy, but come on, it's true!  Even in South Carolina, the air is dry, it's colder, and everyone's a little sniffly and "blah" after the craziness and excitement of the holidays has worn off.

I don't know about you, but my nails seem to bear the brunt of January's wrath: there aren't any fun holiday parties to paint them for, they get super dry and cracked with the weather and all of that hand sanitizer, and I use them to scratch the price tags off all of those great new Christmas gifts.  Nails aren't exactly something that make the cut into New Year's Resolutions either.

Well, I think we should change all that.  I'm teaming up with Julep to share How To Winterize Your Nails.  To me, the first step in winterizing is all about keeping my nails (and hands - can't forget those cuticles) strong and smooth.  To do this, I use my perfect honey lemon nail and hand scrub made from simple ingredients.  It's the perfect start before all that clipping, shaping, nudging, and polishing.

Here's what you'll need: 1 tablespoon honey, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon, and 1 cup granulated sugar

To make it, just whisk together the honey and EVOO, then add the lemon and whisk again.  Finally, mix in the sugar and pour it into a jar with a lid.

When it's time to use the scrub, start with dry hands and remove all jewelry.  Rub about a teaspoon between your hands for 30 seconds and then rinse with water.  It will leave your hands feeling smooth and moisturized.

There are so many hand and nail benefits to each of the ingredients, especially to winterize:

• Olive oil: effective dry skin relief, diminishes the appearance of scars, reduces skin redness, and hydrates nails
• Honey: naturally antibacterial
• Lemon juice: removes dead skin and strengthens nails
• Sugar: natural humectant (helps keep in moisture) and exfoliates, giving hands a glowing and soft feel

Now, after you've scrubbed, you can continue on with Julep to winterize your nails:

Once nails and hands are winterized, you won't want to hide them in gloves anymore, so show them off with a fresh coat of polish.  Here are some of Julep's favorite winter colors.

Ilsa /// Sawyer /// Joanne /// Kiki /// Shari

Check out all of Julep's colors on their new nail polish color page, where you can see my winter favorites: Beverly and Misti!  Last, but not least, don't forget to check out Julep's blog for health and beauty tips, fun DIYs, and fantastic nail art ideas.

I hope you liked this collaboration with Julep.  Now I want to know: Do you winterize your nails?  What is your favorite winter nail polish color?