{ombre}

I'm hoping that this is the last post with full on snow for awhile…

photography by Emily Smalling

Ombre Sweater, Bloomingdales Old (grey/black, turquoise, black/white) // Rock & Republic Jeans // H&M Shirt // Nordstrom Booties // Kendra Scott Ring // Sophie Harper Necklace via Rocksbox (first month free with code jenniferbff102) // NARS Lipstick in "Heat Wave" with "Luxembourg" on top

Things I'll never get tired of? Ombre, all black, and wearing brown with black. I'm sure some people are going to look at this outfit and think "omg Jenn should never have worn that brown ombre sweater with that black outfit!!" Truth in the matter? I don't really care and rules were meant to be broken. I put this outfit together and thought - hey, that's cool how the sweater really pops! Then I thought - okay, this is the perfect opportunity to wear two of my favorite lipsticks at once and create a new shade. Really I just create some of my favorite outfits by being bored and trying to create new combos while out on a limb. Plus, all black against the snow is really a striking combo!

Now I keep thinking about actually ombre-ing my hair instead of letting my summer color grow out (yeah… sorry that's how I got this color in my hair!!). I'm SO ready for real sunshine and a TAN!! Yikes my legs looked really pale against my green skirt yesterday… Summer, where are you?!

Side note: I tried to take "cute" photos in the snow by throwing it up and being fun and spontaneous and YEAH none of those photos made it here. If anyone has tips on how to get rid of a SCARY double chin please hook a girl up… seriously… like I need heeelllppp!

Love Always,

{#onfleek}

Trying to be like the "cool kids" and use all this hashtag new lingo…

photography by Emily Smalling

Dress, not online (1, 2) // Earrings // Jacket, old (1, 2, 3, 4) // Booties // Purse // NARS Lipstick in "Luxembourg"

I wore this look out a couple of weekends ago for sushi, drinks, and dancing my favorite girls. It was the perfect outfit because it's finally getting warm enough (aka not freaking frigid) where you don't need a heavy coat when you're walking between bars. I loved being able to mix a little bit of sass into these stripes ;) this jacket is about a year old but there are tons of moto jacket options out there! I'm still searching for the perfect faux leather coat. Any suggestions?

Okay, so the title of this post… when we were in our Uber on the way to dinner the discussion of #onfleek came up. We were laughing at all of the new slang and we were determined to try and use it in our conversation that night. When we sat down to eat my roomie stated "these tater tots are off the fleek!" Needless to say I busted out laughing and every time I see this outfit I think of the phrase "on fleek" aka on point or top notch. Ohhh kids these days ;)

Love Always,

{whole lot of flow}

This outfit is all about comfort - lots of flowy fabric and flowy materials.

Photography by Emily Smalling

Sweater // Skirt // Necklace // Shoes // Lipstick in "hot tango"

I wore this outfit on Instagram a couple of weeks ago and got a ton of texts/emails about details of where things are from… I love that y'all get as excited about a big sweater and flippy skirt as I do :) As with most of my outfits I try to create new combinations out of things I already own. You may remember this black floppy skirt from this post and this post. Two totally different tops - one was loose and tucked in, the other was fitted and untucked. I like to play with the different silhouettes in combinations… it keeps everyone from realizing you're wearing the same skirt over and over! (Unless you call yourself out in a blog post like me. Oops!!)

What do you guys think? What was your favorite way I styled it?

Love Always

{recipe | cake pops}

Last Sunday as I was getting back in from a photo shoot with Emily my roomie, Jenna, told me that she wanted to make cake pops! Naturally, I jumped up and down and begged to make them with her. We've both always been dying to try our hand at this mini bite sized treat so it was a cake pop match made in heaven (yes, this is our version of Sunday Funday). We decided on two flavors: red velvet (a classic) and strawberry (something fun and different - not your typical cake).

So this isn't' a full fledged recipe per say… more like a beginner's how to :)

This is another post done with my iPhone (#recipeswithmyiphone as I like to call it) so I hope you feel like you're literally in the kitchen baking with us! It got pretty messy so be prepared to get your hands dirty.

CAKE POPS:

-2 cake box flavors [of your choice]

-2 icing tubs [of your choice]

-2 packages of baker's chocolate

-lollipop sticks

-2 types of sprinkles

-wax paper or aluminum foil

This makes around 50 cake balls if you roll them into the size of a golf ball… all the better for your coworkers because that's whom Jenna and I shared them with!!

RECIPE:

1. Bake your cakes according to the directions. Make sure that they are cooked fully. If they aren't this will make the crumbling process pretty difficult.

2. Crumble the cakes into teeny tiny pieces. No lumps! This was the fun part - but, let them cool! My fingers were a little unhappy when I just dove in.

3. Mix in one spoonful of icing at a time… too much and the balls will be heavy and won't stay on the sticks. Too little and they'll crumble apart (this actually happened for the strawberry and we added more after making a couple of cake balls). You'll want it to become a smooth texture that can be rolled easily.

4. Roll your balls and begin placing them on a foil lined cookie sheet. If they touch that's okay! I recommend making them into the size of a golf ball - perfect for 3-4 bites!

5. Put the whole tray in the fridge to cool for around an hour. This helps solidify everything!

6. Get all of your ingredients laid out and ready to rumble… Move the cake balls to another plate so that the foil lined sheet can have freshly dipped pops placed on them. The fancier way to do this is to get a styrofoam block and place they pops upside down but… yeah, ain't nobody got time for that.

7. Melt the bakers chocolate until it is completely smooth. You want to have it in a bowl that is deep enough to completely emerge the cake pop. As time goes by the chocolate will harden, simply keep microwaving it so that it's hot and runny. If you use a double boiler you won't have to keep reheating the chocolate. 

8. Before dipping the whole cake pop in the chocolate I have a tip for you - Poke a hole in the cake pop with the lollipop stick, remove the stick and dip a bit of the end in the chocolate, then reinsert the stick into the hole. This will help act as a "glue".

9. Dunk the cake ball (on the stick) into the chocolate. Tap the cake pop gently on the side of the bowl while rotating it to get any extra chocolate off.

10. While holding the cake pop over a small plate (keep spinning it slightly since the chocolate is hot and melty) sprinkle your sprinkles on top! Jenna and I used different sprinkles on our two flavors so that we could tell them apart! 

11. Place the cake pop on the foil sheet so that the stick stands straight up in the air. You could also add sprinkles to the top of the cake pop at this point… it just makes it harder to get all of the sides.

12. You'll notice the chocolate dries pretty quickly - it looses a bit of it's shine. Carefully peel the cake pop off of the foil sheet and place it on a plate.

13. Ta da!! That's it!! Relatively simple right? It just take a bit of coordination :) There's no need to worry about them being misshaped or not perfect because that just adds to their freshly made charm! I wish we had had a lot of ribbon so we could've put bows on them… so adorable!

What other flavors do you think would be good? Have you ever made cake pops before? I'd love to hear any of your tips/tricks! Happy baking, friends!

Love Always,

{casual with nikki e designs}

There's nothing I love more than a casual look that still packs a punch.

photography by Emily Smalling

F21 White Ribbed Cardigan // H&M Shirt // AE Ripped Jeans // Sam Edelman Petty Booties // Ray-Ban Aviators // Gigi New York Crossbody Bag // Sophie Harper Pave Necklace via Rocksbox (use code jenniferxoxo1 for your first month free) // Nikki E. Designs Ring and Bracelets ℅ (20% of all sales are donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) // NARS Lipstick in "Heat Wave"

You guys may have seen my "sneak peek" on Instagram yesterday of this amazing ring by Nikki E. Designs!! I love love love layering rings and this one fits me perfectly. Paired with the bracelets it creates such a fun, casual, easy-go-lucky look. The bracelets are made with nice heavy beads and quality materials. I actually took these for a spin before photographing them (something I normally do to make sure I actually enjoy wearing them - hey, I give y'all my honest opinion) and got a lot of compliments on their fun spirit! One of the coolest things about Nikki, the creator and designer, is that she's an architect by day!! When I saw that I knew I had to work with her. It's so inspiring to see people work full time and still pursue their daydream (that's kind of how I think of my blog). Did you know that 20% of all sales are donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society? Yeah… Not only is she talented but she's sweet and caring too! Make sure you check out her Etsy page and follow her on Instagram! I love seeing the way she layers her bracelets.

On another note, I wear these cardigan style "shrugs" more than is socially acceptable… I swear I have like five of them and never think I have enough… I just can't help it! They're so comfortable and totally transform an outfit to casual chic when you throw one on. I feel very Olivia Pope-esque in them and love to lounge around with one wrapped around me! I highly recommend adding one to your closet :)

Love Always,