I didn’t make any official New Year’s resolutions this year, either for myself nor for the blog but one thing I would like to do is share more lifestyle posts since I consider this a “lifestyle blog.” My first lifestyle post for this year is food-related. I am terrible at coming up with my own recipes but I’m great at following instructions and putting my personal spin on existing recipes – much like I do with my fashion. For example, I often make this Charred Chile Relleno recipe by Rachael Ray but I add chorizo and skip the green rice.

I’m a big fan of Gina at Skinnytaste.com so I try her recipes regularly. I can honestly say that I’ve never been disappointed by anything I’ve tried from her site, and she’s really good with cooking directions. The other night, Nick and I decided to try her Bangin’ Good Chicken Salad recipe. It definitely lives up to the name. It’s extremely easy and simple and I’ll definitely be making it again. But, of course, I put my own spin on it. More on that below.

It starts with romaine lettuce and red cabbage. Look at those beautiful colors: green and purple, my wedding colors! 😉

For the chicken, simply cut up a chicken breast (or some chicken tenders, which is what we used) into bite-sized pieces, coat them in a little olive oil, cover them in breadcrumbs, and bake for 8-12 minutes. Baking the chicken doesn’t give it quite the crunch that frying would, but it still turned out really yummy.

My personal spin is that I decided not to make the skinny bang bang sauce as specified in the recipe. Instead, I found a bang bang sauce that has become my go-to so I used it instead. The recipe I use is fromThat’s So Michelle and can be found on her blog here. (I haven’t tried that actual recipe yet but I have used that recipe with shrimp instead of cauliflower and it actually turned out to be amazing)

So, with the greens, chicken, and bang bang sauce, this recipe was a hit. The ONLY thing I would change for next time would be to add more vegetables to the salad since we ate it as our main course without any sides, so maybe some red bell peppers, carrots, snap peas, cauliflower, and/or edamame.

I hope you enjoyed this post and  don’t mind seeing more like them. What do you think, would you try this recipe? Do you come up with your own meals or put your own spin on other recipes?

I thought about not posting this outfit because it felt so plain and simple that it couldn’t possibly be blog worthy, but I did some shopping recently and this was the result. I really like the look of distressed jeans but I’ve been apprehensive of them until now. I decided to try these Rockstar skinnies from Old Navy and they’re not too shabby – I was afraid they would be too tight. I need to have them hemmed because they didn’t have any short sizes, but in the meantime I just rolled them under. I’ll have to remember to tell the tailor to take them in a little as well, so they keep their skinny shape. I wore this outfit to run errands and then to dinner with friends.

I also fell in love with all of the pretty flats Old Navy has out for Spring. I ultimately chose these because they feel like springtime in winter, even though NC can’t make up its mind as to whether it’s going to be warm or cold. We’ve had a pattern these last few weeks of cold, rainy days followed by sunshine and high 50s, rinse and repeat, so loafers were actually pretty appropriate footwear for a few days. I can’t wait to wear them with skirts and shorts in a few months.

Here’s the fun one: Life has been pretty good lately so enjoy this big, beautiful smile!

Jacket: Banana Republic | Shirt, Denim, & Shoes: Old Navy | Clutch: Etsy | Earrings & Neckace: Store in Savannah, GA

Linking up with Carylee of More Pieces of Me | Molly from Still Being Molly

Good morning, dear readers. I wanted to take a few minutes to apologize for my absence this week but I came down with a touch of food poisoning over the weekend and I didn’t get a chance to take or post any outfit photos. Once I was feeling better,catching up on school work took precedent. But my friend and I did get some funny pics from last week that I’ll leave right here to give you a nice chuckle.

It was extremely cold out (by NC standards, at least) and we experienced some freezing rain. It seems I didn’t pack very appropriate footwear for my week at school and after walking around campus, my feet were FREEZING. Like, I couldn’t feel several of my toes.  The only solutiion I had was to wear my gloves as socks, and you know what? It worked! Remember that if you’re ever in a similar bind. You’re welcome.

I call this one “monkey toes” because that’s what it looked like!

I hope to be back to a normal schedule next week. I hope everyone has a great day and stays warm in whatever way you can 😉

You guys, I had my eye on this jacket for a while but it was a little more than I was willing to pay, but I recently found it on sale so I did what any girl would do: I snatched it up! I’m still learning how to choose outerwear for my outfits. I started out with a denim jacket but I don’t like wearing it with jeans, and then I finally got a trench coat but I can’t figure out when it’s appropriate to wear (only when it’s raining? can you wear them with jeans? it can’t be too cold out because it doesn’t keep me warm, etc.) but I was convinced that I needed this jacket and now I have it and I’m wearing it with everything! I don’t even care! Also, let’s talk about this sweater. I got it on sale at Target recently and I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a cropped sweater for an average-size person but I’m so short that I feel like it hits at this awkward point around my belly button. I really like it though, so I’ll make it work.

Here’s the blooper: I have no idea…

Jacket: Banana Republic | Sweater: Target | Jeans: kensie via Stitch Fix | Boots: Mix No. 6 via DSW | Jewelry: gift from mother-in-law

Also, did you catch the reference of my title?

GIF source

Linking up with Bri over at Work Clothes, I Suppose for Third Thursday Threads

When I saw this pin, I jumped to recreate it because I had everything in the photo: the vest, polka dot top, black skinnies, and leopard flats. The only thing missing is the statement necklace, but I’ll work on that. I really like how this outfit turned out in real life; the subtle pattern mixing is great and I’ve really been digging black and white lately. The weather in NC has been very mild thus far, so I wore this outfit to run errands, go to the grocery store, and again to work and school. I have a feeling it’s going to get a lot of wear as long as the weather continues to cooperate.

And here’s the blooper: That hair, that face, that wind?

Top: Old Navy | Vest & Jeans: Banana Republic | Leopard Flats: Christian Siriano via Payless | Necklace: Wal-Mart | Sunnies: Target

Linking up with InDUFFinitely Me | Work Clothes, I Suppose