Adored this week

Being a human with sensitive everything (teeth, skin, and yes, even emotions) can take a lot of trial and error when buying products to fit your needs. I used to have such glistening white teeth but then I met a Keurig and my pearl stunners lost their glow. I've tried whitening toothpastes which never worked and white strips which were way too painful for me. I found Arm and Hammer has a whitening boost gel that you apply over your regular toothpaste up to 3 times a day. In a week my teeth are shiny and bright white. This stuff really works! And the best part about it is that I bought two packs for a total of $7 at my local pharmacy. Don't waste your money, this gel rocks! 

Back to School

September is here which means that I just bid farewell to a wonderful summer and kicked it into high gear with back to school madness. Since the kiddies don't come in until next week, I've had a good amount of time to get my classroom into tip-top shape for their arrival. Here are the results:

My desk from the kids' perspective and from mine. Organizing accessories from See Jane Work, Ballard Designs, & Etsy.

The welcome sign and the picturesque brownstones across the street.

The newly comfortable cubby benches. Cushions from Bed, Bath & Beyond and Baskets from The Container Store.

Close-up shot of my benches. Can you tell I'm obsessed? I love how these cushions really brighten up the room. The baskets are easy to slide out of the milk crates using the handles on each end and are wide enough to fit those big picture books that never seem to fit anywhere!

They even fit dictionaries and textbooks! I self laminated labels with packing tape and added a bright green grosgrain ribbon to give it a little cute touch.

I hope all teachers out there have a great year. I'm excited to meet my new students and show off this pretty little room!

Laura

view from a desk

School has started and I have already kicked it into high gear with everything school related. First stop, my desk! It was beautiful the first couple of days but has now gotten progressively messier. Here are some of the first shots! Will post more soon to show off some of my cute organizational accessories!

how it looks from my perspective

how it looks from theirs

The only DIY aspects here are the mason jars and the letters. But I did not paint the mason jars, I bought them on Etsy. I did buy the wooden letters at Michael's and spray painted them with chalkboard spray paint. After two coats and a night to dry, they worked! I was convinced the chalkboard spray paint could not work that well, but I was pleasantly surprised! Make sure to follow the directions and all will be great!!

Happy back to school to all the teachers out there!

Laura

chevron nails

I finally caved and ordered a Konad Nail Stamper in order to help me with my nail art obsession. I ordered the Bundle Monster nail plate set from Amazon and am kind of obsessed with the results. For this mani, I used Essie Cute as a Button on my regular nails, Essie Splash of Grenadine as the base of my accent nail, and Essie Big Spender as the chevron print. I used the BM 201 plate for my chevron print. And here are the results! I love the accent nail trend and think it's more fun with a contrasting color chevron! Expect more of these bundle monster/konad nails in the near future! Happy Easter and happy Spring!

Laura

Easter Cupcakes

So I decided to make some fancy cupcakes for Easter. After going through tons of recipes online, I decided to go with chocolate raspberry cupcakes! I cheated and bought some Devil's Food cake mix from a box as well as some pre-made Fluffy White frosting so they're not from scratch, but they are super delicious!

What you'll need:
-Devil's Food cake mix
-Fluffy White Frosting
-Seedless Raspberry Jam
-Frozen Raspberries
-Two Ziploc bags (for jam filling and frosting)
-Blender
-Wooden Spoon

Basically, what you'll do is follow the directions on the cake mix and wait for them to cool. When they are cooled, take the end of a wooden spoon and insert into the center of the cupcake. You can push the spoon in deep but make sure not to push it all the way down to the bottom of the cupcake (or else the jam may fall out the bottom).

making the hole

 

my donut looking cupcakes

When you have all of the holes in the cupcakes, fill a ziploc bag with seedless raspberry jam and cut a hole in the corner. You can put the tip of the bag in the hole and push the jam out until it starts to overfill. Here's what they look like when that's happening and when they're done!

When this is done, you're going to defrost the raspberries (you can also use fresh) and put them in the blender until they are fully ground. You can mix this into the frosting bit my bit until you get your desired flavor and color of frosting. I put the mix in the blender to make a smoother and less funky looking frosting. Note: the frosting will be more liquified than regular frosting, so it may drip off the cupcake when you frost them. You can put the frosting mixture in the ziploc bag, cut a hole and push the frosting through. And voila! Refrigerate and eat within an hour! These are so good--but you have to love raspberry to enjoy these cupcakes. Hope you like them, my family and I sure do!



Laura

 

 

spring has SPRUNG in the Bronx

After 4 years of going to the Bronx multiple times (to visit my sister at Fordham) and 4 years of living in the Bronx (my time at Fordham), I never once made it to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. Although it was about a one minute walk from the entrance of campus, my empty college student pockets never allowed me to go to the show. So this year I was determined to make it happen! And what a joy it was! Will and I went to Orchid Evenings where a DJ was spinning some fancy French pop music and we perused the show with a complimentary cocktail in hand. The flowers were gorgeous and I loved going at night when they light up in the inside of the conservatory. Here are some pictures of my favorite orchids from the night!

 Laura

Happy Easter!

In my family, it is a tradition to dye Easter eggs every year. Even though this has been going on for 23 years strong, it's still a tradition I love and will probably do every year. This year we used the PAAS (same as every year) deluxe pack with 9 colors. Put the tablets in water and the colors weren't coming out bright, so I added about a tbsp of lemon juice to each cup. Have a happy Easter!