Fashion Inspired by "You've Got Mail"

Fashion Inspired by "You've Got Mail" by ijustbeolivia

"You've Got Mail" is my favorite movie. I love how charming and quaint it feels, and it's the perfect movie for a relaxing night at home. I think the best movies and TV shows feel like fall and have twinkle lights (which applies to "You've Got Mail" and "Gilmore Girls").

Kathleen Kelly is such an adorable character who is down-to-earth and easy to relate to. I love her simple, feminine style. It's so elegant and classy. After watching the movie again this weekend, I put together some outfits inspired by Kathleen.

"Don't you love New York in the fall?" by ijustbeolivia 

The movie starts out in fall, which makes this feel-good movie even cozier. I love that Joe says he would send ShopGirl/Kathleen a "bouquet of sharpened pencils". Kathleen's style is casual but still feminine. She wears some slouchy cardigans over her skirts and tights. She also wears a simple black coat. These pieces are neutral and easy to wear in different combinations. The boots cater to the grungy feel of the cardigan, while the tailored purse goes well with the collared shirt. I added light pink nail polish because Kathleen isn't one to wear bright colors. The pieces in this look are timeless and could be worn by someone of any age.

"It will all shake out. Meanwhile, I'm putting up more twinkle lights." by ijustbeolivia

Kathleen wears a lot of simple shift dresses in the movie. I love this forest green shift dress with the black long sleeved shirt underneath it. It's unique and classy. The boots and tights polish the look off, and the gorgeous bag emphasizes the green in the dress. This is a great outfit for work, but it's still casual enough to wear on the weekend.

"All this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings." by ijustbeolivia

The scene in which Joe brings Kathleen flowers when she's sick is so adorable. It's so sweet that you can tell that they're about to become friends. Her pajamas are cute, and of course, classic. I love that she wears a trench coat to answer the door. Her coat is another closet staple.

"Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?" by ijustbeolivia

You see Kathleen wear a lot of skirts and cardigans throughout the movie. In the spring, she wears linen and gauzy cardigans. She also wears a lot of simple white tees. True to form, she sticks to pretty neutrals and pastels. This khaki linen skirt goes perfectly with a light blue cardigan and tan accessories. I added some lovely blue nail polish (can you tell I like Essie brand?) This outfit formula is perfect for the transition from spring to summer or from summer to fall.

"I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly." by ijustbeolivia

The last scene of the movie is so sweet and perfect. I love the setting and music. Kathleen's outfit is adorable in that scene. She wears a simple linen dress and 3/4 sleeve cardigan. Sandals are the perfect match for this outfit, along with some taupe nail polish and a stylish tote bag. This linen dress is a wonderful day dress that could easily be worn with a lot of different cardigans and shoes.

What's your favorite scene from "You've Got Mail"?

Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Oatmeal On-the-Go

Breakfast is a meal that my hubby needs on-the-go because he often works early mornings. Since flavored oatmeal packets are expensive and aren't very filling, I decided to make my own oatmeal mix. It's saved us money, and they taste good! It's a simple recipe, and it's guaranteed to not be bland oatmeal (though it's also guaranteed to not be super healthy :]) Here's the recipe for one zip lock bag of oatmeal, which is about 3 or 4 servings:

-2 cups oats

-1/2 cup chocolate chips

-1/4 cup brown sugar

-1 tablespoon cinnamon

These measurements are just an estimate since I wing it whenever I make a bag. It's an easy recipe to tweak. 

Once you want to make a serving of the oatmeal (which is about a quarter of the oats in the ziplock bag), just add enough water to soak the oats with a little water resting on top. Microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute.

What are your favorite breakfast recipes?

DIY Fabric Scrap Garland from Old Clothes

I've been wanting to make a garland for a while, and my bedroom window was begging for some decoration. I have a lot of old clothes lying around that I don't wear anymore, so I decided to use those to make fabric strips to tie onto my garland.

First, I decided on my color scheme. I love cool colors, so I went with blue, green, off-white, and gray.

Next, I found some twine to tie the fabric on. I had some thin twine, but I decided to use some thicker twine since the garland would be heavy. I suggest using thick twine or slim rope. Then, I looped each end and tied it in a knot so that the loop could hang on a nail.

Then, I cut the clothes into strips. This would be so much easier with fabric scissors, but I was able to use my paper scissors. I tried to keep the strips about one inch wide and eight inches long. The great thing about this type of DIY is that it's supposed to look rustic, so it's okay if it's imperfect.

I didn't try to estimate how many strips I would need, I just started out cutting about 5 strips from each piece of clothing and tying them on. Once I ran out of strips, I would cut more. It's not an exact science. :)

Next, I started tying the pieces onto the twine. I started at one end and kept tying until I got to the other end. I just did a simple knot once with each strip. I alternated the colors.

Once I had finished tying the strips on the whole garland, I was done! It was a fun, relaxing project. I love DIY decorations, especially when they use materials that I already have on hand. The best part was that I was able to upcycle some old clothes. This is perfect if you don't sew and don't have any fabric lying around.

What DIY decorations have you made for your home?

Included in the Southern Girl Blogging Community That's Fresh Friday linkup: http://www.thespeckledpalate.com/2014/09/11/southern-girl-blog-community-presents-thats-fresh-friday-link-42/

Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of my favorite recipes to bake. It's simple, moist, and sweet. Plus, you can get away with eating it at any time of day. I decided to take my favorite banana bread recipe and tweak it so that it had a little more pizzazz. I love Yammie's Noshery's banana bread recipe, which you can find here:
http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2013/10/the-best-banana-bread-muffins-ever.html#wl5di0ueeGSlclSB.32

To make my banana bread, I used her recipe with just a couple of differences. My changes are in bold letters.

-3 brown bananas (1 cup mashed)
-2 eggs
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3/4 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 cup brown sugar (approximately)
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-1 teaspoon vanilla

Yammie tells you to make it in a gallon zip lock bag, which is a great idea. I didn't have any big zip lock bags, however, so I just mixed the ingredients together in a bowl. The great thing about this recipe is that you can easily mix it by hand with a fork; you don't even need an electric mixer or whisk. Here are the baking steps: (my changes to the recipe are bold)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and mash the bananas.
2. Mix in the eggs.
3. Add the sugar.
4. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

5. Mix in the oil and vanilla.

6. Grease your pan and pour in half of your batter. Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar generously over the batter. 

7. Add the rest of your batter to the pan and sprinkle more cinnamon and  brown sugar on top. Swirl it together with a fork.

8. Bake for 10-20 minutes at 375. Check after 10 minutes to make sure it hasn't started to over cook. 
9. Cool and dust a small amount of brown sugar on the top.

I skipped making the glaze since this was sweet enough on its own.

This bread turned out really well! It tastes like banana bread with a little extra cinnamon-y sweetness. Enjoy!

Livi

Included in the Southern Girl Blogging Community That's Fresh Friday linkup: http://www.thespeckledpalate.com/2014/09/11/southern-girl-blog-community-presents-thats-fresh-friday-link-42/

Popcorn Bar and Movie Date Night

 

Relaxing at home with a movie is one of my favorite things to do with my husband. The other night, I decided to surprise my husband with an extra fun movie night by adding a special snack. Naturally, popcorn is the perfect snack to go along with this date night. I popped some popcorn on the stove and set out our toppings. Our toppings were spray butter, chocolate chips, and taco seasoning. Additionally, we had m & ms and mike 'n ikes to eat as they are or mixed in with our popcorn. 

I also made a movie themed quiz for us to take. I wrote out the quiz on a piece of paper and titled it, "What Movie Genre are You?" I asked questions like, "What's your favorite food?" and "What's your favorite music genre?" The scoring system was the type where every type of question answer (i.e. all A answers, all B answers, etc) correlated to a certain quiz answer (i.e. you are the comedy genre, animated genre).

For decorations, I drew pictures of popcorn, a movie reel, and a movie clapper with our names on it and our date night as the "production".

We had fun mixing up different flavors of popcorn, and it made a fun date night extra special. 

You could also make puppy chow popcorn, which I have the recipe for here.

What do you like to do for date night?

Livi