Shockingly Bright Pinks

Kay Unger, Michael Kors, Naven

Velvet, Roxy, Rebecca Minkoff, Rebecca Minkoff

As you can see by my profile picture (and shown above) I love shockingly bright pinks. This look is especially cute in dresses and handbags, but I'm happy to also wear it in more casual pieces like tanks and tees. This is definitely a color I want to wear a lot of this summer. What bright colors are you into right now?

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

As I've said before, the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook never lets me down. I made these cookies yesterday with a recipe from More from Magnolia. The actual recipe is for Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chip Cookies, which are delicious. But I find that substituting Butterscotch chips makes them divine. They're also easy to make. Try them for yourself!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (not regular, old-fashioned rolled oats)
1 cup peanut butter (or butterscotch) chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the oats and peanut butter chips. Drop by the rounded teaspoonfuls onto the ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Bake for 11-13 minutes.
Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Girls' Night Out

Banana Republic tank, Forever 21 skirt, Modern Vintage Boots, Forever 21 cross body mesh bag, Michael Kors watch

Sarah's amazing birthday gift (Christian Louboutin pumps) from her very sweet boyfriend, Bunz. Take notes, Gabe.

Sarah (the birthday girl) and Kati

The guy on the left was on Melrose Place.

Kati, Sarah, and I celebrated Sarah's birthday on Friday night at The Parlor in Santa Monica. As I've said before, staying in at night and going to bed early is usually my thing, but it was so fun to mix things up and "hit the town" for a girls' night. We had a lot of fun and laughs even had a few celebrity sightings. The guy pictured above (Colin Egglesfield) was on Melrose Place. Unfortunately, I don't watch Melrose, so this wasn't as exciting as he had hoped it would be for us. However, he told us that he just got cast in a movie based on the book called Something Borrowed. I was beside myself with excitement about this fact because I literally finished reading this book yesterday and LOVED it! I'm so happy to hear they're making it into a movie!

Buy This, Not That

Avalaya
Elsa Peretti at Tiffany

Kati has been obsessing over these gold mesh earrings since last summer and when I finally realized which earrings she was talking about, I started to share her obsession. I had a pair just like this back in college and I wore them until they changed color and started to rust. I just bought the Avalaya pair from Amazon and can't wait to get them and start wearing them!

The Best Bikini in Town

Women's String-Bikini Tops $16.50
Women's String-Bikini Bottoms $16.50
Women's Jersey Tube Sundown Gowns $20 (sale)
Women's Hammered Metallic Rings $7.50
Women's Pyramid-Embossed Flip-Flops $3.50

I know this is a bold statement, but hear me out before you make any assessments. Hands down, Old Navy has the best string bikini around. During the summer, I spend the majority of my free time at the beach and therefore practically live in bikinis and sundresses when the weather is warm (at least on the weekends). Every year, I'm on the lookout for the perfect bikini and every year I'm appalled by the price tag on every swimsuit I find. But tried and true, Old Navy always comes through for me and provides the perfect string bikini at the right price. They fit well, machine wash nicely, and have cute styles look great all summer long. You can almost always find a coupon code or sale somewhere online to make it even cheaper. The rest of the clothes at Old Navy are very inconsistent in my opinion. Once in a great while I'll find a sundress, sweater, or tank top that I can't live without and wear as if it's my uniform, but these cases are rare for me. So go for the bikinis and take a look around. But go early, they sell out fast.

The Secret to Delicious Rice Krispie Treats

Some people don't know this, but there's actually an art to making Rice Krispie Treats. While they seem simple enough (only 3 ingredients, how could that go wrong?) they're actually more complex than they look. The secret to making Rice Krispie Treats is that you must use Rice Krispies brand cereal. I'm a big proponent of anything and everything generic, but this is one of the few exceptions because generic Rice Krispies are different! They're fatter and rounder and more crunchy, which just doesn't work as well for this dessert. This is one splurge that is absolutely worth it and essential to making them the best they can be. I recently found this recipe for Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats on Smitten Kitchen and I know this sounds impossible, but it really does take the recipe to a new level. Try it and let me know what you think!

Who Says You Can't Go Home

Aqua (Bloomgindales) Blazer, Forever 21 tee

Kylee and Gabe having a deep conversation

Uncle Johnnie and Kylee playing airplane

Kylee loves my parents' new dog, Shelby

Vince and Johnnie (my brothers). Johnnie's wearing his sweet new vintage Ray-Bans from Vince and Barbara.

Lucia, Sissy, and Johnnie

Everyone loves taking a picture with the DJ

Lucia and the DJ

Johnnie with the DJ

Our weekend in Fresno was filled with family, friends, and birthday celebrations. We celebrated my little brother Johnnie's 24th birthday on Saturday and I was able to see my niece Kylee (along with the rest of my family) which is always so exciting for me. We also had lunch with our friends Sarah and Chase and made it to Lucia's sister Lisa's 40th Birthday party after dinner at my parents' house. One of the highlights of the night was watching the DJ who sang and danced alone outside during the entire party. We finally noticed him and gave him the credit he deserved for being the true life of the party. It reminded Johnnie and me of this clip from Happy Gilmore.