The Sweltering Sweater: February 2016

Valentine's Day

7:58 PM

[[OUTFIT DETAILS: Top, Skirt and bag are all from Primrose Park (I am in love with the timeless elegance of this outfit!), shoes, gold ring and LOVE ring - OLD, Earrings]]

Taken by @angi_jenny and @jerryblackberry, Makeup by @mirandart123

I'm about to say something and it may surprise some of you, but overall I hope it's pretty relatable.

There are times where I hate that I'm single.

I imagine I am getting a mixed group of responses ranging from "how can you hate it? You get to be completely independent and you don't have to answer to anyone!" to "Being single is so lonely. You have to take on everything by yourself and it's a miserable period of life."

Or perhaps you fit into both categories.

Now another statement I'm about to make may also be relatable to you: People express their opinions on relationships/singleness infinitely more around valentines day.

You can't go down the street without seeing red hearts or pink signs with screaming fonts reminding you that this holiday is approaching whether you are ready or not.

In preparation, I encourage you, this valentines day, to take the focus off of yourself.

That's right, I said it: The point of valentines day is not you.

Truthfully, valentines day isn't even about love or relationships, its about perceptions. It's about how people view you. It's about living up to other people's standards.

If we took away the fancy dinners and the expensive presents and our egos, it would be like any other day.

Please don't think I'm telling you to drop all your plans on Sunday or to not do anything special. Spend the day with all of the people you love! Eat good food because you enjoy nice cuisine! Dress up because you can! Just keep in mind that you should enjoy your life for exactly what it is instead of focusing on where you level up in comparison to others. If you have a hard day, embrace it. If you have a great day, celebrate it. Your identity is in the creator of love and His is better than any you'll experience here.

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February Favorites

8:34 AM

Since it's been almost a year since I last did a favorites post [insert shocked emoji], here's a little run down of what this consists of:

Although I tend to be a person who sticks to what is familiar to her, every once in a while I do go out of my comfort zone and try something new. Sometimes these items are duds, but sometimes they become regularly used treasures. When I collect enough of these regularly used treasures, I pick what I believe to be the best ones and then I tell you about them (So in short, that's what a favorites post is!)

For my favorites posts, I like to divide them up into categories: food, beauty, fashion and music. This forces me to add variety so that it isn't just another outfit post (although at some point I could do a fashion edition and just do all my favorite clothing pieces?)

MUSIC:

If you know me IRL then this is no surprise, I have been jamming out to Lana Del Rey since August. Although I knew of her before this summer, I had a pre-concieved notion that she was way too indie for me (purely based on people I knew who listened to her), but when a friend of mine forced me to listen to this, I came to really enjoy it. You can definitely feel her passion in the music and her lyrics are relatable. It's a staple CD (#oldschool) in my car.

FOOD:

So I really only have one thing on my mind as we get closer to valentine's day and that's dessert. These Nutella stuffed (!!!!) chocolate chip cookies are amazing! You can either start from scratch or use a mix for the cookie dough. In this case, I had to get the job done quickly, so I used Betty Crocker. If you have the time though, do start from scratch, it's always better!

This Betty Crocker recipe is super easy, all you need is a stick of butter and water. (Pro-tip: either brew coffee or throw in an instant coffee mix instead of the water because it draws out the flavor!)

Once your cookie dough is mixed up, create tiny balls of dough and then plop a bit of nutella in the center. Enclose the nutella within the cookie dough, ensuring that there are no holes where it can seep out.

Once they're ready to go, you bake 8 - 10 minutes and then you're done!

Enjoy!

BEAUTY:

My main item for beauty this month is Lush's Mask of Magnaminty. I bet most of you know what Lush is - if you don't they specialize in skincare, soaps and overall nice smelly things. This goes on like any other mask (wash your face first and then leave it on for 5 - 10 minutes then wash it off) but it has some kinda magic in it where your face feels so good! It's like a cool breeze is caressing your skin! It's truly mystical.

Please enjoy this photo where I look like a mix of Squidward and Elphaba from Wicked.

FASHION:

Recently I've been really into turtlenecks (I don't know why, I used to hate them). What I like about this Forever 21 dress is that it has the warmth factor of a turtleneck sweater, but I can ideally wear it in the early spring or the fall, so it's versatile. Also all black is just prime.

This scarf is very special to me because my friend Zelphia (if you follow me on Twitter @Kaylie_OConnor or on snapchat @krazykaloogs then you've seen or heard of Zelph a lot) brought it back from Italy for me! It's so cozy and can be looped a few times around your neck so it actually keeps you warm. Plus you can pair it with different outfits because of it's neutral minimalistic look.