Weekend Happenings: Style Edition

Some of you liked my style post on Friday. Some of you described me as a "hot mess" -- ouch! I definitely don't claim to know what I'm doing. At all. Which is why I'm even bothering to do it. Whether or not I'm wearing exactly the RIGHT match, it's way better than sweats and jeans every single day.

(On that, I think we can all agree.)

The worst part of it all is taking the photo. I feel so awkward! And it shows . . .

This time around, I tried my best to think about how the clothes were fitting me. The last outfit was, according to many of you, too "flouncy" and "shapeless" . . . so I tried to go with skinny jeans on bottom and a looser top. I even invested in some prettier shoes (more on my weekend spending in just a sec).

Not much color here, but it's a grey, gross day outside. I guess I'm using that as my inspiration. And working with my awkwardness. For sure.



Jacket is from Target
Shirt is from Gap
Jeans are DKNY (via TJ Max)
Shoes are Target
Necklace is J. Crew (via outlet store)

Back to the shoes. I bought two pairs this weekend. One at Target (suede wedges) for just shy of $30. One at The Shoe Depot (leather flats) for -- again -- $30. I also bought a shirt, belt, and sweater vest from Target, all for around $50. But here's the thing. After this last indulgence, I'm not buying ANY clothes. ALL year.

Even I don't know if I can do it. But Chrissy (The New Me) passed along a link to The Great American Apparel Diet, wherein participants sign on and agree to not purchase any new clothing items for an entire year. I immediately sent them an email and said: COUNT ME IN! (You can still buy accessories, shoes, and underwear. Thankfully.)

I spent hours this weekend cleaning my tiny closet and organizing my clothing by type and color. I'm hoping I can keep it this way (I tend to accumulate gigantic piles on the floor at times).


The no-buy rule will definitely help me indulge my creative side. Not only will I be trying to figure out fun outfit combinations . . . I also plan to make some of my own accessories. (With tutorials, of course.) Remember my hand-knit eternity scarf? Yup. I got out the knitting needles this weekend and starting on a new project.

Progress photos will be posted later in the week!


Speaking of hot messes, my friend Jesslynn came over on Saturday. She's been telling me about how awesome the 30-Day Shred is, so we did Level 2 together. I'll admit that at first I was a bit cocky -- thinking that all my cross-training would make it easy to complete. All I can do now is laugh at myself.

The workout was SO intense and gratifying, I immediately went out and snagged a copy for myself! I can't wait to go home and do it again tonight!

What did you do this weekend? Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com. (And don't miss our awesome Basil Pesto French Toast recipe!

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Nutella Ice Cream

Neverhomemakers: meet my BF Lindsey. One of the many interests she and I share is our love of Nutella. To celebrate this love, we decided to get together yesterday and make Nutella ice cream and brownies. Yeah, that's right -- ice cream AND brownies. Yum! I'm posting the ice cream recipe/adventure first because . . . well, it seemed to be a complete fail when she left our house last night (hence the frown faces in the photo above).

But would you call THIS a disaster? I don't think so . . .

I'm happy to report I was able to salvage the at-first sloppy Nutella mix and enjoy it frozen style after letting it sit a night in the freezer. I haven't yet spoken with Lindsey, but I'm hoping her half turned out just as well. So what's this disaster? What exactly happened? Here's the short of it: Lindsey brought over her spanking-new ice cream maker and we immediately we got to work mixing ingredients together . . .

What we neglected, however, was the very most important part of the ice cream making process: Ensuring the ice cream maker's canister is absolutely frozen. It had been in Lindsey's car for a few hours . . . felt cold enough . . . but definitely wasn't frozen. But another thing Lindsey and I share is a touch of impatience, especially when a delish spread of chocolate and hazelnuts is involved.

But you can learn from our mistake. When I say "follow your ice cream maker directions" -- follow 'em -- no exceptions. AND FREEZE YOUR CANISTER FOR AT LEAST 12 HOURS (or until you can't hear the coolant shaking around in there). If you don't, you'll turn out with a cool-ish Nutella soup.

Like this . . .

We got this recipe from awesome food blogger Katy over at Sugarlaws (it's fast becoming my favorite blog ever). Go check it out! As well, keep in mind that this recipe can easily be HEALTHY (or at least a little healthier). We made it with soy milk. The only reason we used real heavy cream is because there wasn't any Silk cream left at the store (and, being the weekend before x-mas, we didn't feel like hunting around). I also think coconut milk (full fat -- for consistency reasons)might be an interesting twist. And if you're vegan and you'd like a Nutella-ish ice cream experience, maybe try this recipe with Peanut Butter & Co.'s Dark Chocolate Dreams.

What you'll need to make four cups of ice cream . . .

• 2/3 cup Nutella
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream (or soy heavy cream -- Silk makes a great one)
• 2 cups milk (or soy milk, vanilla or regular)
  

Method . . .

1. Before you start, make sure your ice cream canister is completely frozen. (When you shake it, you shouldn't hear anything sloshing around.)
2. Whisk together all ingredients until well incorporated.
3. Pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions (ours had us churn it for 20 minutes).
4. Freeze for four hours before serving (I think this part is optional).

Suggestion: We also had planned to add some dark chocolate chunks and crushed hazelnuts. So, if you follow these directions and notice the mixture thickening (like it should) -- you can add 1/3 to 2/3 cups of each of these ingredients in the last five minutes of churning.

And seriously -- disaster or not, this ice cream taste incredible. Enjoy alone or with some tasty Nutella brownies (recipe coming soon!!!). And also stay tuned because Lindsey and I plan to join forces again and make ice cream the "right" way -- hopefully as soon as New Year's eve!

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