If I Had a Million Dollars...

If I had extra money I would....

    Buy fresh blooms regularly

Purchase colorful spring wardrobe items

What would you do?

Photos Via: Luxe + Lillies

The American Dream - 2011

"The American Dream in 2011 is finding the sublime in everyday. Like taking a stroll at dusk through your neighborhood or sipping wine with friends on friday night. It's that simple."

I am ALL ABOARD that dream's train.  

2011's 6 Coolest Nail Polish Trends

This year is all about rich, sheer, creamy colors in the nail polish world. Take a dabble in the trend guide I found from Refinery 29 & then polish up your digits. 

Back to Nature Nudes—Nude-as-naked nails look refreshingly demure, yet provocative. Make sure your polish comes in a high-gloss formula so you don't end up looking like you have mannequin hands. Featured: Karen Walker Spring 2011 image via CND; Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Naked, $16, available in mid-January; Essie Nail Polish in Sand Tropez, $8, available in February 

The Blues Clues—Whether it's Robin's Egg or Tiffany's Box, this pale blue shade has got "Spring" written all over it. Featured: Nicholas K Spring 2011 image courtesy of Dashing Diva/Eric Yu; Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Barracuda, $6.99, available in February; Priti NYC in Forget Me Not, $12.50, available at Priti NYC.

Peachy-Keen Pink—Need a polish that'll make your tan shine? This is it, ladies. Featured: Dior Nail Vernis in Pink Boa, $21, available at Nordstrom; Priti NYC Nail Polish in September Charm, $12.50, available at Priti NYC; Behnhaz Sarafpour Spring 2011 image courtesy of CND.

Lovely in Lavender—Dusty purples, saturated lavenders, and shiny heliotropes look great with most skin tones. Featured :Nicholas K Spring 2011 image courtesy of Dashing Diva/Eric Yu; Estee Lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquer in Violet Diva, $19, available in March at Estee Lauder; Priti NYC Nail Polish in Geisha Girl, $12.50, available at Priti NYC.

Gun-Metal Grays—Don't forget about those metallics! Give your digits the full metal treatment with pearlescent polishes. The future is now! Featured: Chanel Le Vernis in Black Pearl, $25, available at Chanel; M.A.C. Champale Nail Polish in Very Important Platinum, $13, available at M.A.C.; 3.1 Phillip Lim Spring 2011 image courtesy of CND.

The Can't-Miss Topcoats—Give your polish an extra edge with a striking top coat that cracks over your color; one that adds a slick, holographic shimmer; or one that adds a gilded layer of nude shimmer. Featured: Chanel Pearl Drop, $25, available at Chanel; CND Copper Shimmer, $9, available at ENail Supply; CND Perfectly Barely Shimmer, $20 (with Perfectly Bare Colour), available in March at CND; OPITopcoat in Shatter, $8.50, available in January, visit OPI.com for locations.

All photos & words from Refinery 29

More New Adele

I'm really having a hard time waiting for this woman's new album to drop. Here's two more gorgeous songs from her upcoming CD "21" called "Set Fire to the Rain" and "Someone Like You". 

Be the Yellow Among a Sea of Red

“For God’s sake, be original. You have all the room in the world to do it” – John Mayer

13 Fresh Starts For A New Year

The new year always starts for me on the first day of Spring semester. Since I haven't made any resolutions yet, I'm going to try to accomplish most of these new year "fresh starts" from Yes and Yes. Let's do them together, shall we?

1. Get rid of the clothes you don't love and don't wear

Now, you should know that getting rid of things? It's, like, my second favorite hobby. But cleaning out your closet and getting rid of the things that don't fit you, suit you or please you anymore - it's a great thing. I promise you'll feel so much better once your closet is pared down to things that look great on you and bring a smile to your face. You can even make a few bucks off your old clothes at a consignment shop!

2. Clean out your car

Goodbye empty cheeto bags, two extra ice scrapers and orphaned mitten. Vacuum out the sand left over from this summer, splash out on the $8 automated car wash that includes a wax and switch to a new air freshener. I did this after I went through a bad break up and it was oddly cathartic. Well, that and getting rid of all his old mix cd's that were still in the glove compartment.

3. Organize your email/photos/online profiles

Do you have email folders? Dude, you need to. Even if those folders just consist of 'friends,' 'work,' 'misc. important' and 'funny pictures of cats' I promise you will feel so clean and smug when your inbox is not 254 emails deep with spam and emails about Christmas presents.

Spend a bit of time organizing your various online haunts. Maybe weed out a few facebook friends, adjust your privacy settings, delete your myspace account, print out your favorite flickr photos. Again, you'll feel all clean and smug, I promise.

4. Change up your fitness routine

I'm talking to you, self. Sure, 30 minutes on the stair climber listening toConfessions on The Dancefloor is awesome - and better than nothing - but how about a ballet class? Or aqua aerobics? kettle balls? hot yoga? You'll work different muscles, meet new people and probably have heaps of fun wearing that awesome flowered swimming cap.

5. Reevaluate the relationships in your life

This is something that I don't think we do enough. Are you happy with your partner? Are you headed in the same direction? When you look at them, do you think "How'd I get the best one?" Is everything pretty good, but a bit boring? Take stock of what's working and what's not. Think about ways that you can spice things up and re-connect. Have adventures. Try something new together. Have Big Important conversations.

And what about your friends? Do they inspire you and support you? Are they full of life and fun? Do you look up to them and respect them? We all know people that drain us and suck the joy out of any interaction. Maybe it's time to let those friendships go? I'm not suggesting some epic break-up conversation, but maybe limit yourself to hanging out with them in groups, or allow them to initiate plans for once.

How about those people that you've met and would like to be better friends with? Make it happen! I'm totally the girl who will meet a person once, recognize a kindred spirit, and announce to them that we will now commence being friends. Really. And you'd be amazed how often this works! If you meet someone you like - tell them! Friend them on facebook and suggest an adventure! The worse they could do is ignore you.

6. Clean out your cupboards and fridge

Not unlike your closet, you surely have things wallowing in the depths of your fridge and cupboards that are never going to see the light of day. Canned beets, anyone? Commit to eating them up, toss them or donate them to a food shelf. Give everything a good wipe down and then stock up on yummy, nutritious food that you love - feta! nutella! mandarins!

7. Update your resume

When you have a job, it's easy to let your resume rot in the depths of your hard drive, but why not spend a few hours spicing it up? Update it with new skills you've learned at your current job, experiment with different fonts and layouts, make sure that all the dates, emails and phone numbers are current. You never know when you'll need it!

8. Clean out your bathroom cabinet

I won't bore you with those statistics about how make-up's shelf life is supposedly 3 weeks or some such, but why not toss those old prescriptions, the frosted lipstick and that shampoo that makes your hair weird. Give everything a wipe down, wash out your makeup brushes and buy yourself a few new products you've been meaning to try.

10. Change out your ringtone/alarm/screen saver

Yes. Download something new and fun. Why not wake up to sound of Ambling Alpor Lisztomania? Wade through the jillions of gorgeous photos on weheartit and find something new for your screen saver.

11. Try a new scent

Aroma therapy is for real, yo. Why not try a completely new scent for your home? Or a perfume that's completely outside of what you normally go for? I'm usually all over what I call 'cougar scents' - musky, spicy things that make me smell like a 50 year old woman who flies first class, drinks too many martinis and pinches the bums of stewards. But I'm going to give something light and floral a try!

12. Switch up your surroundings

You don't need to engage in an extreme home makeover to get the feeling of a new space. Switch out the shams on your pillow cases, put some different pictures in those frames, put something different in that decorative bowl, replace the venetian blinds with some thrifted curtains, paint an accent wall a color you love. You don't need to break the bank to see a huge difference. 

13. Make a list of new things you want to try

I'm in the process of trying 32 new things before I turn 32, but you can try any number of new things. And they don't need to be epic, expensive, life changing things. 'Cook something with lemongrass,' 'Watch Citizen Kane,' and 'Try Hip Hop Karaoke' are all equally valid. It's just important to try new things!

photos via: Belle Maison, The Daybook, Ashley Said That, Sterling STyle, Design Sponge

Salted Chocolate "Twix" Bars

Total Prep, Baking, and Cooling Time: 2 1/2 – 3 hours

Shortbread Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

2 tablespoons cold water

2 egg yolks

Caramel

2 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Salted Chocolate

1 12 oz. bag chocolate (I would have preferred semisweet, but I only had milk chocolate, so I used that and it was great, just sweet)

1 tablespoon sea salt, for topping

1. Start by making your shortbread. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your hands (I think that using your hands is easier and makes for less clean up later), cut together the cold, cubed butter until a coarse crumb forms. Add in the water and egg yolks, and beat together until well combined.

2. Grease a 9×13 pan with Pam or butter, then spread the shortbread dough out into the pan. The dough is pretty sticky, so I found it easiest to just spread it out with my hands. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden and set. Set aside to cool while you make the caramel.

3. To make the caramel, combine the sweetened condensed milk, the brown sugar, the butter, the corn syrup, and the vanilla in a medium sized sauce pot. Place over medium heat and stir often until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and stir constantly until thickened. If you have a thermometer, you want the caramel to be around 220 degrees F. If you don’t, you want to stir for at least 5 solid minutes while it simmers.

4. When the caramel is ready, pour it over the baked shortbread crust and spread it out evenly. Set the shortbread and caramel aside and let it cool and set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. While it sets, melt your chocolate in a double boiler if you have it. If not, you can just use a regular sauce pot and be sure to stir constantly so that the chocolate doesn’t burn. You can also use the microwave, stirring after 30 second intervals, until smooth. Spread the chocolate over the caramel and sprinkle with the tablespoon of sea salt. Place the whole pan in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. Cut into bars and serve. Makes 36-40 bars and can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

*From Crepes of Wrath