Friday Favorites

Happy Friday friends! Has everybody been working for the weekend? Hope you all have some fun plans. Jesse and I are headed to Texas to spend time with our Texas family. Cannot wait! Here are my favorites as we head into the weekend...

As a spouse of a military man and also as a dog lover, this is my favorite video of the week:



My new favorite nail polish is OPI's Koala Berry. I have it on my hands and feet right now and it makes me happy!

My new obsession of the week is the Draw Something App for the iPhone. You can download a free version of this app, which is a mix between pictionary and hangman, in the iTunes app store.

My favorite read of the week is Stephen King's 11-22-63. I am actually listening to the audiobook version during my long runs and I am having trouble turning my iPod off. It's not a "normal" Stephen King horror story, but rather historical fiction with some alternate historical elements mixed in. I am still towards the beginning of the book, but I highly recommend this if you are looking for a new book to read.

This photograph taken during World War II is my favorite picture of the week.

This baby elephant's day the at beach is a close second.

My favorite recipe of the week is Budget Byte's Easy Ricotta Gnocchi. Stay tuned for my take on this recipe. Easy and delish!

My favorite style of the week goes to Marionberry Style, along with her post on wearing color in the workplace.

My favorite quote of the week comes from Classy Confession's post.

Which leads to my favorite activity of the week: date night with Jesse to eat dinner at Sei (yum) and see the Hunger Games (fantastic).

Hope you all have a great weekend! See you next week!

Love Messy Jess C? Then don't miss it on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

"Flow" Rida

Forever XXI Blouse/ Thrifted Pencil Skirt (similar)/ Me Too Shoes from DSW (similar)

I love this blouse for the simple fact that it is "flowy,"and leaves me with a similar feeling to when I was little and would pick my favorite dresses based on how well I could twirl in them - no real solid reason, I liked them just because.The price tag of $20 only added to the list of reasons why I should purchase this blouse (flowy, more room for food, neutral color that can be mixed with lots of different items, good price). What more could a girl ask for?

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Play It Again, Sam

Forever XXI Flower Pin/ Banana Republic Sweater (similar)/ Thrifted Banana Republic Dress (similar)/ Nine West Shoes (similar)

During my shopping excursions this past weekend I picked up another flower pin...wait, a minute...I wrote that yesterday. I guess I don't have much more to say. I love this pin so I ignored all of the "rules" of fashion and am wearing it for a second day in a row.

Happy Hump Day friends! XO

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New Recipe: Cookies and Cream Brownies

Welcome to another tasty Tuesday recipe. This one gets ranked at the same level as the $!utty Brownies - Cookies and Cream Brownies. These are super easy to make but you wouldn't be able to tell from the way they look and taste.

First, prepare your brownie batter by following the directions on the box. Then crush at least one row of Oreos (I did this by putting them in a large plastic bag and crushing them with the remote - it was the closest thing to me when I was catching up on Smash)


Next stir into the prepared brownie batter half of the crushed Oreos and pour batter into a prepared pan.

 Bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven and how gooey you like your brownies). Once they are baked to your liking, remove the brownies from oven and let them cool fully. Once they have cooled, cover brownies with cream cheese frosting and top with the remaining crushed Oreos (or more if you are an Oreo fan like myself).

Enjoy!

Also, I am sorry I don't have a picture of what the brownies look like when they are cut into squares. They disappeared quickly - a good sign.

Find this recipe and others on my What's Cookin' page.


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Flower Power

Forever XXI Flower Pin/ Target Sweater (similar)/ J.Crew Skirt/ Me Too Shoes from DSW (similar)

During my shopping excursions this past weekend I picked up another flower pin. I can't get enough of these fun things and I think this flower is perfect for the Spring (despite the fact that we have returned to wintry temperatures around this area for a couple days).

I would ideally like to learn how to make my own flower pins. Thank goodness for Pinterest:

Until then, I will keep looking for cute manufactured flower pins.

Happy Tuesday everybody!




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Tutorial: How to Tour Washington, D.C. Landmarks in Under and Hour

I love Washington, DC I have lived in this fine city for 13 years. I was lucky enough to attend college here, and now work here - the capitol of our wonderful country, a city filled with so much history, monuments, memorials, thousands of interesting people, tasty restaurants, and amazing running trails and routes.

Sometimes I get wrapped up in daily tasks and take living here for granted, so with the arrival of Cherry Blossom season, I decided to put on my tourist hat and begin tackling number 18 of my 30 for 2012 list - Tour DC more often.

I should also mention how much I love smartphones. I mean, it's pretty amazing that you can take high quality pictures, access tons of data, and call and text people with one little device.

Finally, you already know how much I love running.

Earlier this week I combined all of these things into one for this tutorial on how to tour Washington, DC landmarks in under an hour. All you need to follow this tutorial is a smartphone and a good pair of running shoes. Actually, come to think of it, this is a pretty good way to tour any place you are interested in seeing lots of in a short amount of time.

Ok...

Step 1: lace up your running shoes

Step 2: make sure your phone is in hand and fully charged

Step 3: begin running and stop whenever you see a photo op you would like to take advantage of

That's basically all you have to do and you should end up with results like this:

 National Mall:

 Tidal Basin and Cherry Blossoms:

 Jefferson Memorial:

 George Mason Memorial:

 More Tidal Basin:

 FDR Memorial:

MLK Memorial:

 Korean War Memorial:

 Lincoln Memorial:

 Vietnam Memorial:

 World War II Memorial

 Washington Monument:

 Old Executive Office Building and the White House:

(Sorry - didn't know I could zoom on the phone)

 The U.S. Capitol:

(My personal favorite)

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