Weekly Tune-Up: Alabama Shakes

My boyfriend gave me Alabama Shakes' first full-length album, Boys and Girls, so I tried it out on my way to work this morning.

Alabama Shakes

It's another must-have album, trust me. Brittany Howard's vocals are beyond spectacular - her voice was described to me as "very Janis Joplin-y" and that was pretty dead on. You just don't hear the kind of vocal power Howard has very often anymore. And the band only just takes every song to the next level of amazing when its combined with her voice.  


This is the perfect album for summer driving with the windows rolled down. And it's only $9 ($8 for the MP3 download) on Amazon so there's no excuse to not purchase it immediately.

Light and White

Summer just started and I've been really into this trend of light & white for the evening and cooler days in the summer. I picked out three little light & white numbers at American Eagle.

The evening sweater

The eyelet top

The short-sleeve sweater

Traveling mind

If I had my way, I'd be on the next flight back to Spain. Which is probably why I can't get this "Cities & Typography" series by Gokhun Guneyhan out of my head.

Check out the rest of the series right here. It's pretty awesome, trust me.

The best cobbler ever

I just discovered the best berry cobbler ever and it is super easy. I wanted to eat the whole pan.

Ingredients

• \1 stick
 Butter

• 1-1/4 cup
 Sugar

• 1 cup
 Self-Rising Flour

• 1 cup
 Milk

• 2 cups Blackberries (frozen Or Fresh)

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. If you desire, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

From the The Pioneer Woman

TGIF: Cupcake awesomeness

Sorry for the late post today, guys, but trust me it's totally worth it . . . because my mom and I just put the finishing touches on one of my all-time favorite treats - ice cream cone cupcakes.

Little cones of sunshine

If you're making cupcakes this summer, make them in ice cream cones. It won't take you much more time and they're beyond delicious. You just need to follow the instructions on the cake mix box to make your batter and line up your cones inside a pan. We used a 9x13 and a smaller, jellyroll pan.

Pack 'em in so they don't fall over

Fill your cones with batter until the batter fills the entire bottom part of the cone - it's about one ladle-full of batter in each cone.

My mom's basically a pro at these

Then simply place them in the oven as per the cake mix instructions. You will have to bake them a little longer than the box says, so just keep an eye on them. It usually takes less than 10 minutes more than the box's minimum baking time.

Strawberry is my favorite cake for these

Frost, sprinkle and you're good to go! I can't even tell you how much I love these. So cute and so good, plus I'm sharing my mom's icing recipe with you below. It's amazing so you're welcome.


My mom's top-secret, awesome icing recipe*
1 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/3 cup of water
Dash of salt

In a saucepan combine sugar, cream of tartar, water and salt. Cook and stir till bubbly and sugar dissolves. (Trick: Don't stop stirring)
In a mixing bowl, combine egg whites and vanilla.
Here's where you need a second person, if you're me. Add sugar syrup very slowly to unbeaten egg whites and vanilla while beating constantly at a high speed (with an electric mixer).
Beat for 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

*This frosting recipe is actually from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook ("Fluffy White Frosting"). Just in case they get offended by me changing the frosting's name.

Weekly Tuneup — Summer tunes

My summer soundtrack has become My Head is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men. This band always puts together an album perfect for relaxing in the summer sun. This album is no exception.

My favorite song is Little Talks: 

Beat the heat

When it's wicked hot out like it has been here lately, I can't think of wearing anything but dresses. They're lightweight, easy and they also slip on right over a swimsuit. Perfect summer style. Here are a few I'd like to add to my closet so I could rock a dress every day of the week.

Aztec hi-low dress from Charlotte Russe ($29.99)

Mossimo kimono dress from Target ($18)

Printed gauze sundress from Old Navy ($26.99 on sale)

Striped sundress from Old Navy ($17.99 on sale)