E is for earrings

Dress: Ross $12 White Tube top: Victoria's Secret $20 

Cardi: NY&CO Earrings: NY&CO Shoes: Nordstrom Rack

P.S. The Wedding was FABULOUS and the Bride was gorgeous! This was my outfit for the night. And yes, those shoes came off when it was party time...me and the cousins rocked the dance floor! 

Earrings

i.wear.them.religiously. 
why?
well not only do I think they sometimes make the "WOW" factor on an outfit...but because of a story that happened four years ago:


"Camila, are you serious?"


"Yes, yes, turn around, please, Celeste, please!"


I thought she was nuts. completely. 


"I feel naked without them!"


really, Ca? naked? 


Camila, my brazilian exchange student wanted me to turn around the car just to go back and get her earrings. We weren't that far, but still we had people waiting. 


i turned around. 
ever since then when Camila or I noticed that one of us didn't have earrings on we'd yell: "YOU'RE NAKED!"
and then miss.naked would cover her ears and run up the stairs to go get UN-naked.

now my brazilian sis is gone four years, but rarely do I go out in public naked anymore. haha

and i don't know why, but in some sort of way it's to pay tribute for all of our silly moments. All the ones from- playing in the rain until our undies were soaked to hitting on boys publicly in Portuguese, o yeah their pretty faces didn't even have a clue!
Holy Momma do I miss my crazy brazilian. 


p.s. my cousin Steph's wedding song WAS adorable. They're both dancers and had the most beautiful first dance. 
Hopefully I've lived underneath a rock all my life and you've heard this song already. why? because.it.is.wonderful. here you go lovelies enjoy:

D is for dress

source

anthropologie of course.BUT coming soon, an Alyssa look-alike dress...

from spool72.com

from www.eshakti.com

Dress


so my cousin's wedding is tomorrow and I just had to post about dresses. I know it's a love hate relationship sometimes...unless you have pantyhose, then it's always a love because you never have to shave. 
BUT. seeing as I constantly rip mine, sometimes Sundays can be a hassle. 
the alarm buzzes.
can i get away without shaving today? then i could sleep in an extra 10 min...please tell me my maxi dress is clean...


but ladies, it's summertime and nothing says summer like a beautiful bright sun dress. it's finally warming up around here and i'm going to be sporting no pants soon! because...i'll be in a dress. 
AND. Alyssa and I got sun hats! 
cue: squeals. 
i feel like we should be attending horse races and polo games where everyone walks around eating tarts and drinking out of cute isty-bitsy teacups. 
at least i think thats what they do. we'll pretend they do if they don't.


and lovelies, go to Ross or TJ Maxx for your dresses. They always have fantastic ones with fantastic prices. I don't think I've bought a dress from anywhere else in the past five years! The best thing about it is that they have their own section, so you don't feel like your drowning in a big mess. Sometimes stores like those wear you out because you feel like you have to dig in in order to find something good, but looking for dresses at these stores are the easiest!  


Also, if you are lucky enough to have a Marshalls nearby...go there! Imagine Ross but bigger, and organized. Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!


Anyways, just because I love you all to pieces and wanted to welcome all the new lovelies, I'll share a trick I learned for shaving those legs o'yours...


TIPS
if you are like me and take super warm showers, then make sure to shave within the first five minutes. If you wait too long then the exposure to steam will make it hard for your razor to get everything.
AND.
out of shaving cream? well go for the conditioner...seriously...do it, it works. every.time. good golly am I cheap! 

C is for cookies and cardis

+

  =

       

Cookies and Cardis

Alright when it came down to blogging today, I couldn't pick one. 
i.love.both.
why?


first. i made cookies the other night...the best cookies known to man...err woman really. boys never really know just what they're eating...they just inhale anything edible. am I right or am i right? 


anyways...so i called my mom up that night because i wanted to make chocolate chip cookies...and I'd been on a hunt for the best recipe forever and just couldn't come up with one better than my momma's.


"hello?"


"hey mom! ummm...could you tell me that recipe for your chocolate chip cookies?"


"celeste, it's 10 pm...why are you baking cookies?"


"ummm....because I was craving some."


so I was ready to write down the best recipe ever to chocolate chip cookie heaven and then:


"celeste, it's just the recipe on the back of the tollhouse chocolate chip bag."


what the? all these years...


BUT since we're allergic to butter, she had always put crisco in. leave it to lard to make the stinkin cookies irristable. 


Click here for the recipe

Second. cardigans make almost anything and everything look fantastic. especially if you have a lil belt for your cardi to love. 
I can't tell you how many colors i have...it's slightly embarrassing k? 
But right now is a WAY good time to get them. most are on sale, heck Alyssa's been stockin up at Nordstrum's Rack like there's no tomorrow. 


which is awesome...because, well all of our colors combined...
heck crayola crayon boxes are starting to get pretty jealous...mr. pink flamingo crayon eat your heart out!
i'd stock up if I were you though...cardis will never go out of style so your future fall wardrobe will thank you...and they're the perfect thing for summer nights when it starts getting chilly. 

B is for bangs

Bangs


So ya'll probably noticed in my last shoot that my 'do is a lil different. 
I was SO excited to get my bangs cut! I've usually always had bangs, but I still was a bit nervous to get them cut.
Do ya'll ever feel like right after your hair stylist cuts your bangs it's either a win or a MEGA holy momma lose?
OR
my personal favorite...they style them and you're thinkin, "I love these bangs!" BUT then the next day after you take a shower, let's hope you take a shower, you blow dry them and it's like the stinkin things only obey the girl who cut them? 


so just to save girls from hairdicament everywhere...well ok maybe just Utah...i HAD to post this up

My bangs and I are friends now, ALL thanks to this girly:

Michelle Keddington

I don't know how she did it, but my bangs actually listen to me and my blow drier now!

Seriously ladies if ANY of ya'll are in Utah get this girl to cut your bangs. 

AND the first time you come in you get 20% off.

and. my.personal.favorite. 

you get your bangs trimmed for free when they start given ya 

any trouble.

Her husband goes to BYU right now, so she is working at Suggestions Salon in Orem,Utah. 

so, Utah girlies, don't be scared to get your bangs cut! Just call the Salon, 801-226-6993, and ask for Michelle. 

problem:solved.

AND for everyone else out there:

Remember how I've been desperately trying to grow out my hair?

Michelle told me about this new shampoo/conditioner that gives it all the nutrients it needs,protects it, and makes it thicker.

it's REDKEN's newest product: intraforce

I was kinda iffy about whether it worked or not, so Michelle gave me some samples.

I've been using it for like a month, and holy smokes it's awesome! It actually works, 

your welcome for being your ginny pig.

also, still using Biotin (remember?) loving loving loving how fast my hair is growing. 

seriously you can ask Michelle, I never shut up about how excited I am. 

p.s. The Pinterest Giveaway Winner is...

True Random Number Generator

Min: 

Max: 

Result:8Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 congrats lauren! just email me at celeste.alphabetsoup@gmail.com to let me know what email to send your pinterest to!

A is for anthropologie

dress:Ross Belt:thrifted cardi:Gap Shoes: Guess

p.s. gotta a new 'do!

Anthropologie

anthro inspiration

alright it's confession time ladies: i know everyone drools over those anthropologie catalogs. So I had to dedicate at least one post to them. I wanted to try to replicate their look...without the price tag :] Good gosh I love Ross...my dress was eight bucks there. It was such a good deal, that Alyssa even got one haha. In red of course, and no we don't wear them on the same day. 


Someday ladies, I'll be an anthropologie shopper...but for now i'm keepin my wallet happy. I remember my first time in one of their practically perfect stores, little me didn't even know about the existance of anthropologie until I was looking up at the sign on the door. 


I had a witness to my discovery of all things perfectly fashionable. And her name is Jamie: 

And it happened to be on the first day I met her. 

there we were walking around the mall, while my brother - and her boyfriend- was at a church meeting. 

i'm pretty sure she had no idea just who exactly her boyfriend just left her with. 

then i saw it.

holy momma even the sign out front was FAN-CY

i felt like i was Charlie in Willa Wonka's magical candy land. but better...because, well, hello? clothes?

anthro had turned shopping into an art. 

everything was just set up so...perfectly and i was even oohing and ahhing over the doorknobs.

seriously, i was. those doorknobs were gorgeous.

 and i AM buying one for at least one door in my house someday.

Jamie and I had a blast looking at everything; well I think Jamie just was incredibly entertained/slightly scared 

of how excited I was to finally meet anthropologie

luckily my celeste-ness didn't scare her off AND....

now she's my sissy-in-law

guess who'll be helping me pick out my doorknobs someday? haha

p.s. giveaway ends tomorrow at midnight!!

Z is for Zilch

shirt: thrifted belt: thrifted pants: Agaci

bracelet: NY&CO earrings: NY&CO

Zilch


yeah, k i'm gonna brag, but just for a teensy bit. Yah see that outfit? Cost me almost zilch amount of bucks.
let me tell ya ladies, I owned the thrift store that day- completely owned it. Usually its stinkiness and ruler of all messiness kicks my toosh. BUT NOT TODAY. 
And lemme tell you, not only did I conquer the thrifting world that day but met some gentlemen that I named Mr. Harley and Monsieur Beret. Sure they're literally a bit off their rockers and I think Mr.Harley was homeless, haha but I'd seriously never had so much fun shopping. 
After snatching up my crown jewel, I floated down the antique section - and yes I floated, seriously still on cloud 9 from finding that incredible purse. 


And there he was, Mr.Harley. He was oohing and ahhing over a Harley Davidson Motorcycle Toy. No, seriously he really was, I've never seen anyone that excited before. He kept circling it just oohing and ahhing. He even ran to poke the store clerk in the arm and point to it and oohhing and ahhing. It made me smile because Mr.Harley was like a sweet little boy in a candy store and he was just so darn happy. He caught me smiling at him and gave the toothiest smile I'd ever seen. Usually that would freak me out, but he was so sweet that I couldn't stop my smile from taking over my face. 
Then it happened, 
a fresh load of belts dumped onto the table by the entrance. Ladies- i've never seen so many belts in my life, 
seriously someone was obsessed. There were mountains of them and they were all different lengths,colors, and styles.  
So naturally I dove in. 


Mr. Harley was still ranting and raving over his find while I started trying on belts. too big. too small. ewww what is on this thing? wayyy too small. 
"Those are some really nice belts aren't they?"
I look up to see Monsieur Beret standing on the other side of the pile. Imagine Mr.Rogers but in a beret. made.my.day. 
"Yes, those are very nice belts."
All I could do was nod my head back as Monsieur Beret left the store. two minutes later- hey it took me a while, seriously ya'll have no idea how many there were.
"These are really nice belts."


 guess who? Monsieur Beret was back for belt diving.
"yeah, theres so many of them too!" 


Monsieur Beret gave his Mr.Rogers smile and started sifting through the pile. 
then he dropped a belt.
Mr. Harley saw it drop, shuffled over, and picked it up silently holding it up to the back of Monsieur Beret, but he was too busy belt diving. Mr. Harley did notice however that I was watching. He gave me another toothy grin and took the belt and tried it on the same way I was trying on mine...haha which was super high around the waist. 
He started taking belt after belt and trying them on like me, and when he saw me trying on one that he liked, he shared his toothy smile and when it didn't fit, he was able to kinda of say "too small too small" as he poked at his belt to show me the right way. 


Needless to say, Mr.Harley picked me out a good one :] I love it. 




p.s. did you enter the giveaway?

Y as in yellow...healthy ice cream? what the?

Yellow


no this is not another post about me gushing over some crazy color of pants again...mainly because I already have yellow pants. and.they.are.awesome.


THIS post is about ICE CREAM...but not any kind of ice cream.


homemade.one.ingredient.ice.cream. 
that is dare i say it....healthy. 


yeah you heard me right -healthy ice cream. betcha never thought you'd see those two words together. ladies go grab your recipe books and if you don't have one...gosh darn it go grab a piece of paper, write this sucker down, and frame it!


Be prepared to be amazed:


What you'll need:
bananas  (2 bananas make one bowl, so you'll want like 8 then right?)
cutting board
knife
freezer
egg beater - or sometimes if you have a beast of a food processor, you can use that.


so i've done this a ton of times and have tried both very ripe bananas and just your plain happy yellow ones...both work but the riper bananas are sweeter tasting.

1. Cut your bananas into thin slices...the thinner the better.

2. Put them in the freezer for at least 2 hours. I just put them in over night and then take them out and let them defrost for five minutes. You don't want them rock hard, but if they're too soft you'll end up with moosh.and we don't like moosh, o no we like ice cream :]

3. Dump them in a bowl and put your egg beater on high. Beat until it looks like ice cream...yep preeeetty simple.

You can add things into it to make it sweeter: sugar obviously, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and my personal favorite honey.

This CAN be refrigerated, but not sure for how long haha i snarf it down too fast. But let it defrost for a little bit after you take it back out of the freezer.

ok now go binge on icecream

...healthily of course.

p.s. have you entered the giveaway yet?