If You Need Me...

{image from pinterest}
I'll be here...


... or, more specifically, here - Jekyll Island, Georgia.


I've ooohed and ahhed over vintage style bathing suits all summer...


And though I'll have to wait until next year for the perfect suit {$$$}...


I was able to snag a few good deals this year...such as this sweet beach vintage style umbrella with a wooden handle and beautiful lace trim {oh, how I love it so! } for just $15 from Totes....


...and these $5 sunglasses from Ebay...



Not to mention this Croft and Barrow hat from Khols on clearance for $15.60 {my hat is black and white stripe}...


...and this clearance beach tote from Wal-mart for just $5.00...


Maybe by next year hubs will see that $75 - $100 for a good vintage style bathing suit is well worth the money?


But I don't know... I'm pretty sure it will take a lot of convincing on the romantic beaches of Jekyll Island this year...



Either way... I'll see you when I return! Have a great week!

Decadent Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

So what happens when you spend a few evenings watching shows on Food Network? Well, at some silly hour like 11:30 at night, you decide to peruse your Pinterest boards, then you automatically gravitate toward your dessert photos, at which point you hone in on a particular Deep Dark Chocolate Cookie recipe from heaven itself... {I'm pretty sure the recipe is in the Bible somewhere at least.}

And you can't stop thinking about it because it's made without flour or butter... and you wonder - 'How is that even possible?!!' So you dive right in, not even sure if you have all of the ingredients, all the while hoping that the mixer won't wake the children ...because no one is licking the spoons this time but you!

I won't repost the recipe here since Amira at Divine Baking provides such a great photo step by step of the {super easy} process, but I will tell you what I did a little differently since, as I suspected, I really didn't have all the exact ingredients on hand.

*The recipe called for 1 cup of melted bittersweet chocolate chips; I used melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.
*The recipe called for 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided between the dry mix and egg whites; I used 1 cup powdered sugar in the dry mix and 1/2 cup granulated sugar in the egg whites {I was low on the powdered!}
*The recipe called for unsweetened cocoa powder; I used Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa.
*The recipe called for an additional {unmelted} 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips added to the batter just before forming the cookie balls; I used 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips.
*The recipe said to roll the cookie balls in powdered sugar before baking; I skipped that step.

{Notes: I think that if you use the semi-sweet chocolate chips like I did, you may even be able to get away with even less sugar in the dry mix - try say about 1/2 - 3/4 cup as opposed to an entire cup. Also, if your batter is too runny to scoop into balls, put it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. It's a thousand and three degrees here in Tennessee right now and my batter was pretty runny until I let it firm up in the freezer. I baked the cookies as the recipe said - for 10 minutes. They were perfect!}

The result? Very moist and chewy, rich, sinfully decadent cookies that look very much like brownies in cookie form!


They were also very light because of the egg white base - and remember, no flour! Gluten-free girls, that's your happy dance cue!


Please let me know if you try these... and Enjoy!

Fun with Vintage Style

Just me... experimenting with vintage hair and makeup... and accessories.


I tried liquid eyeliner for the first time in all my 37 years...


I joked with my daughters that this is how I would dress on school registration day. My 12 year old Lula said 'Wow'. My extremely fashion conscience 10 year old Zola was mortified. And Sydda my teen said that I looked like a 'creepy librarian'.


Hubs was quite surprised upon coming home from work and seeing this particular vintage look. After prodding him for an opinion, he at first said my glasses looked 'funny' ... but after a while, he had lots of very, very complimentary things to say about librarians. ;)



Does your love of vintage things go beyond home decor? How much do you get into vintage and vintage inspired fashion? {Hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far... we are off on our beach vacation in just a few days... Jekyll Island, Georgia!}