June Favorites!

Hello lovely reader! Tomorrow is July 1, 2015.....yeah still wondering if June actually happened. Literally, it went by so fast. But one of the great things about the end of the month (or maybe not for some, take it as you please, sometimes its favorites overkill for some) is that people post the things they have been loving for the past 30 or so days! Personally, I am a fan of a good favorites post or video because it can give insight into things you may have not been aware of before or give you the excitement of the fact that maybe you've been loving the same things that someone else has! For my June Favorites post, I decided to do it a bit differently then I have in the past, and I'd love feedback as to how you feel about the layout. I thought it would be a bit easier to see if its laid out more sequentially and categorized (a bit of OCD coming through). I also tried to leave links to some of the products if possible. Have a scroll and I'll share with you what I have been loving for the month of June!

Favorite Face Cleaner (not really sure how to title this one?): Queen Helene Face Mint Julep Scrub

This facial scrub is absolutely fantastic! It has a great amount of grit to it to scrub the excess dirt and dry skin from your face. I have an oily t-zone and I find that this product does a great job of cleaning my face as well as combatting some of the oiliness.

Favorite Go-To Food: Strawberries

If you haven't been able to tell my some of my recent iPhone Snaps posts, I love strawberries! They are my go to snack and are delicious when mixed into vanilla greek yogurt. Also not to bad to top off a waffle with some powdered sugar.

Favorite Blog: Merrick's Art

This blog has been my go to when looking for inspiration of things to sew or create! Stylish, chic, and full of ideas!

Favorite Website: POPSUGAR Fitness

I have been on this website so many times this month! From recipe searching to workout sequences, this website is a great one stop shop for all things fitness.

Favorite App/Time Consumer: Tumblr

I love Tumblr! As I've said before, I love to look at it towards the end of the day as a way to wind down and it never ceases to inspire me whether it be a quote or a fashionable look. Follow me here!

Favorite Fashion Piece: Swing Dresses

Ok so my love for swing dresses is quite a thing, sleeveless, shirtsleeve, long sleeve, love them all. I just think they're so great because they are comfortable, they look cute, and they can be dressed up or down.


Favorite Throwback: Back to Black By Amy Winehouse

I had been a fan of Amy Winehouse's music, but I didn't know too much about her. A few weeks ago I watched a documentary about her life and her trials and tribulations. She was so talented and will forever be remembered. After watching the documentary, I had this song on repeat and also began listening to more of her songs that I was unfamiliar with.


Favorite Books: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart & Paper Towns by John Green

I don't want to say too much about either of these, other than if you are looking for some books to read this summer, I highly recommend both of these!!!

Favorite YouTube Channel: Samantha Harvey

I just did a Recent Discovery post all about Samantha Harvey! She is talented and her covers are beautiful.

Guilty Pleasure: Rich Kids of Beverly Hills (TV Show)

So yes, this is my guilty pleasure of the month. It's full of humor, fashion, selfies, and "fabuluxe" people. It makes me laugh every time and the relationship between Dorothy and Morgan, reminds me so much of me and my best friend! "The series focuses on the lives of a group of twenty-something millionaires and billionaires showcasing their lives." I wouldn't mind some of the perks of their lives for sure...motivation!

So that my lovely readers is what I have been loving in the month of June. What are your June Favorites? If you did your own post, feel free to link it in the comments, I'd love to read it! Xx

Sew Simple | Laptop Sleeve DIY

Hello lovely reader! As mentioned in previous posts, I wanted to give myself the challenge and goal of learning to sew this summer. After a couple projects, I am quite pleased with my creations and my abilities with a sewing machine. For this post I wanted to share something that I feel I have somewhat mastered after making two that turned out great. It is a zippered laptop sleeve.

Now when I first got my laptop I really wanted a cute case, but after looking around endlessly online I couldn't find what I was looking for, and gave up the hunt for a while. Last week though, I was on my current favorite blog called Merrick's Art looking for something else to try and make. While scrolling, I stumbled upon this super chic fold over clutch tutorial. I still may make the clutch but it got me thinking that I could probably make my own laptop sleeve. I did some searching and found a tutorial on a blog called Stitched by Crystal. Thus my laptop case making began.

So far I have made one for myself and one for my friend for her birthday. The first one took me about 45 minutes or so to make. However for the second one, once I knew what I was doing, I had the whole thing completed in about 30 minutes. So you will see that it is pretty easy to learn how to make this practical little item. Since I used Crystal's step by step I am going to link her post rather then take her material. (No pun intended) I will show you some pics of the steps for reference, as well as the finished product.

"STITCHED by Crystal: Tutorial: Zippered laptop sleeve"

If you give this a go, I would love to see what you create. Happy stitching! Xx

4,000 Views & Being Honest

Hiya lovely reader! Oh my goodness, I logged on today to be greeted with the amazing fact that there have been over 4,000 views on "Not Exactly Plain Jane"! That is so amazing and exciting to me! Thank you so much!

If I'm honest, I haven't been extremely pleased with myself about the content that I have been putting out these past few months. Before I came home from school, I felt so ready to have time to get back into the swing of blogging. I had written out all these ideas for posts (some of which I have accomplished, but others I have not) but when I got home, I just felt like I had lost it. My enthusiasm for blogging was still there but I felt like my content was not up to par (still do to an extent) and just felt really down.

However, I have been doing some thinking lately and I think that my problem is that I have all these visions and goals for what I want this blog to be, but a lot of them aren't going to happen overnight, so until then I need to focus on what I can do and post about presently. My blog is my blog and I shouldn't be looking at people who have been doing this for years and years and compare my blog to theirs. I continue to work on this concept in my own life so it's silly to me that I started getting wrapped up in comparisons in the blogging world. Things will happen when and if they are meant to happen and until then I should just do my thing and trust myself.

So, my goal now is to treat this blog like I did when I started out and remember why I started this it in the first place. I am a creative person and this blog has been/is an amazing outlet for me to share my creations, as well as my interests, thoughts, and life events. There have been a few things that have happened lately, that I feel have re-lit my blogging fire and I am ready to go!

Cheer's to anyone who has contributed to these thousands of views and here's to thousands and thousands more! Now let's do this! Xx

Samantha Harvey | Recent Discovery

Hi lovely reader! Now, I haven't done a "Recent Discovery" in forever but I'm thinking of trying to make it a more regular occurrence as long as I'm discovering (I know I said that before, but for real now). My recent discovery as of late is an amazing singer whom I found on Vine but also has a YouTube channel where she has posted some beautiful covers of songs in full. (all her links are below)

Her name is Samantha Harvey and she is from England. I don't know loads about her other then she is extremely talented, has gorgeous hair, and make-up always looks done to perfection. Her videos are simple, usually on a bathroom floor or in a room, but I think that's good because you can see how truly naturally talented she is!

I will leave the video below of one of my favorite covers but you should definitely check her out on Vine or YouTube (and subscribe)! She is one to look out for!

Vine
Youtube Channel
Twitter
Instagram



Have you made any recent discoveries lately? Xx

Cheeky Quote Tuesday

Holy Guacamole! | Healthy Recipes

Hiya lovely reader! I hope you are doing fabulous! I've been experiencing about two weeks of constant rain and it is starting to kill my summertime vibes. (I know for some people across the world, rain is a constant, so props to you all, I'd like to think it's more tolerable in some places) Anyway, being stuck inside has allowed me to get a lot of things done, many of which I will be sharing in upcoming posts. For today I wanted to share a great recipe I stumbled upon once again on Popsugar Fitness. Now as you may know if you follow my blog, I have been trying to find healthy recipes that offer a delicious alternative to sometimes not so healthy dishes. So with that being said, I am going to share a recipe today that is a lot lower in calories as well as fat. (who wouldn't want that) If I'm being honest, up until this last year, I never really gave guacamole a shot, don't know why but I never wished to try it or eat anything that contained it. Man was I missing out! Now I am quite the fan of some good guac. My new found love is also a bit saddening because my best friend always claimed she could make quite the guacamole, but of course now that I am a connoisseur, she no longer lives near me. Life. (insert sad and longing face here) But the show must go on! So grab your pita or chips or whatever you like to eat with guacamole and let's begin!

(the original recipe on the Popsugar Fitness website, says that it yields about 3 cups, I did half a recipe and still ended up with more than 1 1/2 cups, so the amount of each ingredient is based on the amount I made)

Ingredients
1 1/2 Medium Avocados
1 Cup of Nonfat Greek Yogurt
1 Tablespoon of Lime Juice
1/8 teaspoon of Lime Zest
1 Minced Clove of Garlic
1/3 Cup of Diced Red Onion
1/3 Cup of Diced Roma Tomatoes (I added a little bit more at the end for color and flavor)
1/2 teaspoon of Chopped Jalapeños (I ended up adding a full teaspoon)
1/2 Tablespoon of Minced Cilantro
Dash of Salt

First you are going to want to slice your avocado and scoop out the inside. The video below is great if you are unsure of how to do so!

Next combine the flesh from the avocado with the greek yogurt and mash together.
Then add the lime juice, lime zest, and minced garlic to the bowl and mix well.

Next add the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño and mix well.

Give it a taste to see if you'd like to add more of any ingredient, I threw in some more tomato and a dash of salt.

Enjoy!

Recipe Source

What are your favorite summer time snacks? Feel free to share in the comments! Xx

Cheeky Quote Tuesday

Peanut Butter Coconut Oatmeal Cookies | Healthy Recipes

Hiya lovely reader! The weekend is upon us and I am ready for it. This week actually went by fairly quickly for me, I worked, met up with friends, organized, and got stuff done. The satisfaction of making a list and then being able to cross things off, is something that I will always appreciate. Anyway, I hope you have some fun things planned and get to relax or do what you want. I wanted to share this recipe with you so you can sweeten things up, this weekend or anytime, with some tasty cookies. Now not only are these cookies peanut buttery goodness, they are also a healthier alternative to some cookies. I found the recipe on Popsugar Fitness while on the hunt for some healthier alternative recipes for sweets. I was quite pleased with how they turned out, and how they taste. (May or may not be eating one while I type this)

Ingredients
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup crunchy natural peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cup old fashion oats*
1 1/2 cup quick oats*
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*After baking the cookies, I think that using a tad less oats would be better, the dough was crumbly with this amount. Maybe try 1 cup of each and then check the consistency of the dough. I had to roll the cookies into balls and then press them in order for them to stay together. After baking them and allowing them to set for a while, they did remain intact.

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375º F

2. Beat the oil and peanut butter. Add in the eggs, sugar, and vanilla and beat until mixed. Stir in the coconut.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the oats, flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir this gradually into the peanut butter mixture.

4. Grease your baking sheets and drop the dough in 1 1/2 tablespoon "globs". Press to flatten the "globs" and bake for around 8 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies seems to be a golden brown.

5. Allow the cookies to set on a cooling rack.

6. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

What'd you think? Do you have any healthy cookie recipes that you enjoy? Xx

Cheeky Quote Tuesday

Absolutely love this Xx