P-I-Z-Z-A, Gimme Pizza!

Does anyone remember that song from that old Mary-Kate and Ashley Sleepover movie? Maggs and I went through a massive Olsen Twins phase.
Listening to Almost is Never Enough.
    I did a recipe on here last summer for fresh frozen yogurt, made with fresh fruits and Greek yogurt and was rather proud of myself for doing something in the kitchen that didn't involve a microwave or a toaster oven. Turns out, I'm not as bad as I thought and there are a few recipes I kick butt with in the kitchen. Most I came up with when I moved out last year, and are relatively easy, with few ingredients, and don't require much time. This one, Pesto Pizza, is adapted from a picture and recipe I found on Pinterest.

 

Ingredients: Pinterest told me to make my own dough. So I bought Pillsbury premade Thin Crust. Pinterest also said I needed mushrooms. I said, "Mushrooms smell like feet," and nixed that one. If you like mushrooms, a) what's wrong with you? b) by all means, put them on your pizza. I bought the biggest organic tomato I could find so I could slice it thin like pepperoni.* I also bought pesto and goat cheese because these two should never be apart, and because they were part of the original recipe. Seriously, greatest combo ever.

Step 1: Prebake. Anyone else hate those dough package things that are terrifying little exploding dough bombs? Because they scare the you-know-what out of me. I stabbed mine with big knife. Anyways, prebake the dough at the time and temp dictated on the package (or by you if you're cool enough to make your own dough - what a little jump-starter you are). Mine was at 400 for five or six minutes. I did five cause our oven doesn't heat evenly and I didn't wanna mess it up.

Step 2: Chop. Whatever ingredients you have, take this time to chop them up. I'm pretty bad at making good use of my time, but I used my noodle here and *discovered just how bad I am at slicing tomatoes thin as pepperoni.

Step 3: Prep. Get all your other ingredients ready. Spoon for the pesto to scoop and spread, toppings and cheese.

Step 4: Pesto. When your dough is finished prebaking, pesto that puppy. I used the whole container, but in hindsight that may have been too much. I got a little overexcited. Pesto has a slightly stronger flavor than your typical pizza sauce and it overpowered the rest of my pizza. I'd use half that much next time, but that's just me.

Step 5: Tomato. I ended up not using all the tomato slices, but I probably could have used more. Really it's all a matter of taste, if you love tomatoes, pile 'em on. If you love mushrooms, keep them away from me.

Step 6: Bake and Cheese. Finish baking the pizza - mine was for ten to twelve minutes, and I might have undercooked it. Once again, we all know I'm weird. I don't like my cheese baked into the pizza. I put it on afterwards. Some of my childhood friends (Hannah or Suzanne) may recall me ordering pizza at Mellow Mushroom without cheese so I could put the grated parmesan on it after it had been cooked. It may be a texture thing, but regardless, I put it on afterwards. Don't judge me. You can put your cheese on whenever you want.

Step 7: Enjoy! There's mini step in there I didn't bother photographing, because it would look just like this photo - fresh cracked pepper. Don't just use the pepper shaker, it's so much better fresh cracked in big peppercorn chunks. I like mine coarse and I like a lot of it. And I definitely did undercook it a tad, but oh well. It was still delicious, and I still ate it.
   
    So take from this what you will - add ingredients, take some away. But all in all, it takes about 20 minutes to prepare and it's not super unhealthy. Next time I may even throw in some artichoke hearts because I feel like that would be delicious.

 

What do you think? Will you try it? What will you do differently? Tell me below!

Style Transition: Skater Skirt

 Listening to Cinema (Skrillex Remix) by Benny Benassi
Feeling overwhelmed. Already.
    So I recently went shopping with my friends Suz and Natalia. We hit up the mall looking for a few particular things for Natalia and Suzanne, but I had only one thing in mind: a skater skirt. See this style is cut so that it flares out right at the natural waist. It's super complimentary, can be dressed up or down, and it's very casually girly, so I don't feel like I'm suffocating in ruffles. I got very good at shopping when I moved out and had to save all my money for rent. Now I'm saving for mine and Corey's wedding, and I'm even better at it. I found one that I loved at Urban Outfitters, which was forty dollars, right when we walked into the mall. So we went to every other store that I thought may have a similar style at a lower price. I searched high and low, but I couldn't find a single other one that was cut at the right length for my long legs, and that was cute. (I found one at Forever 21, but it was cut just a bit too short, and the pattern wasn't my style.) So I went back to UO and that one skirt was the only thing I bought.*
    The great thing about this particular one is that it's a great transition piece. It can be worn in every season with the right top and accessories, and look great every time. Plus I already had a lot of colors to match it in my wardrobe. 

• Summer: To keep it light, I paired it with my rose gold sandals from Target, along with a sheer blouse and bandeau underneath. You can tuck in the blouse and wear a cute belt, or if you're feeling sassy, knot it and bare a little skin!
• Fall: As it starts getting cooler, I like to do long sleeves, but rolled up, since fall afternoons can still get plenty hot, especially in the South. A chambray works well here, with a cami or bandeau underneath, then throw on some nude ballet flats and you're good to go. As a bonus, floral prints are still hot as anything this fall.
• Winter: Some people might argue that you can't do floral in the winter, but I say, if it's dark and a smaller print, you can totally still get away with it. Ideally, I would wear tights in the winter, but the ones that would've matched this had a bad hole in them that I wasn't aware of, so bare legs it is! A tank, slouchy sweater, and scarf keep this look layered and warm. Combat boots will keep your toes toasty and also give the outfit a little edge.

What styles do you think transition well through the seasons?

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*I lied, I bought the flats I'm wearing in the fall outfit - the heels I was wearing were giving me vicious blisters.*



Keep the Positivity Going

Listening to Maestro from The Holiday (sometimes I just need something to be my soundtrack, you know?)
Bracing myself for the upcoming semester.
    I start every semester so confidently. Yes, I can handle every class, and here are all my books, and sure you can borrow a pen because I have a billion, and oh I'm drinking pumpkin spice tea that I had plenty of time to French press this morning, and let me just jot that down in my planner. Roughly four weeks in, I'm reduced to sweats, half my books were left in the car because I didn't feel like carrying them, I've lost every pen but the one that only sometimes works, and we had a quiz today? When did he tell us that?
    I feel like everyone does this. In fact, I'm sure they do. You start off thinking, "I got this," and somewhere along the way, you lose your grip. For me personally, I get lazy. That's my problem. I love the concept of staying organized, and keeping track of all my notes, and using a planner. I realize its importance, I do. But it only takes one time. One "It's only one assignment, I'll remember it" that leads to "I remembered that one assignment last week, I'll remember the date of that exam and to turn in the notecards and the review guide, and then that rough draft for that other class" which ends with "Why don't I do schoolwork anymore? Surely I have something due tomorrow. How did I oversleep again?"
    I think another part of it is I lose my positivity. When the weather starts looking darker, and cloudier, and windier, and bleaker, so do my classes and my chances at doing well. Last semester was a big bummer for me. I made the Dean's List, but before you go getting excited, I started with five classes, and had to not drop, but withdraw from two. I've never withdrawn from any of my courses before, and this past Spring I withdrew from two. I cannot let that happen again.
    Some of you have already started school. Some of you started a week ago, some this past Friday, some today, and some (like me) tomorrow. But it's still early. Here is my proposition. Let's keep the positivity going. Keep a hold of the organization, and the productivity, and the planning, and the proactivity. Keep it going as long as possible. For some of us, it's our last semester (like my buddy, Hannah - you go girl!), or our last year (like me, I hope - psh, who knows). Go out with a bang. And if you still have a while longer (like I may if I can't fit everything in), don't drop the ball. Think of how great you'll feel throughout the semester without the added stress of "did I have something due today? Where did all my pens go?"
     Now I can't help you keep track of your physical stuff, but I found an app. I'm terrible at using planners, I really am. I try every semester. I buy them, fill them out with everything I know at the beginning of the semester, and then don't look at them again until I'm panicking four minutes before my midterm and I've written nothing else in them. But this one. I used it all last semester and it really saved me. iStudiez Pro. Yes. I paid for it. I downloaded the free version, and loved it so much I paid for the full. You have a calendar, and you can keep track of different classes with different colors, and quizzes and tests and finals and assignments and notifications and reminders and it's wonderful. I wasn't paid to advertise this, or review it or anything. I just found it useful. And maybe you will, too.

How do you keep organized and proactive during the semester? Tell me in the comments!