Duke Farms

Recently, my family and I went to the Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ. It was great to be able to share a meal with my grandparents, parents and brother followed by some amazing natural beauty. Here are some of my favorite shots from the gardens. Aren't the flowers and plants just gorgeous? Nature is one of my favorite sources of inspiration. Enjoy :)

Have a splendid day! 

Recipe of the Week: Stuffed Caprese Bites

This week's recipe is stuffed caprese bites, which are essentially bites of pizza dough stuffed with mozzarella, basil, and tomato. They were easy to make, and were devoured within minutes. It helped to pop the pizza dough in the freezer for 10 minutes before making the bites, which helped make it more pliable. I found the recipe here.  

Fresh out of the oven! 

They tasted divine drizzled with balsamic vinegar. 

I loved how they were melty and soft. I'll definitely be making this recipe again soon!

Hope you're having a lovely week. The first half of summer camp is over, and I'm ready for the second half! Enjoy your weekend. 

Three Braided Buns

Today's post is a hair tutorial inspired by this look, found here. I wore it for an awards ceremony for an essay contest about women in science. It was very warm that day, so it was important for me to keep my hair up and out of the way. My hair right now is the perfect medium length to try all sorts of hairstyles - one of my favorite styles for camp has been a braided side bun (tutorial coming soon!). 

Here's a photo of the hairstyle. I like how all the braids played up the texture of my hair nicely! Having hair that is all the same color, it can sometimes be hard to achieve dimension. Braiding is one of my favorite techniques to create more texture. 

And here's the photo of me at the awards ceremony.

Outfit details: Dress: Lush via Nordstrom / Wedges: Franco Sarto via T. J. Maxx / Earrings: Urban Outfitters 

I went with a summery look with the cream lace dress (one of my favorite dresses - it's so versatile!), nude wedges. I accessorized the otherwise neutral-toned outfit with gold and jade earrings. 

A heat wave is hitting my town right now, making it very warm - wherever you are, please stay cool! Have a fantastic day. 

Recipe of the Week: Caprese Salad

This week's recipe is caprese salad, something I've never made before! Since I got my basil plant, I've been looking up recipes that include basil. I found this one, which immediately drew my attention because the photos are amazing! It was fun to make and tasted exquisite. At home, I usually eat Chinese food cooked by my talented grandmother, but I'm always welcome to trying new tastes. It felt great to be able to eat something I had grown and nurtured myself! 

The vibrant colors looked awesome together, like the colors on the Italian flag. As my middle school Italian teacher would say, delizioso!

Have a fabulous day.

Summer Changes and Garden

After a long year of school, it's summertime! This summer, I'm a camp counselor at a summer camp for gifted and talented children. As such, I'll be dressed in a camp shirt and comfortable shorts, so not exactly style blog material. Not to worry - I will still be documenting outfits for weekend events and style tips. I'll be posting more recipes now that I have more time on my hands to try out new ingredients and work on my garden. Yes, that's right! I have a gorgeous little garden. Here's some photos that were taken a month ago. I have pepper, tomato, basil, Chinese onion and eggplant. I've used some of the basil already and it tastes so good fresh! 

My dad and I built the garden together by the shade of a tree in our backyard. It's nice because it still gets a lot of sun and while I'm working, I can retreat to the shade. We bought a 4 x 4 foot box and put in some garden soil. We added posts in each of the four corners and wrapped chicken wire around them to help keep out animals. Two pieces of chicken wire meet together in some of the corners so that the "gate" can be pulled aside so I can work on the garden. It's been pretty warm lately so I haven't had a chance to work on it, but I'm definitely looking forward to helping my dad in the future. He knows a lot more about gardening than I do, but I'm always happy to learn something new. 

I'll keep you posted on the progress of my garden! Hope you're having a lovely day. 

Recipe of the Week: Tropical Salad

This week's recipe is a tropical salad! I found different recipes online for an avocado mango salad and avocado strawberry so I thought, why not combine them into one? This fruit salad is a little unexpected and tasty! 

Ingredients
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 ripe Hass avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 orange
1 teaspoon canola oil
4 strawberries
Black sesame seeds
1/8 cup roasted coconut chips (I used these from Trader Joe's but shredded coconut would also work)
Salt to taste

To make: I used this recipe and added the orange slices, black sesame seeds, and strawberries. 

Delicious. Best shared!

Hope you're having a lovely day.

Chopped

On the day of prom, my hairstylist took one look at my long locks and said, "I'm going to have to cut some of this if you don't want to be waiting here for hours while your hair curls!" I was thinking about getting a haircut to help me cope with the hot and humid days of summer, but I wanted to keep the length for prom. But since I was getting a side bun anyway, I thought, why not? It's time for a change. I hadn't gotten my hair cut in more than a year! Here's the end result...

This photo was taken at my senior luncheon a few weeks ago. 

And here's a clearer picture of the outfit I was wearing for the luncheon:

This photo was taken at an awards breakfast for a scholarship I received earlier that month. I liked the outfit so much it had to be repeated!

Outfit details: Dress: Darling via T.J. Maxx / Belt: Store in China / Necklace: Forever 21 / Sandals: Franco Sarto 

I love how this necklace, a gift from one of my best friends, matches everything - it's the perfect accessory to dress up or down any outfit. This dress was an amazing bargain find at T.J. Maxx. I love the retro yet elegant fit and the timeless floral pattern. The colors suit my skin tone well! 

It's been fun finding ways to style my shorter (and undeniably more comfortable in the summer) hair. Sometimes, a little change is necessary. 

Hope you're having a fantastic day! Happy Fourth of July :)