dress: ann taylor | shoes: payless | hair accessory: whippy cake | bracelet set: forever 21

Happy Thursday friends!  Today, I am so excited to bring you the second post in the series “Adventures of the Wandering Whippy Cakes” that me and four other fabulous ladies are partaking in.  Remember back in May when I styled the House Puppet?  Well since then, I’ve passed that on to Much Love, Illy and Josiah’s Nest has passed on the Mall Rat to me.  The Mall Rat is larger than most accessories I am used to wearing but very enchanting and inviting.  It’s a mix of sky blue, light green, dark green and bronze buttons that go so well together!  So for this outfit, I decided to wear one of my favorites solid colored green dresses that matched the color of one of the rosettes.  I paired it with a green and gold bracelet and nude shoes (that I happen to be in love with)!

Here’s a close-up of the Mall Rat.  It sure makes a statement with so many great colors, textures, materials and patterns, don’t ya think?

And while you’re blog reading, don’t forget to head on over to these blogs to check out how they styled their Whippy Cakes from their end of the country!

Don’t forget to enter the Shabby Apple dress/skirt giveaway!

Entries for this giveaway have been closed, thanks!

Today, I’m super excited to bring you a super fashionable giveaway, that is so perfect for summer!  I have paired together with Shabby Apple and couldn’t be more excited!  If you aren’t familiar with Shabby Apple’s Women’s Dresses then I’m not quite sure where you’ve been hiding.  They even sell kids and maternity dresses, accessories, swimsuits, and more!  And because I’m sure you all know just how obsessed I am with bows, the winner of this giveaway can pick one of these items that has a lovely bow on it! 

{GIVEAWAY}

The winner’s choice between…

a. the beautiful turquoise colored ahoy! dress

b. the sweet and summery lighthouse dress

c. your choice of a navy, black or olive bow dress

To enter:

1. Visit Shabby Apple and leave a comment with your favorite item!

For additional entries, leave a separate comment for each action.
2. Like Shabby Apple on Facebook and leave a comment saying I sent ya
3. Be a Google Friend Connect follower of this blog
4. Follow @sandyalamode on Twitter
5. Follow @shabbyapple on Twitter
6. Blog, facebook, or tweet about this giveaway (make sure to include @sandyalamode and @shabbyapple in your tweet) and include the link (one entry each)

Feel free to use this tweet:
There’s a @shabbyapple #GIVEAWAY on @sandyalamode! Enter to win a perfect summer dress or a skirt! http://bit.ly/ijxAJe

This giveaway is open to U.S. readers only and closes on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 12PM CST. Good luck!

Don’t want to wait?  Take 10% off your order with code “sandyalamode10off“!

Entries for this giveaway have been closed, thanks!

Don’t forget to enter the Sense N’ Sensibility giveaway!!

This summer our little Australian koala bear, Koko, turns three!  So to help him celebrate, Marv and I went visited a local Kansas City Plaza cupcake shop called Cupcake a la Mode (ummmm, LOVE the name) and picked up three cupcakes for him.  He sure was a happy camper. 

The real dilemma was which one to eat first and how slowly to make him eat them.  If we left him alone with the cupcakes, they’d be gone in seconds.

Here’s a look at the cute little box they came in with the store’s signature sticker.  Again, what a great name, huh? 

I just had to do a little photo shoot w/ the cupcakes because they just looked soo heavenly!!

Out of the three that we picked, this the order from my most favorite to least favorite.  On the left we have the Raspberry Lemonade (vanilla cupcake topped with a layer of raspberry buttercream and a swirl of lemon buttercream, accented with a sugary raspberry and lemon wedge).  In the middle, we have Koko’s favorite, the Marshmallow Fondue (chocolate cupcake topped with a layer of smooth, semisweet chocolate, a swirl of marshmallow creme icing, a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs and a gourmet chocolate covered graham cracker on top).  And lastly, we have the Bella Nutella (chocolate cupcake topped with a layer of creamy nutella, a swirl of chocolate hazelnut buttercream and a rocher chocolate covered hazelnut truffle & chocolate hazelnut pirrouhette cookie on top).

All I’ve got to say is that I’m DEFINITELY going back to try the rest of the flavors!  The cake was so moist and the flavors so unique.  I’m thinking I might start a series on my blog called Kansas City Eats since I love toting my camera around the city already and love taking pictures of food.  So if any of you live in the area or are thinking about visiting, you can come check out my blog for recommendations.  I give this place 5 out of 5 thumbs up!!

If you could create any cupcake flavor, what would it be?

{favorite places and spaces} | {beauty and makeup} | {fashion}
{food and drink} | {for the home} | {party and decorations}

Like the title of this post says, I still can’t get enough of Pinterest!  This week has been a busy one and I was thankful to be back at my cubicle for it all.  Not to mention, the weather couldn’t have been a more perfect 75-80 degrees this week as well.  And although I wore skirts to work almost every day, I still have to use my space heater, go figure!  This Saturday I am looking forward to a walk in the park, eating cupcakes, taking pictures of some outfits, and just relaxing.  Then next I have another business trip to Ohio, yes, another one.  But probably not bringing my camera to this trip since I’ll be staying in the land of fast food and farms.  I can’t wait for the plane ride so I can read “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest” – the third book of the series!  And luckily, I’ll be back home next Friday to enjoy most of the day as it will be Marvin’s birthday!! 

What are your weekend plans?

Don’t forget to enter the Sense N’ Sensibility giveaway!!

What I love about this recipe is that it is simple.  Are you seeing a theme here on my blog?  The simpler and less time it takes to make food, the better.  Without sacrificing taste, of course!  This cucumber salad is just PERFECT for summertime.  It’s light, sweet, tangy, oh and duh… HEALTHY!    Can it get any better than that?  I could seriously never get sick of it.  It’s just the perfect side dish to go with any hearty meal.  Here’s a rough outline of the ingredients and amounts I use (adapted from Allrecipes), hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white vinegar / rice vinegar (i actually like to do half white and half rice vinegar)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes / korean pepper powder(more if you like it spicy)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used toasted sesame seeds)
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green onion, sliced
• 1/2 carrot, julienned

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together vinegar / rice vinegar, black pepper, red pepper flakes and sugar.
2. Heat sesame oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in sesame seeds, and reduce heat to medium. Cook until seeds are brown, about 5 minutes. (If using toasted sesame seeds like me, there is no need to heat it up, just add sesame oil to it.) Stir seeds into vinegar mixture. Mix in cucumber, green onions, and carrot. Cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. I think it tastes even better after 24 hours of marinating together!

What are some of your favorite summer side dishes?