Summer in a Flash.

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Here are some summer-themed instas from the last little while. I forgot to post so many that a few are a little outdated, but never you mind! I had lots of treats (ice cream and cake as you can see) bought this vintage coffee tin for Father's Day, drank mojitos and smoothies, and had lots of summer dates. <3

Family Time.

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Some of my favourite days just involve hanging around my father's house. When he moved to a completely different city from just down the road, we promised that our time together would be about quality instead of quantity. This seemed like a terrible challenge at the time, as I was so used to spending every other weekend with him, and every Thursday in between. If you're a child of divorce, this probably sounds familiar. I was heartbroken and worried about the strain it would put on our relationship. As it turns out, it was one of the best things for us. We've grown so much closer as a family now that we're limited to certain block of time when everyone is available. During this time we aren't sleeping, out hanging with our friends, or playing on the computer like we used to do when we lived with him. We usually have delicious dinner, watch a movie in the home theatre, and go for walks, nothing crazy. Oh, and drink lots of homemade wine (pictured below is Summer Peach, the perfect cocktail of sugar and alcohol). As a side-note, I also get to hang out with my little step-sister, who in a matter of 26 days will be officially be a teenager. I can't believe it. What is truly unreal, is how much she looks just like me in the bottom photo. I guess if you spend enough time together/know each other for long enough, you begin to look alike even without blood relation! Happy Saturday <3

Little Bites of Heaven Recipe.

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Ever crave something sweet but don't feel like making 20 portions of it? Of course not, that's a silly question. The only reason people bake is to eat all those extra portions. Cupcakes for 24 anyone?

But really. I found this great recipe by Anna Olson for individual brownie cups, though I added some major alterations. I did make one mistake, however - baking soda instead of baking powder. Blerg. So I'd recommend following those key ingredients to a tee without mistakes. Mine turned out a little crumbly, but like a halfway mix between a crumbly cookie and chocolate cake. Worked for me :) I also used 1 medium-sized muffin pan instead of 2 mini ones.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 2 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Butter and flour a mini-muffin tin.

Over a pot of simmering water, melt butter halfway. Add white chocolate and stir until melted. Allow to cool to room temperature.

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or with an electric mixer), whip eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale and thick. Reduce speed to medium and add chocolate mixture.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt and stir into egg mixture. Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake 18-25 minutes.

Sunday Goodies!

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What is a sure-fire way to cure a lazy and rainy Sunday? A trip to the mall with your Mama, of course! I was having one of those days where I literally came to the mall for one thing - plain, black pants. That's it. I ended up finding fantastic things for great prices, which almost never happens. I usually have either no moolah to spend whatsoever, or plan a shopping day and find absolutely nothing I like. The problem with my local mall, I find, is that while it has a generally great selection of stores, everyone owns the same things. I fell instantly/deeply in lust with a peach sundress today. But it was only $20 and on display at the front of the store, meaning that on any given day 200 other girls would have seen/bought/be wearing that dress too. One of my big pet peeves about fashion; it should be unique, individual, exciting. Walking down the street and having everyone know where you got your top from, because they all have the same one = a major buzzkill. 

Today I acquired the plain black pants I was looking for, a plain black v-neck (which I feel I will use a lot of) a red lace t-shirt, and this gorgeous khaki dress. My favourite is the dress - I can't wait to snazz it up with a cardigan and navy tights this fall!

v-neck: Aeropostale, skinny jeans: Garage, lace top: Garage, khaki dress: Smart Set

Happy shopping friends <3

Things I'm Thankful for.

Follow @caraallover Hi friends. Once in a while the universe throws you a day when you wake up and feel the glory of life. I'm in such a good mood day and have so much to be thankful for that I decided to try to keep my good luck rolling and write it all down.

Here's what I'm so thankful for today:
- Starbucks
- My acting experience (it pays off sometimes)
- Good weather (ok, awesome weather)
- Great hair days
- Cool and cheap sunglasses from WalMart
- French toast
- My health 
- Amazing opportunities and exciting possibilities
- My beautiful step-sister for making me aware of said opportunities
- Fresh printed resumes 
- A working printer
- My wonderful boyfriend
- Coffee ( see *Starbucks)
- A genuine smile
- Staying classy


Have a fantastic Friday! <3

Wishlist: ModCloth Bags

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Golly, I've been tripping heels over head lately for ModCloth's bags and purses lately. I definitely don't generally spend a great deal of money on one item, but I feel as though a purse is something worth an investment. I would love a new travel bag, really, one that I can take to class, bring on the bus, on road trips, shopping, and lunch with girlfriends. So I'd like a purse equivalent to the purpose of an "everything bagel," I suppose. These are some I'm salivating over, but I'm really leaning towards the Travel Bright bag :) It seems to simple and would match with so much. I'm a neutral geek when it comes to bags, though you couldn't tell at all from these ;) What are your favorites?!

First Internship Satchel

Travel Bright Bag

Upwardly Mobile Satchel

Sold-Out Show Satchel

Dear Daddy-O

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You're one my best friends, in case you didn't know. I don't think anyone could be more of a daddy's girl than me, and I know that I couldn't have dreamt up a better father than you. On days like today I get emotional remembering all we have gone through together, how we've gotten closer, and our bond even stronger. You are easily the most embarrassing person in the world, whether you're chatting up boys for me or accidentally wearing your spandex biking shorts when I'm hanging out with my friends. You've done Zumba with me, for crying out loud. No boyfriend or any other father would shake their "ta-ta's" to the Pussycat Dolls in a beaded skirt like you. Thank you for all the girlie movies you sat through on our nights together, thanks for all the coffees, thanks for all the things you've carved out of bare wood that will never leave my bedroom. Thank you for being the recipient of all my venting, the shoulder I cry on, the friend I share my most exciting news with. Thank you for being the person I can tell all my crazy hopes and dreams to, and not make me feel like a fool. Thank you for making me feel loved, and turning me into the kind and loving person I try to be today. Nobody inspires me more than you, and if I know what to aspire to be or how to love others it is because of you. Any other man who comes into my life has incredibly big shoes to fill, and an impossibly high bar to reach. I am truly too blessed to have you.

Happy Father's Day <3

Funky Friday.

Follow @caraallover Not sure if all of you out there are as internet savvy as I am (I say that sarcastically, as I am not at all), and are in love with 8Tracks.com. Just thought I'd share one of my favourite playlist that I use every time I need to keep my energy pumped up when I'm cleaning, though I occasionally get distracted from my tasks at hand and end up singing in front of my mirror.

Click here to play:

"All That Glitters is Gold" Playlist

Back Again!

Follow @caraallover What craziness I've been experiencing in the last week! I feel like a terrible blogger. Enough time to peer into others' lives, but not enough to share my own. Just trying to bring home the bacon; the shrivelled, tiny, over-salted bacon that is the equivalent of my paycheck. Howeever, the upside to working so many hours is I conk out every night and am too tired to wake up til my alarm clock rings. Silver lining, right?

So this happened:

Acceptance letter!!! Finally! Yes, this is super late in the game to be accepted into university I guess they figure I have all the time in the world since I already am one. As if all I do is work with hippie health food, and troll the internet. Oh...

What else... I can see a lot of you are reading and I'm loving it <3 It would mean the world to me to follow on GoogleConnect or Bloglovin as well! That way I can keep you posted with upcoming exciting projects and special secrets :) Ya, it's like a friendship-club here. Secret password is: "donuts." Secret handshake is a high-five.

At the moment I'm just sneezing up a storm after cutting some thrifted on my bed. I know I'm allergic to thrift stores (YOU DON'T CHOOSE WHAT YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH) but maybe rubbing the dust into my sheets was not my best idea.

I'll promise I'll update soon my little cupcakes!

xo

June Instas.

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These are my last few instas of the week. Remember you can follow me @caraclaudia :)  I wrote notes to my boyfriend while at work, ate a lot of food, (and more food and more food), took secrets pics of my cutie, went out for dinner at the diner, used my gramps' lens, took a selfie of my new favourite tshirt (before a night on the town with some friends), cupcakes for mama's birthday, creeped my Dad's cat [Skylar] and admired the beautiful architecture of Guelph's cheap apartments. Again, I apologize for the awkward amount of food porn. 

Good day!

Cara Lately.

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Hey everyone! Here's a check up on my life as of late:

Lots of working at the health food store, and not a lot of sleeping. Well I guess that sums it up! Kidding. I've been sorting through some projects and creative ideas, trying to a) choose which one would be successful b) find one I would love to do and c) discover what am I remotely good at. I've been dying for a creative outlet of some sort and hopefully the things I have in mind can help with that. I've also been accepted into the university I wanted to transfer into - now I just need to pick courses, yikes! University to me is kind of like getting a haircut. I was ok with my last program, but wanted to opt out for something different. Like, say, going from long locks to a shoulder-length do. Now that I'm halfway-through my decision, I'm wondering whether I should have stuck with the old one. Oh well, life's about getting messy and making mistakes. Hope I just don't make too many before I discover what the right path is!

Oh, and enjoy these selfies of my good hair day (it's a theme today):

Photographers in the rain.

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Sorry I've been so absent lately. It's not you, it's me. It really is! Alright, it's you. Just kidding.

As I am sure I've mentioned before, my papa is both one of my best friends and one of my favourite photographers. When we hung out last I decided to blow some cobwebs off of my camera and experiment a little. All these pics were taken when I was trying out my grandfather's old lens which is an ultra zoom lens. It's so zoom-y that I was standing in our neighbours yard when I took these. Not. My stepmom has a beeeeaaauuuutiful garden that is just starting to bloom, and despite the rain I was determined to take pictures of it. I can't wait to get more use out of this lens, and I also can't wait to buy even more. What can I say, it runs in my blood. Enjoy these pictures of creatures, critters and creations!