maybe it's me.

i love to read magazines. i'm subscribed to way too many...the list includes glamour (MY FAVORITE), lucky, cosmo, teen vogue, food network (ahahaha i know), real simple (my other absolute favorite), seventeen, marie claire and some others. yeah, i know. 

i feel like some i outgrew a LONG time ago (read: seventeen, teen vogue)...but for some reason, i never cancelled my subscriptions. i guess it's because every so often i come across SOMETHING i like in them...and as much as i love the internet, i love having something in print to read. plus, seventeen has freebies every so often ;o)

but... some of this month's magazines covers just didn't do it for me. i don't know if it's because i'm particularly picky for some reason, or it's just my taste. some of you may have loved these covers and i totally understand. if you loved them, voice your opinion. i can handle it - it's not like i'm on any of the covers! ahaha. let's respect each other's opinions though, mmmmkay? kay.

img via here

i'm too old for the disney channel. and she's clearly trying to prove the same thing. it's not that i don't like her - honestly, i don't know any of her movies, shows, etc - but i just don't get this spread at all. the fake cat ears? cats on the cover? that..uh..shirt? like...come on. if you want to revamp your image, there's a ton of other ways to do it. and look a lot better. you're a pretty girl, vanessa! i want to know you for something other than dating zac efron! i have faith in her. do! better! next! time! lol

img via here

confession time. when i took the cover out of my mailbox, i honestly did not who was on the cover. my mind immediately thought whoever that was KINDA looked like justin bieber. i'm not feeling this look for dakota. also, a minor complaint...i KNOW she's another one trying to show how grown up she is (shhh, dakota! you make me feel old!) but there's other ways to do that (i sound like a broken record). she's still relatively young - SHE belongs on the cover of seventeen. i doubt readers of marie claire are some of her biggest fans OR can relate to her. i DO like dakota..but not on this cover. and i also do like her blazer.

img via here

who doesn't love britney?! come on. ...but uh..you guys. that photoshopped mess? that's not britney. a cardboard cutout of britney, perhaps...but that is not britney. seriously...that's...a mess.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THESE RECENT COVERS? WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE MAGAZINES?

swoon.

case of the mondays? hope these shoes brighten your day!

DVF opal wedges 
image via shopbop

found here, here, here, here, and here

you are all probably like...the shoe feature is back..and surprise, surprise...she picked a pair of wedges. haha. sometimes i can be a biiiit predictable on the types of shoes i fall for :P. i originally saw these beautiful DVF opal wedges in the style section of the newspaper, of all places. i LOVE how the wedge looks like different stacked layers...and i honestly can't make up my mind if i prefer the gorgeous brown or classic black. plus, they'd make me a staggering (for me) 5'7. AND from some reviews online, rumor has it that they're actually COMFORTABLE! i know, i know...as if i needed another excuse to buy them. 

WOULD YOU ROCK THESE SHOES?

sweet.

soooo...i'm back! or at least i think. lol. things have been preeeetty crazy but i figured what other way to come back than by sharing a super simple recipe that i came across?!

i'm kiiiiiiind of a sucker for TLC. okay, i'm a huge one. i watch cake boss (fellow jerseyans, you guys are SO much better than ace of cakes), hours and hours of say yes to the dress (i kind of LOVE randy...rachel agrees! hahaha), what not to wear, toddlers & tiaras (okay, i know but i'm a sucker for train wrecks), and NOW...inedible to incredible.

like...you KNOW i'm going to watch a show about cooking. lol. whenever i don't know what to watch, 9 times out of 10 i have food network on. and basically, that means i have it on ALL WEEKEND..unless there's a yankees game on haha

this cake recipe is insanely simple. i haven't had time to cook/bake as much as i'd like to, but i was able to fit this into my busy schedule. instead of the fruit compote recommended, i did something a little different (explained below) because i didn't want to actually put the fruit on the entire cake. i wouldn't recommend doing that unless you want to make like a centerpiece out of it, because if you don't eat the entire cake (and oh, it is preeeetty easy to polish it off because it's kinda light and airy and delicious) it's going to wind up being soggy and gross. i just put the fruit on the cake as i served it. in my opinion, this cake is a cross between a pound cake and an angel food cake...but better. haha

cream cake 

adapted from inedible to incredible

cake ingredients

- 4 eggs, separated 

- 1 cup of sugar

- 1 cup of flour

- 2 teaspoons of baking powder

the recipe says to use a springform pan. i didn't... i just used a regular bundt type of pan. so it's really up to you. make sure the pan is greased with butter (recipe recommends a teaspoon) and coat it with a biiiit of flour too.

1. preheat over to 350 degrees.

2. beat the egg whites until peaks form. this takes a while... i'm really impatient though haha. try your best not to be like me and make sure you really have stiff peaks forming.

3. in a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together. at first, i thought i was doing something wrong..but expect this to be pretty thick.

4. i never sift when it says sift...haha. but if you'd like, sift the flour and baking powder. then beat it into the egg yolk mixture. 

5. fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. the recipe says to do this as gently as possible, but i felt that i kind of had to work it a bit. you're going to have a few little clumps..but make sure there aren't huge clumps. it won't be perfectly smooth.

6. bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. let it rest for 10 minutes before you remove it from the pan and let cool completely.

instead of the fruit compote that came along with the original recipe, i tossed some cut up strawberries and blueberries with a little bit of sugar and vanilla extract. SO simple, yet SO good. 

enjoy! if you try it, let me know if you like it!

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE GO TO/EASY RECIPES?

love.

seriously, i love you guys.

i honestly never planned to get THAT open about things on my blog. like i said, i try to keep some positivity going on around here (lol).

i appreciate every single one of your comments more than you can ever imagine.

i have so many people to get back to, so many emails to catch up on, and i plan to *hopefully* get that done by this weekend.

but i couldn't just leave that type of post and not post anything to let you know i'm still here. and to thank all of you.