District Magazine Launch!

(I borrowed this picture from Haute Table)

 It's been a while since I've posted but I've got something exciting to share today! Back in July one of my fellow HCBN members said she wanted to launch an online magazine. Here we are in September and it has launched! I am so excited to be a part of this project and I have to say that the final outcome looks awesome. It's a magazine "for women by women". I was lucky enough to get to write a story and feature one of my favorite people, Blaise the Baker. I hope everyone will check it out, you can find District Magazine here: http://data.axmag.com/data/201409/20140901/U123675_F299476/FLASH/index.html.

Enjoy and let me know what you think! 

Blog Tour: Who I'm Loving Now

My good friend Blaise featured me in a blog tour yesterday on his blog, Blaise the Baker. I thought this would be a fun way to not only repay the favor to him but to also feature some of the blogs I follow and love also! 

I decided to take a cue from Blaise and give a short bio on myself in case you end up here from another blog. 

My name is Shelby and I'm a 21 year old Hoosier! I just made a big move to Miles City, Montana to be with my boyfriend who took a job out here. I was lucky enough myself to land a great job that I love as an activities assistant at a local nursing home. I blog about fashion and beauty, as well as my new domestic endeavors and getting the most out of your money!

My favorite bloggers:

Blaise at Blaise the Baker

http://blaisethebaker.wordpress.com/

Blaise and I have known each other for almost our whole lives because we grew up in the same tiny town. We have been there for all of each others writing endeavors and he has been such a big supporter to me. Blaise is an awesome baker and chef and is currently in the process of writing a cook book. He features a lot of his delicious recipes as well as his favorite food blogs and cookbooks. He also has an "Ask Blaise the Baker" segment and is a great person to go to if you have any cooking questions!

Ally at Preppy Little Lesbian

http://preppylittlelesbian.blogspot.com/

I found Ally's blog through the Her Campus Blogger Network and I have loved it since day one. She writes about a variety of topics and personal experiences. Preppy Little Lesbian is a must read for anyone who is in high school or getting ready to go off to college! She makes sure all of the posts are personal as well as informative and has recently started a guest post series every Sunday. There is definitely something for everyone!

Danielle at Goodwillista

http://goodwillista.blogspot.com/

Goodwillista is probably one of my top five all time favorite blogs. I have recently gotten into thrifting myself and she is big reason why! Danielle features a lot of awesome tips for getting good deals and also shows that you can have style and dress well and for cheap! I'm so glad I found her blog because it inspired me to take the plunge and go to Goodwill, I will probably thrift there on the regular now. By regular I mean once a month because I live about 150 miles from the closest one! ( More on that later..)

Abbie at The Pink Paperdoll

http://thepinkpaperdoll.com/

Abbie is another blogger I found through HCBN. Abbie is a fashion writer and has a very unique vintage style that I love! She also features other fashion bloggers so it's a great place to go for fashion inspiration. She also shares a lot of her personal passions, i.e. Irish dancing, and also causes that she supports. Abbie also offers a lot of insight into decorating and DIY. The Pink Paperdoll is the perfect blog to visit if you are in need of some inspiration!

Montana in pictures.

I plan on writing a separate post about life in Montana but for now I wanted to post some pictures I have taken so far. Hope you enjoy!

Happy to be back with this handsome boy!

Bluest skies you'll ever see. 

Kinsey Bridge. One you definitely have to hold your breath on!

The Yellowstone River

Dad was braver than I am!

A bit of a size different between Dad and Evan. 

Dad before we had to send him back to Indiana. :(

Keep an eye out for more posts about our apartment and my domestic adventures!

Leaving for Montana!

Today my Dad and I are heading west to Montana! He's staying with me until Saturday and then flying home. I know I've been M.I.A lately but I promise there are many more posts to come! So excited to start this new chapter of my life and share it with all of you! 

 

An American Girl's Hot Potato Salad + Picnic Hop Link-Up

An American Girl’s Hot Potato Salad

I started out making a recipe for a potato salad that I found in Women’s Day but I scrapped it and made it my own.  To me it’s really a simpler version of German potato salad. I wish I had more pictures to post along with it but I forgot to take many when I made it.

Ingredients

Salad:

4 lbs of red potatoes

6 strips of bacon

Half of a small red onion

2 ears of corn

Dressing:

1 cup of sugar

½ cup of apple cider vinegar

½ cup of Wesson oil

¼ tsp of pepper

¼ tsp salt

Directions:

1.       Place potatoes in a large pot and bring to boil. When they come to a boil add salt to taste. Keep cooking until they are just tender.

2.       Cook bacon until crisp. I usually just put the bacon in microwave but I think frying them might add better flavor.

3.       Cut up onion into small strips and crumble the bacon.

4.       Remove corn from the cob, the corn doesn’t need to be cooked at all, just taken off.

5.       Whisk all of the ingredients of the dressing together.

6.       When potatoes are done drain them and then chop into rough pieces. I don’t pay attention to size, just small enough that you can get a bite.

7.       Add all of the onion, bacon, and corn into the potatoes.

8.       Mix in dressing and then you’re done!

German potato salad is one of my all-time favorite recipes and this recipe is so much simpler than the normal one I use but you get the same taste. I also love the addition of corn since sweet corn basically means summer in Indiana! If you try the recipe and like it be sure to comment! 

This recipe is part of a #picnichop!

We want to show case anything that reminds you of summer! 

The hosts are:

An American Girl

Midwestern Moms

Ready, Set, Parenthood

iNeed a Playdate

A Year of Homeschooling

You can find their contributions to the linkup along with other amazing posts on their blogs, so check them out! 

OOTD+Night in Myrtle Beach

I've never done an outfit of the day post on here or really posted a lot of pictures of myself but I thought I looked cute last night so here we go! 

 J.Crew Factory Polka Dot Popover, I got it for $16! Everything was on sale for 40-60% off and then I got a student discount. I think they're around $32 now. The shorts are Old Navy. They're the same material as their pixie pants and so comfortable! I was wearing a pair of sandals I got from Target forever ago but they didn't make it in the picture. I thought it was a simple but still put together outfit. 

Last night my family went to a place called Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach. It's a place that has shops, restaurants, and other attractions. Lots of people and very hot but still fun! I did find a couple of cute things too!

 Initial bracelet, $15 from a little boutique called Heart Fire. I wish I had it before so I could have worn it with my outfit!

Simply Southern t-shirt. I just loved the colors and the turtle too. Haha. $21 at Heart Fire also. It was perfect to wear to breakfast this morning with J.Crew shorts and pink sandals. 

My sisters and I our on way to go shopping. They look so much alike and I look nothing like either of them. I'm glad I got the dark hair though!

I hope everyone is having a great week, I have some exciting things to share with everyone soon! 

Playing catch up..

I feel like it has been FOREVER since I posted on here but I didn't just disappear! With a cross country move in about two and a half weeks, I spent the week after my last post trying to see friends who were going on long trips and relatives who were only in town for the week and then July 5th my family left for South Carolina! It's so great to be back and be down here with my family! I have been dying to post on here and have come up with so many ideas but really wanted to focus this time for just my family. I'll be back with regular posts next week, so stay tuned! 

My view for the week!

Budget Friendly Finds- Week One

I did a little bit of shopping over the weekend and found so many good deals! This really is a great time to find pieces for fall because most of it marked down drastically. I am a big time bargain shopper and I thought maybe it was time to start sharing some of my finds on my blog, so this post was born! I plan on making this a recurring series so we'll see how this first post goes!

For this post I hit up TJ Maxx, my local Goody's, and Kohls. I was honestly surprised by the things I found at Kohl's and couldn't believe the prices. Here are some of my finds:

First up are these adorable Mint shorts that I found at TJ Maxx for $12.99. They are so adorable on and I can't wait to wear them in South Carolina next week. I found them in white and pink also but I love navy!

This A. Byer top is from Goody's. I know that a lot of places don't have them but Beall's and all Stage stores are the same I believe. This shirt was on sale for $9 and then as a card holder I get coupons that I can use over and over until they expire, so an extra 20% off and it was down to around $7. I'm planning on wearing this with some black dress shorts for family dinners in Pawleys Island.

This adorable ELLE sweater is from Kohls and I got if for $5.40! I got it for 90% off.

I found this Jennifer Lopez sweater for $5.40 at Kohls also. It is so soft and the back is sheer and a light pink. I think it's perfect for going out in the winter. 

Last but not least, my favorite thing I found this weekend, this gorgeous Rock and Republic shirt for $9! Not quite as discounted but definitely too good to pass up. I cannot wait to wear this in the fall. I love the color and the faux leather details. 

If you know of any good sales or have any finds of your own to share feel free to share them in the comments!

Moving Mayhem: Closet Purging

One of my favorite things to do is clean out my closet. Yes, I know that's really weird but it's almost therapeutic for me. Getting rid of the old and making room for the new! In this case I am just trying to get rid of everything I don't absolutely love since I'm moving. 

Closet purging can be difficult for some people. You develop a sentimental attachment to things, have things saved for just the right occasion, the list goes on and on! I am a closet purge veteran. Any of my close friends know that I do it almost every three months. It's something that comes easy to me and I want to share my fool proof strategies that are easy and painless! 

Before you start make sure you have lots of trash bags or containers ready so you can get the items to their final destination, and probably some good music too! 

My rules for choosing what to get rid of:

1. One of the most popular rules is to get rid of something if you've had it for a year and haven't worn it. I totally agree with this. I had things in my closet that I hadn't worn for almost two years after buying!

2. Special occasion dresses and outfits that you're never going to wear again. My junior prom dress has been hanging in my closet for about four years now and I'm finally getting rid of it. I had been hanging onto it in case someone I knew needed it but that time has come and went, time to purge! Also a super cute dress I got to wear to my student leadership academy which I couldn't attend, tags and all, it's getting ready to go to a new home.

3. My third rule is probably common sense but I was a repeat offender. Multiples. I had four white v-neck tees, about ten bathing suits, twelve pairs of jeans, and three tan sweaters. For me they're usually the first things to go. I mean, I don't need ten bathing suits moving to Montana and taking one beach vacation a year. As for jeans, I know they're a staple but I had multiples of the same pair! 

4. Impulse buys! The downfall of all uncluttered closets. I can't tell you how many times I have bought something just because it was a little cute, I might wear it sometime, and it's only six bucks! You bring them home, realize they are NOT cute, and are stuck with them. You aren't stuck, get rid of them, take them back, do something! 

5. Last but not least are things that just don't fit. I recently lost some weight and went down a couple of sizes. I had so many pieces I loved and didn't want to part with but you've just got to do it. It's the same rule for things too small. Don't keep them around to make you sad you can't fit into them!

Things to keep: 

1. Things you cannot live without. For me that would include my trifecta of riding boots, AE jeggings, and my growing collection of sheer tops. 

2. The basics! Make sure you have cardigans, tanks, plain tees, good skinny and bootcut jeans. Also a must, black flats, a good pencil skirt, tailored shorts, and a good day/night dress.

What to do when you're done:

There are so many options for what you can do with unwanted clothes these days! Taking things to Goodwill isn't the only option, you can make some serious cash on this closet purge.

1. Your local consignment shop. Surprisingly my small town has a really nice one and that's where most of my stuff goes. The only downfall is that you don't receive all of the profit. There are online consignment shops now too. My favorite is http://www.thredup.com. Plato's Closet is also an option if your town has one.

2. eBay! I have made tons of money selling clothes on eBay and most of the time you can find a buyer. The only thing I hate is the hassle of shipping everything. 

3. Facebook groups. Almost every town has one or more resale FB group these days. You can even find them for certain brands and styles of clothing if you take the time to search. The only bad thing I find about these is that it can take longer to sell and people can back out and not be held accountable. 

4. A clothing swap! I think these are really fun and it's a cheap way to get new things for your wardrobe. It's also an excuse to get friends together and drink wine. :) 

5. Last but not least you can always donate them! Goodwill, the Salvation Army, whatever you choose. 

The castoffs from my closet!

As painful as the entire process of cleaning out closets can sound, it doesn't actually have to be. You just have to have good guidelines set up and stick with them. So get some friends together, turn on some Beyonce, grab a bottle of wine, and get to work!

Finish This! My First.

Before I unveil my new posts about Closet Purging and Organization, I decided to participate in a new link up that I found on Life the Way Amber Views it! (Which you should check out because she is awesome!)

Hosted By:

Nicole @ Three 31 http://nicoleandkevin.wordpress.com/

Lisa @ Coastlined http://lisadenoia.com/

Jen @ The Arizona Russums http://www.theazrussums.com/

Becky @ The Java Mama http://www.thejavamama.com/

This weeks prompts are:

1. I have a quarter to use a payphone, I call: This would depend on what I needed. If I was in trouble definitely my Mom or Dad. If I did something stupid I would call my best friend Tiffany.

2. I found $25 in my pocket, I buy: Most likely clothes or shoes. I would probably head to a local store, Goodys, because I always have coupons for there and they have super cute stuff.

3. I have 25 minutes to watch anything on TV, I turn on: Probably House Hunters or Chopped if it's on. I like to make fun of all the petty things people find wrong with houses on House Hunters, and watch Chopped to see all the good food they make while I'm eating a turkey sandwich!

4. A meal I can prepare from start to finish in 25 minutes or less is: Spaghetti. You boil the pasta, heat the sauce..easy!

5. At the age of 25, I wish I had known: Well, I'm not quite to 25 yet but my guess knowing me would be not to worry about stupid stuff so much. 

6. If I drove 25 miles south from my house, I'd be in: I would end up in Rushville. I think I will stay away from there!

A little late but I hope y'all had fun getting to know a little more about me! 

Moving Mayhem: Closet Purging and Organization

As most of you know I am getting ready to move from Indiana to Montana in about a month. It's also no secret that I have a bit of a shopping problem, i.e. I shop at least twice a week. For some people that might not seem like a lot but to me it's excessive because of this I have accumulated a lot of stuff. Clothes, shoes, purses, you name it! Normally I wouldn't even be bothered by it, my philosophy is the more the merrier when it comes to clothes. The kicker is that during my move the only things that will be coming with me is what I can pack into my Jeep Commander. I know I am at least hauling a TV and a couple of my organization pieces, along with books, decorations, etc. So now I am faced with the challenge of my closet and it's going to be a tough one!

I plan on turning this into a two part series. The first part will be about purging your closet. Do I really need four pairs of black heels? Are ten bathing suits practical when I'll be living in Eastern Montana? The answer to both of those questions is probably no.

The second part will be organization. Organizing my closet is something I've been working on for a while and it's been a long process. I've been finding cute organization labels, budget friendly containers, and trying to figure out how to maximize the use of my space.

Stay tuned!

Family reunion!

Sorry for the lack of updates this weekend everyone! We had a family reunion and then I went to start typing up a post for today and lost it. So I decided to share a photo from the reunion of my Dad's side of the family and work on my editorial calendar more this evening. I hope you all had a great weekend!

 My crazy family!

A Friday Find- Faded Glory Maxi Dress for $14.99!

Yay, it's finally Friday! I wanted to do a quick post on this cute dress I found, at Walmart of all places. I would like to turn this into a recurring series featuring something fabulous for under $25. 

 Faded Glory Dress- On Rollback for $14.99

I found this dress on a trip to Walmart to pick up some makeup and I wandered over to the women's clothing. This is such a cute dress for the price and it fits really well. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of me wearing it yet but I will soon. The one I got is white and navy stripes. I love that you could dress it down with flip flops or dress it up with a platform sandal! Every once in a while Walmart surprises me with a nice piece like this dress.

(Photo courtesy of walmart.com)

Top 5 Summer Beauty Essentials

I'll come out and say it, summer is a rough time to try and look good. If you live pretty much anywhere in the United States with the exception of a few places it's a problem you deal with. Between the humidity, rain, and extreme heat getting anything to stay on can be a nightmare! I especially have a hard time in the summer because I always get such oily skin and on top of that my legs always seem to be extremely dry. I have compiled this little list of essentials that I use to combat these two problems and threw in a little extra something!

One: Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets $4.99

As I mentioned before I get really oily skin in the summer due to the heat and humidity. These little sheets are a lifesaver this time of year! They work so well and the best part is that you can use them after you put your makeup on and they won't mess it up.

Two: Neutrogena Oil-Free Cleansing Wipes $5.99

These are actually something that I use year round but continuing with the oily skin problem, these are a great buy. They really do get your skin clean and also double to remove makeup. I use them every night and when I skip a night I really notice a difference in how my skin feels the next morning. 

Three: Almay Truly Lasting Color Foundation $10.79

Foundation is the only kind of makeup that I use everyday and I have used this one for probably seven years now. I love that it has SPF and is also hypo-allergenic. It doesn't clog my pores or make me break out and it stays on even in water or extreme heat. It's very beach friendly which is great for me because I am a freak who wears makeup everywhere. I always get compliments when I wear this too, it covers up a multitude of sins! If you are looking for a lightweight foundation, this probably isn't for you though. 

Four: Victoria's Secret Body Butter $5 (On sale!)

Back to the dry legs problem, I swear by VS Body Butter. It makes your skin so soft and smooth. I have extremely dry legs and the fact that anything makes them smooth amazes me. The awesome scents they come in are an added bonus too. I found this Endless Sunset at the Semi-Annual sale for only $5!

Five: A bright, fun nail polish! $1.99 to $9.00

Pedicures are usually the very first thing on my list for summer. You don't want to be wearing cute sandals and not have cute toes too! I love any bright orangey-red nail polishes for this season. I typically get OPI Cajun Shrimp but for this post the picture is Sinful Colors Big Daddy. This shade is very similar to the one I usually use and I would say it is actually more of an orange than it appears in the picture! This Sinful Colors polish is only $1.99. 

I love these items because they work and also don't break the bank! I hope this list is helpful and maybe you've found some new products to try. What are you summer beauty problems and fixes? What would you add to the list? I would love to know!

(All pictures in the post are mine.)

Blog Overhaul

After asking some of the ladies in my blog tribe to give me feedback on my blog design and layout, the main thing I heard was that it was busy. I agreed and needed to simplify. I ditched the loud background and the hard to read font, and decided to go for something very simple. I am trying to make An American Girl more reader friendly and easy to navigate. I also went through and deleted most posts that were older than 2012, considering they were almost all from 2011 or 2010 that means 99% are gone. I wasn't sure I wanted to go that far but I felt it was necessary. I really want this blog to grow up and be more professional, so that's what happened. I hope all of my readers will stick around to see what changes come in the future! 

I also hope everyone likes the new header, I actually made it myself! 

Easy Chicken Fajita Nachos

I don't think I have ever posted a recipe on this blog before but since I am trying to document my journey into being a domestic lady, I thought I would give it a shot. Beware that there are no set ingredient limits to this because it's really all about your personal preference and how many you are feeding. This is pretty much a dinner portion for one or possibly a small appetizer. I was just trying to make a quick meal for myself, which was intended to be chicken fajitas in the tortillas as usual but I forgot to buy them and ended up coming up with this. I am sure there are other more sophisticated versions of this but these are 100% mine and so are the pictures!

There are just a few ingredients for this and they can be altered to your tastes. I used Tyson Grilled and Ready Fajita Chicken Breast Strips (pictured above), green pepper, and red pepper for the main part. For toppings just shredded Monterrey Jack cheese and sour cream. I also just used what tortilla chips we had on hand. 

I started out sauteing the vegetables in a skillet with a little olive oil over a medium high heat. I still like my vegetables to be a little crunchy, so I didn't wait too long until I added the chicken. 

The chicken strips that I used are already fully cooked so it's really just about heating them up. I also didn't add any spices to my vegetables or chicken besides pepper. I cooked this mixture over high heat for about eight minutes and then it was all done! After the veggies and chicken were done I chopped them up pretty finely to make it more of a nacho dish. To plate I just used a medium bowl and lined the bottom with the tortilla chips, put the mixture on top, and then added the sour cream and shredded cheese. It was quick, easy, and it tasted good! 

I know this is a rough post, but I'm new to this kind of blogging! If you do happen to try it out and it goes well or you have any suggestions, I always welcome comments. :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Well tomorrow morning I leave for Montana! At 5:15 to be exact. Four airports in less than six hours! I'm hoping I can keep on top of things. I'm still not packed so I definitely dropped the ball there! This is just a week long trip but I'm very to excited to see where I'll be living starting in August. We also get to see the apartment while I'm there so I'm ready to start figuring out what I want to do with the place. I have already picked up a few things from Hobby Lobby but Evan didn't like the cross that I wanted to put in our bedroom. Who knew a guy that tries to wear t-shirts with holes in them and a hat he washes once a decade would have such a strong opinion on home decor? I did snap a couple of pictures of them though!

I got this for only $13!

This is my favorite but Evan didn't like it. He said it was too girly but I think the colors are gender neutral enough to build our bedroom around it. 

That was just a quick update! I'll have a lot of time on my hands when I get out there so expect some more posts next week. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Love in a Box Swap

This month I decided to participate in the Love in a Box swap that is hosted by Kimberly at Kimberly's Chronicle and Megan from Lush to Blush. I really don't remember how I found it, sometimes I just go look at blogs and end up clicking away and don't know where I'm going. Unfortunately this was the last month for it but I still had a great time! 

I was paired with Kristen at Simply Strive and I'm so happy I was. We happened to have similar likes so I think we were able to give each other some great things. In my emails I mentioned my upcoming move to Montana and how I was trying to expand my cooking since Evan will probably want to eat and also that I was getting more and more into beauty lately. That's a story for another time but she sent me some awesome stuff.

First off, sorry for the bad pictures. My iPhone hasn't had a back on it for over a year now and was also dropped in a porta-potty so it's not the best. Anyways, she included two cooking magazines, one her favorite face masks, and also a package of the cutest chocolates ever.

The magazines, EveryDay with Rachel Ray and allrecipes, have already come in handy. There are so many things I will be trying when I get out to Montana! There was also an article in EveryDay about traveling to Alaska, and that might have to happen soon too. 

The chocolates were called Sweet Little Things by Lindt and were so good! They were all eaten very quickly, I even shared but the bag was thrown away before I could get a picture.

The face mask was probably my favorite thing I received though. It's Alba Botanical even advanced deep sea facial mask. I almost always have red cheeks for some reason, which no one ever sees because I always have foundation on. Thank goodness for that! But as soon as I used this I noticed even after being completely make-up free the redness was gone and my skin really did look more even. I would say that it lasted almost three days after I used it also. Just for fun I'm going to put up a picture of me with the mask on so now no one can use it for blackmail. Haha.

I really enjoyed doing this and I hope I can find another swap to do or maybe this one will come back! Do y'all know of any good swaps to participate in? If so, what are your favorites?