condensed milk cookies

 You only need four ingredients!
1/2 can of condensed milk + 2 cups self-rising flour + 1.5 stick butter + chocolate chips
Mix together and place in a 350-degree oven for 12mins
{makes 2 dozen}

flirty cupcakes

Flirty Cupcakes started as a cupcake truck, but now it has its own shop in University Village! You must try their pie cupcake!

mitsuwa

Japanese cuisine galore can be found in one place! Mitsuwa Marketplace {Arlington Heights, IL} is a Japanese supermarket-heaven with an amazing food court.  Japanese must be one of our favorite cuisines.  We can find everything we crave for at Mitsuwa from sushi to mochi.  Today we're featuring two restaurants at Mitsuwa: Santouka and Gabutto Burger.  The Ramen from Santouka is authentic and delicious.  Today we ordered the Toroniku (pig cheeks!) with miso soup. 

Gabutto Burger is the first Japanese-style burger place in town.  The January special burger of the month is the Chicken Naan Burger with honey glaze.  And don't forget to try the Gabutto Stuffed Pancakes!  The pancake flavor of the month is Nutella with a Ferrero Rocher in the center. YUM.  Get stuffed pancake while you can!

babycakes

Babycakes' mint brownie gluten-free cupcake is probably my favorite cupcake of all time! The cool minty frosting topped with baby chocolate chips is the best part. You can't tell it's gluten-free. Every time I go to New York, I must stop at Babycakes.

a holiday in verona

I can't believe it's been 2 years since I left for Verona, Italy! I was looking through old photos and found these pictures {below}. I took them on my first weekend there. I arrived after the holiday and the city still had all its decorations hung. The lights made the city look even more magical!

there is a huge star arch that crosses the center of Piazza Bra

munching on...

start the new year with macarons!

{egg nog, red velvet, honey almond, white chocolate lychee, gingerbread, peppermint}

pretty purchase

 {eiffel tower ring dish from anthropologie}

This year we would like to inspire you with more pretty things. So keep an eye out for our new "pretty purchase" posts. We're really excited to share our discoveries with you!