Breaking Bad

Last night one of my favorite television shows came to a end after only 5 seasons and 7 Emmys. I feel like I need to share this program with you in case you haven't ever watched it yet. Breaking Bad is a show on AMC and after 5 seasons, came to a dramatic close Sunday. For all of the Breaking Bad fans out there that may have not watched it yet, I'm not going to spoil the ending for you. But for all the other people out there I highly suggest going to watch it. You can stream all of the episodes on Netflix and there are all fabulous to watch. 

For all of you that know knowing about the show, it follows a 50 year old chemistry teacher as he is diagnosed with lung cancer and his family needs money to cover the bills and in the chance that he will die. To solve this problem he teams up with a old student of his and they start to cook high quality meth. After that things get super complicated.

You may not think as me as the type of person that would watch a crime/violent drama but I was so into this show it was almost sad. There are few shows were I actually really like and this was one of them, so go out and watch this show, you won't regret it.

My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter

If you haven't already heard of this hilarious Pintrest board, please check it out, you won't regret it. It was thought up by Tiffany Beveridge and she created the board on Pintrest, My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter. She created a fake child named "Quinoa" and the board now has over 75,000 followers. She finds different pictures of well-dressed children and puts them up on her board with different hilarious descriptions like the ones below.

"Though she tried to make it work with a double cardi, high bun and vintage skateboard, Quinoa was going to have to tell Gucci that she couldn't endorse their reinvention of the Mom jean"

"No amount of cheery strawberry desserts could distract Quinoa from the party's disturbing lack of bunting, photo booth props and mason jar beverages"

"Quinoa isn't afraid to drop to the floor in the middle of a miniature hat party to give an accurate insurance appraisal of your antique Persian rug"

But last week there was an announcement on the board...

Quinoa is getting a book! You heard that right, Quinoa, the well-dressed daughter pictures will now be transformed into a book and be sold on shelves next spring! I'm excited!

If you want to check out more of Quinoa follow the board on Pintrest:

My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter

While you're there go ahead and check out my Pintrest:

My Pintrest

One Week, Two Concerts

This past week I have been super busy, not only with academics but also with concerts. In the past 5 days I have been to two concerts. On Tuesday I went to The Grand Ole Opry because Hunter Hayes was one of the performers. I absolutely love Hunter Hayes and he was amazing as always. While I was there The Old Crow Medicine Show was being inducted into The Opry and they ended up singing one of my favorite songs, Wagon Wheel (a classic) and it was amazing.

Then again on Friday, I went to the Taylor Swift Red Tour Concert. She was great and very energetic while she preformed, classic Taylor Swift. But, one of her opening acts was Ed Sheeran a.k.a. my favorite artist. He was fabulous as always and it was a great concert but I woke up Saturday morning with no voice. Partly because I have a "going into fall" cold and partly because I was singing so much, guilty. If you didn't know at all of Taylor Swift's concerts she brings out a special guest and for my show she brought out Rascal Flatts, I don't know them to well but they sang well. 

All in all, this was a crazy week but also a amazing week. I saw some amazing people preform and everyone was amazing. Check out the pictures below. Some pictures are mine, but others are not.

Old Crow Medicine Show being inducted into the Opry

Hunter Hayes playing 'Wanted'

Taylor Swift playing with Ed Sheeran and with Rascal Flatts (her special guest for the evening)

*photos curiosity of Taylor Swift's Twitter  

xx.

Bill Cunningham New York

I recently watched the film Bill Cunningham New York and it was absolutely amazing. The documentary travels along with 84 year old photographer Bill Cunningham as he captures the people of New York whilst traveling on his bike daily with his film camera. He takes fashion photos for the New York Times and describes the latest fashion trends and he will do anything for the perfect shot. I also admire his work and his sense of simplicity and it was amazing to watch. He travels by bike and he lives in an apartment with no kitchen installed and a public restroom in the hallway because he feels that anything more is not important. He instead fills his entire apartment to the brim with files upon files of pictures and negatives going back decades in fashion and portraits. He is one of the most renowned photographers in the world,  yet doesn't need a fancy place to sleep or to be able to travel about. He even uses a $3 rain poncho that he repairs daily with duck tape. 

It is his view on life that will amaze you and show you a simpler side to life. If you haven't checked this film out I strongly recommend you do, you won't regret it.

xx.

Here is his most recent article published on September 22, 2013 

If you want to check out more of his work, check the New York Times Style Section:

New York Times Style

The Most Amazing Travel Videos

Mike Matas is one of the coolest photographer/ filmmaker/ designers out there. He has had many accomplishments in his lifetime, including helping design some of the artwork for the IPhone and IPad. In his spare time, he and his girlfriend travel around the world taking up to 4,000 photos each trip. He then puts them all into one video that results in a brilliant piece of film. These videos are absolutely amazing and you will find yourself staring at the screen for 4 minutes, taking in each photo as it passes in awe.
  Enjoy!

If you want to check out more of his work check him out on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/mikematas

Favorite Fall Collections

As we enter fall, I am beginning to add different pieces to my closet from fall collections. Some of my favorite brands have not disappointed me and they have brought me some fabulous new pieces. Here are some of my favorite fall collections: 

Madewell

Madewell has been one of my favorite brands this past year and they didn't disappoint with the new fall collection. I discovered the brand through a friend and now I love it. I have heard Madewell described as the love-child of J. Crew and Urban Outfitters and I absolutely love it.

 
 

Madewell Fall Collection

Jack Wills

If you don't know this small British company with the motto "Fabulously British", I highly recommend it. The make fabulous sweatpants and jumpers that are super soft and really adorable. I love their fall collection and will defiantly be picking up some of these pieces.

 
I love this sweater!

Jack Wills Fall Collection


What Fall Collections are you loving?

My Music Ep.1

Something that I want to do with this blog, is every once in a while show you some of my favorite music that I am listening to. I want to show them to you, so you all can enjoy the music that I currently love. Here are my top music choices for this week. 

Enjoy

Let Her Go- Passenger

I absolutely LOVE this song! A British Folk- Rock Singer that goes under the name "Passenger." This song has been my number one for the past couple of weeks and I can't get enough. 

I Hate- Passenger

Once again another Passenger song. Same artist, different feel. This is the only time this song was ever recorded and it was recorded live which I think adds a lot of character to the song and to his voice. It is a funny song that also has some good parts to it. Disclaimer:  This song drops the F-bomb a couple of times, so beware.

 

Sonnentaz (Sun Don't Shine) - Will Heard and Cara Delevingne

This song has been extremely popular recently because of model Cara Delevigne singing with Will Heard on this track. This is the acoustic version of the song, but the normal track doesn't involve Cara. I love both the acoustic version and the normal version of this song and I, like many others, love the mixture of Will Heard's and Cara Delevigne's voices.

 

Here is the Original Song

Can We Dance- The Vamps

The band The Vamps is like a Rock- Pop version of One Direction. They came out with this single while opening with McFly and I love it.

Big Black Car- Gregory Alan

This lovely mellow song is just one of those songs you can fall asleep to or sit on a porch listening to with a nice tea; that is why I absolutely love this chill song.

What music are you currently loving?

Sunnies

Recently I have been looking for a great pair of sunglasses. I have always been the person to buy the cheap pair because I knew that I was either going to break or lose them. But I think that I need to buy myself a new pair of quality sunnies not only because they look great, but because I think that high-end sunnies provide better protection for your eyes.

Here are a couple of sunglasses that I am currently loving:

Warby Parker Sunglasses

Ray Ban Clubmaster

Vintage Ray Bans

Some Super Fun Need Supply Co. Sunnies

What Sunglasses are you currently loving?

Fall Fashion

Recently because of New York Fashion Week I have been catching up on my current fall fashion. Thanks to InStyle and Vouge's September Issues with a total of 1,618 pages to read I have had a ton of reading to do in the world of fashion. Here's what I have noticed:

Disclaimer: These trends are not for everyone, me personally I normally don't follow all of the fashion trends at any given moment. Dress in what makes you feel good and applies to you. Don't feel like you have to dress in whats "popular" because I surely don't. :)

1. Leather 

Leather is huge this season. For the Fall/Winter Collections of many designers they incorporated leather in more ways than just leather jackets. They have been putting it on sweaters, on skirts and just about everything. Check out some of my favorites below:

J. Crew Leather Pixie Pant

ASOS Faux Leather Skirt

Anthropologie Classic Leather Jacket

Anthropologie Pullover with Leather Collar

2. Prints and Patterns 

Prints and Patterns are also very "in" this season. With many prints appearing in dresses, blouses and even shoes. Prints and Patterns such as florals, animal prints, stripes and many more are appearing in Fall.

Roberto Cavalli Animal Print Shirt and Floral Short

J Crew Printed Tee

Valentino Floral Dress

3. The Blues and Different Hues 
Did you catch that rhyme there? But anyway, for Fall fashion 2013 I have been seeing a lot of solid color fashions and even some more block coloring. Two very apparent colors making an appearance this season are blues and grays. I have seen many other colors such as white and hunter green but I have seen a ton of blue and gray.

Topshop Coat

Ted Baker Dress

Adorable Comme des Garcons Wallet

Marc Jacobs Blue Flower Print Dress

I recently checked out this website that showed me every single trend going on at the moment, if you want to know them all, check it out!

http://www.hotbeautyhealth.com/trendsetters/fall-2013-fashion-trends/


What fashion trends are you checking out this season?

The Slutty Brownie Cake

The Slutty Brownie Cake is derived from the classic, the slutty brownie. Yes the name is not the most appealing but what I am about to show you makes up for everything.

I decided to go all out for my sisters birthday and make her this colossal cake on Sunday. It ended up taking some time but it was defiantly worth it. 

The Very Simple and Fast Way
Buy 1 box of Devil's Food cake mix, 1 box of Oreos, 1 bag of Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, 2 containers of Vanilla Frosting and everything those recipes call for.

The Made From Scratch Way 
Disclaimer: This cake is very rich and very sweet I could only have one slice!

Ingredients (cake): 1 cup white sugar, 1 1/8 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup softened un-salted butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and set aside. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt then set aside. Cream together the butter (softened) and sugar until fluffy, and then add the egg and the vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and beat the mixture until well blended adding a pinch of water if necessary.

Divide the batter into the two pans and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

p.s. The batter will be thick so you need to try and not eat the batter (I know it's hard) and use every drop of batter and spread it out well

Ingredients (cookie): 1 cup butter softened and un-salted, 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs,, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons hot water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 8-inch round cake pan and set aside. Cream together the butter and the sugars until smooth. Add in each egg one at a time and then add in the vanilla. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and add it to the batter. Stir in the flour slowly and the chocolate chips until everything is combined.

Place the batter into the greased pan and cook for about 25-35 minutes depending on how thick the cookie batter is. 

p.s. My 8'' cake pan was about 1 1/2 inches overflowing with cookie when the cookie had risen but it ended up fine.

For the Frosting: You can either use a can a store brought frosting, a buttercream frosting (below) or a cream cheese frosting (below)

Buttercream Frosting: Cream together 3 sticks of un-salted softened butter, 1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of heavy cream

Cream Cheese Frosting: Cream together 1/2 cup un-salted softened butter, 8 oz plain cream cheese, 2 to 3 cups of confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

The Layers Separate

The Layers Together

The Finished Product with cool color changing candles

The Inside 

Enjoy xx

Let Me Introduce Myself

We are still able to smile going 25 MPH (I'm on the left)

Yep, that's me on the right... I figured out that I should start this blog thing out by showing you all people out there one of the most interesting/ surprisingly typical/ slightly embarrassing resent pictures of     me and two of my friends. Well, now that that's out of the way...

Welcome!

Let me just introduce myself right off the bat. My name is Elizabeth, a 17 year old girl born and raised in  Nashville, Tennessee. I would like to currently think of myself as a foodie and fashion connoisseur, but only because that is what interests me the most and what I love to do in my life currently along with photography. I absolutely love to travel and I love to experience new things that will push me out of my comfort zone while helping those I know and those I don't.  

I want anyone and everyone who reads this blog to be able to know what I love best and to take you all into my world of food, fashion and anything else that interests me at any certain time. When I started looking into other blogs I seemed to notice how there are blogs for new mothers, knitting lovers, and everything in between but very few blogs dedicated to the average teenager just trying to figure out their place in life and to be able to find an outlet with something they enjoy. 

That's what I'm hoping to do here at Little E or My Cup of Tea, is to tell what I have been told countless times, To Be Yourself and to find something that you can enjoy doing. Yeah I know that you have heard that a million times and its now somewhat cheesy to say, but I want to be that person to tell you that you actually can do the impossible. 

Growing up how I did surrounded by some very powerful and inspirational women and men, such as my grandmothers, grandfathers and my mother and father, has taught me some very important things not only about life, food, and fashion, but about the importance of being able to do something beautiful with your life. Yes, once again I'm bringing the cheesy inspirational words, but I truly think they are important for everyone, girl or boy, to hear.

With that in mind, I am so excited to start up this blog to let you take a step inside my world of food, fashion and everything in between. I will be taking you all on all of my journeys and showing you some of the treasures I find and some of the organizations that I love. Please comment or email me anything you would love to hear about. Thank you so much for looking at Little e,

Enjoy xx