$150 or Less: Zoe Saldana

There are few actresses I find more beautiful or intriguing than Zoe Saldana. She seems like such a guy's girl- beautiful and feminine, but I bet she has a sick sense of humor and a horrible potty mouth. Plus, she's a classically trained ballerina. Points.

Get Zoe's casual chic summer look for under $150:

Zoe Saldana by tjmbennett featuring platform sandals

Flower print dress
£30 - desireclothing.co.uk

C Label platform sandals
$35 - endless.com

Rare London shoulder bag
£20 - rarelondon.com

Fantasy Jewelry Box yellow gold earrings
$14 - fantasyjewelrybox.com

Forever 21 wide belt
$8.80 - forever21.com

ALDO sunglasses
$12 - aldoshoes.com

Grand Total: $147.80

Adventures At Disney World: Animal Kingdom

Sad admission: I'm 24 years old, I've been living in Florida for 5 years, and until a week ago I had never been to Disney World. They recently offered an amazing deal for Florida residents: 3 parks, 3 days, $99 per person- this was obviously my calling. So buy the tickets we did, and off to Disney World we went!

Day 1: Animal Kingdom

Upon entering the park, we were greeted by the Tree of Life, Animal Kingdom's focal point.

Obviously, photos were necessary.

Our first stop was Jurassic Park DinoLand U.S.A. Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that it was so geared towards kids (read: not terrifying) but then I remembered where I was. We hopped on a ride, perused a few gift shops, and I had to photograph this (not so) little guy. Honest to god- I never realized how TINY T-Rex arms actually were. It was hilarious. Poor thing. 

 Next we took a trip to Asia- definitely the most beautiful area of the park.

We rode Expedition Everest which is apparently Disney's most scary ride. THE DAMN THING GOES BACKWARDS. It was fun, but I wasn't expecting that. My stomach paid for it later.

One thing that really impressed me about AK and the rides, in particular- they don't mess around with their set design. It was amazing. No standing in boring lines with nothing to keep your attention- they have so many things to look at that you totally forget you've been standing in line with a creeper "accidentally" grazing your ass for the last 25 minutes.

And then there was this. Scat. Really, Disney World? Was this necessary to your display? No. Someone, probably with a sense of humor akin to myself, just wanted to use the word "Scat" at a theme park. Can't say I blame them.

 Next stop: Africa. Africa was definitely the most bland out of all the AK areas. They didn't have elaborate sets like the other places and it just kind of felt like Africa was an afterthought. The animals were beautiful though:

 

This is the only semi-decent shot I got of the elephants. Boo. The safari was fun, but the line was so long and when you finally got on the vehicle, there were so many people that it was almost impossible to get good photos of the animals. Half of my photos were strangers' hands and heads.

The giraffes were my favorite. This one was so close!

 

Slight pause for the rhino crossing. It was pretty amazing to be so close to these animals with no barrier between us.

These little guys were pretty brave- grazing right next to:

Mufasa on Pride Rock! I don't think his name was Mufasa, and I know they don't call that thing Pride Rock, but I had my Lion King moment. Although, I must admit, I was kind of hoping we'd get rushed by a lion or something. Excitement!

Next Up: Magic Kingdom

Have you ever been to Animal Kingdom? What was your favorite part?

Blue Crush

Well, more like blueberry crush. Blueberries and I are having a moment, as witnessed by this delicious blueberry cobbler I happily consumed at a local BBQ restaurant.

Do you see that? Not the mention the mountain of soft serve. Can one human even consume that much ice cream in one sitting? Because I sure couldn't!

Now back to the blueberries. I'm dreaming of them. I'm dreaming of baking with them. Of putting them in everything. I feel like Violet Beauregarde.

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Blueberry cheesecake bars.

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A blueberry studded lemon loaf.

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Blueberry cupcakes. Filled with lemon curd. Stop it.

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Giant blueberry pancakes.

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Blueberry compound butter on warm biscuits. I cannot handle myself.

 

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Blueberry Italian soda.

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Blueberry cinnamon rolls! I'm dying a little bit.

Next time you see me, I'm probably going to look like this:

Lady Beauregarde herself, aka Fat Avatar.

I simply can't help myself.

The blueberries taste like blueberries!

Do and have a favorite blueberry recipe?

InstaWeek

Instagram has quickly become the way I inadvertantly document my life. From random shopping trips, to the cute and/or ridiculous things our dogs do, or just snapping something pretty on the side of the road. I've always had a tough time remembering to tote along my camera during outtings, but one thing is for sure- I always have my phone!

I've had Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday off this week, so life has been a whole lot of lounging. No complaints from me!

I also did a little bargain hunting. I found this adorable bunting flag printed shirt dress at Nordstrom Rack and the perfect corner shelf for our very-much-in-transition balcony (don't mind the dead plants, damn black thumb).

And I found my new favorite bressert (that's breakfast-slash-dessert)- peaches and cream oatmeal with peach slices and a (little) scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

I've been in a baking mood lately, so I whipped up these banana nut muffins with caramelized bananas and a brown sugar streusel topping. They turned out SO GOOD.

I briefly had to interrupt my relax sesh with a trip to the dentist. Just your standard cleaning. I'm one of those weirdos that loves the dentist. I always feel so clean afterwards!

And of course, a week could never be complete without some puppy cuteness.

Are you, too, an Instagram addict?