CAMEL COAT OUTFIT INSPO

I really want a camel coat. Camel coats are definitely a fashion staple, and investing in a good one can last you years. They're basic, warm, and go with pretty much everything. Here, I've created two looks on Polyvore to provide you with some camel-coat inspiration.

The first is a casual look with a cropped, sleeveless black turtleneck sweater and slightly distressed black skinnies. From there, you can either dress it up, or dress it down.

1)

Dress it up

with chunky wooden block leather heels and a black leather backpack.

2)

Dress it down

with a quirky tropical-inspired clutch and classic adidas trainers.

This second look is a touch dressier. A simple spaghetti strap bodycon dress can be taken day-tonight, and though this with the coat is already a bit fancy, you can still dress it up or dress it down. (Simple gold studs can be worn with either look.)

1)

Dress it up

 with a gold ankle strap black heel and embellished clutch.

2)

Dress it down

with a playful, oversized clutch and minimalistic trainers. 

HOMEMADE CANDLES - DIY

I think I'm on an accelerated path into my middle-age years.

I've taken a recent interest in DIY projects, but I think Pinterest might be responsible for a lot of that...

My most recent undertaking: homemade candles.

I'm just going to come out right now and say that I used to be a candle-hater. If you told me to walk into a Yankee Candle store two years ago, or asked me if it would be okay to light a gingerbread candle in the house, I would have said "no."

This all changed once I got to college, when candles became a bit of a necessity to cloak the unpleasant odors that come along with dorm living. Between my roommates and I, we have have a collection of four or five candles, one of which is heated (

on one of these

) at all times.

Too often, candle scents are overpowering, and after 30 minutes, I feel like I'm going to 1) pass out, 2) throw up, or 3) both. With DIY projects though, you have some creative freedom. Head's up: I made these candles over winter break, which explains the Christmas tree...and the Christmas-inspired candle decorations...

These candles are very easy to make, and it's nice to make a bunch so you always have a go-to gift option. Everyone likes homemade gifts, just as long as they're well-made.

I used

this tutorial

and just used some holiday scents in place of the coconut oil scent suggested in the original post. I didn't use an entire bottle of fragrance per pound of wax, as I like my candle scents on the mild side, but you would probably be okay adding an entire bottle, as my candles could have been a bit "scent-ier."

Though I've posted the link to the tutorial I used, I'll just go over the general steps:

You will need some heat-safe containers (I bought mine from the Container Store), candle fragrance oil of your choosing (I got one each of Peppermint, Pine Tree, and Cranberry from

here

), soy wax flakes (available for purchase

here

), a candle-making pitcher (available

here

), and wax wire clips (

here

). To decorate the candles, I used oil-based paint sharpies in metallic gold and silver, as well as plain black. After that, the instructions are very straight-forward.

Enjoy your candles, and may your living space always smell wonderful, and NOT like a college dorm.

SHOP MY ZARA WISHLIST

<a href='https://www.polyvore.com/undef/collection.embed?.embedder=4145955&.svc=blogger&id=4133319&include_gallery=1&num_items=1&render_type=slideshow' target='_blank'>View this collection on Polyvore</a>

ZARA DEC 2014 WISHLIST

by

caitlinntayy

I recently read a very interesting post on one of my favorite food blogs,

Minimalist Baker

, about how to run a successful blog. And I have to say, it gave me a lot to think about in terms of what kind of posts I want to write, what message I want to convey, and what I want to accomplish as a blogger. One of the most striking points in the article was about selflessness.

One of the struggles I've had throughout my blogging experiences (from the tumblr account I've had since 9th grade, to my food blog I started for my senior project in high school, to now), is gaining a good following - a group of people who are excited to hear what I have to say. I love blogging because it's something I'm passionate about. Even if no one read my content except myself and my family, I would continue blogging because it's what I love to do. And yet, there's something insanely satisfying about getting a comment from a complete stranger. Whether it's "Wow, I made this recipe today for Fathers' Day and my dad absolutely loved it, thank you so much!" or, "Love this post! I'm definitely going to buy that skirt," there's nothing quite like getting that kind of feedback and knowing that there are people out there besides those in your immediate friend/family groups who are interested in hearing what you have to say.

Knowing that you are an inspiration to others is a pretty amazing feeling.

Which brings me back to Minimalist Baker's wisdom - don't be a selfish blogger. Reading that article taught me to post content that will help people in some way. So I've decided to start a wishlist series. A few times a month, I will be posting "wishlist" posts with links to items that are currently on my (very expansive) wishlist, complete with styling tips.

I hope you guys are on board with this idea, and I also highly encourage you check out Minimalist Baker's blog! It has AMAZING recipes, in addition to tons of tips on photography and blogging.

Here's to making the most of the last few days of 2014.

LAUREL HARDWARE - drunken young adults + good food

The other day, my dad and I went to go see "Snowpiercer" in West LA. The film is absolutely incredible and tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world in which the only remaining survivors live on a train that constantly travels around the earth. The treatment the train passengers receive is dictated by their wealth, and as expected, this creates a lot of problems. I don't want to give too much away, but I highly recommend this movie - you should definitely try to see it if it's playing in any theaters near you.

So what does this movie have to do with "drunken young adults and good food"? On the way to the theater, we drove by Laurel Hardware, a restaurant that has been on my "PLACES TO EAT" list on my phone for about a year now. 

look at these awesome stairs!

I first learned about Laurel Hardware when I was browsing Tasting Table's website. What further drew me to the foodie spot was the fact that a certain Harry Styles goes there almost every time he's in LA. Now, I need you to really listen to me here. I know I've brought up Harry in a couple of my posts now (my May Haul video, and now, this). That being said, my obsession with One Direction has pretty much died down. But old habits die hard. 

Laurel Hardware was originally a hardware store (wow, who could have guessed?!) but the space has been refurbished to perfection. And when I say perfection, I mean the place literally looks like it's come straight out of a Crate & Barrel catalog. The back patio area resembles a casual backyard setting, with couches, an olive tree, tall hedges, and a tall black picket fence. I mean, this obviously isn't your average backyard vibe. Definitely typical of West LA, though. Everything about the restaurant is actually quintessentially LA. 

The $14 salad pictured above and the drunken, freshly 21-year-old adults stumbling all over the place, giggling about their tattoos and the hottest local gay clubs? Very LA. I'm not complaining though. I loved the food and the ambiance was...lively. I don't even really know what was in my salad. I know it was called the Heirloom Tomato salad and it had romaine, incredibly flavorful heirloom tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and then some cheese I didn't recognize (almost like feta, but not at briney), and a very unusual but tasty dressing. 

My dad, who was originally hesitant about the restaurant and actually planned to skip dinner, ended up getting a burger. I ate his fries, and they were amazing. Perfectly crispy and well-seasoned without being overdone.

After the salad and fries, I was content, but my dad was left wanting more (a very good sign - he's hard to impress in the culinary department). He wanted to look at the dessert menu, boldly claiming that if that desserts weren't good, then the restaurant would be a complete failure in his mind. Eek.

With our (very expensive) parking meter running out (thanks, LA), we rushed to pick the chocolate brownie and buttermilk panna cotta, resolving to share the two.

Unfortunately, the brownie was covered with crushed hazelnuts, so I wasn't able to have any (I'm allergic to nuts) and my dad took that while I took the panna cotta.

Actually, that's a lie. I risked my life for a taste of the corner of the brownie that didn't look like it had any nuts on it. Whoops, there's another lie. I'm being dramatic. I'm not fatally allergic to hazelnuts. Just pretty allergic.

But I stuck to my dessert and fully enjoyed it. The panna cotta was creamy but not overwhelmingly so. That's one of the things I love about panna cotta. It's rich, of course, but not as rich as creme brulee. The blueberry compote added a summery lightness to the creamy dish, and the cookie crumble on the side tied everything together by providing a new textural component. Another touch I really enjoyed was the light drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Not too overpowering, these two traditionally savory components really enhanced the blueberry flavor. 

Afraid we would be given at $70+ parking ticket for parking past the 2-hour time limit, we quickly finished our desserts and headed out for the movie, which again, I highly recommend.

Needless to say, I'll be back at Laurel Hardware soon enough (coincidentally, at the same time as Harry Styles, maybe? Just kidding). Next time, I should probably wear the most expensive, yet simultaneously young-adult hipster outfit I can put together. Did I mention I saw a mother with her teenage kids there who was wearing floral print hotpant-style shorts from Brandy Melville, and Prada sunglasses? I need to step up my game.

FOOD LAB + hello everyone!

I'm so excited to have started this new blog! So before I tell you all about

Food Lab

and how amazing it is, here's a bit about me.

five facts:

1. My name is Caitlin Miyako Taylor. (Miyako - I'm half Japanese)

2. I just graduated from high school. (finally!)

3. I am obsessed with healthy cafes (I have a substantial list in my phone of places I want to eat at)

4. I can touch my nose with my tongue (gross, or cool/unique talent?)

5. I 

like

 love black clothing. 75% of my wardrobe is probably black. You really can't go wrong with black. Yes. Ok.

So there we have it. As you may have gathered from my 5 facts, I love cafes. While some of my friends don't understand my cafe obsession at all, gawking at my list of places to eat, I do have Marina on my side. She's on the same page as me, meaning we both have our organized lists of food spots around the US (but mostly in California), organized by location. 

Since I graduated less than a week ago and want to keep busy during the summer, I made plans to cross off some of the eateries on my foodie bucket list. I enlisted Marina's help, and together, we set off for Silver Lake, an artsy nook in LA, for

 a bite at Food Lab.

The Food Lab menu is fairly simple, serving mostly sandwiches and salads for lunch and dinner. After poring over the generous selection of items, I narrowed it down to the Grilled Chicken and Avocado sandwich, which was served on ciabatta bread with queso blanco and sundried tomatoes.

After taking pictures of our food for a solid 5 minutes, we dug in. 

I mean, look at that concentration. We take our foodie adventures

very

 seriously.

(That's Marina)

My sandwich was AMAZING. Definitely very California-inspired. 

The creamy avocado worked perfectly with the tangy cheese and salty tomatoes, and everything was wonderfully encapsulated in a crusty ciabatta shell. Was that a weird description? I'm just trying to say that it was great, and I will definitely be coming back here.

And this is me.

[My mouth is actually watering right now. And it's 2:40am. Why do I do this to myself?]

I think I (in an animalistic state of hunger) polished off my entire meal in about 10 minutes, whereas Marina ate like a proper human being and took a more reasonable 20 minutes. I should probably learn to pace myself better, because after finishing my sandwich, all I could do was sadly look at Marina's sandwich while we talked, wishing I still had mine. It's truly a thrilling life I lead.

Yup. Demolished.

You should go check out Food Lab, too!