Not just for sipping earl grey

I received several china tea cups and saucers

from a family friend for Christmas.

And while I have every intention of hosting

tea parties very soon, 

I thought that they were too beautiful to keep under wraps. 

So what better way to showcase them than on my vanity

along with my jewelry?

Sadly I did not have to rifle through an estate sale 

for mine, but who knows, maybe I will

want to expand my collection this summer. 

Hope you enjoy your Memorial day weekend!

I have a feeling that BBQ will be involved 

in mine at some point.

-Jess

The London Version of The Hills

One thing you should know and accept about me 

is that I love "reality" television. 

Nine times out of 10 my tv is turned to Bravo.

During school, I would catch up on reruns of Laguna Beach 

and The Hills while drinking my coffee before chapel.

I don't know what draws me to semi-real shows like those

or the Housewives. And don't even get me started on my 

love of The Rachel Zoe Project. {I DIE.}

Perhaps it is all of the cool shots of LA or New York? 

Maybe it's all of the brunches? {which is my favorite meal}

Or maybe it's the thrill of trying to decipher when the producers intervened 

or when moments are just pure reality gold. 

If you thought The Hills was scripted 

{which it was. case in point: Stacy the Bartender. helloooo}

then wait until you watch Made in Chelsea, the London equivalent. 

What I love most about MIC is when two cast members 

happen to "casually" bump into each other 

while walking their dogs or window shopping. 

Really? I know Chelsea is a fairly small neighborhood, but come on.

Although I know all of the situations are in limbo between true and fake, 

I would like to think that the cast are all somewhat friends in real life 

and that there are no "Stacy the Bartender" characters 

who keep popping up in random story lines.  

{The fact that I refer to characters and story lines should concern me}

No matter, I cannot wait for Tuesdays when MIC is streamed online.

And if, like me, reality television holds a special place in your heart, 

if you have fond memories growing up watching LC, Lo, Kristen, Audrina, and Spiedy

then perhaps you might want to take the summer to immerse yourself in the lives

of similar people across the pond.

Here are two videos to pique your interest even more: 

#1 {Promo Video #IMREADY} Hilarious parody of the show but spot on.

#2 {L'Americano - music video featuring several of the boys and filmed at a party on MIC.}

Hope you are enjoying your Thursday! And maybe I've talked you into adding yet another show to your queue this summer :)

-Jess

Hello, old sport

I know Stamp in My Passport took a little hiatus, 

but I've decided to bring it out of hibernation.

Not a lot has happened since February. 

Just classes, papers, Little Rock every weekend. 

You know, the usual. 

Oh, there was a week-long trip to NYC. 

And a Jewish festival at River Market.

But more about that later. 

Summer break is in full swing now.

I got home last Saturday and started my internship

two days later. Which means that my clothes did not get unpacked

until just a few days ago. 

What can I say, sometimes I enjoy living out of a suitcase.

Recap of my summer at home so far: 

1. Saw Gatsby (twice) and the soundtrack has been on repeat

2. Dad painted my room for me :) I also retired my blue feather lamp

3. I became a working girl

4. My Warby Parker home-trial arrived

Detour while driving home

  

75 1/2 Bedford St.

 d

Lamp via Target (along with everything else in my life)

Haley's graduation reception

Typical morning on my day off

And now you are officially caught up on my life.

There are also a few weekend getaways planned for this summer:

St. Simons Island

Atlanta (to see the Braves play the Cardinals)

Columbus

Talahassee

-Jess

While we're away

source

Sorry the blog has been a little empty lately. 

Life isn't very exciting when you are constantly working on school projects. 

This is what happens during senior year. 

Have no fear, we will be back soon. 

In the meantime, you can read our guest post

on Chelsea's blog lost.in.travels

about our favorite moments from last spring. 

You can read our post here.

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

-Jess

It will make your tastebuds tingle!!!

When you're in college it can be easy to get into a PB&J routine...

Or a cereal routine....or a mixture of both routine...

It's natural, it's something every college kid has to deal with.

But why eat boring {but delicious} food when you could be eating

really delicious food that takes the same amount of time to make???

Last night was the first time in like 3 weeks that i cooked!

I'm trying to eat better so i made pasta..OBVIOUSLY!!!

but it was Whole Wheat Pasta which made me feel better...and the sauce was like

all natural organic fat free....something like that...

I also made some chicken earlier in the day, i hate HATE making chicken so 

i cooked 4 pieces that i can use throughout the next few days..

Planning ahead because i'm a genius!!!! 

So basically i heated my Pasta...added my chicken....added my heated sauce

& then of course sprinkled a bit {OR A LOT} of parmesan cheese on top!!!

I was in foodie heaven...it was peaceful and wonderful and made my tastebuds tingle...

Tingle is an awkward word and i don't really know why i just used it....

{VOILA}

It's so easy to get into those lazy cooking routines..

and then you create something like this and those

PB&J's you ate yesterday just don't do it for you anymore!!

If you have any easy healthy college recipes, i'd LOVE to hear them!! 

-Emily

Vacationing Stateside

I promise this blog is not going to turn into

an homage to our three months spent in Paris. 

It's a year later and I'm almost to the point where I don't

mention some aspect about the trip every single day. 

But we three girls still LOVE to travel. 

It's in our souls now and I'm perfectly fine with that. 

While there are vague talks about a nordic vacation in two summers, 

I should begin to get more realistic about my next vacation destinations.

So I've complied a list of my top 5 stateside cities to visit. 

5. Aspen, Colorado 

source

I do want to give skiing a proper go {more than the few hours available last time.}

And what better place to do that than the home of the 

Food and Wine Classic? Sounds like a win win combination to me. 

Plus, I could try and get in a little celebrity stalking. 

2. Seattle, Washington 

Home of my three loves: Starbucks, Death Cab for Cutie and Grey's Anatomy. 

Cliche, I know. 

But for some reason I think I would fit in more in the Pacific Northwest 

instead of California, if I had to pick a destination on the west coast. 

Here is a list of must-do activities in the coastal town. 

3. Charleston, South Carolina 

source

This is the closest destination to my home that I've chosen. 

Only 5 hours away. 

Completely doable for a long weekend getaway. 

I've been to Savannah and completely fell in love with 

the old Southern charm of the city. 

Yet it still seems to blend the new and old. 

Charleston is like the sister city to Savannah.

And I desperately wish to go. 

For the architechure, history and possibly to see the 

2013 HGTV Dream Home on Kiawah Island. 

2. Boston, Massachusetts

source

Boston will potentially be a day trip during 

#SPRINGBREAK2013NYC.

It is the epitome of American history pre-1860.

If only I could have traveled to Boston instead of taken American history 

in school. Only in my dreams. 

I'd like to think that it's an extremely smart city

{it's home to Harvard...hello}

and that by visiting and breathing in the academic air, 

maybe I could boost my gpa a little. 

But the real reason we want to go is to eat at Wagamama. 

And last but certainly not least...

1. NYC

source

There is a whole hashtag dedicated to this trip:
#SPRINGBREAK2013NYC.

March 11-16. Mark your calendars. 

Five whole days spent in the big apple

briefly acting like a tourist, 

taking too many photos, 

eating at Le Relais De  L'Entrecote and Laduree,

going to museums and understanding the captions,

and just exploring. 

The plane tickets are booked and the airBnB apartment is rented.

Now prepare yourself for a slew of "what to do in new york" posts

in a month and a half. 

If you happen to be visiting Manhattan sooner than that, 

Lyndsay at Post Grad Diaries has so many suggestions. 

I live vicariously through her blog. 

And of course don't forget A Cup of Jo's Guide to New York. 

What cities in America do you want to visit?

-Jess

I Get Hangry

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that our jaunt in Europe was always sunshine and roses.

That would be a lie.

Traveling across Europe with the same 16 people tends to bring out the worst in you. Namely, I get really grumpy when I'm hungry (see: Hangry), and I should probably try to get more than 4 hours of sleep a night.

On that same note, aside from our long term hostel's many flaws, the shining star of that place was its breakfast. Let me tell you, a French breakfast will blow. your. mind. There is a certain "je ne sais quoi" about mountains of warm croissants and pain aux chocolats. Plus, they had this amazing strawberry jelly that you would put in these cute little glass jars. C'est bon!

Clearly I was excited.

Another one of my favorite parts of the breakfast there was their espresso machine. There was nothing better after a refreshing night of 4 hours of sleep than one {or three or four} huge mugs full of perfectly frothed milk and delicious espresso.

That lady in the background makes me LOLZ.

Nothing makes me sadder faster than when I eat a croissant produced in the US. In no way, shape or form should you be able to cut a croissant; they should fall apart in your hand the second you bite into them. 

Perhaps we should give croissant making a second chance?

-Samantha