Caramel Macchiato Three Ways

A few weeks back I was realllllly wanting an iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks or really anywhere that could make me one at that point lol but our closest Starbucks is in a Target and closed so that just want going to happen. SO I started playing with the ingredients that go into a macchiato and came up with three versions of the caramel macchiato! I did a regular iced caramel macchiato, a hot caramel macchiato and a healthier version of an iced caramel macchiato. The majority of this explanation of these is in the video at the bottom of the screen but I wanted to type out the instructions and ingredients that you will need just in case you don’t have time to watch. But really its only like 5 minutes!

What you will need

• ground espresso {regular coffee grounds honestly work just as well, I use this here}

• Caramel Syrup- I used this here

• Caramel Skinny Syrup {if you are doing the healthy version, I use this here}

• Milk of choice

• Ice

Iced Caramel Macchiato

1. Cover the bottom of the cup with caramel syrup

2. Fill half of the cup with milk and stir the milk and caramel until combined really well

3. Add ice to the cup {the cup should be about 3/4 full now}

4. Add two shots of espresso

5. Drizzle caramel on the top

Hot Caramel Macchiato

1. Cover the bottom of the mug with caramel

2. Two espresso shots into the mug

3. While that is brewing, add caramel and milk to a frother and froth that together

4. Pour the frothed milk and caramel into the mug

5. Drizzle caramel syrup on top

Healthy-ish Caramel Macchiato

1. Fill the bottom of the cup with the Skinny Syrup Caramel

2. Fill half of the cup with milk and stir the milk and Skinny Syrup until combined

3. Add ice to the cup {the cup should be about 3/4 full now}

4. Add two shots of espresso

5. Taste to see if you would like to add more Skinny Syrup- if you do, only add a little it at a time! Too much can really ruin the taste of the coffee so just be cautious!

ENJOY! My favorite way is the non healthy iced caramel macchiato and Dustin’s favorite is the hot version! I would love to know if you make this and if you do which version was your favorite?!

4 Looks for Working from Home

Over the last couple of weeks I have been finding myself wearing the same sweatpants and like the same 3 shirts over and over again. Working from home for me isn’t a new thing, I have done it since we moved to Boston and up until about March I would take time to wear different clothes over a few weeks rather than the same thing. Now i’m not talking about like wearing jeans. and a nicer top, I jut mean like comfortable looks that make me feel a little more put together. I promise your pants will still have stretch and room for snacks with theses looks lol as I am writing this I think this post is honestly more for me than for you guys. I really needed to go through my closet and see what I had and group a couple of looks together to have an arsenal of outfits ready to go this week.

*Everything is linked above the photos below!

Look number one - This is a look that I have had for a few months now and I LOVE it! I like that the bike shorts aren’t too long and that the shirt is nice and oversized. Plus that the sports bra matches the shorts is a major plus! Add slippers and you are ready to work!

| Sports Bra | Bike Shorts | Long Sleeve Tee | Slippers |

Look number two - This American Eagle top is one that I grab for every time its clean and I don’t feel bad about it at all. I have it in pink and I loved it so much I got it in white as well! add with some cropped leggings and you are set! Its such a comfortable outfit but I still feel put together when I wear it.

| Long Sleeve Shirt | Leggings | Sports Bra | Slippers |

Look number three - I feel like I have 100% gotten my moneys worth with this Free People sweater. I am hoping that they bring this style back next year because I will be wearing it for years to come. But every time I go to look for a link it is on sale which is good for you guys!

| Free People Sweater | Leggings | Bralette | Slippers |

Look number four - I just ordered this white tank top last week and I can’t wait for it to come in! I have heard so many good things about it and I feel like it will be something that I wear all year long under different cardigans and on its own as well. I also love these joggers, they are so comfortable and affordable! Plus they are from Amazon which makes them even better in my opinion.

| White Tank Top | Sports Bra | Joggers | Slippers |

I hope you guys liked this! I would love to hear your thoughts and what you think about posts like this one!

At Home Birthday Ideas

Since we have been at home, I know that so many things have been canceled, postponed, or rescheduled. But birthdays are not something that you can cancel or reschedule! Its your day or someone special in your lives day! There are so many ways to make their day special! For example, last week it was Dustin’s birthday {my husband} and obviously we couldn’t go do anything but I was determined to have a fun and special day! I don’t know about you guys but birthdays are big in our house! Usually we go on a weekend getaway or if that’s not an option we would go out to dinner and drinks afterward but I definitely had to get creative.

I decided to literally pick a theme and go with it.. like as if I was planning a 6 year olds birthday party lol I went with a Mario Party theme. We love playing Mario Party for a date night at home so I took the theme and ran with it. If you’ve been around for awhile then you know I love a good theme!

For the Mario Party I went to Etsy.. 1. the shipping was faster than Amazon and 2. I was shopping small which I loved! Don’t get me wrong, I still got things from Target, but I tried to get the decorations from Etsy. I didn’t go crazy either.. I just got a few things that would make the apartment fun for him to wake up to on his birthday!

I grabbed Mario themed cookies, a Mario party banner and a giant Mario balloon plus a ton of regular balloons that I blew up all by myself which made me feel very accomplished.

| Giant Mario Balloon | Mario Cookies | Small Regular Balloons | Mario Party Banner | Super Mario Party Game |

Obviously this won’t be everyones cup of tea, so I came up with a few other ideas to add to the list!

1. Nerf gun wars - no brainer and this is so fun! We have nerf guns and play with them all the time {yes we are adults lol}

2. Around the clock gift opening - This is a fun one.. get a bunch of smaller gifts and say every 2-3 hours that person gets to open a new present!

3. Drive By parades - Organize with friends and family to drive by and wave/honk at the birthday boy/girl!

4. Movie Marathon with a themed dinner - you could pick any trilogy that I list in this post here! So many fun options!

5. Chopped at Home - you can read more about this one here!

6. Pick a country and make dinner and a dessert - so easy! It could be somewhere you have gone or somewhere new. If its somewhere you both have been then you get to reminisce!

8 Pairs of Shoes for Spring

I don’t know what has come over me in the last few weeks… I don’t know if its my STRONG desire for warmer weather, I don’t know if its from being stuck inside but I am on a major shoe kick right now! Usually I am on a {never-ending} lipstick/earring kick but right now its shoes and lets just say ya girl is on a budget but still wants to be able to achieve those fun spring looks and keep up with the trends!

I usually look to Target for trendy shoes just because they are more affordable and they will last the whole season, if not two seasons. I like the quality and the fit/feel of 90% of the Target shoes that I try on. But on the other hand, if its a style of shoe that I know that I will be able to wear it season after season because that style or trend will stay in style, then I might go ahead and purchase a little bit more expensive of a shoe. This will let me save money in the long run because I’m not going to have to rebuy that style next year!

Here are all of the shoes that I grabbed to try this year and I ended up loving them all! Numbers 5 and 7 I have had for many years. The Sam Edelman shoes literally got me through our Greece trip back in May of 2018!! If you are newer and missed those posts, you can read about them here! But the other 5 are new to me and I am loving them!

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

Once we get back to a new normal you will see me wearing all of these for tons of different occasions. Date nights, grocery store runs, weddings, vacations.. there is something here for almost every occasion! I really wanted to tick all of the boxes when it came to what I was ordering. I would love to know which pair are your favorite?? Mine are number 3 for sure!

10 Things to do When You're Bored

10 Things to do When You’re Bored

1. Beading - I mentioned in stories a few weeks back that I started a new hobby. It has been something that I have had everything in and out of my Amazon cart for about 6 months before I finally decided to do it! Its so fun to not have any rules and get to make something! There are so many sizes and shapes of the beads. Its actually really relaxing as well. I am able to turn on a movie or a show and bead! I linked everything that I need here!

2. Pigment Coloring App - This is really only an idea if you have an iPad or some type of tablet but I love this app so much. There is a paid version but I just use the free coloring pages {there are tons and more are being added all the time!}. For me its calming because I am so focused on the coloring that my brain isn’t thinking about 100 other things. Its actually something that turns my brain off.

3. Take a drive - My mom keeps texting me and saying “Go eat lunch in Vermont!”. We live like an hour from Vermont and she thinks it will be like the perfect afternoon activity. I know not everyone lives super close to a different state but really what I mean is go for a long drive with a stop at the end. You could easily choose a park that is like an hour away and take a packed lunch and eat in your car! Just for a change of scenery!

4. Take an online course! There are so many businesses and companies that are offering free classes right now. I will link a couple below!

   1. Nikon is offering free Photography classes in April! Link is here.

   2. Duolingo has free language lessons! Find those here.

   3. iTunes U has SO many free classes to take! There were a ton that looked interesting about Earth Month! I linked where you can find those here.

5. Join a book club! Facebook has so many good options. Here are the two that I am currently in! Caila’s Corner and we are reading “The Two Lives of Lydia Bird” and Lynzy & Co, we are reading “Love Does”. I love being a part of these two because it gives me an assignment and a sense of community with the group!

6. A classic puzzle - This is something that I like to do that is not a sit down and complete until its done. I like to open a puzzle and work on it as I please until its complete. It might be a couple of hours, it might be a couple of days. It just depends! I linked to a ton of puzzles in this blog post here.

7. Learn a new skill! YouTube is a great resource for this! You can pick up so many new skills from youtube all for free I might add. Here is a list of some of the ones I could think of!

   • origami

   • Beading

   • Knitting

   • Making Soap

   • Kickboxing

   • Starting a bullet journal

   • Calligraphy

8. Work on a goal - Playing off of the last idea, make a goal for something small that you have always wanted to do. Here are some examples: work on your handstands or being able to do the splits.. Play with eyeshadow {I am hopeless with eyeshadow lol}, perfect the winged liner look! Learn to curl you're hard.. another thing I realllllly can’t do lol

9. Cook something - You could do the “At Home Chopped Challenge that I talked about in this blog post here. Learn how to make something that you had one one of your favorite vacations.. {Pasta from Italy, tatziki from Greece, copycat recipes from Disney World! Disney Hungry has a ton of good copycat Disney Recipes!} They don’t all have to be desserts! You can make so many fun things! Get creative!

10. Start that crazy long movie series! I love watching movies like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings that you can really get into the characters and watch them grow. There are so many movie series’ to binge.. I made a list!

    • Harry Potter

    • Lord of the Rings

    • The Hobbit

    • Star Wars

    • Jurassic Park

    • Pirates of the Caribbean

    • Avengers

    • Any combination of Marvel movie sets {Iron Man, Captain America, Spiderman, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man}

    • Star Trek

    • Divergent Trilogy

    • Fantastic Beasts

    • Pitch Perfect

    • Transformers

    • Twilight

    • X-men

11. Watch the Disney Nature documentaries on Disney+! I loved Penguins, Elephant, and Dolphin Reef! Seriously so cute and you fall in love with the little animal families in each of them for sure.

12. Animal Crossing - If you have a Nintendo Switch this game is so much fun. Also if you want to be friends, let’s do it! I’m not even sure how to do that lol but I will figure it out.

This is defiantly one of those blog posts that I will add to as I think of more things! I see new ideas all over the place every day! I know that this time has been really hard on all of us but I will say that I think the creativeness from people has been amazing! So many amazing ideas have come from this all. If you can think of something comment below and I will add it to the list!

Chopped Challenge at Home

This was probably our best idea yet for being stuck at home! Honestly it was so fun and actually a great way to use ingredients that you have in your pantry or fridge! We have done this twice now and it was jut as fun the second time. A couple of things to remember and just accept.. The kitchen is GOING to be a mess, there WILL be a ton of dishes, but you WILL have a blast and create such fun memories!

The way that Dustin and I did this was I picked 5 ingredients for him and he picked 5 ingredients for me. We decided that one of the things that we needed to pick for the other person is a protein just to set the pace for the meal that they will have to make. Like for example I chose ground chicken and that really threw him for a loop and directed the meal a bit.

Chopped Guidelines

• Must use all 5 ingredients in the dish

• Have all ingredients in the dish on the plate

• 40 minutes to complete the dish

• We both also choose an additional 6th item to give to each other 10 minutes into the challenge {such a fun twist!}

• Don’t pick a starch because it might sway the meal too much one way {picking pasta noodles pretty much ensures you're getting pasta.. that kind of thing!}

• Preheat the oven to desired temp {we did 400}, boil a large pot of water and start any other cooking tools you want to use. We did a fryer but you could also preheat like a George foreman, etc.

I would say if you are wanting to do this with your family just choose partners and do it the same way we did! If there is an uneven number then for example, person 1 would choose food for person 2 to cook and person 3 would eat that food for dinner and so on!

Another thing that we thought could be fun so this can be like a once a month kind of thing is to choose themes! Like dinner foods, sandwiches and a side, gourmet breakfast, desserts, chicken dinner.. I mean the list goes on and on! You could pull any theme and it would be so much fun! I think next tie we do this we will do sandwiches and a side!

Sipsby Tea Subscription Review

I was not always a tea drinker, at all. When I worked at an office in Minneapolis, I drank at least 3 cups of coffee a day and usually it was a lot more than that. It was like something for my mouth to do while I was working lol. It wasn’t until we moved to Boston and my life slowed down a whole lot more {aka working from home}, that I decided that I didn’t need to be bouncing off the walls at all times to function. I slowing started buying tea from the grocery store to try. But what I was finding was that I would buy that whole box and then not really like it! It felt like a huge waste.

Back in September when Sipsby reached out to have me work with them I was thrilled to try this subscription. It was perfect for someone like me who really had no idea where to even begin with tea. I have been getting this subscription box since September and what started as a brand partnership has turned into a subscription that I now purchase on my own! This blog post isn’t sponsored in any way, I just wanted to share it with you because I felt it was the perfect solution for being a tea newbie!

So, the way that it works is that you take a quiz and let them know of any allergies that you might have I love that they cared about my gluten allergy! They ask if you want loose leaf, bagged tea, I even tried dissolvable tea! Another question that they ask is if you want caffeinated or non-caffeinated tea. Lastly they go through about 30 flavors of tea that you could have the option of trying and you answer yes, no, or maybe! I can’t even tell you how spot on the accuracy of the quiz is! I have now tried like 20 different teas from them and only disliked ONE out of all of them. They really can tailor the box to any level of tea knowledge that you might have! One option to brew is Eastern: Gongfu cha and you can betcher butt I don’t know what the heck that is lol therefore I didn’t choose it as an option.

Anyways, I think it is such a fun idea to try new things or even a fun gift idea if you know someone who loves tea! It is $15 a month to get 4 kinds of teas to try and they give you 3-5 of each kind they send. So its like 20 cups of tea for $15!! If you have any questions at all I would love to answer them for you! You can email me at tarynintotravel@gmail.com or ask in the comments below!

Free People Sale

Here is the Free People Sale that I was talking about today in stories over on Instagram!

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Quarantine Gift Ideas for Long Distance Friends and Family

I am a person that absolutely loves giving gifts. It makes me so happy to watch someone get excited to open something. In this case it makes me so happy to surprise someone that is at home doing their part to flatten the curve. It has been so fun to watch people get a surprise that they had no idea was coming and that had made me so happy! Today I am sharing some ideas to send to friends and family that maybe live further away or even someone you just want to let know that you are thinking of them! I am also sharing some ideas to send to people in your life who are still working through all of this!

One last thing I wanted to mention is just a small reminder to be patient with shipping. These are obviously not essential items and most places like Amazon are prioritizing shipping for things like food, water and cleaning supplies. Everyone is doing their best!

| Dog Puzzle | Dumbo Puzzle | Mickey and Minnie Puzzle | Aladdin Puzzle | Set of 4 Disney Puzzles | Toy Story Puzzle | Coloring Book | Apples to Apples Disney Edition |

1. Puzzles - can’t go wrong with a good puzzle!

2. Board Games - So many new ones the I haven’t seen before to try!

3. Adult coloring books - if you want you can send colored pencils or markers as well.

4. A new book - This would definitely depend on the person but I added a few that I am interested in below!

5. Snacks - for one of our friends we sent him a popcorn machine and some popcorn seeds to have for movie nights! Another person we send beaver nuggets from Buccees which was super nostalgic because we used to live in Texas. I couldn’t believe I found them on Amazon!!

6. Beauty face masks! Send your favorite charcoal mask or sheet masks!

7. Bath bombs - I know that I have been stressed out and baths always help me to relax and take a minute for myself! Send a box of bath bombs or some Epsom salts!

8. At home nail kit - its no secret that a lot of peoples nails are about to be realllll janky lol an at home gel manicure is not impossible to achieve!

9. Hair mask - they will finally have time to do this with being at home. I feel like I never do them because I don’t have the time commitment to have wet hair. Finally have that time!

| Movie Night Popcorn Kernels and Seasoning | Vintage Popcorn Machine | Bucee’s Beaver Nuggets | Dr. Dolittle DVD | Where the Crawdads Sing | The Jetsetters | Love Does | The Two Lives of Lydia Bird | At Home Gel Manicure set | Set of Nine Face Masks | Bath Bombs | Hydrating Argan Oil Hair Mask |

Things to do extra for nurses, doctors, grocery store workers, front line staff, mail delivery drivers and every single other person that is considered an essential and is still out in the world working.

1. Gas gift cards - For getting too and from work. Idk about you but my sister who works in a hospital is driving well over an hour each way to get to work right now on top of working 12 hr shifts! Give them a gift card for the gas station they stop at the most.

2. Coffee gift cards - I can’t even imagine how tired they are! Send them a coffee or two on you! You can even text Starbucks gift cards.. So easy!

3. Smoothies - You can send them a box of smoothies from Daily Harvest. They have so many options to choose from. They even have soups and other things like oatmeal that you can add to the box! Send them some immunity boosting smoothies to drink. Not to mention it makes meals a lot easier! If you follow this link it will give you $25 off your first box!

4. STAY HOME - I know there are a million people saying this right now but seriously.. this would make them so happy to know that they don’t need to be worried about you on top of everything else they are dealing with at work! Plus its free to do lol

If you guys think of anything else to add to either of these lists please DM me or email me so I can add them to the list! As I think of new ones I will add them and update this list! Have you guys been doing any of these at home already? I have and I am basically now the queen of puzzles now lol Let me know what you guys have been up to!

Hair Accessories to add to your Collection

I mentioned this in stories a couple weeks back that ever since I cut my hair I have been obsessing over hair accessories. I know I could wear them with long hair obviously but I have been having a lot of fun to add things to my short hair! I love that it can totally elevate a look out an outfit when you have a cool clip or headband in your hair. It has also become a bigger trend in the fashion world and that might be an added factor to my obsession as well. I have added many pieces to my hair collection over the last month or so and I figured it was time to share them with you guys! I made a collage for you guys to shop all of the pieces that I am going to share but then I also styled some of the pieces to share how I use them!

Also I want you guys to remember that there is literally no right or wrong way to wear things in your hair. When I first started getting these I would try to figure out exactly how I needed to be wearing them and well I learned that you can do whatever you want. Lol much like how I tell you guys how to build charcuterie boards! DO WHAT YOU WANT. 😂

The first look is a simple headband with your hair down! This is a good day two or three look because I have found that the headband might stay a little bit better with dry shampoo in your hair! I have even added a bit of dry texture spray into my hair to get it to stick in place just a little bit more. If I wear a headband on clean hair I find myself having to reposition and fit the headband all day long because it just has no grit to it. Another fun thing to do with this look would be to curl your hair and add the headband!

A low pony with a giant bow - this is totally a new look for me but I am loving it! It adds so much to a simple look. I try not to make my ponytail too tight to refrain from making myself look like an old English school boy with a low ponytail lol but if I keep my bangs looser then it looks better! This giant bow is great because one, it comes in a pack of 6 or 8 and two, they have the giant clip so you can hold pieces of your hair back that might not fit into your ponytail {this is more of a problem if you have short hair and pieces that fall out of your pony}.

Simple clips to pull your hair back out of your face! There are a couple of ways you can do this… You can either pull back the side that holds the majority of your hair. Or for a more sleek look you can slick back the other side of your hair that has less on it and pin it back that way. I’m very confident that there is a more professional way to explain what I just said lol but oh well. I think you guys get the point.

Half up/half down with a fun scrunchie - I LOVE the look of the ones that have extra fabric almost like tails. Again, I am sure there is a more correct way of explaining this hair accessory. But doing this with your hair can add so much to your outfit. Especially because the majority of the things I wear are fairly plain. I don’t have a lot of clothes that are printed. These can be different prints and patterns and can elevate any outfit!

There are also a ton that I have and love that I didn’t take photos of! You can shop them below!

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