Chocolate Monster Brownies

My mom hates this story when I tell it, but here it goes... One wonderful beautiful Christmas I received an Easy Bake oven like many little girls do. I was clearly overjoyed at all the wonderful cakes and cookies I could create in this magical contraption. My mom did not believe that it was okay for me to bake on my own (I mean...I probably wouldn't have burned down the house...maybe). She never seemed to have any time or desire to watch me bake (tear tear). One day after searching in my room with great frustration I discovered my Easy Bake oven was gone. My moms response "you never used it! So I gave it away" When I got into high school and she FINALLY trusted me enough to bake unsupervised, the first thing I decided to make were these yummy brownies. These brownies are not for the faint of heart. They are not gluten free, lactose free, sugar free, fat free, or anything else you may be accustomed to. They have a lot of chocolate, and are a big batch of unhealthy yummy goodness. Naturally I thought they were the perfect recipe to share for Valentines Day! The best way to your mans heart is through his stomach right? Or you could make them for your bestie and she will love you forever!!

Directions

You will need a box of Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix (probably any premade brownie mix will do, but this is the one I typically use), 1 bag of semi chocolate chips, 1 bag of milk chocolate chips, 1 jar of Hershey's Chocolate Hot Fudge, and the ingredients required for the boxed Brownie Mix. 

1. Add all of the ingredients on the back of the brownie box. I typically add a little more oil then the box says. 

2. I then add the entire bag of semi sweet chocolate chips, 3/4 of the bag of milk chocolate chips, and the entire jar of Hershey's Chocolate Hot fudge.

3. Mix everything together and make sure you get all of the mix at the bottom!! 

4. Pour into pan, I usually use a 13X9 disposable pan so that I have less clean up. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees ( the box has different directions) for about 40 minutes, although you may have to adjust the time depending on your oven I suppose. 

6. Lick the spoon and bowl and wait for your yummy treat!!

Enjoy these brownies with a loved one, or maybe you wont even want to share (hehe). My suggestion is to pair with wine or milk!

Someone is a little excited!

She was a fan

Apparently this wine was one of Oprah's favorite things in 2013

Just to mix it up a bit, I'm throwing in a few pictures Steph took of me in the lobby after we made brownies since I haven't done an outfit post recently.

Photo Credit// Stephanie Fantauzzi
Top// Topshop
Jeans// Carmar Denim
Hat//Janessa Leone
Necklace// Ahh I'm not really sure! I think it might be Vanessa Mooney but I can't remember

I'd love to know if you guys try out my recipe, and how it goes! Do you guys have any great brownie recipes?! 

-Xoxo Becca 

Reflections

This post is a little different then my typical style posts.... because well I'm not in any of the pictures and it's not focused on fashion at all! I often feel like i'm missing one key thing that every other style blogger seems to have mastered, a handy dandy photographer. I don't have a boyfriend, husband, or friend who is a free lance photographer that can trot around the  globe with me taking pictures of me while I compensate them with brownies and cupcakes. I also haven't mastered (or remotely figured out) how to take my own style pictures using my camera or phone on a timer. As a result, I don't blog nearly as much as I'd like too. I also feel like I have so many other things besides fashion that i'd love to talk about and share that don't seem to blend in so well with my style posts. 

One of my absolute favorite things to do is go out to eat! Food makes me happy. It also gives me an excuse to get out of my yoga pants and into something cute, and it's a great way to socialize because we all need to eat at some point (I also don't really know how to cook...though i'm working on it). So I might start reviewing new places I try, especially dessert and coffee spots! Is that something you guys would be interested in?

I'm also really interested in topics of mental health and well being, so I'd love to talk about self-care, mental health issues, relationships, and if you guys want to email me questions or ask advice I could answer those questions weekly. 

I want Leather.Lace.&Cupcakes to be a platform I can consistently write on, be inspired by, and challenged by. I envision it slowly (very) turning into a lifestyle blog versus a purely personal style blog. We will see though! I just wanted to bring it up since it's been on my mind, and see what you guys think! Don't be shy I really want to know. You don't have to comment below, you can email me if you'd like instead! I would also love to meet some fellow bloggers in the area, so if you live in Los Angeles or near by and you'd love to grab brunch, lunch, coffee, or shop and take pictures also let me know that!

The last few days i've been taking early morning drives to Malibu to walk around on the beach and drink my coffee. I find driving to be extremely cathartic ( I don't even mind traffic, call me crazy) and the best place for me to gather my thoughts and make sense of what's going on in my life and the world. Every time I take the drive to Malibu I am suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude. In the midst of stress and chaos, school problems, job struggles, relationship issues, it's sooo easy to forget all of the wonderful things we DO have going for us. I absolutely was struggling with that issue earlier in the week, but now find myself smiling because I have sooo much to be thankful for! God has a wonderful plan for me, I don't have to worry about that at all, what I need to do is work on trusting in that. I can absolutely say that is plan is not always my plan, but it will always be better then my plan! 

Here are some of the pictures I took on my walks! 

-Xoxo Becca