and I was happy to discover her youtube channel. I linked her YouTube video below.

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cut apples in half, core, and slice thinly into half moon like-shapes

3. Place apple slices into a bowl, fill with water and microwave 4-6 minutes (until slices are soft and flexible).
​
4. Remove from microwave, drain, and set aside.

5. In a small bowl combine ricotta cheese with jam and a dash of cinnamon, mix until well combined.

6. Using a rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry dough until thin and rectangular shape.
Spread half of the apricot mixture over the dough, and reserve the other half for the second sheet.

7. Cut the rolled out puff dough into six strips and using the apple strips lay them round side up with the apple slices hanging out ½-1 inch off the dough, place them over the first strip, overlapping each apple slice.
Then fold over the remaining puff dough from the first strip over the apple slices and press firmly. Then roll the entire strip with the apples into one big roll (like a fruit roll-up) and place into a sprayed cupcake tin.

8. Continue the same process for the rest of the strips, and the second puff pastry dough.

9. Once completed all 12 rolls, place in the oven for 50-60 minutes at 350F. I found that baking them at 375 was too high because the outside would get golden quickly and the inside dough would still be raw.
​
10. Garnish with powder sugar sprinkled.

Victoria

to project my mood. These long white pants perfectly complemented the cropped sweater I oh-so

favored since last year (I should have bought a double just in case something happened to this one – from

The Limited). To pull the look together I grabbed this cool blue colored Christian Dior bag and

a vintage ring my hubs bought me while we vacationed in Florence, Italy this summer.

I think white with blue is one of my favorite color combinations to wear all year around, ok just kidding..

anything with white is probably my favorite and I know I need to add more color but Im working on it.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

xo,
​Victoria

Yield: 10-12 bars

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer:

–    1c Oats
–    1c Cashews or 1 cup Cashew Flour
–    1c Almond Flour
–    1c Unsweetened Coconut
–    1/2c Rice Malt
–    1/4c Coconut Cream
–    Dash of Salt

Middle Layer:

–    2c Pitted Dates (soaking in boiling water for 1hr or so)
–    1/3c Peanut Butter
–    1tbsp Vanilla
–    Dash of salt
–    1-2tbsp Coconut Cream (Used when blending for thinning down the
     batter for an easier      blend)
–    1/2c Roughly Chopped Peanuts – To sprinkle over layer

Chocolate Drizzle:

–    1/2c Coconut oil, melted
–    3/4c Cocao powder – Use a high quality cocao powder
–    1/4c maple syrup

Directions:

1.    Using a high-speed food processor, blend oats, cashews, almond flour, coconut,
      and salt until well combined.

2.    Add rice malt and coconut cream. This will produce a sticky dough. (Note: At this point
       I took it out of the food processor and into a bowl and mixed it with my hands to
       have a uniformly combined dough).

3.    Then press this dough into a lined baking sheet. You can make it as thick as you like,
       but I recommend no more than ½-3/4 of an inch in thickness.

4.    Back to the food processor we go, combine the dates (make sure you take the pits out!
       I know a lot of people assume their already out, but they usually aren’t), peanut butter,
       vanilla, salt and the coconut cream. Blend until smooth, or as smooth as you can get it
       to.

5.    Spread this layer over the first layer and sprinkle with the 1/2c of peanuts. Gently press
       the peanuts into the dough and freeze while we work on the chocolate sauce.

6.    Using a food processor, add the melted coconut milk, cocao powder, and maple syrup
       until smooth and shiny. Drizzle over the bars and continue to freeze overnight.
​
7.    Once the bars are solid, but them into strips to resemble bars and store in a container
​       in the freezer.

​V

Where we stayed: Relais Santa Croce, Florence

 Gosh I loved this boutique-y hotel! We give this hotel a 5/5 star rating for service, quality and cleanliness. Upon check in, we told the staff that it was our anniversary trip and just like in Rome they upgraded us to an amazing suite and left us a gift in our room. We absolutely recommend this hotel if your visiting the Tuscany region, its located in the heart of the city of Florence with walking distance to anything you could think of! Ask the concierge for a recommendation on dining; we had dinner at this one little restaurant where the tortellini was made from scratch per request. It was the best meal we had from the entire trip.

 

What/Where we ate: Finding a place to eat in Florence was not an issue at all. The streets are filled with cafes and restaurants and it’s difficult to narrow it to just one. Also, the gelato is amazing! Splurge on food and dessert when you’re in Italy because you wont find it anywhere else in the world.

Another brilliant thing about Florence is the street shopping. I think Florence was my favorite place in Italy to purchase souvenirs or really neat keepsakes. The street are filled with vendors offering spices, leather goods, jewelry, wooden creations, toys, dinnerware – you name it they have it. I wanted to buy everything in Florence.

 

How we got around: While exploring Florence we walked everywhere because the city is fairly small. It’s very convenient to have your hotel close to everything so it worked out perfectly. The streets are sooo narrow that it may be impossible to drive through the heart of the city.

 

For those who are looking to add Florence to their future trip, 2-3 days is a great amount of time to cover everything you will want to see.

 

Next stop: Venice.. Stay Tuned.

xo,

Victoria

Next stop: Florence.. Stay Tuned.

xo,
Victoria

Happy Saturday! 
It’s a special one for us…
Today my older brother is marrying the love of his life and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
The wedding theme is surrounded by thoughts and dreams of an enchanted forest where 
fairytales and love stories come true. For this day, I chose this stunning flowy gown 
accompanied by the most dreamiest bow tied sandals ( that I caught on sale a few months back). 
The blush tones and embellished bodice make my heart spike a beat. 

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

xo,

-V-

We went to the Top of the Rock before our dinner Sunday night, to experience 
an amazing view of the entire city and the Empire State Building. The view 
was beyond breathtaking…

This amazing dress is a show stopper, and I think Self Portrait sure knows how 
to do lace. I got stopped on the street multiple times with compliments because 
of how amazing this dress is! Photos do not even do it justice.

Here is my review of the entire trip details:

Where we stayed: Regent Palms Turks and Caicos
The resort we stayed at had a Mediterranean vibe, which made you feel like you are somewhere in Spain. The outdoors are very well taken care of, as well as each room. I loved that they have nespresso machines in every room and place chocolates on your pillow before bed time. We felt so spoiled!

I loved the pool, and the food pool side was so good! But nothing can beat that incredible beach! The water was the most screen serene of aqua and the sand was fluffy. Making this the best beach we have ever been to hands down.

The spa was also beyond gorgeous with an outdoor pool and massage rooms.

Where we ate:
Their are three total restaurants on the resort. There is a breakfast buffet, lunch can be served poolside, and dinner can be eaten at the fancier resteruant in the center of the resort. Personally I found breakfast to be 8/10 mainly because I had an omelet every day and they did not offer many vegetarian options (so meat eaters – you’ll be fine). The lunch we had either poolside or on the beach was very good, and each item was fresh and tasty. I like pizza, so as long as I could have my daily pizza, I was a happy girl.
Now for dinner, to say it was amazing is a complete understatement. The food was divine, the presentation was spectacular, and the dessert was perfection (especially the pistachio mousse cake).
We also biked into town and ate at a few local restaurants, all were delicious and pricing is similar to American restaurant pricing.

Activities we did:

We went parasailing, which was incredible. The view was breathtaking and you can see to the other side of the island. It was an exciting and terrifying experience all in one.

The most exciting thing we did was arrange a boat ride to tour many of the islands that are part of Turks & Caicos. On our day trip, we saw sting rays, a shark!!!, and a sand bar. Seeing this mini little island in the middle of the ocean was INSANE. We were able to get unto the island, and it felt surreal to sand in the middle of the ocean with sharks and sting rays swimming around you. 

Another fun activity we did daily was we took the bikes at the resort, and biked into the little cute town. There you will find shops, restaurants, and ice cream parlors. We had so much fun doing this that we went daily. I was so surprised to discover how safe the island is! The concierge told us to leave our bikes unlocked when we went shopping or dined, and I even left bags with souvenirs in the bike basket. 

Overall, Turks & Caicos is an incredible island, offering a fun, safe and gorgeous vacation destination and we would absolutely recommend it to our family and friends.

To qualify it’s simple, 

1. Follow Lime Ricki on Instagram 

2. Follow @allthingsvictoria on Instagram 

3.  On the Instagram photo with the giveaway details write your 

dream vacation destination and tag three friends you would want to take it with!

Winner will be announced Wednesday July 1st at 6 pm EST.