8/52: A Year of Little Resolutions

yay I'm back!! This week was really REALLY hard! My plan was to take the week off from blogging, twitter, and facebook. I didn’t update, although I wanted to many times. I tried to stay off the internet as much as I could but by the weekend it was a little tough. I really missed you guys!  I’ve decided life without blogging pretty much sucks! The one good thing was that I was super productive during the week. Here’s what I was up to..

Researched florists and I think I found our guy! Tulips have always been one of my faves. 

Scored an amazing tweed Ralph Lauren blazer for $12! And it was in my size! best.find.ever.

With Matthew out of town, and my parents out to a play, I decided to make myself a fancy little dinner. I thought I’d just order pizza but with all the Food Network I watched this week I decided to go all out with aglio e olio pasta, asparagus with lemon zest, grilled garlic bread, salad and lemon water. I even pulled the chair out for myself!

On Saturday it hailed in LA! There was ice all over my car and it was the strangest but coolest thing ever! I'll be honest, I was dreaming about sledding down my street and building snowmen. Unfortunately it didn't last long and the next day blue skies abound.

Ate a copious amount of Girl Scout Cookies. My weaknesses are Samoas and Tagalongs, what about you? I may or may not have scarfed down a whole box in the first day, plastic tray not included.

And of course, I redid my blog design with the help of the amazing and wonderful Kelly Ann! I've been planning on doing this for some time. Kelly  took my ideas and made them into something way more perfect than I could have ever come up with! She is a super talented designer who now works with Freckled Nest. She’s also just one of the loveliest people in the blog-o-sphere! Go check out her blog and get ready to be inspired! Thank you so so much Kelly!

This week my resolution is to be a little more fearless. Sometimes I get so concerned with what other people might think that I let that negatively affect me. Especially when it comes to my blog. When I first started blogging I didn't tell anyone about it, not even close friends and family, because I was worried about what they would think. Of course now they all know and they're super supportive, but there are some people out there, people who I have called friends in the past, who just happen to like putting people down. I see the good in them, but then I also know about their "mean girl" side.  I'm going to try this week to be more confident in myself and not let these worries affect who I am.

I'm so excited to be back and I want you all to know how grateful I am to have you here as readers! 

You've sent me the sweetest emails, and left the kindest comments, and I am more thankful than ever

to be a part of this great blogging community!

xox

 

7/52: A Year of Little Resolutions

I hope you all had a great three day weekend! I've decided to take a little break from blogging this week. I think it's good for me to take a break every once in a while just to refocus and get offline. I've been so busy recently and it's finally catching up to me because now I'm sick! I hate when that happens.  I think I just need to take some time for me. I was really productive over the weekend, though, with wedding crafts. It seems like things are coming together.. yay! I'm going to miss you guys but I'll be back Sunday! 

Have a wonderful week!

xox

recipe: heart shaped shortbread cookies

For Valentine's Day I made these yummy shortbread heart cookies for my family. I loove shortbread because it's like eating a piece of pure butter. For reals! I used this recipe but decided to make half with dried cherries and the other half with dried blueberries. I'm so glad I did because I'm sure a fan of dried blueberries now. They tasted a little bit like currents but sweeter and they're small so I didn't even need to cut them up. I'd definitely recommend making these for someone special..or yourself!

I used this recipe but changed and added a couple things, which I noted in bold

Dried Cranberry Blueberry and Cherry Shortbread Hearts
{Makes about 1 1/2 dozen 1 3/4-inch hearts}

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped dried cranberries 1/4 cup dried blueberries and 1/4 cup dried bing cherries
• orange zest

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.with a rack in center. Combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon until combined but not too creamy. Stir in dried cranberries fruit. {I used an electric mixer but was careful not to overbeat. I split the dough in half and added dried blueberries to one batch and dried cherries to the other}
2. Pat dough evenly into an 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan. Bake until just beginning to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Place pan on cooling rack until cool enough to touch, about 20 minutes. Run knife around edges, remove shortbread, and transfer, right side up, to work surface. Use 1 1/2- to 2-inch heart cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Use a paring knife to trim stray bits of cranberry from edges. 
3. I guess I should say I adapted this recipe because I decided to roll out the dough between two pieces of waxed paper, cut the hearts and then bake for 20 minutes. I thought it would be easier this way, especially after reading some of the comments. Cookies will keep for 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container.
4. Enjoy! 

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Phew thank goodness it's Friday! I was starting to feel a little stressed out yesterday thinking about all the wedding things I need to do but luckily my best friend is coming up to LA for a major craft session tomorrow. I'm getting excited thinking that in a few weeks some major things will be checked off the list I made a couple months ago. We're supposed to get some of our winter weather back this weekend so it will be easy to stay indoors and craft it out! 

I hope you all have a super, great, awesome, wonderful weekend!

xox

look book: fancy schmancy

A couple months ago I bought a Groupon for Drybar, which is a salon in LA that washes, shampoos, blow drys and styles your hair. Basically everything but the cut. I was saving it to use for a special occasion and since I was too late to book for New Years Eve I decided to do it for  our early Valentine's Day dinner on Saturday night. I'm not that good at hair but when I'm feeling a little fancy schmancy I like curl it with a curling iron. The problem is that it takes forever and I always mess up the bangs area. Do you flip out, flip under, leave them how they are? I have no clue. So it was especially nice to just show up and have a stylist do it for me. If only I could have someone do my hair every day!

 blouse Queen's Wardrobe, skirt Urban Outfitters, belt J. Crew, shoes Michael Kors

I love getting dressed up for nights out with my fiance! Whoops almost wrote boyfriend. I'm going to have to get used to a whole new term in a few months! It's crazy how quickly time is going by. eek!

Hope you all have a happy Thursday!

wedding wednesday: a night off

So this isn't really a post about wedding stuff but one more about the importance of taking breaks during the stressful planning process. Matthew and I have really needed those nights where we're not talking about cake, djs, or those DIY projects. Wedding words have to be off limits. When Matthew suggested going to a basketball game I was all for it. Well, kinda of. It was a Clipper game, which is the other LA basketball team. Thought the Lakers ruled LA? Well, they do, but they're not the only team who call the Staples Center home. It was fun to wear the team colors {red and blue I learned} and be around tons of excited fans but as soon as I got there I was kind of over it. Caramel corn, best snack ever, was probably the highlight for me. It took me a full two quarters before I thought to see who the Clippers were playing, and another quarter to even pay attention to who was winning. While basketball may not be my thing, I really enjoyed having a night off to just have fun with Matthew.

woohoo sports! Luckily Matthew isn't a big sports guy or else I might be in trouble. 

No just kidding. I'm sure I'd learn to love it!

look book: funny valentine

Last night was such a comedy of errors. Poor Matthew has  had it up to here {imagine my hands really high} with his terrible commute. He lives 20 miles from work and yet it takes him close to an hour and a half some nights. Last night it took him a little over two hours, the worst drive for him by far! We were supposed to have dinner at 7 and he didn't even get back until 8. Poor guy. We ordered pizza and it was really good, although slightly burnt {it's sad they'd allow a subpar pie to pass through on Valentine's Day of all nights}. After dinner we decided to finish Roman Holiday {we started it on Saturday night} and somehow when we sat down on the couch I elbowed Matthew in the jaw. Major ouch! While it was still a good night, it was just a bit ridiculous. I hope your Valentine's Day was a little bit more normal than ours.

 blouse and clutch Banana Republic, skirt Zara, heels Michael Kors, headband In Honor of Design

So I broke my self-imposed shopping ban. I know, I know, I tried so hard but when I saw this skirt for $10 I had to get it! Especially since that morning I was going to ask my mom if she had a brown pleated skirt. Meant to be? I'd like to think so! I was tempted to get it in the black color also, but I put my foot down. I'm still trying to make more conscientious shopping decisions.

I hope you all have a really great day!

xox

happy valentine's day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I've always loved this holiday, whether I was single or in a relationship. It's a day where you can celebrate love, whether it's for your mom, dad, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, best friend, dog or cat. I wanted to share some things I'm loving on this day of love:

the heart my mom has put up every year for as long as I can remember

 my pretty bow headband from In Honor of Design

 pink OPI nails {color: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun}

last year he was my Boyfriend Valentine, this year my Fiance Valentine, next year Husband Valentine!

why hello truffles! Wanna get in my belly?

tea and homemade shortbread

 

Miss Ginger Bear, who is actually looking for a Valentine. I know it's last minute, but the squirrel she was dating ran away. Ginger enjoys long walks, fresh bisquits, and tummy rubs. If you know anyone interested in a furry Valentine let me know :)

Happy Valentine's Day wonderful people!

xox

6/52: A Year of Little Resolutions

Last week my goal was to be a little more crafty and to plan some fun projects. It was perfect timing, given the upcoming holiday. I decided to make Valentines for my family and friends. I had such a great time picking out pretty papers and stamps, and it was even more fun to decorate and get into a creative zone. Next weekend my best friend/maid of honor Lizzie is coming up to do wedding crafts. We love doing this kind of stuff so I'm really looking forward to it!

If you want to make a pretty Valentine's card for a loved one {there's still time!} here are some things I liked using:

- pretty papers {Michael's has a lot of great options}

- a heart stamp

- pink and red markers,

- paper doilies

- scissors

- glue sticks

- felt would be cute to make little hearts

For this week coming up I want to do sweet things for my family to show them how much I love them! I have a couple surprises planned already :)

Are any of you going to do a little resolution this week? If so, tell me about it!

xox