red + white: holiday bouquet experimenting

please excuse the amateur photography, but i did some experimentin' with holiday bouquets recently and came up with the above. i posted here last year about giving something like this a go this year and...voila!

i was able to find all of these flowers at good ol' trader joe's at a super reasonable price. most florists would charge at least $30, but i was able to put it together for $15. holler!

i'm not loving it in the blue vase and have been on the hunt for some vintage bubble milk glass to complete the look, a la this collection.

apologies for the lack of posts lately. 'tis the season!! more to come soon. happy holidaze.

spotlight on kelly + john: real wedding

hello friends! today we're heading to the frisco bay, napa to be exact, to showcase kelly & john's stunning wedding. these two blondes are beyond photogenic as you'll see in the amazing shots captured by shanni weilert of what shanni saw. this wedding is the perfect blend of rustic + modern with shades of grey and wonderful hints of sunshine yellow. the durham ranch provided glorious backdrops for some of the most fantastic wedding photos i've seen in awhile. all brides look gorgeous on their wedding day, but this little lady looks like a model. seriously, look at the shot with the veil in front of her face. vogue. and don't even get me started on their bridal party. the flowy bridesmaid dresses are to die and the chuck taylors on the groomsmen are the bee's knees. enough talk, it's time to let the images do the talking. they say love is in the details. if that's true, this day is overflowing. enjoy!

john proposed last december at my parent's house in tahoe. it was an incredibly snowy weekend and i kinda knew something was up when he insisted we take the scary drive up there by ourselves. he was acting super weird on saturday asking all types of deep questions and i was starting to think he was going to break up with me! instead, he was stressing out about how to propose since his master plan of doing it on the hike we do every time we're up there wasn't going to work because we were snowed in. last minute he found a string in my mom's laundry room and tied it around our dog's neck. it really was a perfect proposal. (gag).

i found durham ranch on style me pretty. i was cruising through the site looking for locations in napa and fell in love with the place. i always knew i wanted to get married in a barn and in napa and john just wanted something that was architecturally unique (because he is an architect). durham ranch had both. it was the second place we looked at and right away we knew this was the place we were supposed to get married.

perfect mr & mrs bench that i would love in my home

there are so many favorite parts of the day! it really does go by so fast! john and i made a point to sneak away by ourselves for 10 minutes and soak it all in. we sat up on the lawn looking over the whole place just in awe of the amount of people that were there to support and love us. all of our favorite people in one place. you really do feel like the luckiest person in the world that day!

framer

my best friend melissa gave me the best advice right before i walked down the aisle. she pulled me aside and said "soak in every second because this will never happen again. just remember it is just you and john up there." that little piece of advice helped me so much because i was so nervous! especially because john and i decided to write out own vows which i knew would be difficult for me to get through!

another thing i would say is you have to remember to stay true to who you guys are as a couple. everybody has different taste and as long as you love your wedding that is all that matters. you cannot please everyone!

and lastly, boring but very practical. have a large tupperware that you keep all the important items in: marriage license, wedding bands, wedding jewelry. having all that important stuff in one place saved the day for us!!

muchas muchas gracias to kelly and john for sharing their absolutely amazing wedding day with us. you guys are the best. much love.

vendors:

photographer: shanni weilert

wedding planner: rosemary special events

venue manager & caterer: paula leduc

musical daydream: today's jam

in december drinking horchata...

in honor of today being the first of december, i'll be playing this jam on our way to "baby & me" gym class. the hubs & i saw these guys at radio city when i was in my first trimester during the "i'm pregnant but nobody knows yet phase." we were bopping around like a bunch of fools, but it was such a great time. happy listening!

oh & here's a sneak peak at the gorgeous real wedding we've got coming up:

hungry monday: super simple sausage

i genuinely enjoy cooking. i like chopping onions, measuring flour and using a wooden spoon. i try my best to cook sunday through thursday and occasionally on a friday or saturday if we're having company. if not, i reserve those nights for ordering in, warming up a frozen pizza or venturing out to the big city...or our little downtown.

here is a super simple sausage dinner that i make about once a week, with slight alterations (substitute different veggies, serve over pasta instead of rice or make a red sauce vs. white wine)

1. slice up sausage and a sweet yellow onion and saute in olive oil over med-high (goal is to brown sausage)

2. add a splash of chicken broth (i use this), cook for a minute or two

3. add a 1/4 cup of white wine (i use whatever i have in the fridge, but usually a pinot grigio), turn up the heat to let the wine cook off and thicken the sauce

4. lower heat, add cherry tomatoes (i slice in half) and sugar snap peas, cook for about 5 minutes - this is where you can get crazy & add whatever you have in the veggie drawer

i usually toss this all over some brown rice that i've cooked in the same chicken broth used in the sausage mixture.

i prefer the applegate organics sweet italian sausage. they're made with chicken and turkey, they're organic and they're skinless. check, check and check.

mangia!

turkey + pinot noir = a match made in thanksgiving heaven: 3 pairings

a quick post today as i've got pies to bake and diapers to change, but wanted to share three of my favorite pinot noirs. pinot noir is one of my favorite wine varietals and also happens to be a fantastic pairing with the main star of thanksgiving: turkey! pinot noir is a delicious, smooth, light red option for all you non-white-wine-drinkers. i know for a fact that you can purchase all of these at trader joe's, but i'm sure most local wine shops carry the above as well. another great region that pumps out delish pinot noir is willamette valley in oregon, so if you can't find the above, check out what the pacific northwest has to offer.

oh & if you MUST go white, la crema produces an unreal chardonnay. i'm not a chard lady at all, but love me some la crema chardonnay.

happy thanksgiving! mangia : )

hungry monday: vegan burgers for meat-eaters

some yummy carrots +

a little sweet potato +

protein rich quinoa

these are just a few of the delicious ingredients in the vegan burgers i happened upon at whole foods last weekend. i'm not a vegan. i'm not even a vegetarian, but i was looking for a healthy bite and stumbled upon these. i dabbled in the pescatarian lifestyle years ago when i lived in california and can't say i've really missed it much. i like meatballs with real meat and i love chicken wings, spicy. when i wasn't eating meat, i ate A LOT of tofu and tempeh and i gotta tell ya, it got old. if i had found this type of vegan alternative, which is actually made of vegetables and not a ton of substitute meat, i might have been able to go a week or so longer without meat.

i sauteed the patties in a bit of olive oil to get them nice & crispy, threw one in a whole wheat wrap, topped it with some avocado & called it a day. a delicious day. let me know what you think!

check out where you can find some in your hood here.

musical daydream: today's jam

the little man fell asleep in the backseat yesterday as we were driving home from a coffee date with the hubs. it was a rainy day and so nice & quiet with him snoozing that i decided to cruise around town and listen to some tunes.

my phone shuffled along and landed on a song that always gets me daydreaming about summer. hat tip to my sister-in-law for turning me on to taken by trees, among others, a few years ago. "my boys" always conjures up the same image in my head and it's the perfect one for a dreary day. i envision myself riding my red beach cruiser down a path to the beach in my hometown. then i go on to dream about jumping in the sound, having a bbq & sipping a hoegaarden. ah the simple times. enjoy!