Our Perfect Cheese Platter

Nathan and I are HUGE cheese lovers. Little-to-nothing excites us more than a good cheese display. Literally nothing disappoints more than a lame one. While in Europe, we found ourselves wanting to incorporate interesting cheeses into our daily routine and I truly wish the U.S. would adopt this style of eating! Nothing is better than a quality assortment of finger foods.

This is pretty close to a perfect cheese platter. I would probably add some tiny pickles and something bruschetta/caprese-esque but last night, this was perfect. Not a better way to ring in the new year: hanging at home, reminiscing, and eating good food! 

These are the basics every good cheese platter should have. Our absolute favorite cheeses are the Unexpected Cheddar from Trader Joe's and their brie cheese. 

Some sort of Italian soda is key. We opted for a delicious sparkling pomegranate flavor.  

Nathan added some blackberries to his pomegranate soda which was delicious. 

Two Thousand Fourteen

This year has been one of the best of my entire life. Nathan and I got married, we traveled Europe for a month, experienced new cities together, moved into our first place, and made countless unforgettable memories. I would say 2014 was one of the best years yet!  These are only a couple highlights! 

A floral arrangement I made for our entry way I loved. 

My gorgeous bridal shower cake. 

Our engagement photos.

Tulips from a quick trip to San Francisco. 

Our first place before any changes! 

Our wedding flowers, which I am madly in love with. 

Our first Christmas married!

Enjoying the port in St. Tropez

Our gorgeous claw foot tub in Belgium. 

Finally, one of my top moments: locking our love on Paris' famous love lock bridge. 

My Couch Four Ways

This chevron pillow and berry throw are for the days I feel cozy and laid back. This gives my couch a more approachable cozy look. 

I am in LOVE with these tweed yellow pillows. They give my place a cheery pop and mid-century modern vibe. The impact is large while remaining simple. 

I love these Pottery Barn pillows, they give out a total boho vibe which is a great balance for my modern couch. When I am feeling eclectic I will pull these beauties out! 

Finally my current favorite. This super inexpensive fur throw from Ikea gives my living room a fun pop of glamour and texture. While working with whites lots of texture is key. White can sometimes feel sterile but the texture gives off a luxurious comfortable vibe. 

Which couch styling is your favorite? Let me know! 

Burgundy Beet Salad

Yummy and pretty - what's not to love!?

Kansas City Cookies

These cookies are world famous in my family's circle. My mom's good friend, who grew up in Kansas, keeps this recipe close to her heart - but was nice enough to share! There are some simple tricks that make these cookies extra tasty! Enjoy. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cups of cold butter (she strongly recommends margarine)

1 3/4 cups flour (NOT generic grocery store brand. She swears this is important!)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tspn vanilla

1 tspn baking powder

1/4 tspn baking soda

2 cups oats

2 cups Scotchies (I used chocolate chips this time. Either works!)

1. Cream butter in an electric mixer on medium speed.

2. Add half of the flour, all of the sugars, the egg, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla. 

3. Once those ingredients are combined, add the remaining flour.

4. Once the flour is thoroughly mixed in, add the oats and the chips. 

5. Using an ice cream scoop, form perfect cookie dough balls. Roll the cookie dough balls in a bowl of sugar so they are totally covered. 

6. Freeze the cookie dough balls completely. This helps them keep a better shape when you bake them later! 

7. Preheat oven to 375˚. Bake the cookies for about 9 minutes, or until they are golden colored. Warning: the cookies will appear way too soft and you will be tempted to put them right back in the oven. REFRAIN! The cookies get hard after sitting out for about a minute because they continue to cook. So the softer you like your cookies, the less time you should leave them in the oven!

A Winter Date Night

Jacket-Forever 21

Blouse-Forever 21

Jeans-Citizens of Humanity

Shoes-Saint Laurent  

Lips- Revlon "Really Red"

Snow Flake Sugar Cookies

It would not be any holiday without some festive sugar cookies. I decided to surprise Nathan with a snowflake themed batch today! Let me warn you, these cookies take time and effort. They are not for the impatient. I adore the icy blue and white pallet for Christmas. It is so far off from traditional red and green but somehow still seems so festive! I have made lots of different sugar cookie recipes over the years and found this one VERY easy to work with and tasty! 

Click -cookie recipe Katrina describes these perfectly "This is the BEST sugar cookie recipe- no chilling the dough, cookies keep their shape when baked, soft and flavorful, perfect for decorating."

Click-royal icing recipe I like this recipe because it does not require meringue powder!

My Everyday Lunch

I make a lot of fancy meals, but to be completely honest, most of those are for Nathan. When I got engaged I went into fitness overdrive. I got an amazing personal trainer, went to the grocery store, bought all new food, and literally changed my eating over night in preparation for our wedding! After the first month of this change, I got into an extremely satisfying and consistent groove. I began this change in July and by my wedding in October I lost a whopping 26 pounds! I truly had no idea I had that much to loose or that it was even possible to feel so good. Since our wedding and month long honeymoon I have gained some of that back. We spent a month in Europe, it was expected! I am not discouraged though; I am back on my pre-wedding regiment and am beginning to feel just as amazing again! It really is a whole life change. 

I used to be a food addict, I admit, but some simple changes I made have really shifted and changed my thought-life completely. That's exactly what unhealthy food addiction is: the result of an out of control thought-life! I used to find myself thinking of food from the minute I woke up. It was an out of control battle, truly like an addiction! I wanted to be healthy but the mental pull to eat the bagel with a pound of cream cheese overpowered the much smaller voice that said "don't you want to feel great AND look great?" I actually used to cry - CRY - to Nathan, asking, "am I really going to live my entire life with this out of control mindset?" The unhappiness that comes with wanting to look and feel better but for some unexplainable reason wanting food more seems crazy, but people who aren't driven by food simply can't understand. 

When I got engaged, I got an amazing personal trainer who basically gave me the most straight-forward guide to weight loss. Even though the formula was SO simple and SO familiar to me, hearing it from someone else made it completely click. I rushed to the store, bought an excessive amount of salad things, veggies, some quinoa, black beans, and literally GALLONS of water. I got home, tossed anything that was not organic and completely natural away, and started with this clean slate. I viewed each meal as an opportunity to make something amazing out of a few clean ingredients. I even started to food journal! This was a WHOLE new me. I found myself feeling amazing and even getting extremely excited and happy to deny unhealthy food and stick to my regiment. My anxiety levels were down, my happiness was at new heights, my skin was glowing, and a bonus was I was dropping pounds QUICK, and it did not even feel like I was trying! 

I wanted to start by sharing my lunch I actually eat EVERY day! I know it is not very exciting - just a simple salad - but I love this salad and look forward to it everyday! If you guys are interested in hearing more about my daily health routines comment and I am happy to share! 

-organic baby greens

-organic avocado

-organic heirloom baby tomatoes

-kalamata olives

-sun flower seeds

-I usually add a blob of organic hummus right on top

-balsamic vinegar

Thats all; so simple yet so tasty. The sunflower seeds satisfy me and fill me up completely! 

Butternut Squash Soup

One of my favorite meals on my honeymoon was butternut squash risotto I got at Harrods in London. Before that risotto I had written of butternut squash as gross. I can safely say it is a new favorite vegetable in my house! This soup is perfect for this overcast day and is filled with my favorite staple ingredients- white wine, garlic, and heavy cream. We are gonna eat ours with mozzarella grilled cheese. INSANE. Enjoy!

You will need:

2 twelve ounce bags of Trader Joes pre cut butternut squash, or 1 medium butternut squash

6+ garlic cloves

1 yellow onion

olive oil

fresh thyme sprigs

32 oz vegetable stock

salt & pepper

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup white wine 

In a large pot add a large drizzle of olive oil. Add chopped yellow onion and sauté for a few minutes on a medium flame. Add both bags of butternut squash and sauté for 3 more minutes. Add 1/4 cups of white wine and let the wine cook for 5 more minutes. Add the vegetable stock and heavy cream. Cook on high flame until soup begins to boil. Turn down flame add about 1/2 TBS of salt and pepper, 6 heads of garlic, and about 7 sprigs of fresh thyme. Stir and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Using an immersion blender puree until smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed! 

Blushes

Jacket- Forever 21

Top- Brandy Melville

Jeans- Hudsons

Booties- Steve Madden

Lipstick- Mac 'Please Me' 

Lipliner- Mac 'In Anticipation

Jumpsuit Sunday

Jumpsuit-Volcom

Shoes-Steve Madden

Sunglasses-Celine

Nails-Essie 'Raspberry'

A Simple Holiday Look with J.Crew!

Holiday parties are intimidating. They usually include co-workers and are our only opportunity to show we are a semi- attractive humans outside of our work clothes. The jeans and top are simple but the sparkly necklace and heels add just enough of a festive touch. This little number is classic, comfortable, but flirty and fashion forward all in one! It embodies my favorite style, "nonchalantly hot," which is perfect for any holiday party. This outfit is a one stop shop (all items found at J Crew) - even better!

1.Black skinny jeans

2.Scoop neck tee

3.Drop waist coat

4.Strappy heels

5.Crystal necklace

Christmas wrapping- 4 ways!

This morning I wrapped presents for children with parents in prison. The experience made me cry, imagining what the kids' lives were really like and that maybe that one gift I wrapped would be all they would receive this year. This season really is about giving, as cliche as that may sound. Giving is an act of love. It is in our human nature to want to accumulate more for ourselves, but when we give, we consider others as being more important than ourselves- this is SELFLESS, an action of love! You should check out Angel Tree, an awesome organization that gives you an opportunity to bless a child. All this wrapping got me thinking just how touching it is to receive a gift. It truly feels even better to give one! I decided half the beauty of a gift is in the wrapping. I grabbed some things around my house, like cooking string, snips of branches off of my christmas tree, and leaves that look like holly from a tree outside. Adding these simple things make your gifts that much more beautiful. With a little effort looking around the house I was able to make these gifts appear that much more special.

Current Obsession: Pink Christmas

My mom, Heather, LOVES pink. Her kitchen has a pink and white floor, pink dishes, and any thing else you can imagine is also pink. This always bothered me when I was young, because it was different from the very beige households of my friends. Now that I live on my own, I realize how much I really love pink. 

To no surprise, Christmas is no exception for my Mom. Her tree is covered only with the most beautiful pink ornaments and her house carefully adorned with the most perfect pink touches. Since Nathan and I have a house is so traditionally red and green, visiting her house makes me realize how truly beautiful the pink is! This pink nativity scene is literally heaven to my eyes. We found it at a local thrift store and I still can't believe how lucky we were to find this. Her house would not be complete this time a year without a pink nativity scene. And despite my love for a traditional green tree, I cannot deny how pleasing to the eye this mini white tree with pink vintage bulbs is. What is your opinion on a pink Christmas?

Chicken Pot Pie

It is cold in Santa Barbara today, my iPhone says its even going to rain. For us Californians, this is music to the ears considering the hideous drought we have been in. The cold weather inspires me to light candles, wear thick socks, and bake things warm and rich. Nathan loves chicken pot pie and today I realized I have not made him one since being married. The 63˚ forecast (yes thats near freezing for me) was reason enough to make him a good old chicken pot pie with last nights lemon chicken leftovers. 

You will start with the crust. This is my favorite crust and its super easy. ANY ONE can do it because the dough is so easy to work with. 

2 cups of flour

1 stick of chilled butter plus 3 TBS 

1/3 cups ice water

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp sugar

1.Place flour in electric mixing blow. Cut butter into smalls squares and add to flour. Mix on medium speed until it resembles coarse meal. 

2. In a separate whisk 1/3 cups ice water, egg, sugar and salt.

3.Add the ice water mixture to the flour and butter mixture. Mix on medium speed until it forms into a ball.

4. Remove and place onto a floured surface. Push the dough out and away from you with the heel of your hand (this is called kneading the dough). Do this until it is in a nice fluffy ball. Dust with flour, cover with wax paper and let sit in the fridge for 2 hours. The butter needs chilling before you can roll the dough effectively. 

Now onto the FILLING! Keep scrolling for directions. 

You will need:

For Filling:                                                                              Cream Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter                                                               1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 yellow onion chopped                                                          1 cup all purpose flour

1 potato diced                                                                         2 1/2 cups chicken stock

3 garlic cloves, minced                                                           1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 orange bell better sliced                                                      Dash or 2 of Tabasco 

2 medium sized carrots diced 

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cooked rotisserie chicken ( I think this pie is best made with leftover chicken.)

salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1. Start with the filling. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onion and potato and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, and carrots and sauté until the potatoes are tender. Add the pepper, salt and crushed peppers. 

2. While the veggies are sautéing, skin the chicken, and remove the meat off the bones. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Add to the vegetable mixture. You may now preheat the oven to 375˚.

3. You will now start making the cream sauce. Melt the butter in a large pan with high edges over a medium flame. Add the flower and whisk continuously until smooth. While continuing to whisk, add the chicken stock until the mixture thickens and resembles a thick, creamy soup. Add in the cream and hot pepper sauce. Pour the cream over the veggies and chicken and stir to combine. Once you are ready to add the filling to the pie pan add the frozen peas. 

4. Pour the mixture into an empty pie pan. 

5. Remove the crust from the fridge and place on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin roll out the crust to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place the crust on top of the filling. Brush the crust with beaten egg. Bake pie for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve right away!