How My iPhone Sees My Life

A little something to warm you up on this cold day, enjoy a few pictures from Brian and I's trip to the Bahamas last week!

Best Day Ever

One of the best days of my life was my wedding day in October. Our amazing photographers Bobbie and Mike, captured our day perfectly! Check out the amazing blog post they did about our wedding.

Below is one of my favorites...

Power Puff

The minute I get done with a workout, I am always looking for something to eat. Typically, I will have some raw veggies and hummus, but most times I want something bad for me, like a giant piece of chocolate cake or a cookie or that oooey goooey brownie staring at me in my companies break room. Heck, if I am really desperate, those nasty powdered donuts start to look pretty appetizing!

This was my life every time I would work out until I tasted these incredible power puff balls. They hit all of my cravings, sweet, salty and gooey. I can eat one or two of these without destroying the work I put in during my sweat fest.


If you are looking to splurge a little, I would highly suggest adding Nuttella to these bad boys. Pure heaven.

Recipe and picture from here

 

Vegan Power Puffs Recipe

4 cups puffed millet cereal
2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped (or nut of choice)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 cup brown rice syrup
1-2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
salt if desired

1) In a medium bowl mix the cereal, raisins, cranberries, nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

2) In a small saucepan combine the peanut butter and brown rice syrup. Cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until warm and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt if desired. Pour over cereal the mixture and stir until thoroughly coated.

3) Wait until cooled slightly, the peanut butter mixture can get very hot, then mold into balls (the size of golf balls). Transfer mixture to a cookie sheet to continue cooling. Tip – it helps to dampen hands, this mix can get very sticky.

This recipe makes 36 to 40 Vegan Power Puffs.
Nutrition Facts for 36 Power Puffs: Calories: 112.8, Total Fat: 5.5 g, Total Carbs: 14.5 g, Protein: 2.8 g

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day remembering what they are thankful for! I know I have so much to be thankful for this year, the wedding, my amazing husband, health, family and happiness!

How cute would this look with any outfit today?

What I Am Cooking For Thanksgiving

Every holiday/birthday or general family assembly since I was a teenager, I am always asked to make my deviled eggs. You might say they have a cult following within my family.In an effort to achieve perfection, I have experimented with so many different ingredients (anchovies anyone?) and techniques that I feel I can confidently say, I have mastered the basic deviled egg! Below is my base recipe.

From Food Network

Ingredients 

 

12 eggs
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
2 teaspoons sweet relish
Salt
Pepper
Paprika, for dusting

Directions

Place eggs in a large wide saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil for 12 minutes.* Remove eggs and and cool in refrigerator. Remove shells from eggs and slice in half lengthwise. Separate egg yolks and place into a bowl. Place whites on a separate plate. Add mayo, mustard, relish and salt and pepper, to taste, to yolks and mash together with a fork until creamy and smooth.* Using a large star tip and resealable plastic bag, pipe the yolk mixture back into each egg, enough to fill yolk holes completely. Dust tops with paprika. Refrigerate.* 

*Tip 1-To get the perfect hard boiled egg, boil them for one minute at a rolling boil and then remove from heat. Let them sit for 45 minutes until cool.

*Tip 2- Use about 2 tablespoons cream cheese in the mixture, this will make the consistency smooth.

*Tip 3-Chop up real pickles for the relish, using the pre-chopped neon green stuff makes your mixture way too runny!

*Tip 4- Adding a dash of garlic powder makes all the difference.

*Tip 5- Ideally you will want your eggs to sit in the fridge for about 45 minutes before you serve them to give them time to set.

*Tip 6- Use Miracle Whip, not mayo. Trust me.

Fun fact-Did you know that the deviled egg can be seen in recipes as far back as ancient Rome?

What I Am Wearing To Thanksgiving Dinner

1. Tights 2. Boots 3.) Sweater 4.) Necklace 5.) Boot Socks 6.) Head Wrap

Addiction Alert!

Over the weekend, the hubby and I went shopping for some furniture and holiday items at World Market. While I expected to find the usual suspects of cute pillows, curtains and furniture, I didn't expect to find a hidden treasure trove of necklaces, scarves and headbands! The poor hubby had to endure at least 40 minutes of me pawing through the racks of unique and versatile accessories.

Once I emerged, I found the most versatile necklace that goes with every sweater I own...

And I also found this extremely flattering headband. Hello holiday outfits!  

Buy it here

Extra bonus, more than half of the necklaces they had were beaded strands without any metal, and if you are allergic to nickle/cheap metal like I am, this was a huge "buy every necklace they have in stock" moment!

Shhh! It's One Of My Best Kept Secrets!

Ambre Essence

I love my perfumes, every season one of the first things I purchase is a new fragrance. Fruity in the summer, warm and  rich in the fall, spicy in the winter and crisp and clean in the spring. That being said, I have smelled allot of perfumes and sometimes I have an issue with how strong fragrances are, they can overpower you and give you a crazy headache. As such, I had been searching for that understated subtle fragrance for what felt like forever,until a few months ago. While in my favorite local boutique, I saw these tiny bottles filled with oil from Ambre Blends. While finishing my purchase, I mindlessly decided to try the Ambre Essence on and...

Oh. My. Goodness.

I fell head over heels in love with fragrances made from essential oils. Subtle and rich, the fragrance rolled on like butter and made me smell fabulous in an earthy, understated, "I just roll out of bed smelling like this" way. It also made the skin on my wrists so soft. And the best part? No headache, and I didn't knock anyone over as I walked by.

Needless to say, I was obsessed. However, I wasn't obsessed with the price. While I will agree that
fragrances made with essential oils last longer than your normal fragrance, the price was still a little steep. But then, one glorious day at Whole Foods, I found a knockoff that smells exactly like my beloved Ambre Essence! Persian Garden by Kuumba Made is an almost exact match and is a fraction of the price. The only downside to Persian Garden is that I notice the fragrance doesn't last as long as the Ambre Essence and the oils feel a little greasy compared to the Ambre Essence. But hey, when I need to stay on a budget, the Persian Garden is my go to fix.

Persian Garden

So there you have it, one of my best kept secrets is that I wear Persian Garden most days instead of Ambre Essence and most folks can never tell the difference. 

**Disclaimer, I do not work for Ambre Blends or Kuumba Made. These observations are purely my own.**

Fall Loves...

1 ASOS Jeans 2 Mug 3 Boots 4 Bag 5 Necklace 6 Watch 7 Hat

Holy Guacamole Batman!

I am obsessed with guacamole. I love all variety's and will eat it all day long. It's everything a dip should be, creamy, bright and full of flavor. And hey it's good for you so you can chow down without feeling too bad. Over the weekend we had a spontaneous family cookout for the holiday so I whipped up my fastest and easiest guacamole recipe. Seriously, you could be blind folded in a dark room filled with rabid raccoon's and still make this in under 5 minutes.

You Need: 

3 Ripe tomatoes
4 Avocados
2 Teaspoons minced garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt to taste

Go!

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. Take a spoon and empty all that avocado-y goodness into a bowl. Then mash the life out of it until smooth. Add the juice of the lemon, garlic and salt to taste. 

Finally, add your tomato and onion and gently stir,stir, stir.  

Give it a quick taste to make sure it's edible, then... 

TA DA! Deliciousness.

 Quick Tip:

When you buy your avocados, make sure you check the top for ripeness. Trust me, it will save you time and heartbreak.

Remove the stem at the top of the avocado and check the color. Dark brown is BAAAD! You want your avocados to have a light green top.

   

How My iPhone Sees My Life

Curtain Patterns

Reception Menu Tasting

New Rug

Obnoxious Selfie

How My iPhone Sees My Life

I Can't Help It!

Brian and I have been reviewing our engagement photos for a special project we have been working on for our wedding and I couldn't help but post another one or two of my favorites! Thanks again to Bobbi and Mike for our amazing engagement session!

Lights!

I am completely obsessed right now with the lighting for the wedding. My poor Mom has been running around for the past few months buying as many strands of festival lighting as she can get her hands on and clearing out the hardware stores when they had their sale on Christmas lights in December. Hopefully, the end result will look like some of these lovely inspirations!

From styleserendipity.com

From stylemepretty.com

From stylemepretty.com

Veggie Awesomeness

I certainly don't consider myself a vegetarian ( I love my steak!), however I do try to incorporate a large amount of vegetables into my diet. A way that I love to eat my veggies is on a sandwich!  I happened upon the notion of a veggie sandwich on my birthday a few months ago. I was at a pub with my friends and wasn't feeling the best, so I knew I didn't want to participate in the typical greasy pub fare. To my surprise, this pub offered a veggie sandwich. I was skeptical until I took my first bite, MMMM!!! That sandwich was amazing! Since then I have tried many different variations of the veggie sandwich and have found all of them delightful. Below is my favorite sandwich from the always delicious website dancing carrots !

Via dancing carrots

Make it! 

Whole wheat bread **I use gluten free bread**
Cucumbers (peeled & sliced)
Tomatoes (sliced)
Green and /or red peppers
Alfalfa Sprouts
Avocado (mashed) **If you don't like avocado or want to try something different,  I like to use a good aioli or spread garlic hummus on the bread**
Sliced Monterey Jack Cheese – (or vegan cheese) **I personally think that a quality mozzarella cheese tastes the best**



PREPARE:  Scoop out avocado and mash in a bowl till smooth.  Season with garlic salt and chopped green onion to taste. Slice remaining veggies and cheese and set aside for the construction of sandwiches.
FINISH:  Layer a slice of whole wheat bread with avocado spread… then simply layer remaining veggies & cheese on whatever order captures your imagination.  Top with sprouts and last layer of bread and cut diagonally.  Pierce with a toothpick and serve!

Love

Check out my amazing engagement photos taken by the incredibly talented and extremely fun Bobbi + Mike! I must say, I breathed a huge sigh of relief after I saw the photos, my irrational fear of looking like a total idiot with a huge cheesy smile (think 8th grade yearbook picture) was completely put to rest!

Check out Bobbi + Mike's full blog post of our session here!

How My iPhone Sees My Life

Cookie Goodness

Desk Friends

Weekend Brunch

It's Spring?

The Weekend

Flowers, cakes and a guest list oh my! This weekend lots of wedding planning happened, Ka Pow! Flower consultations, cake searching (yum!) and working on the guest list filled my weekend. Needless to say, quite a few items were knocked off the list. Which feels very, very good...for all you engaged and married ladies out there, I think you know the feeling!

Below are a few of my inspirations for my flowers and a cake... 

Photo Via Style Me Pretty

I'm Back!

I'm back! Absence makes the heart grow fonder right? Check out my swanky new blog thanks to the incredibly creative mind of Kelly over at Fabulous K!  

So what's happened while I have been gone? Well what hasn't happened should be question. New job, vacation, the holidays, becoming an Aunt, oh and no biggie, I got engaged!!!! 

                                  

Yup, I am now in the thick of wedding planning (And trying to get my butt in shape and retain my sanity)! Get ready; you’re going to get an eyeful of wedding awesomeness here in the upcoming weeks and months. 

Welcome back!