The golden girls

I have been waiting for last night for awhile now. Not only was it the Golden Globes but it was also the season two premiere of GIRLS. 

:: side note :: If you haven't watched GIRLS yet, you probably should take a sick day and catch up immediately. Lena Dunham is brilliant {hello writer, director and star at age 26} and so ridiculously spot on in her tales of living and surviving as a 20-something girl.

Okay, back to the Globes. Besides loving the hilarious girl hosting duo AND laughing my face off at Kristen and Will's presentation, fashion is and always will be my favorite part of the award-winning-season. 

There were a lot of classic reds and winter whites out on the red carpet yesterday, but I couldn't help but gasp when I saw these beautiful ladies- Jessica Alba {GORG!} and a close runner-up, Kerry Washington. They both looked absolutely stunning and won over my pick for the golden girl of the night.

Who are your golden girls of the globes? 

oatmeal is my favorite

Yep, you read that right. Oatmeal is my favorite breakfast food. Ever. Recently, I made the easiest and tastiest slow-cooker recipe and, for some reason, I feel like I really need to share it with you all. It's the perfect breakfast for these cold, winter mornings and it takes about 10 minutest the night before.
{I promise}

:: Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal ::

2 apples (cored and peeled)
1 cup steel cut oats 
1.5 C water
1.5 C skim milk
2 TBSP brown sugar (or something to sweeten- agave, maple syrup, etc)
1 TBSP flax seeds
Cinnamon
pinch of salt

Stir everything together in your crockpot and cook on LOW for about 7 hours.

In the morning, add whatever you want! I like to add berries and walnuts and a little bit of milk.

inspired entertaining :: baby shower love

This past fall, I had the pleasure to work on a dear friend's baby shower. She left the gender of the baby a surprise which allowed me to have fun creating a new and playful theme. After a lot of brainstorming, we landed on "mustache or bow, no one knows"and it turned out awesome. The hostesses were ever so helpful and fabulous and together, we were able to create a very special day for a wonderful family. In fact, over the holidays, two awesome blogs picked it up and featured all the details!

:: Check it out for more pics ::

On To Baby via The Wedding Chicks  {and}  Couture Colorado

Cheers to 2013

Happiest New Year everyone. I hope you had a joyous holiday season and a fabulous time ringing in the new year.

Over the last couple of months, I got overwhelmed. Life got busy and yes, the holidays snuck up surprised us, as they always do. I needed some time. I've been doing a lot {imagine me really exaggerating "a lot"} of thinking...Reflecting over the last year and trying to set my goals for this year. As excited as I am about a new year and beginnings, I also get very anxious. {is it just me?} Like most of us out there, I put a lot of pressure on myself. More than I'd ever give off. Having your own business is hard. It's amazing and liberating but oh-so hard. I'm pretty sure I put more pressure on myself now than any boss ever did. No one wants to fail so {as your own boss} you are constantly getting down on yourself
...I could have worked harder. I should have made more money... 
You can easily get lost in these thoughts while your heart starts pounding, your hands start sweating and you shoot up out of bed in total panic. {totally hypothetical situation, of course}
Unfortunately, success doesn't happen overnight. No matter the hours, money, tears and late nights, it still takes time. So stop for a minute. take a breath. regroup. and focus. Reflect on the success you have and look at your PROGRESS. Try, for one minute, to focus on the positive. Remind yourself where you started and look at how far you've come. It's a new year with new goals and new chances. So take them and keep on keeping on :)

Okay, so now that I've given you a pep talk {okay- so it was really for me. I just needed to say it out loud}, I wanted to share this inspiration I found over on the atelier.

I hope you've found your inspiration for the new year. I'd love to hear from you, so give me a shout out and tell me about your goals, promises or just to say hi. Cheers!

:: happy, happy ::

rock the vote

The day has finally come. While we are all {admittedly} tired of the political rants taking up real estate on our social media pages and airtime on TV, we must remember that it's up to us to make the decision and rock the vote. 

via Lisa Congdon

{ Happy election day }

wedding wednesday :: halloween inspired

okay, okay. I know there aren't many people out there that want a halloween themed wedding BUT there is something about this time of year that could make it really fun.

Let's go to the main man of Halloween: Beetlejuice.

Okay, yes. This is a tad bit scary crazy but look at all the inspiration.  You see ugly... I see an awesome color palette {hello, black and white stripes} and a rockin' smokey eye.

Let's call it "black-tie with a twist", shall we?

Yes, I know it's silly but it just goes to show you that there's inspiration everywhere. So if you love halloween and you love fall why not have a wedding weekend inspired by it? Take out the corny cliches and have some fun :)

recipe :: pumpkin muffins

By now, you should all know my love for pumpkin-everything. It's sort of a problem but I problem that I'm choosing to ignore.

With my love of pumpkin flavors comes my obsession for pumpkin breads/muffins. I literally have to talk myself out of the 500+ calorie banana bread every time I'm in line at a coffee shop. But alas! I have found a yummy recipe that will help feed my craving... I like to call it the "healthy pumpkin muffin".

:: what you need ::

1.5 cups almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ripe banana

3 eggs

3 tbsp maple syrup 

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 ground coconut

pinch of salt

now... here's where you can add in whatever else you desire. I had originally planned on adding chopped walnuts to the mix but apparently I dreamed that I had them in the pantry. Next best thing? dark chocolate chunks. It would obviously be healthier without the chocolate but come on people... live a little. 

:: how to bake it ::

Pre-heat the over to 350.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and mix the rest of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Once both are mixed, toss the dry ingredients in with the rest and whisk it up! Lastly, fold in your chopped nuts or, in my case, chocolate chunks. 

Spoon batter into a greased muffin pan (filling about 3/4 of the way) and bake for 20 mins!

Enjoy! (and prepare yourself...you may eat two or more in one sitting. sorry!)

a reminder for your monday

We've all seen the quote... probably more than once. But today, I needed to read and re-read it. What a great reminder that through struggles and hardships (hello new small business owner), following your dream will indeed lead to a happy and fulfilling life.

{ have a wonderful week }

friday happy hour

Are you getting sick of me talking about fall yet? Can you tell I'm just a wee bit excited? Well, I hope you can bear* with me for another fall-inspired post because today it's all about the cocktails!

This drink is so easy and not to mention TASTY! A little advice: mix the apple and cranberry juice with the vodka first. Then, blend it up a bit {electric blender works best} to give it a little froth. Top with ginger ale and pour it into a glass full of ice.

BOTTOMS UP, FRIENDS!

** yes, it's "bear" not "bare"... just in case you were wondering. 

black. white. and gold.

Let's go out on a ledge edge here and take things up a notch.

jcrew | baublebar | dsw

The temperatures are slowly dropping but don't cover up with those big, chunky sweater just yet.
Let's have a little fun...

1. transition your summer-like pieces (a cotton, peplum top perhaps?) into your new fall favorites
2. mix and match. prints and patterns CAN go together.
3. always add a little sparkle.

How do you incorporate your pieces into a-year-round-season-favorite?

wedding wednesday :: autumn inspiration

Pumpkin Patches. Chunky Sweaters. Boots. Apple Cider. Fall is officially here. My {absolute} favorite time of the year. And, it just so happens that I also love weddings. {gasp!} So let's combine the two, shall we?

In my opinion, fall is the perfect time to say I do. The weather is cooling off. (yes, please. I'd rather not sweat off my makeup and make pit stains in my dress) The leaves are changing. (hello gorgeous photos!) and let's face it, pumpkin flavored everything is available! (while this may not be important to everyone, it is to me. I'm pumpkin obsessed. Yep, we had pumpkin whoopie pies on our big day!)

So, if you love fall, maybe an autumn wedding is the perfect fit for you.

:: here's some inspiration to get you started ::

You might think that all fall wedding have to have dark colors (plum purple, browns, etc). But try this- stick with the pale hues: peachy orange, cream, soft yellow and then, add in a little punch with pops of rustic green.

Would you do a fall wedding? 

recipe :: a pad thai twist

Hi friends! I hope you had an awesome weekend. Like always, it went by too fast. {sigh} Anyway, I wanted to share a quick and easy meal that I made on Monday night. If you're like me, you need quick and easy AND something super healthy after coming off a weekend of the-not-really-caring-attitude :)

So, here it is :: Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai (ish)

{recipe}

1 spaghetti squash (an awesome alternative to pasta or rice)
2 cups of shelled edamame (a frozen bag is easiest)
1 egg, scrambled 
3-4 green onions, chopped
handful of peanuts, chopped
2-3 Tbsp of sesame seed, toasted

dressing:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp white rice vinegar
a pinch of garlic powder and ginger

directions:

Bare with me. I kinda made this up along the way but here's how I made it...
First, cook the squash. Either in the oven (usually takes about 45 mins) OR in the microwave (which takes about 15 mins. Super easy.) Here's a link for step-by-step directions if you need it. While the squash is cooking, boil the edamame (per directions) and cook the egg. Once the squash is done, cut it open, seed it and start pulling out the squash. I recommend grabbing a fork and scraping it out so that it makes nice spaghetti strands. Place all of the squash in a bowl and pour the dressing on top. Next, fold in the green onion, edamame and egg. Sprinkle some peanuts on top for a little garnish and eat away! 

recipe :: no bake lasagna

A couple of weeks ago, during the final days of summer, we harvested a few summer squash and a handful of tomatoes from our backyard garden. Our garden didn't do so great this year (hello drought of 2012) but I really wanted to make something yummy with our "crop"... so I searched for a new recipe to try.

After doing a quick review of my favorite cooking blogs, I stumbled across this recipe from thefauxmartha. It was exactly what I was looking for... light. filling. delicious.

one change I made: I used rice, no bake lasagna noodles to make this recipe gluten free. they taste very similar to regular noodles but they do take slightly longer on the stovetop. 

Now that it's officially fall, I'm gearing up for hearty meals and warm soups.
{now, if only the weather would cooperate with my cravings...}

Happy Eating!

wedding wednesday :: our details

The mister and I are still coming off the high of celebrating our one year anniversary. We took a little getaway weekend escape together and then spent yesterday (the actual anniversary) hanging out, going through every photo and reading our anniversary notes that we had guests fill out at our wedding. (I highly recommend doing something like that. It was SO much fun reading all of the well wishes from our family and friends)

So...in keeping up with our wedding and bringing back wedding wednesday, I thought I'd share some of the details from our big day.

there are far too many memories to share but hopefully you enjoyed getting a peek into our most favorite and special day.

{happy day to you}

holy moly

holy moly, me oh my, you're the apple of my eye...

As some of you may know, that amazing, little song, Home, was the theme of our wedding {side note- It's also where the paper + styling studio name came from} that was exactly one year ago today. I'm still not quite sure how a year has come and gone but boy has it been wonderful. So today, I want to wish a happy first anniversary to the love of my life, best friend and partner in crime. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life having this much fun with you...

dancing down the aisle to "She Said Yes" by mumford and sons

Stay tuned tomorrow as I highlight some of my favorite wedding details from our big day for Wedding Wednesday!

oh, hello there. i'm still here, i promise.

capri, italy

Hi friends. It's been awhile. The last time I wrote, I was about to galavant off to Europe with the husband. Not to fret- I was only gone two weeks. So, even though the blog makes it seem like ran away and decided to stay in Italy {see pic above- how could you not want to live there?}, life just got the best of me upon my return and I needed to focus my attention elsewhere. But, I'm back... Finishing up the last of my summer wedding season and trying to get back on pace. Let's catch up soon...

be back soon

{and we're off...}

capri italy

I will be taking a short little break from the blog during our travels, but I will be back in action with plenty of pictures and stories from the trip. In the meantime, stay classy, healthy and beautiful :)

wedding wednesday :: go for the gold

With olympic buzz still going strong, I just I had to round up my favorite gold wedding pieces. From the stunning gown (seriously, I'm drooling over it) to the to-pretty-to-eat cake, this wedding inspiration screams glam.

:: go big or go home ::

trend watch :: the bun

Over the past 9 months, I've been seeing a lot of variations on the basic bun. From braids, twists and knots, people are getting very creative out there. I'm not sure if it's the nostalalgia of ballet classes from years ago or what... but one thing's for sure, the bun is back- bigger and higher than ever.

Now, you might be thinking, how in the heck do those girls get their buns so perfect? Well, it's easy and you can do it too, I promise! Some of you may have heard of "the sock bun approach".{Cutting the end off a sock and tucking your pony tail into it as you roll it down to your head.} Easy enough, right? Well,  it just got easier!! Check out the latest from the Wedding Chicks.

via Wedding Chicks

It comes with a step-by-step illustration, a "sock" and cute hair ties to boot!

:: style away ::

the american

It's official. I'm addicted to the olympics. I have been up way past my bed time every night this week but I just can't turn away from the TV. 

So here I am... tired and obsessed but oh-so-happy that it's Friday. Of course, my Friday night entails watching the olympics but let's make it a little more fun than a regular "school night", shall we?

:: introducing, the american ::

via 

... Because who doesn't love boozy lemonade?

{in a perfect world, I would have made it, tried it and photographed it. But since I didn't have time to experiment, a big thank you to ol' betty for this delicious sounding recipe. }