Cinnamon Roasted Almonds.

I have been very eager to cook or bake since we moved into our new place! There is just something about not feeling quite home yet until the kitchen has been fully used :) So, today I decided to try out something that would be a great snack for us to have around and a yummy gift to give to friends as a treat that is fitting for the season.

Ingredients:

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cold water

4 cups whole almonds (I only had about 3 cups and the recipe worked great!)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250.

Lightly beat the egg white; add water and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, then sprinkle over the almonds. Toss to coat, and spread evenly on a greased 10x15 pan.

Bake for one hour, stirring occasionally until golden brown.

Allow the almonds to cool, then store in airtight containers.

Enjoy! I know Stone and I have... perhaps a little too much!

Foodspotting!

This app is perfect for those of you who are like me...

Stone and I do not eat out a ton, so when we do eat out we do our research! We read reviews, look at photos of the atmosphere, and pick out what we would probably order from the menu. And then, as you have seen on this blog, we usually are happy with our decision and we like to take photos to share with friends so they know what to expect if they go there.

Well, someone just came up with this app called Foodspotting. You can upload photos and reviews of restaurants you go to, as well as read what other people have said and see their food photos. It is pretty genius. We all know, it is good to see the food before you invest in it. Now, that we are in Encinitas we are so excited about trying out all of the restaurants around town. The thing I am most excited about is the Mexican food! Colorado just did not cut it in that department. We are fortunate enough to have a bunch of 'hole in the wall' type taco places near us, but they all look a little sketch. Stone just downloaded this app, however, and Juanitas (one of the places closest too us, which looks the MOST sketchy of them all) is rated to be one of the best in Southern California! Cannot wait to try it!

Design Inspiration: Modern eclectic.

Have you seen these photos taken at the home of JCrew's creative director Jenna Lyons? I love her playful mix of colors, patterns and style throughout the home. One of my favorite rooms is the nursery, I think that adding color to the ceiling makes the room much more interesting and probably way more fun for the baby laying on its back most of the day :)

Also, that herringbone wood floor in the bathroom is absolutely amazing... definitely dreaming of a home like this one day.

Tuesday tune.

Happy Halloween! For my Tuesday tune today I wanted to do something fun for the upcoming spooky weekend. Here are a couple of my favorite people dancing like crazy to 'Monster Mash'.

You may not find it as funny as I do, but perhaps if you go here and add your own faces you will laugh as hard as I am right now :)

10.10.10

My sister sent me a link to this project called 10 10.

It was a pretty neat idea to have 10 photographers take 10 photos each on 10/10/10. A single day represented in 100 photographs all over the world. Above are some examples of photos taken for the project. I do not look at these photographs and marvel at how unique or amazing they are, however, I do love the thought of seeing what different people around the world are doing on the same day!

I have a few friends in other places across the globe, so perhaps I will put on a project of my own :) I will keep you updated on that one.

Week wrap up.

Well, since I was here last, Stone and I have shot a wedding in Vail, packed up all of our things into a Budget truck (always, always rent from Budget... Uhaul is about twice the amount!), drove 19 hours across the country and settled into our new home here in Encinitas. Thank you for all of the prayers for safe travels. Really, the drive was not too bad apart from not getting to talk to Stone the entire time... I just listened to a book on tape, which made the time fly by fast! I will tell you I had a few freak out moments on our drive up, thinking "what the heck are we doing?", but I attribute that mostly to me being alone on the drive and the hour long stretches of desert along the way.

Since we unloaded our truck here we have been pretty busy. A couple of our friends from Colorado were in town so we spent the day with them, it was good to have a little reminder of home. We also have had a few meals with new and old friends at our small (REALLY small) place. And, we spent the day on Saturday up in Julian picking apples, eating BBQ and experiencing fall in California. Julian is a cute little town that is best known for their apple pies and pretty much everything apple. We made it home with a bag of apples, a bag of avocados (15 for $2! I love it!) , and some orange blossom honey! We feel so blessed already to have made so many new friends and the opportunity to get to live near some of our oldest friends.

Oh, and did I mention along with the fun things we have been up to this week we also have been unpacking like crazy! It has been fun nesting here and we really love our place, we call it our treehouse. It is a small apartment above a family's garage and is a block away from the ocean! We figured we could sacrifice size for location, and I am still glad that we did... we are just down to a couple of boxes and suitcases that do not have a place to go, but other than that this apartment was made for storage, it has amazing cabinets and built-ins. Even though it is much smaller than our old place I feel like I have more than enough room for our stuff. It has also been a little bit of a lesson in simplifying, when you move you realize how much you have that you do not need or use... we really could live on very little! Anyway, you will have to come see our place yourself, you are all welcome!

Photos taken by my husband.

All in all we are excited about this new little adventure and happy to be doing it together. We know there will definitely be times that we miss the people and familiarities of home, but we also know it is important for us as a married couple to step out a bit on our own.

xoxo.

Happy Birthday Scoot!

Today was my father-in-law's (Scoot) birthday! I hope you had a wonderful day, Stone and I are so sad we could not spend the day with you and we miss you guys so much already!

Love you.

Have a tasty weekend.

Stone and I are headed off to Vail this weekend to shoot our last wedding in Colorado for this year. Crazy that we made it through the wedding season already! I will admit, our line-up of 19 weddings did seem really daunting at first, but each one was so fun and unique and we both are incredibly thankful for all of our clients.

This weekend is also another 'last' for us. It is our last weekend living as Colorado residents. On Monday we pack up the moving truck and prepare to head out early the next morning. I am excited for the adventure, but not so much for the 20 hour drive ahead of us. I will try to blog a bit before we leave, but if I don't wish us luck on our journey :)

Happy weekend. xo.

A yummy looking idea for your Fall party.

Cozy reading nooks, I wish I could spend all weekend tucked away in one of these photos.

Oh my... possibly a good stocking stuffer for the men.

Fun and decorative things for your home.

A video on the JCrew men's shop.

I should have thought of that: Weddings

Wedzu, a website devoted to selling all indie and handmade goods for weddings just launched a couple weeks ago... and it definitely has me thinking 'I should have thought of that'. Stone and I were actually just talking about how it would be great for someone to launch an Etsy-type website that has a filter, which allows only quality items to be sold. Well this is not exactly that, but it is a one stop shop for all of your wedding needs! With DIY weddings being 'all the rage' these days I am sure this website will be the go to place for brides.

Love it, love it.

Fall tights.

I love that tights are back in these days and with such fun colors and patterns! Besides the fact that they keep your legs warm throughout the chilly months of winter, they also are an inexpensive way to spice up any old skirt or dress :)

Below are some favorites found here. Don't be afraid to try something a little different, think back to when you were little, you would have loved a pair of mustard yellow tights.. now channel those thoughts and go for it!

Happy Socks Cotton Tights, Kate Spade Graphic Dot Mustard Tights, Forever 21 Classic Textured Tights

The Limited Sheer Diamond Tights, American Apparel Rounded Diamond Fishnet, Express Diamond Texture Full Tights

Forever 21 Classic Sheer Tights, Hansel From Basel My Lost Glasses Tights, Falke Glamour Tights

Free People Mesh Rose Tights, Topshop Floral Wool Tights, Express Lace Print Full Tights

Sneak Peek: Amy & Stephen Engaged!

Check out more of their fun photo shoot here.

Shel's Etsy picks.

Every so often I get an email from my sister-in-law, Kelsey, with links to fun things on Etsy :) I love it when this happens because for me, Etsy is wonderful, but there is a lot of stuff on there to sift through in order to find the good stuff! So she takes out the hard work and finds the things for me. Below are some of her finds along with a few I found lately while navigating through the pages online (I really love this first one, it would be perfect for our new kitchen in Encinitas!).

Enjoy!

Kitchen Conversion Poster from Sweet Fine Day.

Handmade clothing from Magnolija Dress.

Serving trays by Tilly Maison.

Autumn labels and seals by Packagery.

Bubble chandeliers by Jean Pelle.

Eco-friendly flats by Extraseed.

Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

I found this Fall recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Sprouted Kitchen, and cannot wait to try it out... I pretty much crave anything with sweet potatoes or any type of squash when it gets cold outside. On that note have you had the Butternut Squash and Crab bisque at Whole Foods yet? It is the best, if you have not had it go pick some up today, I tried to recreate it last year and failed miserably :)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Dried Chickpeas/Garbanzos ,soaked in water overnight
3 Large Sweet Potatoes, peeled (about 3 lbs)
¾ Cup Finely Chopped Yellow Onion
2 tbsp. Melted Butter
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tbsp. Honey
2 tsp. Fresh Nutmeg
1 tbsp. Fresh Grated Ginger
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 tsp. Salt
1 Lime Zest and Juice
Fresh Ground Pepper
3 tbsp. Fresh Thyme, leaves removed

Oven to 425’

1. In a medium pot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add the soaked beans. Gently boil for about 50 minutes until the beans are cooked through. Drain.
2. In the meantime, prepare the peeled potatoes. Cut off the ends and chop them into one inch cubes. Try to make them equal in size, shapes can vary. Put them in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the lime zest and juice, melted butter, oil, garlic, salt, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Pour the mix over the big bowl of potatoes, stir. Add the drained garbanzos, onions, 2 tbsp. of the fresh thyme and gently fold to cover everything in the spice mixture.
4. Spread the goods evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 425’ in the upper third of the oven for 35-40 minutes, gently stirring halfway through for consistent browning.
5. Let cool a bit before serving, sprinkle fresh pepper, squeeze of lime,taste for salt and sprinkle remaining thyme on top.

Texas cowboys.

I don't necessarily know why, but when I came across these photos here, my jaw dropped. These are stunning portraits of a true cowboy in all his roughness, and I think they are beautiful.

This blog also has tons of lifestyle photography if you are into that sort of thing :)

xo.

Levi's Photo Workshop.

Stone sent me a link to this blog, which recently posted about Levi's newest endeavor. I thought that their Pioneer Music Series was so creative and great marketing for them and this just takes it to the next level. They have opened a photo studio in New York where people can rent cameras or use the space for free. It is a great opportunity for those who want to try out different equipment or just learn about photography to be able to go to a place like this where they are planning to have so many things available for the public. Plus, they need to keep up with all of the new things that JCrew has been doing around the city like this and this.

“…a way for Levi’s to offer a unique experience based around creativity and learning. Levi’s wanted to celebrate the pioneering creative spirit of artists and craftspeople in a way that would also hopefully turn others on to a new craft. As one of the original American work wear brands…Levi’s has a long standing connection to craftspeople and the workshops reflect a 21st century take on American craft.”

Tuesday tunes.

It's a gloomy morning here so I needed some slow, easy listening. Enjoy!

Sneak Peek: Shauna & Paul Engaged!

Go here to see more of this beautiful couple (and when I say beautiful, I mean it, this is one good looking pair!).

Design inspiration: EmersonMade's home

Okay, so if you read my blog regularly you know that I am constantly posting about the gorgeous handmade clothes and decor that come from EmersonMade. Small obsession perhaps.

Well, my sister-in-law just sent over a link that Design Sponge did of her perfect farmhouse in New Hampshire. I figured as much since everything this girl makes is so great!It looks so cozy and inviting. One of my favorite places in the home is the dining area, mainly because I am the hostess type so I love having a great area for friends and family to come and share meals together (and maybe play some board games too).

Here is some of what Emerson had to say about her home:

We purchased the house about 2 years ago when we moved from NYC and we had to completely renovate it - it was in shambles when we got it! We wanted it to feel open, relaxing and inviting. The type of place that immediately puts guests at ease. We have driven all over the Eastern seaboard picking stuff up. [Most of the things in this pictures] are from our excursions. The floor was initially covered in a non-slip paint with sand bits in it. We had them stripped and found this old heart pine.
We built this fireplace with two things in mind, 1. That you could look straight into the fire, and 2. that you could have a place to sit next to the fire if you wanted. We incorporated all the original hardware from the previously non functioning fireplace so it looks like it did 130 year ago. The nautical map, on the mantle, charts the ocean from NYC to Maine - it traces our move from Manhattan to New Hampshire.
We wanted to be able to eat dinner next to the fire. It's open to the kitchen since that is where we spend most of our time. The table and chairs are from our collecting excursions. It sits 10-12 people comfortably. We have those fold up chairs all over the house! if you want to have a party in the grass you can bring them outside! The chairs get around.

Weekend wrap up.

How was your weekend? We have been up in the mountains for the past few days for our friends' Kristin and Skyler's wedding! It really was a great weekend. I love weddings because it is such a good time to catch up with friends and a rare thing to have so many people in one place. I remember on our wedding day someone told me to make sure and take a second at the reception and look around at all of the people that had come to celebrate because having both our families and friends in one spot will doubtfully happen ever again. One of the many special things about weddings.

We were in Vail for a long weekend enjoying the mountains in Fall, which I had never seen before! The trees were so beautiful and it made for a wonderful (and chilly) setting for their wedding. This is Stone's best friend from life, we are so happy for them and excited to be apart of their married lives.

Here are some photos from the weekend, as you can see we all had a good time :)

Design Inspiration: Wire cubbies.

Because we are moving into a place that is just under 600 sq ft, my mind is constantly thinking about ways that we can maximize space and good storage. I saw the photo on the right here and thought it would be perfect how they have it in the kitchen, or even for the bathroom above the toilet, kind of an industrial looking storage. I loved the idea so much that I went on a search for something similar and found it here at CB2. Have you ever looked through this catalog? I guess I always thought it was small furniture for 'dorm' or 'college' living. But, that is not the case, they have some great things at a fraction of what you would pay at their sister store Crate&Barrel.

Anyway, thought I'd pass along the idea, hope you are having a happy Thursday morning!

Carter&Cook Fall wreath.

As soon as we move into our new place I am going to make a wreath for our front door. I guess that is my way of making it feel like home and seeing what was just a random space above a garage as ours. Our friends at Carter&Cook just posted a step-by-step 'how to' on making a Fall wreath and it turned out beautifully.

Check it out here.

Ikea's beautiful and creative new baking book.

I just read about this new baking book by Ikea and thought the photos were styled so perfectly. Food photography is hard and they were spot on! It is a bit of a guessing game to figure out what recipe each photo is depicting so I wrote each one out below the photo. I would love to add this cookbook to my collection... anyone headed to Sweden anytime soon?

Here is what New York Mag had to say about it:

Everyone's favorite homewares purveyor Ikea has just published a collection of baking recipes called Hembakat är Bäst (Homemade Is Best). Sure, knowing how to make Princess Cake is fine and dandy, but the volume is illustrated with some of the most inventive cookbook photography we've ever seen: Styled by Evelina Bratell and photographed by Carl Kleiner, the pristine arrangements of ingredients are so stark and geometric that they verge on the abstract. The good news is that the book is completely free; the bad news is that the only place you can get it is in the kitchen section of Ikea stores — in Sweden.

Mandelmussla, almond shortbread topped with lingonberries.

Vaniljhorn, crescent-shaped shortbread cookies.

Lingonpeparkaka, gingersnap cookies with lingonberries.

Prinsesstårta, or Princess Cake, sponge cake with a green marzipan covering.