Food to Love : Summer recipes from my favorite blogs!

Summer is my favorite time to try new recipes. There is just a never ending supply of fresh veggies and fruits  at the market and at a good price, so it is a good time to pick up something that maybe you have never had before and find a recipe that uses it! I have a handful of favorite food blogs that I constantly check in on to be inspired. 

Sprouted Kitchen has been one of my favorite food blogs for quite some time, her recipes are a bit involved so maybe when you are feeling super confident with your skills pull up her site and recreate one of her incredible dishes!

Spoon Fork Bacon has practical recipes for busy people AND there is not anything on this site that my husband would turn his nose up to. Not that he is picky, he just loves... a hearty meal. So making just a salad for din would not fly in our house :)

Roost is great for those of you with specific diets because she cooks for her husband who has Crohn's disease and the ingredients are a little different, but healthier, and who would not want that? Plus, the photography on this site is incredible, it is worth it to visit just to look through her beautiful images!

Smitten Kitchen is my 'go to' spot for recipes. It even has an Ingredient Index where you can look up what recipes include a specific ingredient. Lately, husband and I have been loving brussels sprouts, so I can look up all the recipes she has that include that ingredient... how convenient is that?

Hope you are feeling inspired to cook! xo.

Shower for the babe.

These past nine(ish) months have been a whirl wind! We have purchased our first house, moved, traveled all over for weddings and fun, all while growing a little being who now should be coming any day! Our family and friends have been so helpful in preparing for our little guy and I just know we would not be nearly as prepared without them. They have showered us in 3 different states with both gifts and wisdom for raising a babe and we could not be more thankful or feel more blessed by them. Seriously, it is totally overwhelming.

Below are photos from our couples shower in Colorado complete with yummy BBQ, homemade sweets, and a 'make your own onesie' station (they turned out pretty funny!).  So fun!

Below is the entire Crandall fam, I feel so lucky to have married in :)

xo.

Insta-love.

Okay, I am late in the game, I know.

But, I just joined Instagram the other day and am hooked! I used to give husband the hardest time about constantly checking his phone for the latest feed of photos, but it really is so fun. You don't have to think of anything clever to say, just take a photo, that's it. Truly I like following fellow photographers because it is fun to see what they take photos of when they are not working. Stone is the best, really, my unbiased opinion! He just sees things with a different eye than most people and I feel like most of his iPhone photos could be printed and hung on a wall :) 

Are you using Instagram? I cannot promise that my photos are going to be that incredible, but I will try and post daily, so if you want to follow my feed you can @shelcrandall.

See you there! xo.

5 things for the hospital...

We have less than three weeks to go and I still have not packed my hospital bag! Whoops. This is part because I have not grasped the fact that he really, truly is going to make his appearance any day now and also part because I don't really know what to pack. I know I won't be there that long, but any time I stay somewhere foreign I want to have my creature comforts with me, is that lame? Probably. Oh well. Either way I have the standard things down... pillow, robe, slippers, pj's, going home outfit, and all of the special ointments and pads needed to get me through those first 48 hours! Ha. 

But, I have a few thoughts of some things to pack that just may make the stay a bit more comfy, or at least keep my spirits up while in labor...

First thing is first, if I don't make it to the nail salon (do people still say 'salon'?) before he gets here then I need to be equipped with a neutral color that will last me a while, because we all know after the babe comes my nails become last on the priority list! Next, I am eyeing this cardigan to throw over my nursing tanks AND it is on sale! Of course I am going to bring along a couple of my favorite movies just in case this labor takes a while... how fitting is Father of the Bride II? It is the best. Also, I hear hospitals can sometimes be a bit chilly, what better thing to keep my toes warm than these Happy Socks! Last, I know the hospital gives you a water bottle, but I worked at a hospital for a summer in high school as a candy striper and now the hospital bottles just remind me of being sick so I will probably pack one of my own, hopefully a swanky one like these from Lifefactory!

Other than that, do you have any suggestions? My homework tomorrow is to get this all together!

xo.

It has been a while...

I am still here. I feel bad that I have not been around lately, our lives have just been chaos... good chaos, but chaos nonetheless.

I guess, especially lately, it has become very real that our little family of 2 will be no longer soon. Don't get me wrong, we are absolutely thrilled to meet our little guy. But, I already feel selfish of my husband's time... does that seem crazy? Like I just want to soak up these last few moments of peace with Stone. I use the word 'peace' loosely, as we have traveled to Colorado, Mexico, and up north in California in these last few weeks shooting weddings. Projects around our new home have almost been another full time job on top of our real jobs. Husband has been pretty incredible though, in the short time we have lived in our home he has changed faucets, lighting, painted all of the kitchen cabinets, hung curtains, created storage by adding shelves in our garage and closets, and so many other things. Truly he has been a hero in getting our house ready for the babe. Oh ya, and the babe, we have been super busy preparing for this little guy to come along. Who knew something so tiny would take so much preparation. Along with our childbirth classes, which were great but perhaps scared me more than prepared me (I also am a secret hypochondriac, so if you tell me something bad could happen during labor I am convinced that it will happen to me), we have made tons of trips to BuyBuyBaby to stock up on the essentials, and have been reading up a storm so we are prepared to get this guy sleeping and eating on a schedule (fingers crossed). I need my sleep, lots of sleep. 

So, as you can see blogging has been put on the back burner, but now that things have settled I am excited to be back at it, especially before the arrival of our little one (3 weeks and counting until his due date)! I cannot wait to share with you all when he arrives. These days my only prayer is that he comes to us healthy and happy. I now understand more than ever how easily worry can consume a parent... parent, ahhh, it still does not feel totally real that we are going to have a child! I don't know that it will totally sink in until the day he is born, and maybe not even then.

Oofta, sorry for the droning on and on. See you tomorrow! xo.