interviewed

The fabulous Caitlin of Style Files interviewed me this week!

It was a lot of fun, and I feel honored to be featured on her blog.

Despite being one of my homegirls, her blog is one of my favorites!

Check it out here.

farmer's market

We spent the morning at the local farmer's market.

I had been going to one on Thursday's, but the last two quarter's I have had class on Thrusday.

This was our first time going to the closest Friday market, and it is the best!

It was way bigger, and the produce was gorgeous!

My house smells like strawberries and oranges as I blog.

There is something about buying your produce from local farmers, it really does taste better.

Our favorite for sure was the cherry heirloom tomatoes!

Presley especially could not get enough.

me oh my!

this necklace is so up my alley.

and with that price tag??

you'll know where to find me tomorrow...

(I maybe want every color?)

touches of black

I spent a lot of this weekend with a can of high gloss black paint.

(Martha Stewart Silhouette)

I started out with finally painting our powder bath.

I kept holding out for wallpaper, but I might as well paint the walls until that day comes.

Above is a sneak peek of our now black bath, with my DIY chandelier and vintage mirror.

And below is a before and after of our patio dining chairs.

These were passed down to me years ago from my mom,

I am loving them in a glossy black!

I can't wait to finish both spaces.

before

after

viva terra

I got the mail today, it had been a while, and sat down to look through some of the catalogs I normally just throw in the recycling bin.

I couldn't believe how many pages of the Viva Terra catalog I was tagging!

There are definitely some great finds!

Here are a few of my favorites:

the bed, not the bedding (!)

I love the idea of this chalkboard globe! 

 

sprinkles on top

my friend julie, is so creative.

and not to mention a beautiful stay at home mama. 

 I am always blown away by her craftsmanship.

You must check out her etsy shop!

I love her darling bows and baby gifts.

happy shopping!

waiting for details

I wasn't able to take my nice camera up to get good shots of the wedding.

(dan had to cancel his flight the night before! boo.)

so there was no way I could add on another thing to travel with.

Here is our dresses and beautiful bouquets.

and presley as a perfect little flower girl.

love the colors.

I can't wait for Jonathan Canlas to post shots of the wedding.

Lisa looked absolutely stunning. seriously.

and the reception was beautiful!

get your greens

I am trying to incorporate more greens in our diet.

I have realized I can't get myself to go on a diet, so I am trying to fill myself with a ton of veggies and fruits, in hopes I won't be hungry for all the junk.

wish me/us luck.

Here is one of my favorites, and it is so so easy!

You will need:

1 bunch of asparagus

extra virgin olive oil

feta cheese

raw walnuts

freshly ground salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Place asparagus on cookie sheet and roll in a little drizzle of olive oil.

bake for 6-8 minutes.

Remove and top with feta cheese and chopped walnuts.

Top with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

side note:  presley will munch on these too!  and I also like to add a squeeze of lemon sometimes.

bride to be

this gorgeous bride to be is getting married tomorrow!

we are all here in utah ready to celebrate.  i am honored to be a part of her wedding party.

she is amazing.

and, this is her amazing wedding invitation.

made by my incredibly talented brother in law, Mike Davis.

i am obsessed.

engagement photos by jonathan canlas

i can't wait to report back and share some of the wedding details!

also, i am so jealous of her line up for the big day...

jonathan canlas is the photographer.  he is amazing.

and ryan southwell is the videographer. 

(stop everything and look at their work. i die.)

i am the biggest fans of both of them!  i can not wait to see them in action!

funny girl

I was making the bed on sunday, and heard baby girl giggling in the bathroom.

She is such a little climber these days and found a new favorite spot to play in.

My funny girl.             

don't mind the mess.  it's how we roll.

chandelier number two: dining room

this weekend we were finally able to hang our second chandelier!! (this was a gift from christmas, four months ago!)

I absolutely love this chandelier.  The modern lines and wood structure make me swoon.  Dan was a little worried that it was too plain, but I love that about it.  

Lighting fixtures can make such a huge impact in a space.  Our little home is slowly starting to feel more and more finished ...

up close.

i think i am going to get frosted bulbs, instead of these clear bulbs.

also, i have put both of our fixtures on a dimmer switch - this makes such a big difference, 

and allows you to set different moods with your lighting.

home sweet home.

Hazelnut-Crusted Chicken with Creamy Thyme Sauce

Here is the recipe I promised. My mom got this recipe from a cooking class she took with some girlfriends in Newport Beach. I wish I would have taken a picture of the meal, but trust me that anyone who has my mom's chicken raves! You must try this at home!

Hazelnut Crusted Chicken

2 cups fresh bread crumbs

3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped

1 tsp. fine sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3 eggs lightly whisked

6 (organic) boneless, skinless half chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2"

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup grapeseed oil

On a baking sheet, combine bread crumbs and nuts. In a bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper, dredge the chicken, patting off excess flour. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then coat well with nut mixture. In a large saute pan heat butter and oil. Saute chicken 3-4 minutes on each side and remove to a paper towel lined oven safe platter. Allow to rest 10 minutes and serve with Creamy Thyme Sauce.

Creamy Thyme Sauce

1 cup wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 Tbs. finely chopped shallots

1/2 cup creme fraiche

1 Tbs dijon mustard

1 Tbs finely chopped thyme

1 Tbs finely chopped parsley

fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a small saucepan, combine wine, stock and shallots and reduce to 1/2 cup. Add creme fraiche and mustard; reduce until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper.

**Tips from my Mom: Allow plenty of time for the sauce. It takes at least half an hour for the wine and chicken stock to reduce. This is especially true when you double or triple the recipe. We always do this because everyone LOVES the sauce.

I like to get the reduction out of the way earlier in the day or the night before and then refrigerate until ready to continue.

Enjoy!

our weekend in photos

we went to our friend naomi's fancy nancy party.  

it was so so darling, more pics to come later.

i signed up for my first (and maybe last?) race, a mud run.

it was a lot of fun, and unfortunately i am that out of shape that i am still sore from a 5k.

i said goodbye to my pretty in pink nikes.  it was kinda sad.  i designed these shoes about five years ago for a family vacation to real del mar.  my dad had just designed a pair of his own, and decided we all needed to be "sponsored" by nike for the trip.  we each got our own pair of custom nike id's.  i was the only one that still had them, i don't work out as much as i should, and i miss them already!

the after

it was really muddy.  really.
got my hair did.

this photo was the "inspiration" 

i'm so obsessed with this shot- the hair, the outfit, all of it!

 

we went out that night to celebrate my mother in laws birthday at caio pasta.

it was delish and a great night in honor of julie.

we played and lounged around the house after a busy weekend.

this beauty found her new home.

and presley was playful, and sweet, and snuggly all weekend long once again.  i love that girl.

hope your weekend was just as lovely!

xo!

bad blogger

sorry i've been such a bad blogger!  i have good intentions to blog, but i recently joined a book club and I am so obsessed with this month's book that any free minute i have i am reading.

you must read The Help, i haven't even finished and i am telling all my friends to read it.  

lonny

the fourth issue of lonnymag is now up! 

i get just as excited for lonny as i used to for domino.

i can't wait to crawl in bed with my macbook and drool over every image and read every last word.

back to school

it is back to school for me today.

ho hum.

but really, this is a very good thing.  i have been one lazy mama these past three weeks!

i guess i need to either be extremely busy and get a lot done, or i do nothing at all but play with baby girl?

wish me luck!

photo from flickr

real family

i am so so excited.

i just booked our first family of three photo shoot!

i hired the incredible ashlee raubach to do a lifestyle shoot at our humble condo.

my usual talented photog and sister in law is taking a needed break, so we are branching out and trying some of my other favorites.

orange county and san diego friends you need to jump in and sign up for may 18th and 19th!  she is amazing. 

i have dreams of taking lifestyle photos in our home and surroundings through out the years, and this is our first one.  i can't wait.

now ... what are we going to wear?

lucky me!

Are you reading SimpleLovely?  

I love her blog, 

and I especially love her Friday Favorites series.  

I was so excited a couple Friday's back when she featured Rikshaw Design.  I have loved her stuff since my girl Cait called me last December telling me to stop everything and check out her site because I would be obsessed, 

and she was so right!  

I love their product.  

Boho chic for babes?!?  I am in.  

Well .... lucky for me I entered her gracious giveaway and won!  I have never won a giveaway and I was so excited to win a piece from Rikshaw Design!

This little lovely came to my door last weekend, I love it.  So so darling.

lucky presley!

Easter

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

Ours was packed with activities, it was perfect.

Trader Joe's has the most incredible flowers right now. Week after week they are filling my house with gorgeous spring flowers.

There is nothing better than fresh flowers in your home!

We celebrated Easter nice and early with a visit from the Easter Bunny, about five Easter egg hunts with the same four plastic eggs (love this age!) and a yummy pumpkin pecan waffle breakfast with cranberry butter and syrup. I will share the recipe soon, I die.

We headed to my parent's home in the afternoon to help cook and get ready for our traditional feast.

(you may recognize Presley's "Easter dress" from our Christmas card ... Easter really snuck up on me this year!)

My mom is the. best. host. Seriously, every holiday is always so fun in her home. She makes the most incredible food and always has a beautiful holiday spread.

( And do you die over her new chandelier?? )

She went with a lilac theme, and it was gorgeous! She bought most of her flowers and what nots at Rogers Gardens. I am now also a huge fan of them, they have the best holiday decor!

She even sent us home with our own Easter decoration.

I baked my very favorite coconut cake. My mom had a traditional ham, but lucky for me - I don't do ham - she has been making her hazelnut crusted chicken with creamy thyme sauce too for the past few years. It is insane! And such a great take on Easter dinner. Again, I promise to start sharing some recipes. We enjoyed celebrating with both sides of our family this year!

I love Easter and what it represents to us in our faith. Hope you all had a great weekend too!