all hallow's eve

Wishing you all a happy and safe Halloween.  I hope it's full of treats, spooks and many laughs with friends and family.  On my first wedding-free weekend since Labor Day, I plan on spending lots of time with my love, eating my candy quota for the year and getting into character for a fun costume party!  Enjoy your weekend...and Happy Halloween!   

scones, check

Cross another one off the list.  After our apple picking trip, I have found myself with more apples than I know what to do with.  So today I made apple and cheddar scones.  I got the recipe HERE and I just ate one fresh out of the oven.  Yum!  It was a bit more like a biscuit than a scone, but I think that's because I didn't bake it long enough.  I was worried about them burning so I took them out early and as a result it's kind of biscuit like...which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I mean, who doesn't love biscuits?!  Next time I will add more cheese, since I didn't really get that sharp bite of cheddar I was expecting.  But for now, I can cross scones off my list.  And I'm not afraid to make them again, since they were pretty easy.  I think you should try it.  Have some friends over for tea and homemade scones.  What a lovely afternoon that would be!  Many incredible afternoons with some of the most meaningful woman in my life have happened over tea and scones.  So GO and enjoy!

Wedding Wednesday - feeling Fall

I am clearly in a Fall mood.  Going apple picking, carving pumpkins, putting together my Halloween costume...all of these things have given me Fall fever pretty bad.  I promise to blog about the soiree from last night, but today I just want to share these pictures.  Because they're inspiring me right now and they're feeding the Fall frenzy in my brain.  All of these pictures are from the insanely talented Aaron Shintaku, who must be feeling the Fall right now too!  I hope to work with him one day, because I adore his pictures.  I think you will also...  

I'm crazy for those cowboy boot wearing Bridesmaids!  

soiree

Headed to The London Hotel tonight for a Bridal Event and I simply cannot wait.  Food, drinks, fashion, and tons of wedding eye candy...what could be better?  I'm sure I'll be coming home inspired with lots of fresh ideas.  

Now I just need to decide what to wear to the soiree.  

apple picking

Yesterday was one of those days.  You know the kind.  The kind that make you realize just how lucky you are.  We drove about an hour and a half outside of the city and went apple picking.  The air was cool, crisp and clean.  It was a perfect Fall day.  Apples, cider, pumpkins and a country store full of homemade goods.  I came home with a bag full of delicious apples and can't wait to get to cooking with them.  What makes your perfect Fall day?  

risotto, check

I did it!  I've always wanted to make risotto so I put it on my "off season" to-do list.  Last night I made roasted butternut squash risotto and all I can say is YUM!  

For some reason I was intimidated to make this and I absolutely should not have been!  It was easy.  And it's more of a method than a recipe, so now I feel like I can make it again and again and just play with the ingredients.  I'm excited.  Maybe one night a week will be risotto night at our house.  Especially while the weather is cold and gloomy, because it's perfect for that kind of evening.  

I used THIS recipe as inspiration but I made changes.  I didn't use pancetta or saffron and I added some sage to mine.  I also left half of the squash cubed and pureed the other half with a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of ginger.  

DO it.  Make risotto.  And if you're like me you'll be trying to justify having risotto for breakfast the next morning.  

Have fun!  

Wedding Wednesday - grand exit wardrobe

I adore a grand exit.  The party is over yet the newlyweds life together is just beginning.  So what's better than to send them off with fanfare and showers of love?  I also think it's best for a Bride and Groom to leave their reception when it is at it's peak.  There's nothing more sad than a Bride who sticks around to see her dream reception and vision being broken down by her team of vendors.  Trust me, it's much better to leave before you see the first chair being stacked.  All of these reasons are why a grand exit is a huge YES in my book.  But what to wear for your grand exit, now that's where the fun comes in.  

Ever since I was little and saw this moment....

I thought this is what my grand exit would be like.  Me changing into a pale pink suit, having my mom send me off with her best words of wisdom and a corsage.    

Or calling my Dad from the airport to say thank you, like this Bride did...

But in today's modern world this rarely happens.  There's often a morning after brunch or a gift opening party the following day.  Long gone are the days when the Bride changed for the grand exit because she and her new husband were headed straight to the airport to board a plane for their honeymoon.    

But what if we brought this back?  Or at least the feeling of it.  You can achieve this by changing your outfit just before your grand exit.  Change into something classic, ditch your bustle and your bouquet for a sheath and a clutch.  It has a very Jackie O feeling to it, which I adore!  

Just like this Bride did.  In my opinion, this is just perfection.  

photo by: Michael Bennett Kress via THIS 

Here are a few dress options that I think will wow your guests as you grand exit into your new life.  

For the modern Bride:

 Lela Rose 

For the traditional Bride: 

 Eliza J 

For the flirty Bride: 

BCBG 

For the vintage Bride: 

Anthropologie

For the beach Bride: 

 J Crew

For the classic Bride: (and my personal favorite) 

Stella McCartney

See?  There's a getaway dress out there for every kind of Bride.  I love this wardrobe change and hope that it's on its way back.  It doesn't have to be a blush and bashful suit like Shelby's was...but we can take a note from that classic, southern beauty!  

print love

I am seriously in love with this print.  I think it needs to be in our home partly because it's so sweet and partly because the song we danced our first dance to is called "You and Me" so how perfect is this?!  

It's reminiscent of carving your names into a tree or in freshly poured cement.

No surprise that this awesome print is by the same people who created like the most loved print ever...

Which I just found out they have in notecard form.  Um, yes please!  

All images and all products are available HERE.  

my off-season

Lately, I've been kind of bumming.  Wedding season is pretty much over for me and I'm feeling like I've got nothing to do.  I don't like that feeling.  I had a change of attitude over the weekend and rather than feeling blue about it, I decided I'd take this opportunity to take advantage of the free time and cook some of the things that I've never made and have always wanted to.  

Being in the kitchen makes me so happy, so why not spend some of this wonderful free time in there cooking up a storm?  So, while weddings are at a lull and everyone is busy prepping for the Holidays, I'll keep busy by making these dishes that have been on my to-do list for years!  

• beef bourguignon (Julia Child's, of course!)  
• risotto 
• scones 
• gnocchi 
• bread pudding
• sweet potato pie
• and this ruffle cake ...

I'm not turning this into a food blog or anything, just sharing my exciting new change of attitude and what I'll be up to during the "off season".  I'm pretty excited!  And non kitchen related, I've never seen any of The Godfather movies....so I'll be adding that to the to-do list.  

i'm a bridesmaid

Yesterday I went shopping with my best friend who is getting married next year.  I'm a bridesmaid in the wedding and I'm very excited to be!  I have only been a bridesmaid a few times and I just love it.  I guess this is no surprise since I love weddings so much, but being a bridesmaid is just extra special to me.  I also think it's really fun to be on the other side of a wedding for a little while.  Rather than being the planner/coordinator making sure everything is running smoothly...I get to be the fun, cocktail drinking, dance floor savvy best friend!  I can't wait!  

We went to Jenny Yoo and found some BEAUTIFUL dresses.  So well made, so fun and flirty, and just so pretty.  Here's a sneak peek at what we found and loved.  We'll see if she ends up picking these because we're still on the hunt, but I had to share because they're just too cute!  

These pictures are from the Jenny Yoo lookbook:

I love.  I think they're sweet and flirty and fun and girly.  I'll keep you updated on the search and what she ends up picking.  And if I decide to wear a flower the size of my head.  (hint: not going to happen)

BFO

A while ago I got this sunny yellow pot and I still love to cook in it.  One of my most favorite things to make is Baked French Onion soup.  It really is so yummy.  I use Tyler Florence's recipe and I follow it pretty much exactly because I love it.  The only thing is that I feel his timing is a bit off.  It always takes me much longer to cook off the wine than he says.  

While I pretty much follow the recipe exactly, I do have a few tips that I've adopted since I tend to make it so much.  

- Tear the baguette into small pieces.  Rather than slicing the baguette, I like to cut (or tear) the baguette into pieces because I hate trying to cut the bread with my spoon after it's all smothered in cheeeese.  

- Toast the baguette pieces.  Before placing the bread into the soup and into the oven, if you toast the pieces it prevents them from becoming soggy.  

- Use a lot of cheese.  I mean, duh.  Cheese makes everything better.  The recipe calls for Gryuere, which is incredible and so tasty but also rather expensive.  You can use Swiss cheese if you are looking to cook on a dime.  

I hope you make this soon, because I think you'll love it!  Enjoy!  

Wedding Wednesday - Mary and Howard

Mary and Howard are the kind of people that make you want to sit for hours around their kitchen table and talk about life, love and gardening.  They are deeply in love and kid with each other like they are twelve.  But they're not.  They're in their mid-seventies.  And last weekend, I had the pleasure of being their wedding coordinator.  

There is something so special about these two.  The way they look at each other, the way they giggle with one another, it made my heart sing.  And it made me a little weepy thinking about love after love.  You know what I mean?  These two lost the loves of their lives...and then found love again.  I think that's remarkable.  And very special.  

Their wedding was different than most weddings I do.  Mary didn't care about design the way most Brides do.  I'm pretty sure she has never even heard of Style Me Pretty (I know, it's hard for me to believe too!).  She didn't do anything because it was trendy or because she had a desire to get her wedding published.  She didn't want to spend a lot of money on flowers or decor, she just wanted to walk down the aisle and marry Howard.  So, while the decor was lacking the love was not.  I feel blessed to have been a part of this wedding and I hope to keep in touch with these two love birds.  I also hope that when I'm 75, I can cut a rug like Miss Mary can!  

  

Wedding Wednesday - save the date

Most of you know that I married my high school sweetheart which we tried to incorporate into our wedding day when we could.  For example, our table numbers were named after years that we've dated with a picture from that year.  The best were the prom pictures from 1999...those are special.  

I've been helping a friend search the internet for save-the-date ideas and when I came across this I nearly cried.  I thought it was so precious and I immediately wished that I had used this for our save the dates.  

from wedding paper divas

Isn't it too adorable for words?  Especially if you are marring your childhood sweetheart.  

Don't be afraid to make your save-the-dates fun and whimsical.  They don't have to match the wedding invitation or the feel of the wedding, that's what the invitation suite is for.  Use your imagination and creativity and make it FUN and representative of the two of you.  

stir my heart

This video hit the blog world a few weeks ago so if you've already seen it...then just enjoy it again. If you haven't seen it yet...stop what you're doing right now and watch. Maybe grab a tissue or two.  Watch and listen as real life and real love couple, Danny and Annie share their love story from first date to final days.  

True love is remarkable, isn't it?

(This story is animated by StoryCorps...aka magical storytellers, if you ask me!)

punkin

Seriously, GO to Trader Joe's and pick up these little treats as soon as you can.  The cream cheese spread might change your life and a pumpkin waffle is the perfect way to start a lazy Sunday morning.  They are both insanely delicious and will make you feel like fall has most certainly arrived!  

It's 60 degrees and drizzling here today.  It's wonderful.  I can't wait to hurry up and finish my work so I can cuddle up on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea...my ideal way to spend a rainy afternoon.