Royal Wedding Detox

Okay I'm forcing myself to take a mini-break from 24/7 Royal Wedding news. I'm seriously an addict who needs help. Thank God the wedding is tonight/tomorrow, because I don't think Jeremy or my brain can take much more of this. For a little girl who grew up loving **princess** stories and still believes in fairy tales...the Royal Wedding is a dream come true, living proof that Cinderella fantasies can come true in the real world. I will be glued to my television tonight and I hope you will too!

Enough about that. Keeping with the UK theme I'd like to make a Portland recommendation. If you haven't been to Kell's Irish Pub in Old Town, you need to go, right now. Live music, great atmosphere, delicious Irish pub fare, and a cigar bar. You might be thinking, why would a girl care about a cigar bar? But let me tell you....you need to try it! Lauren, Tyler, Jeremy and I went a couple weeks back. It ended up being one of the best nights out I've had in months. It was casual and fun, but different than a typical night out.

See? Can't you tell how much fun we are having? PS That awesome nail polish is Essie's Merino Cool.

Wish I could blame that fuzzy picture on the smoke...really that's just what happens when you use your camera phone as a real camera. Sorry Lauren!

Brittany's Hipsterness

Happy Belated Easter!

This past weekend Jeremy, Buoy and I hit the road and drove the 250 miles up to Bellingham, WA. It's a bit of a drive, but well worth it to see my family and spend the holiday together.

The love of my life. Shhh. Don't tell Jeremy!

Saturday turned out to be the most beautiful, sunny day. Brittany, my parents, and the two pups (Buoy and Beau) spent the day at the Farmers' Market in Downtown Bellingham and then took a beautiful hike up to Fragrance Lake. Brittany helped me document the trip by using her super-cool-slightly-hipster iPhone App. I can't remember what's it called but "Hipster" is definitely in the title. (I remember that much). But look at the awesome photos she was able to take!

There was an unlimited supply of adorable children to playing with bubbles.

The Farmers' Market had an amazing selection of locally grown produce. (So very Northwest of you Bellingham!)

I couldn't resist these Hazelnut Chocolate Bavarian Pretzel Sticks. They were basically a fresh pretzel stuffed with Nutella. Delicious.

After the Farmers' Market we took the hike that leads up to the very serene and lovely Fragrance Lake. Buoy is quite the swimmer and we were all hoping he could teach puppy Beau to love the water. Instead Beau just waited for Buoy to bring back the stick.

Beau standing ready for Buoy's return.

"Yay Buoy! Thanks for doing all the scary swimming!" -Beau

Happy Dogs, Happy Brittany.

Until next time Bellingham!

A How To Guide to Festival Season (Country Version)

It's here. F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been waiting for this for a very long time. Maybe it was all the rain and my desperate need for sunshine and summertime. Maybe it was the months of talking about it and anxiously counting down. But whatever it was now it's almost here...STAGECOACH. The glorious, weekend-long, country music festival in the desert that I wouldn't miss for all the world.

The best part? Stagecoach is just the beginning. It kicks off summer and summer in my world means going to every single country concert I can possibly squeeze in. For better or worse...here in Oregon we only have a few precious months of summer (read: good weather) and everything must be crammed in. That means concerts on weeknights, every weekend, and sometimes two in one weekend. Heaven.

As summer progresses I'm sure I'll be including quite a few concert entries, but for now I'd like to focus on Stagecoach. The forecast for Palm Springs next weekend is hovering around 93 degrees and sunny. This means I need to be prepared for 12 hours in the sun, two days in a row. Now you might be wondering, how is that pasty Oregonian going to survive? Well my friend, let me start by saying I've been prepping for this moment for the past few weeks. That means unavoidably I had to take a few trips to the tanning salon.

That was only the first step on my check list:

Stagecoach Must Do List
Buy tickets - Check.
Hotel reservation - Check.
Book flights - Check.
Tan - Check.
Secure Festival Wardrobe - Check!!

Of course, we all know the staples of the country concert wardrobe...cowboy boots and hat. Being a die hard country fan, these are already in my closet, along with my Jack Daniels Whiskey Makes Me Frisky Dress (see photo below for evidence). However, the high temps and desert setting for this particular concert calls for some additional thought and effort (shopping!).

Here are the musts for the Stagecoach wardrobe:

Denim Shorts
Tank Tops
Bikini
Funky Accessories
SUNGLASSES

Pretty easy right? After a trip to Nordstrom earlier this week I'm completely set for next weekend. If anyone else is headed to Stagecoach (or any other country concert) Nordy's has some great Native American/Western inspired accessories right now. Free People is also a great brand for all your festival-clothing-needs.

I promise after the festival I'll be sure to upload some photos and highlights from the weekend. But for now, I'll leave you with this photo from last year's Stagecoach Festival! Hope to see you all there!!

Must Haves and Fashion Staples

Every morning each of us wake up and face that daily dilemma...what to wear. I don't know about all of you, but I stand in front of my closet going over every piece of clothing I own, hoping I'll have some fashion breakthrough. A never-worn-before combo or maybe I'll get lucky and that something new I've been lusting over will just magically appear. A girl can dream right? Most days I find myself piecing together some variation of my go-to work uniform: pencil skirt, blouse, and cardigan. Even with a dozen interchangeable pieces to this uniform it's easy to end up bored and uninspired. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget to purchase enough clothing options to keep me wearing something new and exciting everyday, but I have discovered how to shop and dress so that I feel confidant and beautiful everyday. That's a close second right?

Over the past few months I've realized I've developed a sort of fashion motto to live and shop by. "Invest on the staples first". We've all gone through our Forever 21 stage...buy 8 new, inexpensive items every few weeks. It satisfies that need to shop, but I always find that a few weeks later those "steals" I was so excited about have either shrunk, disappeared, or made their way to the bottom of the drawer. For me, I think this happens because I don't value them much even when I purchase them...so I definitely don't value them once the shine of a new purchase has worn off.

So this former Forever 21 shopping addict has changed her ways. Over the past few months I've learned that when I spend the time and money investing in a classic staple it never loses that shine and excitement. Now don't get me wrong, I still don't have the budget to go buy a Chanel suit or those Louboutin heels I would kill for, but the following pieces are some of my recent purchases and worth spending a little extra on. All of these items can either be added to my daily workwear without ever getting old or replace the pencil skirt uniform.

Tip #1: Invest in a purse you LOVE. Make sure this is a bag that can take you to work and the weekend. I love roomy purses that aren't too structured. That way they won't lose their shape after using them everyday for a few months (or years!). For example...

Marc by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Shop Girl Tote
Nordstrom or Saks Fifth Avenue $498

Tip #2: Invest in a pair of sturdy (and adorable) ballet flats and a great pair of knee high boots. I wear these shoes to work all the time. The boots look amazing paired with black tights and a wrap dress. The ballet flats look great with a skirt and sweater, but also are amazing when you go out on the weekends and don't feel like walking around the city in heels.

Michael Kors Lesly Boots
Michael Kors Website or Neiman Marcus $250 (on sale now for $175!)






The boots will give you that in-high-demand Kate Middleton look. Confession...she's my total fashion inspiration at the moment...put together, classic style, achievable look = perfect.

Tory Burch 'Reva' Ballerina Flats
Tory Burch Website or Nordstrom $195

Paired up with work clothes or everyday wear, these ballet flats instantly give you a more stylish look. They come in classic black and brown, as well as more fun metallic and pastel colors.

Tip #3: Get yourself a nice watch. I personally love Michael Kors' collection of watches. They are glamorous and a watch is such a nice way to dress up any outfit. It's an accessory you can wear every single day. I owe my friend Veronica BIG TIME for clueing me into the MK watches.

Michael Kors 'Runway' Rose Gold Watch
Nordstrom $250

Tip #4: Add a scarf. Scarves are an affordable way to add warmth, character, and style to any outfit. They can be worn all four seasons and you don't need to spend a lot of money on them. I love to pair a scarf with a nice structured blazer, jeans, and flats on the weekends. I also wear a scarf to work almost everyday. They really work well with blazers and it gives you the freedom to play with colors a bit more if you work in a more serious office environment.

Recently I picked up a couple of these scarves from World Market in a variety of colors. Affordable ($10) and adorable!

Tip #5: Wrap dresses. Okay I know I was going to talk about investing in the staples, but this is still a tip worth sharing. Wrap dresses give every woman a flattering shape and a beautiful figure. They are easy to wear, perfect for the office, and can be dressed up or dressed down. This is another trend we are seeing this spring/summer. They come in countless varieties, colors, fabrics...but my go to wrap dress supplier is Banana Republic.

Banana Republic Gemma Wrap Dresses $98

Okay, sorry for the long entry. I thought I'd have a really hard time writing about fashion/style but it ended up being a lot of fun. I guess next time I'll break up the blogging into multiple posts, but hopefully you enjoyed! The last thing I'll say...I know it's hard to bite the bullet and spend $200 on shoes or a purse, etc. but I promise you...it's more expensive for a reason. It'll last you forever, it'll stay "in season" longer, and you'll take better care of it and walk with a bit more confidence. And because a lot of what I talked about are accessories you can wear them much more often than any single article of clothing!

Do any of you have fashion or shopping mottos you live by? Maybe my next blog entry will be "Don't Grocery Shop When Hungry!" :)

The Holiest of Holy Weeks

I'm back! I've decided (after almost starting this entry 5 times the last few weeks) to start writing on this blog again. I can't possibly try to go back and fill you all in on what's been going on over the past few months...so let's pretend like this little break never happened. You won't mention it and neither will I! Sound good? :)

So this year we have an interesting religious situation. Most years Passover and Easter are near each other, however this year they are the SAME WEEK. Meaning in my bi-religious household we have a lot of tradition to follow, food to cook and eat, and family and friends to visit with. This entry will cover the first night of Passover. Now as most of you know, I love any good reason to entertain and cook. Last night was the ultimate reason to have a 3-hour-long dinner, filled with multiple courses, lots of wine, and friends. Being the first night of Passover, Jeremy and I decided to have our friends Tyler and Lauren over for the Seder meal. A traditional meal to celebrate and teach the story of Passover.

I don't think I could even begin to fill everyone in on the details of the whole story and the Seder, but I'll share with you a few basic facts.

1. Passover celebrates the Isrealites' exodus from Egypt. To help the Jews escape the Egyptians and their enslavement, God sent ten plagues. The tenth plague was the worst, the Angel of Death flew over Egypt, killing each first born son. God protected the Jews from this plague, instructing the Jews to paint lamb's blood on their doors so the Angel of Death would know to "pass over" those homes. After this plague, Pharoah freed the Isrealites. They fled Egypt so quickly they didn't have enough time to let their bread rise, hence the tradition to eat unleavened bread during Passover (matzoh).
2. Seder means "order". The meal is guided through the reading of the Haggadah. Each person has a plate which contains these very important symbols: maror (horseradish), karpas (parsley), charoset (apple/pecan mix), zeroa (shankbone), beitzah (egg), and salt water. Each of these items on the plate are symbolic and used during the reading of the Haggadah.
3. During the Seder you read the story of the Exodus, walk through the symbols on the plate, sing, drink 4 glasses of wine, and have a HUGE meal!

I'm not going to go into much more detail, but it really is a beautiful tradition and a holiday meant to be shared with friends and family. For dinner I made my favorite salad of the moment full of strawberries, blackberries, and goat cheese, matzoh ball soup, and a brisket. Lauren brought the most delicious hamantaschen for dessert! (Thank you Lauren!)


Here are the pictures of our Seder table:
...and here is the recipe for traditional Charoset (tastes like a delicious applesauce!):

Charoset Recipe

Ingredients:

4 granny smith apples, cored and quartered
3/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C sweet red wine (i.e. port)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until resembles apple sauce. Add more cinnamon or sugar if desired. This can be done ahead of time. I made mine the night before and refridgerated it until the Seder.

I think I did pretty well for a little Gentile girl! What do you all think?

Up next are my favorite Episcopal Holy Days...Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter! Bellingham here we come :)