Utopia Bakery

I LOVE MACAROONS...just for starters (and to my detriment). A while back my friend Courtney was coming over to my apartment, she has a major sweet tooth and said she was going to bring over some sweets for us. She gets here with a huge 14''x17'' box full of little mini cakes, cookies and pastries....oh my goodness. We were trying to decide our plan of attack when Wes got home...the look on our faces was 'deer in the headlights' (who me....eat all these goodies) so we had to share : ) One of them was a chocolate dipped macaroon....and I'm obsessed with it now. Wes and I had a little sweets craving last night and popped into Utopia Bakery (that Courtney introduced us to that dreaded day) and grabbed a chocolate dipped macaroon and a black and white cookie. You must try one is all I have to say!!! Mmmm

:: peace and love ::

Rainy Day Shopping

We got a much welcomed dose of rain on the Central Coast at the end of last week and into the weekend...I spent my Friday afternoon listening to the rain and browsing around on the Internet for delightful finds (both dangerous and tremendously entertaining). This little succulent plant was stashed behind the other foliage on the apartment property, once I found it I rescued it and it is my little welcoming committee on my stoop ever since!! It looks so pretty in the rain.

This coat by Jcrew makes me want to just wear it every day, to me...this is perfection!! I would wear it everyday if it weren't for the crazy ridiculousness that Jcrew calls a price tag (it is cashmere, but non the less overpriced). Despite the fact that I wont be owning this jacket anytime soon, I still stared at it for approximately 5 minutes, admiring the color, detail and fit...ahhh bliss.

Another blissful moment occurred when I found this Icicle's Melt dress on Anthropologie....eh hum...I'm in love (with essentially fabric) is it weird that I day dream about wearing a certain dress?? I wonder this on occasion. This dress is the perfect mixture of sweet, beautiful, modern but also nostalgic feeling. I get a little bored with the good old 'party dress'. Typically strapless...or spaghetti straps...fairly flashy...really..I've seen it on a million people and I'm kind of over it. For this reason and many more I do love this dress...maybe by my BIRTHDAY (national holiday I'll have you know--hahahaha) it will be on sale!?! Here's to hoping!

By the way...I didn't buy one thing on my little rainy day 'window' shopping excursion...which is really the best thing (for me and my wallet).

Happy Tuesday!

:: peace and love ::

Delicious Liqueur

I had this liqueur a bit ago at a dinner party and was sort of in love with it. I forgot about it until now, don't know what made me remember? You can sip it straight or mix it with tonic (or whatever you'd like) but it really is delicious!! It is a ginger liqueur, don't let that prohibit you from trying it. I myself do love ginger, but I might just love this Domain de Canton even more!! Warm and spicy, but crisp and sweet. On their official site, they have suggested cocktails, all of them sounds so amazing I'm going to resist picking one and say that you should go over and check them out for yourself (although the mohito sounds insane). Enjoy!!

:: peace and love ::

Aveda's NEW Embrightenment

Aveda has a brand new skin care line called 'Embrightenment' which is a discoloration treatment focused on evening the skin tone and increasing the overall luminosity of the skin. It combines high tech plant technology, made up of a 99.7% naturally derived formula. If the system is used in completion day and night there is said to be a 34% reduction in the appearance of discoloration and dark spots and a 52% improvement in visible clarity. I'm pretty excited about this line...I've done my share of time in the sun what with growing up in Ca and life guarding for most of my teenage years. This has caused minor dark spots in some places and I have a feeling that the ingredients it contains will also help with my minor breakouts that I experience. So far I have the moisturizing cream and am super excited to get the rest. This line retails for $275 that is for everything shown above (sorry for the poor pic quality..it is not even launched on the Aveda site yet and I had to search to even find this one). This line should be arriving in stores (it's already at Lux, so come on in) and on the official Aveda site shortly. I suggest trying it out, if you hate it (which would be impossible) you can always exchange it for other products you love. I will post more detailed information and links soon!! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend : )

:: peace and love ::

Reading-Learning-Loving

I just got this book the other day, and am kind of in love with it. First of all, I love Bobbi Brown. She's an amazing business woman and entrepreneur...her products are so beautiful and well thought out and I love her way of creating flawless yet natural makeup looks for every person!!
I would highly recommend it if you love makeup and the art of application. It's a fun read and a great tool to have on hand : )
Happy Weekend Everyone!

:: peace and love ::

So Sweet

It's fairly apparent that I have what one might call a 'poster obsession'. I don't really know what my deal is, but I have been seriously dying to fill up all the ugly empty wall space in our disastrous apartment lately. On that note, I'm adding this 'Air France' poster to my list of 'posters I must have' which include these and these(which I finally aquired and am now on the hunt for the perfect frames). I swear I'm done now....until I stumble upon another sweet delight.

:: peace and love ::

Dagnamit...I wish I was done with school already!!!

Because THIS would be an insane job to have....and I just know that Martha and I would be bestest' friends, have lunch and tea together everyday, bake cookies and garden....hahahaha. Well you just never know do you?

*article found via here and here.

:: peace and love ::

pencils...pencils...pencils

As of now, Wes and I have 2 of our coffee mugs holding all of our random pens and pencils in our study area...I don't really enjoy this method seeing as this morning we are out of coffee mugs and our kitchen drain is clogged so I could really use more (ohhh the joys of apt. living!!). When I saw this cute idea in Zooey's house tour in Domino I loved it and knew exactly which pencils I've been wanting that would look so charming in the mint julep cup!! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I definitely did. Did I miss the memo 'no blogging on weekends?' this seems to be a generally followed rule...hmm...maybe I will have to restrain myself, saving all of my weekend good(ness) for the next week! : )

:: peace and love ::

*first pic from Zooey's Domino Mag. house tour.
*second pic from Simple Song Etsy store.

**I Die**

This dress is seriously delicious, how could it not be when it's by Marc Jacobs!! I can't get over the bow and button detail...this is my next mission!! To find this dress for cheaper than it's original $428 price tag!! : ) Wish me luck!

:: peace and love ::

Big Sur Excursion!!!

Wes, myself and my parents all took a little day trip up to Big Sur today and it was the most perfect day for it. We started off at the Big Sur River Inn then headed back down to stop at Nepenthe's which has the most amazing view!! We are very lucky and have some family friends who have a cabin up there...the most gorgeous part of the day was getting to see them and their cabin...you felt like you were on top of the world and it was absolutely breath taking!! I'm so glad we remembered the camera, and even more glad that we finally made it up!! Hope everyone had a beautiful Saturday as well!! : )

:: peace and love ::

and yet ANOTHER dress.....

Oh my goodness...*yes* I am fully aware that I shop for wedding dresses when I am 'technically' not engaged (and that I have my wedding shoes). Let me clarify--Wes and I will be celebrating our 7 year anniversary in February, and yes we are getting married June 2010....so I feel as though I am allowed to casually shop for and ponder anything wedding. I will say...while we are obviously not very 'traditional'...we have been "living in sin" (haha) for about 5 years now--I have yet to EVER try on a wedding dress. For some random reason I refuse to try one on...saving this part of the wedding extravaganza as my something traditional. So pardon all my wedding posts...I promise it will all be justifiable eventually!!!
With that said...this dress is INSANELY amazing...I emailed the photographer (Anne Ruthman) asking who it's by...and to my disdain, it's Vera Wang. Don't get me wrong, I love Vera, but I can't really afford Vera. If you know what I'm sayin'. Here's hoping to a *sample sale*.
And yes...this bride looks like Lauren Bush (or Amanda Hearst)..and the pics look like they are straight out of a Ralph Lauren add...or at least that's one of the first things I thought when I found them...just btw.

:: peace and love ::

Mmmmm......

If you want to get really hungry (and obtain the desire to bake) go here.

I want to try EVERYthing on this blog.

:: peace and love ::

A New Etsy Favorite!

Courtesy of Lettergirl on Etsy!! I absolutely love the idea of a customized rubber stamp and have wanted to start a little Etsy page with them and other goodies for a while but haven't quite figured out how to start the whole thing!! These are wonderful, customizable and so sweet!! I wish every time I addressed a letter it looked like one of these....but I get lazy or I'm in a hurry and they rarely turn out this nice. Thank you to Simple Song for introducing me to Lettergirl. Happy Friday everyone!

:: peace and love ::

Lela Rose Bridal Beauty

Loving this dress right now...so sweet and the floral detail on the skirt is amazing!!! And....it would look oh so very pretty with blue shoes don't you think?

:: peace and love ::

** Early Bday Wish Item **

All I can say is that I'm sort of IN LOVE with these. And maybe somewhere in my wildest dreams they will appear on my earlobes!?!? Maybe......

:: peace and love ::

Sara Hearn on Etsy

I'm loving these paintings and prints by Sara Hearn over on Etsy!! I think a few of them would look so sweet nestled together in over sized frames!!! I would have to say that my favorite is the Firefly design!! Happy Wednesday : )

:: peace and love ::

H-O-M-E

What do we think of this?? I was thinking that having these H-O-M-E decals on the wall in the living room would be sort of sweet. The one thing that bothers be about these particular ones is that the "O" is covered in a SPAM motif (which I really can't stand at all)....but I love the concept!!!! HELP.....does anyone else have an idea of where to find fun (and fairly sized..I don't want them to be too small) wall letters to spell out HOME??

:: peace and love ::

Shannon Len Jewelry

Today in the salon one of the stylists was wearing the most gorgeous pair of jeweled and gold earings designed by Shannon Len, a local jewelry designer here. I can't wait to get a pair like the ones above!! I typically don't buy dangling earings like this, sticking with my white gold ball studs which I love....but....it would be fun to mix it up and jump out of my 'comfort zone' jewelry wise. I think these would be just the ticket! If you live on the Central Coast, check her out at all our Art in the Park series and shows as well as local retailers.

:: peace and love ::

A little Fresh obsession

After my first full day of wearing Fresh Supernova Mascara, I can honestly say that I'm a fan. I made about 3 people feel my lashes (they weren't strangers, don't worry) because they were so feathery soft! I will say that I don't think it gives quite the dramatic effect like Diorshow Blackout does right off the bat, but all you have to do is apply more layers. This wont make them spidery or clumpy, because no matter how many coats you put on, it never gets crunchy and definitely doesn't flake off during the day (I know this because I re applied to get more dramatic lashes and they are still super soft and feathery). I may be a Fresh Supernova convert (and would like to try the products above) but Dior does have this plum mascara that is sort of calling to me. I would encourage some Fresh love people : )

:: peace and love ::

New Beauty Buys!

Today was beautiful here on the Central Coast, about 70 degrees, a slight breeze and sunny!!! Danielle and I went and saw Bride Wars (which was hilarious, sweet and touching)...I thought it would just be a sweet movie, but it really made me think of the good friends I have and the many people I care about and how grateful I am to have all of them in my life : ) After the movie we decided to head into Sephora for some shopping (obviously). I had a gift card of $40 from my very thoughtful cousins, and thought I should put that to good use!! I always have a list of things I want to try and then once I get in there, I forget or change my mind. I walked away with some Fresh Supernova Mascara and Nars Ashes to Ashes Eyeshadow. I have been using DiorShow and DiorShow Blackout for a couple years now, and was hesitant to switch, but Fresh products always seem so appealing to me, their packaging is sort of whimsical and pretty (I'm a total sucker for cute packaging) and their colors are so beautiful. On the encouragement from Danielle I got the Fresh mascara and am excited to try it. I never wear eye shadow...I always buy it, have the best intentions to wear it and once I put it on, I generally feel to "heavy" like I've got too much on...and I'm really not a fan of too much makeup. But, Ashes to Ashes is described as a soft violet brown with shimmer and I think this is the perfect everyday lid color...wish me luck with actually following through on this one!! Hope everyone had a happy weekend!!!

:: peace and love ::

I'm IN LOVE....with these chairs!!!!

Ahhh...the Bertoia wire chair!!!!! I only recently discovered these, and I'm falling more and more in love with them, the more I look at them in different spaces. I'm totally digging the silver and white versions and I think the little seating pad is so sweet. Yup...I think a chair is sweet. We re-arranged our living room last night and I am so much happier with it, now it's on to the dining room, which (since we are students) is going to be converted into an "office-study" space for the moment and I think 2 of these chairs would be the perfect replacement for what we have in there now!! Originally priced they are a bit out of reach, but I can find them on Ebay for around $140(ish). That is still a bit much for chairs at the moment....when I told Wes about these, he gave me "the face". The face, like, "really babe.....you 'need' wire chairs??" haha. Yes.....I do!!! We'll see, if not now, later. Lets just say that I will have a few of these babies at some point in life...unless I fall in love with something else...which is highly unlikely.
Pic #1 from Red House Design Blog
Pic #2 from Door Sixteen
Other 2 from Apartment Therapy

:: peace and love ::

(( GASP ))

They are mine!!!!!! Here's the story, I fell in love with these shoes a couple months ago after seeing them in a magazine add. Innitially I just loved the shape and color of them, then I got to thinking....."those would be fantastic wedding shoes!!". Somewhere between finding them and now, I got distracted, figured they would always be on the site, that there was no rush and I didn't need to run out and order them right then. Imagine my disappointment when I actually sat down to order them......and they were sold out. I looked everywhere imaginable on the web and could not find the cobalt blue anywhere. Then (being the dork I am) called Kate Spade and asked if they had anymore somewhere, they gave me a list of 8 stores in California and out of that 8, 3 had them in the blue s:9. Out of those 3, one would ship them to me for free!!! So on Tuesday, I actually ordered them and they just arrived this evening!!!!!! I am so stoked, they are so beautiful and comfortable (crucial for wedding shoes I would think...if not for wedding shoes, for me). I'm also happy because, I really don't care for traditional wedding shoes...white...satin...a bead or pearl here and there....no gracias. I'm excited to have somthing different, but still sweet and charming. It's going to be hard not to wear them sooner, but I'm going to try my hardest! Yeah........as my mom delightfully put it, "well you'll have shoes, but no ring"...hahaha....ahhhh so true!

:: peace and love ::

Tofu Delishious(ness)

Spicy, Crisp Tofu on Mint-Avocado Sallad ::
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 package regular tofu, firm or extra-firm, drained
1/3 cup spicy Asian chile sauce , plus 1/2 teaspoon for dressing
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
1 cup panko
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 heads butterhead lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup fresh whole mint leaves
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced lengthwise
Directions
Cut the tofu in half horizontally (slicing parallel to work surface). Keep the tofu stacked; cut crosswise in half to make 4 rectangles. Cut each rectangle into 2 triangles. Press).
In a large bowl whisk together 1/2 teaspoon chili sauce, orange zest, orange juice, and olive oil. Season the mixture with salt to taste. Set aside.
Pour the remaining 1/3 cup chile sauce into a shallow bowl. Place the panko in a separate shallow bowl. Piece by piece, gently coat the tofu in the chile sauce and then the panko, patting it on each piece to coat.
In a large, nonstick skillet, heat half the canola oil over medium heat. Gently place half the tofu in skillet. Pan-fry the tofu, turning once, until outsides are crisp and brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat. Repeat the process with remaining oil and tofu.
Add lettuce and mint to bowl with dressing; toss to coat. Place equal mounds of salad in center of four plates; fan avocado slices on top. Arrange 2 tofu triangles next to the avocado and serve immediately.

This recipe sounds amazing, and I can't wait to try it!!! I love tofu, considering I don't eat meat (I do eat fish however) I'm glad I do. Makes things easier!! If you have any more tofu recipes post them in the comments!!

:: peace and love ::