Tuesday, March 19, 2013

AND we're BACK!

Hello Wedding Season!

 Ok so we are just a little behing with our blog posts. Ok we are VERY behind! But I promise we are going to be better, much better in fact! We have so many weddings and tons of floral prettiness to share and with wedding season 2013 we have lots coming up as well!

First up is a sweet and laid back wedding from 2011. K+K were married in Coeur D'Alene, ID and their wedding day was magical! So happy for this couple and their new addition Beckham!

I will not play at tug o' war.
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.”
 
 






 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Water Whimsy

With the summer weather in full force and wedding season up and running I have been a busy worker bee and constantly thirsty. Even though I do adore water and it's light ice cold thirst quenching abilities I've been noticing I'm still wanting to reach for the yummy sugar filled goodness of orange flavored pelligrino or a caffeine overloaded (I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight) iced coffee. So I was thinking what could I drink that is the best of both worlds?  Something that allows me to keep or lose (I am hoping for the latter) my figure and get my much needed beauty sleep and still has the sweetness of the other two? Instantly an idea blossomed in my head! I love going to the spa and to cute little organic cafes! Although part of that is because at one I am getting a fab massage and the other eating scrumptiously delightful food the other reason, the more relative reason, is they always have these great fruit and herb infused waters! I love my water filled with all sorts of fruity fabulousness! So without any delay I began searching for recipes and found all sorts of wonderful ideas. I have narrowed them down to my top three.

Hibiscus and Strawberry Water
This one I couldn't resist because it uses an actual flower which I am growing at home and to be honest (this shouldn't be a shock) I am flower obsessed.

Ingredients:
1 cup (1 ounce) jamaica flowers (dried hibiscus flowers)
1 tbls. agave nectar
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 dozen organic strawberries (sliced or muddled)

Instructions:
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil then add the flowers and stir continuously while the mixture boils for one minute. Pour into a noncorrosive bowl and steep for 2 hours. *Note: this flower will stain so don't use a bowl that will stain. Glass is your best bet. ** If you can not get the actual dried flowers you can subsitute hibiscus tea. Bring water to a boil. In a tea ball, add hibiscus tea. Steep hibiscus tea in a pitcher for 5 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve pressing on the flower solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Add the agave nectar. Taste for strength and sweetness. If it is too potent, add water or if too tart add more agave. Cover and refrigerate to chill. Stir in lemon juice and strawberries. Then serve on ice!

Kiwi, Lime, Cucumber and Mint Infused Water

Ingredients:
6 c. still or sparkling chilled water
1 cucumber washed and cut thin but don't peel
1 lime quartered
4 sprigs of mint lightly crushed
2 kiwis sliced thin

Instructions:
Discard the stems of the mint. Then fill a pitcher with the fruit and herbs. Add water and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 2 days. Strain and enjoy!

Watermelon Lime Agua Fresca
Unfortuantely, I am allergic to all melons. So I can not try this yummy drink. But the other day I took my friend Kim to one of my favorite spots, Sideboard Cafe in Danville, for her birthday. I had heard through the grapevine about their watermelon lime cooler and suggested it to Kim. She got it and loved it and it has been on my mind ever since. So I am living through you all with this recipe! Kim let me know how it compares!

Ingredients:
Watermelon
1 tbls. sugar
1/2 c. water
Fresh lime juice

Instructions:
Take whatever leftover watermelon you have lying around. Chop it into big chunks, not worrying about seeds or mushy spots. Fill a blender 3/4 full with the watermelon chunks, and add about 1 Tbls. sugar (or to taste) and 1/2 c. water. Puree. Pour puree through a fine sieve into a pitcher, discarding solids when done. Repeat if you have any remaining watermelon. Add fresh lime juice to taste to the watermelon juice (approx. one large lime for two blender-fulls of watermelon.) Serve with thinly sliced cucumber rounds and fresh mint, and maybe a shot of vodka or gin if you want to kick it up a notch.

Try them out and let me know how they go! I know at my next dinner party I will not be serving just plain old water! I have even found a cute idea on serving my exciting new waters!
I found these cute Italian glass reusable bottles at Sur La Table. And so your guests know which flavor is which just make a little label and tie it on with some raffia!


ENJOY!!!!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Caught in a Bohemian Fairy Tale

I had a meeting a few months ago with Jen from A Girl and a Camera Photography. We both had the photo shoot bug again. Jen has wanted to do a shoot at her friends property in Los Gatos for awhile and I had heard so many amazing things about it that I was itching to see it as well! We left the meeting with a location in mind and giggling like school girls, so excited about the possiblility of working together again on a shoot! A few days later I came up with two totally different themes. Within a few hours I was no longer able to contain these ideas and had to shoot Jen an email. Unfortunately, Jen was on the receiving end of the gargantuan email filled with all of my inspirations for both shoot ideas. I couldn't help but laugh when the response I received back was "okay overwhelming ;)." I couldn't help it, my creative juices were flowing! Out of the two ideas we both decided to go with the bohemian theme. We set the date and got the planning process rolling. I had to find our model! Originally we were thinking of just having one model, so I was on the hunt for a gorgeous girl for weeks. Two weeks before the shoot I still hadn't found anyone and was starting to stress. Luckily my sister-in-law, Danielle, had just posted a new facebook profile photo. Danielle is always a knock out but in her profile pic she looked amazing and what I instantly picked up on was she was wearing the cutest hippie/boho chic outfit! I was sold! It was genius, I would have Danielle and her boyfriend, Jordan, be our models! I immediately called Danielle and asked if they would be up for it, thankfully she said yes! I knew that they would be fabulous! For those of you that don't know these two crazy kids, they are TOTALLY in LOVE! They are definitely not affraid of public displays of affection. So I knew it wouldn't require a lot of work to make them feel comfortable being affectionate in front of the camera (unlike my hubby and myself, Jen had her work cut out for her at our engagement shoot!) Next thing on the list was outfits and jewelry... luckily Danielle has amazing clothes so we were set there! I found some fabulous feather necklaces from Forever 21 and we added them to Danielle's vast accesories collection. Next on the to do list was hair and make up. Jen was able to get the amazing Make Up Dolls on board, their work is incredible, we were so happy that they were participating! Our to do list was complete, all that was left was to shoot. Of course, all the pieces came together beautifully! The day was flawless and the photos are the proof! I will speak for all of us when I say that it exceeded our expectations! And of course just like in every fairy tale... We all lived happily ever after!

Photography

Make Up and Hair

Floral and Event Design