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Don't you love coming across an etsy shop where you love every single thing listed? I recently stumbled upon the jewelry shop geodora, and am smitten with almost every piece.
The jewelry is interesting & unique, yet so subtle & pretty they could go with almost any outfit. I absolutely love the mix of natural stones and geometric designs that are prevalent with the necklaces especially.
Here are just a few of my favorite pieces:
Take a look at the full shop here!
I don't usually have dessert, but sometimes I have a serious craving for something sweet after dinner. I'm always trying to find treats that satisfy the sweet tooth, but are healthier than things like cookies and ice cream. These frozen yogurt bites are perfect! They're only slightly sweet, and have a slight tang and wonderful creaminess from the greek yogurt. All in all, they are a fun and tasty little dessert, and they couldn't be easier to make!
Frozen Blueberry Yogurt Bites
- your favorite greek yogurt flavor (I used Chobani fat free blueberry)
- fresh blueberries
- sandwich bag
- metal baking sheet
Spoon your greek yogurt into a sandwich bag, and cut off the tip of a corner. **Note: These yogurt bites are only slightly sweet, so if you prefer your frozen yogurt a bit sweeter, feel free to mix in some sugar or stevia to the yogurt before adding it to the sandwich bag.**
Next, pipe little yogurt dots onto your metal baking sheet until all of the yogurt is used.
Place a small blueberry in the center of each dot, and freeze the baking sheet for 40-60 minutes. When the yogurt dots are completely frozen, use a spatula to remove the dots, and place them in a plastic container in the freezer.
Now, whenever you want a small treat, you have little frozen yogurt & fruit dots ready to go!
*Originally saw this idea here
I've been completely loving geometric-inspired artwork lately (see also here and here)- it always seems to add an interesting graphic + eye-catching element to gallery walls and displays. I think what I like most about geometric art is that it's often a mix of simple + complex. While the overall appearance can be a complicated & ornate, it's usually composed of very simple, repeating lines & shapes.
Anyway, I've been meaning to make some of my own for a while now, and was happy to finally get around to it this week! This project ended up being super quick & simple - In Illustrator, I just "sketched out" the shape and triangle pattern that I wanted, printed it out on thick cardstock, and cut out the triangles with an X-acto blade. The whole thing probably took less than half an hour - my favorite kind of project!
I'm happy with how it turned out - it sort of reminds me of a gemstone with lots of facets! Plus, I like the simplicity of the brown cardstock contrasting with the white paper behind it.
To make your own, you'll need:
- thick cardstock, in your desired color
- a pencil, pen, or a graphic computer program you can sketch your design on
- X-acto blade
- cutting mat
- white cardstock to mount it on
- 8x10 picture frame
1) Sketch out your design on the computer or by hand - if using your computer, print the design on the cardstock. Originally I had wanted to use chip board because it's thicker & would show more dimension against the white background. Unfortunately, my printer doesn't like the thickness of chip board very much (yay paper jams!), but if you're drawing yours by hand, feel free to use chip board.
2) Cut out your design with your X-acto blade. I just freehanded mine, but if cutting straight isn't your strongpoint, feel free to use a metal ruler :)
3) When you finish cutting out the design, cut your cardstock down to 8x10 so that it fits in a frame. Mount it to white paper or cardstock, stick it in a frame, and your done!
Happy Happy Friday, and three cheers for the weekend, friends! I hope you have a good one :)
I've always liked Reese Witherspoon, and I love that her weekend house seems to be an outward expression of her personality - it's classic, relaxed, charming, and un-fussy, just like her. This historic ranch located in Ojai, a small town north of Los Angeles, is Witherspoon's weekend and holiday retreat, and I have to say, what a retreat it is! The grounds are huge and lovely, with tons of outdoor space - but what I really love are the interiors.
Though I'm not normally a huge fan of ranches, designer Kristen Buckingham did a fantastic job decorating in a way that really suits this style. By using European antiques, rustic accessories, and custom upholstery, she designed interior spaces that work seamlessly with the original Spanish-style architectural elements of the house:
*All images via Elle Decor
I've officially found a new favorite potato salad recipe! I've always loved potato salad, but I'm always on the lookout for a tasty version that doesn't include mayonnaise, since I'm not a huge fan (of both the taste & the calories!).
This salad is a great solution - it's super flavorful, and uses an herb & dijon vinaigrette as the dressing, rather than a mayonnaise-heavy, creamy dressing, and contains crisp green beans for added texture and flavor. Plus, as an added bonus, it contains crumbled bacon, which, let's face it, makes everything better. It's perfect if you're looking for a lighter, non-creamy potato salad recipe that still has delicious, bold flavors.
Herb Vinaigrette Red Potato Salad
- 2 lbs. small red boiling potatoes
- 1 cup green beans
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced green onion
- 2 Tbsp. minced fresh dill
- 2 Tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley
- 2 Tbsp. julienned fresh basil leaves
- 3 strips crispy bacon, crumbled (optional)
Place the red potatoes in a pot of boiling water, and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until just tender. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and add the green beans to the boiling water. Cook for a few minutes, until only slightly tender but still crisp. Drain the beans, and plunge into an ice bath to stop cooking.
Meanwhile, whisk together the white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil so that it emulsifies.
Once the potatoes are cool enough to touch, cut into halves or quarters, and place in a bowl with the green beans. Toss the still-warm potatoes with 2 Tbsp. of the vinaigrette - the potatoes will absorb most of the liquid, allowing them to soak in some of that flavor! Next, add the minced green onion, herbs, bacon, and the remaining vinaigrette. **Note: the bacon is totally optional. It would still be delicious without it. Toss everything together, and enjoy!
This potato salad can be served immediately so that it's warm/room tempurature, or it can be refigerated & served cold - both ways are great!
I think I've decided that the slush (it's a very technical name, isn't it?) is probably my favorite summer drink so far. During this ridiculously hot weather, the only thing that appeals is something super cold & icy, and this drink definitely fits the bill... Plus, the great part is that it's icy without actually being watered down with ice, which means, in case you're keeping score here, your booze doesn't get watered down in the process. Win!
This particular drink is a friend's recipe that I adapted by using all fresh fruit juices & stevia instead of the juice concentrates & sugar that were in the original... which practically means it's a healthfood, right? I'd like to think so :)
Anyway, I think it turned out very very delicious, and I may or may not have already had 2 glasses... you know, purely in the name of blog, taste-testing scientific research :)
Yayyy Friday!
Bourbon Citrus Slush
- 1 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 2 cups fresh-squeezed meyer lemon juice**
- 3 cups bourbon whiskey (I cheated & used Jack Daniels)
- 1-1.5 cups stevia or sugar, depending on how tart your juice is
- 2 cups strong tea, chilled to room temp (I steeped 4 bags of tea in 2 cups water)
- 3 cups additional water
**Note: if you don't have access to meyer lemons, I would probably do 1.5 cups orange juice and 1.5 cups lemon juice, or even 2 cups orange juice to 1 cup lemon juice, since regular lemons are so much more tart & acidic than meyers.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into a 9x12 (or larger) glass dish (one with a lid would be ideal, but you can also just cover with plastic wrap like I did).
Freeze at least 6-8 hours, or until it's set (overnight is best!). When you're ready to serve, remove it from the freezer, and "flake" the slush with a spoon. This is easy to do, since the ice isn't hard; rather, it's more of a slush (imagine that!).
Add the slush either directly into cups or into a pitcher so that everyone can help themselves. Garnish with lemon slices and mint sprigs. Enjoy!
As a sidenote, if you don't have fresh fruit, or are making several batches for a large group, you can sub the fresh-squeezed juice for concentrate. Everything stays the same except the following:
- 7 (instead of 3) cups water
- 12 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate
- 6 oz. frozen orange contentrate
- reduce sugar to your preference of sweetness (probably 1/4-3/4 cups)
Grasscloth is one of my all-time favorite wall coverings. While a bold, graphic wallpaper can be a great statement piece, certain patterns can be a little too loud, and can actually go out of style pretty quickly... That's not a good thing when you're spending hundreds on a wall covering. By contrast, grasscloth adds color, great texture, and visual interest to your walls, yet tends to be a bit more classic + timeless than a graphic wallpaper.
Here are some of my favorite spaces with grasscloth:
via Lonny
via Style at Home
via Rue
via Lonny
Doesn't grasscloth add such great texture to a space? You basically can't go wrong with a neutral grasscloth - it looks good in virtually every kind of space. But I'm particularly loving the more colorful & darker shades - especially when combined with fresh white wainscoting.
So, I'm officially obsessed with homegrown cherry tomatoes. They're honestly the sweetest, most flavorful tomatoes I've ever had! Fortunately, the last few weeks have been positively overflowing with them, and I've been eating them by the bag-full for an afternoon snack at work... but there's only so many bags of tomatoes you can have, so when I harvested a particularly large batch, I knew I wanted to make some sort of summer salad with them.
Enter this caprese-inspired salad with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, cucumber, avocado, lentils, and a simple balsamic vinaigrette. The result is a refreshing & flavorful salad that really showcases the sweet tomatoes, has a great mix of textures from the cucumber, avocado, and lentils, yet has the flavor of a caprese salad.
Caprese Lentil Summer Salad
- 3 cups chopped tomatoes, or halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 English Cucumber, peeled & chopped
- 1/2 avocado, chopped
- 2-3 cups cooked lentils, cooled
- 8 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes
- 1/2-1 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- salt & pepper, to taste
In a large bowl, add the chopped tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, mozzarella, basil, and cooled lentils. In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and generous amounts of salt & pepper.
Add the vinaigrette to the salad, and gently mix everything together. Refrigerate for an hour before serving, and enjoy!
I'm helping with an office space right now, and thought I'd share the initial design board for it. The accounting firm that my Mom works for is moving into a bigger space, and asked for my help with the space planning and design. The main focus is the large entrance/common room that will serve as a client waiting area, as well as a conference & meeting space. The conference area needs to accommodate 6 employees for office meetings, but at least 12 people for weekly classes that will be taught there.
Nothing is really set yet, but here is the initial design board:
rug / table / storage / seating / plants / art
Budget-wise, they want to keep costs down (no surprise there!), so the budget isn't huge, but I think these pieces are affordable as well as functional for the space. One of my favorite elements is probably that table from Ikea. It's technically a dining table, but I think it will work well for the conference space, since it seats 6-12 comfortably depending on whether or not it's extended.
I'll be sure to post updates and the final result!
Man, I love the Olympics. It's so awesome seeing the national pride, the camaraderie among athletes, and of course, the best of the best in the world competing to win. Not only do I love watching the actual events, but I can't get enough of the stories they run featuring the athletes. Needless to say, my productivity has taken a severe beating over the last week, since all I want to do is watch the freaking Olympics every night (thank goodness for DVR's, though, right?! No commercials = happiness).
Anyway, with all of this national pride going on, I thought I'd put together a little roundup with some of my favorite finds in the colors of the good ol' US of A!
Happy Monday!
