November 30, 2014

Monthly Mood: December



We're loving

All things warm and cozy! Ashley is loving holiday flavored coffee from Starbucks. Plaid everything. Crisp whites and cozy knits. Dresses and boots. Love Actually & Elf. We're not loving that all our shows are on mid season breaks but its nice to have a break from TV  and have extra time to watch our favorite holiday movies. For Ashley it's Love Actually and Kira loves Elf!

We're doing

We have a lot of holiday fun going on this month, we're hosting a cookie decorating party with some of our close girl friends. There is lots of holiday shopping and cooking to be done as well as some fun holiday parties to attend! Kira is looking forward to going to an Ugly Sweater Party that benefits Toys 4 Tots.

We're blogging

 We are all about the holidays this month on the blog! We will give you advice on what to wear to different holiday events; work party, Christmas morning, New Year's. We will have some fun posts about our cookie decorating party - and how you can host your own. Some DIY's include crafty gift wrapping and super easy to make ornaments. Stay tuned for the end of the month when we discuss our hopes and goals for 2015!

-A&K

November 28, 2014

Fashion Friday: Black Friday

The holidays are officially here! To kick off the season we have put together some fllyyyyy fits to wear while doing all of your early morning shopping today and during the rest of the season.... yea fanny packs are a must.

Black Friday



November 26, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!


From us to you, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving filled with friends, family, and lots of pie!


Interweb Goodies: Thanksgiving



With Thanksgiving tomorrow, here are some of our favorite links from around the web all about Turkey Day! Tonight we are heading to "Friendsgiving" and tomorrow will be spent with family! Check back in on Friday for some fashion inspiration for all of you holiday shopping adventures!

Ashley loves the tradition of waking up early and watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, here are some vintage photos from the event

Experts discuss: red or white wine for your Thanksgiving meal

How to look fab at your Thanksgiving party with friends or family and still have room for pie!

This candle is the perfect hostess gift.

Bon Appetit discovers the 25 ways to make Thanksgiving food and traditions even better.

-A&K





November 24, 2014

What We're Thankful For!


During this time of year it's good to slow down and remember the things in life that you're thankful for. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget all of life's little gifts. Here's some of our faves...


- Sunsets and Sunrises 
- Fantastic friends who you can call at any hour of the day
- SNL skits for when you need a good laugh
- A good cocktail
- Netflix
- Movie nights with your girls
- Traveling
- Discovering a new book
- Discovering a new place
- Blogging
- Rainy days & hot coco
- Enjoying a beautiful view

What are you thankful for this season!?

-A&K

Support Small Business Saturday



While many of you (us included) will probably head out to go shopping at some point on Thursday or on Black Friday, there is another event this shopping weekend as well, Small Business Saturday. The point of this unofficial shopping holiday is to support small businesses and goods this holiday season. Its a good way to step back from all the craziness of the big box stores and support the smaller local businesses in your area. Check out some of our favorite local shops below.

Convert: Wonderful place to pick up a fabulous pair of shoes. They have an awesome selection from TOMS to Jeffery Cambell + they always have a great sale section!

Jest Jewels: Jewelry & accessory heaven. Everything from $5-$10 bangles to designer pieces.

Pegasus Books: Great locations and an amazing variety of books and magazines. They always have titles I've never seen anywhere else.

Well Grounded: Sweet little coffee shop right by our old high school. Very much a neighborhood spot with friendly faces and good drinks.

In addition to great products all these small shops have an exception staff as well. Staff that appear to like where they work and know what they are talking about! So where ever you are don't forget to support the little guys and gals too!

-A&K

November 21, 2014

Fashion Fridays: Fall Hats

This year we both bought fall hats and are having fun dressing them up and down. We couldn't leave fall behind without showing off a few of our favorite fall hat looks.





Ashley's look: Hat {Target}, Sweater {Ann Taylor}, Jeans {Old Navy}, Boots {Convert}, Watch {Michael Kors- Parker}, Lipstick {Mary Kay- Rasinberry}








Kira's Look: Hat {H&M}, Sweater {Lefties}, Jeans {Forever 21}, Shoes {Urban Outfitters via Poshmark} Coat {Banana Republic}

-A&K

November 20, 2014

I Dream of Pretzels


I have always loved pretzels, especially big, warm, soft pretzels, and I never thought I'd be able to make my own. Until this weekend.  
It was fun, a little scary and ultimately delicious! Be brave and try something new!


What you'll need:
  • 1½ cup warm water
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 2¼ tsp instant yeast
  • 4½ cups flour
  • ½ stick of butter, melted
  • brie cheese, sliced
  • 8 cups water
  • ½ cup baking soda
  • Olive oil, for brushing
  • Sea salt & Fresh rosemary, for garnish


Directions!
  • First gather your salt, water, sugar and yeast into a bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until frothy. Mine never got quite frothy so don't stress if yours doesn't froth either. 
  • After the 5 minutes add in the flour and butter and mix it up. I mixed by hand but you can also use a standing mixer if you prefer. Once your dough is actually dough like and pulling away from the sides of your mixing bowl transfer it to an oiled bowl. Once transferred, cover with plastic and let sit for atleast an hour. The goal is for your dough to double in size so you may want to wait more than an hour.
  • Once your dough has doubled, dump it onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out a bit and divide it into about 8-10 pieces. Size is really up to you, just depends how large you want your pretzels. Remeber they will grow in the oven so you may want to start smaller. I know next time I make them I will start smaller. 
  • Once your dough is divided roll it out into long flat rectangles. Place your brie slices inside and pinch dough closed, safely concealing your brie. 
  • Give the dough a nice roll to ensure your brie is all sealed and twist into a pretzel shape. I started from the bottom, brought the ends up like at the top of a heart shape then twist and pinch ends back down.
  • Now grab your baking soda and water and bring that mixture to a boil. While that's boiling preheat your oven to 425. Once the water is ready give each pretzel a 30 second bath. Place pretzels on a baking sheet once you remove them from water. 
  • After the pretzels take a dip, brush them with olive oil and garnish with fresh rosemary and seasalt, then throw them in the oven for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
And there you go! They are so delicious and fairly easy. Note if you want to make plain pretzels do everything the same just skip the brie and rosemary! Or replace the brie with your fave cheese. Just have fun with it and enjoy these delicious snacks!

Recipe borrowed from Port and Finn





-K

November 19, 2014

Interweb Goodies

Happy Hump Day!




This past weekend Solange got married and killed it. Her looks were amazing and the photography incredible. She is so f-in cool! Check out her amazingness here and here! Oh and her new hubby aint bad either!

Born and raised in the Bay! We would have in no other way, check out this great and pretty accurate list of signs you were born and raised here.

Tis the season to eat, eat, eat and ask for gifts BUT it is also a great time to remember that not everyone may have it as good as you. Make an effort and give back in some way. Here is an awesome list of things food banks need that are less obvious than canned corn!

This table display will make you want to eat the table! Delicious and fruity and we want it!

And lastly as the fun of the holidays is near you may be finding it harder to stay focused. Never fear because we found you two great lists to assist you in getting more shit done! List 1 & List 2, enjoy!


-A&K

November 18, 2014

Easy Soup for the Holidays

I recently read Julie Powell's book, Julia and Julia. Such a great read that inspired me to cook! For those of you less interested in reading, it is also a movie! I have always loved the movie - what's not to love Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, and delicious food! The book is about Julie Powell, a woman living in New York in the early 2000's who is nearing the big 3-0 and has a job that doesn't really fulfill her. She decides to start a nearly impossible project; completing all 524 recipes in Julia Child's cookbook, Masting the Art of French Cooking in 365 days.  She wrote a blog about it, which lead to a book deal, and then a movie. I guess you can say that she was one of the first "big" bloggers and the movie was the first movie ever based on a blog.


The book really inspired me to make some of the recipes from Mastering the Art Of French Cooking. The first I took on is the first recipe in the entire cookbook, and the first recipe that Julie makes - Potato Leek Soup.

This was seriously so easy and inexpensive, perfect for a night during the busy holiday season!

Ashley takes on Julia Child's Potato Leek Soup


Ingredients: 

2 large potatoes, pealed and cut, about 2 cups 
2 leeks, sliced thin, about a cup and a half
4 cups of water 
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of butter
Chopped parsley


First simmer the potatoes, leeks, and salt in the water for 40-50 mins until veggies are tender

Next, without removing from heat, mash up the veggies

Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley.


Seriously that's it and it's fantastic!

Happy Cooking!

-A

November 17, 2014

Pumpkin Pecan French Toast


This week on the blog we are all about food and fall right before Thanksgiving next week! To kick off the week I have whipped up some pumpkin pecan french toast! Perfect for a fall brunch with friends, but so good you can eat it anytime throughout the year!

Ingredients:

One loaf of good quality bread cut into 10 pieces
2 eggs
3/4 cup of milk
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For sauce:

1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup pumpkin butter
2 tablespoons butter (as needed)


First whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.


Spray and heat the skillet. Dip the pieces of bread on each side in the mixture and cook on skillet until golden brown flipping once.

In a small sauce pan mix together the chopped pecans and pumpkin butter over low heat. If the sauce is too thick add in the butter to thin out the sauce to more of a syrup consistency.


When the sauce and french toast is completed serve with strawberries, a light dusting of powdered sugar, and some maple syrup.


Enjoy!!

-A

November 13, 2014

Fashion Fridays: Apple and Pumpkin Picking

A few weeks ago I went up to Apple Hill with my Mom and Aunt. Apple Hill is an area near the Sierra foothills where farms open their doors to visitors during fall. Each farm has different goodies, food, animals, pumpkin patches, apple picking, and so much more!

While I was there I thought I'd take advantage of the scenery and take some fun outfit photos! 







Hat {Forever 21}, Jacket {Target}, Sweater {Gap}, Pants {Old Navy}, 
Watch {Michael Kors - Parker}

-A

November 12, 2014

Glitter Leaves for Fall

A couple of weekends ago I went to brunch with a friend - if you are ever in Berkeley Cafe M is the place to go, did some shopping, and then felt like doing some crafting. I wanted to creating something fun to put up for fall/Thanksgiving!

I found this awesome branch of fall leaves on sale for $1.50 and thought that by adding some glitter and hanging the leaves from the branch it would create a different look.


What you'll need

- Faux branch with leaves
- Mod Podge
- Twine, string, or ribbon
- Scissors
- Exact-o knife
- Glitter


I first cut the leaves from the branch and used the mod podge to add some gold glitter to the leaves.


Once the leaves were dry I used the exact-o knife to cut a small hop at the top of each leaf and tread the twine through the leaves.

Next I attached the strings of leaves to the branch.


Lastly hang it up for a fun (and glittery) decoration!

What are your favorite fall crafts?

-A

November 11, 2014

Interweb Goodies




 Love this sweater & new find Joe Fresh!





How did we not know about this site; Joe Fresh! Loving these affordable looks. Might need to buy this sweater in multiple colors!

Loving these latte homemade soaps from A Beautiful Mess, perfect to keep around the house and give as gifts this season!

Incase your not sure what your supposed to be doing/learning in your 20's (I think we're all a bit lost) here's a handy list of things to keep in mind

And lastly, wouldn't we all want to travel the world...for FREE! Here's some great tips on how to make travel super affordable and practically free!

-A&K

Happy Birthday Leo!!

For those of you who don't know, I have a little baby HUGEST crush on the amazing Leonardo DiCaprio. Call me stereotypical but ever since I saw Titanic when I was 7, I've been hooked. Today in honor of his 40th birthday I am counting down my fave Leo movies! (It's a tradition of mine that I invite friends over to watch Leo movies on his birthday - I'm weird I know)

Titanic

Because it's Leo and Kate on a boat with love, passion, Tuxedo Leo, and Casual Leo. I have seen this movie wayyy too many times to count, I cry every time and could quote almost every line. 

The Great Gatsby 

When I first heard that Leo was going to be playing Jay Gatsby I couldn't hide my excitement. Gatsby is my favorite book and the movie did it such justice. He worked that tan and white sweater. Kira and I saw it in 3-D on opening night and admittedly I saw it two more times opening weekend. 



The Aviator

Can someone please tell me why he didn't win an Academy Award for this role? He was pure perfection, highlighting Howard Hughes' OCD with such authenticity. Plus it was such a visually stunning movie. 

Inception 

One of the biggest "wait what happened?" movies! It's so action packed and keeps you on your toes the whole time! Not one of Leo's "heartthrob" movies, but one of the craziest story lines ever!



Catch Me If You Can 

I love this movie for so many reasons, I think Tom Hanks makes for a great co-star with Leo. I love the soundtrack, the way it's filmed, and the lighthearted take on a serious subject. Also, Leo in a pilot's uniform is a dream come true.

Happy Birthday to the one and only! 

What is your favorite Leo movie? 

-A