iHeart Ellie

Last year when I came home for Christmas, Mom and Dad had a surprise waiting.  I knew that my brother and his wife had gotten a little Golden Retriever puppy, named Dug.  I ooohed and aaaahed and eeeee'd over his pictures on Facebook, and the day my flight arrived in Boise, the first thing I asked when getting into the car (after hugs with my parents of course) was, "is Dug at the house?"
See, to say that I love Golden Retrievers would be a serious understatement.  I LOOOOOVE them.  I think they are just the cutest, sweetest, most loyal, beautiful dogs. Ever. We had two Goldens growing up, Sadie and Charlie, and I adored those dogs. 
So when I got to the house I sat down on the floor and was greeted with licks and lots of tail wagging by little Dug.  Then, all of a sudden, this second little puppy came running up to me. Whaaaaat? I was in heaven.
When Kevin and Jenn were going through the process of getting Dug, they were informed that he had a sister.  Mom and Dad decided to get her, and to keep her a secret until I got up there. Best. Christmas. Ever. 
A couple months later my sister and her husband, Jenn and Darius, also got a Golden, who I got to meet this summer when I came up for a wedding.  So in addition to looking forward to seeing my family, I also am childishly excited to see Ellie, Dug, and Kira when I come home.


This morning I was out throwing the ball for Ellie (who is obsessed with the ball), the sun was shining behind her, perfectly silhouetting her fur, so I grabbed my camera and took some pictures... which inspired this impromptu post.  So here she is, the pretty Ellie girl:

Ok now everyone say awwww =)


We are doing some family pictures this afternoon, dogs included, so I'll most likely have some pictures of Kira and Dug up soon.


Have I mentioned how much I love being home?

iHeart Anthropologie

Anthropologie is amazing.  Need I say more? Probably not... but I'm going to!


I love everything about this store (except the price tags) and on days that I have a little free time, I love driving over to the mall and walking through the store, just to see what they have, and what unique decor designs they have in every month.  Even though I don't actually shop there too often, I try to save up and buy something every once in a while.  But even more valuable than the cute jewelry and beautiful clothes are the IDEAS... oh the ideas.  I've told Andrew that someday when we have a house, we're going to make it Anthro-esque.  There is something so homey, yet elegant about the way they set up all their displays, and the assortment of colors and patterns just make my heart sigh with happiness.  It is very inspiring.


When my sister Jenn was here two weeks ago, we decided to head over to Anthropologie so she could get one of their mugs.  I had my handy iPhone with me, so I took some pictures of the displays.  I'm thinking of making an archive for ideas for that future house.  So without further ado, here is some eye candy from this month:

I love the DIY magazine/ book "rack" on the left

I think Andrew could make this coffee table for me!

DIY kitchen shelves with fun wallpaper!

We could never do this in CA due to the possibility of death by decorations in an earthquake, but I love the look anyway

The cabinet on the right would make a lovely addition to a bathroom

Bath products in wine bottles... so beautiful, and great gift ideas!

Gorgeous room.  The dusty purple and the vintage mirror collage is fabulous.  I also love that green blown glass lamp.

I love the colorful bowls.  My dream is to have a completely eclectic dish collection someday

Old mirrors are awesome

Again, I'm pretty sure I could have Andrew make a coffee table like this.  And I really like the setup of the books and plant

This cabinet is my favorite piece in my local store.  I go and drool over it every time I'm there. I want one!

Check out the lights on the left... awesome DIY project!

Happy sisters hanging out together

Um, yes please.

Ah the colors! Pretty colors!

Judging by all the cabinetry I want in my house, I'm going to need 3 kitchens.

They had this half dome thingie over the "living room" section... it looked really cool!

I think this would be such a fun way to display your own jewelry... just substitute your own photos in there!

So there you have it... the first chapter of my Anthropologie someday-I-want-my-house-to-look-like-this archives.


Happy Saturday everyone!

iHeart Pumpkins {Cream Cheese Muffins}

It finally feels like Fall outside! I am just loving this cool weather, and think that it warrants another recipe post.  I actually made these muffins a few weeks ago, but have been so busy with family in town (yay!) and modeling for Lukas and Suzy Van Dyke's workshop (yay again!) amongst other things, that I'm just now getting to put this up.  


This recipe was inspired by Starbuck's Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, which I look forward to every year.  Here's what you'll need:

{Muffins}
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pure pumpkin (Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin)
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
Chopped pumpkin seeds or walnuts/ pecans (optional)


{Cream Cheese Filling}
8 oz. cream cheese
2 Tbs. powdered sugar
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla


Preheat the oven to 350°
In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla, and put in the fridge while you mix together other ingredients.


In a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients.

Spoon batter into a muffin tin, filling each cup about 1/2 full.

Take your cream cheese mixture out of the fridge, and spoon out about 3 tsp. worth of filling, and place on top of the batter.  Then push the filling about halfway down into the muffin.

I didn't push my filling down far enough on this batch... but you get the idea.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin (don't touch the cream cheese). Let cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then remove and let cool completely.

Serve with coffee and enjoy!

Let me know if you try the recipe, and what you think!

iHeart Pumpkins {Pancakes}

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm nearly obsessed with anything pumpkin.  When the end of summer rolls around, I start dreaming of the crisp weather, scarves, boots, and pumpkin... anything.  Pumpkin pancakes, Starbucks Pumpkin Spice lattes, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pies, carving pumpkins.... I think you probably get the idea. 


Now that it's the "pumpkin season," I've decided to make some of my favorite pumpkin recipes, and to share them here with you!


The first recipe I made was inspired by my breakfast date with Amanda a few weeks ago.  We tried a new place called The Griddle Cafe off of Sunset Blvd.  There were pumpkin pancakes on the menu, so naturally I ordered them.  One word: AMAZING.  It was like dessert for breakfast, and the pancakes were massive, I swear they weighed like 7 pounds.


So, last week I searched the interweb for a recipe that resembled that of The Griddle Cafe.  I came across a blog called Holly Baby (www.hollybaby.com) where they had the actual recipe.  Saturday morning Andrew and I made the pancakes together, and wow they were good!

Ingredients:
2 cups of your favorite dry pancake mix
3 Tbsp dark-brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree (for an easier option ~ use 1 cup of Libby Pumpkin Pie filling, which is already seasoned. Omit the pumpkin pie spice and vanilla if choosing this option)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for the griddle.

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. In another large bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, vanilla extract, and oil. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or large frying pan on medium high. Pour the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook the pancakes until bubbles form in the batter and the edges begin to brown. Then flip them and cook until the other sides are lightly browned.

Top with whipped cream and powdered sugar.

Happy cooking! Let me know if you try the recipe :)  Stay tuned for the next pumpkin recipe: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins...

iHeart Strawberries

Strawberries are one of my favorite foods.  I’m always so happy when summer rolls around and they are on sale at the grocery store.  Even better is when you are able to get freshly picked berries out of the garden.  We had a small strawberry patch in our backyard when I was younger.  I have fond memories of running around and playing in the yard, then popping over to the patch to see if any were ripe.  In my opinion, there isn’t much better flavor in the world than a sun ripened strawberry picked right off the plant. 

Up in Boise, a lot of farmer’s stands go up in the summer to sell extra fruit, and we would often get these huge flats of strawberries.  That meant that mom would make strawberry shortcake and jam, and we would have lots of berries to snack on.  Yum.

Besides being pretty fruit (I love love that deep beautiful red), strawberries are very nutritious (which is a good quality in something that I can sit down and eat a whole lot of, am I right?).   They are high in fiber, low in calories, and one cup of strawberries has 136% of your daily vitamin C.  They also contain manganese, which is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent.  Because they are so packed with vitamins, strawberries are not only good for consumption, but for cosmetic purposes as well!  Did you know that placing the leaves of a strawberry on acne will help the swelling and redness go down by reducing the acidity of the affected area?  It’s true!  Strawberries also contain salicylic acid, which helps to slough of dead skin cells and refine pores.  They also contain powerful anti-aging properties and soften skin.  And you can make an all-natural facemask at home!  The two simplest versions are:

Version #1

5 medium strawberries, mashed

3 tablespoons of raw honey

Mix together and spread over face with clean hands.  Leave on for 10-15 minutes, then wipe off with a warm cloth. 

Version #2

5 medium strawberries, mashed

1 teaspoon raw honey

1 tablespoon plain yogurt

Mix together and spread over face with clean hands.  Leave on for 10-15 minutes, then wipe off with a warm cloth. 

(p.s. this is also a fantastic breakfast, if you forgo the mashing and chop the strawberries instead and add a lot more yogurt. Mix the plain yogurt {greek yogurt is my favorite} with a spoonful of honey then mix in the chopped strawberries with a little granola.  Delicious, and so good for you!)

Tadaaa. Easy right?

Ok. Back to strawberries as food.  One of my all-time favorite recipes is for strawberry muffins.  They are just sooooo good!  Andrew requests these all the time; he loves them too J

What you’ll need:

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 cups flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

3 tsps sugar (preferably raw sugar)

Preheat oven to 400°

Cut Strawberries into small pieces.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.

If you forget to leave out your stick of butter to soften, microwave for about 10 seconds.

Creamed butter and sugar

Nice and smooth once you mix in the egg

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Then, add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter/sugar mixture.  

When finished mixing, the batter should be pretty thick

Add vanilla and gently fold in the strawberries.

Spoon the batter into muffin pan, then sprinkle each muffin with a little raw sugar.

If you don't have one already, go get a large muffin pan!  They're fantastic!

Just a sprinkling of the raw sugar

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let the muffins cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan, they tend to fall apart if you try to take them out too soon.

Delightful Saturday morning breakfast. Serve with coffee!

*Note: all these pictures were taken with my iPhone

So there you have it! Let me know if you try this recipe... or if you have any favorite recipe that use strawberries!