Happy Birthday, Patrick!

Today is Patrick's birthday!

We had a great weekend celebrating with family and friends in Tacoma and Seattle. On Saturday we went with our niece Kenedee, and her parents, Ryan and Kasi, to "Zoo Lights" in Tacoma before his birthday dinner. I had never been before, it's quite the hot spot for holiday festivity! It was awesome to see Kenedee wide-eyed at all the beautiful light displays. After Zoo Lights Kenedee changed out of her warm bear suit into her Christmas outfit for Patrick's party -- I know I'm biased, but isn't she the cutest!?

This year has been such a wonderful one for Patrick what with becoming an uncle and establishing himself in a new career, we have so much to be thankful for.

Here's to the year ahead and all the adventures it will hold. Happy Birthday love! xo.

Holiday Sprinkle Swirl Cookies

My mom saw these "slice and bake" cookies on Pinterest and we decided to give them a shot last weekend. Be warned that they take a while to make (only because they need a bit of refrigeration along the way) but were totally worth it if you want a fun, festive, and tasty holiday sugar cookie.

We chose to make the dough from scratch but it would be very easy to use the Pilsbury sugar cookie dough as well. This would be a really fun recipe to make with kids because it is so colorful and there are some exciting steps involved along the way.

Ingredients
2 cups of flour (or cake flour if you prefer, we didn't have any)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt or less if you prefer
2/3 cup unsifted powdered sugar
2 1/2 sticks butter (cut in smallish chunks)
1 tsp vanilla
Food coloring of your choice 
Holiday sprinkles

1. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars on medium until well blended.

2. Add butter and vanilla extract gradually, and continue mixing. At this point, your dough will begin to form.

3. Divide dough into two parts. Return one portion to the mixer and add the food coloring.  Mix until the color is spread out evenly.

4. Roll out each portions of dough between two sheets a wax paper (this was a great tip!) until it is about 11 x 9 inches and is 1/4 inch thick. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

5. When firm, remove the top sheets of wax paper from both. Brush the uncolored dough lightly with water using a pastry brush. Then flip the colored dough onto the vanilla uncolored dough so they are stacked on top of each other and even. Press the edges lightly with your fingertips to seal them together. Using a knife, trim the edges of the dough to make straight, even lines.

6. Pour out sprinkles onto a dry cookie sheet and set aside. Be sure your dough is still cold, but flexible. Once it's ready, begin rolling the long side of dough into a swirl, jelly-roll style. It's okay if the outer layer of uncolored dough tears a bit, just pinch the tears and keep rolling. 

7. Gently roll the dough log onto the sprinkles until they are entirely covered. Wrap the colorfully decorated log in plastic wrap twice. Depending on when you want to bake the cookies, either place the wrapped dough into refrigerator for about 3-4 hours or you can put it the freezer and keep it there for up to 2 months. (If freezing, give yourself time for the dough to defrost in the fridge overnight before cutting.)

8. Cut dough into 1/4-1/8 inch slices and bake on parchment lined baking sheets at 350 for 15-17 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a cookie rack to finish cooling. Yummy Christmas cookies to enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes and Our Italian Kitchen

Holiday De-Stressing: Facials

As much as I love the holidays, this time of year can be stressful with a calendar full of social gatherings, shopping for gifts, pressure to decorate/bake, and work on top of it all. December is a great month to splurge on a little self-care like a facial or massage to de-stress. 

Have you ever had a facial? I started getting them consistently (once a month) this fall and I have to say it’s an indulgence that I have not regretted. It’s such a relaxing experience and my skin has never felt healthier. I usually have dry patchy spots this time of year with the transition to cooler weather but I've been able to avoid that all together. Facials can be pricey but there are some good deals out there with memberships (what I do) or if you're willing to get one from an aesthatician student.

Another great idea is to do a simple at home facial with supplies you already have around the house. This would be a fun party with girlfriends to get some R&R together!

 (photo)

Our First REAL Tree

How was your weekend? Patrick and I got into the holiday spirit and decorated our new place for Christmas. This is an exciting year for us because it's the first time we've had a REAL Christmas tree! We had a little fake one when we lived in Ireland but this was the first time we went to a festive tree lot and picked out one of our own (a Noble Fir). It's also the first time we've been able to decorate with our own ornaments. Decorating the tree is one of my favorite holiday traditions, I love to put on a fire log and some Christmas music and reminisce about the different ornaments and where they came from.  

This Christmas definitely feels like the start of a new season for us, like we are finally starting to settle in a bit here in Seattle. It's a good feeling to put down roots and establish new traditions as a family. What are your holiday traditions? And I have to ask: real or fake tree??

PS. Rafa was so cute with the tree, he loves sitting on the table staring up at it (and luckily for us he hasn't tried to mess with it yet, like he does everything else).

Holiday Party Makeup: Sparkles Everywhere!

I had a nice chat with my makeup artist sister, Laura, this week and she gave me two great ideas to get a fun, glamorous look for the holidays. Both involve sparkle eye-shadows, which she says are the big thing right now for high-end holiday makeup collections.

1. Pair light sparkle shadows with black liner and bright matte lips.

Laura suggests pairing a subtle black eyeliner with nude or light/subtle sparkles with a bold lip as one great holiday option. The look now is less about big and chunky glitter but more of a dewy, fine shimmer instead. She suggests Channel's new creme gold shadow which almost foils on or Bobbi Brown sparkle shadow. These glitter shadows are best applied with a finger as brushes make the glitter flake and smudge on your face.

If you're bored of the classic red lip for the holidays, she suggests trying one of the seasons go to lip colors such as plums, purples, or magenta's. She recommends either Bobbi Brown's cosmic raspberry, which is a bright magenta (like Emma's above), or Armani liquid matte lipsticks, which come in a really pretty Red Fushia or Fleshy Orange. (She has been sporting the electric orange with basic eye liner, a little black dress and top knot/bun as of late).   

2. Combine smokey sparkle eyes with nude glossy lips.

If you'd prefer to play up your eyes vs. your lips, Laura recommends a glitter enhanced smokey eye with with a glossy nude lip. She likes to use Bobbi Brown black chocolate glitter, blending it up from eye liner. (Check out this tutorial).

Remember, always go with a nude lip when you have dramatic, dark eye makeup. 

PS. If you want to go extra bold, Laura has been using Lancome gold shimmer eyeliner as a thin line above her black liner and gold glitter mascara at the tips of her lashes on top of black mascara!

(Emma and Thandi)

Drink of the Month: Spiced and Spiked Apple Cider

For Jenny's fair trade gift party last night I decided to whip up some yummy spiced (and spiked!) apple cider for the shoppers. I love drinking cider this time of year, and even better with some spiced rum included. I went for a super easy concoction (can't really bring myself to call it a recipe) of Trader Joe's Spiced Apple Cider (made from Washington Apples!), cinnamon sticks, and Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum.  What's not to love about easy, delicious, and festive?

Holiday Gift Guide: Fair Trade

Last night I hosted a little party for friends to come and purchase gifts from Karama and Noonday, two fair trade brands which sell products made by artisans from around the world. Christmas is a great time to put a little extra love in the gifts you're giving. By purchasing fair trade, you're insuring the people who made it are being paid a fair wage for their work and supporting communities all around the world. 

Karama's Knots of Love Necklace might have been my favorite find of the night. (Thanks to Jason for buying it for me for an early birthday present!) It's from Ethiopia and made out of recycled artillery metals by a collective of HIV+ women. I just love the idea that shell casings, the remnants of conflict found in the mountains of northern Ethiopia, can be repurposed into something beautiful. I have it on in the photo above, behind the super cute alligator I'm holding which, clearly, I was really excited about. 

Both brands offer great gifts for friends, moms and sisters: beautiful jewelry, scarves, iPad cover, even the perfect present for the yoga nut in your life. A lot of this looks like it came straight from Anthro. Many of the ladies who came last night were surpised at the quality of products and variety. 

What are some of my other favorite products? Well, ok, just because you asked! 

I love Noonday's Stacked Arrows Necklace. The Knitted Bangle (on my wrist in the alligator photo above) is made from alpaca yarn knitted around a gourd, crazy! The Baby Alpaca Striped Blanket look so cozy and the Handmade Stationary (above) is beautifully created by 6 women in the slums of Jaipur, India. Noonday also offers Sseko Sandals, which we love!

Karama's Papa Owl (above) would make an adorable gift for a child. Love these earrings. Their fabric covered notebooks are a perfect stocking stuffer for most anyone. The Maisha Scarf is currently around my neck and not coming off anytime soon. 

All of the products are available online and will ship in time for Christmas! Check out karamagifts.com and noondaycollection.com.

Happy shopping! 

PS. Our visit to a fair trade soapstone co-op in Kenya last year. 

Holiday LBD Roundup

It's time to break out the classic little black dress for the holiday season! I know it's cliche, but black dresses really are my favorite, I own too many of them.  And yet I still want the sequin one below from Madewell! Which is your favorite style?

Flapper Style from H&M

Crushed Velvet from Top Shop

Petite Peplum from Nordstrom

Sexy slit back from Forever 21

Sequins from Madewell

Mesh Lace from Free People

Holiday Cards from Iron Curtain Press

Our friend Rosanna of the Iron Curtain Press has yet again come up with some wonderful letterpress holiday cards. AND she's offering 10% off in her Etsy shop to our readers with the code: TTWWB. Here are a few of my favorites:

Holiday Planning Tool: Doodle

This week we are excited to feature a few posts about hosting and attending holiday parties...'tis the season! Yesterday we got started with the planning for our annual college roommate holiday slumber party reunion, which Jenny has hosted every year since we graduated college. As we were looking to schedule the party, she suggested that we use Doodle to get a consensus on the best date. Have you used it before? I had thought of it as a great work tool for scheduling meetings but around the holidays it's great for coordinating get togethers as well! All you do is enter the potential dates and times of your meeting or gathering and then send the link to everyone you want to invite so they can list their availability. It's simple, clean and super easy.

(White Christmas image)

Go-to Appetizer: Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates

This time of year, when we start attending a lot of family gatherings and hosting holiday get togethers, I like to have a couple of go-to appetizer recipes in my back pocket that are delicious but easy. My favorite from this year are simple goat-cheese stuffed dates. All you do is slit open fresh dates, stuff with high-quality goat cheese, bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes (or until toasty) and top with balsamic vinaigrette  Wah-la!

What are your go-to recipes for the holidays? We'd love to hear in the comments!

Pinterest ups its game!

Have you ever wanted to pin something but didn't because you didn't want to share it with everyone? Pinterest has finally taken the hint and is adding private boards just in time for you to pin to gift boards for holiday shopping. Check out how to do it here. 

Personally, I'm interested to see how this changes what my friends are pinning. Looking at other people's pins is a window into people's personal style, eating habits and even their future dreams in the case of all of the "When I Get Married," "Future Children," "Dream House," and "Bucket List" travel boards out there. Seeing what people aspire to have and do has been one of my favorite things about Pinterest. 

We will still be publicly pinning lots of great things. Do you follow us?

Vintage Halloween Decor

I ran across some ideas for vintage Halloween decor over at Apartment Therapy and was inspired by  the cute and unique stuff available on Etsy and other sites. I've yet to do any decorating at our new place, but obviously love cat inspired Halloween decorations. :) What do you think? 

(paper cut-outs, masks, iron cat, paper dolls, tall cut-outs, cat, print, cat mask, )

Halloween Costumes

I've been scouring the internet investigating the cutest Halloween outfit for my nearly six month old niece and came across the most (inadvertently?) hilarious costumes!

"Sexy" Spins for the Ladies:


Sexy Raccoon: this cracks me up! Is it just me or are raccoons scary and rodent-like, not sexy getup?

Sexy Gnome Costume: Again...are gnomes sexy?? This one is cheeky though.

Sexy "Rosie the Maid" Costume...wasn't Rosie a plump middle-aged robot housekeeper on the Jetsons? Awesome purse.
















Hilarious "Little Artists" Costume Ideas from Oh Happy Day
How adorable are these kids? 

And possibly the cutest costume EVER:

Where's Waldo Dog!

Happy International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day to you!

10 great ways to celebrate the day

History of the day with great art and historical photos

TED Talks by some women I admire: Caroline Casey, JK Rowling, Sheryl Sandberg, Sheryl WuDunn, Elizabeth Gilbert, Madeline Albright, Isabel Allende

And a poem for you from Maya Angelou:

Phenomenal Woman

BY MAYA ANGELOU

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,   

The stride of my step,   

The curl of my lips.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,   

That’s me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,   

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.   

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.   

I say,

It’s the fire in my eyes,   

And the flash of my teeth,   

The swing in my waist,   

And the joy in my feet.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered   

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can’t touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,   

They say they still can’t see.   

I say,

It’s in the arch of my back,   

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.   

I don’t shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.   

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It’s in the click of my heels,   

The bend of my hair,   

the palm of my hand,   

The need for my care.   

’Cause I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Valentines Day- An Excuse to Do What You Love!

I've never really been a huge fan of Valentines Day itself, but I really do love any reason to bring some joy and excitement to the dreary month of February. Last year, since Jason was shooting in India, a girlfriend and I put together a fun day of activities. We started off in the studio audience of a local TV show, watching friends perform. Totally random, I know, but actually really fun and interesting to see what goes into a live broadcast. AND, added bonus, everyone there got a couple's Snuggie! We spent the rest of the day eating at two of our favorite restaurants, painting pottery, watching movies and eating sweets. 

The audience was forced to wear the Snuggies and cheer loudly.

 I was thankful to have a seat in back.

This year, thanks to Pinterest, I'd found great ideas for all things red, pink, chocolate and heart shaped and was getting excited to create and bake. Then, I was stricken with some sort of crazy debilitating death-flu right after I got back from Kenya last week and those plans went out the window. No one wants me to make them parasite filled bon bons, and I don't have the energy to anyway. I'm finally feeling better and will be spending the evening with Teresa, doing whatever we feel like, and that's what Valentine's day should be about. Doing whatever you love to do with people that you care about. 


PS. Looking for a great romantic movie? Check out my post on Two for the Road. It is one of my favorites!

V-Day Gift Ideas for Her.

Bringing Sexy Back dress from FP

Perfume and Arrow Ring set from OdetteNY

Love note in a Cat card.

Dinner reservations at Tom Douglas' Dahlia Lounge

NY Review Book Book of the Month Club

Red Hot Love glassybaby

Flowers @ work! Martha E. Harris is a great choice in Seattle.