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, )

Wedding Wednesday: These Are a Few of My Favorite Rings...

What's you'r ring style?

I rarely wear my diamond engagement ring these days.  I've taken to wearing a lot of gold jewelry so for our fifth anniversary, Jason got me this and I've gotten so many complements on it.

I started off to write a post about engagement ring ideas and it sort of snowballed into a new board on Pinterest. Do you follow us?

Whether you're in the market for an engagement ring or something else, check out our new board Rings & Things!

It includes a collection of our favorite wedding bands for him and her, anniversary rings and of course engagement rings, both traditional and not.

PS. If you're in the market for a diamond engagement ring, I'd encourage you to look into conflict free diamonds.  

A Proud Sister

Every now and then I ask you to indulge me in a little bragging about someone I love. Today is one of those days.

Last night at midnight my little brother and his music partner, Macklemore, released their debut album, The Heist, after three long years of very hard work.  Because they are independent artists, they do every piece of the work themselves, from the production of the beats and lyrics to the directing of their videos to the management of their tours and shipping of 10,000 CD's. They are at the studio seven days a week, working long days and sacrificing all else for the sake of their passion. The team has given their everything to this music and were able to produce something beautiful in their new album.

This alone is enough to make a sister extremely proud.

But on top of all that, his album is #1 on the iTunes charts today. He and the team made something relevant that resonates with people not just in this country but around the world.

Ryan, you inspire me. Enjoy this wonderful moment, you earned it.

"Discovering" Wonderful Foods

Happy day after Columbus Day!

Yesterday afternoon, quite possibly due to lack of sleep, I found myself pondering Columbus and his "discovery" of America, a land that had been inhabited by people for centuries and oh ya, the Vikings had already made it here too.

Columbus got me thinking about all the things I've "discovered" (which, if we're going by Columbus' definition, seems to mean that you were the first of all of your friends to find something).  While none of these things are quite as big as America, here are a few of my favorite "discoveries." I've decided to keep this food related, since Columbus was searching for a new spice route after all.

Beechers Flagship The best cheese in the world. I promise. It's good on EVERYTHING. The day I discovered this cheese is sold in bulk at Costco was glorious and deserving of it's own holiday.

Jaques Torres' chocolate chip cookie recipe This was featured in the New York Times few years back. Yes, I "discovered" this one by being smart and reading a newspaper.

Fisher's Fair Scone Mix  If you've been to a fair in Washington, you know how amazing these are. I was thrilled to find that a mix is available in grocery stores so I can eat them year round!

The Cravings Place Brownie Mix I "discovered" this one by having dinner at a friend's house. These brownies are really good and also vegan (therefore dairy free) and gluten free! The perfect thing to serve when you have friends with dietary constraints. The best part, your friends who are used to normal brownies won't even guess that these are different.

The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook The lasagna in here is one of my go to recipes, something that is super easy but get tons of complements. Everything else I've made has been wonderful as well. This book also makes a GREAT gift for wedding showers.

A Scandinavian Bed

When Patrick and I lived in Dublin and traveled around Europe we found it was common to have two twin size duvets on a larger bed. I've mentioned that we are fitful sleepers so we loved having our own blankets but still getting to sleep in the same bed.

Our new place has a big master bedroom so we finally took the plunge and bought a king size bed! Now that I'm in the market for new bedding I'm thinking of "going Scandinavian" and doing two comforters with a blanket covering them at the end. What do you think, too weird or genius idea?

(all photos via Apartment Therapy)

Monday Motivation

I recently discovered Lyrics 2 Live By via Pinterest. These are a few of the ones that speak to me right now. Enjoy!

 

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! I'm excited for another weekend of blue skies here in Seattle. A sunny wedding and some sunny photo shoots are in my near future. Here are some fun links from around the web to start your weekend off right.

Hilarious post from The Everywhereist about finding your bad side in photos.

First Listen to the new Macklemore & Ryan Lewis album, The Heist.

Pretty Cocktail Ring

Goop teams up with Birchbox, will you be getting one?

Great bra from H&M. Show some lace with an open backed shirt.

The style evolution of Gwen Stefani. Who else thought she was soooooo cool way back in the day?

Ginger Cinnamon Caramels. Mmmmmmmm.

Craigslist Tips. Possibly useful for someone who's moving next week? TERESA.

Image via National Geographic's Animal Pair gallery. If you check it out, I promise you'll be stuck there for awhile looking at the cuteness.