mimosa brunch

On Saturday we hosted 18 people at our home for a mimosa brunch before going to the Garlic Festival. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and it’s even better with mimosas. After scouring pinterest for ideas to create a mimosa bar, I decided on French soda in several different flavors (I love the bottles they came in and plan on using them at my next get together), Cupcake champagne, and fresh berries to garnish. I found the skull vases at Ross for $4 and orange solo cups at Target. I made strawberry ice-box cake (found here), challah French toast (found here), and blackberry cobbler (recipe coming soon!). And how cute is baby Cash? 

challah french toast

On Friday’s post (seen here) I mentioned that I was going to make the best French toast ever. It’s so good, you could eat it without butter and syrup, and it would still taste amazing. My mom got this recipe from the fabulous Ina Garten, and it has since become a staple on our Saturday mornings. The secret to this recipe is using challah bread (pronounced HAH-lah). I drove to four different grocery stores looking for this bread and finally found it at Trader Joe’s. The challah bread is the deal breaker in this recipe, so make sure to use it. The French toast turns out soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Ingredients

6 extra-large eggs

1 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon good honey

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large loaf challah or brioche bread

Unsalted butter

Vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, orange zest, vanilla, honey, and salt. Slice the challah in 3/4-inch thick slices. Soak as many slices in the egg mixture as possible for 5 minutes, turning once.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a very large saute pan over medium heat. Add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Place the cooked French toast on a sheet pan and keep it warm in the oven. Fry the remaining soaked bread slices, adding butter and oil as needed, until it's all cooked. Serve hot with maple syrup, raspberry preserves, and/or confectioners' sugar. 

Recipe via

mimosa bar

This weekend is the 34^th annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. And as a new “Gilronian” in town, I feel it is my duty to host a pre-party for this exciting event. It’s also a great excuse to make the most amazing French toast ever and have a mimosa bar ;)

My friend, Dionna (the writer and cook behind the food blog Le Fork ), gave me the idea to have a mimosa bar via a pinned picture on pinterest. Then I became obsessed with having my very own mimosa bar. I plan on taking ideas from each of these pictures to make it my very own. I’m thinking stripped straws, plastic champagne glasses, fresh fruit and juice, and of course, lots of bubbly. 

all pictures via

deals and steals: theory dress

I have a girl’s weekend reunion coming up, and I am so excited. A couple of my girlfriends and I are meeting up in San Luis Obispo for a weekend full of reminiscing, catching up, and drinking lots of wine. So I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect outfit to take me from day to night in SLO. Recently, I discovered the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet in Gilroy. Let’s just say I’ve died and gone to heaven.  They have every designer you can think of at surreal prices. I found this Theory dress on the clearance rack. It was regular $285, but I paid $35 for it! I plan on wearing it with sandals during the day and my nude Tory Burch heels at night.

PS this is my first outfit post! It was completely nerve racking taking pictures of myself (hence the no head shots). Hopefully they will get better with time and practice!

Theory dress / Tory Burch heels / Tigerlily necklace

before & after: succulent planter

If you haven’t heard, my mother is Martha Stewart’s twin sister. Seriously. My mom is an amazing cook, decorator and gardener. My dad recently built her a greenhouse (seen here), and she has been growing and propagating plants like a mad woman. For Easter, she gave us a beautiful planter full of succulents. They say (whoever “they” is) that succulents are easy to care for and hard to kill. Well I must be the one exception because I totally killed mine. I told my mom that I was keeping it in a dark corner. She proceeded to tell me that is a big no-no with succulents. They prefer bright light, like in a south-facing window.  So my mom gave me some more succulents to give it a second try. And can you believe I only needed three plants to fill up that planter? Crazy town. 

inspiration {grey walls}

 

all pictures via

before & after: belt organization

I’ve been obsessed with belts since I worked at Banana Republic. I would wait until their belts went on major clearance, and then used my discount to get them for $10 or less. Since I kept these belts in a basket they would inevitably get tangled in a mess.  So this weekend when Ryan built shelves for the hall and bedroom closets (pictures to come soon), I had an idea of how to organize these belts. I bought this Dr. Pepper bottle holder last year at a flea market (for $10), and it’s been sitting in the closet ever since. It’s the perfect size to hold each belt in it’s own compartment. I was even able to sneak a few sandals in there too.

PS - Yay Team Jef! :)

baked sweet potato fries

Happy, happy Friday! Is it just me, or did this week go by so slow? Maybe it’s because we have so many fun things planned for this weekend. I’m especially excited to see Alan Jackson! I’ve loved his music since I was a little girl. His songs remind me of when my brother and I would go swimming and listen to the radio during summer vacation.

And Saturday is my cheat day. Woo hoo! In case you haven’t heard (or read) I’m on a clean diet for the next few weeks. It’s all part of a competition my boot camp is having to see who can loose the most body fat. But on Saturday’s, I get to eat whatever the heck I want (if I didn’t have a cheat day, I don’t think I could survive this plan!).

So I’ve been trying to figure out ways to make the food I eat the other six days of the week more interesting. One thing that I eat everyday is sweet potatoes. The first couple of weeks I was just warming them up in the microwave and eating them plain. Can you say blah? Then I found this recipe (found here) for baked sweet potato fries. They are so good!! I skip the brown sugar and just use salt, pepper, and a little olive oil to give them a nice crunch. And I’ve been letting them cook a little longer, until the edges are almost burnt. I love them so much, I think I might eat them on my cheat day!

deals and steals: j.crew sale

Did any of you take advantage of the recent huge j.crew sale?  I sure did. Over the past three days j.crew has had an additional 40% off all sale items. They usually have 25% or 30% off all sale items, hardly ever 40%. Needless to say, I took advantage. I bought a long maxi dress that I have been lusting over for months. I couldn’t justify paying the $98 price tag, but for $22 on sale, it was mine.

And on a whim, I bought these beautiful, patent leather, leopard, peep-toe pumps. At just over 2 ½ inches, they are perfect heels for work. Too bad (or not so bad) I don’t have to dress in business-casual at work. But I have lusted over these shoes for years.  They are a classic staple in any woman’s closet. Every year I see them styled in their catalog, retailing for $228. So when I saw them on sale for $48, I quickly added them to my shopping cart. I made a promise to myself that I will wear them casually with rolled boyfriend jeans, a casual blouse and statement necklace. 

deals and steals: moroccan poufs

When Ryan and I decided we were going to Spain my first thought was, “We have to go to Morocco so I can get a Moroccan pouf!” We ended up going to London and France instead, but I was determined to find a pouf on our trip. Especially since cities like Sevilla and Granada were heavily influenced by Moorish design.

I almost had a heart attack in Madrid when I found my first pouf: it was small, with brown and white leather and gold embellishments. It was a whopping 18 euro, or $23 US dollars. Score!

My second near heart attack occurred in Granada in a small shop off a random side street. Let me tell you, I was so glad we wondered down that side street. That’s where I found the most amazing blue and brown leather Moroccan pouf. I had to have her for 30 euros, or $39 US dollars. I also had to buy a new suitcase so I could bring all of my finds home.

I explained to Ryan that back in the US, these poufs sell for $200-$500. His first reaction was, “Well then buy them all and sell them on eBay for quadruple the price.” He’s such a businessman ;)

Well it looks like somebody already stole that great idea and took it to the flash sale home décor site Joss and Main {leave a comment with your email if you want me to send you an invite to this awesome site!}. My jaw dropped when I saw what they were selling the exact same poufs for…$129 and $69?! And that was the sale price! Did I hit the jackpot in Spain or what!?

A snapshot from the Joss and Main website. I couldn't belive my eyes!!

skinny garlic fried rice {with shrimp}

Lately I’ve been looking for recipes that are high in lean protein, vegetables, complex carbs and tastes good. And let me tell ya, they aren’t very easy to come by. Thankfully, Lindsay over at Pinch Of Yum created this recipe for skinny garlic fried rice.  It’s a really clean meal with no sugars or starchy carbs. Plus, it’s super easy and fast to make. {In her version, she doesn’t use any lean protein, so I added shrimp to mine.}

Here's a tip: I use Sciabica's garlic olive oil to give the recipe more flavor. It seriously makes a huge difference. And don't skimp on the cabbage. It adds a really nice crunch to the dish.