I HEART Thursdays - In The Kitchen

Few things please me as much as stepping into our kitchen and whipping up something delicious. Admittedly, that something is usually something sweet. I prefer my food healthy and my sweets SWEET. Its my own little way of justification. If I eat pretty healthy most of the time, then I can hoard the elaborate desserts!! Case in point: I made these delicious little morsels last night, Halfway Cookies.

 (image source: the kitchn)

Intrigued?? Check out the recipe over at The Kitchn. Mine didn't turn out exactly as I had planned, but I refuse to give up. It just means I will have to make them again to master them ;)

I definitely find cooking therapeutic. There is something soothing about coming home after a hectic day and creating something to feed my loved ones. Weeknight cooking is a bit less...creative, with hungry faces staring up at me. But I do usually manage to carve out some time over the weekend to channel my inner Julia Child.

Spending all this time in the kitchen has me craving cute and useful gadgets and tools to outfit my space.

I'd have to start by donning this sweet apron. 

Wouldn't want to mess up my duds. 

 

With these amazingly adorable bowls I'm sure to bake up something sweet.

I'll gather up all my ingredients and be sure to have these around for good measure.

I'll keep a close eye on things 

and be sure not to flip out

(source: spatula and coffee scoop below)

 

But I might get parched midway

 and have to go for a tall glass cooled down with some super cute ice cubes,

 

or perhaps I'd prefer a frothy, hot cappuccino

to help wash down the goodies

(image source: flickr)

What's your favorite thing to whip up in the kitchen?

XO,

Chelsea

juxtapositional

I'm a girl who loves juxtaposition. I prefer my tough with some precious, sultry with some tame, salty with my sweet, and some florals with my stripes.

Truth be told, this outfit was actually something from last month's archives. I've spent most of my time recently posting about anything but my outfits. Sometimes a little change is good but I'm pinky swearing to get back on schedule about everything. Next week...

Taking snaps this day made me feel like I had my own wind machine following me around. Perfect for hair whipping moments.

And a few pretty hilarious out-takes as well.  I'll have to save those for another day. Perhaps an out-takes post. Just so things never manage to get too serious around here!

What's your favorite juxtaposition?

XO,

Chelsea

sweet surprises

Who doesn't love surprises?

While I was busily making dinner tonight, the little pips spent the early evening popping in and out of the house. Always full of questions, always full of energy. They both tried to steal all the carrots for my Moroccan carrot and chickpea quinoa salad, and I spent a good amount of time spelling out words for Sutter's thank you card to his GG (great grandma). I finally managed to get a few minutes of quiet time in the kitchen. Whew!

Then I went outside to join Harper in checking on these newly planted babies

and that's when I found this sweet little surprise

And then I was reminded of a sweet surprise gift from a friend,

a surprise chance at playing captain,

and a surprisingly still moment of sweetness,

Sometimes you just have to shoo everyone out of the kitchen long enough and you'll remember all the little sweet surprises that make up life.

What's your favorite surprise?

XO,

Chelsea

fancy fridays - hello summer!!

Well, around SoCal, spring usually brings some summer-like temperatures, along with May Gray and June Gloom...its sort of a schizophrenic time as far as the weather is concerned. We've already had a few hot streaks. But I never feel quite in the summer spirit until Memorial Day rolls around. I know its not even really "officially" summer until June, but the onset of Memorial Day is the reality check that bikini(eek!!) and BBQ season have finally arrived!!

We've already had our fair share of BBQs this spring - Carl even whipped up his own BBQ sauce to dress up our drumsticks last weekend. However, I've been feeling less than thrilled about the actual "bikini season" part of things. Not to mention the impending trip to Norway (meeting his family - yikes!) which has put me in healthy-eating and workout mode.

With a good deal of our friends out of town, it means no prior commitments or the tempation of last-minute soirees that we're quite fond of hosting. I'm looking forward to a weekend of hanging out, chilling out, working out and cleaning out our very messy office and possibly the garage. I have high hopes, I know!! It sounds lofty but I'll be happy if I manage to spend some time snuggling my loves and working on some crafty projects I've had lurking around the house.

Prospects for the weekend that I'm most excited about:

A sunset cruise aboard the Double Dolphin with both the kiddos in tow. Sunsets in Santa Barbara are among my favorite things to experience.

A trip to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning is definitely in order. Its the perfect thing to inspire my clean eating, pick up some cilantro and tomatoes to plant, and pick up some picnic goodies. 

With our Farmer's Market goodies in hand, I'm hoping to head over to the Mission to check out the I Madonnari offerings...

 and settle in for at picnic in the famous Mission rose garden.

And that's just between now and Saturday!

I'm also super psyched to try out Brandi over at Mucho Mucho Bueno Bueno's awesome t-short tutorial,
 another T-shirt redo into a pretty dress for Harper,

and something I always mean to do but never get around to...

give myself a pretty manicure!! Although I'm positive mine won't be nearly as elaborate and pretty as these. I'm happy if most of the polish ends up on my nails and not everywhere else. And I promised one very sweet little girl some polished toes too! She got her very first "pedicure" at preschool the other day and now she's pretty much obsessed. There are the cutest pictures up ate her school of her with her little feet in the tub and getting her little toes polished! I just love that sweet little girl!!

And my one last goal for the weekend - buy the stinkin' Tracy Anderson videos already. Kassi and I have been chatting it up about these and I finally need to just do it already (and hope my honey fixes the projector so I have something to watch them on)!!

What are your plans for the long weekend??

XO,

Chelsea

two things...a day late

So it appears I've been quite behind on my blogging and reading! My Google Reader shows 1000+ unread - yikes! A very busy last week and family in town has somewhat prevented me from being on top of the extraneous tasks in my life, but the upcoming 3-day weekend is all I need to get back in the groove!

Lately, I've been joining in Kassi's Two Things Tuesdays and decided that I'd stay on that...even if its a day late!

Right now, I'm absolutely loving having these peonies around the house. They are so huge and have a very faint sweet smell that I find intoxicating. They are literally about the size of dinner plates - just gorgeous!

Consider a strange thing to be loving, but I am so thrilled about this mortar and pestle I picked up yesterday. Carl and I have been discussing how badly we need one and I happened upon one at Sur La Table yesterday and couldn't help wrapping it up and bringing home to my sweetie. We've been pretty geeked out on cooking and kitchen gadgets, so this is the perfect thing to add to our almost perfectly outfitted kitchen.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! 

What are you loving? 

Leave it in my comments, or grab the McLinky and link up!

XO,

Chelsea

wardrobe wednesday - going tribal

A jam packed weekend, a work week that started with a sick day (curse you neckache and migraine!) and a busier than usual schedule at work have sapped me of my ability to really post anything this week. Ooops. I'm sure you'll all live though...

A recently acquired tribal meets 80s geometric print romper has me noticing the tribal trend everywhere.Its a fun summery option that is easy to incorporate into your basics wardrobe. I'm loving the juxtaposition of it mixed with some of the military styles that are out there right now too.

I'm absolutely in love with this dress from Ruche. And thrilled they finally got it back in stock in my size!

Thinking its the perfect thing for my upcoming Norwegian holiday...

I am totally in love with these shoes and wondering if they might be just the ticket to cash in my Mother's Day gift from my sweet little family. So cute with anything!!

Although...these embroidered wedges from Anthropologie kinda rock my world too

And since we're already talking about Anthro, I might as well go ahead and mention this bag

And I'm in love with this bright scarf for dressing up any LBD

And a little something to make you feel like a modern-day Pocahontas

Now, quick, hide my wallet! 

What are you craving for summer?

XO,

Chelsea

the most turquoise water I ever did see

I have never been to the Caribbean. Or Hawaii. Or St. Tropez. I did a banzai drive down from Paris to catch a small peak of the Mediterranean Sea and must say I found it rather uninspiring.

That said, I found Cozumel to have the most beautiful colored water I have ever laid eyes on.

A rather rocky night at sea, the post-party effects of the day after Formal Night, and a particularly crowded and stuffy wait to get off the boat made for a rough start to our day trip in Cozumel. One glance at that crystal blue water though and I was cured.

Strangely, we departed the cruise ship, walked the length of the dock and then boarded another boat to the mainland so we could board our Jeeps, hit the beach for some mexican food and then venture into a cave filled with stalagmites and stalactites and the most amazing cavern pool. It feels a little strange to get off a giant boat and then immediately jump on a ferry.

yup, a Starbucks, right in the middle of Playa del Carmen. And right across from a Lacoste, Johnny Rockets, Mango and some other seemingly out-of-place shops.

(beach photo credits: Carl, nice work honey!)

Swimming in the caverns was definitely the highlight of this day. I'm sad that we didn't get better pictures of it. But it was dark and wet; we were in a cave after all.

I have a serious case of the Fridays today. Got to work extra early today so I could hurry on out of here and go enjoy some camping at one of my favorite spots - Jalama Beach. Kassi can back me up when I say that Jalama is awesome and I can't wait to enjoy a Jalama Burger. Its pretty rare that I eat a hamburger, but its a treat worth having when I go there. Can't wait to cuddle with the little ones next to the campfire and sink my toes in the sand!!

Happy Friday to all!

What are your weekend plans?

XO,

Chelsea