As part of my 26 before 26 list, I wanted to try a new recipe every month for the next year!

I have so many recipes pinned on my Pinterest boards, and yet I still end up making the same things over and over again. Being in a food rut is such a hard thing to get out of, so I'm hoping that I will find some new favorites to add to my repertoire!

I tend to cook with chicken a lot, so I decided to make this first month a little easier by picking a chicken dish. This one is anything but typical though, and it was so full of flavor!

It's called chicken with honey-beer sauce, and what really drew me in (besides the beer...and the shallots) was the fact that the sauce also includes mustard!


I am a huge, HUGE mustard fan! So any recipe that incorporates that is a winner in my book.

Dane and I both really enjoyed this dish, and I think it has made it onto the roster!

So if you're looking for a way to jazz up your chicken, I recommend trying out this recipe. Check it out over at So How's It Taste? and give it a whirl :)


Thanks for stopping by!

This afternoon, you may have noticed that the blog looks a little different!

I was so tired of how it looked, and I've been in the process of re-desgning my logo and brand all summer. With other projects, house renovations, and work, it's been a slow one! So, I decided to go ahead and make some of the changes now that were a little easier to do, and when I do get my new logo done,  I will update my header here on the blog :)

Also, I made my August recipe of the month last week, as part of my 26 before 26 list! So I should be sharing that later this week. It was a good one!


Reading- About some of the cutest little doggies over at Wit & Whistle, and highlights from the NYNOW Stationary Show over at Oh So Beautiful Paper! Such great inspiration :)

Drinking- Water! So, so much water!

Listening- Nothing really this week. I keep thinking I should put on A Fine Frenzy though! Her music always makes me think of fall :)

Loving- This sweater from Target! I've been (over) wearing it so much lately, but it's definitely my new favorite! I bought it in green, but they have it in several colors and I want to go buy another one. Also, the fact that we started tilling up our backyard this week! We should get to plant in a couple of weeks, which will be super awesome! It's been a weed patch all summer, and having actual grass will be nice.

I just recently remembered another invitation project I got the privilege of designing a couple of months ago, and I had intended on sharing them sooner!

Better late than never though, I always say ;)

These were a fun one for me, in part because they were such a challenge!


My friend Amber contacted me to design these invites for her best friend's bridal shower, and since it was at a pizzeria, she wanted the theme to be Italian. I'll be honest, when I think of Italian, I don't think of bridal shower, but she was picturing a cute little bistro with red checkered table clothes, and so I went from there!

After some Pinterest searches for inspiration, I felt like I got it nailed down, and I was very happy with how they turned out!

Sometimes it's nice to get outside of your comfort zone once in a while!



I really like when an invitation has an interesting background, whether it's a color, print, or pattern, so I wanted to incorporate the red checkers all the way onto the back. It's just a nice point of interest that can give an invite that little extra something!

These were a fun one for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what other kinds of requests I might get to push me a little bit.

Do you ever get satisfaction from a project that took you out of your comfort zone? Or is it just me? Let me know! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

The last couple weeks have been a blur of slump-y-ness for me. (Yes, I know that's not a real word, haha!)

Every afternoon it seems I am sluggish and tired. I've been getting head aches, and just feeling blah.
I decided that it's because I'm in almost the worst shape of my life! It's been years since I have been this inactive, and it's taking it's toll.

With so much going on with the house and work, I've been too busy to make too much of an effort in the working out department. So, I'm making it a goal to start walking more, and utilizing my gym membership (oops!).

But, my gym doesn't offer one thing that I really used to love doing, and that's yoga!

I got started with a very cool yoga program on Youtube from Yoga with Adriene a few months ago (recommended by my awesome s-i-l Emily! Hi Emily!), and then life got busy. So I have just started back in and it is just the boost I needed!

So now when I get into my afternoon slump, I just get in my yoga session and I feel much better!

She has a Thirty Days of Yoga program that is a great place to start for anyone wanting to get into it as well :)

I also decided to give a leeetle bit more structure to these afternoon session posts of mine, like I used to back in the day, so here goes!


Reading- Lots of blog posts! (That's all I read these days ;) ) Gorgeous floral sketches from Shannon Kirsten, Emma Chapman's house buying story over at A Beautiful Mess (which I totally understand, since we just went through the whole process ourselves!) and all things branding related from Elle & Co. Also, I can't forget to shout out to my friend Toni and her new blog, Home Sweetly Home! She posts a lot of great recipes and tips (plus beautiful pictures of her house!) so you should definitely check it out!

Drinking- Iced lattes. Yum! And La Croix, to try to break my diet soda habit!

Listening- To Lullatone. I heard of them from Amanda at Wit & Whistle (she uses their songs in her videos!), and they are so relaxing!

Loving- That the weather is cooling down. Fall is on it's way, I can feel it! I've already been busting out my sweaters! Also, those little succulents pictured above that I bought for my kitchen! I may move some of them to my office, but until it's a little more organized, they'll stay put. And can I let you in on a dirty little secret?.....They're fake! I bought them at hobby lobby because, you know, brown thumb and all.

What have your afternoons consisted of lately? Do you ever get into slumps, and what do you do to perk yourself up? Let me know! I'd love to hear :)

Thanks for stopping by!

A couple months ago I had the pleasure of doing some adorable baby shower invitations!

A friend of mine reached out for me to design the shower invitations for her best friend and the little girl she is having soon.

The theme was gold and coral, which is such a gorgeous, feminine choice and just perfect for a baby girl! I love pretty much all things gold, so I was very excited about that.

I was even asked to calligraph the envelopes which was very cool. I hadn't ever done that for someone else (only my own personal projects), so it was a great experience, and I enjoyed the practice! I may even list it as an add on option in the shop soon for future potential orders.

I love doing invitations so hopefully you will be seeing more of them featured here in the future!

Thanks for stopping by!

No this isn't a post about brushing your teeth, but that's what I thought of as soon as I wrote that post title! This afternoon session focus is on brush lettering!

This week I've been practicing a lot with my water colors and trying to get a handle on this whole brush letter thing. I just love the look of it, and I've been wanting to incorporate it a lot more into some of my new designs

I feel like I am making some progress, and it's feeling more natural all the time! I'm by no means anywhere close to where I want to be though, so more practice, here I come.

I think I'm going to need more paper though...

Here's a few shots of my progress (some of you may have seen some of them on instagram!).




I'm having a lot of fun with this, and hopefully I will be adding some new stuff to the shop soon!

I'm also gearing up for tomorrow night. We're going to be seeing Brandi Carlile and Iron and Wine in concert! Brandi has been one of my favorites for a long time, and this will be the fourth time I've seen her in concert. Plus, she has a penchant for touring with some of Dane's favorite singers (a few years ago we saw her with Ray LaMontagne) and he has been wanting to see I&W for a long time.

It's the first concert of the summer for us, and we're pretty excited!

Now I have to go, because this afternoon also includes my oven getting repaired. I've been without it for two and a half weeks, and I'm so ready to have it fixed!

Thanks for stopping by!

It's been a while since I've been able to totally decorate a room from scratch, so I'm pretty excited!

That's all I'm up to this afternoon, how about you? Anything fun, new, or exciting taking up your afternoons currently? Let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!