Christen Maxwell

One thing I love about reading so many blogs is finding out about so many NEW brands to me. It's so fun, don't you think? When catching up on posts from La Dolce Vita, Paloma was recapping her finds at the New York Gift Show and had some pictures showcasing all the great goodies over at Christen Maxell...

I'm loving their zipper pouch like bags to store all sorts of things. These would be great in your work tote to group together smaller items like lip glosses or pens, or you could use it to corral chargers and such when traveling and you could even take it out as a clutch! You gotta love a multi useful item.

Anthracite Etoile Jane Zippy 

Sprinkle Mania

Who doesn't love a Funfetti dessert? I mean come ON how can you not love anything with colored sprinkles in it...

I made these cookies for some sweet teacher friends of mine who started back to school this week and they didn't disappoint! So hurry up and bake these for the teachers in your life...or yourself! :)

Funfetti Cookies via Tasty Kitchen Blog

Funfetti Cookies from Tasty Kitchen Blog

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Cream the butter and sugar in your stand mixer (or hand mixer) for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. Add the vanilla, almond, and egg. Beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, cornstarch, soda, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and continue on low speed until it’s all added and combined. Mix in the sprinkles (don’t overmix or the sprinkles will start to bleed into the dough).

Roll cookie dough into small balls and place onto cookie sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart (fits 12 cookies per sheet). Bake for about 15 minutes. (Note: Only bake until they very slightly start to turn light golden brown just on the edges. You don’t want them to totally turn golden or they’ll be crisp cookies. Check them around 10 minutes, then 12, and so on.)

Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter, Room Temperature
• 1-¼ cup Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
• 1 whole Egg
• 2-½ cups Flour
• ¼ cups Cornstarch
• ¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½-1 cups Rainbow Jimmie Sprinkles (Use as much as you want!)

Sister Spotlight

I have a fabulous risotto recipe for you all today courtesy of my best friend and sister, Claire. Claire is getting married in LESS than three months and we just celebrated her bachelorette weekend in Arrowhead, CO. Sweet Claire cooked all us girls dinner the last night of our trip to say thank you.

She made this killer risotto and it was the hit of the meal...SO SO good. I know risotto might seem like a scary and time -intensive thing to make, but it's so worth it.

Mushroom Risotto via Allrecipes.com

Gourmet Mushroom Risotto

slight adapted from Allrecipes.com

Prep Time:
20 Min

Cook Time:
30 Min

Ready In:
50 Min

Servings 

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken broth, divided
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, sliced into half inch cubes
• 1/2 pound white mushrooms, sliced into half inch cubes
• 2 shallots, diced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.
2. Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.
3. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet, and stir in the shallots. Cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes. Taste test at this point to make sure rice is soft, but don't overcook as the dish will become too slushy.
4. Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In LOVE with Flats

We all know that flats, particularly the pointy-toe variety are in style this fall. I'm been pinning pairs like mad woman. Here is a roundup of my favorites, I'm especially eyeing these!

Elizabeth and James Gwen Flat via Piperlime

Isaac Mizrahi New York Ballet Flats via Bloomingdales

C-Label Hudson 10 Flat in Nude via Piperlime

Loren Hope Fall 2012 Collection

Have you all had a chance to take a gander at Loren Hope's fall jewelry collection? It's out of the park awesome...way to kill it Loren Hope!

My favorite piece has to be the Clara earrings, but the Roxy earrings and Clara necklace are close seconds. Is it too early to hope Santa brings me a piece from this collection?

Clara Earrings in Lilac

Roxy Earrings

Clara Necklace in Lilac

Did you have a favorite piece from the collection?

A Dozzie of a Dozen

Sooo I hope by now you all know my love for LovelyB bangles. I incorporate some into my arm candy stack everyday and am loving all the combinations I can come up with. And NOW LovelyB not only has their ETSY page, but is selling in a dozen TX boutiques! How is that for sweet success??

See the list of TX boutiques that are savvy enough to carry LovelyB below and share share share with all your friends! 

Fort Worth - Maven, Brown Bag and Flirt

Dallas - Flirt

Arlington - Jazzy Jems and Brown Stone Village

Fredricksburg - Root

Lubbock - Hulla B'Lu

Waco - Roots

Tyler - Cole & Co.

San Antonio - Memory Lane

Midland - The Canopy

Kate Spade - Final Day of Sale

Soooo I have to say I'm proud of myself. I had BOTH these items in my cart yesterday and didn't actually purchase. SO I'll tell all you about my top picks from the fabulous Kate Spade sale that is happening right now.

First this wallet, I just LOVE it. The coral color is my favorite, but I'm partial to the green too. The gold hardware totally makes it.

Grand Street Cyndy Wallet via Kate Spade

Then these "cluster"earrings, so utterly classy and timeless. I attended a wedding this past spring (Hi Whitty P if you are reading!) and the bridesmaids were all wearing these gorgeous cluster earrings that had a similar look to these. Not only were they pretty, but they were a great departure from the normal pearl studs that you usually see.

Cluster Studs via Kate Spade

Cheers to hoping I can resist these goodies!