Calling all Brides!!

Well this post isn't really JUST for brides because all ladies should embrace in some pretty lingerie, but these pieces would be perfect for a bride. As I shop for friends lingerie gifts for their bachelorette showers I'm always wanting to find something a little different and I think these pieces fit the bill. I came across brand Zinke and fell in love with some of their delicate and ethereal pieces. See some of my favorites below.

Zinke Cabin Fever Bralet and Panty 

Zinke As if We'd Never Meet Again Jumper

Zinke All Things Nice Lace Jumper

Quick Workout

So I've never posted (at least I don't think I have) about workouts, but wanted to share this little gem. I'm always looking for new and different routines to add to my weekly workouts to keep things interesitng and I found this on Pinterest. I'm sure a lot of you have seen it.

via Pinterest

What I love about this is you can change it up to your liking. See below for what my personalized set looks like. I ususally try to do this after 20 minutes of some sort of cardio! Enjoy!

50 crunches

25 leg lifts

50 bicylces

25 change overs on a workout bench

15 squats

50 calve raises

100 arm cirlces (50 going forard, 50 going back)

15 push-ups

50 jumping jacks

1 minute plank

On another note, I need new tennish shoes BAD. I'm sure my Sunday walking buddy (aka the best listener in the world) is so sick of hearing how I need new ones. I'm considering these, does anyone have these? 

ASICS Women's GEL-Blur33 Running Shoe via Amazon.com

C + PB = Goodness

***UPDATE - Almond butter is just as delicious with this recipe as peanut butter!

Hiiii everyone!

I have a delicious and easy easy easy cookie recipe for you all.  Anything with chocolate and peanut butter  is game in my book so if you like that combo you will LOVE these. They are also gluten free which is nice to have such a delicious cookie recipe in your arsenal that is gluten free since more and more people are removing gluten from their diet. (I'm thinking of you Caitlin & Julie!)

I busted out the dough and baked all the cookies in under an hour on Tuesday night, it was great. And I'm willing to bet you all already have the ingredients. Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies via With Style & Grace

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from Epicurious then slight adapted from With Style & Grace

Ingredients

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray baking sheets with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, mix together peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, baking soda and vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips. With your hands, roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball and arrange on the baking sheet(s), spacing 2 inches apart. Continue rolling the dough until it’s gone. If you make 1 baking sheet at a time, place leftover dough in the fridge. (I used two cookie sheets at a time and still need to do 1 more round of baking, but only using 1 cookie sheet on that 2nd round.)

Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown on the bottom and still soft to touch in center.

Remove and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

Clarisonic Brush for Less!

So I know so many women's obsession with the Clarisonic Mia brush, well if you want to save some $$$ get the Olay version. One of my sweet sister-in-laws (Hi Allison!!) told me about the Olay one and I'm loving it, thank YOU Allison! The only downside I see to the Olay brush is that it doesn't come in all the fun colors that the Clarisonic brush comes in.

Olay Face Cleansing Brush via Drugstore.com

I got mine off of Drugstore.com which is a site I love! You all should all use it, they have way better deals than local drugstores and you can almost always get free shipping. My favorite feature of the site is that you can save items you are wanting to "Your List", this especially comes in handy when I come across products in magazines that I want to try. And right now they are having 20% off almost everything!

FREDRICKSBURG = Perfect Weekend Trip

Morning everyone! I had the pleasure of going to Fredricksburg, TX last weekend to celebrate a friend who is getting married. Fredricksburg was the perfect destination for a low-key, but really fun bachelorette weekend. It also would serve well for a girls weekend or couples trip. We had a blast!

As for accommodations I would highly suggest staying at a B&B, you can find many of them through the company Absolute Charm. We stayed at the Queen Anne which slept 12 (two to a room) and it was so quaint and perfect. We had a delicious breakfast both mornings made for us by the two sweetest women. I think the breakfast on our first morning there was my favorite meal of the whole trip, we started with a Greek yogurt parfait with fresh fruit and homemade granola and then had a sausage and cheese strata with potatoes and a homemade muffin. It was so incredibly yummy! 

Queen Anne B&B via Absolute Charm

Our big activity of the trip was taking advantage of all the local wineries around Fredricksburg and take advantage we did. We started off at 10am and were picked up by the nicest man ever, Randy. Randy was our driver and guide for the day and he took us to five wineries. They were all so beautiful and the wines were SO good. My highlights were the Viognier at the Grape Creek Vineyards, the Rose and Tempranillo at Pedernales Cellars, and then the Chardonnay and Primitivo at Messina Hof Winery. Clearly I took advantage of being able to buy some of the wine we tasted. We were even provided with a yummy lunch at the Williams & Chris vineyard and were able to sit out at picnic tables and enjoy some live music. I would HIGHLY suggest doing a winery tour of some sort if you are visiting Fredricksburg, you won't be disappointed!

Williams and Chris Winery

On Friday we conquered Main Street which was so quaint and had a small town feel. They had some really cute shops and bakeries and you can even walk around with a glass of wine, HUGE bonus. We had lunch at a great restaurant, Bejas Grill right when we got into town. It was a great ladies lunch spot, I had a delicious taco salad! Our favorite shop by far was Rustlin Rob's, a Texas gourmet food shop where they have every sort of dip, sauce, oil and jam possible and you can taste EVERYTHING. I came home with some raspberry balsamic vinegar and a bottle of peach-mango habanero sauce to pour over a block of cream cheese for an easy appetizer when entertaining.

Rustlin Rob's Texas Gourmet Food

As for dinner spots we hit up Cabernet Grill which is about 10 miles outside of town, it was good too! I had a nut crusted chicken that hit the spot. And on Saturday night after our too many wine tastings we hit up one of the local pizza joints, West End Pizza Company. We were able to walk there from the Queen Anne which was a huge plus too. Their garlic pizza dough knots might of been my favorite part of the whole meal!

I hope this post convinces some of you to take a little trip to Fredricksburg, I'm dying to go back!! Anyone want to plan a weekend??

Cinnamon + Brown Butter = Heaven

Here we are again with another breakfast type muffin recipe! I made these for a friends baby shower that was a few Sundays ago and they were a hit. The only downside to these is that they are best if made right before an event and not beforehand, but they are totally worth it! I found the recipe over at Smitten Kitchen, an ABSOLUTELY amazing food blog, you must check it out.

Cinnamon Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs from Smitten Kitchen

Cinnamon Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs
Adapted from Betty Crocker and others

Yield: 9 to 12 standard muffin-size puffs or 30-ish miniature ones. Try not to overfill as I did or you won’t get as great domes on them. (I used mini-muffin tins!)

Coating
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Puffs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup (5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing muffin cups
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 12 standard size or 30 miniature muffin cups, or line cups with paper liners.

Prepare coatings: In a small saucepan, melt 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat and continue to cook it, stirring frequently, until brown bits form on the bottom and it smells nutty and heavenly. Immediately remove from heat and set aside. 

In a small bowl, combine 2/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Set aside as well.

Prepare puffs: Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together in a medium bowl and set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in 1/3 of flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of buttermilk, repeating again and finishing with the flour mixture. Mix only until combined.

Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling only 3/4 of the way. (I filled mine higher and they ended up spilling over a bit and doming less than they are capable of.) Bake standard sized muffins for 20 to 25 minutes and miniature muffins for 12 to 14 minutes. When finished, muffins will feel springy to the touch and a tester inserted into the center will come out clean. Transfer them in their pan to a wire rack.

As soon as you feel you’re able to pick one up, take your first puff and roll the top and upper edges in the browned butter. Don’t be afraid to pick up the browned butter solids at the bottom of the saucepan; they’re the dreamiest part. Let any excess butter drip off for a second before gently rolling the butter-soaked cake top in cinnamon-sugar. I find if you roll too firmly, or have too much wet/not absorbed butter on top, the sugar can clump off, which is heartbreaking. Transfer puff to wire rack to set and repeat with remaining puffs. Eat warm.

Oscar Fashion!

Sooo I know I'm a little late to the party on the topic of Oscar fashion, but I still wanted to recap my favorites. I am embarrassed to say that I didn't even watch the show, just the red carpet arrivals (The best part!) and then E!'s Fashion Police recap of it. So here we go!

Emma Stone in Giambattista Valli...yes yes yes we KNOW it looks similar to Nicole Kidman's 2007 look, but its still totally different too. LOVE this, love her...she has really nailed it almost every time on the red carpet.

My dearest Gwyneth in Tom Ford, she rocked it. She totally took a risk and it paid off. And from what I hear it was a cooler CA night so the cape came in handy. She looked awesome!

Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton looked precious. I love the peplum trend so thus I'm in love with this. Loving the coral color too, not loving the brooch or the necklace. I think she should of ditched those two accessories and just gone with a statement earring, but she still looks radiant!

Milla Jovovich in Elie Saab Couture, to me this is what Oscar fashion is all about the glitz and the glam. I love that its a little Old Hollywood, but still modern at the same time. Well done Milla!

Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji, I've been loving all of Octavia's choices this award seasons. While some bloggers and fashion critics have nailed her for wearing the same designer over and over, I praise her because this designer clearly knows how to dress her body and she always steps out with confidence and class. This gown looks great on her and shows off all assets.

Shailene Woodley in Valentino Couture...WAY TO GO girlfriend. It's so refreshing to see a young girl in a uber-classic gown. I love this look on her, I don't care if its a wee bit mature for her because she still looks fabulous in it and shows young girls that you don't have to let it all hang out. Well done! And its Valentino people, he can do no wrong.

Tina Fey in Carolina Herrara, way to step out of your comfort zone Tina. While I know we just moved to navy and not a bright color its still a step in the right direction. Her hair is also super fun which adds to the dress and she is rocking the peplum trend. LOVE this.

Now onto the looks from the Vanity Fair After Party. Kate Bosworth in Prabal Gurung, OMG this is so hot, but still modern and fresh. I LOVE this look. Does she not just look amazing?

Claire Danes in Valentino...Claire also stepped out of her comfort zone and went in a more vibrant and fun direction and I'm loving it. Love the polka dot pattern at the neck, but the sheerness to it adds a bit of sexy. This just looks like the ultimate girly party dress to me!

Diane Kruger in Calvin Klein, one word, sexy. And luckily classy sexy not sleazy sexy. Claire rocks this look so well. Love it.

All images courtesy of Red Carpert Fashion Awards