Style Me Pretty & William Arthur Collab

Have a little wedding tidbit for everyone today. I'm sure any brides out there (And people who just love seeing gorgeous wedding photos and ideas!) are familiar with the Style Me Pretty blog. I came across a great article on Abby Larson who is the genius creator of Style Me Pretty over on Clos-ette Too's blog and it was there where I learned of her collaboration with luxury paper company William Arthur. They have done some great things. My favorite being these personalized note cards, I'm in the market for a joint note card set and these might be perfect! See here to see the whole collection of Style Me Pretty products.

Blueberry Chevron Couples Personlized Informal Notes via Style Me Pretty for William Arthur

Lemony Love

So I love love love making and gifting quick breads to friends and family, they are SO easy to make and who doesn't love a fresh loaf of yummy bread. I needed to make something for a dear family friend who went above and beyond in our search for my sisters bridesmaid dresses and I came across this Quick Lemon Bread on Pinterest (If you aren't on this website you are CRAY or possibly really smart since its the biggest time zapper ever!). It was a cinch to make and the glaze that you pour at the end really kicked it up.

The other amazing thing about making this quick bread is that it allowed me to use up the rest of a opened can of evaporated milk, LOVE when you can NOT be wasteful.

Quick Lemon Bread via Janae Monir

Ingredients

1½ cups flour
2/3 + ¼ cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Grease and flour an 8×4 loaf pan (I used a 9×5 and my bread was quite short).

In a large bowl combine the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.  In a medium bowl beat the eggs, milk, oil and zest.  Mix the wet and dry ingredients, pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake 55-60 minutes.

When the cake is the final stage of baking (last 10-15 minutes or so), prepare a lemon syrup: In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the ¼ cup sugar with the juice of the lemon (about ¼ cup).  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved and the liquid has thickened, about 3-5 minutes.

Remove cake from oven, testing to make sure a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, and poke numerous holes in the hot bread, piercing all the way to the bottom.  Drizzle the hot lemon syrup over the bread and let it soak in for about 15 minutes.  Invert bread from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

* * *
Recipe adapted from the Carnation website.

No Words...

Occasionally I come across such a ah-mazing find that I just simply have no words. Such is the case with today's clutch...

(Apologize that you have to scroll down, computer issues over here!)

Salvatore Ferragamo Clutch

Rolos in Brownies, WHATTTT

You can just about find any combination of brownies on the internets these days and when I came across these Rolo Brownies (On Pinterest of course!) I knew I needed to make them STAT. Luckily one of my bestest friends hubby's birthday was this week and my own hubby was headed out for a bachelor trip this weekend and I thought these would make the perfect treat for both of them.

My only note on these is that they rise almost to the brim of your baking pan so be prepared for a very tall and thick brownie, no complaints here!

Rolo Brownies via My Baking Addiction

Rolo Brownies

YIELD: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 box dark chocolate fudge cake mix
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
About 40 Rolos, unwrapped (I bought a 12 oz bag and ate the extras)
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 8 inch square baking pan or spray well with nonstick baking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, evaporated milk, and butter until combined.  Divide mixture in half and press half into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside. Let brownies cool for about 10 minutes.

3. Place Rolos over the surface of the brownies, very close together. Sprinkle peanut butter chips in all the spaces between. On a piece of parchment or wax paper, pat remaining brownie dough into a rough 8 inch square. Turn onto the top of the Rolo layer, dough side down and peel paper off. Place in the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes.

4. Let brownies cool before cutting into squares and eating.

This or That?

It seems my dress choice post for the upcoming Santa Fe wedding that I have was quite popular so I think I'll start doing a post once a week on two different items and everyone can weigh in on what they like best. Now of course I won't necessarily be actually buying one of these items each week (I wish though!)!

So this week we have bright colored pumps, they are EVERYWHERE and I love the look. They are a great option to have in your wardrobe to make an outfit pop and they are a great accessory for the more minimal dresser who isn't into ALL the bright colors that are so hot right now.

So this...

Linzy Pumps by  Kelsi Dagger

Or that...

Stare2 Platform Pointed Courts from Topshop

You ALL Better Be Using Sunscreen!

SO I'm not that much of a beauty junkie, I wish I was more into it, but I've never been that great at doing my makeup or hair. However, a skin regimen and routine is something that I do get into. As I'm sure you all know using sunscreen daily is essential to preventing wrinkles and forms of skin cancer. This Elta sunscreen is my favorite one by far that I've ever used, and my amazing esthetician (If you ever need someone in Ft. Worth ask me for mine, she is SO good!) approves of it too. My favorite thing about this product is that its tinted and provides a great sheer daily coverage all while providing the SPF you need.

EltaMD UV Physical SPF 41 Tinted, Chemical-Free Sunscreen via Drugstore.com

Also, PS - Do any of you all shop on Drugstore.com? LOVE this website, they have great prices, promotions and free shipping usually! You can even make a account and then make "Your List" where you can save products that you eventually want to buy too. This especially comes in handy when I'm reading about the latest hit OPI nail color, perfect place to "jot" it down.

Etheral and Organic

I bet you didn't think this post was going to be about gold earrings did you? I'm just a little sneakster (Is that a word??) like that...clearly I'm not that good at making jokes either :)

Love me some organic looking gold earrings though, always have always will...my uber stylish friend Kendall always has great pairs. Here are three I have come across lately and am loving, having a hard time deciding which ones I would even pick. I think I would most likely pick the last pair, they are so unique!

By Boe Twist Arc Earrings

By Boe Quartz Earrings

Hersey Asktan Love Earrings