Hello friends!

First of all, I’d like to apologize for my unexplained absence for the past two weeks. Though it’s no excuse, things have been absolutely crazy around here. Let me fill you in on what I’ve been up to:

First, I have moved. In preparation for our upcoming nuptials my fiancé and I got our own place together – and it’s awesome! It’s been fun moving things in, decorating, organizing, and adding things to our wedding registry when we realize we don’t have things like a colander. As you can imagine, it feels like playing house, only it’s real life.

Second, our wedding. As I mentioned it is quickly approaching so we’ve been super busy with meeting with our florist, shopping for fabric in downtown LA (post to come), planning menus and programs, and my dress fitting!

Third, life! One of my best friends got engaged, spent time with fam, have been involved in some interesting projects at work, and celebrated an epic cinco de mayo with awesome friends.

Whew. So that’s me. That’s what’s been going on. Lots of change, but all of it good. What has been going in your lives? Fill me in!

That said, I think until after the wedding I’ll only be posting three times a week. I hope you don’t mind and I hope you will still continue to read! I so appreciate the lovely comments and emails I get from this blog, so I hope you’ll keep visiting even if I’m only posting every other day. And while we’re on the topic of change, what would you like to see more or less of? I’m always up for your suggestions.

I have some awesome things planned over the next couple of weeks for this little blog, so I hope you’ll keep visiting. Really. There will be a giveaway (it’s so awesome), an opportunity to go to a launch event if you’re in the Los Angeles area, and updates from our wedding planning and house decorating. So please keep visiting!

a little peek into our new home

AND

Happy mothers day to the greatest mom in the world!

Yesterday we want to the Cellar, a great little place in Fullerton that my dad found, and had a great Mother’s day brunch. I had to share a photo! This places is super romantic and has great service so if you’re in the area with your sweetheart or someone you care about (mom!), you should give it a try.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, the winner of the Instagram contest is…

THIS GORGEOUS PHOTO:

Miss Cassie you’ll be receiving your prize in your inbox shortly!

Thanks so much for submitting and voting everyone. I hope you enjoyed the photo sharing as much as I did.

image via oh hello friend

My goodness friends it’s been a busy week! We are trying to figure out if to move and to where and my head is spinning with possibilities. For those of you unfamiliar, Los Angeles is made up of lots of neighborhoods much in the way New York or San Francisco is, but they’re infinitely more spread out. So you have to be very careful about how you pick your neighborhood, because it will take you an hour to get from West Hollywood to Santa Monica, or Culver City to Studio City. Or at least that’s how I see it. How did you pick where you live?

And of course when I think about moving or changing living spaces, I start daydreaming about new decor, furniture and am instantly in Ikea, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, and all sorts of design blogs. I recently came across this sneak peek into the lovely new apartment of Erin of Apartment 34 and fell in love.  Where do you get your decor inspiration? I’d love to hear your ideas!

Hi friends!

Have you heard of Birchbox? It’s awesome! I discovered it a few months back from a friend and it’s the greatest. For $10 a month you get a pretty pink box delivered to your door filled with beauty surprises. I thought I’d share with you this month’s delivery:

(I’m particularly excited by the essie nail polish!)

If you’re at all interested, follow the directions on the homepage to sign up or you can sign up here and I’ll get points

“The dichotomy of high-tech and low-tech entertainment.”

(My mom’s friend sent this adorable photo and I had to share!)

And some fun findings from around the interweb:

• I would wear these heels everyday if I could!

• Cutest little bug!

• The perfect party dress – so timeless

• Such a lovely necklace for a bride!

• Looooove this computer decal!

• A super interesting article on love from the NYT

Bonjour! One of the things I miss the most from living in Paris are the baguettes. Fresh baked every morning, you could pick one up for less than a euro and they would be the best bread you have ever even. Until recently, we’ve been getting our baguettes from La Brea Bakery, an infamous bakery here in Los Angeles. They have wonderful bread and baked goods, but of course it’s more American french bread than the bread off the streets of Paris.

But then a wonderful thing happened. I stumbled across the Normandie Bakery at the Farmers Market at the Grove. Chef Josette, the owner, is from Normandie, France and her baguettes are the best I’ve had in Los Angeles! The bread is just right, with the thinnest crispy crust and a soft center. If you’re in the area, try it – along with all the other things they have to offer!

Just wanted to publicly say “happy  birthday” to my wonderful fiancé. We’re growing up, kid

[Awesome card via ShedLetterpress]

Today I’d like to share with you friends an easy recipe to impress friends: Chicken Enchiladas. Yes, they are more time consuming than heating up Trader Joe’s frozen tamales (which are actually pretty yummy), and a bit messier, but definitely worth the effort. (Case in point: my fiancé and I made it for some friends, and we ended up devouring almost two whole trays between the four of us.) I hope you enjoy! Red chicken enchiladas(Prep time: 1 hour; Bake time: 20 minutes; serves 6-8) Here is what you’ll need:

• 2 large cans of enchilada sauce (I recommend La Victoria)
• ~30 small corn tortillas
• 1 large bag of Mexican blend shredded cheese
• 4 large chicken breasts
• Cilantro for garnish
• 2-3 casserole dishes (metal, pyrex, and glass all work just fine)
• 1 large pot
• 1 large bowl

Step 1: Poach the chicken breasts in water or a mixture of water and chicken broth/ stock Step 2: When the chicken is done, shred it into pieces to fit inside your enchiladas. Step 3: Set the oven to 350° and prepare ingredients. Gather tortillas, shredded chicken, cheese, and enchilada sauce. Pour enchilada sauces into the large bowl. (I usually start with one can, but you’ll definitely need both). Step 4: Let’s start making enchiladas! Submerge a tortilla in the enchilada sauce and make sure that both sides are fully coated with the sauce. Place the tortilla flat in the casserole dish and add chicken and cheese to taste. I usually use the proportions you can see below. Step 5: Wrap the enchilada and arrange in the casserole dish. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you’ve run out of something and can’t go on any more! Step 6. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the prepared enchiladas to saturate. Step 7: Bake enchiladas for 10-15 minutes, or until almost done. You can use the time to chat, clean up the kitchen, and/or cut up cilantro for the garnish.

[Our friends' dog waited very patiently for the enchiladas to bake]

Step 8: Remove from the oven to add cheese to the top and return to the over for 5 more minutes. Step 9: After 5 minutes (a total of 20 minutes baking time) remove enchiladas. The cheese should be fully melted. Step 10: Serve! (You can add the cilantro before serving or place on the table. We usually do the latter because I love cilantro) And I’ll leave you with this… My fiancé’s Spanish rice. If we ask nicely, he might even grace this little blog with his (amazing) recipe!

Bonjour and welcome to French Fridays. Today I’m taking Cassie’s suggestion to post about one of my favorite French places in Los Angeles.

Friends, I’m so excited to show you Bottega Louie. This place is so great! Truth be told, I’ve never even had a sit-down meal here, mostly because every time I enter the place the pastries and breads call my name. I’ll have to add the sit down meal part to my “things to do in LA list“. You’ll understand once you see the place. Take a look at this lovely place:

Look at these gorgeous macarons! Yes, you are seeing this correctly, these Earl Grey macarons have gold on them….

So many to chose from…

I’m obsessed with the Viennoise (the bread with the chocolate chips in it on the right)

We had to get a couple…

Because I hope this weekend will be lovely and warm, the French word of the week is soleil, or sunshine.