#Leslieandbecca4eva, or #Yurtsogood

A couple of weekends ago, two of the most amazing people I know tied the knot! Becca and Leslie are two of the kindest, warmest, caring, and awesome people I know and I was so happy to have been a part of such a special day.

The wedding took place at the Tolt-McDonald Park in Carnation, and the setting couldn't have been prettier. Lots of the folks attending the wedding (myself included) stayed on the campgrounds for the weekend, either sleeping in tents, or yurts (hence, the best hashtag ever, #yurtsogood), which was fantastic! There was lots of time spent around the fire, laying on the grass, drinking in the gorgeous setting, and of course, drinking in the party yurt (see what I did there?). Oh, also, the dress code for the wedding was, "Wear what makes you feel fabulous," so it was some of the best wedding fashion I've ever seen.

On top of two great people getting married, the weekend also acted as a catalyst to bring together a lot of amazing people, and to create a reunion of sorts with some of the best co-workers I've ever had. Becca was my manager a few years ago, and during that time, I worked with some of the greatest people I've ever met. It was so amazing to work amongst such smart, compassionate, driven, and talented women, and an it's experience I will never forget. 

Photo by Poni!

There are a lot of amazing accomplishments amongst this group: travels to Hawaii to work on cacao farms; a year in England in a prestigious acting program; a move to Texas and the beginning of a career as a doula; becoming the manager of one of the best bars in Seattle; a trip to Ghana to film a documentary; a move to San Francisco that's leading to a new bout of independence;  an exciting potential new business venture; going to school to become a nurse; and me, a new blogger, who's using this blog as a catalyst to keep myself engaged in all the things I love.

I'm honestly crying my damn eyes out right now with pride, love, and thanks for having these beautiful people in my life. And ya know what? I'm crying because when I look at these photos, I can still feel the palpable joy of the wedding; the friends and family who came together from all corners of the country to watch these two amazing people commit to love each other and spend the rest of their lives together.

Photo by Katrina!

Ya'll, we happy-cried for almost the whole wedding day. It was such a beautiful wedding, in such a beautiful setting, with so many beautiful people, that it was hard not to. By the way, did I mention that after the lovely couple was presented, Leslie busted out into a lip-sync of "Don't Rain on My Parade" and then we all danced in the aisles? Amazing!

Photo by Katrina!

Despite some personal struggles with social anxiety and perfectionism (let's not forget, I made 80 cupcakes for this event), this wedding will stick in my head as one of the best weekends of my life.

I'm so honored to have been a part of such an amazing celebration of love, and so happy I could share some glimpses of the weekend with you.

Til next time!

-Becca

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Weekly Wishlist- Birthday Edition!

Well, friends, today's installment of the ol' Weekly Wishlist is a little bit special, because it's my birthday wishlist! Yes sirree, this lady here will be turning 26 next Tuesday! Here are some things I'm wishing for right now:

Amelie Dress: Boden

Elise Top: Boden

Printed Button Back Sweater: Boden

First up, I'm wishing for basically everything in the Boden fall catalog. When it came in the mail I dog-eared almost every page in the whole damn thing. They make the loveliest pieces! These are the three things that most made my heart go pitter-patter. Also, clearly, I'm totally pumped on fall.

This Amelie sweater dress is seriously too perfect for words. I can see layering it up and down, with boots or flats, with brights or neutrals. So versatile!

Both the sweater and the top would be really cute with high waisted jeans, or tucked into a cute full skirt. And if you wore the top under the sweater with the collar poking out, I would just about die from the cuteness.

So, if you haven't heard of Boden before, obviously you need to check them out. So good.

Fabled to Find Dress: ModCloth

There's a Map for That: ModCloth

As usual, I also love just about everything from ModCloth, but am particularly head over heels for this cute knit dress. It seems perfect for the early days of fall, and would be great paired with a light sweater, and some ankle boots. I'd love to add a little red belt around the waist, too!

I've been trying to add to my jewelry collection lately after neglecting it for a very long time, and LOVE this map necklace.

H by Hudson Rosse Booties: Piperlime

In the last few days, I've decided that I would really love a new pair of booties, and I'm kinda head over heels (ha!) for these booties. The color, the heel height, and the embroidered leather detailing at the back couldn't be any cuter. They're a bit out of my price range, but hey, a girl can dream! Or save. Sigh.

Food Dehydrator: Amazon

Vacuum Sealer: Amazon

In other non-clothing news, I've been dreaming of having a food dehydrator and a food vacuum sealer for a couple of years now, but have yet to take the plunge. 

I love buying big quantities of produce at the farmers market (it's usually much cheaper) but sometimes just don't want to can up a whole 20 lbs of peaches! This food dehydrator would be amazing to have because I could make my own dried fruit, make an easier task of making fruit leather, and could even dry my own herbs (those packets you get at the grocery store always have way more than I know what to do with)! Heck, you can even make jerky with this thing. How cool would that be?

I also live by myself and cook for myself pretty frequently, so I'd love to be able to make larger portions of food and freeze them without them getting all gross and freezer burned. This food dehydrator is relatively inexpensive, but is supposed to be pretty reliable, so I'd love to have it around to help out with that.

So that's the ol' birthday list! 

What are you wishing for this week?

Til next time!

-Becca

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DIY Painted Cork Coasters

Hi guys! Today I'm going to show you how to make these super cute painted cork coasters!

Now, the end result you see above was not the original plan. Oh no. This was one of those projects that started with a clear idea, got off on a good foot, and then went horribly, horribly wrong.

The initial plan was to make cork coasters with a honeycomb pattern across the middle. So, I carefully created this pretty template, painted all the hexagons, and then when I lifted up the template, I had this:

Blerg! Awkward polka dot/hexagon hybrids! Guys, I was so bummed. My template was so lovely, and I ended up with this mess.

So, it was time to re-group, re-think, and try again. I tried using paint on a rubber stamp to make a cute little shape, but it was just meh. And so, I found my way to a roll of masking tape, and did some good old fashioned color blocking.

And ya know what? These coasters turned out real cute. Sure, I would have loved to have had the honeycomb coasters of my dreams, but I'm still a happy camper!

If you want to try them out, you'll just need a few simple supplies:

- Cork coasters (or a big sheet of cork cut into the shape and size of your choosing, which is how I rolled)
- Masking tape
- Acrylic paint (I used 3 colors)
- A paintbrush

Start by taping off your coasters for the first color, then paint the coaster in the area where you'd like the color, being sure to paint away from the tape. This will avoid disasters similar to the honeycomb blobs seen above.

After letting the first color dry, remove the masking tape and figure out where you want to put the next color block!

When you place the tape for the next block of color, be sure to place a strip of tape along the finished edge of the first color, so you can keep the lines crisp. Paint, and then let that coat dry.

You can continue this process with as many or as few colors as you like. I chose 3 colors, and when the last one was dry, and the tape was peeled off, I had these:

Cute, huh? Unlike my initial crafting disaster, this color blocking method was quick, easy, and had a great result.

You could make a whole bevy of these guys to protect and decorate any surface you like (kitchen table? Coffee table? Desk? Floor?). They'd also be a great little gift, so keep 'em in mind for any upcoming homemade gifting you may be doing!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Til next time!

-Becca

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Arroz a la Poblana

Now, I can't vouch for your neck of the woods, but in the good old state of Washington, we are in the high season for produce. Yes, thanks to the eastern part of the state, our farmers markets are ripe with chiles, corn, and all other matter of goodness. I'm not a spicy fiend, but since we get local chiles for such a short spell each year, I try to make use of them while I can!

Today I'd love to share one of my favorite summer recipes with you: Arroz a la Poblana. Now I'd love to take credit for this delicious dish, but alas, it's from the fabulous cookbook, Authenic Mexican by Rick Bayless.

Upon taking a closer look, you can see that this dream of a dish is a white rice pilaf with fresh corn, roasted poblano chiles, and queso fresco. Which is to say, holy moly is it ever good! The poblanos aren't very spicy, so you get all that good chile flavor without feeling like your mouth is on fire, the corn gives the dish a nice bit of sweetness, and the queso fresco brings a nice creamy, salty flavor to the whole thing.

Arroz a la Poblana- serves 4-6
from Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup long- or medium-grain rice
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- Salt, about 1/2 teaspoon if using salted broth, 1 teaspoon if using unsalted broth
- 3 medium, fresh chiles poblanos, roasted and peeled, seeded and sliced into short, thin strips
- The kernels cut from 1 large ear fresh sweet corn (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup (2 to 3 ounces) crumbled Mecixan queso fresco, or other fresh cheese like feta or farmer's cheese

1. About 40 minutes before serving, combine the oil, rice, and onion in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently for about 7 minutes, until the onion is translucent but not browned. Meanwhile, add the salt to the broth and bring to a simmer.

Add the broth to the rice mixture along with the chiles and corn, stir well, scrape down the sides of the pan, cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

2. When the rice has cooked 15 minutes, let stand off the fire, covered, 5 to 10 minutes, until the grains are tender (but not splayed). Add the crumbled cheese and toss the whole assemblage with a fork to mix the ingredients and stop the cooking. Scoop into a serving bowl and serve.

There you have it! This dish is relatively simple to put together, but the pay off is amazing! You can eat this on its own, or as a side for some other tasty Mexican food. I've been eating it for lunches this week with some Mexican spiced shredded chicken. Yum!

Til next time!

-Becca

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Weekend Wardrobe- Discovery Park

Top: Thrifted/Similar; Belt: Anthropologie/Similar; Skirt: Vintage/Similar; Shoes: ModCloth

Late in the afternoon on Sunday, Katie Marie V and I decided to take a little trip to Discovery Park! Discovery Park is actually a super cool spot. It's the largest park in Seattle, clocking in at 534 acres, and has everything from beaches, to gorgeous old buildings built as part of Fort Lawton in the early 1900s, to sprawling forests, meadows, and everything in between.

I was particularly thrilled to come across this meadow because you don't come across settings like this every day in Seattle. The meadow was hopping with crickets, so we carefully made our way through to this spot, which had the most gorgeous lighting I've seen in a while.

The skirt I'm wearing is one of the most ridiculous pieces of clothing I own, and thus one of my favorites. Seriously, can we talk about the trim for a minute? There's ric-rac in 3 sizes and 4 colors, loop-de-loops, ribbon, piping, and wool fringe. Wool fringe! It's like someone went shopping for trim and liked too many kinds, but instead of choosing a couple decided to choose all of them. And that's why I love it!

I decided to pair the skirt with this top I thrifted when Katie and I went shopping a few weeks ago, a simple white belt to bring the pieces together, and my current living-in-them flats. It was a pretty perfect outfit for a nice stroll through the park.

I had an amazing time at the park with Katie, strolling around, chatting, and having some photo shoot time. We finished off our day with some frozen yogurt, which really put the cherry on top of the sundae(sorry. So much pun).

How was your weekend? Did you have any fun adventures?

Til next time!

-Becca

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