How Do You Deal?

Hi guys! Today I'm excited to be a part of a new series on Kate's blog, Clear the Way. She's created a sub-series of her Feminist Friday series called "How Do you Deal?" and today the conversation is "How Do you Deal with Leering?"

Being a feminist is a big part of who I am, so I've been wanting to be involved with more conversations about feminism in the blogosphere. I'm excited that Kate has created such a great space for these conversations and excited to contribute to them going forward. I'm also super honored to have been included in the series that so many amazing women are contributing to.

Stop by Clear the Way today to check out the post!

XOXO
Becca

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Raspberry Trifle

Hi guys! As you may recall from my post earlier this week, I picked a whole bunch of raspberries over the weekend. 8 lbs of them, to be exact! While normally I'd have all sorts of plans for jam and baked goods, it has been a hot, hot week in Seattle, so I am not about to turn my oven or stove on!

So, I spent a day or so racking my brain, trying to think what sort of tasty no-bake treat I could make. Well, after some serious time on Pinterest, and some serious time spent thinking of all the no-bake things I've ever made, I came up with this: Raspberry Trifle inspired by the Magnolia Bakery banana pudding recipe and made with waffles (aka the best food ever)!

Seriously, ya'll, this is so good. Sweet, creamy, tart, and rich, but still refreshing! Oh, and did I mention that you don't even have to turn your oven on?

Here's how we roll:

Raspberry Trifle: Serves 6-10

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup cold water
- 1/3 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
- Half of a 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk (7oz total)
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 6-8 frozen waffles, thawed or toasted, then ripped into smaller pieces
- 4 cups fresh raspberries, plus extra for garnish

1. Whisk together the water, pudding mix, and sweetened condensed milk in a medium bowl. Once well combined, put in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream. Once it's basically unsweetened whipped cream, fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until it's well incorporated.

3. In a large bowl (a trifle bowl if you're fancy!), assemble the trifle. Put down a layer of waffle pieces, then add a layer of raspberries, followed by a layer of the pudding mixture. Repeat until your bowl is full or you've run out of ingredients, but be sure the top layer is covered well with the pudding mixture. It's not structurally important or anything, but it sure is pretty that way!

4. Garnish the top of the trifle with raspberries, chill for at least 30 minutes, and then serve!

Seriously, could that be any easier? And you guys. It is SO good. I definitely couldn't wait longer than half an hour to dig into this beauty, but if you have the willpower to let it sit a bit longer, your patience will pay off. Once it's sits over night, or even over two nights, the flavors start to meld and the waffles somehow become some sort of magic cake made by angels. Yep.

Anyway, I hope you can try out this awesome no-bake recipe soon- it's so, so tasty and a real treat to put together on a hot summer day.

XOXO
Becca

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Raspberry Picking at Harvold Berry Farm

On Saturday, my dear friend Ivy and I loaded up her car and drove out to Harvold Berry Farm in Carnation to pick raspberries. Saturday was the hottest day we've had all year in Seattle and it was already about 80 degrees by the time we got to the fields at 10am. We drank in the sweet smell of the berries and picked and picked until our containers were full and heavy and we had sweat rolling down our backs. And faces. And legs. And everywhere. Ugh, it was hot! When all was said and done, we picked about 8 lbs each- 16 lbs between the two of us! And yes, I stupidly wore white, but managed to make it through the day without getting even a small spot of raspberry juice on it. Success!

While we picked raspberries,  Ivy and I chatted about how much we each dreamed of having some farmland someday, and realized how good of a picking team we were! Ivy is a good 9" shorter than I am, so she took all the berries at the bottom of the bushes and I grabbed all the ones from the top. Teamwork!

After throwing our berries in the cooler, we grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach for a much needed swim in Lake Washington. It was actually my first swim of the year, and could not have been more wonderful. By that point it was well into the 90s and the cool water was such a relief from the heat. Every time I got cold in the water, I reminded myself that it might be the only time I would be cool all day, so I tried to enjoy every moment!

It was a pretty perfect summer day and I can't wait to keep stuffing my face with berries. I hope to figure out some kind of dreamy no-bake recipe to make with my raspberries, because lord knows I'm not about to turn on my oven in this kind of heat. If I figure one out, I'll be sure to share it later this week!

Do you have any favorite raspberry recipes?

XOXO
Becca

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A Trip to Colorado

Hi guys! Today I'm finally getting around to sharing some snapshots from my family's trip to Colorado a couple of weeks ago for my cousin's wedding! Please forgive the quality of some of the photos- my old iPhone can only do so much!

The above photo was taken on our ride from the airport to our hotel. I honestly can't get over how gorgeous Colorado is. Despite my Aunt and her family living there pretty much my whole life, I had never managed to visit before. I'm so glad this lovely occasion finally brought me out there! Our first night we spent some time with family and then hit the hay- it was a long day of travel.

My mom and I were both determined to keep up with our exercise routines when we were on our trip and headed out for a walk near our hotel the morning after we arrived. I was (breathlessly- altitude, whew!) noting all the pretty birds native to the area, and then thought I saw a bunny. But that was no bunny- it was a prairie dog!!! My mom and I proceeded to squeal like idiots for a full 5 minutes at how cute these little guys were, making ourselves completely obvious as tourists. Apparently the folks of Colorado don't appreciate the damage these cute little dudes can do to their land and houses, but we still thought they were adorable!

Later that day, my family and I headed to the natural history museum. We checked out all sorts of awesome gems and minerals, animal dioramas, and fossils, and took advantage of some good photo-ops! You can see I got a kick out of being a (blurry) moose, and my whole family hammed it up by this T-rex skull. We were laughing so hard at these photos we may have caused a bit of a ruckus!

After the museum we headed over to visit with more family and friends. It was so nice catching up with my relatives and hearing all about what they've been getting up to lately.

The next morning, we went for a long walk at a gorgeous state park, where we saw cacti, snakes, birds, and gorgeous rock formations. After thoroughly tiring ourselves out, we had lunch with our extended family and then headed back to the hotel to relax and get ready for the wedding.

The wedding itself was at a gorgeous country club with those gorgeous red rocks as the backdrop to the ceremony. The wedding had all sorts of gorgeous details like the amazing wooden place cards my cousin, Joy, created. She's so incredibly talented, it blows me away! I managed to save the day when the bustle on my cousin's wedding dress broke (I knew my time working at a bridal boutique would come in handy someday!); cried my eyes out during the father daughter dance (as usual. Sigh); and danced my butt off. As you can see, my family couldn't get enough of our T-rex poses, so here we are, at it again, in formal attire. We crack ourselves up :)

After the wedding, we headed back to the hotel, said goodbyes to our extended family, packed, and got a few hours of sleep before heading back to Seattle first thing in the morning the next day.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip and so nice to see all my family together- especially for such a joyous occasion!

Til next time!
-Becca

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An Outfit for the Wedding

(Photos by Joy Vanides)

Glasses: BonLook / Similar

Necklace: Vintage / Similar

Dress: Boden

Belt: Target

Clutch: J. Crew

Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

Hi guys! Sorry things were a little quiet around here last week- I majorly underestimated how tired I was from traveling and ended up going to bed real early a couple nights last week. It was also a busy week at work since it was a short one, and I kept quite busy over the long weekend!

So! This week, I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip to Colorado for my cousin's wedding. Ya'll, Colorado is gorgeous! Do you see those amazing rocks back there? That was the backdrop for my cousin's wedding. Could it have been any prettier? We also got lucky and had beyond gorgeous weather while we were there, so it couldn't have been a more perfect day for a wedding.

I don't know about you guys, but I tend to massively overthink what I'm going to wear to a wedding. I started getting this outfit together like, 3 months ahead of time, when I ordered this gorgeous printed dress from Boden. I had actually bought it just as a nice summer dress, but when I finally got it, I knew it was wedding outfit material. That, of course, meant I had to hide it away in my closet this whole time. Hey, what can I say? Sometimes a gal is prone to spilling on important articles of clothing! The same went for these gorgeous Swedish Hasbeens clogs. I ordered them, realized they'd go perfectly with the dress, and had to hide them away in my house for a couple of months. Ya'll, I've been ruining shoes in no time since I learned to walk. No, I'm not exaggerating- my mom tells me I wore through most of my baby shoes! I had to keep these puppies safe!

Well, before you guys start to think I'm some amazing planner and had this whole thing figured out months ahead of time, I can assure you that I spent a few hours running around town the night before we flew out trying to get everything together. I must say, it was a pretty fortuitous shopping trip: I found the perfect black cardigan (not pictured), which happened to be the very last one AND my size; I went to the store to buy some little pads for my shoes and was told they were out of every kind EXCEPT for the exact ones I needed; I found the perfect slipshorts to wear under this dress (Hey, some of us never have had and never will have a thigh gap. These things are necessary when rocking bare legs.); AND on a last ditch effort to find a clutch, I found this gorgeous number from J.Crew at my local store for 75% off! YASSSSSSSS! I wrapped up the outfit with a set of pearls I've had for ages, and this belt I picked up a few weeks ago.

All in all, it was a perfect outfit for the wedding. Cool enough to withstand the heat, great for dancing (which I did A LOT of), and super comfy!

Do you guys have any awesome tricks for planning your wedding outfits or are you running around like a madwoman at the last minute like I am?

XOXO
Becca

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