Our First Christmas

I don't even know where to begin to explain how wonderful this holiday season has been, but perhaps I shall begin with my Etsy shop, Boughtin Baby and Bride. My little craft hobby has become a part time job- I think I have shipped off 75 orders in the past three/four days! I am just amazed to see my hard work and fun designs become an actual business, to watch my shops instagram followers grow from 180 to almost 5000, and to hear the cha-ching of my phone every hour when another sale goes through. My heart is so full of happiness to see my livelihood becoming successful.

It has been such a fun experience sharing not only our first Christmas in our new home, but our first time decorating, ever! I've always lived on my own, but decorating a strangers home never felt right. Getting a tree and seeing M get specific with his ornament spacing skills has made being married even more exciting! 

Not to mention we have our new puppy Crashy to spend time with. He is so pretty and soft and he makes us so happy! He and Lucky spend a lot of time hating each other, but they are always right next to me regardless. He's so squirrely and carries all his toys (and our slippers) out to his favorite corner of the the backyard and comes back in for the next ones. It's constant entertainment!

I love this time of year- it always reminds me of how lucky I am to have such wonderful family, friends, food on the table every night and all the other things I have been blessed with. I want to give back every chance I get, even if it's a dollar here or a granola bar there. Thank God for this beautiful life we have, and I will always do what I can to pay it forward.

Welcome to the family, Crash

Dear Future Kids,

I hope that when you're reading this, you have fond memories of your first dogs: Crash and Lucky. We have been blessed with well-behaved dogs and they truly are a part of our family.

Your dad and I decided spontaneously this past weekend that we were ready for a puppy. We have been talking about it a lot for the past few months but in the past weeks we've been dying for a little fur baby of our own. I am so in love with Lucky that I highly doubt I could fall for any animal as hard as I have for him, but I am willing to try.

I spent the past four days online looking up any and all puppies I could and we almost adopted a 7 month old bulldog puppy, but something didn't feel right. First of all, we wanted our first "baby." Secondly, I've always wanted a mini Australian shepherd- ALWAYS. Since this year had been a year of fulfilling dreams, I decided to go for it- and so we happened upon Crash. He is half mini Aussie and half toy Aussie. My requirement was that the puppy have long hair and be cuddly. Your dad's request was that the puppy be able to play fetch and have lots of energy! We so lucked out. We brought Crashy home tonight and we are so in love! It makes me so happy to see your dad happy- and he loves this puppy so much already! Tonight he googled the breeds lifespan and said "11-13 years!! So our kids will be in middle school before we lose Crash!" and it just made me so happy. 

Here is to the next 11-13 years with the sweetest puppy- but I really hope in your lifetime, you will have a chance to know Lucky too- he is my happiness all wrapped up in a smiling tri-color face :)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I have so much to be thankful for: my marriage, my beautiful home, our supportive families, my girlfriends (without whom life wouldn't be half as fun), a roof over my head and food on the table every day. I am also thankful that for the first time in my life, I truly love an animal- getting Lucky had changed my perspective on pets am shown me it is possible to fall in love with something covered in fur. Cuddling with him always brightens my days- I am so thankful to come home to a little furry face every day! And now, two furry faces!

Door Transformation & Tutorial

I will be the first to say I am a hasty, spontaneous DIYer. I get an idea, I hit up a TON of Pinterest pins/blogs in quick succession, then pin some paint colors and run to Lowes as fast as I can. It happens quickly and before my husband even knows what hit him, I'm knee deep in paint and whatever else I've gotten myself into.

Today's project? Well, I wanted to sand and paint my entire kitchen. Talk about thinking big, right? I have a tendency to take on large projects and totally screw them up, so I decided to start with a small project that would have a big impact- painting the front door on both sides.

For the inside, I used a beautiful Valspar color, Siene. I'll eventually trim it in white. The Posh Red is for the outside of the door and the Chef White is for the screen door.

Taping that window off was a bitch. I was nervous to do a dark color in our entryway, but I have to say- I am absolutely THRILLED with the final results. Here's the before and after!

 

 Inbetween coats, because I have absolutely no patience, I needed a side project. I happened to have just bought some house numbers from Lowe's, and also happened to have the perfect sized wooden plaque.

 

I didn't want to drill it to the house because I didn't want the screws to show, so I used some liquid nails I had left over from having some baseboards installed. It didn't stick right away (clearly) so I did this lovely makeshift support... thingy. 

And the final results for the front door:

A little blurry but when I can get to an actual computer I will post a better one!

Ari's Autumn Potato Soup

Future kids, by the time you're reading this you must be aware that my first love was not a person, but soup. There is no food in this world I love more than soup. I mean of course I would love a big fat steak any day of the week, but when it comes to my comfort foods, my staple foods, and my favorite foods, soup will always top the list.

Last week I had dinner at a girlfriends house and in the spirit of inviting autumn, she made an awesome crockpot potato soup. Now I will be the first to say that the thing I cook most is soup, but it is also the food that I am most likely to screw up. Until that day at Ari's house, I had never heard the word "roux." Surprisingly, I not only heard it for the first time that week at her house, but when some other friends came over Saturday to make dinner, my girlfriend Jenna made a "roux" for our cheese sauce as well! Consider my mind blown when I realized the staple and key ingredient missing from all of my soups was this so-called "roux." I was a tad mortified that in all my years of reading recipes and watching the Food Network, I'd never stumbled across this delightful mixture of fat (butter) and flour that thickens and perfects even the thinnest of broths. Once I got over the initial shock, I knew my life in the kitchen had changed as I knew it.

For the potato soup, she served it hot from the crockpot and topped with freshly grated cheddar cheese, green onions, and homemade bacon bits. It was delicious. I had to make it for my husby, so here, in Ari's own words, is her delicious recipe:

What You'll Need:

Bacon (maybe four slices, depends how much you like!)

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

Dry packet ranch 

1 tbsp flour

4 cups broth

3 lbs cubed potatoes

1 cup milk or cream

1 cup sour cream

"I cooked the bacon and removed it from a skillet. Then cooked an onion and 3 cloves of garlic in the bacon fat. When the onion was translucent I added a dry ranch packet and a tablespoon of flour. To thicken, I whisked a cup of broth into the mixture until combined. Then I added 3 cups of broth to a crockpot along with 3 lbs of cubed potatoes and the skillet mixture. I put it on high for about 4 hours. 

Remove potatoes w a slotted spoon and mash with about a cup of milk (lighter than cream). Return mashed potatoes to crock pot with a cup of sour cream. Mix and allow to warm for about 10 min. Serve with grated cheese green onion and bacon from earlier."

This is the perfect potato soup I have been trying to make for ages, and I'm so lucky to have a friend who taught me to do it! I use what I had on hand, so my soup was made with red potatoes instead of russet (these make for a chunkier soup), 1/2 packet onion soup mix instead of ranch, and a tiny bit of butter instead of sour cream because we were out! It came out super delish. This is definitely a new staple in our home. Thanks Ari!

Note- this can totally be made paleo with a gluten free flour and just the broth instead of milk. Doesn't have to be so thick!

"Best Dinner Ever!" Wonton Raviolis and Non-Dairy Cream Sauce

This was one of those recipes I just had to blog right away because I instantly saw it becoming a family recipe. Lucky for you, it won't be a secret!

What You'll Need (Raviolis):

1 pack egg roll wrappers (larger than wonton wrappers and easier to work with. Located near the tofu in the produce section.)

1 lb very lean ground beef or turkey 

Handful of kale

Handful of mushrooms

Onions

Garlic

2-3 tbsp grated parmesan

Sauce:

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1/3 cup pinenuts 

Spices of choice (I used herbs d'provence, sage, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning and a pinch of sea salt)

In a skillet or sautepan, spray some cooking spray or use a little coconut oil to sauté some onions and garlic. When it becomes fragrant, remove half of them and put it to the side (they will be added to the sauce). Add the beef/turkey to the pan and cook until almost brown. Chop up a handful of kale and handful of mushrooms and add to the pan, continue cooking until meat is brown and kale is wilted. Remove from heat and let cool.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. 

While water is heating, mix Parmesan in with the meat and veggie mixture as it's cooling.

Lay out several egg roll wrappers and scoop meat mixture into the center of each (about a tablespoon). 

In a small container, crack one egg and add a tbsp of water, mix. Using a brush (or your fingers) apply egg wash to the outer edges of each wrapper, one at a time, and then fold corner to corner. 

Turn pot of boiling water down to medium heat. It should be BARELY boiling. If it's boiling too harshly, it will break the ravioli open and the meat will get everywhere. Drop each ravioli into the water, don't add more than about 4 at a time to the pot. Let them cook in water for about 3 mins each and remove with a slotted spoon. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet or flat plate. Continue process until all are cooked.

In a blender, pour tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and pinenuts. Add all desired spices and blend for about one minute on low or medium speed. Heat up in microwave or a saucepan on medium heat.

Serve ravioli topped with the "creamy" sauce and a pinch of Parmesan. Fresh basil would complete this meal, but I didn't have any! 

Since it's Halloween, what meal wouldn't be complete without some Gypsy Red in a Skeleton cup?!

First Annual Fall-tober Fest Weekend

This weekend we celebrated our own made-up holiday, Fall-tober Fest. It's important to me that when we have children, we have traditions in place for them to look forward to each year. We decided to wing it and Fall-tober Fest ended up being a fun weekend full of fall-ish activities (actually not unlike our typical weekends, but now I'm turning it into a tradition).

We woke up Saturday morning and went to the pumpkin patch and picked out the perfect ones for carving/painting. 

A few hours later we headed to the corn maze, which I had been dying to do for the past few years. When we got there we walked all the way to the ticket booth and were already so hot we were debating giving up and going home. So we did (it was SO HOT, don't judge!)

We came home and invited our best friends (and our typical Saturday night group) over for taco night and while the guys watched the fights, us girls played a new game called "Heads Up" which was hilarious once we had had a few tequila sunrises! We plan on having a friend get-together every Fall-tober Fest weekend.

Me, cracking up playing "Heads Up!"

Sunday we went to a fantastic lunch at a crepe place in town. The waiter was a kid from high school and since we had never been there before and raved about the food, he gave us a huge, delicious crepe dessert that we devoured before I could even take a photo! I spent the afternoon making frosting with my mom for our cake decorating class (next year the tradition will be cupcake making!) while the guys watched the Niners game. 

Afterward, Matt and I worked on our pumpkins with a bottle of cab and "Nightmare Before Christmas."

My Jack and Sally pumpkin

My Snooki pumpkin

Matt's carved pumpkin on the top left

Our little "poogle" Lucky had a seizure in bed with us a week ago, and since he's been having lots of tremors pretty much all day. We are making sure to spend a lot of time loving him and trying to keep him comfortable and happy for as long as we have left with him. He has a costume for his Halloween celebration!

Wedding- It's All in the Details

Two months have flown by faster than I could've ever imagined. Luckily, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and the further we get from August 3rd, the more the details seemed to fade. I was so excited to get my photos back because I needed them to reinforce my memory that I did, in fact, have my DREAM wedding. The photos were better than I could've hoped.

 Flowers- I was SO specific on what I wanted for my flowers that we went through flower rolodexes (literally!) until we handpicked every single flower that went into each bouquet. There was nothing I wanted less than that typical, "round" bridal bouquet. I wanted a beautiful feel as if we had walked through the world's prettiest garden and picked each flower by hand. Natural, natural natural. From the dusty miller to the tabasco roses to the ivory bridesmaids bouquets, my florist dealt with numerous, in-depth meetings about every single flower and she was so wonderful. She truly saw my vision better than I did and I couldn't be happier. Stems Florist in Vacaville, CA.

I decided to have a neutral toned wedding with the only color being my bouquet, Matt's boutonnière, and the flowers on our cake, and it was my favorite decision I made along the way. The standout color was originally going to be a dusty rose, but three weeks before I wedding I felt something was off and I searched high and low for the right shade of orange roses with just enough pink at the tips and my florist found it. SPOT ON.

I used both round and rectangular tables for the reception, and it gave for a very romantic vibe. We did ivory centerpieces with just enough winding twig for a rustic touch. We did a "trial" run with a 50% mark-up around Christmas time last year. Then we tweaked what we didn't like, added more of what we did, and came up with a beautiful centerpiece. Plus we found out that the boxes they were in weren't waterproofed and would have stained the table cloth had we waited until the wedding to see them! Problem solved. It kills me that we only got to enjoy them for one day- but the photos will last forever. My mom was a great help with the flowers- she knows so many species and styles and what's in season when. Flowers were likely the priciest detail of the day, but also my favorite part and I thank her so much for that gift.

Tablecloths and all rental items came from Classic Party Rentals in Napa. After numerous visits, a changing headcount and so many alterations to our order, it all arrived smoothly and in full. The table drapes are called Essence Onyx, in a heavy, good quality fabric. This, of all my wedding details, was the one thing I fought hardest for. I think my mom and I had 49275 fights about these tablecloths alone. I have never felt so strongly about such a "small detail" in my life, but I hate plain white tablecloths, so I wanted to choose something that represented me as a person and my style. I LOVE patterns, and these tablecloths are not exactly understated. But I knew that seeing all 14 tables in this amazing print would give me the perfect look for my dream wedding. I don't regret a single argument on behalf of those damn tablecloths, and my mom agreed we made the right decision :)

Tobasco rose petals and wrought-iron candelabras down the center of the rectangular tables. We worked together to select the right china, and my mom nixed all ideas of mason jars, stemless glasses, and flowers around the base of the candelabras- and she was right! Everything looked so elegant!

  

Little details- matches for our sparkler send-off.

What's a Boughtin Wedding without a Boughtin Bar?

We opted for greenery rather than flowers at the end of the aisles- it definitely gave the natural touch we needed. I kept thinking maybe baby's breath on the insides of the aisle chairs, but my mom felt plants would be a better touch- she was totally right. We didn't want to go overkill with any detail, and with all of the green grass and vines, it was just understated enough. My mom hand painted and decorated the gold pots and purchased the plants at a local garden shop like Lowe's or Home Depot.

Our sweetheart table, which now sits in our dining room. Table by Pottery Barn and via my mom (thank you!). Monogrammed wine glasses, decals via Etsy.

We put flowers in the restrooms as well to spice up the "portables." Why not?!

I knew I wanted to design my own wedding cake, and Sweetie Pie's in Napa did better job than I could have asked for. I brought in photos similar to what I wanted to both the florist and the bakery, and then coordinated the florist to decorate the cake once it arrived. When it came time to cut the cake, Matt and I did so begrudgingly- neither of us wanted to ruin how beautiful it was! My father-in-law, who purchased the cake for us, came running over saying "Don't cut it! It's too pretty!" 

It was a strawberry shortcake flavor with fondant ruffles and thick layers of strawberry through the center. Yesterday we had some guys over for football and my mom showed up with the top layer of our cake to put in our freezer. Little did she know, our bakery gives a free anniversary cake (a replica!) so we ate our wedding cake with lunch yesterday! 

Our beautiful venue all lit up at night. Not pictured: the gorgeous surrounding vineyards.

Gordon Valley, California.

These are my favorite details of the evening, but there were so many more. I am so incredibly proud of my choices, and more importantly, the hard work of our vendors. It's not easy to take an empty property, not even a wedding venue!, and stick to your vision with every outside vendor. I find this wedding to be one of my proudest moment and greatest accomplishments.