Tuesday, October 28, 2014

10 favorite fall decorations

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love the clothes, the weather the pumpkin everything and the decorating. 

I thought I would share a few of my favorite fall decorations with you that add character and style without breaking the bank. Most of them I have made but there are others that I have had for years that I love just as much. Most of my home decor comes from the clearance section (after season sales are my favorite), thrift stores, garage sales or diy!

Let's get started!

1) the frame: Natural decor is so fun in the fall and I try to incorporate a lot of different textures and colors. This shelf above our TV serves as our mantle. I use this frame at events to display pictures, quotes or place cards and now I can add leaves to the list. I picked leaves outside last Sunday and viola a beautiful, natural and inexpensive focal point. 



2) tree slices: I have a ton of these, doesn't everybody?! I needed height on the left side and the tree slice was a great way to get the height without it looking weird or out of place. 
Of course the pumpkins are adorable and less than $1.00. 


3) corn stalk bouquet: This was from my failed porch display, which I am still mad about. But I am happy I was able to salvage some of it! 


4) Free printable found on Pinterest! Here is the link 


5) book pumpkin: This was a super fun diy I just finished up today. Here is the tutorial that helped me diy paper book pumpkin



6) thankful,grateful, blessed sign: I usually have this sign up all year but it is especially fitting this time of year. You can order your very own here in my Etsy  shop (forgive the obvious self promotion but I couldn't resist) ha

7) glitter pumpkins: I made these last year. A little messy but still love them. 
  

8) table centerpiece: I bought these acorns on amazon and again went leaf picking and got this beautiful red leaf to tie around the candle. Silver dish was $1.00 at the goodwill and pumpkins were .79 cents at Safeway! 



9) chalk paint pumpkin: adorable and easy diy. Only thing  its not easy to write on. 



10) the great outdoors: Here is some more of my fall porch display decor that I was able to save. 


Thanks for stopping by! What is some of your favorite fall decor?  

xo 
Ash 

Monday, October 6, 2014

nailed it...awkward outfit post


Have you seen the OOTD hashtags, fashion blogs, instagram pictures, tweets, facebook posts, pinterest pictures? (side note: I had to google what ootd was last year and yes I did feel old...it stands for outfit of the day for those who still don't know haha.) 
With all of the social media so many of us are involved with today it's easy to get caught in a comparison trap but things aren't always as we make them out to be.
I have shared some of my recipe fails before, not all of them because that would just be embarrassing, haha, but I am still learning this world of social media, blogging and sharing about who I am and the things I enjoy. Essentially, that's what blogging is all about, sharing your life with the reader.
Well this brings me to my first outfit blog. I have all sorts of outfit posts in mind but moving them from my head to the blog isn't quite as easy as I had imagined.
 It didn't go quite like I thought it would. 

Matt and I went to see one of our favorite comedians last weekend and I thought it would be cool to blog what I wore and give some sources. My plan was to take the pictures outside the building and then I thought there's a parking garage, why not take some shots in the garage. It will feel urban and cool. Well they didn't look cool and most certainly didn't look urban. Here are the two Matt took and then I called the shoot off :) 

I love this shirt from BB Dakota but not sure why I picked a  white shirt in a primarily white background. Really the only time I can wear white is July through August when I am tan. 
Any other time it looks like I have the flu...I've been asked if I was sick before while wearing white.:/


Doesn't this shot scream urban?! Oh boy 

 news anchor head shot

Shirt BB Dakota (spring 2014) 
Jeans High Waisted Levi's outlet. They are amazing!! Go buy now! You can't even see them ha
 Necklace: Urban Outfitters clearance $5.00 I know amazing. UO has great clearance 

Well hope you enjoyed my rambling and unfortunate first what I wore blog. I'm hoping the next one turns out better. 

Thanks for stopping by! 
xo 
Ash 



Thursday, October 2, 2014

healthy travel snacks


This last weekend my super hot assistant Matt and I were on the road. I was coordinating a wedding several hours away and staying in a hotel for a few nights. I don't know about you but when I travel I forget to pack enough healthy snacks. This trip I tried to make enough food to get us through. Since our 21 Sugar Detox these have been our staple snacks.

Simple Beef Jerky:
1/3 c coconut aminos 
1 tsp granulated garlic & onion
1/2 tsp sea salt (I omit the salt)
lots of pepper
1 pound lean beef, fat trimmed (london broil)

Whisk marinade together. Adjust seasoning to your liking. I found the coconut aminos to be too salty. I prefer the braggs aminos and I don't add any additional salt. I also add in a 1/4 cup of water to the marinade. 
Cutting against the grain of the meat, slice the meat thinly into approximately 1/8 inch slices using a very sharp knife or a meat slicer.
Place the sliced meat in marinade and let sit at room temp for an hour. 
If you have a food dehydrator then set temp to 135-145 and cook until desired dryness about 3-5 hours. 

To make jerky in the oven set temp to 200 and bake 2-4 hours or until jerky reaches your desired dryness. 

Since I don't have a dehydrator I cooked in the oven for 2-4 hours the first time and flipped the meat after 2 hours. It turned out great, it just takes so long. The second batch I discovered that we have a convection oven in the camp kitchen and that cut my cooking time in half!!! I placed the meat on wire racks so it would cook evenly and it was done in 2 hours. 

Cinilla Nut Mix
1 egg white 
1 tbsp coconut oil melted
1/4 tsp vanilla 
1tsp cinnamon 
2 pinches of sea salt 
1/4 c macadamia nuts 
1/2 c walnuts (I used pecans)
2 tbsp almond meal 


Preheat oven to 275 
In a mixing bowl whisk together the egg white, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Add the nuts and almond meal, and toss evenly to coat. 
Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toasted. 

Spicy Thai Nut Mix:

1 tbsp coconut aminos (I use braggs aminos) 
1 tbsp coconut oil melted
2 to 4 drops fish sauce 
zest and juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp minced fresh ginger 
1/4 c almonds 
1/4 c pepita's 
1/2 c walnuts (I used pecans) 
1 tsp sesame seeds 


Preheat oven to 275 
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut aminos, coconut oil, fish sauce, lime zest, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and ginger. Add the nuts and seeds and toss evenly to coat. 
Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toasted. 

For the nut mixes I always double the recipe. The amount in the recipe would be like one handful for us.
I bake these mixes at the same time. I put them on a rack on parchment paper and use the convection oven again, I love that thing! 


Here's one last recipe I made for the trip. 

Apple Cinnamon Muffins from PaleOMG this was our breakfast each morning.They turned out amazing. I am loving everything about her site!! 



Hope you enjoyed these healthy travel snack ideas. 
xo 
Ash