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Snapshots January 31, 2014

Favorite Photos of the Week

Photography blogs are my absolute favorite – I could literally stare at beautifully captured moments all day long. This week was awfully busy at work (sleep deprived!), but I managed to fit in 30 minutes of blog scouring late last night. The pictures below are my favorite photos for this week (although some were posted more than a week ago!). Which is your favorite?

maternity via laura murray (seriously perfect – we need these!)

wedding via ryan ray

engagement via taylor lord

travel via vicki grafton

florals via meg perotti

serenity by em the gem

Food January 29, 2014

Vegan Chocolate Beet Muffins

I think that everyone needs their signature baked good. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never had one, and as a health-focused vegan, it has been hard to find recipes that fit the bill for nutrition while tasting delicious. That is, until I came across Minimalist Baker. This blog is my everything! I found two chocolate beet muffin/cupcake recipes and have fallen in love (as has Sasha, my toughest vegan critic!). I slightly adapted this one – replacing the all purpose flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour, using Stevia vs. sugar, canned beets, and adding Attune bar chocolate crumbles. Sasha gave them two big thumbs up. I highly recommend you give this recipe a try! If you do, please let me know what you think.

Ingredients

3/4 can of beets (pureed)
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
 3/4 cup baking Stevia (or coconut sugar)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 heaping Tbsp gluten-free flour (or regular all-purpose if you don’t want them GF)
scant 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
3 vegan Attune bars (found at Central Market or Whole Foods next to probiotic yogurts)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F
Open can of beets and puree them until they are in liquid form. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside.
Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the Stevia, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup beets and beat until foamy.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a sifter and slowly sift it into the wet ingredients while mixing with a hand-held or standing mixer. Beat until no large lumps remain.
Put vegan Attune bars (amazing chocolate filled with antioxidants!) into Ziplock bag and break into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Pour small chocolate crumbles into the mix.
Pour batter into liners, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Do not try and unwrap them or they’ll stick to the wrapper.
Once cooled, store in an airtight container to keep fresh. Optional: Dust with cocoa powder.

Recipe adapted from The Minimalist Baker (obsessed with her recipes!), and pictures are from here and here. If you try them, please let me know what you think!

Invitations January 28, 2014

Paper and Honey

I am seriously in love with the Paper and Honey Shop on Etsy. They have multiple wedding suites, categorized by “theme” (i.e. Lovebirds, Campers, Travelers) – and they are all gorgeous sets of paper goods. And this praise is all without mentioning the calligraphy. Love, love, love. Which suite is your favorite? I’m leaning towards Dreamers.

World Travelers Wedding Suite

Dreamers Wedding Suite

Homebodies Wedding Suite

Lovebirds Wedding Suite

Campers Wedding Suite

Baby January 24, 2014

Gold Striped Walls

I love interior design, which you’ll know if you’ve been following along for awhile now. I am currently planning a nursery for our baby girl who will be born on June 4. We recently ordered our crib (Babyletto Mercer in all white) and bought the rug for the room (Pottery Barn Henley Rug in Ivory), so all that’s left is the rocking chair and ottoman. And, of course, the wall color. This is the biggest decision and I am so torn. I go back and forth between Rifle Paper Co. wall paper dreams, solid cream, gold wall paper, or gold and white painted stripes. I am very, very inspired by this last option, but I’m not sure this is the option we’ll go with. I’m sharing some of my favorite gold striped walls – what do you think? Appropriate for a baby room or too old? My main concern is having lots of frames hanging against the stripes and it seeming off balanced. Decisions, decisions!

This is my absolute favorite.

Baby January 23, 2014

In Full Bloom Baby Shower

I absolutely adore this ‘In Full Bloom’ baby shower from Hostess with the Mostest! It is completely over the top, but was planned by event planners (Double Take Event Styling), so what do you expect? The little pink and gold French touches are perfect, as are the florals, calligraphy and crafts – creating baby headbands? Too cute.

– Event Styling & Floral Arrangements: Double Take Event Styling & D’Lorah Ter Har
– Invitations & Printables: Modern Moments Designs
– Photography: Courtney Jade Photography
– Fondant Cupcake Toppers & Flowers: Two Sugar Babies
– DIY Shabby Chic Headband Kit & My Pink Flower Clip: LB Boutique
– Cupcake & Mini Fruit Tarts: Sugar & Salt Bakery & Catering
– Stripey Straws: Shop Sweet Lulu
– Mason Jar Flower Frog Lids: The Country Barrel
– Cake Pops: Poppies Cake Pop
– Baskets & Mason Jars: Pottery Barn
– Macarons: Jade Teahouse & Patisserie
– Ribbon & Fabric: Fabric Depot
– Mini Clay Pots: Michael’s