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Calligraphy Workshop

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I love calligraphy. Not the old school copperplate kind, but contemporary lettering. This sounds absurd, but I could look at cursive lettering all day long. I have looked into taking classes in Houston, but everyone I find seems to teach the super slanted, loopy calligraphy, and I’m not interested in learning that. When Amy and Riley at Papellerie showed me our logo and invitations with Michele of Meant To Be Calligraphy‘s handwriting, I swooned. “That is the type of calligraphy I want to learn,” I thought to myself. While my handwriting is far from perfect, I do have a very steady hand and am constantly doodling cursive words in meetings and at church (while paying attention, of course!). Michele lives in DC and holds workshops at a local venue, and I’m going to one in February. I’m extraordinarily excited to take my first class (with my mom!) and also to have another trip to one of my favorite cities in the US. Have you been to DC before? If not, you should. Perhaps just to eat the veggie burger and popcorn at Founding Farmers.

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Elephant Rides in Bali

Work is beyond busy, but there’s one thing getting me through each day – Bali in 22 days! Sasha has begged me not to over-book us, so I’ve limited my planning to a famous Balinese cooking class, volcano tour, temple tour, yoga class, Ubud day trip, and my favorite – an elephant ride! The first time I saw elephants in the wide (i.e. not at a zoo) was in South Africa three years ago, and I fell in love. They are so darn cute.

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photo by vicki grafton via entouriste

Black-Bean-Beet Burger

I love black bean burgers (especially Adair Kitchen’s), and I love beet burgers (especially Tiny Boxwood’s). So the other day, I began to search the internet for the perfect black bean and beet burger. I found a number of recipes, but this one stuck out. I tried it. The burgers are heavenly. I made one swap – I replaced the rice for barley, and oat flour for quinoa flour. They still taste amazing. While I’m a full time vegetarian, Sasha only observes Meatless Mondays, so 3 black-bean-beet-burgers are packed in his lunchbox today. Pair them with whole wheat buns (for him), or bunless (for me), with a grilled veggie salad, and you’ve got the perfect meal.

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Patties (makes 6):
8 ounces beets, steamed or roasted and peeled*
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, washed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, washed and drained
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup rolled oat flour**
1/2 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt
Pepper

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Pulse beets in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add beets to a large bowl, along with the garbanzo beans, black beans, brown rice, oat flour, red onion, garlic, sumac, thyme leaves, ground cumin and ground coriander. Mash with two forks until all the beans are incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. (I added about one teaspoon of kosher salt and half of a teaspoon of pepper.)

Using a half cup measure, form six patties. Cover them with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. (Since we aren’t using egg to bind the mix, this step helps the patties hold together.) Melt butter or olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Toast the hamburger buns for 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add more butter or olive oil if needed. Add the patties and cook on both sides for 3-4 minutes and until the tops are lightly golden brown. Optional: Place slices of cheese on top of each burger and cook for 1 minute longer, until cheese is melted.

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Favorite Looks of the Week

This week has been very, very busy at work, so I didn’t get to catch up on my blog reading until late last night. Lots of beautiful looks to pick from – I’m loving this transitional phase into fall. Lots of plaid, autumn colors and boots. Oh the boots. I especially like Sarah Vickers’ outfit – I want to wear that exact outfit to the Nutcracker this year.

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Hello Fashion

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The Pink Peonies

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The Native Fox

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Atlantic-Pacific

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Cupcakes and Cashmere

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Classy Girls Wear Pearls

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Angel Food Style

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The Fancy Pants Report

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Gal Meets Glam

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Brooklyn Blonde

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Sequins and Stripes

The Perfect Nursery

I follow Taylor Sterling (founder of Glitter Guide) on Instagram, and I think she’s absolutely perfect. She has been posting pictures of different pieces of her nursery/office recently, but not until yesterday was the entire room revealed on GG. I literally have clicked through all of the pictures three times. I love them all so much. Every single detail is just as I would have dreamed – from the Rifle prints on the wall to the amazing Hayneedle furniture. Baby Elodie is going to have one stylish life. What do you think of the decorations?

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