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Urban Harvest Farmer’s Market

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On Satuday, I headed to the Urban Harvest Farmer’s Market (Eastside location) – something I’ve been meaning to do for ages and had never gotten around to. One thing’s for sure – I’ve been missing out. Enticing aromas welcome you when walking towards the long two rows of tents selling everything from brightly colored vegetables to fresh flowers, organic beef and vegan treats. I went with Sasha’s aunt, Zlata, who enjoys markets as much as I do. We left with a full (recyclable, of course) bag, stuffed with basil, portobello mushrooms, peppers, flowers (top left picture), limes, and last (but definitely not least) vegan pumpkin pie! I was giddy with excitement when I saw Sinfull Bakery‘s stand (my favorite), as I’ve been trying various vegan pumpkin recipes to little success, and wanted something tried-and-proven on that particular morning. Sasha scarfed it down when we got home and gave it two-thumbs up, which means a lot coming from a carnivore who eats eggs but doesn’t like desserts.

My favorite stands were:

Sinfull Bakery – as mentioned above, the vegan treats (and samples) are so tasty
Pat Greer’s Kitchen – I was handed a vegan sauteed veggie taster and it was heaven-in-my-mouth (need to head to her restaurant!)
Billabong Fresh Flower Farm – where I got my gorgeous flower arrangement
Utility Research Garden – the juiciest limes I’ve ever tasted
Shade/Canopy – I love the restaurants, so naturally loved the booth
Knopp Branch Farm – some of the best portobello mushrooms we’ve ever eaten
Revival Market – a little sneak peek before I headed there for lunch with friends on Saturday

My love for farmer’s markets dates back to my time in Austin at The University of Texas – I wrote an article for the UT newspaper, which was linked to here.

Have you been to your local farmer’s market?

Sprouted Kitchen: Almond Date Truffles

I absolutely adore cooking. I make Sasha dinner from scratch every single night. Since I’m a vegetarian and he’s not (except for Meatless Mondays), I’ll make the same dish for us, but add chicken, shrimp or salmon to the top of his meal, which makes life much easier. While I’m not a vegan, I don’t eat eggs, so baking has never, ever brought joy to my life like cooking has. I recently stumbled upon Sprouted Kitchen, the most amazing food blog ever, and found a host of amazing meatless recipes and eggless desserts. I am thrilled. The Almond Date Truffles, shown below will definitely be my first trial.

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Almond Date Truffles  // Makes 18

  • 20 Medjool dates, seeded and halved (plump and slightly glossy)
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup creamy almond butter
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. natural cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup toasted almonds, well chopped

Put the dates and vanilla in a food processor and run until a chunky paste forms. Add the almond butter and pulse a few more times. Add the coconut, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon and pulse a few more times. The mixture should be a tad crumbly, but press between your fingers and stick together. If it seems too wet to hold in a ball, add more coconut, if too dry, add a touch more almond butter or a splash of water.

Roll a heaping Tbsp. of the mixture between your palms to form a ball. Repeat with remaining mixture. Put your chopped almonds on a plate and roll each truffle in the almonds (apply a bit of pressure to get them to adhere). Place the plate in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. Truffles will keep covered in the fridge for a couple weeks.

 

Recipe and pictures via Sprouted Kitchen

Our Wedding Stationery: Papellerie

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we worked with Papellerie on our entire stationery suite (save the dates, invitations, programs, custom napkins, etc.). I loved working with Riley and Amy so much – they were incredibly good at understanding exactly what we (probably more I) wanted. Every single piece of our stationery was better than I could have ever imagined. The only missing photos were all of the goodies they made for our guest boxes! I’m upset that I didn’t think to have Ryan to take any pictures of the final product (my very unprofessional iPhone pictures below). The only faux-pas we had was that our seating assignment board – a corkboard with pins and personalized wine tags for guest’s glass with their name and table number – was setup vertically instead of horizontally (as planned), which made the tags fall kind of… off? You’ll see below. It’s definitely not a big deal though. As an FYI, the calligrapher that Papellerie uses is Meant To Be Calligraphy and the map artist was Katie Gastley. Everyone was amazing.

Our Save-the-Dates

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Our Invitation Set

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Our Programs

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Our Placemats and Menus

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Our Table Numbers

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Our Reserved Signs

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Our Table Assignments – a slight deviation from plan, as it was set up vertically instead of horizontally so the personalized wine tags don’t hang quite right! You win some, you lose some!

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Our Custom Drink Bar Sign

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Our Cupcake Flavor Labels

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Our “Write your favorite memory” Postcards (A + S were gifted by my sweet little cousin!)

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#ASPWedding Instagram Sign and Taxi Vouchers

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Grand Exit Sign (Noisemakers here)

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My iPhone Pictures of Guest Box Assembly + Seating Assignments

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Our Wedding Pictures: Part 2

Et voila – the second half of the wedding (you can see part one here). We had custom cocktails, delicious food, hilarious speeches, and lots and lots and lots of dancing. There was a good mixture of Scottish and Serbian dancing, and of course, plenty of bouncing around to Miley and T-Swift (yes, he’s 32). I was a hot, sweaty mess at the end of the night, as I feel I should have been. I could not have dreamed up a better wedding for the two of us. I’m so happy to have these pictures and go through them time and time again. Love y’all – thanks for reading!

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Wedding Venue: The Carneros Inn

Wedding Coordinator: Brooke Baglietto (at The Carneros Inn)

Florist: Julie Stevens

Dress: BHLDN

Shoes: Jimmy Choo

Bridesmaids Dresses: J. Crew

Hair and Makeup: Katie Donaghy of It’s a Date at the Powder Room

Photographer: Ryan Ray

Vegan Cupcakes: Fat Bottom Bakery

DJ: Aaron Long

Cake Toppers: Ready Go Wedding Co. on Etsy

Paper Goods: Papellerie

String Trio: Synchronicity Strings

Groomsmen Kilt Rentals: Kilt Rental USA

Halfway to 30

One of my best friends since 3rd grade, Brittany, turned 25 today (i.e. halfway to 30). We had a dinner celebration last night at her and Aaron’s new gorgeous townhouse. The food, drinks and conversation were just perfect. Happy birthday, Britt!

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