Hello! + Homemade Ramen Recipe

Hi everyone!

So, it has been a while... I've been meaning to get back in the habit of blogging, but life seemed to keep getting in the way.  My husband and I dealt with a lot of changes all at once - moving, starting a new job, selling an old house, buying a new house, starting law school (him, not me), etc.  We've been getting used to our new routines and a new city.  Here are some of the highlights:

Chopped 10 inches off my hair!

Best friend Pam came for an Autumn visit!

We discovered Dram Apothecary - a new mountain fave!
More on this awesome place in an upcoming post...

I attended my first ever NBA game!

 Earlier this week, I posted this photo of some homemade ramen I threw together for dinner - people seemed intrigued.  So, I thought the recipe may be a good start for getting back into this blogging thing.... Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

Sesame Oil

4 garlic cloves, pressed

2-3 tsps of freshly grated ginger

4-5 cups of broth (chicken/beef/vegetable/etc.) - homemade is best, store-bought boxed broth is next, boullion cubes in a pinch (those go from lowest to highest amounts of sodium)

4 cups of water

1-2 tsps of cayenne pepper 

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1 Package of sliced shiitake mushrooms (can used dried)

2 packages of ramen noodles (throw away the flavor packets!)

Shredded carrots (optional)

Bacon, coarsely chopped

Green onions, chopped

Cilantro, coarsely chopped

Poached egg

Sriracha (optional)

Directions:

Put a few tsps of sesame oil in a pot on light/medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook for a couple minutes until aromatic - be sure not to burn!

Next, add broth, water, cayenne, and pepper flakes

If using dried mushrooms, go ahead and add to the broth with the spices. If using fresh mushrooms, let the broth simmer about 10 minutes, then add. While the broth is simmering, you can fry up your bacon and place on paper towel to soak up some of the grease.  I used about 5 or 6 strips of thick cut bacon, but you can do less or more depending on how much meat you want. 

Let the broth simmer for about 20-25 minutes total, then add carrots and noodles. 

While the noodles are cooking, poach your egg(s). I'll add my poaching tips below just in case :). You could always use a fried egg, if that's easier.

Once the noodles are tender, you are ready to combine!  Add broth/noodle mixture to a deep bowl, top with bacon, green onions, cilantro, and poached egg! Top with some Sriracha, if you want a little additional kick. 

Egg Poaching Tips:

- Use only lightly bowling water - if the boiling gets too violent it will rip the egg apart

- Add a little white vinegar to the water before you start boiling, this will help keep the egg together

- Before dropping the egg into the lightly boiling water, create a little whirlpool with a spoon and drop the egg in the center (this will help the egg white stay wrapped around the yolk)

- Once the egg starts cooking, it may get stuck at the bottom of the pan - use a spatula to peel the egg off of the pan, so that it's floating in the water

Coming Soon | White Buffalo Trading Co.

I've decided to begin a little side project and open up an Etsy store! The store will be called White Buffalo Trading Co., and I will be selling ombre antlers hand-painted by yours truly.  I chose the name White Buffalo because the antlers come from the Gunnison Valley, where my family has vacationed for years.  In this valley, there used to be a White Buffalo that roamed a local ranch.  I used to look for this buffalo on every drive between Crested Butte and Gunnison. So, it seemed only fitting to make a little tribute to this iconic figure of my youth.

Hope you enjoy the teasers you see above!  I'm hoping to have the store open by the beginning of next week.  And trust me, y'all will be the first to know!  Feel free to comment if there are any special colors you would like to see.

Our First Wedding Anniversary

 Today marks my husband's and my first wedding anniversary.  I am so thankful to have this man in my life, especially over the past year.  This day also just makes me want to go back to Colorado and celebrate with our friends and family all over again!  I love you, Garrett.

Luxe Mountain Weddings

Our wedding from last summer is featured today on Luxe Mountain Weddings!  I never got around to doing many wedding recaps, so this is a great place to see it. I'm glad there are blogs dedicated to mountain nuptials - I absolutely loved the natural, outdoor setting!

The Lou | Weekend Recap

This past weekend, we took a quick trip across the lovely state of Missouri to visit St. Louis.  This was my first time in this lovely metropolis, and I had a great time thanks to some wonderful recommendations!

Our first stop was, of course, the Gateway Arch!  We traveled all the way to the top and got a great view of the city - I had no idea this was possible before I started researching.  But beware, this little trip up to the top is not for the claustrophobic!  You travel by steel pod (with only 4 foot doors) using some sort of pulley system that is a mix between an elevator, escalator, and maybe a forklift.

Next, we hit up the Central West End area - this is an uppity little area with great food and shopping.  We had brunch at a little spot called Crepes Etc.  I didn't get any photos of our food because I was starving and forgot.  Oopsies!  But, believe you me, this place is delish!  I had a savory crepe filled with sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, goat cheese and topped with gravy. YUM.

Next, we joined the rest of Garrett's family to watch the National Cross Country Championships that his dad and brother were officiating.  Those were some fast people, y'all!  And one guy was running without shoes on in sub-20 degree weather (the wind chills were below zero)! You can probably tell how cold I am in the photos... I was doing my best to use my hubby as a wind blockade.

 

{btw, you can totally see my 'ombre' hair in this photo} 

Following the race, we did a little shopping on the Delmar Loop. Highly recommend!  Then, we headed to a place called The Scottish Arms for dinner.  This restaurant, as alluded to by the name, serves wonderful Scottish fare (think pork, lamb, haggis) and has a huge selection of Scotch. Oh, and all the waiters wear KILTS.  Pretty amazing.

Phew!  We fit a lot into one day!  But I'm glad we made the trip, and I look forward to going back... maybe sometime when it's warmer.

Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's day!  I'm looking forward to dinner at home with the husbalicious!

House in Progress

So, last September we moved into our lovely new house.  We absolutely love the house, but there was one minor aesthetic problem - the wallpaper in the master bedroom.  It was toile. Red toile.  I actually really like toile patterns (and we are keeping the black version of this in the master bathroom), but the entire master was a little much. And the red color made the walls look somewhat pinkish.  The husband was NOT a fan.

Because the master bedroom was recently remodeled and the wallpaper was the first layer on brand new sheet rock, we were timid to try and remove the wallpaper.  So, after doing some research and talking with friends and family, we decided to paint over the wallpaper (gasp!).  The main issue with this is you have to do an oil-based primer so the paint will grip on top of the wallpaper.  And believe you me - oil primer is a pain in the booty to work with.  BIG PAIN.  Finally, I enlisted some help in my parents.  They came in town for the week to help me address this wallpaper thing.  Here are a few shots before the final transformation took place:

We chose a dark taupe-y grey to compliment our new Dwell Studio comforter.  We also added some Safavieh Lamps because our current lamps clashed with the new wall color (besides, they were from Ikea anyways).Here's the after!

Since the walls were done, I also finally got the chance to set up my vanity!  I found an image on Pinterest of antlers used as necklace hooks.  Not only do I have more necklaces than any one person should ever own, I'm also on an antler/deer kick. Here are a few shots of my deer-inspired accessories!

Now, time to order some more wall hangings, etc. All in all, a huge weight has been lifted!  Goodbye french farmers, hello clean crisp looking walls.

Happy Twenty Twelve!

Put a flower in your hair...

I was in lovely San Francisco all last week for work.  I definitely got to see many different parts of the city thanks to my local friends and coworkers who gave me rides everywhere!

The first night I was there, I poked around downtown Burlingame - my home base for the week.  I found this great shop with unique (but affordable) clothing called Therapy.  They have several locations, so you should check them out if you're in Cali.

The next night, I went to a Giants game. I made it a point to ride The Guzzler (a Coca-Cola slide usually reserved for children).  It was totally worth it!  They also had a Fist Pump Cam that I thought was pretty genius.  Everyone got really into it!  Please notice the brilliant graphic...

I had the wonderful chance to hang out in beautiful Sausalito!  We had the most delicious meal at Fish, a seafood restaurant right on the water dedicated to serving sustainable fish.  The crab roll was absolutely splendid.  It melted in my mouth... like butta'.

After spending the afternoon in Sausalito, I spent my evening in the Marina District.  There was some great shopping - including a whole Benefit store.  A WHOLE STORE of the stuff!!  If you know me, you know my love for Benetint (see here and here).  I stopped in and fell in love with their new lipstick shade for Fall called No Competition.  It's a nice berry color, but not toooo dark that it scares me.

After I finished my shopping, I met a dear old friend and her lovely family at a taco place in the area called Mamacita. It was wonderful!  I had the fish tacos (I couldn't get enough seafood on this trip), and my friend raved about her carne asada tacos.  Here's a cute pic her husband took of us outside the restaurant (notice all the shopping bags I'm holding. Oopsies!).

All in all, it was a fun trip!  It reminded me how much I love true urban life. Can't wait for the next time I'm back in this blissfully foggy metropolis - hopefully, I can bring the hubby along (he was super jealous of all the amazing asian food and seafood I was having).  There's just so much more to do and see!  Alcatraz, anyone?!  

Operation Ombre Hair: Accomplished.

So, remember when I told you I was going to try the Ombre hair trend?  Well, this past Saturday - I went for it!  And I'm very happy with the results. Jane, my wonderful stylist at Belle Epoque, ended up using 4 different shades of red throughout my hair to create this effect.  It took a few hours, but was totally worth it.  My guess is it will be pretty easy to upkeep too!  I mean, after all, the whole look is kinda like you're highlights are all grown out.... ;).

Here are the best photos I could get - I think it's a little more dramatic in-person.  But you get the idea...

Dance 'til you feel better!

This little vid is making the blog rounds... I will say, it definitely makes me smile today.  Amid all the life stresses we have going on right now, this montage and trivia tonight at Westport Flea Market are making my day a wonderful one.  So, get up off a that thing...


Dance Trailer from Chris Poole on Vimeo.

Ombre Hair Trend

I have an appointment at the end of this month to have my hair color blocked in an ombre effect.  Here's how it usually looks when people do this type of dye job:

But of course, I want to do my ombre hair in RED!  Here are some fun examples...

I don't think i could pull off the red to blonde one, but it looks awesome.  Maybe I'll get the guts to do that next Summer... might be a little to light for Fall, anyways.  I've dyed my hair many colors, but this is something completely new and different.  I'm sure it will only trend a year or two more, so I need to hop to it!

Pinterest (ing)...

I'm recently obsessed with Pinterest.  It's such a great way to organize, save, and find great new links on the web.  I'm currently using it to log furniture finds for the new house we have a contract on (yay!) - more on that when it's all a done deal.  I also have a board full of recipes I want to try!

Here are a few things I've pinned....

Source: laylagrayce.com via Adrienne on Pinterest

Source: arhaus.com via Adrienne on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Adrienne on Pinterest

Source: ezrapoundcake.com via Adrienne on Pinterest

Source: natalieskillercuisine.com via Adrienne on Pinterest

So, yeah. BIG FAN.  Follow my pins here!

Wedding Sneak Peek

So, we got back from our wedding last week.  No honeymoon just yet - we'll most likely go to Croatia next summer, so don't feel too bad for us ;).  We had such a great time seeing all of our closest friends and family in the same beautiful place.  If it works for your families, I can confirm that a destination wedding is definitely the way to go!  Hands down!  We were able to have so much fun and spend quality time with the majority of our guests.  It made the actual wedding day that much more spectacular and memorable.

My photographer Alison White posted this photo to her facebook site, so I thought I'd share...

 

And yes, I wore a birdcage veil.  I absolutely loved the vintage look of it! But instead of buying one of those expensive ones on Etsy, I found a really affordable one here.  I used those savings to buy the brand new Chanel makeup that I'm wearing in this photo. I went the "peach and spices" route, even though I was initially thinking dramatic red lips. The reason I changed my mind is that I just didn't look enough like myself with the super red lips and dark shadow.  I've decided that look is better for a night out, rather than my wedding day (but if you feel comfortable in it for your wedding, please go for it! I'm just a whimp). Regardless of color, I ended up being very pleased with how my "face" lasted throughout the night.  Go Chanel!

More wedding recaps (and many more photos) to come...

Gone Marry-ing.

I apologize for the lack of posts lately, and I would like to apologize in advance for not posting again until the wedding is DUNZO.  My brain is in wedding overload and the to do list is growing everyday! 

So, please come back in July for more creative, fabulous tidbits and of course... wedding recaps (duh).

More Augusts!

Today, the lovely Caroline Fontenot posted an amazing blog of photos from Pam & Jason's wedding.  I've been stalking her blog for a few weeks now just waiting for this post!

I wanted to share a few of my favorites here...but make sure you head on over the full blog post to check out all the hilarious dancing photos, as well.



Isn't this such a cute idea for a photo?! Love it!




Funny story here: I was going to get a hanger like this one for Pam, but she had already gotten one for herself and me, as well.  Besties really do think alike :).




Jackie's amazing shoes to honor our favorite rocket scientists!!




I think these photos from Pam & Jason's "First Look" are my favorite.  They really capture the love and emotion these two have for one another :).




This one is kind of funny b/c you can see me holding down Pam's veil with my foot... don't worry, she asked me too.



Wedding Par-tay.



Isn't the decor loverly?  I love the look of this long head table.

 Oh, and if you haven't seen Pam's bridal portraits or the couple's engagement sesh, add it to the list of generally awesome things to look at.