Creative Connection October

I can't believe it's already the middle of October! Mostly because it's still in the 90's here =( But that also means there is another Creative Connection event!! In case you've never heard, CCLA is a creative networking group that I host for the Los Angeles chapter. And this month, I'm extra excited because we're featuring so many amazing creatives, including event designer, Marisa Albanese of Marisa Nicole Events who came up with the amazing theme for this months event. We will have a little bit of a wine challenge this month featuring wines & cheese from countries all over the world! How fun is that?! So if you are a female creative in the Los Angeles area, you should definitely check it out and snag up a ticket here! Oh, and did I mention that this event will be at my new studio!? Yes, it'll be the bomb dot com.

Staying Cool

With the end of Labor Day, children starting school, and the return of the ever fabulous Pumpkin Spice Latte, one would think that crisp air and busting out scarves and boots would be next... but no. In my little corner of sunny SoCal it's a blazing 100 degrees outside with no sign of fall anytime soon. So in an effort to stay positive in this annoying heat, I whipped up a fun and easy dessert for Mr. H and I the other night - strawberry cheesecake ice-cream in a lemon cup!

 

To add to the display I made little flags out of yellow polka dot washi tape for the spoons. Maybe it was a little much for just the 2 of us... but I figure it you can't beat the heat, you might as well embrace it! 

So, let's raise our ice cream and cheers to a long summer!

 

 

How do you stay cool is the heat?? I could definitely use some suggestions to keep me sane! In the meantime, maybe I'll get that pumpkin spice latte in hopes that it will bring on the Fall =)

Summer Sangria Recipe

Phew is it hot out there! (For those of us in Socal) I was really feeling the heat last weekend, and decided to take advantage of our beautiful pool area, and I was craving a little refreshing drink to accompany me =) So a good friend of mine came over and we came up with this awesome sangria recipe! Go try it out for your next summer bbq or just chillin' by yourself by the pool!

Supplies:
Dry White Wine - whole bottle
Pineapple/Orange Juice - 2 cups
Sparkling Cider- 1 cup
1 orange
2 limes
10 strawberries

Instructions:
Combine everything in a pitcher and let sit for 15 to 20 min. Add lime juice from 1 & throw in slices of the other. Then add sparkling cider and ice and serve!

Nutella Goodness

Hello friends! I'm finally back to the blog world! I know it's been awhile since I've been on here - since I got back from Ecuador, I've just been trying to catch up on life and then slowly catch up on this little labor of love. I have an awesome week lined up on here! So with all of that to say, I have a fabulous recipe for you to try the next time you have a dinner party... or if you are like me, just getting ready to watch Hart of Dixie w/ your hubby on a Monday night =)

I found the recipe on Bellalimento.com and I'm sure there are a ton more fabulous recipe's on there. Go check it out! What I love about it, is it's from scratch, super easy, and still tastes gourmet. Mr. H was drooling over them!


What you’ll need:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
2 large fresh eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup Caramel sauce – room temperature
1/4 cup Nutella – melted {approximately 15 seconds in microwave}
Hazelnuts – roughly chopped to garnish

What to do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Into a mixing bowl add your flour, baking powder, salt & cocoa powder. Using a whisk, mix together & set aside. 2. Into your stand mixer add the sugar, butter and mix together until creamy. Add in eggs one at a time. Mix well. Add vanilla. GRADUALLY add in your flour mixture until it’s well combined. Batter should be thick & sticky.

3. Spray an ovenproof 10 x 7 dish with cooking spray. Place a piece of parchment paper (slightly larger than your dish to allow for handles) inside. It will adhere to bottom of dish. Spray the top of the parchment paper as well. Take HALF of your brownie batter and smooth it on top of the parchment paper. Take your caramel sauce and pour it on top of brownie mixture covering entire layer of brownie {careful not to place it too close to edges}. Place the remaining brownie batter on top smoothing it out.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until sides are firm and center is no longer giggly.
5.  Allow brownies to cool completely before removing. Cut your brownies to your desired size using a serrated knife. Make a small indentation with your finger into each brownie. Take your melted Nutella and drizzle over the tops of the brownies. Garnish with the hazelnuts.

This is how mine turned out - DELISH!!

HWTM: Holiday Party Planning

I love the holidays! I love mint m&m's, dressing up in boots and coats, big dinner parties. Decorating your home with garland and stockings while listening to N*Sync Christmas (c'mon, you know you do!) Anyways, I wish I could plan like 10 different holidays if I could. That's how much I love it. So for our next Creative Connection Event, we're planning a huge holiday bash! I'm so excited. Tickets are officially available HERE and if you're a female creative in the Los Angeles area you should definitely come join us! Here is a sneak at my inspirations for our little shin dig - we're going all out for this one so you definitely don't want to miss out!

My Holiday Inspiration

This is our first Christmas as a married couple. We are officially getting to decorate on our own in our own place! This is super exciting for me and I cannot wait to have family and friends over to show off our apartment. Now, here's the catch... how to you decorate a teeny tiny apartment for the holidays?? Now, I'm no designer at all! But these are just my thoughts. We have a small apartment that is painted teal and mint green. Throwing some forest green and bright red around is going to feel like A LOT is going on... so why not go with what we've got already, right?! So in preparation for this holiday season, I've been browsing my fav (Pinterest) for some inspiration in the teal and green family.. and I am loving what I am finding!! Can't wait to show you what i come up with, using the inspiration below. How are you decorating this season??

1, 2, 3, 4

HWTM: Meal Planning

So I had the amazing opportunity to meet some crazy talented women at our last Creative Connection LA event this past weekend. Meeting & interacting with these women just rejuvenates me. One gal in particular stood out to me this month because her creative outlet is in an area that I majorly struggle with. She is a chef extraordinaire and she shares her skills with others via her blog as well as her meal planning service.

Meet Rachel Oberg

This girl has some serious talent at creating weekly - monthly meal plans for families/individuals specifically for those with eating restrictions - check out his excerpt from her blog:

"As I’ve planned for people over time, I’m realizing more and more that while I do love to plan for the “regular” eaters out there, the people I love to plan for the most are those who are struggling with it. I realized this when Summer entered a contest I held in July for a free menu. To enter, all she had to do was tell me why she deserved a menu. She wrote that she was overwhelmed by new food restrictions in her diet (no dairy, no soy, no corn syrup, and no sugar) and was struggling to come up with things to feed her family (who didn’t share the restrictions), that she could eat too. Insert shout of excitement from me! Someone actually needed my help! She won then and there. And, thus began the journey of realization that I’m on about this little business of mine. The overwhelmed, the stressed, the burdened, the hungry because you can’t think of anything to make… bring your menu woes over here!"

Now, I recently was able to receive a week of menu planning and I swear it has changed my life. This girl is so incredible organized. I received all my meals, recipes, extra tips and notes from her experience with the dish, as well with options to substitutes. She has EVERYTHING covered. So if you are like me (can't cook to save my life) or if you have some crazy (or not so crazy) allergies, this is your girl! She takes into account all your preferences as well as your budget and does all the work for you. And the best part, she's affordable! For one week, a full meal plan is only $15!! And for a month I believe it is $45. SUCH a deal! So head on over to her amazing blog HERE and if you purchase a menu - tell her Emilee sent you =)

HWTM: Fall Recipes

Even though temperatures are supposed to reach 100 degrees today (bleh) I thought I would share my new fall favorite recipe - Pumpkin Pancakes. I had one of my interns over last night for a presentation and I made these... (ahem, Mr. H did most of the work) but they turned out perfectly! Prior to last night, I've only had them at restaurants and some I've found are just too pumpkiny... but these had just the right amount of pumpkin to make you think fall... but not make you feel like you just took a bite of pumpkin pie. Thanks to The Happy Housewife for such an awesome recipe! Try making breakfast for dinner the next time you have some friends over!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Combine flour, baking soda, baking power, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
2. Add buttermilk, egg, pumpkin and applesauce.
3. Mix until batter is moistened, but still lumpy.
4. Cook on a buttered griddle on medium heat.

HWTM: Strawberry Dessert

I know it's officially fall... but if you're like me and live in the Los Angeles area (particularly my area) it's still an depressing 92 degrees outside. So instead of fight the heat, maybe embrace these last few weeks of warmth by having a bbq outside with some friends by the pool?? I always struggle with good dessert ideas for the heat - everything yummy always seems to melt or go bad. So the next time you have a little outdoor soiree try out these adorable little cream cheese filled strawberries on your guests! (From the official Hostess with the Mostess website - which is amazing, you must check it out for your next party.) They are sooo super simple and you probably have everything you need at home.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

And there you have it! So super easy and a sure way to "cool off" this early fall season =)

CC LA: Event Recap

"CC LA?" What do all these letters mean? You may ask. Let me tell you!! I am apart of an amazing networking group called Creative Connection USA. We are awesome. Basically we are a talented group of female creatives striving to make the world a better place by helping each other out. Anyone is welcome, and all are loved =) Hehe... cheesy, I know. But it's true. Some of my favorite people I have met through CC and I love it. As you may have learned from previous posts and our FB page - I am the new LA Hostess and I just had my first meetup a couple weeks ago! It was so much fun and I had a blast putting a face to ppl I tweet with as well as FINALLY meeting my twitter crush - Kathrina Sio from Joe + Kathrina Photography.

amazing florals by Primary Petals!!

 

my cake pops I made were such a hit!

Anyways, our featured artist - Christina Dely Photography captured some awesome images from the night for us to share. She did such a great job. So if you live in the LA area, check it out and stay tuned for our next meet up - coming in September - we'd love to have you!

HWTM: Baking Party!

Jess and me

 Turns out I'm on a baking kick these days... who knew! I have always been a self proclaimed non-cooker/baker what-have-you and proud of it. I was perfectly content with coffee for breakfast, snacks for some lunch (make a cupcake or 2!) and some cereal and ice cream for dinner - maybe change it up with a top raman. For reals. But since getting married, I've really tried to make an effort with the whole cooking thing and I kinda like it - kinda. But what I love is baking! I mean, it makes a huge mess, and I don't always do it right - but the outcome is deeelish!
In light of my new love paired w/ my love of party planning, I had a group of girlfriends come over for a little baking party! I asked one of my Martha Stewart like friends, Jessica to come and "teach" us how to make oreo truffles and mocha cupcakes. We had so much fun gabbing, drinking wine, making a mess... and well, watching Jess do all the work! She was a good sport =) And a HUGE thanks to Becca Rillo for taking some photos of the evening =)

{ R E C I P E S }
Oreo Truffles
Mocha Cupcakes - we used the recipe from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book - but THIS one looks awesome too!
>> Just look at how adorable everything turned out =)

HWTM: Kinfolk Magazine

Are you ready for the 2nd Hostess With the Mostess post?? I've officially dubbed it HWTM for all those who may have been confused by the title =)

 

Today I am so excited to share with you my new obsession: Kinfolk Magazine. This little online magazine of a gem is amazing and filled with inspired words and photos. What is the premise? Entertaining in you home! How darling is that?! This is how they describe their work: 

"Kinfolk is a collaborative effort to encourage a more natural approach to entertaining. It's the marriage of our appreciation for art and our love for spending time with family and friends."

 I could spend hours reading through all their awesome ideas and recipes and they are all perfect for small gatherings - or even just for yourself. Sometimes you need to just spoil yourself on a quiet night, ya know?  They also give great tips & recipes on how to throw a backyard picnic! I just love it all! So be sure to go check them out  at their site and their blog (which is equally to die for!) And maybe this week plan a little gathering at your home =)

a summer playlist?! umm, yes please!

Hostess With The Mostess!

Happy Monday friends! This weekend, I was actually using my handy dandy little blog planner =) And I decided to bring some more continuity to the blog by adding another column!! I love to entertain and now that I am a wifey w/ my own little place so I thought it would be fun to show my inspirations for hosting parties as well as sharing some of the home projects I've done that have to do w/ entertaining =) What do ya think?!

First up, I found this awesome idea for transforming the idea of serving water. Mr. H is a personal trainer and aspiring Fire Fighter - healthy living comes w/ the package. So we have water at almost every meal. But let's face it - the Brita pitcher doesn't always fit for entertaining. So when I saw this inspiration over at Cupcakes & Cashmere I had to try it out! Emily had the awesome idea of infusing water w/ fruits and such and displaying them in fun glass bottles and adding little tags w/ images of what is in the water.

So I immediately went over to our local Home Goods - best store ever!! And scored some bottles for only $3.99! I had some limes in the fridge so I cut them up and put them in the water. Chilled them for about 2 hours and the water was perfection! I can't wait to use them for a dinner party =)