Rustic White

Image 1) Decor 8 Image 2) House and Home

Image 3) SFGirlBay Image 4) Apartment Therapy

5) The Lettered Cottage (love this soooo much!)

Lately I've been in a sort of dilemma. We live in a big log house and I have been wanting to repaint my room. Earthy tones - greens and plums - are always a good choice for a log home, but they weren't "me" enough for my room.

I love white walls but have been scared that the contrast between the dark wood and the whit walls would be too strong. However, I've been searching through different sources trying to find examples, and the more I see white with wood, the more I like it. I think I'm going to go for it!

Just picture it...white, ruffles, and light touches of teal. I'll be sure to show you the results!

A poodle, a Ring, and a Wedding

This wedding is charming all the way and I knew I had to share it with you when I came across it on Love and Lavenders blog! Every detail is perfectly thought out and executed beautifully. Even the photography, taken by Tiny Water Photography, has the perfect soft vintage touch to it!

How sweet is her poodle necklace?

Her vintage dress is stunning, is it not? And her hair piece! Swoon! Which is your favorite element of this lovely wedding?

Plate to Pixel

Image taken by Myself

A couple of days ago I received a very exciting package in the mail....

....a shipment from Amazon.com with Helene's new food photography book inside - "Plate to Pixel!" I've been reading it almost non stop since!

Throughout her book, it's easy to tell that she has a passion for food photography and knows what she's talking about. She has many of her own delicious looking photography in the book, which is indeed, one of my favorite parts, taking inspiration from her photos makes me want to go bake something!

What I love about Plate to Pixel is that she doesn't skip over or assume anything. She thoroughly explains all of the tricky things that most people just "assume" that you already know. From food styling, to lighting, to great DIY tricks! Helene really explains things in an understandable way.

I actually taught a class on Food photography at FACSY to youth in grades 4th through 8th. We took pictures of radishes, I just wished I had this book before the class!

All images not credited above are from Helene's blog: Tartlette.

I was not compensated in any way or form for this post - I simply loved this book and wanted to share it with my lovely readers! I do receive a very small commission if a book is purchased using one of the links in this post.

Something Clever: Emails

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

1) The Clausens

I love the nostalgia of writing a letter with pen on paper, sealing it with a lick and sending it through the mail by hand. While I do always love to remember to write letters, emails are a vital part of our current times - sending an email is like....eating breakfast in the morning or.....the invention of the phone! The connections that can be made across the country, with family, friends, or business partners, they are endless!

My Grandpa has had an email account for a very long time. He loves to save everything, and has hundreds of emails in his account. However, I can't say much about that as I just recently deleted around 4,000 emails from my own account!

Anyways, he is always sending my mom crazy emails or calling her with inventions. A couple of weeks ago he called Mom up and was excited about an idea he had - "online cards that can be printing out and emailed to someone." Well........ :)

I think it's amazing to think about the connections that I have made through email (the best platform I've found so far for me is Yahoo!) - chatting with Chris Guillabeau (20 something old and has traveled to almost every country), and building relationships with bloggers and others across the world! It really is amazing.

Right now I’m listening to Katie Herzigs wonderful new single, “Make a Noise” which I found out by opening up her email this afternoon. Ha, if I wasn’t subscribed to her email list, I never would have known until much later that her new album is being released tomorrow, her new single came out today and is offered as a few download right now on her website! The power of email is undeniable!

I’m curious to know about what the majority of my readers think about emails. I think it’s an interesting topic, as our world is changing so much to being more tech savvy and fast.

What is your favorite thing about having email? What connections have you built because of it? Do you prefer sending out a quick email or writing a personalized letter?

I love this video because of it's old fashiony feel to it, pastel colors and kids playing with their pappas outdoors. Darling!

Pitter Pat

A Cup of Jo


Last week, it rained almost everyday....this week has been sunny and gorgeous so far however! I LOVE these Posh Joules Wellies, the red pair with red bows, gorgeous! I can't find them anywhere though? Only a navy pair with a plum colored bow. I'd love to find the red on red pair though! Have you seen them? Which is your favorite color?

Adventures of the Paper House

Wow, just wow! This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Isn't it stunning? Mandy Smith's work is truly amazing. Can you imagine the time and patience to create this?

The cardboard catapult that my 4 year old cousin and I made a couple weeks ago is feeling a little less amazing right now. :) It's a start though, right?

Found Via

Pizza Pizza

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I think of France, I think of pizza.  Italian food is my ultimate favorite type, (almost anything Italian, not just food, is a fav!) so when I was given an opportunity to try FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ I jumped! 

I chose to try the cheese pizza, though they have some wonderful different flavors!  Harvest Supreme anyone?

Even so, I am quite picky about my "cardboard" (as my Grandpa calls it) pizza.  It must be delicious.  Indeed, I have high expectations.

First, we put the pizza in the oven (you needed to know that, didn't you?)

Something that I liked was that they use a Fresch Taste Seal, so it keeps in the flavors while being more green because it is using 30% less packaging. 

After a few minutes, we pulled it out of the oven and it looked divine.  Melted cheese and all.

Next step....blow on hot pizza.  (Nothing worse than a pizza burn on your tongue!)

And then it was time to bite into the deliciousness.

Crispy, hot, cheesy, and a little bit sweet, I was surprised at the uniqueness of this Freschetta pizza, but pleasently surprised at that!  It was wonderful!  And along with Tombstone, it is my new favorite "cardboard" pizza.

Would you like to win a coupon to buy yourself a pizza?  If so, read on!
 

Mandatory entry:

Just leave  comment and let me know what type of food is your favorite?  Italian?  Mexican?  American?

Glass Bottle Love

Glass bottles are stunning alone, but I find them even more beautiful when Johnny Miller puts his creative styling to them. Aren't these images stunning? With the light flooding through them and the colors that fit just right?

I am always on the search for glass bottles, in particular shades of blues and purples. Stunning! My Uncle has a lot of connections in the art industry and has a few friends that have loads of these bottles that he can get for a great price. Now...the trick is, getting him to spill on where exactly they are ;) He doesn't like giving out his secrets.

Are you looking forward to Mothers day? Any special plans?

Images and Styling: Johnny Miller