Bedroom Pillows

Last year when we were in Cabo San Lucas for Thanksgiving, my sister, Mom and I found the most beautiful, authentic fabric in one of the local stores! The fabric is really unique - it has animal prints and comes in multiple colors. All of the colors were beautiful, but Lauren and I decided to get a white/ivory print since at that time I didn't know what colors I would be using in our house. I am really glad that I did because we are mainly using blues and whites in our bedroom! I have had the fabric for almost a year now, but my mom surprised me for my birthday and had them made into euro size pillows!

Close up view - can you see the print on the fabric?

Now I need to add something on the wall above the bed - any ideas? 

Oh Christmas Tree!

Hello All! I am sorry it has been so long since my last post - we have been busy busy! I am so excited though because we got our first Christmas tree last week! We wanted to get it early because we are going to Atlanta a week before Christmas, so we'll only be able to enjoy it for a few weeks. 


I decided to stick with red, gold and silver as the main colors for the tree. I found these really pretty silver and gold leaves, and I used some of my gold pine cones to give it a rustic feel. Of course my favorite part is adding the sentimental ornaments that have been collected throughout the year!

This is the ornament I got for Johnathan and my first Christmas together. Its an old piece of wood that says "Better Together" - I thought it was cute because we love the Jack Johnson song!

{Recipes} - Crab Risotto

Last night I made Crab Risotto for dinner. I had bought all of the ingredients on my last trip to the grocery store, but we have been so busy I just got around to making it! I absolutely love risotto, but I was nervous about making it for the first time since it is kind of a tedious process. It turned out really good though! 

Here are all of the ingredients

Bring the chicken stock to a low boil in a separate sauce pan - meanwhile, brown the garlic and shallots in the olive oil and butter.

Add the risotto to the sauté pan, and gradually add the chicken stock one cup (or one ladle) at a time, stirring constantly.

Finished! It was so good and creamy, definitely a good dish!

Ingredients

2 cups Parmesan Cheese

2 cloves Garlic

½ cup (2) shallots

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 pound Arborio Rice

8 cups Chicken Broth

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 Tablespoon Chives, Chopped

1 lb. fresh, lump crab meat

Juice from 1 lemon

Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Peel and finely dice 2 cloves of garlic. Dice 2 shallots.

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil. Then add 1 tablespoon of butter. Throw in the garlic and shallot and sauté for a couple of minutes until the onion is translucent.

Add 1 pound of Arborio rice and stir to coat the rice thoroughly. Adding 1 cup at a time, add 7-8 ounces of chicken broth, stirring constantly after each addition. As soon as it appears that the rice has absorbed each helping of broth, add in the next helping. Do not stop stirring. This process will take at least 20 minutes. Rice is done when it no longer has a hard bite.

When more of the broth is absorbed pour in 1 cup of heavy cream. Next add the Parmesan cheese and stir thoroughly. Gently stir in the crab meat. Add in plenty of fresh cracked pepper, lemon juice and about 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped chives. Add salt to taste.

Holiday Decorating {Part 1}

Can you all believe that Christmas is only 40 days away? It seems to have come up out of no where! As I was flipping through some of my favorite catalogs and browsing on websites, I saw the cutest decorations done with pine cones! I loved the way it looked so simple and clean, but I couldn't believe how much these places were charging for something I can find in my own back yard! So, with that being said, I started my own DIY project. I made a trip to Michael's to get some silver and gold spray paint, and then my lovely husband was kind enough to get some great pine cones for me when he was hunting in Blackshear! I decided to do a combination of pine cones and magnolia cones since both are from our yard.

Silver and Gold Spray Paint (aka, my new best friend for DIY projects!)

Beautiful pine cones from Blackshear

Just  simple, subtle touches around the house! Check back as I attempt to make a garland for our fireplace mantle!