This past week I have had a constant fire in the fireplace, have been cooking spicier dishes, and living in grey sweatshirts. Seriously, this Madewell sweatshirt is so soft and warm! One of the spicier dishes I like to make, and of course, Alex’s favorite is my “Almost Gumbo”. The “almost” is important because while this dish has a lot of the same ingredients as traditional gumbo, I do not make a roux. However, I do add a large amount of Old Bay seasoning and Tabasco for a little extra heat. I have included the full recipe for my Almost Gumbo below, enjoy and stay warm! xoxo
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add flour and stir until lightly brown (3-4 minutes). Add bell peppers, onion, celery, and okra, stirring occasionally until softened (about 7 minutes). Add tomatoes, broth, Old Bay, paprika, salt, and Tabasco. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer until mixture is slightly thickened (about 20 minutes). Stir in shrimp and sausage, and cook until shrimp is cooked through (3-5 minutes). Serve over rice.
Finding time to cook dinner during the week and maintaining a (somewhat) healthy diet is very difficult to do. I have started to keep a few simple recipes in our dinner rotation, including these somewhat healthy Toasted Brussels Sprouts! I added pecans to the brussels sprouts for myself and the bacon for Alex of course. This side pairs perfectly with steak, chicken, or fish. On this occasion, I paired it with pesto salmon, which is beyond easy to make as well. I just top each piece of salmon with pesto, bake at 425 degrees for 12-16 minutes and boil for 2 minutes to finish. I have induced the full recipe for the Toasted Brussels Sprouts below. Enjoy! xoxo
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange bacon slices on a baking sheet and bake until crispy (about 20 minutes). Cut horizontally and set aside. Toss Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then arrange on a baking sheet cut sides down. Roast until browned and the edges are crisp. In a sauté pan, melt butter and add in pecans, stirring frequently until toasted (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside. Transfer Brussels sprouts to a large mixing bowl. Add cut bacon, and toasted pecans, and top with balsamic reduction. This dish is best when served warm. SaveSaveSaveSave
I have always enjoyed cooking, and now that I have a new kitchen I have been cooking more than ever. Alex doesn’t have a very big sweet tooth, but the one thing he does request is my warm chocolate chip cookies à la mode. I like to make them with dark chocolate chips and pecans, but I often substitute semisweet chocolate chips for friends who don’t like dark chocolate. For years people have been asking for the recipe for my chocolate chip cookies, so I finally decided to share it with everyone! xoxo
Our wedding photos and video are finally here and I am so excited to share them with you! Everyone told me our wedding day would be a blur but I had no idea how quickly it would really come and go. I am so grateful that we have so many amazing photos and a video to help us remember all the details of our wedding day. We were so thankful for all the family and friends who helped up plan and celebrate over the past few months, it was everything we dreamed of!
For everyone who asked about our vendors, my bridal gown was from Patsy’s Bridal, the bridesmaid dresses were Alfred Sung, from Nordstrom, and the tuxedos were rented from Culwell & Son. The cakes were from Panini Bakery, our DJ was Monte Slaver, calligraphy was by Kimi Nguyen, invitations were from Embossed Graphics, and our florist was Junior at The Garden Gate. For hair and makeup we used Brittany Jones, except Sam Yee at Park Plaza Salon did my hair. Our ceremony was at Park Cities Baptist Church, Ellis Chapel and the reception was at The Park City Club. I would highly recommend all the vendors we used and would be happy to answer any specific questions. Hope everyone enjoys our video and a few of our wedding photos! xoxo
Dress: Martina Liana from Patsy’s Bridal // Veil: Patsy’s Bridal // Shoes: Shoes of Prey
Hard to believe that our wedding was just over two weeks ago. It seems like it was yesterday, and I should still be on the beach! I am still waiting on all the beautiful photos from the big day, but wanted to share the bridal portraits I took a few weeks before the wedding. Adria Lea Photography took our engagement photos, and it was such an easy choice to work with her for my bridal portraits and our wedding day. We took some of my bridal portraits at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, where we took our engagement photos, then we ventured to a roof top to capture all the beauty of downtown. Dallas has always been very special to me, so I couldn’t think of any better place to capture my bridal portraits than downtown Dallas. Adria did such an amazing job capturing my love for Dallas and all the details of my wedding dress. I will have a full post all about the wedding day coming soon! xoxo
I have been getting so many DMs on Instagram about planning a wedding, so I decided to answer the top 5 questions about planning a wedding in one post. Of course I am happy to answer any questions you do have over DM, but I thought this would be a good resource for those planning now or who might be in the future!
Are you using a wedding planner? We are not using a wedding planner. My mom and I are already very organized people and enjoy planning things, so most aspects of wedding planning come naturally to us. It helps that my mom works part time and is able to spend time during the day helping me. Without her help there is no way I would be able to plan everything with a full time job. If planning isn’t your strong suit, andyou do feel like you need a wedding planner, I highly recommend Ivory & Vine Event Co.
How long is your engagement and when did you start planning? Our engagement is 8 months long, and I feel like it is the perfect amount of time. Any shorter and I would not be able to have everything I want at our wedding, and any longer and I would over think every little detail. I started planning almost immediately after getting engaged. We first worked with the church to pick a date with some significance to us, and then we selected a venue for the reception. After we had the date and location down, I started interviewing photographer, so we could take engagements and get save the dates out. I also had my dress and bridesmaid dresses selected fairly early on because those take forever to come in and often need alterations.
How did you decide on a venue? I have known my whole life that I wanted to be married at Park Cities Baptist Church. No seriously, I think when I was like 5 I told my mom I would be married there, and well, not much has changed. It was a little more difficult for us to select a reception venue though. We narrowed it down to the Park City Club and the Museum of Biblical Arts, both are very close to the church. We eventually decided on the Park City Club because they took care of catering and eliminated the need for furniture rentals (perks of a country club), plus the view is amazing!
Where did you register and why? We registered at Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma and West Elm. We decided on each store for different needs, but chose them for their quality in respective areas. William Sonoma met all of our kitchen needs, Crate & Barrel was perfect for dishes and silverware, and West Elm had the bedding and home decor we loved. We chose these stores because they had locations near most of our guests, were easy to shop online, and did not often turn over products. Almost everything we registered for back in January is still in stock and available in stores (we just lost our salt and pepper shakers ha).
I have also linked a few of my favorite white dresses and accessories below for brides! xoxo
