Happy 4th!

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Happy 4th of July Friends!

I hope you have a fun day of grilling, friends and fireworks planned as we celebrate and appreciate our great country!

Anybody have any fun, festive recipes planned for today?  I'm going to try my hand at this beautiful watermelon cake, we'll see what happens.  Funny moment at my local Trader Joe's earlier this week : I was in conversation with the TJ's employee who was ringing me up and he mentioned that he and his girlfriend had attempted this super cool watermelon cake they saw on pinterest and it was a major fail!  LOL - so we'll see.  I'll be back next week with a full report.

Wishing all a very safe and happy Independence Day!

XO


P.S. Did I mention that.......I'm suuuuper excited because I finally have a sleek new computer to call my own?? Yippee! So watch out blog!  I'm totally about to make a comeback. ;)

Decor : Layering

I don't know about you, but I'm totally loving natural blonde/grey colored woods - especially in the dining room.  These neutral woods make for such a perfect background to display multiple textures and colors.

Layering a room is so important - curtains, rugs, chairs, wall colors, accent pieces, lighting - when all of these elements are well thought through and nicely assembled, a room can fully come to life.

These dining rooms are a perfect example of layering.  The largest pieces {the dining table} and the walls are neutral, while the fabrics and accessories are colorful and the lighting eye-catching.

1 | 2 | 3

What do you think?  Are you a fan of layering, or do the rooms in your home just "happen"?  

I have a great line up of posts to share next week and a beautiful guest post from Arcadian Home, so be sure to check back soon.

Also, I would like to introduce you to my newest partner Amy from Amy Grace.  She likes to blog about her favorite makeup products and life events.

Happy Memorial Weekend Friends!  

Enjoy your time off ~

XOXO

Winter White

Since I've never experienced a "white Christmas" it's tough for me to imagine such a thing exists.  

Snow flurries and long stretches of white lawns, dusted trees and grey skies seems like something only seen in the movies.  It's just so romantic to me.  I'm sure it's not as glamorous as I've pictured it {shoveling driveways and salting stairways, etc} but a girl can dream, right? 

While our evenings can get quite chilly, I'm dreaming of this for a future Christmas {maybe next year we'll make it to somewhere blanketed in white}...

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Are you having a white winter??

XO

Merry Christmas

via

Hello Friends,

I hope you've been enjoying this holiday season!  

I just wanted to hop on and wish you a very very

Merry Christmas!

So looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Jesus & 

spending time with loved ones over the next few days.

Lots of love...

Food : All Things Pumpkin

I don't know about you, but I'm a fanatic about all things pumpkin!  Of course, along with everyone else, I'm thrilled about the return of the great Pumpkin Spice Latte, but I'm also excited about all of the pumpkin possibilities in the kitchen!

Pancakes, biscotti, ravioli, cookies - the possibilities are endless.  Pumpkin can go into just about anything.

I'm still working on trying my hand at my own gfree pumpkin creations, but I thought I'd inspire you via my internet pumpkin finds!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Are you salivating yet?  I am.

Fall is on it's way and I'm excited!

Are you a pumpkin fan?  If so, what's your favorite pumpkin laced recipe??


XO

Happy Independence Day!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!  

Hello Friends!

I so hope you have fun planned for today.  I have to say, it's truly an honor to be an American.  Cheesy to say, I know, but I really am so very thankful for my heritage, for my country and for all of the brave men and women who serve our country to ensure we have freedom each and every day.  So thank you.

This is my very FIRST 4th of July on the West Coast.  Boy is it dramatically different than what I'm used to.  The fourth is always celebrated with a large family barbeque and fireworks {which I believe we plan to partake in with friends here in Monterey}, but the big difference this year is I'll most likely be bundled in a hoodie as opposed to sweating it out in shorts and a tank. 

When asked to make something to bring to our get together with friends, I immediately tried to think of something cold, summery and red, white and blue {of course!}, so I was leaning towards popsicles.  But the more I thought about it, I realized it may be a bit too chilly for popsicles.  {That concept it just too weird for my brian right now.}  

So I hopped on MarthaStewart {she always has the best 4th desserts} and found this fun strawberry shortcake recipe {follow the link below}.  Not too cold, but still fruity and refreshing - perfect!  I'm going to attempt to do my own gfree version, we'll see how it goes.  If you have a great gfree shortcake recipe you want to pass along, I'd love to have it!

Strawberry Shortcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream

While I'm sad to be away from my family this year, I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful friends who have taken us in and treated us as family.  We're really looking forward to hanging out with all of them.

I'd love to hear what you have planned for the 4th, and would love to know what festive dishes you'll be making/made.

Have a wonderfully happy and safe 4th of July!

{OH!  And a shout out to my beautiful friend Jill - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!  Miss you sweet friend.}

Lots of love {& fireworks}....

Be Mine??

Valentines Day - the most loved, yet most dreaded holiday is just two days away and while I've never been one to anticipate the day, I've been thinking about it more this year than usual.  First of all - I am so very blessed to fall into the "happily married" department, but I feel so deeply for friends of mine who have lost a loved one, have been wounded by a loved one, or are without love.  It a tough day for some, if you fall into one of those categories, I am so very sorry.  Love is truly a gift - one I don't always feel worthy of.  But regardless of which category you may or may not fall into, there is someOne always willing to be yours - He'll hold your heart closer than any boy, man, lover, can, could or would.

Anyhow, In honor of the day, {we're celebrating tomorrow, since hubby is off} I think I just may wear my highest heels, ruby red lips and indulge in a bit of chocolate {shhhh....don't tell Tracy Anderson}.  We decided not to do gifts this year since we've been so caught up in settling into our new little home, and instead, we're spending a WHOLE day together.  I love that & I'm looking forward to it!  And when next year arrives, I promise to decorate, and make sweet little valentines, and bake cute little g-free valentine treats. :)  Anyone else have plans for v-tines day? ?



- Images via Pinterest

Christmas, moving, and other things...

Wow, the days are slipping away.  Christmas is on our heels and our big move is just around the corner!  I'm done working and taking the time off to prepare for the cross-country move.  All is falling into place except for one (in my opinion) MAJOR thing - housing.  :-\  So many people ask if we're excited and what not, yes, of course we are - it's an adventure....but there's that homemaker thing inside me that's just itching to find a cute little (affordable) place to call our own.  Having a pup in tow isn't exactly making the matter any less difficult.  He's a great little guy, but convincing a home owner that I may just have the best doggie in the world is an entirely different story.  Humph!  What to do?  What to do?  Trust God.  It's all I can do.  He's provided everything else thus far, I'm sure that's on it's way.  The planner in me just wants to know exactly where I'm headed and what I'm doing.

Since my last post some of my precious students participated in my Christmas recital.  Oh my goodness, it was the sweetest thing!  Each student played (piano, guitar, or sang) two Christmas songs; I truly couldn't have been more proud.  I was a little nervous there for a few kiddos, but they all got through their songs and they did such a fabulous job!  Here's a photo one of the mom's snapped:  (Don't they look precious in all of their pretty dresses?  Some of them even doused themselves in glitter for the event!  Oh girls! ;)

In other news, lots of baking has been going down in the Collyer kitchen.  Last night was a pinterest inspired bake-a-thon with gfree Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies & a Tiramisu Roulade.  Ummm, sugar overload?  I think yes!  My kitchen is still doused in powdered sugar - Blakely's enjoying the new sweet flavor the tile has acquired.

You can find the recipe to the cookies here and the roulade here.  (A little tip if you plan to try the roulade - I actually added chocolate chips to the layer of marscapone cheese for a little added sweetness since there wasn't any sweetener in the cream...it turned out perfect!)  The cookies are for our neighbors and the roulade was for hubby's work Christmas party.

And lastly before I turn in for the evening....we had a friend take a few Christmas pics & thought I'd share.  Hope you're enjoying the holidays!  If I don't make it back to PPS before Christmas (cause this whole moving thing is just consuming me), MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Lots of love....

Holiday Cheer

I got a little caught up on pinterest this evening & thought I'd post a few of my favorite Holiday photos. Who doesn't love a bit of Holiday cheer??

Spiced Apple Cider

What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been - I have a feeling it's not going to slow down anytime soon.  We had a fabulous Thanksgiving - woke up to the Macy's Parade and enjoyed it with coffee, gfree pumpkin bread and pj's.  Then we headed to hubby's parent's home and ate lots of turkey and yummy gfree goodies, took the pup for a walk to let the food settle & played lots of wii and ping pong.  It was a very pleasant holiday weekend.

{A few of Hubby's Fam}

{Our tree in all it's glory}

It's tradition to put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving in our home, so we carried out tradition and went to select the perfect little tree and brought it home for decorating.  It wasn't exactly chilly, tree decorating weather, so to make things more festive I made homemade Spiced Apple Cider - boy does it make your home smell delicious!!!  I was inspired by my sister-in-law's version of yummy spiced cider the day before, it was so good, I had to make my own (and share with you of course ;).

Spiced Apple Cider

- 1/2 Gallon Apple Cider

- 3-4 Small Apples, rinsed well & skin kept on

- 1 Orange Peel, rinsed well

- 1/2 Lemon Peel, rinsed well

- 2 Spoonfuls of Maple Syrup

- 2-3 Cinnamon Sticks

- 4 Whole Cloves

- 1 t Ground All Spice

1. Toss all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Let simmer 20-30 minutes.  Enjoy!

(May also be tossed into a slow cooker for several hours.  Makes your home smell divine!)

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Check back this week for a yummy recipe for Homemade Orange Marsala Penne Pasta. (Gluten Free of course)

Table Setting : My take on classic white & gold

So considering my husbands family is just so large and my dining table is just so big, I sadly, am not hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year. That, however, has not stopped me from browsing all of the beautiful table decor in my latest holiday catalogues and favorite .com's. Metallics are radiating from the pages of Crate&Barrel, Z Gallerie, CB2, West Elm, the list goes on...

If I were to be hosting, I imagine I'd do a crisp clean table of white and gold with painted branches in glass vases as my centerpieces and mini pine cones to hold name cards, but since I am not, I thought I'd pull together a few of my favorite pieces to share with you. Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year?  If so, what will your table look like?  I'd love to hear!

1. Michael C. Fina Platter

2. Diane Von Furstenburg Flatware

3. Crocodile Chargers

4. Brass Urchin

5. Napkin Ring by Lunares

6. Paillette Gold Stemware