First Snap! ... Dana and Mark's Wedding at Astor's Beechwood

Coming soon...Dana and Mark married at Salve and an amazing! reception at Astors Beechwood Mansion. They had a fantastic day with the likes of Raina Dawn Events and Buzz Media Company on hand, you won't be disappointed!

soho hearts caught our eye

Dying to know where Roxy Olin got her necklace on last night's episode of MTV's The City? Soho Hearts!

The "Twisted Robe Pearl Multicolor Necklace" ($139) is just one of the pieces from Soho Hearts luxurious & trendy line. Soho Hearts has become a favorite of Hollywood's most stylish starlets including Whitney Port and Kelly Osbourne.

If you missed last night's episode, watch it online at www.mtv.com.

It was an . . .

...itsy bitsy, teenie weenie, yellow polka dot bikini!

I thought we'd finish off Desserts for Dudes month by giving the guys a little eye candy cookie.

As Mr. E probably has guessed, this is as close to a bikini as I'm getting in this lifetime (or the next).  Enjoy, honey.

The bikini cookies are really simple  I outlined and filled in yellow royal icing; I used a combination of AmeriColor Lemon Yellow & Egg Yellow for this color.  The dots were dropped on while the yellow icing was still wet.  (A video of this technique is available here.)

To make the palm trees:

• Using #2 tips, outline the branches in green and the trunk in brown royal icing (AmeriColor Avocado and Leaf Green mixed, AmeriColor Chocolate Brown). 
• Thin the royal icing with water to the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit several minutes.
• Stir gently with a rubber spatula to break any air bubbles that have risen to the surface.  Transfer to squeeze bottles.

• Fill in the trunk of the tree in brown.
• Fill in the leaves in green.

• After 1 hour or so, add the details to the truck in piping consistency royal icing, using a #2 tip.
• Let dry overnight.

• Prepare a "sanding sugar station."  You'll need:

1. meringue powder mixed with an equal amount water
2. sanding sugar
3. small paint brush
4. coffee filter

• Paint the meringue powder/water mixture over the edge of the cookie.
• Holding the cookie over the coffee filter, sprinkle on the sanding sugar. Shake off excess onto the filter.  
• Use the filter as a funnel to refill container of sanding sugar.

So, what did you guys think of Desserts for Dudes month?  I'll tell you our favorites:

• beer and hot dog cookies
• mocha toffee-crunch terrine
• Darth Vader cookies
• zucchini spice cupcakes

Alrighty...Desserts for Dudes month is officially over.  Bring on the pink and sprinkles!

Winner for the Wags 'n Whiskers blog hop!!!

I was one of the lucky blogs that gets to choose a winner from the Wags 'n Whiskers blog hop this past weekend! The winner will receive two digital images of their choice from the brand new collection, Let's Party!! So without any further ado, here is the winner!!!

And lets go find out who #30 is......

A huge CONGRATS Cathy! Please contact Nikki at  nichola.fairbairn@googlemail.com  with your choice of two digital images from the new collection which you can see right HERE!

Thanks so much to everyone that played along! Have a fabulous week! Hugs!

The Original Photo Lounge by Snap! Jillian + John at Linden Place

The Photo Lounge..It's ALWAYS a hit!

We have a number of fun backdrops to 'jazz up' the Photo Lounge experience.

Not that is needs 'jazzing'... because it's so awesome on it's own.

Right?!

Dream lookbook shoot :: All my local favorites

I feel so lucky to know such talented ladies in the Portland, OR area. I was absolutely thrilled to have a chance to work with all of them on a recent shoot for the new Twigs & Honey lookbook (coming soon!). I hope to make this a habit! ;)

Accessories: Twigs & Honey
Photography: Lisa Warninger
Styling & Flower garland: Chelsea Fuss
Dresses: Elizabeth Dye
Makeup/Hair: Madeline Roosevelt
Models: Olivia Bee (top) and Kate Troedsson
Thank you!! (Also, thank you to Jade for being the third lovely model: photos to come! and Amy, my big sista, for being an awesome assistant)

Papertake Weekly - In stitches

It's time for a new challenge at Papertake Weekly, and this week we're sponosred by Simon Says Stamp!! Dawny is challenging us to use stitching on our project, and it can be any kind of stitching. Either actual stitching or faux with a pen or rubons. I used machine stitching on this one. I chose this adorable digi image from Whimsey Stamps. I knew as soon as I laid eyes on this image that it was going to be perfect for this wedding card.

The cardstock is Bazzill and papers are digital from Nitwits. Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts (of course). I used lots and lots of Kaiser flat backed pearls on this one. I didn't have any of the swirls, so I just made my own. I think they turned out ok, huh? What do you think? The bow is made from May Arts Silk Ribbon, and I hung a heart and key charms from it. Made a matching envelope box to go with it, and called this one done!

That's it's for today! Please be sure and pop over to Papertake Weekly to see the fabulous creations from the rest of the design team. Then grab you paper and glue, and maybe you'll stitch your way to a prize from Simon Says Stamp!! Thanks for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!

Clever Gambrel

Another lovely home by Steven Gambrel. Imagine sitting there on the water's edge like that. So gorgeous.

Layered Tortilla Omelet with Homemade Salsa

Are you lucky enough to have a vegetable garden this year? If not, do you go to the local Farmer's Market? I have both options and tomatoes are starting to be everywhere! Gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, bright yellows, reds, multi-colors everywhere I look. A great way to show off fresh flavors and colors is with as little prep work as possible, least amount of additional ingredients; allowing the food to speak for itself.



Fresh salsa screams juicy, sweet flavors and gorgeous colors. The layered tortilla omelet is just as much fun to put together and a great base for toppling on large spoonfuls of the colorful salsa. I added the recipe for making your own red sauce. This sauce is made for adding heat in the tortilla omelet. There will be a lot left over so freeze the excess for later use . . . maybe to make this omelet again.



The tortilla omelet works great for breakfast, brunch or dinner served with a chilled, light and fruity white wine.

Layered Tortilla Omelet With Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:
9 large eggs
1 1/2 t. salt and a few turns of freshly ground pepper
1 t. thyme
1 t. oregano
1/2 t. butter
3/4 c. chopped scallions
4 eight-inch flour tortillas
2 c. red or green enchilada sauce OR Red Chile Sauce (RECIPE FOLLOWS)
1 c. cream cheese (even better, use queso fresco if you can get it)
4 ounces goat cheese
1 1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
***OPTIONAL:***
RED CHILE SAUCE
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 T. Dijon mustard
3 to 4 T. chile powder (I mixed mine; 2 T. New Mexico and 2 T. California chile powders)
1 t. sugar to cut down acidity in tomatoes
3/4 c. beer (Corona or XX Mexican beer would be appropriate, or substitute sparkling wine)
1 t. soy sauce
1 t. oregano
1 t. ground cumin
10-12 ripe Roma tomatoes or 1 1/2 cans of fire-roasted tomatoes
1/4 c. red chile puree (I will post the recipe for homemade puree)
OR substitute canned red chile sauce
2 t. balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
Salt and Pepper to taste



TO MAKE THE OMELETS:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet (or use a silicon mat), spread 3 of the tortillas on the sheet and place in the oven to get warm.

Beat the eggs with the salt, pepper and herbs in a quart-sized glass measuring cup to make it easier to divide the eggs in three parts.

Mix the cream cheese and goat cheese together.




Melt 1/2 teaspoon of butter over medium heat in a skillet the same size as the tortillas. I used my 8-inch crepe pan. The perfect size! Pour in 1/3 of the egg mixture. Cook until the edges get dry, which will only take a few minutes.Then lift out the flat omelet with a large spatula and place it directly onto a flour tortilla on the warmed greased baking sheet. Repeat two more times, keeping the omelets warm in the oven until the last one is ready.






TO ASSEMBLE:
On the baking sheet, ladle 1/4 of the sauce over a tortilla/omelet and crumble 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture and 1/4 of the jack cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle 1/3 of the scallions on top.
Place the next tortilla/omelet on top and repeat. Repeat again with the third tortilla/omelet and place the remaining plain tortilla on top with the last of the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining jack cheese over the top.

Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Make a tent out of aluminum foil so that you can cover the stack without touching the top, or all of the cheese will stick and come off on the foil. I also spray the foil with PAM just to be sure.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes until the tortillas and omelets are heated through and the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and let the stack sit for a few minutes so that the layers don't slide. Cut it into wedges and serve with Fresh Salsa over the top.

OPTIONAL RED CHILE SAUCE DIRECTIONS:
In a saucepan, saute onion in a little bit of olive oil until soft. Add mustard and chile powder. Cook for a few minutes to soften the rawness of the chile powder. Stir in beer, soy sauce, oregano, sugar and cumin along with the tomatoes. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Add more beer if the mixture looks dry. Remove the pan from the heat. Let the mixture cool a few minutes and then puree using a blender or food processor.

Return to a low heat and add the chile puree or red chile sauce and balsamic vinegar. Cook a few minutes more to marry the ingredients together.





Add more of the beer if needed for a good spreading consistency. The sauce will have a strong chile taste. It is suppose too. You want to taste a little heat in the tortilla/omelet but you will not taste the sauce itself.




Chunky Garden Salsa

Directions:
1 heirloom tomato; preferably yellow
4 Roma tomatoes
1/2 sweet onion
1 roasted red pepper from a jar
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped fine
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lime
3 cloves of garlic puree using a garlic press
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
salt to taste
1/3 c. fresh cilantro, chopped




I chopped all my ingredients by hand (instead of using the pulse button on a food processor) because I wanted large chunks and less juice. Stir together and allow to sit in the refrigerator overnight. Love how the flavors mingle.

Jillian + John at Linden Place, Part 2 / Rhode Island Wedding Photographer

Posted by Trish: Photos by Trish and Melissa

I knew you would be back for more...these two are so adorable, how could you resist?!

So I totally missed this when it happened but how great is the best man jumping and clicking his heals in the background! I thought I was just getting a cute photo of them walking.




Speaking of cute, take anything and add two little boys, you got yourself some serious cute. Although getting them to do what you want is like herding cats, oh well.

We gave the kids a break and did just the big kids for this photo. Although I teared up while the maid of honors son desperately cried out for her, it was kind of tragic!

Total sweetness.

I'm sure that little boy would find this to be 'silly' too. Whatever!

You have to have at least one classic portrait.

Is this out of style yet? Because I still love it and never get tired of it, what's not to like anyway. Some things are timeless and this is definitely on the list. One walking away shot, check.

This tree was the bomb, the texture is to rich, and they look great standing in front of it. Probably have driven by this tree hundreds of times, never saw it until this day!

Oooh, more walking. They look so natural here, love it!

The wedding party, back together for one last shot...

Jillian's inspiration was 'vintage preppy'. I think this feels like that. LOVE that bouquet.

The back of the gown had these fabulous clear chrystal buttons, so romantic!

Maybe Semia can tell us what these orange 'thingys' are, they totally brought it home!

I noticed a lot of guests eating their candy BEFORE dinner. I don't think that they were necessarily intended to be the appetizer...

Chowder by Blackstone Caterers. Oooh, mini doughboys!

I love this cake by Sin Desserts (she's right up the street from us in providence) it's so sweet looking. OK, I meant sweet and in cute.

The finale of all the hard work everyone put into this day...ready for the reception!

You know, there is always a guest a every wedding who tries to get in on my shots...

Linden Place is such a cool place for a wedding, this doorway into the carriage house is so amazing!

John doesn't look too happy. Although he'd had time for a few 'gansetts at this point...suspicious at best.

Looks like Jillian is happy too! Actually I think that they are not used to being int he spotlight and might have been a little nervous!

But they were working it anyway!

Another one of my 'blue light specials'. Oh it makes me so happy to get this kind of shot!!!!

Unfortunately the reception was no fun and there was no dancing. What?! Even grammy was into it, holllllla grammy!

Guess what song this was. You guessed it. Awesome.

Well, it was a spectacular day, from start to finish, success.

Jillian and John, here's wising you a long and happy life together, you are a great couple!!! Thanks for having us be part of your day, it was our pleasure for sure!

Those Who Made it Happen...
Gown and Veil: Priscilla of Boston
Shoes/Clutch and Bridesmaids: J Crew
Hair: Tara from Wish Salon
Make-Up: Alayne White Spa
Venue: Linden Place
Caterers: Blackstone Caterers
Cake: Sin Desserts
Flowers: Flowers by Semia
Invitations and Programs: Heather Jeany on Etsy
Bridesmaids Clutch: EA03 Designs on Etsy
Band: Nancy Paolino and The Black Tie band
Linens: Rentals Unlimited
Lodging: Bristol Harbor Inn
Transportation: Newport Trolley
Photography: Snap!