A Pink & Green Thirsty Thursday!

Remember my post on the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade episode that featured Lilly Pulitzer? I wanted to share another fabulous recipe from that show - just in time for Pink & Green Thursday! What are Pink & Green Thursdays you ask? Well if you don't know yet (and you totally need to!), please check out Pink Preppy Lilly Lover.

This recipe is extra special today because it celebrates both Pink & Green Thursday AND Thirsty Thursday!

Pretty Pink Lemonade
Ingredients
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 (12 oz) can frozen concentrated lemonade, thawed
1 1/2 cups vanilla vodka
3 cups cold water
2 cups seltzer water, chilled
Mint springs, for garnish
1 lemon, sliced into rounds

Directions
Put the raspberries in a blender or food processor and puree. Using a rubber spatula press the raspberry puree through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. In a large pitcher combine the frozen concentrated lemonade, strained raspberry puree, the vodka, 3 cups of cold water and the seltzer. Stir and pour into glasses filled with ice. Garnish each glass with a sprig of mint and a lemon slice.

How yummy does that sound? Cheers!

{Recipe courtesy of FoodNetwork.com}

My First Wedding Wednesday

I've noticed that the term "Wedding Wednesday" is quite popular in the blogosphere and I'm shamelessly appropriating it here. So here is my Wedding Wednesday. What do I have to report? Well, we have set a date... sort of. I won't say it now for fear of jinxing it.... but it has a lot of 1s in it. Right now, the date (and our dream reception venue) is at the mercy of my local Catholic church. And so seems to begin the joys and frustrations of wedding planning.

I'm hardly qualified to offer any advice on this subject, but let's pretend for a moment that I am. My first piece of advice would be to TAKE YOUR TIME. I don't really know why I dove headfirst into the planning. I literally started a couple of days after my boyfriend asked me to marry him. I think I started because I was SO excited, but continued because people kept asking me where/when I had in mind. Also because I'm just a crazy person. So if you just got engaged, take my advice and just take it easy for awhile. Relax. Enjoy being engaged. Fight the urge to sign up for http://www.theknot.com/ because their frequent emails will STRESS YOU OUT.

Questions About Moi!

mFw was sweet enough to tag me in some blog fun! Be sure to check out her blog - her posts are always so cute and fun and preppy. Plus she is hosting a great CSN giveaway right now!

Here are my answers to her questions:

What is your favorite decorating item or theme?
I love anything chinoiserie. I recently purchased a lovely bamboo style mirror similar to the one in the picture below. And I'm always on the look out for pretty blue and white china!

Favorite thing to get in the mail?

I loooove getting mail. I love surprise packages and letters. I also get really excited to receive something I've ordered (even though it's not a suprise). I also look forward to seeing US Weekly in my mailbox every week!

Something you're looking forward to?

I SHOULD say my wedding, but certain parts of the planning are stressing me out a little bit right now! What I am without a doubt looking forward to is living with my fiance! My lease isn't up for awhile so it won't be until right before the wedding, but I'm definitely excited for it!

Favorite fall clothing item?

I love boots! I really like the black suede boots I bought last fall, but my true love is riding boots. I really like the ones below from French brand Rectiligne. Speaking of, a pair of Frye riding boots (worn only a handful of times and in excellent condition) are still available on my blog sale here.

Favorite designer?

This is a tough one! I'm going to go with Lilly Pulitzer because each collection is consistently amazing. That's one of the reasons why Lilly is so special. I'll often walk into an ordinary mall store like the Gap or JCrew and find very few things I like in a particular season. Same thing sometimes with bigger stores like Nordstrom! It's not that there aren't things that I LIKE, but there aren't things that shout "You need to own me!" But I can never walk out of a Lilly store empty handed! :)

Favorite pattern?

OK, it may not count as a pattern (it's definitely more of a fabric), but I adore brocade. I have this ivory color brocade coat that is one of my favorite pieces of clothing ever. My mom lectures me whenever I wear it because she thinks brocade isn't for day (lies!) and that it is too "light" for winter. BAH! I love it and I say it's perfect! I do have to admit it is perfect for wearing over formal clothes when it's a bit chilly out.

Favorite boy and girl name?

I love the name Connor for a boy and Caroline for a boy.

Fun fact about yourself?

My ancestors came over on the Mayflower! Someone once told me that there is a group of other people with the same background, but I've never had a chance to look into it! Maybe someday!

OK, here are my questions!

1. What is your dream job?

2. Favorite Halloween costume idea?

3. Favorite dish to bring to a party or potluck?

4. Favorite magazine?

5. Best restaurant you've ever been to?

6. Favorite thing about fall?

7. Most romantic love song in your opinion?

8. Current item at the top of your shopping wishlist?

And I tag:

Chic & Pink

Fashion Meets Food

Nola Girl

Preppy Pink Crocodile

Summer in Newport

Too Much Is Never Enough

Wedding Junkie

Hope you're having a great week!

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

I wanted to find a fun and cute way to ask "Will you be my maid of honor?" and "Will you be my bridesmaid?" I found these cute dress-shaped cards on Etsy and ordered one for each of the seven girls that will be in my bridal party!

I love the dress shape and the satin bow! Mine will be pink and navy (which are my tentative wedding colors). These cards are from SDezigns on Etsy. I can't wait to ask everybody and give them these adorable cards!

I also came across these other fun "Will you be my bridesmaid/maid of honor" cards on Etsy:

I love the Tiffany blue color on these cards from The Original Pear.

I found the silhouettes at the bottom of these cards from Drix Designs to be just darling.

I LOVED these cards from Little Lady Company. The inside said, "Will you be my bridesmaid?" and then "P.S. I promise no bows on the butt, puffy sleeves, or awful colors." Too funny!!

Another pretty Tiffany Blue color. I like how simple and pretty these cards from MMACE are!

Which is your favorite? How did you ask your maid of honor/bridesmaid(s)?

Happy Sunday!
xoxo

Semi Homemade - Lilly Pulitzer!

Last weekend, I happened to catch an episode of Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking on the Food Network that featured a Lilly Pulitzer tablescape!

via

The table was a beautiful array of pink and green and feaured all of our favorite Lifeguard Press items including the party pom poms, pinwheels, cocktail napkins, and melanine plates and bowls.

Sandra Lee even wore a pretty pink Lilly dress! Perfect!

The episode, which was called "Garden Fresh" featured some really wonderful sounding recipes that you can find on the Food Network website. Here were my favorites:

Caprese Mozzarella Salad Bites

Ingredients
2 endives
1 large green zebra or yellow tomato, chopped
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Separate the leaves of the endive and set aside the larger leaves.

In a bowl, gently mix together the tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and dressing, and season salt and pepper, to taste. Fill the leaves with the mixture and sprinkle with a little Parmesan. Arrange the bites on a serving platter and serve.

Blushing Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 pound strawberries, washed and hulled
1/4 cup water
1 box white cake mix
3 egg whites
1/3 cup canola oil
Frosting
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
Reserved strawberry puree
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Red food coloring

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (24-count) mini muffin tins with paper liners.

In a blender combine the strawberries (reserve about 12 small strawberries for garnish, slicing each into 4) with 1/4 cup water and puree until smooth. Puree should equal about 1 3/4 cups, if not add more water. Set aside 1/4 cup of the puree for frosting.

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, and 1 1/2 cups of pureed strawberries for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of bowl to make sure all the batter is well incorporated. Using a mini ice-cream scoop, fill the muffin tins about 3/4 of the way to the top. Bake until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the tins from the oven cool slightly before removing the muffins. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Frosting
In a mixing bowl that fits over the top of a pot of boiling water, combine all of the ingredients, except the vanilla and food coloring. Beat with hand mixer on medium speed, while mixture cooks, until peaks are formed when the beaters are lifted out of the bowl, about 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and add vanilla and red food coloring to the desired pink shade. Frost the cupcakes with the colored frosting and garnish each with a strawberry slice.


Don't these just sound delicious? I think I may try making the cupcakes next week. I'll let you know how they turn out! Did anyone else catch this episode?

Happy weekend!
xoxo

{All recipes courtesy of FoodNetwork.com)

Outlet Shopping

Happy Sunday! Where oh where did the weekend go? My fiance and I just got back from a weekend in New Hampshire and the reality that tomorrow is Monday is setting in. The weather in NH was fantastic this weekend though and we had a great time traipsing around the state. We haven't really had a moment to breathe or relax since we got engaged so it was SO nice to just go away by ourselves and relax. I even got a chance to do some shopping! We stopped at the Tanger Outlets in Tilton and I picked up some things at the JCrew outlet. I wasn't thrilled with the selection, but I bought some good basics - two cardigans and a skirt.

I've been in need of a new white cardigan for awhile now and the Jackie is perfect!

I thought this black and white skirt was so pretty and could work for a number of seasons.
I also got a grey wool sweater, but I couldn't find a picture of it. Also, I'm kicking myself for not buying these polka dot tights:

I put them back on the shelf! I have these random moments of frugality and this was one of them. I thought to myself, "Oh, that's too much to spend on tights." This from the girl that owns about a dozen pairs of Wolford stockings. I'm sure I can find some other polka dot tights out there for a better price anyway though!

Hope you all had a great weekend!
xoxo

Versatility

Little Miss Can't Be Wrong was kind enough to tag me with the Versatile Blogger award (Thanks Little Miss!). The rules say that I have to list 7 things about myself and then pass the award on to seven other bloggers. Here are my seven things:

1. I love little chinoiserie touches in rooms. I just bought a bamboo style mirror for my living room and I love it. I'm on the lookout for some blue and white ginger jars. Chinoiserie Chic is a fabulous blog and the perfect place for decorating inspiration.

2. I love love love love LOVE red velvet cupcakes. I'm planning on having red velvet cake at my wedding. Last weekend, I had an amazing one at this adorable little place called The Duck and Bunny: A Snuggery in Providence, RI. Cutest. place. ever.

3. I love Real Housewives of New Jersey and I don't care if people say if it's stupid or fake. It is still sooo entertaining. I seriously want the Manzos to adopt me. I could totally work at the Brownstone.

4. I sleep with a fan on all year round. Yup, in the middle of the winter too.

5. I just saw Tim Gunn on The Daily Show and man, do I love him.

6. I used to do Irish step dance and I wish I still did! It was so much fun!

7. Lately, I have been really wanting to go back to Disney World. I do think it is the most magical place on earth!

Now I pass this on to these fabulous bloggers.

1. the pink prep

2. summer wind

3. southern living: preppy style

4. preppy pink crocodile

5. lilly and lacrosse sticks

6. falling off a high-heeled life

7. preppy little dress

xoxo

Sarah

My ENGAGEMENT!

Hello and Happy Labor Day! I'm so sorry to see summer go and I really hope the weather stays warm for as long as possible. I've been so busy though that I keep forgetting it's September!

Anyway, on to the details of my engangement!! I'm so excited to share it with you!

My BF and I planned to go to Rockport, a cute little seaside town on Cape Ann for the day. It was an absolutely gorgeous day (not a cloud in the sky, not too hot, not too chilly) and we had to park a little bit of a walk from the center of town. On the way, there is a little wooded path you can walk through that leads to a clearing that overlooks the harbor. There are stone benches and some people have picnics there. My BF and I had been there a couple of times before because I love the view. Anyway, he suggested we go there and I said no, let's go on the way back to the car later. But he was insistent on going now, and all I thought was "Why is he being so pushy???" We sat on a bench and I noticed there was something in his pocket. I say "What is that?" and he says nothing, but I keep asking because I CAN NEVER LET ANYTHING GO and he tells me it's a lock for his house (he had replaced the locks that morning), but I persisted so he was like, "Fine!" and took out the ring box and asked me in the sweetest way! I just about fell over! It was a total surprise! We've been dating for about 3 years, but I didn't expect him to ask me until maybe next year. I of course said yes though and put on the beeeaaaauttiful ring!

Here's a picture of our view:
Unfortunately, my camera battery had died so I didn't get to take any other pictures. An important thing to note though was that I was wearing Lilly!

Afterwards, I called my mom and my cousin and my best friend. My mom already knew (he had gone over to my parent's house to talk to them about it a week before) and had been waiting by the phone. My best friend knew as well because he had asked her what kind of ring I might like. She was right on the mark - I love it! We went to lunch at a cute little restaurant and then went back to Boston to see my parents and his parents.

We also celebrated with champagne of course!

And then went to the North End (Boston's Little Italy) for dinner. We went to Assagio which is one of my favorite restaurants (and where we went on one of our first dates).

In short, I'm so so incredibly happy.... which I'm sure will be followed by the stress and craziness (and hopefully FUN) of planning a wedding!!

xoxo

Sarah