Friday, January 27, 2012

Florida - Part II





Sarasota is home to The Ringling Family, which means that they have the fantastic Ringling Museum of Art, The Ringling College of Art and Design, and The Ringling Mansion. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't jealous. We spent the afternoon walking through the extensive exhibits and kind of spooky gardens. I fell head over heals for that place. Everywhere I looked there was something unique and charming that you just do not usually get at an art museum. And maybe something magical too.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Cotton & Brass on The Wedding Chicks!


Our most recent Cotton & Brass photoshoot was featured today on one of our favorite blogs - The Wedding Chicks.

This photoshoot was so much fun to prepare for. My living room is still all shimmery with glitter. I debated between doing real flowers or paper. I'm usually the first person to roll my eyes when I even hear those words together. But it just felt right for this theme and I'm really happy with how they turned out. Keep your eyes pealed on our blog for the paper flower tutorial coming next week!

This photo is property of Cotton & Brass and Christa Kimble Photography. If you would like to share these, please credit Cotton & Brass.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Florida - Part I








You know what the middle of January needs? A trip to Florida. I'm a big advocate for four seasons fully experienced. But who can say no to a future mother-in-law with a lovely condo just minutes from the beach. Not me.

We flew into Tampa and spent the first day in St. Petersburg on the Pier. I helped drag the boys out of bed bright and early on the second day. By afternoon we had seen several alligators, survived a boat crash, enjoyed a canopy walk, and climbed a million stairs up past the tree line.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

What a life



Yesterday I came home to a spic and span house (not at all how I left it), a hot delicious dinner, and a beautiful sunset.

Thanks Mark!

Some cool ladies






Last weekend was spent cozied up in a cabin with 16 other awesome ladies. There was cave hiking, and hot tub confessions, and night time zip lining. Also talents shows, arm wrestling tournaments, and large quantities of fried eggs.

I can't recommend enough schlepping your friends into a cabin in the middle of winter for Girl Camp. My sense of feminine-awesomeness was rejuvenated. Never underestimate us.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Christmas Eve Dinner





Christmas was wonderful. We were spoiled with delicious food, thoughtful gifts, and most importantly - time with our loved ones.

Mark has taken every chance to make the incredibly simple and ridiculously rich recipes from Fergus Henderson's The Whole Beast. For Christmas Eve it was suppose to be Rabbit and Garlic. But apparently Rabbit fly's off the shelves faster than Tickle Me Elmo's on December 23rd. So we "settled" for beef shanks.

The recipe calls for 60 to 80 cloves of garlic. Nope, not a typo. My favorite part of the recipe is the last part: "Serve hot straight from the pot, encouraging your fellow diners to suck the flesh from the unpeeled garlic cloves, which will now be sweet and delicious. For the juices you will need both bread and napkins."