{October Love - Kauai}

Sooooo we are back! A wonderful and amazing wedding left us beyond grateful for life, love and the many many dear friends the Lord has blessed us with in this season.  We flew off to lovely Kauai for our honeymoon to relax.  We were surprised by a few little bugs that joined us right away.  They took up residence in my sweet Love and had him in bed for most of the trip.  We got to know the local medical community pretty quick, making stops at medical clinics and eventually the Urgent Care, but fortunately we were still able to savor our time there. 

An absolutely gorgeous island, Kauai was lush and green on the Northern end where we stayed. It blends rain forest with ocean so well.  The local people were laid back and easy to relate to in the small towns like Hanalei.  I was surprised by the numerous options for vegan, vegetarian and everything-free diets.  Health food stores covered the island and many restaurants catered specifically to this crowd.  I fell in love with a few spots.  My favorite restaurant by far was Postcards Cafe in Hanalei.  No matter your food preference you will find many delicious options here.  It is a home transformed into a cozy and quaint cafe.  The service is attentive and personal, as well as knowledgeable about food intolerances and allergies. 

I found a darling little GF shop in Kapaa called Sweet Marie's.  Marie gets up at ridiculously early times to guarantee fresh baked goods for all the locals and visitors that crowd her shop for treats.  Next time, I plan to stop there as soon as I land and stock up on goodies for the stay. 

The island's "whole foods" equivalent is called Papaya's Natural Foods.  It has everything you could need and more to live and eat well during your stay.  There are a few on the island, but one is conveniently located across the road from Sweet Marie's for a quick double trip. 

We also ate at a unique restaurant called Bar Acuda.  It was a Spanish inspired dining experience.  We were served small beautifully and artistically displayed dishes. It was a bit pricey, but worth it for the unique experience. 

As recently obsessed coconut eaters, we were excited to try a fresh Hawaiian coconut.  Sadly, it was not anywhere near tasty.  It was a fermented old coconut.  We should have known better.  We'll stick to our fresh young Thai coconuts from now on!

Overall, I was wonderfully surprised by how easily I could enjoy food and life on this island.  I encourage you to visit and try these places as well, you won't be disappointed. 

Aloha!

{October Love with an Every Day Post}

Happy Fall to you all! 

It's here and I can't believe it.  Three days until we marry! The time has flown.  Didn't we just get engaged? It seems like yesterday!

Well here in the sweet town of Carlsbad we are going full speed ahead.  The biggest event of my life is quite a bit of work! I must admit I'm just eager for the party to start.  For a quick update, I baked and frosted my wedding cake today! We chose a simple set up, a rich vanilla cake with blackberry preserve as the filling between the layers and finished it with a creamy, toasted coconut frosting.  It's a tiny, darling little cake with two 6" layers.  My Love is so sweet.  I popped in his room and asked him to come see it.  His reaction was just wonderful.  He loves it and shared how excited he was that we get to have a cake we made oursleves. Isn't that just what every baker bride wants to hear from her fiance? I'd say we're a good match. 

In five days we will be flying off to Kauai for our two week honeymoon! We couldn't be more excited.  I did some research and created a little list of places I want to stop by while there.  Kauai has a few GF and V restaurants, coffee shops and local eateries that sound intriguing and tasty.  My Love has already stated that we will be visiting farmers markets, which of course made me quite excited.  That sounds just perfect! Again, it's as if he knows me.....

I am still going to pack some essentials, just in case the local markets aren't as supplied as the ones here.  The first essential that came to mind was my instant GF oatmeal by Glutenfreeda.  It is perfect for traveling and is my go to for a filling and healthy breakfast.  I also love that it has a little flax in it...just in case traveling is causing a little back up.  Yes, I did just mention that.  Unfortunately it's not sold every where yet.  I have to pick it up at a smaller local GF bakery in Encinitas called Healthy Creations.  I encourage you to try it if it is sold in your local health food store and take it as a morning treat on your travels too!

Wish me luck this wedding week! I will give you a little summary of our Kauai adventures when I return. Enjoy your last week of September!

{October Love-Wedding Cake}

We are in the final count down! With less than a month to go, my Love and I are working on the fun details now.  Our little home is also coming together as bits and pieces are added.  I have been in a major nesting mood.  I'm just so eager to make our space a relaxing place that my Love can't wait to come home to every day.  

As the details emerge, one in particular has my attention and focus.  Unlike many brides, I cannot order a  standard wedding cake.  My guests, at least most of them, could eat it, but not me.  Fortunately, I have some things going for me.  First, I love simple small cakes 6-8" to be exact, second, I LOVE baking my own desserts and lastly, my Love LOVES to eat my desserts! How perfect is that! 

Soooo the great experiment and hunt has begun.  I have scoured my many...many...cookbooks and magazines, as well as my many past creations, in order to create a trial list of 6 cake varieties.  These include vanilla, chocolate, carrot and maple cakes with all sorts of coconut, buttercream, rich chocolate and vanilla frosting options. I'm in heaven!  The only slight negative is the amount of tasty batters and cakes I will continually have around me....  I will try to keep you all posted as I try and experiment with these fun recipes.  My plan is to bake mostly one or two layers just to try.  For the actual cake I would like to create a 3-layer 6 inch cake.  I love 6 inch cakes; they are the perfect little size!

Email me if you want recipes and I will direct you to the cook books I used so that you can give it a try too! Come bake with me!

My round 1 went very well.  It was picture worthy, as you can see.  I baked a rich chocolate cake with a sweet vanilla, butter cream frosting.  My Love enjoyed the flavor, found the texture a bit springy, but as we all know that is much better than dense (which was the result of round 2) and overall found it quite delicious.  I must admit the frosting paired well and I spread some blackberry preserve in the center, which really sealed the perfection. 

Rating: 7 out of the perfect 10

{October Love}

It's official.  We have the keys. We turned on the electric and water.  We even have renter's insurance.  It's the truth.

We have a home.

A funny story truly, because we really just started looking a few weeks ago.  We weren't fully expecting to find a place, just open to the possibility.  Well, it turned out that the very first apartment we viewed and applied for was it! Pretty quickly and easily we found ourselves swept along the rental process and into the wonderful place we now call home.

It'll be a gradual process of moving in for me, followed by a full move in with my man after we marry in October.  I must admit I am already eager and ready to make it cozy.  My mom calls it nesting, so apparently I am ready to nestle down and make it just lovely for the two of us.

Our Casa de J, the name I have lovingly given it, is just right; big enough for the two of us, small enough to feel cozy and just the perfect amount of age and quirkiness and to make us feel like authentic newly weds.  It's truly us.

Just for you I have a little tour of our sweet quaint space, so you can see for yourself.  Enjoy!

{Our Home}

 {Our Living Room and Kitchen}

{A Little Sangria to Celebrate}

 

{Our Bedroom and Closet}

 {The View From Our Deck}

{Our Front Steps}

 {Soaking It All In}

{October Love}

{Brooke Aliceon Photography}

Today I want to share a new little piece of my life with you all.  As many of you know I am engaged to the most wonderful man Jesus ever created.  We are getting married the first of October this Fall and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s been quite a journey so far preparing for this special day; a journey that I realize all of you have taken or will eventually take.  I’ve found so far that my own experiences can be encouraging, helpful and inspiring to others who may be traveling down the same road or are about to begin a similar adventure.  It is from this realization that I came to a conclusion;  I would like to begin sharing my progression through the three months I have left of my engagement.  I plan to record my inspirations, visions, experiences, frustrations, thoughts, advice, victories and any little joys that arise from the general process.  I hope you find these posts enjoyable, if not at least entertaining.  I will continue my food posts as usual.  They will simply be sprinkled with life and love posts. 

I will begin right now by giving you the basics.  We are getting married in the beautiful coastal city of Carlsbad, California.  It will be a small and intimate garden wedding.  Colors include a rich forest green, a stormy blue, and an accent of eggplant purple with base colors of steel grey and warm ivory.  I have envisioned a very natural and airy setting.  The ceremony will finish right at sunset, allowing the reception to be lit with strings of soft glowing light. 

The pieces are truly beginning to come together and my vision, which was quite broad at first, is beginning to narrow, revealing the fun details.  I am sure this progression will continue as the months sweep by. 

So here finishes my first little story about the wonderful October event.  I hope you will continue to stop by and share in my adventures of wedding, food and life.  Keep a look out for more {October Love} posts to come.  

Enjoy!

{The Engagement}

Today I have some personal news to share with you all.... I'm ENGAGED.... and needless to say I'm beyond happy and excited!  I'm overflowing with pure, sweet joy!  I get to marry and spend the rest of my days with my dear, dear Love and very best friend.  My sweet Jesus, you have truly blessed me beyond compare!

I decided to share a few photos so that you all may see a bit of the story! He proposed on the bluffs of the La Jolla coastline with the most beautiful ring I truly have ever seen, honestly...I'm not just saying that!  So here's a few photos of the proposal and the gorgeous ring my Love designed.  May these photos bring you as much delight as possible on this wonderful day!

{La Jolla Proposal}

{THE RING}