.Winter Weddings.

This photo makes me want to get married again. In winter. And to the same man, of course.

xx

{via}

So sweet.

.I'd Wear.

Love these two casual, but chic looks I created.
Wish I owned them both.
Also wish it was sunny outside, rather than being covered in three feet of snow.

.Sesame-Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

Last night, I was craving something a little healthy and a little out-of-the-ordinary. That was when I remembered that my friend, Brandi, sent me this recipe ages ago {thank you lady!}. Something that was a little healthy, and a little out-of-the-ordinary. And something totally delish.

Sesame-Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients:

Directions:
one. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil, and then the ground chicken {or turkey}. Stir often with a fork to keep the meat crumbly, cooking until meat is no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes.
two. Add mushrooms and water chestnuts. Cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
three. In a separate bowl, stir the broth, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch until cornstarch dissolves. Add to chicken mixture. Cook until sauce in slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
four. Stir in carrot and green onions. Season with pepper.
five. Carefully peel back the lettuce leaves and wash each separately. You want pieces big enough to be able to fill with the chicken mixture.
six. Scoop a heaping 1/3 cup of filling onto each lettuce leaf. Serve with hot chili sauce lightly sprinkled over top.

.Spice It Up.

Half of my spices pulled out from my over-the-oven drawer. A disorganized mess. 

Before.

Does your spice closet/drawer look like this?

It's like a mini tsunami ran through my kitchen and only decided to attack my spices.
And these pictures don't even do it justice. I had already pulled out 1/2 of the items from it before I took this picture. Everything doubled on each other. Something falling on you when you opened the door. Never being able to find what you need even though you have triples of the same bottle! It was a disaster. 

 After searching for the damn cinnamon for a FULL 5 minutes, I knew something needed to be done. Well that and husband was starting to literally throw spice jars at me because when he opened the door, they would fall at you with super speed, hitting you right in that sensitive spot on your head while you where cooking. Like a bullseye.

4 bottles of tarragon. 4 bottles of poppy seeds. 3 bottles of crushed chilis. 3 bottles of cinnamon. 4 bottles of turmeric. It was madness!

I actually ended up throwing away 56 bottles. No word of a lie. Not to mention all those nasty bags of spices always spilling over.
Well. Not anymore!
I bought these gorgeous little spice bottles at Superstore for $1.50 each. They hold 2 bottles of a normal jar and fit perfectly into my pull out drawer {where my spices are now calling home}.
I used clear sticker labels from Staples and just a permanent marker to label th. I may actually purchase a label maker in the near future and label them that way for a clean, uniform look, but in the meantime this does the trick and I think it looks kinda cute. And hubby likes it better like this. He even quoted this gem of a line "it looks better this way, handwritten. It's more Jamie Oliver & Michael Smith rather than Gordon Ramsey", which I found utterly adorable. And played on my heart as both Jamie and Michael are two of my fav's.

 

After

I think this is a major improvement from before. Now, everything is at eye level and easy to spot. I won't be buying doubles {or triples} of jars. And nothing will fall on top of my head.
Also, here is a picture of the over-the-oven drawer that now holds my tea towels, ziploc bags, and tin foil/ saran wrap. Also any extra spices that aren't used as frequently as the others or are Costco-sized jars, and wouldn't fit into the new spice drawer.
Clean, Organized, and Efficient.

After, with still a few kinks to work out.

.Make.Up.Artist.

If I lived in Cali, this is the girl who would be doing my make-up.

Like EVERYDAY.

Miss Mel. Isn't she a beauty?

.her name. Melissa Beck.
I would beg her to come over to my house each morning and get her to make me up all fancy like.

And she also does hair. So she would have to do that too. EACH MORNING.

So I suggest that if you live near the LA area you should look her up {here} and she will make you look all purrrdy. She even does movies. Just saying.

Look at her work......

Photography By: John Schnack
Makeup & Hair: Melissa Beck Mua

Photographer: Casey Fyfe
MUA: Melissa Beck

Photography By: John Schnack
Makeup & Hair: Melissa Beck Mua

And I'm so lucky that I get to call her one of my good friends.
Melly. You rock my dear.
{I so wish we lived closer to each other.}
xo
ps. you should "Join her Friend Network" on facebook too!

Melissa Beck MUA