Gemstones

These gemstones are so gorgeous.  I can't handle them.  The images above are a huge source of inspiration for designs that I'll be sketching for Rebecca Tollefsen Design throughout the year.

 Cab Addicted is a gemstone shop brimming with gorgeous cabochons with lovely cuts and the most beautiful natural inclusions a gal could find. I'll have one of each please.  That Succor Creek Jasper is really calling my name.

Recipes: Three Snack Ideas

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. prepared steel cut oats, 2 tbsp. pumpkin puree, 1 tsp. cinnamon, drizzle of sweetener of choice ( I used honey).
Prep work:
Prepare steel cut oats, stir in pumpkin puree, sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with sweetener.
Tips:
Trader Joe's has organic canned pumpkin and organic steel cut oats for a great price - always a plus!  Prepare a larger portion of steel cut oats ahead of time - reheat oats and this snack can be enjoyed the whole week through.

Salted Cranberry Trail Mix
Ingredients:
3 cups nuts/seeds of your choosing (used above are: 1.5 cup cashews, 1.5 cups almonds, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds), 2 tbsp. sesame seeds, 1 cup dried cranberries, sea salt to taste
Prep work:
Add all nuts and seeds and mix well.  Add in the cranberries and mix well.  Next sprinkle in the salt in small batches - mix each small addition of salt evenly to ensure mix is not over salted.
Tips:
This is a big batch that can be stored in mason jars for easy on the go access.  This mix can also be stored in the freezer for longer quantities of time.  Adding the cranberries separate from the rest of the ingredients is intentional as the cranberries are a bit sticky.  That stickiness acts as a mild 'glue' for the mix.  Be sure to sprinkle the salt evenly and in small batches - it tends to stick to the cranberries the most. Use just enough salt to compliment the tangy cranberries.

Berry + Greens Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen raspberries, 1 banana, 1 cup of cold water, 1 hearty handful baby spinach
Prep work:
Add ingredients to blender and enjoy! Use additional water if you prefer a thinner smoothie.
Tips:
This is a perfect starter smoothie for those wanting to venture into green smoothie land.  The berries and banana mask the mild taste of baby spinach but you still get all the goodness of  the greens.  This smoothie is also a great take along drink as you won't get all the "what are you drinking???" questions that green smoothies bring. :)

You might also like:
Three New Smoothie Recipes
Starter Granola Recipe
Winter Squash Soup Recipe

Hero Design Studio

The best way to remember a live show that reached out, grabbed you and left its mark? A beautiful, well designed concert poster.  Hero Design Studio is a husband and wife team dedicated to producing handcrafted illustration and design.  They've designed concert posters for some of the biggest names in the music industry and their work is inspiring.  Above is a collection of the concert posters I fell in love with when I stumbled upon their shop.  I particularly admire the Matisyahu and Butch Walker and The Black Widows posters.  All posters and additional work can be found in Hero Design Studio's online shop.

Five Best

1. As always, in order to start the weekend off right - some music to listen to while browsing the links.

2.  Lots of talk about Portlandia since season two just started up.  Here are three of my favorite Portlandia shorts:  one, two and three

3.  I did an interview over on the lovely Manic Mrs. Stone blog -  read it here.

4. I'll be previewing the new Bob Dylan tribute album over the weekend.  They'll be cover songs a plenty by some interesting artists.  For example, pop singer Kesha covers Don't Think Twice It's Alright.  I'm also interested in this collaboration:  Johnny Cash featuring The Avett Brothers - must be good right?

5. All of these:  Humblebrag's Power Lists, these shorts, this photo, this very sweet post.

Get the app to view Mixpod on your iPhone or iPad right here.

Image and design: Rebecca Tollefsen

Muku

The simple, clean lines of the Lithuanian clothing line Muku are a sight for sore eyes when it comes to children's clothing. The line's online catalog and lookbooks are styled perfectly. My favorite piece is the grey linen jumpsuit with ribbon  (shown above) which Muku offers in three other fabric/color choices.

Three New Smoothie Recipes

Roasted Beet Berry Smoothie
1 beet - roasted until soft and cooled, 1 cup raspberries, 1 cup blueberries, 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1/2 cup almonds, 1 cup cold water - blend and enjoy.

Carrot Mango Smoothie
1 cup baby carrots, 1 mango, 1 frozen banana, 3/4 cup cabbage, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 cup green grapes, 1 cup cold water - blend and enjoy. adapted from VitaMix Whole Foods Cookbook

All Green Smoothie
1 avocado, 1 Bartlett pear, 5 broccoli florets, 2 handful baby spinach, 1 cup green grapes, 2 frozen bananas, 1 cup cold water - blend and enjoy.  adapted from VitaMix Whole Foods cookbook

General Information:
-All recipes were made for 2-3 generous servings and can be increased/decreased depending on your need
-Recipes are toddler/child friendly.  As soon as Sylas hears the blender he finds a cup hands it to me. :)
-Water can be used to thin out texture while blending - do little batches of cold water at a time until you reach the texture you are looking for.
-You'll note frozen bananas are included in each recipe.  They help add a creamy texture without having to add dairy such as yogurts, etc.  Pineapple is a great fruit to add in small quantities because just a little bit can balance out more pungent tastes of various greens/vegetables.
-We freeze our bananas whole on a cookie sheet and then store them all together for later use.  We also pre-cut the pineapple and freeze on a cookie sheet before storing.  Note: we use a Vitamix for our smoothies.  The bananas can go into this machine frozen and whole - it may quite a while to blend/break up the whole banana if using a low powered blender.  If pre-freezing you can cut up the bananas and lay them out on a cookie sheet to freeze.
-We roasted a bunch of beets and kept them in the refrigerator for later use.
-In short, taking time to prep foods all at once assists smoothie making to be simple and easy during busy morning routines.

Music Through The Ages

Sweet vintage action in full effect here.  I continue to try actions out to see what I think and then don't end up loving them.

When I was eleven years old I had developed a fondness for The Beatles so my parents bought me a records player for my birthday.  They thought I might like to listen to their records as many of their albums were from the same era as The Beatles. The record player and their extensive collection of records stayed with me throughout the years. When Sylas was born we moved several things, including our record player, to our basement to make room for his toy room.  The other day Sylas learned how to open the hutch that we store our CD collection in. This was like a goldmine to him. He spent quite a while disassembling our collection. John mentioned that we should just get rid of the CDs. I told him that one day those CDs would be to Sylas what my parent's record collection was to me. We ended up getting out our box of records and going through each one. John asked me my favorite song on each album. It eventually lead to us getting the record player out of the basement to listen to our collection. Unfortunately, the record player is now playing too slowly. I haven't had a chance to take a look at it to see if I can get her up and running. Above are some of the records I enjoyed most throughout the years. King Crimson, Steve Miller Band, Joan Armatrading, CSN&Y, Van Morrison and Cream. Wouldn't the Cream album cover make the best kitchen art?.  We have framed many of the records in our collection throughout the years because they make such great wall art.  I love the history behind the records.  My dad must have traveled with his records often, sharing his favorite bands at gatherings and with his friends.  He would write his name on each one so it was sure to always make it back to his hands after sharing.  Anyone have a record player they aren't using much these days?  We'd love to borrow it for a bit.

Fischer Clothing

I love Fischer Clothing's simple, feminine staples for the ladies and relaxed preppy vibe for the men.  I have a thing for simple, clean lines and Fischer Clothing seems to be all about that.  Above are my favorite looks from Fischer's Spring 2012 Lookbook.  Below are four looks that I love from the collection that is currently availabe at Fischer.  Fischer has archived their lookbooks - I'd highly reccomend checking out the Fischer Fall 2010 Lookbook - their team really captured a beautiful old timey feel.

Fischer Spring 2012 photoshoot credits:
photography: edwin tse
womens styling: Nicole Fulmer
mens hair & makeup: stephanie peterson
womens hair & makeup: alexa gould
models: christopher burcin & shanna keetella

Five Best

Create a playlist at MixPod.com

1. As always, songs to start the weekend off right, click above to enjoy while browsing the links.  I recommend clicking 'video' - the first song is a pretty amazing performance as John Smith does the percussion and drums on his guitar.

2. This Five Best post  mentions how I'd like to gift Johnny a home brew kit so he and his brother can home brew beer this summer. I was thrilled to see this post from one of my regular reads Thyme Bomb.

3. Can't stop thinking about:  this blog and this tutorial.

4. I love Lisa Congdon's 365 days of hand lettering project.

5. Have you heard about Green Your Air?  I love the concept behind this company - two mothers partnered to create stylish indoor plants that bring life and health to indoor living spaces.  Green Your Air has plants that clean your air.  I especially love their brand new white chevron pots.  Use code 'MILKFRIENDLY' to receive 25% off your purchase by January 22, 2012 (ships to mainland USA only).

 Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Get the app to view Mixpod on your iPhone or Ipad right here.


Image and design: Rebecca Tollefsen

Men's Look: The Henley

One of John's go to pieces is the henley because it is comfy and versatile. John wears the henley dubbing around on Sunday and he dresses it up under sweaters and blazers for a classic, effortless look at work.  He tends to go with a straight up henley in solid colors similar to the handsome ink blue version shown above.  However, I could see him in the striped henley with elbow patches (that's about as tricked out as he will take it) and the collared henley offers another variation perfect for workdays.

Striped Henley - Scoth & Soda
Collared Henley - J.A.C.H.S Barry Shirt
Straight Up Henley - Ethan /Unis

Dreamy Vintage

Have you seen the Bless That Dress lookbook from last fall? Shot by Ana Cuba the lookbook illustrates a dreamy vintage world featuring clothing from Spain from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.  You can see the full vintage curation right here. I'm loving the collection of plaid skirts.

Five Best

1. Band: Local Natives. Song: Airplanes. Live. Rad.  Click to listen while you're browsing this week's  links below.

2. Yesterday I noticed that Danielle from Sometimes Sweet sometimes chooses five things she loves as well.  I enjoyed reading along with her thoughts.

3.The Etsy Blog featured a neat article about a CSA based around art.  Cool idea.

4.  Awhile back I subscribed to the Today's Top Tune podcast which highlights one new song each day.  It has been a great tip-off to some new music for my library and something to look forward to each morning as I gear up for the day.

5. Even though we just passed through gift giving time I am so tempted to buy this kit for John because he and his brother have become quite the connoisseurs of beer - particularly sour beer.  Have you had it?  It is an acquired taste.  There are many kinds and John and his brother are on the hunt to taste them all.

Image and design:  Rebecca Tollefsen

Leisurely Adventure

I love this outfit. The color combination of the teal, navy and red is bright, yet feminine and the outfit is perfect for a leisurely adventure. And her hair is styled beautifully!

Images by Lisa Warniger of Urban Weeds.