wine country wedding venues {st. helena, napa, healdsburg}

We shopped for wedding venues last weekend.  I'm thinking Northern California may be one of the hardest places to do this.  

Everything is so gorgeous!  I feel like we can't make a wrong decision.  

Not a bad problem to have. :) 

Last weekend's wedding planning crew:

At possibly my most favorite restaurant.  

Seriously if you're ever anywhere even close to Napa, go here.

The prettiest little church:

We accidentally looked at one venue.  The site fees looked deceivingly low by Napa standards so I booked an appointment.  Turns out there were a few little "extras" that weren't accounted for in that number.

This is one of the "cabins" you are required to book during your wedding weekend.

 Quote from my mom: "now this is my kind of camping!"

I think here he was saying: "venue shopping is so much fun!" :)

We have a few more appointments in Sonoma this weekend and then some tough decisions will have to be made.

LMF

Savannah & Tybee Island

I hope to be back to my {semi} regular blogging soon.  

The craziness that I alluded to in February is still going on. Last week we got news of something scheduled at the end of May, coincidentally on my birthday, which hopefully means there's an end in sight. Fingers crossed that it will be great news and a wonderful birthday present!  

That, together with work being crazy busy {in a good way!} and getting engaged {!!!} and trying to plan a wedding before the end of the year, makes life a bit nutty.

For now, please enjoy some pretty photos from our weekend in Savannah.  

Also, if anyone has any tips for planning a wedding with a short engagement, please share!

This was the airport.  I knew Savannah would be adorable!

Our B&B. 

Forsyth Park

 My dream house.

My dream shop.   

My dream guy.

 

Can you tell I loved the architecture in Savannah?

 Tybee Island

$2 tall can at North Beach Bar and Grill

 I told you he's my dream guy. :)

LMF

Savannah engagement

We're back from Georgia and I've got loads of gorgeous photos that I still need to sort though.  

Probably my favorite though, is this one:

Taken right after we got ENGAGED!!!!

I didn't cry, at least not right away.  It all happened so fast.  We were taking photos of this adorable square in the middle of Savannah and then he was down on one knee.  

I didn't believe it was real.  I thought he was joking.  Literally, I asked him if he was.  And then thought, "if he is, this is a really mean joke."  

But he wasn't.  And then I said yes. :)

We've been engaged a week and random thoughts keeping popping up in my head, some are funny, some bring tears to my eyes, all make me smile.

"We get to live together!"

"I'm going to be Dan's wife!"

"We're getting married."

"Oh my gosh, I have to dance in front of tons of people!"

"We get to register!"

"My Dad's going to walk me down the aisle." Followed by: "I'm going to cry."

"I get to buy a dress!"

"I'm going to introduce him as my husband!"

Words cannot express how full my heart is and how excited I am that it's for real that I get to spend my future with this man.

I don't know how I got so lucky.

LMF

cheesecake {plain + simple}

I made a cheesecake for the first time for dessert on Easter.  I mentioned it before; it wasn't a pretty as I wanted it to be, but it tasted wonderful.

My mother used to sell hers when she catered and they always looked beautiful! I'm going to have to practice a bit to get it to look as pretty as hers.  

I wanted something simple and classic.

I feel like after big heavy holiday meals, it's not the time to try peach lemon cake with jalepeno whipped cream or key lime peanut butter pie.

I want the classics.

I based it off of Jenny's recipe here, with a simple cookie crust and served it with fresh berries.

Cheesecake {plain + simple}

Crust:

 - 1 cup flour
 - 1/4 cup sugar
 - zest from 1 small meyer lemon
 - 1/2 cup butter
 - 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
 - 1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine first three ingredients in large bowl. Using pastry cutter (or fork), (or fingers), cut in butter until crumbly.  Add egg yolks one at a time and vanilla.  Pat a thin layer on the bottom of 9-inch spring-form pan, with the sides removed. You'll probably use about 1/2 the dough.  I didn't love working with this dough at first, but it tasted light and delicious, so you just have to be patient with it.

Bake until golden, about 7 minutes.  Let cool.

Attach spring-form to bottom and pat remaining dough on sides of the pan.

Filling:

 - 3 packages cream cheese (24 oz), room temperature 

 - zest from 2 small meyer lemons

 - juice from 2 small meyer lemons

 - 1 1/2 cups sugar

 - 1/4 tsp salt

 - 1/4 greek yogurt

 - 4 egg yolks

Add cream cheese to mixer bowl.  Beat until creamy.  Mix in sugar, zest, lemon juice and greek yogurt.  Add eggs one at a time, beat after each just until blended.

Turn into crust-lined pan.  Bake 55 minutes.  Let cool before removing spring-form.  Serve straight from the fridge with fresh berries.

LMF

Monday morning shopping

We're still enjoying southern life in Savannah. 

via

We're headed to Tybee Island today, but I really wanted to share my new favorite online shop: Everlane.

Every Everlane product I own, I've packed with me to Savannah.  

I have purchased tees, a cashmere sweater, men's button-down shirts (and here) and silk blouses (here and here too).  {Not all for me! Some were gifts. :)}

The tees are $15(!) and super soft and comfortable.

And the silk blouses are a steal at $80.

Next on my wish list are their new high/low belts.  Have I been in the dark, why haven't these been made before?

The low prices are because they've cut out the middleman (like retail stores) rather than having to sacrifice quality.  Thank you Everlane!

LMF

weekend {travel}

We're off to Savannah tonight for the a long weekend and then to Augusta next week for the Masters.

I'm looking forward to drinking sweet tea (and wine) on this porch and waking up to this breakfast:

via

This was me packing a few nights ago.

Please don't judge the disastrous state that my room is in. 

Does anyone else get distracted while packing and just start trying on random clothes?

I had thrown on my sweats for the packing process; then found my hat when I pulled out my suitcase; then stumbled upon one of my favorite blouses from London, that I hadn't seen in while.

For whatever reason I decided at that point that I should start breaking in my bridesmaid shoes.

Then I turned around and caught myself in the mirror.  I thanked my lucky stars that Dan wasn't at my house to witness this.  Then decided to post the photo on instagram.

It wasn't until after that I noticed Pacino in there too. :)

Have a lovely weekend!

LMF

P.S. This outfit did not come with me to Savannah. Check out Monday's post to see a few things that did.

Easter Sunday and gruyère potato gratin {recipe}

Does anyone else have an Easter village?

  

I got to my parents house on Sunday and it had been completely decked out in Easter and spring.  I wish I had more photos, but I was pretty busy playing with this guy and trying out a few new recipes.

{that's his best friend next to him}

I made a gruyère potato gratin and my first cheesecake.  I was pretty happy how both turned out.  {Okay, the cheesecake wasn't that pretty to look at but it tasted rich and thick and delicious.}

Our dessert table:

Please note there were only nine of us.

Combined recipes from here and here.

Notes:

 - More cheese is better.  This is a rule of life though, really.
 - You can prepare this ahead of time and refrigerate it.  If you do, let it warm to room temperature for about an hour before you bake it.

 - This recipe is really forgiving.  If you need to bake it at a lower temperature (say because there's a ham in the oven too), just bake it for a bit longer.

 - After it bakes the first time, if it looks a bit dry add more milk directly to the pan.

 - The longer you bake it uncovered the more the sauce will get absorbed by the potatoes.  If you want it more cheesy and saucy don't bake it as long.

My parents and my aunt.  Needless to say, Easter was pretty fun. :)

LMF