Steel Doors and Windows

September 9, 2015

{Image via}

I’m currently in the middle of a big design project for work in Napa as we bring our brand north to wine country. I can’t share specifics on the project yet, but it’s going to be big and beautiful and an overall amazing experience! To pay homage to the land, the history of Napa Valley and the design aesthetic of our brand, the architecture falls pretty perfectly in line with the modern farmhouse and I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition. Since I haven’t practiced a ton on the interior design side since graduating, I’ve been doing endless research and I’m constantly on the hunt for inspiration everywhere to contribute to this project. When scouring Pinterest and Houzz for ideas, I realized that there were a few major architectural elements that were exciting me and eventually finding their way to my inspiration boards. I don’t know that I’d ever consciously sought out images of steel doors and windows, yet there they were – on every. single. board. I just couldn’t get enough. There are a few main reasons for my obsession.

You’re able to achieve really thin mullions and muntins with steel doors which makes them look so elegant while also allowing for more transfer of light. With wood framed doors, it simply isn’t possible to achieve those lines.
They’re timeless! Some of my favorite images are at least 10 years old and the only way you’d ever be able to tell are by other finishes in the room pictured, or the pixelation of the image itself.
Steel is just such a cool, solid material that adds such depth and texture to a space. Black wood or aluminum windows can definitely come close to achieving the look of steel on a budget, but nothing compares to that patina, texture and weight of a steel door. I’m all about texture in a space and this is a wonderful way to achieve that.

Here are a few more favorites!

{Clean lines! Notice the black piping on the chairs that accentuates their curved, classic shape while playing off the muntins of the doors and windows. Image via}

{A small bathroom turned grand with beautiful finishes. The steel shower door simply make this space. Image via.}

{Indoor/outdoor love! How chic is this color palette?! Also loving the French bistro feel with the topiaries and climbing vines. Image via}

{There are no words for how much I love this kitchen. Dream space. Imaga via}

{I used to shake my head at dark grout with white tile, but in certain applications it can really be a game changer and I find myself loving it more and more. Image via}

{I love a cozy L shaped banquette and a set of Parisian bistro chairs… This little nook is perfect. Image via}

{Industrial kitchen envy! Look at that daylight! Image via}

{Same kitchen, different view 😉 via }

{Closed off kitchens are a thing of the past, but I know that the prep mess, noise and ventilation concerns are definitely warranted from people hesitant about an overly open floor plan. I love that this space has that open flow, but that the prep can be concealed with these sliding glass and steel doors. Image via}

{HUGE arched window #ftw. Image via}

Salad Wars – Easy Spinach Salad

October 8, 2014

As much as I wish I could say that I’m a health nut, it just isn’t the truth. I blame part of it on growing up with a should-have-been-a-chef father who was always whipping up something absolutely incredible that generally included rich flavors: garlic, spices, great meats, savory cheeses, etc. Now that I work in the wine industry, my foodie levels have only been heightened by pushing myself to think about pairings and learning more about what foods bring out certain characteristics in wines and vice versa. However, when I started running a LOT earlier this year (more than ever before in my life), I started to learn a few things about my body. Mainly that I absolutely could not continue eating anything and everything I ever wanted.

The issue for me is that it’s really hard to find healthy food that is flavored well and that I really, truly crave. I need salads that are way more interesting than the pre-made quinoa and kale station at Whole Foods during lunch to keep me going or else I wind up at the ridiculous taco joint down the street for the best fish tacos on the planet, or god forbid, CHIPOTLE, which is also conveniently within walking distance to the office. Additionally, I took a hard look at my bank account a few weeks ago and it’s just sad how much money goes to eating lunch out almost every day of the week. It’s no secret that packing a lunch saves you money, but it was a truth I chose to ignore for quite a while.

Enter Salad Wars which is mainly a great big experiment and challenge to find the best, most convenient and healthy salads out there. In my quest, I have found a few and to my disbelief, I’m actually excited for them by lunch or dinner – a feat I never thought possible 😉 Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a few of those recipes and hope to inspire you to join me on the quest for good health.

#1 is my go-to Spinach Salad… check out the recipe below!

Prep: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients

2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 handful of cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 avocado
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt (to taste)
a dusting of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

If you’re taking this for lunch and would like to prep it the night before, I usually mix the spinach, pine nuts, parmesan and a little salt in a travel container. I slice the avocado and tomatoes just before eating to keep things fresh 🙂

This salad could not be simpler, which I love. No dressing at all (including EVO) is always better than dressing, but cutting out pre-mixed, store bought dressing also cuts out major calories so I feel ok with a little drizzle of olive oil. With a tiny bit of salt and just a slight dusting of cheese, I’ve found that I don’t miss the pre-mixed dressing at all and I feel fulfilled and re-energized when I’m done eating instead of slipping into total food-coma… We’ve all been there after lunch. You know what I’m talking about.

*If you’re having this for dinner or if you’re allowed to have a taste of wine at work, this wine or this one are great options and pair deliciously with all of the flavors above 🙂 Cheers!

Wine Wednesday | Radiant Orchid Granita

July 16, 2014

Happy #WineWednesday! You know those projects that come across your desk and you just cringe at the thought of having to tackle them? This one was it for me. I honestly can not remember being so stuck creatively – ever. When Pantone announced its color of the year for 2014, a part of me died inside. To go from Emerald Green (hello, best color EVER), to a bright purple hue inspired by my least favorite flower on the planet, seriously bummed me out. Fast forward a few weeks into 2014 and our PR firm was asking for us to whip up some sort of Radiant Orchid concoction. WHY.

I spent forever trying to figure out a way to make this happen. I knew whatever wine we used needed to be virtually colorless (Sparkling) and that there needed to be some sort of mixer that was a borderline unnatural shade of purple to make the entire look come together. I can’t say I’ve ever tested, tried and mixed so many ingredients in my life to make it happen, but it finally worked and I was floored with the results. Of course the primary ingredient ended up being one simple, pretty natural thing – Blueberry Lemonade. Seriously? After all of that?!

You know how they say your greatest challenges often wind up being your biggest rewards? This one was it. I could not be happier with how it turned out. Thank you, amazing PR firm for challenging me to think outside of the box… you girls absolutely rock 🙂

Check out a few of my favorite outtakes from the shoot and the full recipe below. Cheers!!!

Prep: 5 minutes
Total time: 3-6 hours

Serves: 8-10 (depending on glass size)

Ingredients
1 (750ml) bottle of ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine
1 liter blueberry lemonade

Directions
1) Pour blueberry lemonade into an 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish and freeze for 1-2 hours.
2) Carefully remove freezing lemonade from freezer. Using a fork, scrape the mixture until the consistency is slushy throughout (lemonade will be more frozen toward the outside edges of the dish when you start).
3) Put the mixture back in the freezer for 1-2 hours and repeat two more times. Scraping the mixture prevents it from freezing into a solid brick of ice and maintains the slushy, icy consistency that is so delicious about a granita 🙂
4) Scoop granita mixture into glasses (we used champagne coups) and top with ONEHOPE Sparkling wine. Cheers!

Tropical Sangria

June 16, 2014

When putting together our “Sangria Summer” for work, I was having serious wanderlust for Hawaii and was ready to consume anything that satisfied my Oahu nostalgia in the slightest. The fruit on the Hawaiian islands is insane and I can’t say I’ve had so much pineapple, mango and papaya in my life as I did that week we were away. I decided to throw this one together from scratch using all of my favorite tropical fruits and it was one of our team’s top picks of the week. Aside from being just so darn pretty, it was SO delicious and I can’t wait to make it again soon. Perfect for the hottest months of the year or anytime you’re just needing a mental tropical vacation… if even for a few moments 🙂 Cheers!

Ingredients

1 bottle of ONEHOPE Sauvignon Blanc
1/2 cup guava juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup pineapple (cut into 1″ wedges)
orange slices
blood orange slices (optional)
mango slices
passion fruit (seeds and juice from 1 passion fruit)

*consider additional fruit for garnishing before serving

Directions

1) Combine all ingredients in one of your sangria bar carafes and seal tightly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

2) Fill glasses with crushed ice and garnish with fresh blood orange, pineapple and mango if desired.

Yield: 4-6 servings

White Peach Sangria

June 14, 2014

If there is anything in the entire world that I love about summer, it’s peaches. Growing up, my grandma and grandpa who had retired and moved to Florida, would move to Michigan for the summer to watch my cousin Mike and I during the day while our parents were at work. Since my aunt and uncle had a larger home on the lake, my grandparents would live there and my mom would drop me off every morning to spend my days running through sprinklers, swimming in the lake or having water balloon fights with the neighborhood kids. I remember my grandma always buying peaches and she would heat them up for just a few seconds before putting them over vanilla ice cream. The combination was so simple and heavenly and is one of my favorite memories from growing up.

When searching for sangria recipes for the summer, I knew we needed to include one with peaches and this was it! The quintessential summer sangria! Cheers!

PS: If I were to make this again, I would probably omit the apples and the lime to bring out more of that peachy flavor, but that’s just my two cents 🙂 Xo

Ingredients

1 bottle of ONEHOPE Sauvignon Blanc
1 bottle ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine (optional topper just before serving)
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
1 cup raspberries
lime slices (1/2 lime)
orange slices (1/2 large navel orange)
2 ripe peaches (cut into wedges)
2 apples (seeded and cut into slices)
orange juice (from 2nd half of large navel orange or ~1/4 cup)

*Consider extra fruit for garnishing glasses if desired

Directions

1) Combine all ingredients in one of your sangria bar carafes and cover tightly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

2) Fill glasses with crushed ice and garnish with fresh orange slices, raspberries, and peaches. Top with sparkling before serving (if desired).

Yield: 4-6 servings

Recipe adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/white-sangria-recipe.html

Grapefruit Sangria

June 11, 2014

Happy #WineWednesday!!! I can’t believe the week is halfway over already! Last weekend was complete perfection (you can see it all documented on Insta), but there is SO much to get done before our big catalog shoot at work next week. Cue the anxiety! I will definitely be enjoying a glass of wine tonight to calm the nerves 🙂

Today I’m sharing the Grapefruit Sangria recipe I created/shot for work last month. I was really on the hunt for some unique sangria options and wanted to throw a little grapefruit in there to mix things up a bit. Grapefruit is something I do not get enough of and I realized that with the grapefruity presence in our Sauvignon Blanc (as well as it making mean mimosa!), it would be the perfect fit for a super citrusy sangria.

Ingredients

1 bottle of ONEHOPE Sauvignon Blanc
1 bottle of ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine (optional topper just before serving)
grapefruit slices (from 1 small grapefruit)
3/4 cup sliced ripe strawberries
lime slices (1/2 lime)
orange slices (1 small orange)
3/4 cup pink grapefruit juice
1/4 cup simple syrup, more if desired

Directions

1) Combine all ingredients in one of your sangria bar carafes and cover tightly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

2) Fill glasses with crushed ice and garnish with fresh grapefruit, strawberries and orange slices. Top with sparkling before serving (if desired).

Yield: 4-6 servings

Recipe adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/strawberry-pink-grapefruit-rose-sangria-recipe.html

Blackberry Orange Sangria

June 10, 2014

To continue on our ‘Sangria Week’ as we gear up for summer, the next sangria recipe on this list is a Blackberry Orange Sangria that is absolute perfection. I had a really hard time picking a favorite sangria this year because they’re all so unique and have something about them that I truly love, but this one just has to take the cake.

In early April I was poking around the internet for a sangria recipe made with Cabernet. Most sangrias that call for red wines use a Pinot Noir, a Spanish red or Merlot, but we were hosting a lunch at our office for Autism Awareness month and our Cabernet gives back to Autism so Cab it was! Rather than serve Cab at noon, I decided to get a little creative and make a sangria instead. I came across this recipe and decided to replace the Spanish red for our Cab and I was floored with how good it turned out. For a moment, I was the crazy girl at the office asking everyone if it was really that good or if I was just nuts. Everyone agreed that it was awesome – the combination of pomegranate juice, orange and fresh juicy blackberries is simply heavenly – and so it became my favorite 🙂 Bookmark this one for when you’re entertaining this summer or just need a change from your usual drink of choice. I hope you love it! Cheers!

Ingredients

1 bottle ONEHOPE Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water heated until sugar is fully dissolved)
orange slices
apple slices
blackberries
pomegranate seeds (optional)

Directions

1) Combine all ingredients in one of your sangria bar carafes and tightly seal for 24 hours before serving

2) Fill glasses with crushed ice and garnish with fresh orange slices, apple slices, blackberries and pomegranate seeds before serving.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Recipe adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/red-wine-sangria-recipe.html

Lemon and Grey

February 26, 2012

There is a color combination that I can’t get off my mind lately: Lemon and Grey. I love the clean chic contrast yet warmth and cheerfulness of the yellow… What a great palate for a living room, office, nursery, kitchen… the list goes on as the two hues paired together are so versatile and inviting. Love, love, love! What are your favorite color combinations for your home or office?

{Faceted Mirror Side Table – West Elm, White Capiz Pendant – West Elm, Grey Tufted Sofa – ZGallerie, Table Lamp – Bloomingdales, Moroccan Pouf – Jennifer Delonge, Carrara Marble Coffee Table – CB2, Pillow – ZGallerie}

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