Room Sneak Peak - B Is for Bonnie Designs

As I put the final details on my room, I'm planning on posting little previews of the little projects it took to put it all together. I had most of the furniture from my old place, it was just a matter of the details like wall art.  I really love the way Ralph Lauren mixes traditional looks with pop culture. His old Hollywood pictures are stunning. After almost 4 years of searching my mom and I found similar frames at Home Goods. I did have these 2 solid black frames I had found and while I loved the black accent, I knew I had to find "lighter" prints to keep the contrast and neutral look.   If you follow my pinterest  or tumblr you know that I love quotes and after some etsy searching I found the gold foiled prints {incorporates the slight metallic) of b is for bonnie and knew they were just what I was looking for!

She has so many cute options {and an amazing blog for all you #bossladies out there} but I decided to go with these 2.

They look great in the frames and fit perfectly in this little nook on the side of my bed! So cozy!

                         

Recent Obsession: Kiesza

I saw her Hideaway video maybe 6 months ago. I think it was trending because it was done in one take, and I didn't really register it was a music video. I heard it on the radio a few months ago and cannot stop listening to it. Her entire LP is so fun and her cover of "What is Love" is breathtaking.

Summer Travel Adventures!

Can you believe it's August already? The 8th month of 2014! The last month of summer! My summer has been filled with several adventures so far, kicking off with a trip to Mexico in the beginning of June! I'd never been and have been anxious to cross it off my list for the past year, though could never convince any one else to go.
Although it was planned before a nuclear bomb hit my life it ended up falling perfectly after the emotional hurdles and in the week transition between jobs. My favorite part was definitely the excursion we took to the Marietas Island where we snorkeled our way into the "hidden beach".
Wanting to enjoy the sunshine and be out on the water we also took a smaller "bird watching" boat trip from our main ferry and were surprised to see Blue, Red and Yellow footed boobies. The Marietas are the only other place outside of the Galapagos's you can seen them!

The trip to Mexico also turned out to be a bit bittersweet as E made the somewhat spontaneous decision to move to New York  3 weeks after we got back!

I was also able to travel for, my second favorite Holiday, the 4th of July! One of my college girlfriends has lived there for almost 4 years and I had yet to visit. I had also never been to Atlanta so I was able to continue crossing places off my travel list. We had a fun a filled weekend of Bloody Mary's (the bill on the 4th actually came out to $17.76), Deep fried everything,  Fireworks (well half fireworks), local beer, pool parties, 21 & 22 Jump Street, Cougar bars, wedding brainstorming and, yes, a late night visit to The Waffle House.  Her fiance is probably the best ever. We were planning on going out after the pool party and I didn't bring a change of clothes so he drove my bag all the way across town. We did convince him to go out with us so it wasn't all for nothing! Gotta love the southern chivalry...I don't think I opened my own door or pulled out my own chair the entire time. Get it together San Francisco.

Banana Bread

I've been craving banana-y things in the recent months. Specifically chocolate and bananas. Took a trip to Mexico earlier this summer and had the most amazing chocolate dipped frozen banana!

My "substitute" for not having the patience to dip my own bananas has been Chocolate Chip Banana muffins. Definitely not paleo, but fine in moderation ;) I've brought them to work to win people over and everyone loves them!

Paula Deen's Banana Bread {in muffin form}

1 cup of softened Butter

1 1/2 cups of Sugar

4 Eggs

3 cups of All purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 teaspoon of Salt

2 cups of Mashed Bananas

1 cup of Chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and fill 2 muffin tins with muffin holders
2. In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring well. Add bananas and pecans, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 30ish minutes, or until a tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans, and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

Where I've been....

Remember my New Years goals?

Well, 2014 decided to bring my a whole new life and looking back on them the only one I have left to cross off is 'Blog More'. It think it start with my move, then a new job, struggling with "abandoning" what I thought was a dream, and I guess its only appropriate that the last time I took a long 'break' from the blog was when I got caught up in the whirl wind of a relationship and I'm sad to say that this break has been, partially, due the end of said relationship. In addition my 2 closest girlfriends out here (1 quite suddenly) decided to get themselves new lives on the other side of the country. The last few months I've been soaking up every moment, traveling, remodeling, wrapping my head around new job and life challenges. I truly feel like I have a blank slate, a new energy and so much new focus on what I want.

I hope to update you on my realizations, my new aspirations, my adventures and {finally} my fully decorated San Francisco bedroom....5 years in the making!

Wedding Wednesday {aka have you cried today?}

I'm definitely a traditional vows kind of girl, but I think there are couples that the write-your-own works amazingly for. If you have an energy and are clear on your feelings, it really helps to make your wedding 'your wedding'.  A couple at a a wedding that I went to this summer did this, it was the first wedding I'd been too where they wrote their own vows and it was absolutely magical. You could feel their love for each other and energy everywhere. There was not a dry eye in the house.
Whitney and Brian's Video brought this all back to me. You can feel their love and the love everyone deserves to have.




Whitney + Brian | McCall, Idaho wedding film from Sarah Pendergraft on Vimeo.

Flats that will Change your Life!

I'd been hearing about tieks for about a year now and when I got a gift card in a event gift bag I knew I had to try them out! 

• Tieks are designer flats that you can fold to fit in your purse or wear all day, every day.  Each pair is individually crafted and made from the finest Italian leathers.  Our signature Tiek Blue stripe and Tiek Blue non-skid rubber soles accent each pair.  To learn more about Tieks, visit our About Us page. 
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They come in such fun colors and patterns, but for my first pair I wanted to keep with the classics. I couldn't decide between the nude and the black, but I ordered a black pair and they turned out to be too small. I was going to exchange for a bigger size, but something kept calling me back to the nude. I called them {and talked to an actual person!} and they said they would send me the bigger size in the nude so I could compare and not charge me for 10 days (think). They came very quick, I ended up going with nude and sent the black back. 

They are so comfortable and go with all most everything! Inside each box you get a little drawstring sack that they fold up and you can keep in your purse if you want too, for resting your toes after a night out!

They come in the cutest box with a sparkly little flower on top!

Also, each of my packages came with the sweetest, personalized, handwritten note!