salted banana peanut butter ice cream with chocolate caramel sauce

confession: i high fived myself when the above happened in the kitchen this weekend.  do you know how awkward that is, a grown woman high fiving HERSELF?  terrible.  but do you know what the complete polar opposite of terrible is?  THIS ICE CREAM.  which, as is stands, contains neither ice nor cream.  but instead is a mixture of unicorn love, bananas, peanut butter and salt.  {ok, one of those ingredients is the best thing ever totally made up}

i should mention that i high fived myself not because i invented this banana peanut butter faux cream, but because i bettered it!  i’ve seen the recipe floating around a bunch, first on a friend’s instagram and then pinterest, tumblr…everywhere i turned it was calling my name.  but when i made it as i’d seen the recipe call for- frozen banana, peanut butter, mix, serve.  it was just sort of meh.  at least, meh in my book. because in my opinion it was missing TWO VERY IMPORTANT THINGS…. salt, and unicorn love chocolate caramel.  so, proceed below for more about this why this is my new favorite dessert and the recipe after the jump!

Click to read more

FANCY PAWS: It’s your time to shine, PUPS!

you wouldn’t believe how excited i am to announce this today- birds of a feather and our amazing friend sarah of smitten studio have teamed up to put together a {well-styled} dog photoshoot to raise money for NKLA!  NKLA is a coalition of animal welfare organizations dedicated to ending the killing of healthy and treatable pets in LA shelters. YES!!!

we love what they’re doing and are so excited to raise money to help those pups who are less fortunate. we’ll be styling and photographing YOUR pups in our fundraising efforts.  imagine your pup putting his/her best paw forward to help those in need…  amazing, right?!  we think so!

all of the details are below.  i hope you can make it, and please help spread the word to all the los angeles dog lovers you know!  xx-sarah

 

WHO: your beloved canine

WHAT: a 15 minute styled photo session of your pup (photographed by “birds of a feather” and styled by Sarah of “A House in the Hills” & Sarah of “Smitten Studio“),
5  high resolution digital files from the shoot available for download,
$125 donation

WHERE: The Forge studio, 2636 Huron St. Los Angeles, 90065

WHEN: Sunday, March 10, 2013, 9 am- 5pm  first come, first serve!

WHY: to raise money for NKLA, a coalition of animal welfare organizations dedicated to ending the killing of healthy and treatable pets in LA shelters.

HUGE GIANT THANK YOU TO THE AWESOME FOLKS AT THE FORGE FOR SPONSORING THIS EVENT!!!

sweet potato, kale and black bean hash

happy monday all, hope you had a great weekend!  lately i’ve been thinking a lot about healthy food, and how to make it easier for people to incorporate it into their already busy and full lives.  i think “healthy” food almost always requires just a little more time since it’s not pre-made, pre-packaged, etc

i imagine that after working 8-10 hours in an office the last thing anyone really wants to do is come home and prepare a meal.  i’m fortunate enough to make my own hours and work from home, and i still struggle with this. so i’m trying to think of ways to make life just a little bit easier.  one of my ideas for this is prepping large batches of food to be used in multiple meals throughout the week.  for instance, on sunday i made a huge batch of roasted sweet potatoes (cooked while we were roasting brussel sprouts for our sunday night dinner).  and this morning i turned some of them into a breakfast hash, tomorrow i’ll make these with them and by wednesday just when i think i can’t eat another sweet potato, i’ll throw them into my lunch salad giving them a whole new life.

do you have any tips or tricks for squeezing cooking/healthy eating into a busy life?  do you find yourself coming home from work exhausted and just reaching for the quickest, easiest meal?  let’s chat about this and share our solutions in the comments!  xx- sarah   {recipe after the jump}

Click to read more

happy weekend!

i can’t stop thinking about these zara flats i stumbled upon recently.  or the things i want to pair them with. read: i have an online shopping habit and an expensive imagination!  but seriously?  the flats, those pants, that blouse?  I MUST!  am i right?  these need to happen, yes?  { hint: the answer is always, always YES. }

also, some things from around the interweb to keep you entertained this weekend after the jump.  i hope you have a great one!  xx- sarah 

i’ve never seen this before but think i might have to step outside of my comfort zone and give it a whirl!

detoxing from a week of mexican food, this is on my list to make

white on white done oh so right.

the very best excuse to throw a party that i’ve seen in awhile

a roundup of pretty spaces to inspire

this would have been PERFECT for mexico

a great intro to a tumblr that i think is totally brilliant

a blog full of things i (mostly) don’t eat that i just can’t take my eyes off of

my sweet friends’ baby shower photos have me getting all sorts of sentimental

i mean, really?  how could i resist sharing this?

in case you missed it- a little something that came home from tulum with me

i’ll take a side of this with my green juice, please

i recently discovered this site for re-selling your designer wares & shopping for replacements

gifts from japan

as i mentioned this morning, lou was in tokyo while i was in tulum.  when i got in late last night i found a pile of sweet japanese gifts he brought home for me.  so of course i photographed them all!  because aren’t they amazing?!  i can’t wait for my turn to go to tokyo.  i’m besotted with all things japanese- from tea towels, to washi tape, to sweet little rice bowls and perfect little sake sets- I CANNOT GET ENOUGH!  i’m so happy to add these to our kitchen collection.  thank you mr. mora for being so sweet to me.  see the rest of my new goodies after the jump!

TULUM, i miss you already

hello everyone!  i’m back from tulum (equal parts happy and sad!).  this morning i woke up next to my husband, which was amazing as he’s been all over the country and world the past few weeks while i was also away.  it felt like we were a million miles apart and there’s nothing sweeter than a reunion with the ones you love (and being showered in kisses from pups who also feel as if you’ve been gone for a lifetime).  i’ll be sharing bits of my tulum visit with you soon and hopefully some of lou’s photos from tokyo as well!  i’m also really looking forward to getting back into the kitchen!  i’m so inspired by the food we ate, so will be posting lots of food recipes in the upcoming weeks.  basically what i’m getting at is… I’M BACK AND IT’S GOING TO BE EXTRA FUN AND YUMMY AROUND HERE!!!!  xx- sarah

photos via my instagram