A Day at the Beach, an Outfit Post with a Twist

It's been a busy two weeks for us so things have been a little quiet on the blogging front. I have had the most amazing coast vacation with my sweetie. Will and I travelled to Long Beach on the Washington coast for a weekend celebration of our 5 year anniversary of dating. We totally lucked out with the weather and it was sunny for our entire stay!

On Monday we had a very secluded picnic on the beach. I decided to wear my new Vanilla & Lace dress with some Hunter rain boots. We drove up Long Beach a little ways, outside of the touristy area and found beach access which you can drive out on. Yes, that's right: in Washington you can drive on the beach. I kept feeling like we were doing something wrong and Will had to keep telling me to stop worrying. We parked our car and set out a picnic and there was no one around!

I wore my Hunter rain boots, although it did not rain our entire visit, it did help cover my ghostly white legs!

You may want to lean in a sec because I have secret to share with you....

I am engaged....

to this amazing man!

Isn't my ring beautiful?! Will did an amazing job and I love it so much, but not as much as love the idea of being married to my best friend...

...so excited that I had to jump for joy...

....and do a little dance!

Outfit Details: dress- Vanilla & Lace; cardigan-Target; boots- Hunter; sunnies, Target; earrings- We Dream in Colour;
1920's Art Deco-Edwardian Engagement ring-from my love.

For everyone that has sent us congratulations and well wishes, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are so happy to share this exciting news with you and your support means so much to us. We are really looking forward to this next chapter in our lives. My heart feels so full now that I will be promising to share the rest of my life with the most amazing man and my best friend, William.

Spirit Saturday: an American Classic, The Mint Julep

In the spirit of the Kentucky Derby next Saturday this week's Spirit Saturday is the Mint Julep. I've got you covered on this true American classic for your Derby party next weekend. You'll be feelin' fine as you sip on these minty treats while cheering on your favorite horse!

The Mint Julep is a classic for the Kentucky Derby. Although it predates the Derby it is largely popularized by the Derby and Churchill Downs expects to serve aprox. 120,000 mint juleps next weekend. The Julep is traditionally served in a silver cup with crushed ice.

Muddle (or lightly bruise) the mint in simple syrup until fragrant.

 Stir your ingredients well.

It's like a snow cone...for adults!

The Mint Julep yields 1


Ingredients
3 ounces bourbon whiskey
6 sprigs of mint
3/4 ounce simple syrup


Muddle, or bruise the mint and simple syrup in the bottom of a mint julep cup or rocks glass until mint becomes fragrant. Add the bourbon and stir to mix. Fill glass with finely crushed ice and stir with a swizzle stick until ice begins to form on the outside of the glass. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig. Serve with a straw.

Color Block Like it's Hot, an outfit post

Color blocking is one of my favorite fashion trends. It can vary from so simple like the way I chose to feature for this outfit post to completely bold. I also love it because I thing it is a totally workplace friendly fashion trend. You can totally pull off some vibrant pants and a top or a monochromatic outfit to work and look chic and professional all at the same time! I also love this outfit because I can go from work to play in one outfit and it looks great for both occasions!

I am a big fan of statement jewelry so when I found this necklace on sale at Sloan Boutique in NW Portland I was stoked to say the least. I love pairing it with loose t-shirts and jeans to dressing it up with this outfit!

Outfit Details:

Dress, H&M

Blazer, F21

Necklace, via Sloan Boutique

Tights, Hue

Booties, Coconuts by Matisse Footwear

Instaweek, a weekly wrap up

Row 1: I made one of my favorite snacks, Herb Roasted Fingerling Fries, which you can find here; proverbial shoe shot, outfit post to follow this week; my friend, Kristin, and I went wine tasting on Sunday, this was our last stop for bubbles!
Row 2: I had breakfast with a friend on Sunday and this was the colossal Bloody Mary I ordered, and yes that is a shrimp; Cassidy and I had a solid game of fetch this week; preparing garnish for Meyer Lemon and Thyme Gimlets.
Row 3: I received my first order of Stickygrams and promptly decked out our fridge; made a simple dinner of grilled asparagus and chicken breast with a dijon cream sauce; on Saturday night I went soul dancing with my brother, which was a lot of fun. DJ Beyondadoubt is one of my favorite DJs in Portland, she spins vintage Soul 45s.

If you have and Instaweek like post, please link up below, I'd love to to see it! You can also follow my happenings on Instagram @ForkandVine.

Spirit Saturday: Meyer Lemon and Thyme Gimlet

It's that time of week again to get your cocktail on...Spirit Saturday! This is a new cocktail favorite and there are a couple ways that you can make this Meyer Lemon and Thyme Gimlet. If you are only making two cocktails you can follow my instructions below. However, if you plan on making for a crowd I would suggest making a meyer lemon and thyme syrup by doubling or tripling the ingredients and steeping in a simple syrup mixture.

Muddle thyme in one cup of good quality gin and allow to steep for 1-2 hours before assembling cocktail.

I love making cocktail garnish! Garnish how you like. I decided to garnish with thyme sprigs and twisted meyer lemon peel...so pretty!

Juice your Meyer lemons!

This cocktail is a nice sweet and herb-ally cocktail. The thyme perfectly balances out the sweetness of the Meyer lemons. This is going to be a great sipper for spring and summer weather!

Meyer Lemon and Thyme Gimlet yields 2
Adapted from Small Bites, Food Finds in the Lower Hudson Valley


Ingredients
1 cup Gin
1 handful thyme
2 Meyer Lemons, juiced
3/4 ounce Simple Syrup
Garnish of thyme and lemon peel or slice


Muddle thyme in gin and allow to steep for 1-2 hours (the longer you steep the more intense the thyme flavor, I steeped for 1.5 hours). Strain out thyme leaves and add all ingredients except garnish in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Pour into cocktail glasses and garnish. Serve for brunch or an afternoon spring/summer cocktail.

Elbow Patches and an Aztec Print, an outfit post

As I edit through these photos (which is not a lot because Will did a phenomenal job photographing!), I notice that the scenery isn't quite right. If I didn't tell you when these were taken you would probably assume fall with all the leaves on the ground, but in fact we took these photos this week! Crazy how this spring has started out and I am just itchin' for warmer weather!

I am not the only one in our house frustrated over the cool temps. Will has just started his bike racing season and training and racing the amount of hours he does in poor weather is just crappy, to put it plainly. He is leaving this weekend for a race in Walla Walla and normally it is at least drier there than it is in Portland. However, he's been checking the weather and it's not looking good. Nevertheless, I hope  it turns around and he has a good time.

I don't often wear this frock because it needs a little altering to look right on me. I love the comfort and prints of Tulle dresses (and they have pockets!), however I find them to be a little short and busty for my figure. I usually have to wear shorts or leggings with them, otherwise I might be a little indecent. The other day I discovered that my cropped H&M sweater looks great with it, at least until I have it altered before summer.

I love this sweater, but I find it a little funny that the elbow patches sit just above my elbows. You would think I was super tall with a dress to short and a sweater with elbow patches to high, but no...I am only 5'6! That is my favorite part about remixing clothes, is taking garments that are unique (maybe there's something not quite right) and pairing them with another garment and the two together makes a fabulous outfit!

Outfit Details

Dress, Tulle

Sweater, H&M

Leggings, Nordstrom Rack

Boots, Enzo Angiolini via Nordstrom

Belt, F21

Necklace, Anthropologie

Bangle, thrifted

Earrings, We Dream In Color Etsy Shop

I hope you all are having a lovely spring!

Tomato and Tuna Pasta with Toasted Walnut and Spinach Pesto

This probably comes as no surprise, but I have gone back to eating gluten again...and full force! It is horrible, but I cannot get enough of those tasty carbs. I've been eating pizza, pasta, bread, you name it. There will come a time when I will have to cut myself off again, but for now I am going to eat some pasta! However, if you are not on the fast track to hell with me, you can totally make this with brown rice pasta. After all, this recipe is more about the pesto!

The pesto ingredients got a little tweeked after I took this photo. Pay no mention to the missing ingredients.

If you're questioning whether you really need to toast the walnuts for this recipe...yes, yes you most certainly need to! I promise you that the pesto will be all the more flavorful.

Don't forget to wilt your spinach as well!

Tomato and Tuna Pasta with Spinach and Toasted Walnut Pesto serves 4
Adapted from Every Day Food


Ingredients
1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cans tuna fish, drained and flaked with a fork
16 oz fusilli pasta
shaved pecorino for garnish


1 bunch (about 1 pound), trimmed and washed
1 cup walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup shaved pecorino
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
coarse salt and pepper


Add spinach and 1 tablespoon water to a large skillet over med-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. In a food processor combine spinach, walnuts 1/4 cup pecorino, lemon juice and zest, parsley, and garlic. Process for 20 seconds then pour olive oil in food processor in a steady stream until emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta. Return pasta to pot along with pesto, tomatoes, tuna and cooking liquid. Toss to combine. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with remaining pecorino. Enjoy!