Green with Envy!

Seeing as today is St. Patrick's Day, it's only appropriate to talk all things "green" and beautiful!  However, since I recently did a green color inspiration post here, I thought it would be fun to show off some of the St. Patty's day styles I've been seeing around blogland...and boy are there some beautiful posts today!

Gabriella at A Life Worth Living showed off a green bouquet with a little DIY tutorial.  I must say, the mix of green florals is quite beautiful!

Erinn's lovely blog Strawberry Swing and other Things has been featuring the prep for her St. Patty's Day Party and I have to say, I would have flown across the country for these delicious looking cupcakes!  They mint chip ones have to be my favorite!

Julie featured these awesome DIY leprechaun spirit bottles on her blog, Love, Julie  and I think they would be a great party favor, don't you?

I say...if you're going to go all out, then this is the way to do it!  I am simply loving the mix of patterns in this room that Aubrey featured over at All Things Bright and Beautiful.

Nothing says St. Patrick's Day like these green clovers Anne posted on Princess Anne County.  

If I put on 20+ pounds tonight, then it will surely be Michelle at Ten June's fault!  How deliciously amazing does this cake look???

There are so many things I love about this room that Wendy posted on her blog, Desire to Decorate, and being green is only one of them.  I just love that stunning starburst mirror and gold coffee table.  And that rug is awesome!

See what I mean?  No need to reinvent the wheel here!  There is tons of inspiration out there today!

Hope you all have a great St. Patrick's Day today!

xo natasha 

Blueberry Creme Brulee

Like Laura at The Cooking Photographer says...this is the best crème brûlée ever!  And guess what?  It's really simple to make {love when that happens!}.  I think the thing that makes this so incredible is the brown sugar sauce on the bottom...combined with the yummy fruit throughout.  This was our second time making this dessert...the first time, we used blackberries and the second time, the grocery store was out, so we used blueberries and I love both!  I think you could easily substitute the fruit with any favorite..raspberries and strawberries would definitely work!

Now ladies...I'm not even going to tryyy and pretend my pictures are nearly as great as Laura's, but she is the "cooking photographer" afterall-so give a sister a break!  :)  Oh and a word of warning...this takes 4 hours to set, so be sure to allow plenty of time.  Here's the delicious recipe:

Special tools you’ll need are 8 four-ounce ramekins, a fine mesh sieve (strainer) and a torch of some kind.  {P.S. like Laura...I also used my husband's torch!}

• 2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• About 1 cup or so fresh or frozen blackberries
• 8 teaspoons dark brown sugar, divided
• Sugar for brûlée

1. Place 8 four-ounce ramekins in a metal 9x13-inch pan. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and set a kettle of water to boil.

2. Place the heavy cream in a 3 quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring often until just the point of boiling. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl whisk together egg yolks, 2/3 cup sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Whisking the entire time, slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot heavy cream into the egg mixture. Then pour the egg mixture into the heavy cream while whisking.

4. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large clean bowl. Place 1 teaspoon brown sugar into each ramekin. Place blackberries over brown sugar so they are nearly touching, but not packed. Slowly ladle cream mixture evenly into the ramekins, scraping all of it out of the bowl with a spatula.

5. Pull the oven rack out about half way and place the pan on it. Pour the hot water into the pan until it’s about half way up the ramekins. Bake for 35 minutes. Custards should be mainly set around the edges, but the center will still be jiggly.

6. Carefully move the custards to a cooling rack. Once cool, move to the refrigerator and chill for at least four hours.

7. To Brûlée: Sprinkle custard tops with about a teaspoon of granulated sugar and torch with fire until deeply golden brown pulling back the torch as needed so the sugar doesn’t char.

This brûlée is truly and wonderfully out of this world!  I've never felt so fancy eating a dessert, and I love knowing it's super easy to make!

Hope you enjoy!  Bon Appetit!

xo natasha

{P.S. Don't forget to enter my very first giveaway here!}

Linked to: Tasty Tuesdays

My First Giveaway-Emily Inspired!!!

Oh happy day!!!  Over the weekend, I reached 100 lovely readers and I recently told you that once I hit that point, that we would celebrate!  With Emily wining over Brad's heart last night, I thought it was only appropriate that my very first giveaway be inspired by the Southern Belle that stole all of our hearts.  

The Etsy Shop NY Light Metals has plenty of Emily "Four Leaf Clover" inspired pieces and I am happy to give away one piece of her jewelry, up to $40, of your choice!  Here are some lovely options to consider {but don't let these limit you!}:

The rules are simple!

Follow this blog via Google Connect or Bloglovin'   

{Please leave a comment and an email address if you are a no reply blogger}

Additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each)

2. Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway

3. Blog about this giveaway {please include a link to your post}

A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Thursday, March 31st!

Good luck and thank you for all being so wonderful and supportive! 

xo natasha

Target Haul

For me, going Target is a pretty special day trip.  The closest Target is about 45 minutes away from where I live and therefore I always look forward to my excursions and try to make the most out of them.  This past Saturday was one of those days and I wanted to share some of things I purchased!

This probably does not seem like a big deal, but I don't have a little weekend luggage bag that I can tow around with me.  I always seem to be carrying a duffel bag around and that becomes a huge pain. So this little bag is the perfect solution...and I think the print is super fun and feminine.

Can I tell you how much I love these pumps?  They are the perfect nude color...almost like a blush and they make your gams look like they are a million miles long.  They have great padding on the inside and a decent sole on the bottom.  This makes for a comfortable shoes-which is a definite perk from Target.  Can't wait to wear these to work soon!

I have received several tips to try this new dry shampoo from Suave.  It has a sweet lemon scent to it and for $2.74 a pop, it's a great value!  I tried it out today and loved the results.  We'll see how it goes from here!

And one other thing I purchased on this haul is actually from Bed, Bath & Beyond:

Pure Beech Jersey Knit sheets are hands down our most favorite sheets in the whole wide world!  They are super soft and almost silky...but most importantly, they are just ultra comfortable.  I would highly recommend checking these out!

Anyone else take a fun haul this weekend?  Sometimes I feel like it's the little things in life!

xo natasha