Goodbye to 2014

Hi everybody out there reading...somebody...anybody :). Wow. This year has flown by. I just wanted to reminiss on this amazing year in my life. I think it has been my favorite one so far. It has been one with the most changes, but with also the most excitement, happiness, and surprises. So here it is... in  a total reader's digest version. The high points of 2014.

January 17th, 2014. I was proposed to! Atop Squaw Peak in Phoenix, Arizona, the love of my life...my now husband, proposed :). If you want to read the whole story, read it here. And see all of my engagement photos. First engagement post, second, third and forth! 

January 22nd, 2014. I turn 22! 

Braids, Buns, & Twists Book is out! My hair tutorials and photography were published! Sold at Urban Outfitters.

Guest Editor for Marie Claire's April 2014 Issue. Read all about it by clicking the link.

May 2014. I graduated from College! I now have my Bachelor's degree in art. Hoot and Holla!

I am thrown amazing bridal showers with my dearest friends and sisters.

August 23, 2014 I am married on the ranch where I grew up. In the sunlight shining through the trees...my dad married us. It was magical. (photos still to come)

Honeymooning in Hawaii! So amazing. The Big Island and Maui. Here are all my iPhone snaps.

I move to California with my husband! No more ranch. No more Arizona. A tad bit sad. But I love our apartment. Arranging and re-arranging it. I love nesting and creating beautiful spaces!

December 2014 I get promoted at Anthropologie! I now have a full time "big-girl" job! I am their Selling Supervisor and events coordinator. Here's an event I did for them.

My hair tutorial was featured on the popular page on pinterest! 

I modeled for a wedding shoot that was published in Brides Magazine and Bridal Guide Magazine! 

Looking at all of these photos and memories...thinking about all of the smiles, happy thoughts, and anticipation of marriage, moving, starting a new family, graduating, getting a new job...it makes my heart warm with thankfulness. Being thankful can transform even the most common of days into thanksgivings, so turn your routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings (William Arthur Ward). Sometimes we get bogged down with the dailiness of life and our small issues in our lives that give us clouded perceptions of ourselves and our lives. Yet, when you take a step back and look at your life from a birds-eye view, you will find that your life is extremely blessed. I have been given so much...so many blessings, and so have you! I encourage all of you to take an hour to reflect and think about your biggest triumphs, your happiest moments this past year, your accomplishments, and also the areas in which you'd like to improve.

Each day is like a new start! A new start to make the right decision. A day to start clean a day to start a new habit, which will then turn into a routine. If you do not like something in your life, you have every power to change it. I have written down some short term goals and long term goals for my next year, I encourage each of you to do the same. Writing down what you want and keeping it somewhere you can see is a huge step in the right decision. Then just take one small step each day to get to where you want to go. "You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."-John C. Maxwell. This is one of my favorite quotes because I find it to be so true! Instead of worrying about what you hate about yourself or all of the things that you need to get done, think about what step you can do right now, in this moment to take a step into the right direction of fixing it.

One of my goals for the new year is to think more positively and to become more and more consisitent. This is hard to admit to myself, let alone, writing a blog post about it haha. I'm a very emotional person and very easily swayed by the circumstances in my day. I'll be having a wonderful day and then something small can effect that, making my mood swing and my attitude shift. While I know that I was created to be a bit more emotional, that doesn't give me an excuse to continue acting negatively. I am going to journal each morning and night, writing down things that I am thankful for and things that could have made my day better. My husband (that is still so crazy to say!!) is so consistent and such an inspiration for this! He can have a total crap day, but he just forgets about it, like water rolling off a ducks back :).

I hope your 2014 was as great as mine! I welcome 2015 with open arms and am so excited to create new wonderful memories and experiences with my husband, to reach goals, and aim for new ones. Thank you for my family- my amazing mom and dad who have given me such wonderful examples to follow, to my sisters whom I adore so much, my precious friends, my new Buchan family, and my incredible husband. I am so happy to be your wife.

The Day of my Engagement. Right after hiking down the mountain...nice shoes, eh? hehe

Engagement Photo. 

i like him ;).

One of our engagement shoots. Shot by Lauren Ristow.

About right after this shot, Brennan and a minor freak out cause the shoot took so long. haha

Braids, Buns, and Twists book that I am featured in. My photography and my own tutorial. This is my sister in the top right! 

Guest Editor Article in Marie Claire Magazine.

My mom's beautiful home on the day of the shower.

One of my bridal shower invitations.

My mom's house and her decorating will always be an inspiration to me.

The Rock House. My home for 22 years. Miss is so much. The house and the people that live there.

My Apron Bridal Shower thrown at the Rock House.

My dear friend Melissa and I at the rehearsal.

My precious older sister, Alexandra. My maid of honor.

My wedding day! 

Bridal Portrait. More wedding photos to come.

So happy.

Brennan and I dancing on our first dance.

Flying out for the honeymoon! 

My handsome husband in Maui. 

Honeymoonin'

Day I got my promotion at Anthropologie! xo

Two of the amazing ladies I work with at Anthropologie. This is the b-day bash I planned for work.

One of my chalkboards I did for the Anthropologie Party

The hot chocolate and donut bar.

Some iPhone pics of the honeymoon.

The magazines...

This is the add that  is featured in Brides Magazine and Bridal Guide Magazine for Bel Aire Bridal Boutique. 

Of of the looks of the Bridal shoot I modeled for.

My new home. Our first Christmas tree...our first Christmas together!

Of of my new spaces in our home.

My new home! Our first apartment.

 xo

Creative Workstations

I firmly believe that each and every one of us girls needs a space. A space designated just for creating, thinking, and working. My new apartment is not too large, but I nestled my little space in the far corner of the room…and Brennan has his on the other side of the room. He calls it his man cave…  and I do not know why because all he does is study there…poor little graduate student. 

In my space, I wanted a place where I could pin up all my most recent fun memories, inspirations, and encouraging words. Can’t have a workspace without a desk, right? Well, my most recent find—the desk itself, I found from the cutest vintage shop while cruising down Pacific Coast Highway one day. I bought this great white-framed corkboard from Hobby Lobby. Some of my favorite things that are pinned up is my new Think Happy, Be Happy book, my beautiful water colored calligraphy print, my instagram prints from Sticky 9, my Anthropologie gold monogrammed mug, and my BHLD cakeplate. I am a big collector (which is pretty much code for hoarder); I love searching and finding treasures. A lot of the little nic nacs that are on my desk are things I’ve found over the past few years. 

My advice for you for creating your own space is a little self-reflective. Think about what makes you happy, what makes you focused or inspired? Write a few things down and go from there. If clean lines and check lists opt for cute daily calendars, folders, and filing contraptions :). If you’re a little treasure collector like me, you may like using wall art, using super cool vintage plates for holding things, and gold anything. Below is a bit of inspiration for you. Photos below are linked if you're interested in purchasing any products from the post. 

xo

Healthy Cookie Dough Blizzard

"A healthy blizzard, Emily?" Why yes, curious reader. I did say a healthy blizzard. And I'll even top that...a healthy cookie dough blizzard. This may be my most exciting concoction EVER. May even top my healthy reeses. 

With having all of my food allergies, sweet treats are hard to come by. Everything is either gluten free or vegan. There are very few Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free...everything free (haha), treats out there. A lot of times I just make up my own. I hardly share them because I bet people will think I'm crazy with what I pass for "treats." But you know what, I think the world needs a little bit less nasty sugars and processed carbs and a little bit more whole foods. Real foods. None of this processed crap! That all seems delicious, but it really is harming your body and once you have eliminated those types of foods, you will feel so much better, promise! 

Knowing that this blizzard is made with all real food that is good for your body, you will feel that much better eating it compared to that blizzard at Dairy Queen. This blizzard is way less calories and contains less high glycemic carbs and fat.  Just to let you know though, this recipe is not low calorie, if that's what you're after. It is a great post workout treat or meal replacement. Or you could just savor half of the recipe :). Portion control is a beast sometimes, right? 

It contains more low glycemic carbs, natural sugars, healthy fats, and protein. Low glycemic carbs are carbs that take your body longer to process, making them more useful in keeping you full and keeping your insulin levels from spiking. Some low glycemic carbs are sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa and in this recipe, the garbanzo beans. High glycemic carbs are not the enemy, you just have to know when the right time to use them. High glycemic carbs are okay for you to eat after a hard workout. You should really only eat these types of carbs when your body needs them, like the workout. Some of these types of carbs are white rice, white potatoes, and corn. Some other [bad] ones are of course, pizza, sugar, breads, ice cream, ect. 

Okay the health lesson is over. Brennan is going to be so proud of me after reading this. He is studying functional medicine and chiropractics. He's always telling me that to cure the body, you need to start from the inside-out-- through diet, exercise, and adjustments, instead of America's trend with trying to heal the body from the outside -in through prescribing medicine and drugs. 

okeeee i'm certainly easily distracted today! Here we go. Healthy blizzard. Back on track. There are two parts to this cookie dough blizzard: the "ice cream" and the "cookie dough." 

Let's start with the cookie dough...it's very easy to whip up. Just toss all ingredients (except the chocolate chips that we will fold in at the end) into a food processor, vita mix, or magic bullet. 

Cookie Dough:

1 can of organic garbanzo beans

1/4 cup rolled oats

2-3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

3-4 tablespoons peanut butter 

1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder (can omit if you want)

1/3 cup pitted dates (you can also use 2 packets of stevia, or 3 tablespoons of brown sugar)

2 tsp vanilla

dash of salt

Once blended, I fold in about 1/3 cup of 85% dark chocolate chips. I usually just buy the bar and chop the chocolate into pieces. You can also sprinkle coffee granules in the cookie dough...which I like sometimes. 

Ice Cream: 

3 frozen bananas

1 tablesoon peanut butter

1/2 scoop of vegan vanilla protein powder or chocolate for a chocolate ice cream. I used chocolate. 

Instructions: 

1. Peel bananas and put into freezer. (if using a lower powered machine, cut banana into pieces for easier blending). 

2. In a vitamix or food processor, combine all cookie dough ingredients except for the chocolate, in which you fold in at the end. Blend until everything is combined. If you want a more "doughy" cookie dough, add a couple more spoonfuls of oats, until you've reached your desired consistency.

3. Once combined, transfer into a separate bowl and add in chocolate pieces/chips.

4. Take little bits of cookie dough and form into pieces. Put the pieces in a tupperware and place in the freezer. There will be a lot of cookie dough left over for later use :). 

5. Let cookie dough harden for about a half hour. 

6. Then start your ice-cream. Combine ingredients in a blender, food processor, or vitamix. It's important that your bananas are already frozen, especially if you want to eat your blizzard right away!

7. Scoop your desired ice-cream into a bowl or cup. Then take your frozen cookie dough bites and mix in and put extra on top ;). 

xo