New Blog – Touches of Blush

I have something exciting to tell you all! I have moved locations and I will no longer be posting on this site! Wishful Whisking was great to me for the last 2 years but no longer reflects my style, and it is simply time to move on and start fresh! I will be posting on my new blog http://www.touchesofblush.com! So please follow my new journey over there and all my journeys as a newlywed!

Our Christmas Cards

I have always awaited the day I could send my very own Christmas card. The month of December is seriously the most exciting time for mail, everyday checking it is a treat. Getting to see everyone’s family photos and the different styles of cards adds a little flicker of excitement to my day.

Since I am married, I finally get to join in on the fun and I could not be more obsessed with how our very first Christmas card turned out! We used Minted, which is absolutely great! Not only are our cards beautiful; they addressed each envelope for free! We used Minted for our wedding invitations, pictured below, as well. We could not be more thrilled!

(Photograph by Anna Joy)

Christmas House Details

I love the way my house feels around Christmas. A strand of lights and a few simple pops of red, white and green make the house feel magical. This truly is the best time of the year!

Puffy and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since getting married in October, Nathan and I have not gotten to spend a Sunday together (not including our month long honeymoon in Europe, of course). Today we got to spend the day together and Nathan suggested we make chocolate chip cookies, binge on Netflix, and soak up our Christmasy home. I could not imagine a better way to spend a Sunday. This is simply a delicious recipe I would make again and again. Hope you enjoy… wedding and honeymoon pictures to come!

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cups butter
3/4 cups light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
3-5 ounce pack of instant vanilla pudding mix
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a stand up mixer fitted with paddle attachment combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla and beat until creamy.

2.Scrape the edges add the flour, vanilla pudding, baking soda and beat until combined on low.

3.Scrape down the edges once again add the chocolate chips and beat on low until combined.

4. Preheat the oven to 350˚. Using an ice cream scoop make 8 cookie balls on a cookie sheet covered with either a silpat or cooking spray.

5. Bake for about 10 minutes.

My Bohemian Bridal Shower!

My bridal shower pictures are here! I had the best day celebrating my upcoming marriage surrounded by my family! Hope you enjoy the pictures all courtesy of Anna Joy!






{All of my favorite snacks}


{Word association game!}



{My sisters 🙂 }



{Flower crowns for everyone!}

{Sisters.}



{The most delicious and beautiful cake!}



{Childhood photographs of me!}

{Cousin selfies!}



{Baby Ellie!}

Happy Birthday Nathan!

We had the best day celebrating Nathan yesterday. I love you Nathan! Enjoy our pictures!

{Tuxedo cake, chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting.}

{hour devours}

{Reading his card. :)}

{The books I gave him}

{I made him homemade pasta.}

{Unfortunately I did not try any. Wedding is too soon for pasta!}

{His favorite meal. Pasta, peas, and steak.}


{We went to the beach for a sunset walk.}





{Came home for cake.}



{Happy birthday Bunny!}

What a successful birthday! P.S. Exactly one month until our wedding!

My week through my iPhone.

Nathan and I have been super busy this past week moving into our first place together! I won’t be living there until after the wedding but I am loosing my mind kicking into full interior designer mode! I can’t wait to share pictures of our glorious little cottage, and all the fun projects we have been doing making it beautiful! Here are some parts of my week as seen through my phone.

1.Tonight Nathan and I decided to walk through our new neighborhood after dinner. One of our favorite activities as a couple is taking drives and checking out cool houses. We were so amazed by how much more beautiful the homes looked from the sidewalk versus our moving car. You miss so much detail in the car!

2.I’m obsessed with baking in my new kitchen- ESPECIALLY with my new kitchen aid. While Nathan was at work I made him some delicious muffins. I blogged the whole thing so be on the lookout for that!

3.Nathan and I got dressed up in some 1960’s garb and took some photos with our good friend Anna Joy who also happens to be our awesome wedding photographer! I love this era so dressing up was fun for us.

4.My good old Pop had his birthday this week. Apparently we are to cheap to buy new candles so we did the math on his flan. He didn’t mind!

5.After a long few days of moving Nathan and I enjoyed our favorite cheese from Trader Joe’s, ‘unexpected cheddar’ accompanied by fresh strawberries and olives on our new couch. I live for simple moments like this.

6.I LOVE repeat LOVE old cookbooks! I scored a few at a thrift store this week and could not be more thrilled. The Better Homes and Garden’s book is KILLER with tons of recipes I’m dying to try.

There you have it. Happy Monday.

Engagement Story!

I have been gone for so long. I have honestly thought and thought about what my first post should be about after such a lengthy hiatus, and it feels oddly overwhelming, for so much has happened in life, so I will start there! I am engaged! I have been so giddy and excited planning my wedding that I have neglected this part of my life – the part that makes my happier than anything – this blog! Today, I will neglect this blog no more, because I want to share the journey to my wedding with everyone. I will start with the story! 

Nathan and I have been dating since our senior year of high school. As our friendship grew so did our feelings. We dated our senior year of high school all the way through college. Nathan’s college was only 30 minutes away from mine, and despite the drive and seemingly different lives with different majors one thing never changed: our love. Instead of growing apart, we only grew closer! After graduating I moved home to Santa Barbara and Nathan moved to LA, and even still, distance was no match for our love. Nathan finally moved back to Santa Barbara and we were together in the same city again! On February 16 of this year, our five year anniversary rolled around. Nathan told me we were going to visit Palm Springs (which happens to be my favorite place on planet earth) so it didn’t seem like anything too out of the ordinary. I love to poke around the amazing shops, soak up the sun, eat at the amazing restaurants, swim, and feel the colorful and exciting energy of the city. We were going to walk around the grounds of La Quinta Resort which is, in my opinion, the most beautiful place California offers, before getting dinner and driving home. Nathan started acting odd and moving the hotel’s outdoor furniture around. He told me he was going to give me my card and gift, but he did not have one in his hand, so I started to wonder what his deal was. He told me he memorized his card and wanted to tell me it to my face. He started to recite the most beautiful poem that he wrote and was shaking, and I finally began to understand what was happening. Instead of crying like any normal girl would do, I started laughing and kept telling him to “stop!” The poem concluded with “Will you marry me?” Instead of screaming an enthusiastic “yes,” I grabbed the ring from his fingers, making him pry it out of my hands as I realized I had not yet answered. This was the most special day of my entire life, and I cannot wait to share my planning process with everyone! Click to see some engagement photo’s! All photos are by the AMAZING Anna Joy Photo. If you are in the Santa Barbara area you must check her out! 

Valentines Day Nails

I am usually not one to indulge in holiday themed manicures, as I find them overwhelmingly tacky and often leave the person’s hand looking over-accessorized, if that makes any sense to you. I am all about a classic color, doused in a shiny top coat complimented by a few dainty rings.  But when love is in the air and the shelves of my local grocery store begin filling up with pink candy hearts and cheesy hallmark cards, my inner little girl can’t help but feel a little excited! That is why I decided to give the dreaded holiday manicure a go and I think my take is cute, playful and exciting! I will rock it with no shame; I love the excitement bubble gum pink nails give me, complimented by a simple white heart. What are your opinions of holiday manicures?

Juicing!

I know it’s a little late but I am finally ready to start the new year right by taking care of my body and being more active. One of the most important things in life is how you feel about yourself. When you are confident and feeling good about yourself, you’re more likely to be proactive, friendly, and work harder. Isn’t this so true!?Whenever I feel down on my looks, or uncomfortable in my body, I am 100% less friendly because I am self-conscience! I find myself avoiding people in the store, I am less likely to be social, and am totally unmotivated. All of these things might sound dumb, but I am positive every single one of you feels that way from time to time. You know when you have been consistently healthy and you feel like your on top of the world? I am ready to experience this feeling. 

A sure fire way that I have discovered to really help me kickstart my healthy momentum is juicing! Everyone has their own opinion about juicing, but I am a complete advocate. I have seen it truly transform peoples’ lives. Juicing is a great way to get the most nutrients out of foods! Since you are juicing and just sucking out the pure nutrients, your body does not have to digest any food, so it’s much easier on your body. This is also beneficial because when you juice up otherwise bland vegetables, they somehow always comes out tasting sweet. I know that health should be a lifestyle change and juicing is not permanent, but like I said, juicing kick starts me into health mode. Let’s be honest, you guys are not going to eat a handful of raw kale and a raw beet anytime soon. Well, if you’re juicing, you can and will, and thats the beauty of it! This is my absolute favorite juice; I hope you guys enjoy it! 

I have a Jack LaLanne juicer which has worked amazing and I totally recommend it! Buy it here. The first step is to literally throw your fruits and vegetables into the juicer and there you have it! Totally nutritious and delicious juice!