Recipe: Classic French Toast with Blueberries

Happy Monday, y'all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Anyone watch the Oscars last night? Could Jennifer Lawrence be any cooler? I've also got a big girl crush on Amy Adams and Jessica Chastain. How about you? 

Saturday morning I woke up craving a real breakfast (not just a cup of coffee, not an apple, not a Luna bar) but didn't feel like waiting out in the cold for an hour for a seat at one of Portland's many great breakfast joints. There is just no way around it. So I decided to make breakfast at home, remembering that up my sleeve I had a very easy peazy recipe that would produce great results.

French Toast.

I used my sister Ashley's recipe - which is worth noting because she is the Queen of Sweet Breakfasts. She's the kid that asked for a waffle maker on her twelfth birthday and can freakishly put away STACKS of pancakes, waffles and french toast in one sitting. It blows my mind.

So, here is her recipe:

For 2 people

6 slices of thick-sliced white bread

3 eggs

3 cups milk

2 tsp cinnamon

3 small slices of butter

powdered sugar

a handful of blueberries

maple syrup

1. Break eggs into a mixing bowl (or a wider, shallower dish if you have one) and beat lightly with a fork. Stir in milk and cinnamon, making sure that all ingredients blend.

2. Put a large skillet on the stove at medium heat, add a slice of butter.

3. Dunk piece of bread in the milk mixture so that it is soaked and then place in the skillet once the butter is melted and spread evenly.

4. Flip the piece of bread after a minute, and continue to flip every minute or two until both sides are a medium brown color (it will be splotchy brown and white, this is the way it's supposed to look).

5. Repeat steps 2-4 until all bread is toasted.

Serve with powered sugar, blueberries, and maple syrup.

And bacon on the side. 

Did you have an amazing breakfast this past weekend?

Australia Chat and Makeup Talk

Back in November, Kim from the fun lifestyle blog Northern California Style kindly gave me the "Liebster Award" and asked me to answer ten questions about myself and then share the award with two other "up and coming" bloggers. Well, here I am, finally answering her questions a whole three months later. Thanks Kim, sorry for the delay!

1. What's your favorite scent and how long have you been wearing it?

Dead Sexy by Tokyo Milk has been my favorite perfume for about 2 years now. It's different from anything I've smelled before and not very expensive, and supposedly smells a little different on everyone. Before that I wore Pink Sugar which I would describe as a complex cotton candy. It's still one of my favorite scents but always got totally mixed reactions so I'm more likely to spray it on my pillow than wear it to work. :)

Tokyo Milk on the vanity tray in my bedroom

2. Lipstick, lip gloss or chapstick?

Either lipstick or chapstick. If I feel like putting in effort or getting a little glammed up, I love YSL's Rouge Volupte in Peach Passion, but I most often have basic chapstick on.

3. If you could have a chef, a housekeeper, a driver or a masseuse at your service 24 hours a day, which would you choose?

Is it totally horrible that I live in a small apartment by myself and want to say housekeeper? Whatever, I'm going with that!

4. Do you prefer city living or the country life?

I have always lived in a city (grew up in Houston, went to college in San Diego, have lived in Portland since) but my mom lives on a farm in Texas and I absolutely love visiting. I must admit though, I get cabin fever pretty quickly so I'd have to say I prefer city living. Especially in Portland. There's just so much at your fingertips!

My mom's sweet little farm house in Chappell Hill, Texas

5. Where do you do most of your shopping for clothes: online, malls, discount stores (like Ross), boutiques, thrift and consignment shops, or outlets?

Even though I love vintage and antique decor, for some reason I am not very good at shopping for vintage clothes. So, Forever 21, H&M and Target are my go-tos. I do like places like Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls but for whatever reason I always forget to shop there.

6. What is one food that you can't stand the taste of?

Kimchee. I just can't, even though I really wish I could.

7. If you won a round-trip ticket for two to any destination in the world, where would you go and who would you take?

I never would have said this five years ago, but ever since I started reading Australian blogs, I've had a really strong desire to take a trip to that part of the world. It just seems like such a laid-back, naturally beautiful destination, and I love what I've seen of Aussie style. I would take my brother since he and I have a lot of similar interests and I think he would dig Australia more than anyone I know. Sorry Mom!

My brother and I on the zip-line course during a family vacation in Costa Rica

8. What's the last movie you saw in a theater?

Zero Dark Thirty. Hopefully I'll see another Oscar nom or two this weekend - it's kind of killing me that I have yet to see most of them! What was your favorite - which should I make sure to see!?

9. Drugstore or high-end designer makeup?

I went through a weird phase last summer where I got all kinds of designer makeup, but I'm really just a drugstore kind-of-makeup girl.

10. Real "old fashion" books made with paper or electronic reads?

Old fashion books. Please. ;) Just finished Gone Girl, now about to start The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Read 'em?

The entry table in my apartment with some books I read in book club, minus Design Sponge...

Thanks for asking me to participate, Kim, it was fun! I'd like to pass along this award to two bloggers who I've recently started reading and really enjoy...

Kim of See Kim Decorate

and 

Ashley of The Photogramps

Of course, this is totally optional but I do think it's pretty fun to learn more about the bloggers behind the blogs we read. I'm going to ask some questions that are pretty different from the ones I answered, so hear ya go ladies:

1. What are the weirdest/most unusual things we'd find in your fridge?

2. What is your favorite childhood movie?

3. Where is the best place you've ever slept?

4. What is your favorite book (and why)? 

5. How would you describe the style in your home?

6. What's your beverage of choice?

7. If you could have an all-expenses paid vacation for two anywhere in the world, where would you go and who would you bring along with you?

8. Would you rather float a river, layout at the beach or ski/snowboard down a mountain?

9. If you could learn to speak another language over night, which would you choose and why?

10. What's your favorite music of the week?

Well, that's a wrap! Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!!

~all photos in this post are my own~

Lovin' Landscapes

How was everyone's weekend?! I was one of the lucky ones who had three days off of work, and I'm happy to report that I did quite a bit! I went estate-saleing and came home with some really cool Victorian silver, cross-country skied for the first time ever and watched, ummm, eight episodes of Breaking Bad. In a row. Whoops. Laundry, unfortunately, is yet to be done.

I also hit up some antique stores and came home with an old de-silvered mirror and a 1925 landscape painting. I'm going to put the painting in my bathroom because I think the mossy hues and aged patina will work with the rustic vibe I'm going for, inspired by this shot. More to come on that later.

I have a soft spot in my heart for landscape artwork in general, so I thought I'd do a round up of some of my favorite examples... enjoy!

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via Elle Decor 

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It's so hard for me to pick a favorite style!

What things did you get into this weekend?