outfit post: mustard and lace

If you've been following along with us for even a short amount of time, then you'll be aware of our borderline insane lace obsession.  We just can't help it!  Lace is just so pretty and feminine...I can't get enough of it.

{pssst!! there's a bow in the back of my shirt...so, you know, it's totally different from my other white lace shirts, right?}

And I totally have a crush on mustard.  A hardcore crush. It's just the bomb.  I know some girls have a hard time finding the perfect shade of yellow for their skin tone...and I've found that wearing it as a bottom (so it's away from your face) is an easy way to open up new colours to you!  Or, if you're like me, you just keep buying mustard coloured things because you like them...and don't actually look to see if they're flattering or not.  Haha. Oh well!

 shirt: charlotte russe // skirt: target // shoes: shine (a little local vancouver shop)

I'm so in love with these lovely, long, warm Summer evenings we're having....I don't want them to stop!

Jordyn and I trekked up to the back of one of our fields to take these photos, and I was amazed again at the gorgeous place we get to call home.  Man are we blessed!

I would probably wear a crown braid every day of my life if I had the patience for it.  I just love them!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey

oh hello, Gatsby.

Hello dear readers! Today is the big reveal of Part I of the Great Gatsby Inspiration photoshoot that I organized and photographed several weeks ago - I had an absolute blast putting together this photoshoot with local Edmonton vendors. We had hair + makeup, a chocolatier (yummy!!), head pieces from a local designer, floral arrangements, Derks menswear, and yours truly with some delicious coconut chocolate cupcakes that were featured on the blog a little while ago. Hope you enjoy this photoshoot and please visit my photography blog for the full post! There's so many lovely photos :)

We love pinners, sharers, and commenters, so please go nuts for us if you love this photoshoot as much as we do!

p.s.  ♥ clara

tasty tuesday: raspberry-rhubarb crisp

One of the very best things about living on a farm is all the glorious fresh fruit that you can eat!  I love having such easy access to delicious food that we grow ourselves, and I think it tastes that much better knowing that I personally put work into growing it.

Fruit crisps are pretty common at our house, especially in Summer, and are so easy and quick.  All they require is for you to dump some fruit and sugar in a pan, and then sprinkle it all with a super simple crumb mixture.  No fuss, and big payoff!  That's always a winner in our book.

Raspberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:

6-8 cups of chopped rhubarb (depending on how much fruit you like in your Crisp...we love having a ton of fruit in ours!)

2-4 cups of raspberries (fresh or frozen)

2/3 cup Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

3/4 cup Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

1/3 cup Butter (cold)

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup rolled quick cooking Oats

Directions:

Fruit Layer:

1) In a greased 9x13 glass pan, mix together the rhubarb and raspberries.

2) In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon; then sprinkle over top of fruit.

Crumb Topping Layer:

1) In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.

2) Then, cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3) Stir in brown sugar and oats.

4) Sprinkle crumbs over fruit evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the fruit is tender.

If you serve it warm, it may be a bit runny (depending on what type of fruit you use), as it won't set until it's completely cooled.  Also, the raspberry variety I used for mine tends to be very juicy, so my crumble was pretty juicy!  Just a head's up!

Served with ice cream (or even just a bit of cream), this makes it a perfect dessert for warm Summer nights!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey

weekly wrap-up: that time the bees attacked

So, this week has been quite interesting, and also quite painful for me.  I received my first bee sting of the Summer, which was annoying, but inevitable since we do live on a berry/apple/pumpkin farm.  In the past few years I've experienced relatively few stings even though I spend 40-50ish hours a week from May to August working in the fields.  Bees tend to leave you alone unless you get too close to their hive...thank goodness!

And then Thursday happened.  I was working in our apple orchard, and was stung on the hand by a bald-faced hornet.  Now these hornets are nasty, and very aggressive.  They can sting you as many times as they want, and will follow you even after you've left the vicinity of their nest.  

Anyways, as soon as I was stung, I booked it down the row and yelled a warning to the other workers to clear out.  Unluckily for me, I was stung THREE more times before getting far enough away that the hornets ended their pursuit.  

Now, I usually don't react too severely to bee stings, but unfortunately two of the stings were on joints.  One on my knuckle, and the other on my ankle bone.  The next morning I woke up to a balloon for a hand, and the biggest cankle you've ever seen.  So, it was a bad week, and I ended up having to take off two whole days since I couldn't grip much with my left hand, and walking was a bit difficult.  I'm finally starting to feel better today, and am hoping this coming week will be more enjoyable!

BUT, my week wasn't all bad!  Summer is in full swing, and I've been loving all the sun we've been having!

And, my lovely lovely roommate from the past year was in town for a visit, and we had such a wonderful time catching up.  I miss her dearly!

I also made delicious raspberry-rhubarb crisp which was completely devoured within a few hours....and the recipe will be coming up this Tuesday, so keep your eyes peeled!

Hope you all had a wonderful week and are having splendid Summers so far!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey

outfit post : sundrenched

As you can probably tell from my last weekly wrap-up, I had an amazing July-long weekend hanging out at the lake with family and friends! After a gorgeous, albeit extremely hot day of hanging out in the sun, we took some snapshots as the sun was setting and the end result are these beautiful, sundrenched photos. (& many thanks to my dear friend Jenna for taking these photos!) The lighting was absolutely gorgeous so I had some fun with some dear friends of mine, so check out those photos over here on my photography blog too!

sweater : korea  /  dress : forever XXI  /  sandals : birkenstocks  /  earrings : ten thousand villages  /  watch : bella 

p.s.  ♥ clara

tasty tuesday : chocolate coconut cupcakes

So here's the deal, I love coconut. Seriously, I am a little obsessed. And I'm not as talented of a baker as miss Kelsey or miss Jordyn... so what am I presenting to you? Their incredible chocolate (cup)cake recipe with a large dose of coconut! Call it a lazy post if you want, but this coconut spin on their chocolate cake recipe was ah-may-zinggg!! And it went perfectly with the Great Gatsby inspiration shoot that I organized last week... that's right dear readers, the Great Gatsby is coming your way and here's the first sneak peek!

Ingredients:
3 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Cocoa

1/4 cup coconut flakes

1 TBSP Vanilla
2 TBSP Vinegar
3/4 cup Margarine (melted)
1 cup Warm Water

1 cup Coconut Milk

Instructions:
1) Mix together all dry ingredients; then pour all wet ingredients over top and mix until moist.
2) Pour batter into 9x13 pan /or 2 round pans /or cupcake tins (makes about 24-30 cupcakes)
3) Bake at 350: for 35-40 minutes for cake [or until a toothpick comes out clean] OR:  for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes.

So if you go --> here <-- you'll find the original recipe and more photos on how to make the batter! And below is the coconut frosting I used to top this delicious cake.

Ingredients for Coconut Frosting:

1 cup butter at room temp

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes 

Mix in the first four ingredients until your icing is a good texture - frost away, and then sprinkle your coconut flakes on top! 

And here's some frames from the Great Gatsby shoot... If you want to see more, visit my website at Clara Cecilia Photography to get the full sneak peek!! 

p.s.  ♥ clara

weekly wrap-up : lake days

First of all, Happy Canada Day to all our lovely Canadian readers! =)  This has been a gloriously warm week and I had an incredible time with some friends and dear family soaking up the sun at Pigeon Lake. Great company, the cutest little watermelon-y niece, yummy food, and lots and lots of sun = an amazing July-long. Hope you have a lovely rest of your long weekend!

p.s.  ♥ clara