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Fall

CIDERFEST XI

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Saturday marked the 11th annual Ciderfest in Adair Park!  I couldn’t believe it, eleven years, and somehow it was my first time attending! It’s not a super official event-no website, mostly promoted on Facebook-but they do take cider-making passionately.

Writing this post made me wonder how it got started, so I asked my friend Katherine who helps organize the event and she told me that when it first originated the apples were picked from all over the city’s public trees. Then one year they had wayyy too many and so they donated them, which sparked Concrete Jungle, which I wrote about here.  Through scouring the city for apple trees for the festival they quickly realized that Atlanta had a lot of unused fruit-bearing trees and bushes. A fun event birthed an organization that helps feed our cities homeless population-that’s Atlanta for you-making fun things good and good things FUN!

Ciderfest in a nutshell:

“Take thousands of apples -> Toss them into a couple silly hand-cranked and pedal-powered machines -> Pulverize those lovable fruits into a fine fresh cider” -from the FB event page

The apples are sourced from Mercier Orchards but some of them do still come from picking around the city, however, they don’t want to take away from what they donate.  Attendees bring their own jugs, mugs and storing devices to sip and take some home as well as something to eat and share.  There’s live music, trampolines, DIY screen printing and all the socializing your heart desires!

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I couldn’t think of anything that said apple cider festival + Fall more than overalls, a big hat and PLAID!

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Less than two weeks and I’ll be married to this hunk!

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Even the kiddos got involved!

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Getting a workout while making cider!

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Our drinking apparatus made by local guys, Go Forth Goods. We added a saison beer to the cider to cut the sweetness and add some bubbles-recommend that or some whiskey ;)

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Two of my adorable friends, lovebirds Sarah + Ryan, sipping from their fun cider-holders.

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The scraps are used for composting so that no apple parts are gone to waste!

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The homeowner, host and co-founder of the fest, Angel, has a dreamy backyard packed out with pretty flowers, eucalptus and persimmon trees! Not pictures a chicken coop and the under-construction Beltline!

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Free People overalls, Target plaid shirt, Frye boots, Madewell totes, UO hat & Kate Spade shades.

Afterwards we went to the Little Five Halloween parade and then chowed down on Mexican at our favorite, Elmyriachi. A good weekend indeed!

RECIPES | COOKING LOCAL MILK

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From the bridal shower and sending out our official invites with all the information on them, we’ve started receiving wedding gifts which has been a lot of fun – Like an early Christmas!

We’ve been replacing old baking sheets with fresh new ones and donating usable items, like our plates and bowls, to Goodwill. One of the most exciting gifts so far has been the Kitchenaid mixer.  I’ve wanted one since my mom got hers when I was in 1st grade!

What else to do with all these new kitchen gadgets then to BAKE! On Sunday I baked two recipes I had been eyeballing. Both come from Local Milk blog and both contain buttermilk.

The first one is an apple and rosemary quickbread and the second is blueberry and goat cheese hand pies.

I won’t tell you it’s a breeze baking things from scratch but I will say I had a whole lot of fun running around the kitchen, experimenting and experiencing things I had yet to do!
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This milk company just appeared at my local Kroger and they do a bottle exchange “bring back this empty bottle and receive $2 off your next Homestead Creamery purchase” which I thought is pretty cool! I don’t drink regular milk but when it comes to buttermilk, I’ll definitely continue to use this company!

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My experience:
Not sure if it was because I did these in the disposable, paper loafs or what but I had to add on a good bit of time to Beth’s suggested 35-45 minutes, somewhere around 15-20 minutes extra.

How it tasted:
It’s like Fall in a loaf a really, really yummy loaf!  Like she suggested, best served warm.

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These lil guys were a boatload of fun! I couldn’t tell you the last time I used a rolling pin but love the marble one my friend Liz gave us from West Elm. The weight of it helps with the momentum and makes it a breeze (well, after the dough became more room temperature.)

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My experience:
I used the exact measurements provided with both the dough and filling and ended up with more filling than dough. But this may be because I was scared to overfill. I also chose to look for basil in the neighboring community garden and didn’t have any luck so that was forgone in the recipe but they still came out A+++

We’ve only had them once so far and warmed up and topped with Greek yogurt. OMGOOD. You could also try with vanilla ice cream!

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Before I tasted either I was patting myself on the back, simply for them coming out the oven looking edible…and then I had a taste and was like ..YOU GO GIRL! Pretty proud of myself for these babies!

I didn’t include the recipes here because Beth put in a lot of work so visit her site if you’re interested in trying these. Bread recipe here. Pie recipe here.

Let the baking begin! *Maybe I should wait till AFTER the wedding to get really into this?!?!

autumn shades

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Another new-to-me dress I picked up from selling/trading in clothes at Buffalo Exchange. Loving its African fabric vibes. This dress will be great for this season but is also light enough to wear in warmer temperatures with strappy sandals.

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Necklace c/o InPink, an online fashion jewelry retailer. Check out this piece and other great necklaces and jewelry on their site!
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Meet one of my newest tattoos by local artist and tattoo artist Sam Parker. I drew up an idea and he perfected it, love how it came out!

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My cutie smiling n’ stuff

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hat: Free People, boots: Nine West, necklace c/o: InPink

This day was awesome. Hung out in Lil5 with Dustin, sold some clothes to Rag-o-Rama and picked up a second-hand maxi dress from Anthro and a kids XL skeleton sweatshirt I’m going to wear for this weekends Halloween parade, ate burritos at El Myr and then went to The Naked & Famous show at the Tabernacle and.it.RULED. I would say it doesn’t get much better but it seems that it can and does, life is good!

HAPPY HUMPDAY!

STEVEN ALAN FALL 2013

Temperatures have significantly dropped in Atlanta and it has me craving blazers, layers, thick slacks, wool, scarves and all things FALL. When images of Steven Alan’s Fall Lookbook popped up on Refinery 29 I fell hard in love with the tomboy chic looks- here are my faves and what I like most of the ensembles:
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LEFT//really want to invest in a matching semi-casual suit & RIGHT//tomboy layers
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LEFT//again with a casual suit set, in particular with this one the length of the pants & RIGHT//entire look!
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LEFT//jumpers for life & RIGHT//high socks with sneakers 
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LEFT//a large gingham print blazer skirt combo worn with sneakers, UM YES & RIGHT// nerd chic, it’s a thing.
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LEFT//winter whites & RIGHT//winter baby blues
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LEFT//unsure what’s happening here-pj dress over pj pants? don’t care, love the pattern and spotted square prints on several fashionistas during the various fashion weeks & RIGHT//shorter slacks with sneakers and high socks is a look I’ll definitely be rocking!

They nailed it with the structured yet casual feel of the designs. I told my boyfriend “if I only had THESE PIECES right here in my closet I’d be set” and I mean that, I think each article is versatile and would go great with one another or mixed with non-Steven Alan attire. Since the brand is a bit out of my price range (that’s an understatement!) I’ve got to just keep these styles and shapes in mind and find similar versions at retailers such as Zara and H&M, sorry SA, I’m just not a baller. *yet* 

UP NEXT: A fun shoot with a local DJ styled by a local boutique, a visit to a shop that takes vintage suitcases and turns them into boomboxes, outfit post AND the last of my shoot with Betsy at Oakland Cemetery!!
*not in any particular order…

~but first I’m getting ready to be in my best bud’s wedding this weekend!
HAPPY HUMPDAY

CLUB MONACO

since club monaco posted their lookbook today i’ve gone back countless times and looked [STUDIED] each look – it’s just that good. even thought about posting the guys’ outfits because they are just as yummy (the dudes and the clothes!) here are the 22 lady looks in their Fall’12 collection, enjoy!
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what i really like most about this collection is the touches of masculinity while still keeping it girly. i’m serious when i say i’m studying this lookbook..its damn near perfection for Fall/Winter. imagining my own wardrobe i’m thinking i have pieces that could come together to form some of these looks. though i hate cold weather i’m pretty excited about layering, especially short sweaters over longer shirts, billowy tops over skirts/dresses and button downs under EVERYTHING.
hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween, as i had dressed up numerous times over October i opted to stay in and make chicken-n-dumplins. it was the smartest decision i’ve made in a while :)
-Flashy