Thursday, December 29, 2011

Style {Happy New Years Dress}


Now that Christmas has come and gone, most of you must be gearing up for your New Years Eve and New Years day celebrations. In the search for my own celebratory dress this year, I came across some gorgeously festive dresses for New Years. Aren't they lovely?

Hubby and I plan to keep it somewhat low key this year and have plans to enjoy a nice dinner out, just the two of us. What are you plans? Whatever they are I hope you have a blessed time and get yourself geared up for a new year filled with all the happiness and success that you deserve!

xoxo
Christina

Dresses: 1.2. 3.4.5.6.7.8. 

Thursday, December 22, 2011

A Few of My Favorite 'Christmas' Things


Hi There! I've been sort of M.I.A on the blog this week due to last minute orders and such. But I'm back and ready to share a few of my favorite Christmas things. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas. It's truly my favorite holiday, hands down. I love the music, the cheer, the sparkle, the meaning, the candy canes, dare I say brown paper packages tied up with strings? I did! I could go on and on. Tonight I'm making peppermint bark and then we're headed to meet the family we've adopted this Christmas.

Blessings to you friends!
Christina

Images: Peppermint Hot Chocolate {Ezra Pound Cake} Glitter Birds {Pottery Barn} Ornaments {Bower Power Blog} Japanese Tape {Unknown} Vintage Ornaments {Country Living} Sparkly Nude Manicure {Nomadic D. Blog}

Friday, December 16, 2011

5 Months & Counting...


Happy Friday lovelies!! Can you believe Christmas is less than 10 days away? I myself, need to finish up my Christmas shopping over the next few days so I miss the mad last minute dashers.

We are more than 5 months along and our little boy seems to be picking up the pace with his growth now. Every few days I feel a little bigger which is exciting because it lets me know that our little one is healthy and starting to take up some space. And he sure is a mover and a shaker. Every evening when I settle to have some down time with hubby, he begins his dance party. It makes me giggle to imagine what he must be doing in there. What a funny little guy!

Have a blessed and beautiful weekend.
Christina

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

French Toast with Raspberry Sauce

 
 
 

What You'll Need

French Toast
6-8 slices of whole grain bread
3 large organic eggs
1 cup organic milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar

Raspberry Sauce
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
Option: Agave Nectar

What You'll Do

French Toast
Combine and mix all the ingredients except for the bread. Once the mixture is thoroughly combined, dip in the bread, turning over several times to saturate. Then set the bread in a glass dish and poor the remaining wet ingredients onto the bread and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Place a pan or griddle on medium heat, add butter to the pan and cook the toast for 2 minutes on each side.

Raspberry Sauce
Preheat a sauce pan to medium/low heat. Add in the raspberries and let cook for 2-3 minutes until the berries begin to break apart and reduce down. Add in and dissolve the sugar into the berries. reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Once the mixture is done cooking, remove from heat and smash and break the berries up with a potato smasher.

Serve 
Set the french toast on a plate and spoon the raspberry sauce over the toast. I like to finish the dish off with a light drizzle of agave nectar and sprinkling of cinnamon.

Enjoy!

xoxo
Christina

P.S. How yummy would it be to add cranberries to the raspberry sauce for the holidays? Just a thought...

Monday, December 12, 2011

Weekend Blessings

 
 
 

It was a lovely cold weekend here in Austin. We had the chance to try a new restaurant with friends, did some shopping, and I set up a space for Twig & Lily at the Sunday Market Place. And of course, I couldn't resist indulging in the yummy food truck treats at the Market. If you live in Austin and haven't been to the South Congress Market, you must go! I love the 'Wurst Tex' vegetarian options and of course you can't go wrong with 'Mighty Cone'.

Enjoy your week lovelies! And if you're thinking about gifting some custom stationery this Christmas, head on over to the shop to find the perfect design for that special someone.

xoxo
Christina

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Recent Work {Vintage Circus Birthday Invitations}

 
 
 
 
 

I can't believe it's Thursday already! This week has flown by like no other. I've been working like an elf on some holiday projects and have taught a few extra classes this week which might be the reason for the time speeding by. Above is a recent project I wrapped up and sent out yesterday. The above vintage circus themed invitations are for a 3 and 4 year old birthday party. So cute! I had such a great time working with the client on this project and we both really love the way it turned out! It was fun working and playing with vintage muted tones. And I especially loved illustrating the custom hand drawn images which I think add such a playfulness to the over all design.

xoxo
Christina

Due to a large interest in the vintage circus invitations, this design is now available for order in the Twig & Lily Shop. If you're interested in custom designed stationery, please contact me here. I'd love to work with you! 

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Soft & Cuddly {blabla boutique}

I recently stumbled upon this sweet little online baby and kid boutique called 'blabla'. The lovely items in the shop are knitted by Peruvian artisans and have a contemporary look with the charming feel of homemade. I definitely have my eye on some items for our little guys nursery.

Check out the full site here.

xoxo
Christina

Monday, December 5, 2011

Weekend Blessings

 
 
 
 
 

It was cold and rainy all weekend. But that didn't faze us a bit, we simply thought of the rain as "Texas snow", popped on some Christmas tunes and carried about with our Christmas decorating festivities. We tried a yummy new Indian restaurant, picked out the most perfect Christmas tree, enjoyed homemade french toast with raspberry sauce {recipe to come later this week}, decorated the house and the tree and enjoyed 'milk' nog since eggnog is off limits for preggers.

Have a beautiful week lovelies!

And don't forget to enter the holiday card giveaway! You have until 5pm today to leave a comment and possibly win $70 worth of holiday stationery! Check it our here


xoxo
Christina 

Friday, December 2, 2011

The Warm Comforts of Home

Happy weekend lovelies! It's suppose to be rainy and cold here this weekend which I'm totally looking forward to because it's the prefect excuse to fully take advantage of the warm comforts of home. Did someone say, hot chocolate, Christmas decorating, home pedicures, winter baking, movie watching and slipper wearing? I think so! What are you up to this weekend??

1. Bouchon Blend Coffee {Williams-Sonoma} 2. Red Nail Polish {Tiny wine-ey - Essie} 3. Honeycomb Throw {Terrain} 4. Porcelain Measuring Cup {Terrain} 5. Peppermint Bark {Terrain} 6. Moccasin Slippers {Toast} 7. Cracked Glass Ball {Toast}

Blessings to you,
Christina

P.S. Check out the holiday giveaway here and enter to win $70 worth of holiday cards! 

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Style {Warm & Cozy}

I can't believe tomorrow is December 1st! This past summer and fall have just flown by. But I'm very excited that the Christmas season is now in full swing. After all it is the most wonderful time of the year!  And so, I was inspired to put together a little warm and cozy style inspiration. I'm totally in love with over sized sweaters, horizontal stripes and stretchy warm fabrics for the winter. It just makes me want to snuggle up with a warm cup of chai tea or something of the sort.

1. Sweater {Asos} 2. Jeans {David Kahn, Nordstrom} 3. Earrings {Modcloth} Booties {Plenty of Tracy Reese 'Jocoby' Boot, Nordstrom}

xoxo
Christina

P.S. Check out yesterdays giveaway post below and enter to win $70 worth of holiday cards! 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Giveaway ~ Twig & Lily Holiday Cards

This marks the very first Twig & Lily blog giveaway and I am so excited to be offering a giveaway featuring the Twig & Lily 2011 holiday cards. The inspiration behind this line was soft, natural and simplistic holiday joy. In this giveaway, you get a chance to mix and match your favorite holiday cards from below to create a custom grouping of 20 cards, a $70 value

Sweet Blessings
Candy Stripes
Merry Little Christmas 
Joyful & Bright
Favorite Things
Snow Flakes 

To Enter the giveaway, leave a comment below sharing one of your most blessed Christmas memories.

The giveaway will remain open until Monday December 5th at 5pm. The winner will be announced on Tuesday December 6th!

Good luck and holiday blessings to all!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Weekend Blessings

 
 
 
 

This past weekend was surely a blessed one. The days were filled with left over Thanksgiving food, holiday shopping, office organization and my most favorite part, first time shopping for our little boy. That's right, we received the news last week that we will be welcoming a sweet little baby boy to our happy little family. We are beyond thrilled and I know hubby is already fantasizing about TBall practice and the like.

Check back in tomorrow as I will be featuring my very first giveaway. See you tomorrow lovelies!

xoxo
Christina

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Pumpkin Truffles and Chai Tea Lattes

 

Two of my favorite things form the season is pumpkin flavored everything and spiced chai tea lattes. Those pumpkin pie truffles are from a dreamy Etsy shop called The Happy Bakery. The bakery has decadent offerings such as: pecan pie truffles, carrot cake white chocolate truffles, peanut butter fudge cake truffles and more.

xoxo
Christina

Pumpkin Pie Truffles: {Etsy Shop ~  The Happy Bakery} Spiced Chai Tea Latte: Image via {Dine and Dish} Recipe via {Sprouted Kitchen}

Monday, November 21, 2011

Soft & Neutral


Today, I'm reeling with excitement because at tomorrows doctors visit, we get to find out if our little babe is a boy or a girl. Up until this point in the pregnancy, I've prevented myself from purchasing any baby items until we find out the sex of our little tike. But I must say I've been oogling these gender neutral baby finds. I love the idea of mixing gender neutral elements with obvious gender elements to create a soft yet fun space for the nursery.

xoxo
Christina

Baby Finds:
Organic Baby Bib {Etsy Shop ~ Down Home Amy}  Sage Organic Burp Cloth {Etsy Shop ~ Organic Quilt Company} Organic Baby Hat & Bib Set {Etsy Shop ~ Organic Quilt Company} Blushing Woodland Squirel {Etsy Shop ~ Sleepy King}

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Style {Love & Autumn Leaves}

Fall has been making appearances here but for the most part, it's still warm enough for short sleeves yet cool enough for jeans. I just love this cute, casual fall-ish outfit.

I'm finishing up some custom projects today and then we're off to Florida tomorrow!

Outfit: 1. American Eagle 2. ModCloth 3. Plum Willow 4. Steve Madden 5. Fossil

xoxo
Christina

Monday, November 14, 2011

Weekend Blessings

 
 
The above images are from this past weekends camping trip with friends. The park was a little over two hours from Austin and felt like worlds away from our normal daily lives. The air was sweet, the stars were brilliant, the s'mores were abundant and there was a grittiness in the air that only nature can create.

I have some fun design projects to finish up this week and then it's off to Florida on Friday for an early Thanksgiving celebration with the family.

Have a beautiful and successful one lovelies!

xoxo
Christina

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Twig & Lily Holiday 2011


Now that we're officially into November, I'm so happy to announce that the Twig & Lily holiday line is now available. I had a blast designing the holiday line for this year and am thrilled with the finished product. Check out the full line of cards here. I'm also taking orders for custom holiday cards and social stationery. If your interested in custom design work, please email me at christina{at}twiglily.com

I just love the holidays!

xoxo
Christina

Shop the Twig & Lily holiday card line.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Roost

 
 
I recently came across Roost, an amazingly creative and mouth watering food blog. And I must say, I'm in love. Not only do the ingredient combinations sound heavenly but every dish is truly a work of art.

Check out the deliciousness here.

xoxo
Christina