Shops We Love: Scandinavian Grace

One of my favorite shops: Scandinavian Grace is now offering a registry option! Scandinavian Grace provides home and lifestyle products with a thoughtfully edited collection of classic and contemporary design from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway. The owners: Fredrik and James, say that they "search Scandinavia for the most fresh and enduring design. We love objects of artistic form and practical function that become a vital enrichment to daily living rather than just status symbols." And by the way, I want everything from their shop! Love, love, love.

And their Wishlist is so easy to make and access by guests! Fill a cart and save it as a Wishlist. Add and Remove items as your needs change. Title and add a message for your personal touch. When you create it, an address is generated to embed as a link on your blog, website, Facebook, MySpace or Evites etc. Friends, Fans and Family can click your link to view, share and purchase items from your individual page. And the best part is:

Free shipping on all orders within the US!! How great is that?? Great incentive for all your lovely guests! Check out the site and let me know what you think! Also, how rad is this clear tea kettle??

Marriott Winner!

The winner of our contest from last weekend is: Lala who posted the sweetest honeymoon idea of drinking late afternoon tea with her new hubby and having a relaxing month of newlywed bliss! Congratulations Lala! I hope you and your sweetie can use this amazing prize from Marriott to have a getaway soon! Please contact me with your information so I can get your $50 Marriott Bonus Bucks in the mail today!

Thanks for reading our little blog and have a lovely weekend!

Image via Le Love

Happy Autumn!

As today is the first official day of autumn, I started remembering that S and I were first planning our wedding to be an autumn wedding. Our original date was set to be October 3rd, but as plans and venues changed, so did our date! I can't imagine having another wedding now, although I do love the idea of pretty fallen leaves and warm table settings. Imagine serving a mulled wine and apple cider doughnuts! Yum! Today's post is dedicated to my love of autumn and inspiration for autumn weddings.

Giveaway: Marriott Bonus Bucks!

While my and Husband's honeymoon was so amazing and we had a blast, it cost us so much money! Of course we wanted to splurge on fancy meals and massages, as well as nice hotels, but it just wasn't possible to do everything we wanted to. After all, we had a normal life to get back to, filled with expenses and new homes! Well, fear no more! You now have the option to "do it all" with Marriott Registry!

At www.MarriottRegistry.com engaged couples can register for a number of honeymoon items – hotel accommodations, spa services, romantic dinners and more. Gift values are accrued to one gift card, which the couple can then redeem at approximately 3,000 Marriotts either during the honeymoon or for future vacations. Additionally, Marriott will throw in a complimentary $100 when registry contributions reach $1,000 as well as rewarding guests with $50 Marriott Bonus Bucks for every $100 they give towards the registry. How great is that?

With the economy being the way it is, and people wanting to, overall, cut back on accumulating too much "stuff" this is a great opportunity to have your dream honeymoon! Also great for the couple who already has everything they need.

With that said, S and I will pick ONE winner to receive $50 Marriott Bonus Bucks (This can be used on a 2 night stay at any Marriott location). The winner will be chosen next week.

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Simply leave us a comment below with your answer to the question, "How would you spend your dream honeymoon?"!

Bonne chance :)

image via Le Love

Organic Country Bread

Crispy fall weather makes me want to do nothing more than bake. And bake I did! Last night i finally cleaned off the counters and made room to prepare a hearty whole wheat country bread. It wasn't ready cooling till about midnight but that didn't stop S and I from tearing into it and having a few slices to sample before bed! What made baking it even more fun was that I baked it in my Le Creuset dutch oven! I enjoy baking my own bread because it gives me more control over my ingredients. This way I know I am only using organic flour and honey and no artificial fillers or preservatives. Yummy!

Here is the simple and delicious recipe I used for whole wheat country bread:

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 t salt

1/2 oz yeast

1 t honey

1 - 2 cups tepid water

Combine bread and salt in bowl.

Create well in center.

Add yeast, honey, and 1/2 cup of water. Sprinkle with flour and leave covered, in a warm place, for 15 minutes.

After yeast has started, slowly mix in enough or the rest of the water until you have a sticky, but firm, dough.

Turn out and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth.

Put the dough in a clean bowl, cover, and leave in a warm place until it doubles in size, or about an hour.

Turn the dough one one more time and put into oiled bread tin or dutch oven.

Cover once more and leave for about half an hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Put the bread in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Let sit and cool for about half an hour before slicing into, so that the crumb holds together.

Top with butter/honey/jam/cheese/topping of choice and enjoy!

After you master this simple recipe you can alter it hundreds of different ways. You can add dried fruit and nuts, sweeten it with honey or molasses, as well as make it a savory bread with different cheeses, chilies, or cured meats such as pepperoni.

We're back!

Phew! What an exhausting week it's been! Moving, decorating, furniture buying, birthday cake baking, and enjoying the last days of summer. And through all of it we've been internet free, imagine that! With everything up and running S and I are back to share our wedding, home, cooking, and life with you!

During this time of year, I am always inspired to get back on track. With the lazy days of summer on their way out, it's time to fall back into my routine. That being said, we have some exciting things happening on PH&C in the next week!

We have an exciting honeymoon contest coming up for all our brides and grooms so stay tuned for that!

Also, now that we're settled in our happy new home, S and I will be sharing our new crafty home decorating ideas as well as all the yummy things I will be cooking up in our sweet new little kitchen!

And of course we will continue posting any and all amazing ideas for your amazing weddings as well as more ideas from our own :)

We're happy to be back...

K & S

Gift Idea: For yourself or someone else!

After S and I returned from the honeymoon we were overwhelmed with the amount of presents and boxes that were EVERYWHERE. Suddenly our little apartment was taken over by waffle makers, appliances and boxes of dishes. (Not that we're ungrateful!) Little by little, we started opening the boxes, (especially with our new move, post coming soon!) and I was so happy to discover these lovely mugs given to us by our amazing photographer, Chad, and his family.

The are by Jessica Rust Designs and made in Minnesota. These mugs represent the four seasons so each mug is a little different. It is personalized with your initials and year "carved" into the birch tree. How great are these? If we weren't lucky enough to own them , I would by them for S and myself!

You can also register for these mugs and other items on Jessica's website here.

Photo via Jessica Rust Designs

Summer lovin'

As summer is slowly passing us by, I realize I haven't had the time to cook even half the things I wanted to. With that said, these next few weeks will be filled with chopping, baking, eating, and full bellies for family and friends. Stay tuned for lovely summer recipes and stories of my tiny New York City kitchen. Hoping to plan a lovely rooftop end of summer soiree! What are some of your favorite summer recipes?

Hope you're having a happy weekend!

Image via Decorative Country Living

The Archipelago of Kisses

Came across this lovely poem and thought it would be perfect for a wedding reading! S and I had three readings at our own wedding and I loved them all so much. It was so special having our family and friends involved. All of our readings were very different but all tied in together perfectly with our ceremony seamlessly. We had lyrics from a song, a verse, and another lovely poem. Are you planning on having any readings at your wedding?

Enjoy!

We live in a modern society. Husbands and wives don't
grow on trees, like in the old days. So where
does one find love? When you're sixteen it's easy,
like being unleashed with a credit card
in a department store of kisses. There's the first kiss.
The sloppy kiss. The peck.
The sympathy kiss. The backseat smooch. The we
shouldn't be doing this kiss. The but your lips
taste so good kiss. The bury me in an avalanche of tingles kiss.
The I wish you'd quit smoking kiss.
The I accept your apology, but you make me really mad
sometimes kiss. The I know
your tongue like the back of my hand kiss. As you get
older, kisses become scarce. You'll be driving
home and see a damaged kiss on the side of the road,
with its purple thumb out. If you
were younger, you'd pull over, slide open the mouth's
red door just to see how it fits. Oh where
does one find love? If you rub two glances, you get a smile.
Rub two smiles, you get a warm feeling.
Rub two warm feelings and presto-you have a kiss.
Now what? Don't invite the kiss over
and answer the door in your underwear. It'll get suspicious
and stare at your toes. Don't water the kiss with whiskey.
It'll turn bright pink and explode into a thousand luscious splinters,
but in the morning it'll be ashamed and sneak out of
your body without saying good-bye,
and you'll remember that kiss forever by all the little cuts it left
on the inside of your mouth. You must
nurture the kiss. Turn out the lights. Notice how it
illuminates the room. Hold it to your chest
and wonder if the sand inside hourglasses comes from a
special beach. Place it on the tongue's pillow,
then look up the first recorded kiss in an encyclopedia: beneath
a Babylonian olive tree in 1200 B.C.
But one kiss levitates above all the others. The
intersection of function and desire. The I do kiss.
The I'll love you through a brick wall kiss.
Even when I'm dead, I'll swim through the Earth,
like a mermaid of the soil, just to be next to your bones.

The Archipelago of Kisses, by Jeffrey McDaniel. via Peonies and Polaroids

photographer unknown, via Le Love