Happy Father's Day!

Happy (belated) Father's Day to all of my wonderful fathers! I am lucky enough to have three fathers in my life- my father, my step-father, and my father-in-law. I love them all so very much and am grateful for each and every one of them!

Oh how I love my daddy! When I was growing up all of my friends were envious of how cool my dad was. :) He loved to go shopping, bake all kinds of delicious treats and we would stay up late watching all kinds of movies. And they are right, he is pretty awesome!! I miss him so much and wish we lived closer together so we could still go shopping, cook together, and have family movie nights! He has always been so supportive of me and I am so thankful for him!

My step-dad Greg has been a part of my life for a long time now and I am so thankful for him taking on the role of my second dad! He's always been there for me and our family, and I feel very special to have two wonderful fathers in my life! He's a very talented fellow with so much knowledge to share! I have learned so much from him and could listen to him talk for hours. I miss him so much too!

The day Tim and I got married I also got a third dad, my father-in-law Tim! He has welcomed me with open arms into the Donahue clan, and I feel very lucky to be part of their family! He introduced me to Rambo and oh-so-many crazy food concoctions (that I'm still not so sure about!). He's an inspiration to all of us, and I can't wait for all of the fun times ahead!

Thank you all for being such wonderful fathers! I am so thankful for your love and guidance. 

Here's a few more fun photos!:

xo!

...

Fun and funky!

Lately I have been enjoying playing around and having fun with different nail polish colors. I have been particularly enjoying some yellow shades, mint greens, glitters, and metallic polishes. Here are some I am excited to try!

First of all, how great is that name? It's practically made for me!! This color is called "Cheeky Chops" and I love it! You can find it here. 

This one is called "The Full Monty". It seems like a great classic gold polish, good for all seasons! It can also be found here. 

I have this fun sparkly collection and I love it! These glitters look great alone or swiped over another color. These are currently on sale and you can find them here.

Last but not least we have "Mint Candy Apple" by essie. I adore essie nail polishes. They have a great color collection and the polish goes on so smoothly! I must add this to my ever growing collection! You can grab it too, right here!

I am slowly branching out and testing out different designs and patterns...nothing too impressive so far! I might just stick to good ole fashioned solid colors. 

Oh How Time Flies!

My oh my! The past week and a half has been so busy and as a result I have sadly neglected my little blog. So much to catch up on!

I started my new job last week and so far it has been great! I am adjusting to a new schedule and to commuting via public transportation, and my poor feet are exhausted! On the upside, I am learning so much and getting to be surrounded by creative people and projects every day!

Also, I discovered Native Foods Cafe last week and I keep wondering why on earth no one told me about this delicious establishment before?! It's all vegan and oh-my-gosh-so-good. Seriously, check out this menu. I am forcing myself to bring my lunch to work or else I will be eating/spending all of my money here every day. I am going to make it a weekly treat though!

More posts are on the way!

J.Crew and the Man Who Dressed America

The hubby and I watched this video the other night and I found it worth sharing! It's really interesting, particularly if you work in retail, are a J.Crew shopper, or lover of fashion. Hope you enjoy!

Monday, Monday

How can your week not get off to a good start after looking at the adorable face? Wrigley says, "Have a great week!"

I start my *new job* today and I am very excited! Wish me luck!

Coming up soon:

A continuation of the guide to Rome (I haven't forgotten! The next installment is a good one!)

Musings on True Blood...I am way behind the times, but I finally started watching it!

and Mr. Butter's very first adventure on the city bus!

A DIY Wedding

When Tim and I started planning our wedding I knew that I wanted to take on some DIY projects. I love arts and crafts and it was a great way to personalize our special day. Instead of going the traditional route of choosing wedding colors, we decided to choose a theme. We wanted to go to Italy for our honeymoon so we decided on a rustic Italian theme. Once we decided on the theme all sorts of fun ideas started pouring out! Here's some of the items I made for our wedding:

Boutonnieres for the groom, groomsmen and fathers. So simple to make and they will last forever!

A floral headband for our flower girl!

I made the pillow for our rings using a template I found via Martha Stewart. I love how it turned out!

A lot of the venues we looked at would not allow flower petals, so I decided to make a flower ball for our flower girl. I liked it better than having another bouquet and it was super easy to make! 

I wanted a simple cake (the simple ones always seem to taste better to me than the super decadent ones) and when I found these faux grapes I had to have them! 

I made a "thank you" ("grazie" in Italian) sign to put on the table with the favors for the guests. I used a map of Rome as the background. It's one of my favorite pieces from the wedding. I also built a mini wooden leaning tower of Pisa as a table accent. It was one of the more challenging projects but also very rewarding!

Excuse the poor quality of this photo- this was taken at our old apartment when I was testing out the set up. I found a little suitcase at one of the craft stores and decided it was the perfect card box! I added a few more faux grapes to spruce it up a bit. 

Instead of table numbers we opted to use table names. I drew pictures of famous Roman monuments for each table. Time consuming, but worth it!

Making our wedding invitations was another one of my favorite projects for the wedding. It saved us a ton of money, and although it was a lot of hard work, it was certainly rewarding! I loved the traditional Italian paper- it added just the right amount of color!

One night I stayed up late working on assembling the invites while watching Bridget Jones' Diary. I giggle every time I see this photo- it was a complete accident that I snapped the photo just as they were kissing!

Looking back through all of these photos makes me a bit nostalgic for those days. I put in a lot of long hard hours but oh how it was worth it! 

Did you make anything for your wedding? What was your favorite project? I'd love to hear!

Butter Goes to the Beach

Yesterday the Donahue clan spent the day at the Oregon coast. It's always lovely getting to spend time with the family, especially a pretty day by the sea. Here's some photos from our little adventure!

This fella decided this was a perfectly good spot to take a nap. Good for you, buddy!

We were taking a few obligatory couple shots when Mr. Butter's father thought it would be a good idea to photo bomb us. Well played, well played indeed.

We played a round of mini golf and Mr. Butter scored a hole in one on the first two holes! In the end though it was a pretty close game. 

We also went for a ride on a surrey. Last year all six of us went for a ride, but the bike that was supposed to seat six of us this year was not quite large enough for all of us...We were holding on for dear life! But it was fun as always. :) 

And of course, a trip to the beach wouldn't be complete without some taffy! I love roaming the aisles to see all of the different flavors, but I really only enjoy the hot cinnamon. 

I already can't wait for our next trip over to the coast! 

Bling

I seem to go through phases with jewelry. I will go months without wearing anything other than my wedding ring and the occasional bracelet, but other times I get inspired by seeing women with perfectly curated jewelry and it really kicks their style up a level. I like statement pieces and pieces that add a little sparkle or color to your outfit. Here's a few pieces I am currently eyeing:

I really like this bracelet by J.Crew. It's great as a solo piece but would also look awesome layered with other gold bracelets. 

Confession: I do not have my ears pierced. I did once upon a time when I was in the fifth grade, but for many reasons I decided to let them close up and I've been a clip on gal ever since. These Tory Burch Gingham Stud clip ons are adorable! Unfortunately, finding cute clip on earrings can be a challenge, but Tory Burch and Kate Spade both make some fun options!

Of course Anthropologie kills it as usual with this beautiful necklace. It would like great with a simple crisp white shirt and jeans.

What are your favorite pieces in your own jewelry collection? I am partial to the three Cole Haan bangles my husband gave me and my black and teal necklace from Florence. And of course, my wedding ring! :) 

Butter Goes For A Hike

Last weekend my sister in law and I went for a hike through Forest Park here in Portland. When I first moved here I would go for walks through Forest Park pretty frequently. My first apartment was only a few blocks away from one of the entrances and I was in love with the fact that unlike Los Angeles, you could have nature and the city all in one. I have to admit, I am by no means the "outdoorsy type", demonstrated by the fact that we leisurely hiked through the park with lattes in hand. Regardless, it was a lovely way to spend our Sunday afternoon and it reminded me of just how much I enjoy Forest Park!

Look how beautiful it is! 

There is this little stone cabin down by the river in the middle of the park. I am so curious about the history of this little house. It has no roof and there are no signs about why it is there. It's two levels and you can walk around in it, but it is quite small. Time to do some research! 

I can't wait to go back! 

Book Club

When my sister and I were little girls my mom used to tell us that taking us to a book store was like taking any other kid to a candy store. We have always loved to read and we each have a pretty eclectic taste when it comes to genres.

I just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. Much like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the story took a while to take off, but once it did I couldn't put it down. I faced major anxiety one day when I forget it at home and had to suffer through my lunch break without it. I started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and I am excited that it picks up right where the last one left off and so far, it is not a slow start. In fact it's quite thrilling!

I have a long list of books I want to read waiting patiently for me on my bookshelf, including: Bossypants by Tina Fey, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.

Some of my favorites include: The Harry Potter series (of course!), The Pilgrimage and By the River Piedra I Sat and Wept by Paulo Coelho, Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, Velvet Elvis and Sex God by Rob Bell, and more that will be shared later!

What are some of your favorite reads?

Photo via Amazon.

A Celebration

The absolutely lovely place I currently work at threw myself and a fellow co-worker/friend of mine a farewell party on Friday. It was such a sweet gesture and it felt good knowing they were supportive of our future endeavors. She will be starting a full time graduate program and I will be starting my new job in one week! I am so excited and feel blessed to be given an opportunity to utilize my creativity each and every day and such an inspiring setting!

We were asked what kind of tasty treats we would enjoy for our good-bye-and-good-luck party and we chose french macaroons and mini pies! They were adorable and oh so delicious! A big thanks to them for their support and encouragement! And for being so thoughtful as to throw us a farewell event!

Aren't they lovely? :)

Delicioso!

We've been trying to make more meals at home and eat healthy foods here at the Donahue house and it has actually been quite a bit of fun trying out new recipes! It's even more fun when the sun is shining and we can enjoy our dinner out on the balcony with a glass of crisp white wine.

About 5 or 6 months ago I started eating a primarily vegan diet. I say primarily because I still eat fish and am not 100% strict with it. I started the diet because I was having some health issues and this change in lifestyle was a good alternative to taking a bunch of medication that I didn't really want to take. And it has definitely been working, so I decided I would just stay on this path! At first switching to a vegan menu was really challenging- I felt like I couldn't eat anything. But then I became more adventurous and invested in switching out some key ingredients in our fridge and cabinets. For the most part, Mr. Butter has been eating the same foods as me and I am very proud of him for being so adventurous and supportive!

Some of our favorite dishes include: Creamy polenta with roasted bell peppers and veggie sausage, Basil pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts, Tomato bruschetta drizzled with balsamic vinegar syrup, all kinds of variations on tacos, burritos, and nachos, lotsa' bean chili (not so much Tim's favorite, but I like it!), BBQ "chicken" sandwiches, "Turkey" burgers, Peanut butter cookies, Peanut butter bread, Strawberry mango salsa with homemade cinnamon sugar pita chips, and salad with strawberries, walnuts, and shallots.

I look forward to sharing some of these delicious recipes with you this summer! They are light and easy to make, and enjoyable for non-vegans as well!

8 Months

As of yesterday, the second day of June, Mr. Butter and I have been married for 8 months! A wonderful 8 months!
And this week Mr. Butter bought me flowers- big, beautiful sunflowers! They make me smile. So I will share them with you and hopefully they will make you smile too.

Are you smiling?

:)