Morning Flowers from the Garden

Whole Wheat Pizookie Pie!

Ingredients:

• Skillet (at least 2 inches deep and about 1 foot long)
• 3 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 2 sticks of cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for buttering the pan
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• your favorite chocolate  chips or chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350.

Butter a 10 (25cm) or 11-inch (28cm) ovenproof skillet, one that is at least 2-inches deep. 

     If you're unsure, measure, because if you use a too small skillet, you'll have a messy overflow!

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

In another large bowl, add the butter and the sugars. Mix until the butter and sugars are blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the bowl and blend on low speed until the flour is barely combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add most of the chocolate to the batter. Mix just until the chocolate is evenly incorporated.

Bake for 30 minutes. Careful not to over-bake this because you'll want your pizookie to have the right, ooey-gooey texture!

Cool for a few minutes and then grab your fork (and a few friends to help you divide and conquer) and you're ready to enjoy! Yum!

Home Decor: Bathroom Inspiration

First thing: we cleaned the walls and threw up some painter's tape.

For the bathroom decor inspiration we are going for Sin City meets London film noir.

Wish Upon a Wedding

Last night Adam and I went to the Wish Upon a Wedding launch party at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter in Boston.

Never heard of WUAW? Here is the website's blurb that is short, sweet, and to the point! And frankly, I don't think I could describe it any better than they do!

"Wish Upon a Wedding is the world’s first nonprofit wish granting organization providing weddings and vow renewals for couples facing terminal illness and serious life-altering circumstances regardless of sexual orientation. "

About three weeks ago I discovered WUAW when I was about to move back to Boston to find some community service opportunities. I decided, being a technology baby, to first try Google search with "photography opportunities and community service." BOOM! What do I get? WUAW! I looked into the Boston chapter and found out that the Boston chapter is just now being installed. What great timing!

I applied to be a "wish granter" (how sweet!) and to volunteer my time as a photographer. I got an email almost immediately thanking me for volunteering my services and soon enough I received another email informing me that the launch party was coming up! I reserved two tickets: one for me and one for Adam.

I told Adam about Wish Upon a Wedding, desperately trying not to choke up as I did so, and he understood then just how much being able to give back to my community in this way through my love for working with others and photography would mean to me. We also decided that rather than giving out traditional wedding favors at our own wedding (in just 24 days!?) we will make a donation on behalf of each guest to Wish Upon a Wedding to support this phenomenal, non-profit organization!

The launch party was a blast! Everything at the event was donated! The venue, the event planning, the lighting, dj, food, decor, photographers, etc! I met quite a few great people last night including Kathie Nutter of "We Do" Weddings Wedding Planning and Amanda Correia of Mr. Drew Photography! Find them and "like" them both on Facebook here and here!

Jen Osojnicki, one of the photographers who volunteered her time last night, took all of these following photos from the Wish Upon a Wedding Boston Chapter Launch party! Check out her Facebook here!

Joann and Joe are the first couple to receive their wish from WUAW from the Boston chapter! 

Photos by Jen Osojnicki--check out her Facebook here!

Flag Day

Four years ago at the Flag Day festival in Woburn, Adam told me that he loved me for the first time after we watched the fireworks. Flag Day has a special place in my heart and we try to make the festival every year if we can. With all that has been going on with wedding planning, job training, new job hunting, and unpacking we needed a break from all of the stress. Here are some photos from our night:

The fireworks show was so good! Last minute before we left I decided to grab my camera and then I realized I could use my new tripod Adam bought me for the first time and get some shots of the fireworks! Check out some of my favorite shots from the fireworks show! 

25 days Until We Tie the Knot: Our First Dance

Our Wedding Venue

Below is the promotional video for our wedding venue: Castleton! Check it out!

Just under 30 days until our big day! Can you believe it?!

All Natural, Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Okay so it's not exactly a recipe BUT it was the first time Adam and I baked in our apartment! 

Our yummy, gluten free cookies came out of a box! I know--I'm shocked too! 

This Cherrybrook Kitchen mix is gluten, peanut, egg, nut, and wheat free! 

The ingredients aren't scary either (some rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, etc.) 

We are trying our best to eat more all natural foods and this was a nice treat!

Ingredients:

• Cherrybrook Kitchen Sugar Cookie Mix
• 1/2 cup of melted butter
• 1/4 cup of skim milk
• 2 & 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

Bake at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes (or until they reach your desired sugar cookie color/texture).

Finally, I threw them on my Pampered Chef Cooling Rack for about 5 minutes.

Festival by the Lake

Packing and moving into the new apartment has been CRAZY! It is a complete mess over here but we will post pictures as soon as we have our act together! Today Adam and I took a break from moving and decided to check out the festival on Lake Quannapowitt. Even though is has been rainy here all day there were surprisingly a bunch of people checking out the different vendors. I really wanted to bring my camera to get some shots at the festival but I was too afraid that it would start to downpour if I brought my Canon.

I was very excited to meet Meg from Miss Meghan Elizabeth! I absolutely adore her jewelry (check out her Etsy here) Hopefully we can collaborate soon and I can style a photo spread around her pieces, which would be so fun!

 

Miss Meghan Elizabeth jewelry photographed by Deborah Zoe Photo.

Adam and I needed some soap and other miscellaneous groceries and happened to come across some vendors at the festival who sold what we needed! We are on a tight budget at the moment (I really wanted to go and buy some of Meg's pieces but I will have to wait until I have some spending money) and spent our money wisely today and got these items:

Menthol, Hot Sauce, Vanilla Extract, and Soap!

I am especially excited we got this menthol! 

Adam and I are both really sick from allergies and we are super congested and are up a lot during the night coughing and sneezing. What I already knew about menthol is that it's strong like peppermint but let me tell you: a quick whiff of some menthol and your sinuses seem to clear right up! This supply should last us at least 10 years!

Anyway, this next week we will spend finishing moving all of our belongings into our apartment. As soon as we get cleaned up and organized, I'll put some pictures up here for everyone to see!

Claddagh Toasting Flutes

Our claddagh toasting flutes!