Late Spring Must-Haves from Target

I think we all know how much I love the Target. Clearly working there for four years in high school/college does not deter me from returning on a weekly basis (especially since I no longer have to wear red and khaki when I go in there). Shout out to my Stapleton store, which is is NEVER busy and has a Starbucks within!

Here are just a few recent purchases I'm loving.

For all my work and blog ideas!

1. I love these Rifle notebooks (pack of three for $12)! I have one at work, one at home and one spare. These were a sweet little birthday gift. {Similar.}

2. This striped maxi was a super impulse buy at the Target in San Francisco. Yes, I still go to the Tar-zhay on vacation. {On sale for $25 right now.}

3. Glitter sandals - Lavada. Love, love these for summer. I might wear 'em out though! {On sale for $15.}

4. Patterned button down. Perfect for work (and I also plan on wearing with shorts on the weekends with the sleeves rolled up). They don't have the cute khaki and neon floral one I bought but this {seahorse shirt} is really cute and reminds me of j. Crew!.

Striped maxi + glitter sandals = love.

5. Fun earrings. These coral-colored baubles go with at least three new things I've purchased for summer! {They're a steal at $7.}

I think the thing to remember about Target fashion is that it's not meant to last forever. I think it's better quality (and probably more age approp for me) than Forever 21 or H&M, but still, it won't last more than a few years. I'm okay with that for trendy items like the ones above! Gives me more money to spend at Anthro or j. Crew!

Happy shopping! Visit the @targetdoesitagain girls for lots more Tar-zhay fashion inspiration! Oh, and obviously they did not pay me for this post. Maybe someday?! ;)

Napa Girls Weekend Recap

Also known as Napacation!

Last weekend several of us traveled to Napa to celebrate our dear friend Jill's bachelorette weekend! After a dreary and snowy month in Denver, the California sun was much-needed!

In the vineyard at Chimney Rock.

First things first – how did we get there? We flew in to SFO from Denver and stayed one night in the city. Then we took a California Wine Tours mini bus to wine country! The bus was a little big for just the six of us, and a tteny bit more expensive than renting a car. But, we liked the fact that nobody had to drive (mimosas on the bus, yes please) and they took us to the airport on Sunday.

Sleep 

We stayed at the charming Napa River Inn and I can't say enough good things about it! The concierges, Liz and Laurie, curated a fantastic itinerary for us and we loved the location of the Inn. We were able to walk to all the restaurants and shops in the little Napa downtown area (and also a few tasting rooms). Room service breakfast was included and delivered! Much better than traipsing down to a hotel lobby. The front desk even gave us some free passes for wine tastings (including one in the lobby -- super convenient)!

Nosh

I think the general consensus for us girls was that Oxbow Public Market was amazing, especially for a large group! It's a large indoor warehouse with many gourmet spots (upscale sandwiches, tacos, pizza, etc). We tasted wine at Enoteca, bought Kara's Cupcakes, and had a delicious supper at the Kitchen Door (where you can bring your own bottle and there's no corkage fee)! 

Say "oates!"

We also ate at Carpe Diem Wine Bar, which was a fun tapas-style restaurant. Mussels and flatbread and soup shots – yum! Oh, and a champagne aperitif of course!

If you can believe it we did manage to go to a couple bars – Henry's, a very old school divey-type bar and, Fagiani's,  a prohibition-hipster bar. I (not surprisingly) don't remember much about that portion of each evening ;) 

Sip 

We managed to fit in wine tastings at seven different places over two days! We walked to three tasting rooms in Napa and the other four we did a limo tour around wine country 

These were my favorites: 

Mason Cellars - Trisha was the best of our wine guides! We loved the PPP wine — good for picnics, parties and patios.

Chimney Rock - Jaw-dropping scenery. Our guide even took us out into the grapes on the vineyard. I may or may not have purchased a $100 bottle. Oops?!

Ma(i)sonry - Gorgeous tasting area at a large outdoor patio, plus they brought out cheese, crackers, nuts and fruit! Clearly we were hungry at that point. 

Mark Herold - We loved the awesome labels and our wine guide, Dean, was so, so nice about our multitude of questions.

Outside at Ma(i)sonry tasting room

Cosentino - We were pretty tipsy at this point (i.e. tears and a couple impulse purchases of salt and pepper shakers) but we did like the wine and the guy who explained everything.

A couple of tips: 

• A private driver is essential for safety and convenience! We loved our driver, Bashir.
• Appointments at wineries help a lot, especially on busy Saturdays. We never had to wait.
• I would not recommend Flora Springs or Uncorked – we just were not impressed with the experience at either. 
• I was not planning on buying wine, but if your group buys 1-3 bottles, they will waive your tasting fee. Wish we would have known this before. We bought a lot!
• Ask for a box with styrofoam so you can check it on the plane. Write down or save receipts if you're traveling with a group - it was hard for us to remember what we bought!

Overall, it was a dream girls vacation! Lots of wine and snacks (lots of snacks) and magazines and girly talk. I also think Napa would make a terribly romantic anniversary trip (ahem, Max)! 

So, even though this definitely isn't a travel blog, I think I will go back and do this for a couple previous vacations; Port Aransas, NYC and Iceland specifically.  The only one I have remembered is the Colorado staycation post. I think it's a good way for me to remember specifics of a trip!

DIY Wedding Crossword Puzzle

Just about a week left until our wedding! As if I didn't have enough on my plate, I decided to make a custom crossword puzzle for our hotel welcome bags. Ya know, something for people to do if they're bored!

I found this free Puzzlemaker from Discovery Channel and decided on the crossword over the word search, although you could  definitely do both! You just plug in all the clues (I focused on things about us, like our favorite restaurant, name of our dog, honeymoon destination, etc).

The template will form the crossword for you! I copied the image of the puzzle (and the clues) into a Word doc so I could add a prettier heading. But really the whole project took under half an hour.

I also think this would be SUPER CUTE as a little table activity for a brunch wedding, or using the word search template for a little kids' table activity!

Recipe: Braided Veggie Calzone

We're trying to use up everything in our fridge/freezer at the moment, so tonight's dinner consisted of a makeshift calzone. Here's the "recipe" I threw together:

Braided Veggie Calzone

Ingredients:
- Whole wheat pizza dough
- 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce (because who has pizza sauce around ever?)
- 1 cup shredded cheese (any kind)
- 1-2 cups random veggies (we used mushrooms, green pepper and onion)
- Olive oil or egg

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375
- Spread dough in a long, stretched out oval on a pizza stone.
- Layer the pizza sauce, 1/2 the cheese and all of the veggies down the center of the dough.
- Make little slices with a sharp knife up and down the sides. Then, start braiding at the bottom and work your way up.
- Brush the dough with the olive oil or egg
- Bake in oven for 35 minutes

It looks great out of the oven but is a little messy on the plate. Either way, it was tasty -- and a little bit healthy for such an easy dinner!

Martha Stewart-Inspired Confetti Escort Cards

Yet another wedding DIY project transpired at our house this weekend. I was determined to find a cute (but easy) way to display names + entrees + table numbers at the wedding. I was not about to do plain tent cards!

I enlisted my fellow Pinterest-aholic Jill to find us something cute and easy-to-make. She found these adorable confetti escort cards on Martha Stewart Weddings, and I knew we could do something similar.

Supplies:
*2 colors of coordinating paper (I chose gold chevron and a silver shimmer paper)

Top image: Martha Stewart Weddings, bottom image: my interpretation!

*Circle cutter (I used this one from Martha Stewart)
*Mini brads (I found some fun glitter ones)
*Sharpie
*Box cutter

Instructions:
1. Using the circle cutter, cut three sets of circles. We did 3" circles for the bottom, 2" for the middle, and 1" for the top circle.

2. Arrange circles on top of each other. Use the box cutter to cut a little slit for the brad to fit through.

3. Secure the brad through the slit.

4. Write the names/table numbers/entrees on each circle pack with the Sharpie.

Aren't they cute? We knocked out about 60 of these (and some glitter decoration circles) in about 2 hours (in-between wine-drinking and watching judging the Golden Globes). I will have to remember to have our wedding photographer snap a pic of all of them spread out on the table (the cardboard background isn't doing it justice)!