Grilled Salmon with Boiled Carrots, Vegetable Medley and Brown Rice

I've been really enjoying using my time off to get back into cooking and baking.  I recently made this delicious and healthy meal and finished it off with a newly found favorite Malbec wine from Argentina.  I grilled the salmon and put it over a bed of brown rice with mixed veggies, sliced heirloom tomatoes and boiled carrots.  I hadn't had fish in a while, so it felt really good to get my iron fix.  This is something you could do any night of the week in combination with different types of protein.  I'll probably try it with grilled shrimp or chicken next time.  Anyway, I sauteed all the veggies with lots and lots of garlic and fresh basil.  I cooked the rice ahead of time and mixed in the veggies once I was done.  Sliced up teh tomatoes and plated as seen.  It was a much needed meal after such a long weekend!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Flaxseed Cookies

As promised, I found time today to do some additional baking.  I decided to go with a healthier version of the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie. I added some ground flaxseed and used applesauce in place of butter.  To my surprise, I was greatly pleased with the outcome.  I am actually a huge fan of flaxseed anything, but using applesauce was a new method for me. The cookies came out extra soft and completely held themselves together. I'm super stoked about this new recipe I came across!

Pumpkin Cranberry Walnut Scones

Since I left for Telluride, Colorado last May, I haven't had the chance to bake a single thing. It's been really hard for me to get used to, so I'm really glad I was able to whip these up on my day off. I've actually got the day off tomorrow as well, so I will definitely be baking some other good treats.

This is my first time baking scones. I thought it would be a big challenge, but it was really much easier than I expected.  Aside from being one of the messiest things I've made in a while, I really enjoyed the whole process.  Since it's the season, I decided to go with Pumpkin Cranberry Walnut Scones, greatly inspired by two scones served at Snack Bar in Austin, Texas. I generally try to make my baked goods vegan, just for the sake of proving to myself that vegan treats can be just as enjoyable as the real deal...... however,  I decided to do quite the opposite this time around. I used buttermilk for the first time and everything, so these are definitely not the lowest calorie treat I've ever made :/

Anyway, these turned out pretty delicious, so my next challenge will be to make them both vegan and a little lower in calorie. I was hoping they would taste as if they were really bad for me, but that wasn't really the case.  Not a huge success but not a tragedy either.

Elvis Costello is Wonderful

So I'm back from Colorado and really missing being in Telluride, however I am also enjoying my time in Austin while I'm still here.  

That being said, I thought this vintage video of Elvis Costello was the perfect way to start off my being back.  I absolutely ADORE this song. This first time I actually ever heard it was after seeing the 'Favorite Songs, Favorite Jeans' Gap commercial a few years back. It's still my favorite Gap ad to date. 

Thanks to Brandon Boyd, Alison by Elvis Costello will always be one of my favorite songs.

John Willie - Bizarre Magazine, 1946-1959

So... I'm really eager to start my internship with Ah Haa School for the Arts. I had my orientation today and I couldn't be more happy to be working with such awesome people in such an inspiring place. Telluride, CO is my favorite place to be and I'm so, so glad I get to spend the whole summer here surrounded by art.

Anyway, I won't have as much time to browse the internet this summer, so I figured I'd post while I still can.  I found this once again via Frou Frou Fashionista and thought it was definitely worth the post.  I've always been attracted to the vintage role women played in men's fantasies (and in real life, I suppose) so I was really drawn to these images by John Willie.  They are just really visually pleasant and wonderful.  I like how the Frou Frou ladies compared them to Ellen Von Unwerth (a favorite of mine) because those were my thoughts exactly.  I find it super interesting that even a modern female photographer is still inspired to carry on this depiction of a woman. Lovely.

© John Willie, Bizarre Magazine

Telluride Balloon Festival 2011

This is why I love Telluride so much... There is always something going on during the summer, despite being such a small town. Last night was the annual Telluride Balloon Festival and Julie and I decided to stop for dinner before catching the show. There were several balloons lined up on Main Street and it was amazing how close we were able to get.  I wish it had taken place during the day time for photographic reasons, but I was able to get a few good shots in.  Aren't the colors beautiful?!

Egg white scramble over toast - Yum!

Lately I have been a huge fan of Sriracha and have been finding ways to put it on EVERYTHING.  So this morning I decided to make a high in protein, healthy, delicious breakfast and this is what I ended up with - scrambled egg whites with sauteed red onions, baby arugula and sun dried tomatoes. I topped it with some goats milk feta cheese, avocado and Sriracha and it came out SO good. Despite the way it looks, the whole thing totals 280 calories, which is definitely a success in my book.

Happy Thursday!

Bobby Womack - California Dreamin'

This has to be one of my favorite songs of all time, particularly this version by Bobby Womack.  I actually first heard it while watching the move Fish Tank, which I would suggest you all watch at some point or another.  It was an interesting and dark-ish movie with a rather good soundtrack. Anyway, that is besides the point and I really just wanted to share this with everyone. I wish I could find a live performance of it but have been really unsuccessful in doing so. Hope this is good enough for you all to enjoy! 

winter's children: naked ambition

Give. Me. Job.

I had already decided that it would be wonderful to work at the Free People home office but this is officially my dream job. I really couldn't imagine a more comfortable and inspiring place to work.  I love how there is natural light throughout the entire place.  Talk about a positive work environment. Anyway, thought this was worth sharing.

Also, I found this post via the Free People Blog and they had mentioned that these were abandon buildings in the Navy yard prior to being purchased by the Urban Outfitters headquarters. Awesome.

Zink Magazine "Eye Level" - Holiday 2010 issue

Here is another beloved gift from Frou Frou Fashionista:

Lovely photographs and lovely ensembles.

Photographer: Pierre Dal Corso 

Model: Natalia K 

Stylist: Sophie Clauzel

Love Him

....and him!

Nagi Sakai

Aside from making beautiful photographs, Nagi Sakai seems to always have a great stylist.  I particularly love the styling in these images.  They remind me of Free People, which is probably why I am drawn to them.  The location is also great and a perfect setting for the clothing. It really ads a lot of warmth to the photographs.

© Nagi Sakai

This last image is my favorite.  The ensemble is just wonderfully put together and I love the color scale. It's very sophisticated but still adventurous. 

Bicycles everywhere!

I was browsing the Lush Lee blog this morning and came across this image that was originally seen on New York Daily News.  It's been a while since I've seen a really different and inspiring photograph that wasn't fashion related. This was an advertisement for a bicycle shop in Altlandsberg, Germany.  There were 120 bikes mounted on this wall! I wonder how long that took....  The whole this is just very aesthetically pleasing and definitely gets some ideas flowing.  

Pretty Things

I met a woman named Stacey today who has the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen.  After walking by them nearly 50 times, I decided to go photograph them today because they were looking particularly beautiful. Stacey informed me that she has to water them every day to keep them looking this way, which is apparently really rough on the electricity bill.  I guess it's worth it since they look so good, I've never seen anything like it.  These cover her fence that lines her driveway, all the way down.  She planted them from a seed 3 months ago and they already look like this! She can't even park in her driveway anymore because they have completely taken over. 

Anyway, I thought they were definitely worth sharing with everyone. Have a good Monday!

© Sarah Welch Photography