Shooting with Emily Henderson is always fun. It’s always light, playful and bursting with energy (much like her fun design aesthetic.) When she rose to the Mark & Graham blogger challenge, she wanted to go dark and moody and create a rich palette of greys, blacks and ochre.

*Mark & Graham, for those of you who don’t know is the newest child of the Williams Sonoma family. They specialize in monogrammed everything!

See the full story here on here blog 

http://www.stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/its-a-dark-and-moody-holiday-tablescape.html

Yesterday, was a pretty full day. We went over to Los Gorditos for vegan Mexican food, where I swear I had the best vegan tacos of my life. In fact it has to be said: Portland’s Mexican food sort of rivals San Diego Mexican food…which usually wins me over. So shortly after eating lunch we wandered over to the little shops up the hill on Division St. We found all these rad food pods of great trucks; ice cream, bakery, tacos, grilled fish + meats…you name it it was there.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the hippest graphic designers and fellow typography enthusiasts all live in this town. Everywhere we go, all the shops, the stores, restaurants, food trucks etc….all have great “branding” with super hip logos and signs. 

We stumbled upon the Salt & Straw ice cream cart  which was incredible. Though right after tacos, it pretty much did us in until the evening…. when we went to karaoke! We literally closed the house down. I haven’t stayed out that late in a long time, it was fun to rock. I co-sang ‘Shoop’. Good times. 

(Source: bethanynauert.com)

Today was my first full day in Portland, and it was incredible. We had this amazing breakfast at JAM and then took a little drive through Mount Tabor. After stocking up on some groceries Jeff decided we’d bring his homemade cupcakes to Leela + Dave’s house (since they were making us dinner.) Good times indeed!

Love this girl, miss Leela Cyd Ross

(Source: bethanynauert.com)

If I ever had a crush on a girl, it’d be on photographer Anna Williams. She is one of my most favorite photographers and such a talent. Known for her food and still life images, she also explores story telling through her new project The Voracity. 

www.thevoracity.com

www.annawilliamsphotography.com

Today I met up with fellow Apartment Therapy/Kitchn blogger Leela Cyd. Home for a few days, we both soaked up the sun, ate some good tamales and took a ton of photos. She was here photographing homes and delicious food…so I tagged along for the day. 

First home we visited in Montecito, was her Godmother’s. A lovely bohemian and artistic spread of colorful art, books, food, and a ton of greenery. 

… and the art studio.

Quick stop at Leela’s family home, to prepare the ingredients for the avacado pudding. Her father is a photographer and her mother is a journalist. 

This is Charlie, who greeted us at the second location we shot. This is a neighbor’s home where Leela actually lived when she was younger…. the homeowner is a dancer. Not only does she have this incredible home complete with a tower room that gets 365 degree view of Santa Barbara…but she also added a two story addition…where she has a dance studio and guest apt. 

main house

Leela and the mousse 

Avacados, in a processor. Whip them up with agave or honey or really any natural sweetener. Mix in a tablespoon of vanilla. Sprinkle on chopped almonds. For a sweeter chocolate flavor, you can add organic cocoa powder. YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stick it in the freezer and serve cold.

dance studio 

(Source: bethanynauert.com)