sleepover

I went to a sleepover party last weekend.

I forgot how little sleep you actually get at a sleepover, especially with six little girl ranging from four to seven years old.

But it was still so much fun.

The party included a trip to a friends' farm, hot tubbing, makeovers, mani's & pedi's, pizza and cupcakes and a movie.  It was exhausting!

I think all of us "adults" (I use this term very loosely to describe me and my friends)
thought we would do the girls makeovers and paint their nails.

But they took it upon themselves to put it on each other.
And it was so sweet to watch them together.

A little heartbreaking too. They just looked so grown-up!

I think we all got a little glimpse into the future.
It definitely looks pretty! :)

LMF

blueberry scones {recipe}

These aren't those rock-hard, dense scones that seem to be readily available here in America.  These are flakey and delicious and biscuit-like, similar to the scones I fell in love with in London.  I didn't think I even liked scones until I moved to London.

They were delicious and looked oh so pretty on our new wedding gift.

Blueberry scones

makes 12 large scones

slightly adapted from Tartine 

Ingredients

 - 4 3/4 cups flour + more for work surface

 - 1 tbsp baking powder

 - 3/4 tsp baking soda

 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar

 - 1 1/4 tsp salt

 - 1 cup and 1 tbsp unsalted butter, very cold and cubed

 - 1 cup buttermilk

 - 1 cup milk

 - 1 tsp lemon zest

 - 1 to 1 1/2 cups blueberries (depending on how berry-ful you like your scones - I like a lot)

Topping

 - 3 tbsp butter, melted (if you don't want to add more butter, you can use skim milk instead)

 - raw sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl.  Mix in sugar and salt.  Using a pastry blender (or a fork) cut the butter into the dry ingredients.  You want to end up with pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the mixture.

Add buttermilk, milk, lemon zest and blueberries all at once and gently mix together until dough forms.  If dough appears too dry, add a bit more milk.

Dust work surface with plenty of flour.  Pat dough into a rectangle approximately 18 inches long, 5 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches thick. Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.  Cut into 12 large triangles and place on baking sheet.  It's okay if they're a bit close together, you can easily cut them apart if they bake together in the oven.

Bake until the tops are lightly golden brown, approximately 25-35 min.  Serve immediately.  If you want more scones, cut them into smaller triangles and remember to bake them for a bit less time.

Delicious served with honey butter {1 cube butter combined with 2 tbsp honey}.

These were so yummy, I made them again the next weekend with strawberries.

Enjoy!

LMF

prosciutto wrapped figs with goat cheese {recipe}

A few weekends ago, all the stars aligned, and {almost} all my cousins and my brother were in town from all parts of the country, at the same time.

We had an impromptu get together at my aunts house and I offered to bring an appetizer.

I come from a family of bakers and cooks and caterers. Foodies. So it had to be delicious.

For example, for this impromptu casual sunday lunch, we had the following desserts:

From left to right: Cousin Brian's brownies - super labor intensive but totally worth it - partly because I've never had to make them myself | Lemon layer cake made by my aunt using Miette's recipe | Homemade twinkies

{last minute dessert thrown together for our casual Sunday lunch}

Inspired by pins {here} and {here}, I picked up figs, prosciutto, and goat cheese on the way to my aunts house. I am a big fan of recipes with a short ingredient list and using things fresh and in season. 

Prosciutto wrapped figs with goat cheese

Ingredients:

 - 1 basket of black mission figs, halved

 - 1/2 log of goat cheese {I used Laura Chenel}

 - 1-4oz package of thinly sliced prosciutto {from Trader Joe's}

 - optional: honey for drizzling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Scoop a small spoonful of goat cheese on the inside of each halved fig. Wrap each fig half with a small piece of prosciutto and place cheese side up on a cookie sheet. Each slice of prosciutto wrapped about 3-4 fig halves for me.  Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes. They are done when the prosciutto gets a bit crispy, but before figs start to lose liquid. Serve immediately.  

If your figs aren't super sweet, you can drizzle with honey before serving. I didn't add honey mainly because they disappeared so quickly once I pulled them out of the oven and they were so good they really didn't need the added sweetness.  Notice the few missing figs in the photo above. I couldn't grab my camera fast enough!  

You could also make these ahead of time if your party isn't as casual as mine and you don't want to be working in someone else's kitchen as soon as you arrive. :) Assemble figs beforehand and refrigerate until needed.  Let figs come to room temperature before baking. Enjoy!

LMF

honeymooning in bora bora - activities

Before we left on our honeymoon, my father-in-law asked us, "So what are you guys planning to do in Bora Bora, like are there things to see, places to go...?"

Our answer: Absolutely nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are vanilla fields to see and pearl mining excursions.  That just wasn't in our plan. Swimming with sharks and manta rays - no way!

We didn't want the sort of vacation where you're up and out of the hotel by a certain time to take in as much as you can.  We didn't have to be anywhere by a specific time, except breakfast before 10.30 am (we weren't about to miss that!).  We never once set an alarm and instead just let the sun in the morning wake us up.

That said, we were surprised by how much stuff there was to do; if we ever got bored lounging by the pool and beach {not often}.

The hotel had tons of community bikes you could grab anytime for easy transportation around the resort.

{biking by day}

{and by night - that's a glass of champagne in his hand from dinner}

{hanging with the fish}

{a little perspective - check out the sea urchin in both photos - that's a seriously big fish!}

{we did a bit of people watching}


My aunt lent us her underwater camera, that was so much fun.

{I count a photo shoot in the pool as an activity.}

{paddle boarding - don't let anyone fool you, this is so much easier than it looks}

{kayaking}

Probably the most fun we had on the trip was the jet-skiing tour around the island.

We stopped off half-way through to switch drivers (I declined), eating fresh coconut and to swim for a bit.

{this me enjoying the coconut and the view}

Does eating count as an activity?  More on that later.

See more of Bora Bora here.

LMF

honeymooning in bora bora

"Holy sh*t!, this place looks like a sceensaver," said Jon Favreau's character in Couples Retreat. And I cannot think of a better description.  It was like something out of a dream

Sometimes when traveling, the photos you see online of destinations tend to be a bit better than the reality {thank you, photoshop}.  But not here.  Bora Bora was so much more beautiful in person than the photos we saw online.  It was quite literally paradise.

We took three planes and a boat to get to the resort.  Door to door it was about 18 hours of travel and completely worth it.

{the view from our bed}

Honestly, I had no idea these shades of blue existed naturally, without paint or the touch of digital enhancement.
  

{morning coffee}

{yep, that's a shark}

{this photo is straight out of my canon rebel- isn't that color amazing?!}

LMF