Leona Lane

GIVEAWAY | NORTHWEST PRINT SET

It has officially been two years since we started this little blog. Jenn came over to my old house in Spokane the day after Thanksgiving and we set the whole thing up. Things have changed a lot since then - moves across the state, starting families, new jobs... all of it. 

The blog has undergone some changes too! We redesigned the header and switched up the layout. A two column design just feels so much cleaner. The last two months I've been working with an editorial calendar and trying to post more consistently. I'm still trying to find a good balance between everything, and working on improving my work flow. Winter is hard in the northwest, there are so many days with no light.

But enough shop talk. To celebrate two years of blogging, we're giving away a Northwest inspired print set to one lucky reader! It is a set of four, all shot in the Pacific Northwest - the Puget Sound, a forest outside of Bellingham, a campsite in Mt. Hood National Park, and the Columbia River in Astoria. Some of my very favorite shots! And the Fuji Pearl Paper they are printed on gives them this beautiful pearl sheen. 

To enter simply leave a comment about what you might like to see in the next year, or your favorite category that we're already posting about. For extra entries, leave an additional comment saying if you've follow us on Pinterest, Bloglovin or Twitter. (All the social media buttons are under our picture near the top). Giveaway ends next Wednesday, December 3rd.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

* * * * * SORRY THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED* * * * *  

PANTRY | BEFORE & AFTER

Sometimes things need a little refresh... was our pantry a mess or what? And a scrap of chalkboard contact paper was just what I needed to get me motivated.

Little backstory, when we moved into our rental, we were pretty excited to find such a spacious pantry. It's very similar to the one we had in our last house. I was all excited to organize it and fill it with yummy ingredients. I envisioned covering the door with chalkboard paint for writing out grocery lists, and making the inside all neat and tidy. However, once we moved in and found that the drawers kept falling off the rails and dumping their contents everywhere, the motivation turned south.

We ended up just stashing things in there haphazardly, stopped pulling out the drawers all together, and low and behold, it turned into a hot mess. (surprise, surprise.) That mess certainly did not inspire anything good. However, it did result in awkward over-buying, hello three jars of dill weed. 

So despite my vision of a well organized pantry covered in chalkboard paint, none of that happened. 

Until one afternoon, when I found myself with an awkward sized piece of leftover chalkboard contact paper. I wondered if it would be enough to cover the drawer fronts, so I measured, remeasured and then just started cutting. Cause when inspiration strikes, I say just go with it.

After getting the pieces cut to size, I carefully applied them to the drawer fronts, making sure to line it up straight at the beginning and smooth out the surface as I peeled of the backing to keep those stupid bubbles at bay. I started by peeling back an inch or two of the backing, positioned it on one edge of the drawer - then checked to see if it was lined up well and then pulled the rest of the backing off slowly. Patience my friend, patience.

Then take a chalkboard pen and label the drawers accordingly. I've found that chalkboard pen is actually a bit difficult to wipe off. So for a project like this that is going to get touched, it is perfect because it won't get all smudged.

As for the wonky drawers... I very gently took the curved end of the hammer and bent the rails back in just a bit. Worked like a charm! Sure wish I would have figured that out sooner. 

I'm pretty happy I got this all cleaned up and organized, just in time for all the holiday cooking too. What about you guys? How do you keep your kitchen organized?

Supplies Used: chalkboard contact paper, chalkboard pen

PEOPLE I CAN BE CRAZY WITH

Last week, it was like I disappeared off the face of the planet (and I was on such a good roll too). But that's kind of what a long work week does for me, especially when prefaced by a crazy yet epic weekend trip to Portland. But this week, I'm excited to be heading off to Eastern Washington to see my family and do that whole Thanksgiving thing. You know, with the pies and the turkey and stuff? Best of times. My very favorite holiday! Because, so much pie, duh. Well and stuffing, that stuff is pretty rad too. Oh, and pickle roll ups... how could I leave them out.

My family is pretty awesome. I would totally hang out with them, even if we weren't related. And really we're just a bunch of goofballs, we have so much fun together... so when I saw the saying "I love people I can be crazy with" it really resonated with me and I just had to paint it. Because A) so so true. and B) I kind of miss them like crazy. I can hardly remember the last time I got to hang out with my sis. 

So an extra long weekend of pie making, shenanigans, family dinners and all that. Yep, sounds pretty perfect right about now.

If you want your own copy, you can download it here. The dimensions are 2x3 (perfect for a small project life card) but there is enough white space to crop it tighter as well. 

 

PS. For those of you who think procrastination is bad habit... well, you're mostly right, for sure. But it can also, illogically, be a motivator of productivity. While trying to put off writing this post, I fixed the kitchen light, put away all the laundry, cleaned the kitchen, made a batch of green smoothies and updated my 'stats' page. And the day before, when I succeeded in putting off this post, I vacuumed the house, cleaned the bathroom, scrubbed the bathroom floor, had a painting session, made a drying/display area for said paintings, scanned some old recipe cards, cleaned off my desk, changed all the dead lightbulbs, took out the trash and did some laundry. And baked a cake (ok, ok, I'm kidding about the cake...)

#PORTLANDIA

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Portland yesterday evening! What a crazy and fun day and a half, but man am I tired. So we've been taking it easy, drinking lots of water, taking our vitamins and are going to try and eat a bit healthier this week, ahem, a lot healthier! 

We left for Portland on Saturday morning to avoid Friday night traffic. As soon as we got into town we hit up the food truck pod downtown, Joe got a really bomb Fried Snapper Sandwitch and I got some Paella. Then we walked to Maurices, a nearby bakery that I've seen on Instagram a few times. What a charming little place, I loved the garlands on the wall made from sandbakkel tins! And I got some mini macrons that were delicious!

We stayed at the McMenamins Crystal Hotel since it was within good walking distance of everything. The salt water soaking pool downstairs was pretty cool! Perfect for warming up after running around outside with such a chill in the air. 

Then of course there was the Grand Opening Party for Evo's new store, what a rad event! They put a lot of work into pulling that all off! We got some cool camp mugs, some free snowboarding socks, a shirt and a backpack. I also picked up a Herschel catalog that I'm excited to look through, I've got a project in mind for some of the photos!

And of course a trip to Powells Bookstore was in order. Plus the obligatory stop at Stumptown Coffee and Ace's lobby to get a photobooth picture! (I'd love to stay at the Ace again sometime... it's my favorite hotel! I never even thought I'd have a favorite hotel! Almost all the pics in this post are from there! We'll just have to go back, maybe during a warmer time of year! It seems like it's always freezing when we're there!) 

...and some window shopping at all the cool hipster and outdoor-inspired stores. When in Portland...

I have to admit, I'm pretty into that whole vibe, I could probably live in Poler's store or any of those other shops for that matter. Or the Ace, cause it's pretty much perfect! Airplants, record players, cool industrial side tables, sage and army green, retro tile floors, stacks of old books and vintage signs? Sounds like my kind of place!

Until next time, keep it weird Portland!

FALL RECIPE ROUNDUP

I can't believe it... where is fall going? How can Thanksgiving be only two weeks away? Where is the time going? To top it off, it has been so cold here in Seattle that it kind of feels like winter. It's that wet dense cold that goes straight to your bones. But at least it's been sunny! So I really can't complain too much.

This afternoon, I wanted to share some favorite recipes from the archives. Some are just favorite fall recipes and some are my must-make-traditional recipes for Thanksgiving! 

Curried Squash Soup | Paleo Pumpkin Cups | Spiced Wine 

 

Pie Crust | Pecan Pie | Crescent Rolls

So those are some of our favorites! Does you have favorites you make year after year or does your family like to switch in up and try new things?

PS. Does anyone have a killer stuffing recipe?