Mexican Bridal Shower Style Shoot at Barrels & Branches, Encinitas CA

This weekend I had the privilege of working with some of the greater San Diego area's best and brightest small business owners. We collaborated on a colorful mexican bridal shower style shoot, and it came out bright and beautiful and I am so proud of everyones contributions. We started with a pretty simple idea, a big bright joyful Mexican bridal shower and incorporated all our own interpretations of that, and came away with this outrageous shoot.

What I wanted to do differently about this shoot was that many times you set up this beautiful elaborate set up, but as vendors you don't really get a chance to enjoy that, and this time I wanted everyone to participate and be involved. So we started our set up, directed by the insanely talented Liz at WED (Weddings. Events.Design), who by the way was my wedding planner and one of my favorite people. She completely nailed the style and look of the shoot, as you can see from all these wildly colorful  images. And after we completed our set up the party began!

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Vendors:

Photography: Great Woodland Photography
Second Shooter: Jax Connolly Photography
Event Planner: WED (Weddings. Events.Design
Decor and Tablescape: Events by Lift
Venue and activity: Barrels & Branches
Food: Smoke & Brine Co.
Cake & Cookies: VG Donut & Bakery
Alcohol/Beverage: Misadventure & co. 
Hair and Makeup: Southwestern Styling
Furniture/Fabrics/Rugs: Folk Project
Stationery and signage design: Epoch Design
Flowers: Moments in Bloom
Bride's Dress: Jen's Pirate Booty 

We started our shoot day with Zoey from Barrels & Branches conducting an amazing succulent building course. My Husband Eddie and I did a little DIY project, bought terra cotta pots at Barrels and Branches and painted them all with fun cute designs. Barrels and Branches teaches different types of courses multiple times a month, in varying themes.  Located in Encinitas this spot is well worth a look, for your next event or activity or even to pick up plants to freshen up your yard. Check out their event calendar HERE.

After our activity it was time to unwind by coveting the beautiful hand bags by Folk Project, and indulging with some seriously tasty Drunken Horchata, Vodka and recipe provided by local business Misadventure & co.  This delicious traditional Mexican beverage is creamy and sweet, and honestly I think if I made this at home I would blend it. It tastes like a cinnamon vanilla shake, and could be super dangerous. Not only is this vodka delicious, but you're doing Mother Nature a solid. They utilize baked goods that would other wise end up in a landfill. To learn more check out their site HERE. AND they provided a delicious recipe at the end of this blog post. 

At this point our gorgeous "bride" Mallory arrived, with glamorous hair and makeup by Southwestern Styling. The white lace and soft curls, were a perfect counter point to the bright and energetic colors at the shoot.  Mallory, who is not currently a bride, was a pro. She's not a professional model but she totally killed it! 

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After our delicious Drunken Horchata, we moved on to the feast! If you have never checked out the spreads by Smoke & Brine Co., do your self a favor and check out their Instagram to see what you are missing. In particular I loved all the signage Not only are their platters stunning, but fresh and delicious.  They also make an unstoppable Sangria, with fresh fruit that will knock your socks off! And the set up collaboration with Folk Project, was in a word breath taking. Merijam, owner of Folk Project is a serious talent. She creates one of a kind pieces, furniture, rugs, blankets, poms and purses. AGAIN do yourself a favor and head over to her Instagram. Your jaw will liter drop. 

The lush environment of the Venue perfectly accented all the bright colors in the stunning blooms by Moments in Bloom. Moments in Bloom is a north county all star, in fact I had them do the florals for my wedding 4 years ago and I felt so lucky to include them in this shoot. The table scape was created by the talented team at Events by Lift . She tied in the bright blues, reds, greens, and whites in all Mexican textiles and reflected that back with the place settings, stemware and platters. 

Another amazing detail of the day was the delightful invitation suite and signage provided by Epoch Design. It was soft and romantic, but again perfectly exuded the style and culture of our style shoot. I loved all of these details next to the bright and bold treats from VG Donut & Bakery . They are right down the hill from where I live, in Cardiff by the Sea and are a north county staple. Not only do they have donuts that will blow your mind, but the cake and cookies from the shoot were stand out! I (literally) could not stop eating the cookies. In fact I'm eating the last of them as I write this post, and still savoring every bite. They took my instructions for the cake design and went about and beyond.  The intricate design was gorgeous and we were all blown away!

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THANK YOU to the team who pulled this off, and a special thank you to my side kick Jax Connolly Photography ! With out all of you, none of this would have been possible.  ESPECIALLY all my girls, Mallory, Allie, Megan, Sarah, Hilary, and Teague. I appreciate you showing up and being willing to be our models. Shoot out to my husband Eddie, who uncomplainingly got dragged in to be our work horse.  :)

Horchata Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup of white rice
• 1 1/3 cup sugar (adjust depending on how sweet you want - 2/3 cup of sugar if you want it less sweet).
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 ounces of Misadventure Vodka
• 1 T vanilla
• 1 Can (12 ounces) Evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cup of milk or almond milk
• 1 Liter of water
• Ice

Instructions

• Start by soaking the rice, cinnamon, and almonds in a bowl of water all night, or at least for 5 hours so that the rice softens slightly.
• Strain the water from the cinnamon, rice, and almond mixture that were soaking, disposing of water.
• Blend the cinnamon, rice, and almond mixture with evaporated milk until a smoother mix is formed and the grains of rice are completely ground.
• Strain the resulting liquid into a pitcher, and add the sugar, vanilla, and milk. Mix well until everything is well combined.
• Add 8 ounces of Vodka
• Add a liter of water, and serve with ice. 
• Sprinkle cinnamon on top as garnish in each glass.

Boho Style Shoot at WindanSea, La Jolla

I had a blast this weekend doing this style shoot. It may have been 6am but I was energized by the opportunity to working so closely with such an amazing group of lady photographers (SD Photographer Meet up) and amazing Vendors. The Models were amazing, braving strong waves at 6:30 am, that is no easy feat when your tired, it's cloudy and you have multiple photographers snapping shots of you.

And the vendors brought stunning items, Wild Cloud contributed handmade jewelry and Wild Hearts and Halos brought beautiful headbands, and the models rocked all of them! Thank you all for being so awesome and I hope you enjoy these pretty shots. I can't wait for the next group meet up. :)

xoxo

Taryn

Gluten Free Cheez-it crackers

So I'm pretty sure I haven't shared this before but I have an Auto immune disease, called Hashimoto's. Which basically means that I have a disorder in which the immune system turns against the body's own tissues. In people with Hashimoto's, the immune system attacks the thyroid. Because of this I have lots of inflammation and in order to avoid feeling sick and yucky all the time I eat gluten free. But that also means I don't get to eat any of my regular stand by favorites, like Cheez-its. 

I love the taste of them, they really are the perfect salty cheesy snack. The only problem is that they pretty much made from things that will make me sick. About 30 minutes after eating them my symptoms set in — first a headache, then the stomach ache, and then just generally feeling like doo. But sometimes I still crave that salty, cheesy, crunchy snack. So, I decided to find a Gluten free Cheez-it crackers. 

I got this recipe from Real Food RN (link HERE) on Pinterest but I doubled it, changed the flour and added a bit more cheese because the amount of crackers you get from one batch was just way too small and would have lasted like five minutes in this household. So enjoy! and let me know if you like it, my husband is sold and says it's definitely a taste alike.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup all purpose gluten free flour — We used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend (See image below) and we bought ours at Sprouts
• 2 1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar, we use grass-fed raw cheddar (Kerrygold from Costco)
• 8 Tbsp cold grass fed butter, cut into pieces. I use Kerrygold which I buy at Costco
• 4 Tbsp cold water
• Sea salt for sprinkling on top

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• In a food processor, combine flour, cheese and butter
• Pulse until its a crumbly texture, but well combined
• Add water and process until a dough forms ( see image below for reference)

• Divide dough into two balls and chill for 15 minutes in the fridge, or until firm (not longer than 30 minutes)
• Roll one ball out on the counter, we have granite so I'm not sure if that helped but it didn't stick and came up super easy
• Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into squares and trim off uneven edges (you can add extra dough to the next ball)
• Transfer cut squares to baking sheet
• Sprinkle with salt, lightly
• If you want to, poke little holes in the top with a toothpick to make them look even more like Cheez-it crackers ( I did)
• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until they are bubbly and browning on the edges slightly. 
• Repeat with second dough ball

I put the individual pieces on vs, baking in a rectangle so that all the sides would get crispy. And you don't need to cut them apart again once they are done baking. 

I hope these come out as well as they did for me, they definitely helped ease a craving and with so few ingredients it was easy to make!

Hugs

Taryn