OUR ADVENTURES: LOS ANGELES IN B+W

Sometimes life surprises you.

And the best surprises are the fun ones.

Surprise #1 - The first married couple friends Burley and I every really hung out with after we got married turned out to be life long, by your side, till the end, make you a better person, feels like home, kind of friends. Lucky us.

Yes. If you are single, I now introduce you to the phrase couple friends. Don't be jealous. This simply means that now, instead of making 1 friend as an adult (which can be hard enough) you have to find couples who BOTH of you get along with individually (woman to woman/man to man), and maybe even, if the stars align, all together. When this happens, it feels like you are dating again, and you fall asleep saying things to each other like "That was really fun. Man. I love those guys. It's great to have good people around" and then you realize how silly and desperate for friends you sound so you both play it cool. I am saying all this in good faith that Burley and I ... Are not the only ones. God help us if we are.

Surprise #2 - Sometimes, you and said buddies decide to follow your hearts and dreams, and they unfortunately lead you to different states. Then you think that you aren't going to see said buddies for perhaps once a year. And then your love and fondness grows, and you just make it work. You love to see each other and you make it happen.

And that leads me to LA. Burley and I headed out for a rather impromptu trip to LA last week/weekend for a vacay with our buddies. At the time of booking it, it seemed like a fun interlude before moving. But, at the time of the trip, Burley and I were heavy hearted and overwhelmed, and it was a God send to be in the company of such great friends. Isn't it great how that happens?

So we are now home, after the most wonderful 3 days/4 nights. We are rejuvenated. We are thankful. We are so blessed with the life we live, and most especially the people we get to live it with. This is going to be really important to remember as we say goodbye to so many other amazing friends here in Denver over the next two weeks. 

If it hurts to leave a place or a people or a vacation, you must have done something right.

PS. If you are wondering if that is a baby seal in the first picture... the answer would be yes. Boom.

Cheers,
Maddie

UP HERE MY DEAR

Just when you think that the world revolves around you.

It doesn't.

And just when you think you have it figured out.

You really don't.

If you guys haven't watched this video yet, you definitely need to.

It is such a beautiful and joyful story, of the celebration of life, regardless of how long that may be.

I have had this family on my heart for the past few days, as this story has been circling media for a while now, but Zach passed away just this Monday.

And I feel changed by him, though I haven't met him.

That is a sign of living a life that matters, if you ask me.

So today, and in this season, I am reflecting on my life. My journey. 

The story that I want to tell while I am on this earth. 

And I challenge you to do the same. Because I know in my heart that we are all meant to to be joy and beauty and light to a world that seems to grow darker every day.

Cheers to Zach. Cheers to life. Cheers to breath in our lungs for one more day.

Cheers,

Maddie

DRINK IT: THE GIBSON + DIY COCKTAIL ONIONS

Delicious, is what this is, folks. 

A few weeks back, Burley and I found this sweet little new store on downtown Tennyson St. here in Denver, by the name of Small Batch Liquors. They have the most delicious little space, filled with wall to wall... you guessed it... small batch liquors! This can only mean one thing... Gorgeous bottles and labels. 

I was in heaven when I walked in. And it was a dangerous combo.

Luckily, we only walked out with a couple ingredients to make some real, grown up martinis at home. This of course, then inspired Burley to venture out and make some homemade cocktail onions to plop inside.

I am going to share the recipe with you below. And be careful, these things are delicious, and potent, and delicious. So don't drive, and enjoy!

Cocktail Onions Ingredients
1 pound pearl onions
1/2 cup sherry vinegar (white vinegar may be substituted)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seed
12 whole peppercorns
1 sprig rosemary
1 dried chile pepper
1 cup dry (white) vermouth
We also added a bit of balsamic vinegar because we ran out of apple cider vinegar. Honestly, I would skip this part altogether, but I feel like I needed to share, so that you know why our mixture came out a bit darker and more purple than yours probably will!

** This recipe was adapted from this on on thekitchn **

First, you will want to peel the onions by placing them in a bowl, and cover with boiling water for about 1 minute. Then, drain and rinse them in cold water. Next, trip the tops and bottoms of the onions very slightly, and the rest of the peel should pop right off.

Then, you will want to combine all of the remaining ingredients (excluding the vermouth) and bring them to a boil in a pot, until all of the salt and sugar are dissolved. Next, remove the pot from the heat. After you have allowed it to cool, go ahead and stir in the vermouth.

Once you have everything combine, place both the onion, and the pickling mixture into a big mason jar, and voila! You have yourself some fancy shmancy homemade cocktail onions (after you let them chill in the fridge for about 4-5 hours).

The last thing you obviously have to do (well, not have to, but will WANT to), is make your fancy cocktail!

The Gibson Ingredients:

5 Parts gin (we used Roundhouse)

1 Part vermouth (we used Dolin)

2-3 Fancy shmancy homemade cockatil onions

You can also experiment with using a high-grade vodka as well, such as Skull vodka, which is pictured below.

Many people are pretty opinionated when it comes to how they like their martinis served. Cue James Bond. 

Personally, I like to shake my martinis and have a few specs of ice floating around in my drink. This would be shaken, not stirred. Burley is opposite. So try a few out (preferably not on the same night, unless you have very little to do the next day) and see what suites your fancy! 

Enjoy, Friends. Enjoy.

Cheers,

Maddie

GET READY. GET SET. ALT.

Hiya Friends.

With all the crazy going on in life right now, I haven't really had a chance to get FULLY excited about a really exciting step I am taking in June.

Have you heard of Alt Design Summit? It is basically a conference that happens a couple times a year in a few locations, one of which being New York, New York. And guess whose got a ticket?!

That's right. This girl!

Myself and 3 other stellar bloggers and ladies and friends (Savannah, Jenny, and Janee) will be staying in a LOVELY apartment in NY city and attending the Conference mid-June. We will also have at least one day of sight seeing, which I am particularly happy about, seeing as how I have never even been to NY before.

All in all, I am so excited to meet so many bloggers face to face that I have admired forever, and also meet a million that I have never even heard of before. I also can't wait to listen to the panels and soak in all the amazing information that the best of the best have to offer. I am just overwhelmed that I get to be a part of it all!

So, in celebration of preparing for this trip, here is what I am gathering for my travels.

1 // Business Cards - One of the HUGE pushes for my re-design was to make sure I get my logo and new site prepped before I fly off to NY. YES. I did it. So now, I am getting new business cards printed for this very special occassion and I can't WAIT to share them with you all!

2 // Lightweight Blazer - These suckers are my FAVORITE travel buddies. They are great for airports (where you never know if you are going to be sweating your balls off, or cold as a witches... you know) and they are also great for NY in the summer, going from the hot street to the cool conference center. I am really wanting a beautiful floral blazer to celebrate summer time.

3 // Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom (Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6) - Ah. The never ending excitement of new lenses. I didn't know what kind of can I would be opening when I purchased my last one. I love the fixed 50mm I purchased, but it is really hard to get far away enough from some shots, as it is fixed in a zoom fashion. So, I am loving this wide angle telephoto zoom lens, and am thinking about renting it for the event to test it out!

4 // Fancy + Functional Wedges - Aren't these guys the cutest?! They look like they will also be SUPER comfortable, and neutral enough to go with a few outfits. I am a bit in love.

5 // Weekend Tote Bag - I have been craving a new tote bag that I can carry-on, rather than check for traveling. When I first started traveling a bit for work, I invested in some new lugguage, but I went on the high end of carry-on size, and that was a big mistake. I am usually that girl that looks like an idiot jamming my huge suitcase into the overhead compartments. Needless to say, I am ready for a change, and I LOVE the color and class of this mustard tote.

Are any of you headed to Alt New York? If so, PLEASE let me know so that we can be sure to see each other and meet in person! That sounds like a dream.

Cheers,
Maddie

#MADDIEBLOGSCALI

It's Friday. And I am currently at the beach.
Don't hate me too much.

In hopes of sharing some of the fun, you can follow along! My Instagram will be a live feed on this post, for those of you who don't have it. See? Above? How cool is that?

In other news, I put together this playlist for you, to get you through your Friday, and into a WONDERFUL WEEKEND.

Get pumped.
Do something summery.
Do something good for someone else.
Do something good for the earth.
Make a memory.
Make your weekend worthwhile, friends.

And I'll see you on Monday.

Cheers,
Maddie