Domestic Fashionista

The Power of a Cup of Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I do not drink coffee much. I figure, I do not have a full time job nor do I have any children of my own, it only seemed fair that I did not need to have a caffeine addiction. I have time in my life to get proper rest. Instead, the caffeine is on reserve for when I really need it.

As I am working on better balancing my thoughts and life in general I realized that there is something magical about having a warm drink in your hand...especially coffee. I have really struggled with taking time out of my morning to spend time journaling, praying, and just starting my morning by slowing down and centering my brain. It was then that I realized that if I gave in to a morning caffeine addiction, I might just better accomplish it.

If I can start myself daily focusing instead of letting my mind run a mile a minute, I think my entire life would greatly benefit. And really, it is not so much about the coffee but the ability to slow down. I do not let myself slow down all day until Brent gets home and then my focus turns to him or our television. And if I do slow down during the day I usually end up zoning out in front of the computer or with a bowl of ice cream in my lap.

I struggle with just being. I struggle with rest. I struggle with spending time with God. I struggle with allowing myself some of the simplest pleasures in life that lead to a slower and happier lifestyle. So if a cup of coffee can be the stepping stone to learning this important discipline, then please, I'll take a cup of decaf!

What Our Home Once Was

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Before I carry on with any somewhat regular blogging I felt like I needed to pop in and share my sincere thankfulness. The last time I posted I shared some honest struggles I have been going through the past month and I was overwhelmed by your response. There were so many kind words and encouragement as well as understanding that had me teary eyed all day. I was reminded we are all broken women with our own story and that we need to take the time to be honest with each other. Sharing our story and real life changes things--it changes people. And I want to continue pursuing how to better share my life story as a whole--not just within the walls of my home but through the walls of my heart. So thank you.

I love a good story. A well told before and after tale. Who doesn't love a big reveal? Well, thanks to our sweet neighbors, we get to see a little bit of the story our home tells.

My husband bought our home in 2008--a year before we got married. The home had already been remodeled and was the only home in his price range, with a little land, that wasn't a fixer upper. We went into the whole process with big eyes thinking we wanted to fix something up. Looking back at these pictures I am so glad we let someone else do the dirty work. Sure we would do things differently and may even remodel ourselves one day but to look back at what it is was to the little changes we have made today tells quite a story.

See that above picture? Yes, the one with the blue car and massive bushes. That is our house. I couldn't even believe it.

I love the porch, but too bad for those beautiful big trees...

And what a transformation some stucco and paint can do...looking a little closer to how it looks today...

This is a peak into our laundry room which I believe I have shown one picture of in my years of blogging. It serves as a garage since we don't have one and is a bit of a mess.

Now if only they left that stainless steel refrigerator!!!

We did luck out on the stove and dishwasher though...

And the final work is done! This is how the house looked when Brent bought the place except the flower garden had a few years to grow since then. I am pretty amazed.

And here she is today, with a little more of our personality...

Last summer we put in the white picket fence and it has made such a difference to our curb appeal. It also has helped keep the neighborhood school kids off of our lawn and allowed our grass to finally grow in!

We have added a few trees and some of the plants are growing in well with another year under their belt. I have learned that just like inside the house it's all about the layers!

Our home has been such a dream come true. We feel so blessed at how lovely it was before Brent bought it and that it continues to grow in beauty and personality as we live in it year after year. Knowing the story behind it makes the whole experience even that much richer!

Healing, Changes, and Where to Go From Here

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I went through what I call one of my "depression spells." I hit a dark low place and by the grace and honesty of my husband's accountability in my life, we were able to work through it and pull me out of it in a few days.

It feels like I can't continue blogging until I share this with you because I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. It almost feels fake to continue blogging without you knowing the whole story. And it is really hard for me to explain it all but I fear I may never blog again if I don't share it. So because *I think* at this point I would like to continue to blog, I need to clear the air a bit.

I have always struggled with my self esteem. It seems to be that one thorn in my side that I have always dealt with and will continue to struggle with it for the rest of my life. I definitely have grown and learned to deal with it but sometimes when I am not paying attention it creeps back into my life.

When I say self esteem, more specifically I am talking about my body image. My weight. How I look in the mirror. It's really vain and ugly that I have this issue and I am quite embarrassed to admit it. I have considered talking about it before but I just don't seem to have the right words or encouragement. So I stay on the surface about it and post healthy or low calorie recipes instead.

I grew up as a "chubby" kid. I would never say I was fat but I definitely was never skinny. As I went into adulthood I grew into it a little. I would say I have been fairly healthy since high school. I have always been active and enjoyed playing sports or working out. My problem was more lack of self control when it came to food.

My last semester of college I was finishing school, student teaching, running the 5th and 6th grade ministry at my church, and dating Brent. It was the busiest and most stressful season of my life and so I stopped working out. I got more lenient in what I ate and often my time with Brent was late at night after the day's activities, usually surrounded by food.

I gained about twenty pounds and for the first time became truly overweight. It was a really short period of time, only about six months, but it had a big impact on my life. Once I graduated I was able to start working out again and take better care of myself leading me to a 45 pound weight loss. Not only did I lose the weight I gained but I also lost about 25 pounds more. I learned a lot that year about my addiction with food and started the beginning of this healing process. I finished my weight loss in May of 2009 and by July we were engaged and in October of that same year we were married. Over the last few years I have gained about 15 pounds since then.

For the most part my clothes still fit and I have been able to lose 5 pounds here and there and then put them back on. I have stayed pretty steady in my size but I can tell the difference that I have crept over a 10 pound weight gain.

I tell you all these gritty details not because they are important. I really don't have a lot to complain about. I am still in better shape than I have been for the majority of my life and I feel lucky that I was able to do something about my weight when I was at my worst. But the thing about weight loss is though I make look different on the outside I am still the insecure chubby girl on the inside. My self esteem issues never went away.

Those small details and 5 or 10 pounds I mention have become an obsession. At times it has taken over my life in a way that I am not proud of and it has been something that I struggle with that I let take away my joy. And it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I decided I didn't want it to rule my life anymore.

I am not sure of the point of this post. I have sat down to write it multiple times. And I cry each time. But I think it is going to be part of my healing. That it is time to step out and say, I don't have it all together. I blog about taking care of the home, loving my husband, and making time for relationships but there are some days where I could care less about any of these things. Because I allowed that number on the scale determine my worth and how I was going to go about spending my day. And that is a problem.

So I am making some changes in my life. The first change is that I am taking some time off from being online. For the most part, I am taking a break from updating Facebook and Twitter. I unsubscribed to blogs and women I followed on Instagram who shared about fitness and losing weight because it was feeding into my obsession. I realized that though I felt purpose in being connected online I also was constantly looking at other women and comparing myself to them. There is nothing wrong with what those women are doing but they no longer were an encouragement to me, but instead, competition.

I am still trying to lose weight but I no longer weigh myself everyday. Instead I have limited it to once a week. I am still watching what I eat but not in an obsessive way. I am making healthy meals but not being so rigid in counting calories. And it is amazing how in these few changes how much happier I am. I am no longer letting my body determine my happiness. I know I still have a long road ahead but being able to identify what was triggering my unhealthy thoughts has allowed me to break free of the bondage it had on my life.

The best part in all of this is that when I am not thinking about my weight all day (and spending very minimal time online) I am able to live out my life the way I want to. I am able to be the heart of my home again--something I feel like I have lost a little. And it brings me so much joy and purpose to embrace and be a homemaker. I lost sight of myself when I started focusing more on being a blogger that wrote about homemaking than actually being a homemaker. The problem was it didn't leave much time left in my day to actually take care of my home.

So with that being said, I do not know how this will all translate here on the blog. I want to continue blogging and have plenty of ideas and photos that have already been taken to share. But if it is a little quite around here for awhile, please know that I am still working through this healing process. I am so thankful for this community and it makes me really sad to not be as connected to it. This community has allowed me to better embrace the woman I want to be. But I feel like right now I need to step away and...just be that woman.

Clean Eats Lately

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

This is a little bit of a random post. A few things compiled into one. Remember that frozen yogurt made from bananas? Well I told you I would share if I came up with any good combinations. Banana and peaches is pretty spectacular. Find out how to make it using this strategy I shared.

I have also been preparing all my vegetables in advance. I cut them up after coming home from the store and they are ready to snack on or use for meals all week. I have also been adding a quarter of a cucumber, two cut up pieces of celery, and spinach into my shakes (like my protein shakes or my Crystal Light, yogurt and fruit shakes) now that we have a Vitamix. It is really helping me get more veggies into my diet and the Vitamix does such a great job at pulverizing everything into a wonderful smooth treat!

I am doing the same with chopped veggies that are used to cook with. My favorite combination right now is butternut squash, zucchini, carrots, and onion. I chop it up and roast half of it and freeze the rest for later. For roasting I toss them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. I then top with some cooked chicken for lunch or add chicken and quinoa for dinner. I like a little dash of cumin on it too. Sooo good.

So that is what I have been eating lately. Any good clean eating tips or tricks you want to share?

How to Flood Sugar Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

For Easter this year I made sugar cookies to bring for dessert to our family dinner. Flooding sugar cookies is a pretty easy cookie decorating technique but it is pretty time consuming so I usually save it for special gatherings. I have shared this technique years ago but my photography has gotten a lot better so I thought I would share about it again today!

I use a Martha Stewart sugar cookie recipe and love this small technique book of hers that I have learned about flooding from. For the icing I use a generic royal icing recipe that I will share at the end of this post.

For these cookies I used white and lavender for the icing. I added a few drops of blue and red food coloring to part of the icing and mixed it up. You want your first batch of icing to be thick enough to hold a straight line. When you go in to "flood" or fill in your outline, you will use the same icing but slightly more watered down.

I like to use these little Wilton squeeze bottles (I got mine at Michael's but you can't beat this price on Amazon) to pipe the icing on and use a funnel to get the icing to drip down. This usually takes a little while so I get it started and then go work on something else.

Once all your cookies have been baked and cooled you can start icing them. I like to use cookies with simple shapes that don't require a lot of detailing because I lack the patience and time that goes into a more intricate cookie. So I have purged my cookie cutter collection to only shapes that are cute and simple on their own.

First you outline all of your cookies with a thick enough line of icing where it does not spread. If you are using more than one color, leave space open for where you will fill in with them.

Once they are dry, you can then fill it in with icing that is slightly watered down (just add a little bit of water until you get the right consistency). I just use a knife to dribble the icing on. Then spread the icing around to fill it in with a knife or toothpick.

Once dry, repeat the same process with the other color.

Mine were not completely dry when I added the second color and by far not perfect, but they still came out pretty for making at 8:00 the night before Easter!

They were a huge hit and are always wow worthy just to look at. You can also check out a previous post I put together on flooding sugar cookies where I did wait until they were completely dry and the icing has a more layered effect. :)

Royal Icing Recipe

3 ounces of egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat egg whites and vanilla until frothy. Slowly add in sugar at low speed until mixed. Turn on high and beat until icing forms thick, glossy peaks.

Protein Powder Pancakes Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I have been reading some fitness and health blogs lately and it is blowing my mind. These women are creative with what they eat and I have been so inspired. So I stumbled on a few different recipes for pancakes or waffles using protein powder and came up with my own variation.

These pancakes are packed with protein and are made without any flour or oil. And the only other main ingredients are egg whites and bananas. It is literally like having a protein shake but in pancake form. Because some mornings you just need something warm and comforting. Be prepared to be amazed.

Each recipe makes one serving. Approximately 200 calories.

Chocolate Protein Powder Pancakes

3 egg whites
1 scoop/serving of chocolate protein powder
1/2 banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon almond milk (or more to make it pancake consistency)

Mash the bananas with the almond milk. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat skillet to medium and spray with cooking spray. Pour batter, cook, and flip!

I sprinkled a few chocolate chips on top or you could even drizzle a little maple syrup.

Protein Powder Pancakes with Strawberries

3 egg whites
1 scoop/serving of vanilla protein powder
1/2 banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon almond milk (or more to make it pancake consistency)
strawberries

Mash the bananas with the almond milk. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat skillet to medium and spray with cooking spray. Pour batter, cook, and flip!

Cut up a few strawberries and top with a drizzle of maple syrup. Oh my goodness...it is so good!

Recipe adapted from the Tone It Up Girls.

New Photo Disk Packaging for Urke Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I recently decided it was time for a change when it came to our photo disk packaging we give to our clients for our photography business. I wanted something simple, easy, and fairly inexpensive while still being stylish and thoughtful. I came up with the perfect combination that I think fits our style well.

We are easy going, fun, and detail oriented. But definitely not high maintenance, snooty, or trying to be like everyone else. I think as I have learned to brand Domestic Fashionista, the more years that pass with Urke Photography, I am seeing the value in branding that business as well. We want to draw in clients that fit with our brand and not just anyone for the sake of more business. And I think that finding contentment in that allows us to do better work as well as better meet our client's needs.

So if you are looking for a photographer, besides quality of image, I would say finding someone who's style fits your own life style will prove to provide you beautiful photos that capture a real view of who you are. Because they get it.

Now that I am off my soap box on hiring a photographer, here are the details on our packaging! I searched online for CD covers that were natural and simple looking and after a very long search I found out that they sold some at Walmart! I found washi tape at Michael's (they don't have a huge selection but a few basic cute ones) and baker's twine I ordered off of Amazon.

I printed one of my favorite images from the photo shoot and printed it out as a square (tutorial on that as well as printing instagram photos at home to come) and then taped it on the cover with the washi tape.

For the disc, I didn't want to just give a plain disc. We used to print photo labels for the disc but it used up a lot of ink and became an ongoing hassle to create each time. So instead I kept it simple by stamping their initials on a plain white disk label. I think it fits well with the handmade touch of the covers.

We wanted to also make sure to provide our name and website on the disk somewhere so I designed these labels to put on the back of the disk cover (another tutorial on that to come as well!).

Once the covers are finished, I bubble wrapped it for safe travel by mail and finished it off with baker's twine. I just love that you get a little peak at our label through the bubble wrap. Functional but still cute. I think that should be my middle name.

It is a joy to provide beautiful photos to people to look back at for years to come. But receiving those images in the mail should be a delight just in itself as well!

Creating Traditions Not Just During the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

The second craft day I ever hosted, I asked the girls if they wanted me to make coffee. Everyone said yes and some even said they were looking forward to the coffee all morning remembering that I served it the previous craft day. There was nothing fancy about the coffee (though I do keep a hearty supply of Torani syrups on hand!) but the fact that they anticipated and expected it meant we were making a craft day tradition.

The thing is people like to know what to expect. A surprise here and there is fun but there is safety and comfort in looking forward to something that is consistent.

I read something once that talked about the importance of creating traditions in a family. Especially during the holidays it is difficult to balance the pressures of too many traditions (which is a whole other topic) but I think the point was to make things consistent so that they could form a memory.

When I look back on my own childhood it was the consistent things we did that I have the most memories of. It doesn't have to be extravagant but the fact that we did it year after year or that we had a certain type of food at a certain type of event, those are the things that are remembered. And not to much surprise, often so many of our memories are based around food.

So find a really great homemade pizza recipe or always buy a certain type of ice cream for someone's birthday. Always have board games out at family dinner or have friends over on Groundhog's Day.

I loved that this last year so many of our friends looked forward to our holiday dessert party. Not only will our guests remember our party but they will remember preparing for our party...coming up with a recipe to make and taking all day to bake it. It's not just another holiday party but it's something that people look forward to, can rely on having every year, and as a result are making memories of.

For me and my husband we have made some simple and fun traditions for the everyday. When we go see a movie together we get a California burrito from Adalberto's, stuff them in my purse, and eat it in the theater. It's really nothing special but my husband loves it! And I rarely want to eat at Adalberto's (it's a greasy, delicious, authentic Mexican restaurant) so for me it's a treat that I can enjoy without much guilt. But the fact that we do this almost every time we go to see a movie (which isn't very often) we have created a memory and a tradition that we both look forward to.

I encourage you to consider the celebrations as well as the everyday moments in life. Let's be more thoughtful of the memories we are helping our family and friends to create.

// What small traditions do you celebrate?

Earlier this week I shared over at Michaela Noelle Designs for her She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not series about some of the things I am loving and not so loving right now. I talk about Disneyland and cleaning bathroom toilets but you will have to read it to find out what I am talking about!

How to Add a Print Button to Your Blog Posts

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I recently added a print button to ALL my blog posts and I am pretty excited about it. So if there is a recipe you want to make, it is now even easier to just print it out. You can find the print it button on the bottom of each blog post as pictured above.

The thing I love about it is that it is totally customizable. As you can see in the picture above you have the choice to print, convert to PDF, or email. Then if you hover your mouse over any text or photo, it will highlight that section in yellow and offer you to click to delete (I believe you can also just click on a photo without it being highlighted yellow and it will delete the photo for you). So if you wanted just the recipe or just a section of the post, you can delete extra pictures or words so when you go to print it out it is not 10 pages long (can I get an amen!?).

If you want to add this print button to your own blog, hop on over to Print Friendly, where you can create your own button to be added to your posts!

Networking + Linking Up with Other Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I got asked once about my thoughts on networking with other bloggers and why I do not do a lot of link ups and how that has to do with blog success. It's an interesting question and something I often consider when deciding what my time is worth as it comes to swapping posts with other bloggers and joining link up parties.

I would say I am a pretty independent blogger. I love the relationships I have built with readers and the two or three relationships I have built with a few of my all time favorite big bloggers. But at the end of the day I have come to the decision that making time to swap guest posts, network with other bloggers, and consistently link up to blog parties was not worth the payback for me. I already spend a ton of time blogging and I cannot rationally give more of my time to blog tasks that are not going to repay me for what I believe my time is worth.

Now this is probably opposite advice to any sort of blog advice out there about networking. But I believe that that opinion is coming from advice for people who want to be blogging full time. And I am here to say you can build a strong blog without spending a ton of time networking. I said a ton. A little definitely helps but it doesn't have to be as much as we are all being told.

The trick is to find who benefits you the most. Not in a sneaky--I am going to use you--sort of way. But in a--find bloggers who have a same heartbeat when it comes to blogging and be a part of their community. When you rub shoulders with like minded people, you will naturally find people who want to connect with you.

For me guest posts are a lot of work. I am usually challenged with writing about a specific topic that I am asked to write about when I think my best work comes from writing on things that come to me naturally. My best work are usually not guest posts. So to write a guest post that I am not super excited about on top of not winning over a ton of hearts with my less than best work, it is a lot of work with out a lot of benefits. When some of my daily blog reads have guest posts, I usually pass it up and don't read. This may not be the case for everyone, but for me I want to read what the blog writer has to say not someone else.

Besides Fall and Christmas, I maybe link up to five link up parties a year. If that. And when I do it's because I connect with the link up personally. For example, last year Emily Freeman came out with a new book that I emotionally connected with and so when she invited readers to link up a letter to their sixteen year old self, I wanted to join in for my sake. I wanted to write and publish that letter. It wasn't because I was hoping for more traffic. I did gain a little bit of temporary extra traffic from her blog which is usually the benefit of linking up but it wasn't my purpose to linking up.

Thankfulness Thursdays is also a good example of this. Personally I did not get a ton of traffic myself hosting a link up every week on what I was thankful for. But I did it for myself and I believe the readers who linked up were also doing it for themselves. The difference is because it was a small link up I got to know the people who linked up very quickly by reading their weekly posts. This is another avenue to consider that linking up to a small blog party may not gain you a lot of extra traffic but it can build up a better relationship with a blogger you admire.

As for the holidays, there are a group of home decor bloggers who host seasonal link up parties that I try to link up with. But one of the main reasons I link up with them is because I am already blogging about the topics they are hosting. I do not have to come up with new content in order to link up.

With this group of women, I do gain quite a bit of extra hits for a few weeks after their link up party. For me it is worth adjusting my seasonal blog schedule to match theirs and to make sure I link back to their party and wake up early enough to compete with all you east coasters who are already linking up posts at my crack of dawn.

But though I do get a temporary boost in traffic it does not last much past the holiday season. Plus I do not get a lot of comments which to me says they may have liked my ideas but not enough to personally connect with. I do this myself all the time. I try to comment as much as possible. But if I am cramped for time, I will quickly click over to follow on Twitter or Facebook with hopes of catching up with them later. But if I truly connect with a person and what they wrote, I will comment. And to me that means someone won me over.

Above everyone else, there is one blogger who I consistently get traffic from year around. It happens to be one of my favorite bloggers and I believe I get traffic from her for a number of reasons. The first one is that I consistently, though not a ton, comment on her posts. This means commenting maybe once a week or a few times a month. By commenting consistently other readers can recognize who I am and the types of things that I say. But its not just about commenting. Like I shared earlier, I feel like I share a heartbeat with this blogger. I personally connect with what she writes and as a result personally respond. Mixed amongst her many, many other readers who feel the same way, and you have yourself a community of like minded people. And this is the gem. This is where the real traffic comes from, consistently. And this is where you will hopefully gain faithful readers and not just temporary traffic hits.

Because of this I link up with this blogger the most because I gain the most traffic from her, but also because I want to link up with her because I believe in what she writes about. That's what I call a win-win.

All this to be said, I like to swim against the current in life. I read a lot about the business side of blogging and personally find it fascinating. But I pick and choose from what I hear and apply it to how it fits my own personal life and philosophy for blogging. I encourage you to do the same. No one blogger is the same and you are the only one who gets to decided if and when this "hobby" should be more.

Decorating and Entertaining at an Early Age

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

When I think back to the first time I ever hosted a party it was sometime while I was in college. I was living in an apartment with my roommates and we started hosting holiday themed girl’s nights. We had a Christmas cookie baking party and a Saint Patrick’s Day soiree of green appetizers and clover shaped everything. I remember my roommates let me decorate our common living space and kitchen as they told me I had a good eye for decorating. I started collecting holiday decorations and had my mom make us a floral wreath for our door.

All during this time I was studying to become a teacher, which as you may have noticed, never happened. I used to think that my love for the holidays, decorating, and spending my time doing anything creative had to do with my desire to have my own classroom one day. Though I do not doubt that my college studies and my time as an elementary school student play heavily in this as well but as I look back at my past I see early on a love for filling a home with pretty things.

Growing up in my parent’s home my mom always let me decorate my room however I wanted. I had my Barbie phase, my paint each wall a different color phase (see even then I couldn’t make up my mind!), my teenage punk rock band loving stage, and the list goes on. I would spend late nights at home tearing my room apart, moving furniture, organizing drawers, and rearranging posters.

Compared to kids rooms I see online today, this was not a reflection of any sort of professional interior design. My taste has grown up since then and I have found greater ground at having an eye for design, but it was in those early years that I had the freedom to create and decorate which lead me to my passions today.

I think it is so interesting as a kid, and even as a twenty something, to have an idea of what you want to be when you grow up and what direction you want your life to take. Never did I ever consider going into any art field let alone one in interior design, yet it was ingrained in my heart and soul’s inner being at such an early age.

Even when I was in college, I was working with students, at one point running a fifth and sixth grade ministry at my church, which was filled with planning events, creating activities, and decorating a room for the students I oversaw. There have been times where I have questioned my gifts and skills I once used as a young adult and questioning my purpose in the home now. But I realized those gifts are not lost. They were actually the stepping stones to the person I have become today. Those experiences prepared me to be the homemaker, entertainer, encourager of women, and the blogger that I am today.

I am thankful for a mom who did not go crazy every time I changed my room. I was free to take risks and find confidence in surrounding myself with things I loved. I hope to be this open with my own children’s creativity one day.

I am thankful that I took a leap and did not pursue teaching as it opened up a whole new world to explore my creativity (Did you know I started blogging shortly after I graduated college? I had quit my job—another risk that everyone questioned, and I spent my free time blogging and crafting. I had an Etsy shop for a short time and I followed blogs about homemaking and home décor. Little did I know these things would come full circle to a reflection of my true passions and callings in life).

I am also thankful for all those students. Those students were my trial run. They got excited about holidays and activities and hanging things on the wall. They gave me a safe place to try new things and to be detail oriented that sometimes adults don’t always notice (of course you all notice but I didn’t know you back then!).

And I am thankful for my roommates and my time living on my own. It was my first nesting experience and my roommates were so easy going, they put up with my decorations and constantly wanting to organize everything. It was my first home away from my parents and I learned I could still play house even as an adult.

But these words would not be complete without the entire story because with these fond memories come a few hard ones too. Out of love, people confronted me, questioned what I was doing with my life, and tried to talk me out of an ideal life that I had come up with in my mind. Little did they know that I am a hard core idealist and those big dreams I had finally came true.

But I am thankful for those situations because they are what helped shape me into the person I am today. Because when the whole world was shouting one thing it was those inner whispers that spoke of my true passions. I am glad I had the courage to listen to them.

// How has your past brought you to where you are today?

Crystal Light, Non-Fat Greek Yogurt, Fruit, and Spinach Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I love me a good smoothie, shake, and any other liquid form of something that doubles as both tasty and healthy. Today I wanted to share one of my go to snack smoothies I have been having. I have been making this smoothie for years now but it was just until recently I decided to add in the non-fat Greek yogurt for an added punch of protein and creaminess.

What you will need:

-Crystal Light (or generic brand)--I recommend fruit punch! I pour this in last to just cover all the other ingredients
-Non-fat Greek yogurt (plain or flavored)--about one heaping tablespoon
-Spinach--handful
-Frozen fruit (I bag up leftover fruit and freeze it)--one cup or so

Add all ingredients into a blender or hand mixer and blend.

This smoothie recipe is so easy and quite honestly, so, so delicious. The Crystal Light and fruit make it incredibly sweet that it feels like you are indulging! Feel free to cut back on the Crystal Light and add water or almond milk for variation! And for just about 200 calories, you can drink these things all day long!

My Husband's Holiday Work Party

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I am a ~~little~~ really late at sharing these photos but the heart of the matter is still present. The week before Christmas we hosted one more holiday event in our home (I was so ready to have everything Christmas related boxed and put away by Christmas day!). My husband wanted to get together with the team that he supervises and so we decided to invite them over for an open house in our home.

This was the first time I have ever had a home full of people where I did not know one single person. Due to the nature of my husband's work non-employees are not allowed at his work preventing any opportunity for me to meet his co-workers. Preparing our home, food, and myself for people I have never met was definitely a new stretch for me as it pertains to entertaining.

I was stressed. I wanted to wear the right thing. I wanted the food to all be delicious. I wanted to represent my husband well as well as present myself well.

It would have been so much easier to suggest taking his team out to dinner or even keeping myself out of the event all together. But I didn't want to and I knew how important it was for me to be a part of it and to support my husband's work in a way that I am gifted.

But as I should have known, the evening was perfect. We had a wonderful turnout, everyone was friendly, the food was delicious, guests were appreciative, and most importantly, my husband was happy. Nothing like inviting people into your home and sharing a meal to strengthen relationships and, in this case, build a stronger team.

The women complimented our home, asked about my blog, and knocked my socks off with sincere kindness. I felt proud to be my husband's wife in a room of hard working professionals.

I gained a lot from opening our house up to people I didn't know. If I lived in fear of having people in my home I would not reap the blessing of the overwhelming gift of hospitality. I am thankful for yet another challenge to make myself vulnerable in my own home for the sake of building relationships.

And plus, who wouldn't love to dip some sweets into a chocolate fountain? I'd say it was husband approved.

$50 Minted Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:35:00 +0000

I have been on the look out for some art prints to add to our TV wall and I found some really cute ones from Minted. Minted offers an array of cute paper goods that also include wedding invitations, business cards, and holiday cards. I love their modern yet whimsical style. Here are a few of the art prints I am debating on getting.

Kind of a turquoise and pink theme, huh? What's new, right!? I think a few of these will add just the perfect amount of color punch to balance out our black flatscreen TV.

Along with their beautiful products, Minted also features some pretty spectacular inspiration boards that can help you design your piece and even serve as great color inspiration for home decor!

A More Perfect Union board by Jennifer Wick. See more wedding invitations on Minted

Thanks to the lovely people of Minted, one lucky reader as well as myself will get to try out some of Minted's beautiful products!

Enter below for your chance to win a $50 credit to Minted!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Favorite Android Photo Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I'll admit it...we live in an iPhone world and it is sometimes hard to keep up when you have an Android phone. But I am content with what I have and thought I would offer up some of my tips for phone photography apps through Google Play. Many times I have stumbled upon a cool new photo app only to be dissapointed to find that it is not available for Android. So after much hunting and trying out apps, these are my favorite go to phone photos apps for Android phone users.

Instagram is my photo sharing place of choice. You upload your photo into the app where it can then be edited and then shared with your Instagram followers as well as on Twitter and Facebook (and Facebook pages).

PicsArt is a great app for making collages as well as editing photos. I mostly use it to make collages first and then upload to Instagram to add a filter. PicsArt also allows you to add text to your photos.

Pixlr-o-matic offers a wider range of filters you can use to give your photo different effects. If you want your images to look super artsy or over processed, this app is a really fun one to play with.

Photo Squarer is an app that allows you to show off your entire photo instead of cropping it in Instagram. This is great for when you want to see the entire image that you took but still want to upload it to Instagram in a square format.

And remember, don't just let those pictures sit on your phone. You can make them into a book!

// Any other favorite photo editing apps out there for Android phones?

Always Changing, Always Growing--My Garden and My Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Over the last month I have been spending a lot of time sprucing up our front yard. This is the first spring that I have gardened (I usually wait until the summer for whatever crazy reason) and it has been so refreshing to my spirit and my yard to get an early jump at filling my garden with new spring growth.

Since I took these pictures we have mowed the lawn and picked weeds but I still wanted to post these pictures instead because they captured a moment. There I was planting and digging around in the dirt as the clouds came crawling across the sky. Just as I finished placing in the last bloom into the ground, the rain started to sprinkle. It was a gift to my freshly planted plants as well as a refreshing mist on my heart for a job well done.

As I stood there admiring my work, I thought to myself that just like on the inside of my home, the outside of my home is always changing. I don't know why I cannot let things just be, but I get new ideas, more confidence, and so much joy from changing things up that I have accepted it as a part of who I am.

I told myself that I do not have to keep the garden the previous owners put in. I am allowed to have the flowers and plants that I want and I should not feel trapped to what someone else thought was a good idea. It would never keep me from painting a wall in our home but for some reason when it came to flowers, it felt wrong to move or change things. Instead I put out some of the plants I pulled out, put them on the side of the road, and the next day someone else got to enjoy, for free, my no longer needed bushes.

And in the midst of all of this I realized that my desire to always be growing and changing went deeper than my flowers and wall colors. It was a part of my heart.

I never want to become stagnant in who I am. I want to be learning, growing, and changing into a better version of myself. I want to love better, be kinder, be willing to learn and try new things, as well as never get too set in my ways.

This past month I have had some time to refocus my priorities and time and it has really helped me to be at a better place than I was this last year. Not that this last year was bad or anything specific, but making a few changes--being willing to grow and be accountable to the person I want to be--has allowed me to lead a happier and more content life. I feel like the real me again and it's not until I stepped away from that and came back that I realized I wasn't living as great of a life as I could I have been.

Another season...a new spring...to enjoy the beauty of new life and growth that often gets hidden in the cold of winter. The red tree above is the tree I planted in honor of my mom being cancer free.

One of my favorite additions this Spring is the camilia trees I planted in front of our bedroom window. It has always been a dream of mine to look out my bedroom window and see flowers. It's a small dream but one that brings me great joy.

I can already see it peeking through our window and it is a reminder of the beauty in life I have to live.

Sacramento Bloggers Meetup at Lowbrau

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Photo courtesy of Katie Did What

Monday night I put on my big girl leggings and headed out to my first Sacramento Bloggers Meetup at Lowbrau. It is pretty surprising to find out just how many bloggers actually live in the same city let alone all congregated in the same place for one night.

I left encouraged and inspired by the people I got to meet and the few I have met before. It reminded me that there are people out there just like you and me, sharing the gritty details of their lives online, and absolutely loving it. When you share so much of yourself out to whoever is willing to read it there is a level of willingness to be real and not hold much back. Even if we have nothing in common, we do share the fact that we process, learn, and grow from our words in a unique way that has a public audience.

I am always amazed at experiences like these where I realize just how much blogging has changed my life. It has provided this outlet...a community...that so deeply fits into my heart along with my personality. And for someone who has struggled with being heard in an extroverted world, it has also helped me to find my voice.

The highlight of my night was finally meeting Evani of Simply Evani. She has been a long time blogging friend and meeting in person felt like we have already known each other for years. I also loved meeting Katie of Katie Did What for the first time. She is just darling, silly, and stylish and I look forward to getting to know her more.

I also got to catch up with a fellow home decor blogger, Tiffany, who was my first in real life blog friend I have ever met. It's nice to hang out with someone who is also just as obsessed with all things pretty in the home!

If you live in or near the Sacramento area, check out Sacramento Bloggers for more info on upcoming meetups and events! I would love to meet you!

Finding Passion and Purpose in What I Do

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

During a recent photo shoot my friend Julia told me that the photos I took of her portray her light, her spirit, and her brightness. She said that is is something that she doesn't always see for herself in front of the mirror but it translates in the photos I have taken of her.

My friend Jennifer has also said similar things, saying we make her look her best after she saw her engagement pictures.

To me, as a woman and a photographer, this is one of the greatest compliments I could ever get. To not just offer amazing pictures to remember a moment or season in life, but to give a woman confidence in who deep within her she is. To provide a photo of her that portrays her looking at her most possible best...that speaks deep into a woman’s self esteem and soul.

Lately my nephew has gotten more interested in things like the alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes. It has allowed me to put on my old teacher hat and find creative ways to play and learn at the same time. Not only has it provided great times of bonding, but I feel so purposeful when I am able to take skills that I have and share them with him in a way that benefits and grows him as a child.

I share all this to say that in my creative work over the past few months I have experienced a greater sense of purpose--that my skills and creativity are being shared and given to others in a way that benefits them in positive ways.

So much of my creativity is done for myself and so I am learning that when I can extend that to others, those creative endeavors give me even greater passion and joy.

My work can inspire and change lives and that makes me confident in myself, as a professional at what I do, and as a person who is living a life of purpose.

Easter Candy Themed Tablescape

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

For Easter this year I put together a tablescape with a theme of Easter candy. Even if I am too old for Easter egg hunts I surely can still enjoy eating some of my favorite Spring time sweets! The mix of bright colors makes a fun but not too stuffy Easter meal.

I made Easter basket cupcakes made up of green frosting, chocolates, jelly beans, and a candy grass handle. The entire thing is 100% edible!

For each place setting, a little Peep is perched in their very own graham cracker house with candy grass.

The table was inspired by the colorful mismatched placemats I found at World Market. Who says you have to have matching placemats? I love being able to fall in love with each individual one.

The centerpiece is simple--a collection of cupcakes and a few more Peeps hanging out in a bowl of candy grass. A small house plant adds some additional height and color.

Each place setting also got their own chocolate. I found these fancy chocolates at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. The pretty packaging adds a bit of color and also serves as a fun take home for guests (in case they aren't sugared up enough!).

This tablescape is so easy but definitely feels special. Using the food to double as decor makes for less need for table clutter.

To make your own Peeps graham cracker houses, some tips at keeping your house standing long enough to admire:

To keep the graham crackers in place, I glued down a frosting "x" so it would stick to the plate.

I then glued down frosting for the side walls.

Put up walls.

Reinforce the standing walls by frosting the inside and outside of the connecting graham crackers.

Let dry so that the walls are strong enough to hold the roof. If you have time, I let most of mine dry overnight. While you wait you can fill them with edible grass (found at Walmart in the Easter section) and Peeps.

Once walls are dry, frost on the remaining two graham crackers for the roof.

Happy Easter!

Our Wedding Slide Show

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

In attempts to better document and archive my life, I uploaded our wedding slide show on to YouTube. It's nothing fancy or of super high quality, but it captures us as we prepared for our big day and I do not think I could ever get sick of watching it. As we continue to move forward in an internet and technology heavy culture I figured having it accessible online was much easier than trying to find it stuffed in a box somewhere with the chances of it getting lost or broken. Plus I figured some of you may get a kick out of watching it as well as friends I have made since we have been married. I hope you enjoy it.

Next up is putting together a video from our actual wedding day from some video footage and photography from that day. I have my work cut out for me.

If you are having trouble viewing this video, click on over to the original post to watch.

I Do Not Need More Money Or More Success

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

When I graduated from college I realized I did not want to go into teaching and had recently quit my job. I took any opportunity I could to make a little money so that I could take the time to figure things out and just enjoy a season where I did not have to work.

It was a preview I think to the rest of my life. A desire to have a slower pace of living, to have time to be creative, and make hobbies I love into something I could make a small amount of money from.

I realize my life is not for everyone and that I have my own unique situation and calling. But as time has passed and I found my specific niche (blogging and photography) I have realized I do not have to take every opportunity that comes my way anymore. I have found my place of being me and living a simple life.

I do not need more money. And I do not need more success. This doesn't mean that I don't work hard at what I do or that money is never tight. I have decided to not work or commit to things beyond what I consider a healthy balance for myself in order to maintain the lifestyle I would like to live.

I choose a simple life over having more things and I choose having more time over being busy.

This is so opposite of what our culture tells us to do. Go to school, get a job, buy a home, live the American dream. Make more money, climb the corporate ladder, and find your fifteen minutes of fame.

There is a part of me that wants this too. But there is a bigger part of me that likes a simple life. A part of me that likes to have free time. To be available to be with the people I love and to be flexible to my husband and future children's needs. To not live a life always anxious or stressed. And to take the time to make sure I live a balanced life making the things most important to me highest priority.

I am content in where I am at. Though I would love to gain more blog readers, more popularity for our photography, and more money to decorate my home with, it is at the end of the day that I realize though all of these things bring me temporary joy, they do not fulfill me or make me whole.

It is those moments I get to spend with my husband that make life worth living. It is those doctor's appointments with my parents I have the time to attend. It is those friendships that are fostered by being available. It's those flowers in my yard that I have the time to care for and enjoy.

I realize not everyone can be in my shoes. We all are at a different place at how much we have to work and how much we have to fill our calendar with in order to make life work. But my point to all of this is not so much about what the right amount of busyness in life is but rather knowing when to say no to more money and more success for the purpose of having a more fulfilling life.

I Need Your Vote! // Sacramento KCRA 3 A-List

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I am excited to share that Domestic Fashionista has been nominated as the best local blogger of Sacramento from our local news station, KCRA 3. For local businesses, this is a big deal to be in the running for. Signs are proudly posted in store front windows around town for being voted as #1. It would truly be an honor to even make it anywhere close to number one.

So may I beg of you and your vote? You do not have to be from Sacramento to vote. And it would mean so much to me. The voting has already begun and I would love for the DF community to show some love!

All you have to do is click over to the Domestic Fashionista page on KCRA and click on vote. You do have to log in via email or through Facebook or Twitter but it is very easy and I promise no spammy emails will be coming your way!

And since you are already there, being the awesome reader and supporter that you are, may I ask that you also vote for my mom's flower shop, Flower Power Florist? Her flower business has been family owned and running since 1971 when it was first opened by my grandmother. My mom works so hard and does an amazing job and we would just love your support!

Vote for Domestic Fashionista here.
Vote for Flower Power Florist here.

Thank you kind friends! xoxo

How to Create Magazine Style Photo Books with Blurb

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

If there is one New Year's resolution I am succeeding at, it is getting photo books published. I am busting them out in a timely manner and it feels great to have all those pictures in print. Though I must tell you that the success at getting these things made and printed was letting go of perfectionism.

Earlier in my photo book making days there was a point where I was making all of my pages in Photoshop. Then that was too much work so I started making collages in Picassa. Yet even then it was still too time consuming. So I decided no more second party scrapbooking--from now on I use the premade layouts in Blurb. And, surprisingly enough, I have found it is actually easier to make and they are coming out much more professional looking.

I wanted it to be more about the photos telling the story then layers of page decorations and words for the sake of filling in space. I call my new style "magazine inspired" as the text is uniform and simple (playing off a bit of my own blog design) and the words are brief (still memorable but to the point) and at the beginning of each book or book section. Making photo books just got a whole lot easier.

I finally made a photo book from our three year anniversary trip to Puerto Vallarta. I also need to mention that these are the first set of books that feature photos that have all been taken on our DSLR camera as well as being edited. There is a huge difference in the photo and book quality when the images are at a professional level.

In the past I have been disappointed at what seemed to be the quality of my photo books when in fact it was more of a matter of the quality of the photos. Even if you do not edit your photos, shooting with a nicer camera really makes a difference in how the books turn out (though making books of lower quality photos are still worth it to preserve memories than not have them at all).

For this trip, I wrote a few paragraphs highlighting my favorite memories from the week on the first page.

Something I learned is that I like to have a little white in every page. This means keeping white space between photos or around full bleed images to create a cohesive magazine look throughout the book. It's tempting to always make that one large image fill the entire page but I feel like the photo has even greater impact with some white around it.

You will see that many of my pages are similar, helping the book flow well, but just different enough that they do not seem repetitive.

Another trend I found myself doing was having one page of one or two large images and the following page has a larger number of photos collaged. I think that having one or two large images, your eyes have a place they are drawn to as well as a place to rest against the opposite page that is more busy. The rule of thirds applies to the layout of your photos just as much as in the photo.

I set up the book in order of how it happened and I try to group each set of two pages with a similar theme. This can be tricky as I may have to use extra photos or cut some out so that they fit the pages correctly. This is probably the most time consuming part but well worth it to create a cohesive look between each page.

To change it up, here is an example of how I designed two pages into one large layout. I chose the large photos of my husband and I first and then worked around them.

We had quite a few set of photos where we had multiple images documenting one event (in this case, me getting hit by a wave) and so I collaged all of the images in time sequence to reenact the story.

I made a similar style book for our recent trip to Napa Valley, except this time I made Blurb's square sized book. Our trip was just over the weekend so I did not have as many photos as I would if it was a one week trip.

Since I had less photos I decided to make a smaller book in proportion to the amount of photos I had. I like most of my larger books to be over 40 or 50 pages for the book to feel substantial enough to be a book. So if I have less photos, I make a smaller book to stretch the photos out over more pages.

Since we stopped at multiple new travel locations, I wrote a short blurb before each spot to remember what it was called and a few memories from that place.

And the back cover is always my favorite.

Here is a comparison of the sizes of the two books. The Puerto Vallarta book is Blub's standard landscape and is 160 pages. The Napa Valley book is the small square and is 54 pages (but you can make the books any page length you want).

And a comparison of the thickness.

Though I think the price of photo books is worth the money, they can be pricey (especially when making them back to back!) so I never order a book without a coupon code. Some of my favorite places for reliable Blurb coupon codes (and they always seem to have one running) is Ultimate Coupons and Retail Me Not. You can also do an internet search for "Blurb coupon codes."

The savings usually range from 10-30% off and you can also find codes for free shipping. I usually do the math and go through "check out" multiples time before purchasing to find out if free shipping or the percentage off is a better deal. Yes, I am a hard core deal finder!

If you are interested in making a book with Blurb for the first time, hop on over using this link to get $20 off your first book!

Click on the buttons below to check out more of my photo book and scrapbook related posts or my tips on photography:

Other Ways to Subscribe with the Closing of Google Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

If you have not heard yet, Google Reader is closing July 1st. I was pretty bummed to hear the news as it has been my go to source for catching up on all of my favorite blogs via my phone and computer. But if you too are a big Google Reader fan, there are a few other options to not losing all of your existing blog subscriptions when it closes.

I researched the options a bit and have found Feedly to be a great substitute. With the closing of Google Reader, Feedly is making it extremely simple to move over all of your Google subscriptions over to Feedly. Once you download it on to your computer or phone it will automatically give you the option to move over your Google Reader subscriptions. You can follow Domestic Fashionista on Feedly here.

Another great option to following along with your favorite blogs is via Bloglovin (I have an account but since they do not have an Android app at this time, I will be using Feedly). They also offer an easy way to move over your Google Reader subscriptions. You can follow Domestic Fashionista on Bloglovin here.

And if all of this is just too confusing, you can always follow along on Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe via email by entering your email address below:

Thanks for taking the time to stay connected with Domestic Fashionista! xoxo

Saint Patrick's Day--What We Ate, What I Wore, and What Was on My Table

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Urke | Domestic Fashionista) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I am a bit behind at sharing about our Saint Patrick's Day festivities but I figured better late than never, right? We started the day off with shamrock shaped pancakes (using this cookie cutter technique and a little green food coloring).

We usually have dinner with my parents on Sunday nights, so I took out a couple of my Saint Patrick's Day dishes to dress up our table. I have really downsized on my holiday decor, so I am down to just a few dishes and one little shamrock ornament. Yet somehow, in just those few items, the dinner still felt special.

I picked up these cute polka dot napkins to use for Easter but I thought they would be fun to add a little color to my green table. How easy does napkins and paper straws dress up a table?! I am now adding fun napkins to my party supplies list. I also recently purchased a new burlap runner from World Market.

I made sure to wear my green...top from Banana Republic outlet (recent).

I made a new recipe for broccoli and cheese soup which proved to be quite tasty.

And like every year, we finished it off with mint chocolate chip milkshakes. It's my favorite part.