Tifmurray

i just love vivetta. always and forever! gotta get my hands on one of these collars…

it’s friday. let’s just look at cool things, shall we?

we were originally inspired by these chanel pearl and shell shaped purses above! that led natalie down a rabbit hole of other cool shaped purses…

love those palm ones! but i gotta say, my favorite is the cherries below…

which do you like??

these flautas are so good, and so easy, perfect for a weeknight dinner. i know we’re a little late on the super bowl snack front but these work anytime. they’re really inexpensive to make, we spent less then $20 at our local latin supermarket and this recipe easily serves 5.

recipe makes up to 10 flautas 

what you’ll need:
• 2 small sweet potatoes diced
• 1 quarter of an onion diced
• 1/2 cup Kraft shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 can black beans
• 1 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 can Green Giant Mexicorn (regular can of corn is great as well)
• 1 small case of Queso Fresco for garnish
• 10 flour tortillas
• 1 case of red salsa for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 15oz jar crema fresca (sour creme is also great if not available in your store)

• Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium sized pot bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Cook the diced sweet potatoes for about 5-10 minutes or until slightly tender when poked with a fork. Remove the sweet potatoes and in a large bowl mix in your sweet potatoes, black beans, shredded mexican cheese, diced onions, canned corn, cumin, garlic salt, and onion powder.
• On a large baking sheet, set your flour tortilla flat and fill generously in a line down the center of each. Roll tightly and place with the seam side down. Repeat the process until the baking sheet is full. Brush a nice layer of olive oil covering the tortillas. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

creamy avocado salsa:

• 5-6 tomatillos
• 2 limes
• 1 quarter of an onion
• 1 small bushel of cilantro
• 1-2 jalapeños depending on the heat level you desire
• 2 small avocados
• salt and pepper to taste

• Remove the husks from the tomatillos and wash thoroughly to remove the sticky residue. Cut the tomatillos into halves. In a medium sized skillet (cast iron or stainless steal is recommended) place the tomatillos in the skillet on medium to high heat. Roast the tomatillos on both sides, about 5-10 minutes. In a blender, blend the tomatillos with the quarter of an onion, cilantro, 2 limes juiced, avocados, 1-2 jalapeños (we removed some of the stems and seeds inside to reduce the heat but still retain some flavor) salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth.

• Once the flautas are out of the oven begin to top them with your garnishes. We topped ours with chopped cilantro, creme fresca, queso fresco, homemade creamy avocado salsa and red salsa. If the queso fresco or crema fresca is not available in your area some great substitutions are sour creme. sprinkle the remaining shredded Mexican cheese blend on top. enjoy!

styling by: joanie cusack and ivan solis
photos by: ivan solis

Welcome to another edition of Emma-makes-two-meals-at-once-and-freezes-one. Also tagged as "freezer meals" on the blog. This is like passive income—work hard now and you can reap the benefits later.

I was listening to a Smart Passive Income podcast earlier today, so that may or may not be why my references are weird. :)

The weather seems to have finally gotten winter cold here in southern Missouri where I live. This puts me in the mood for pasta, casseroles and all manner of warm, creamy carbs. 

But this doesn't mean we can't make a super comforting meal that is also packed with plants and nutrition. :) This meal has both going on, and it's delicious! Not to mention the half and half potato situation makes it pretty cute too. 

Simple & Comforting Shepherd's Pie, makes 4 servings, which we'll be dividing in two (freezing one for later).
Adapted from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Shepherd's Pie

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 cups once peeled and cubed)
3-4 small to medium russet potatoes (about 1 1/2 cups once peeled and cubed)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
6 cloves of garlic
8 oz. tempeh
1 1/2 cups frozen veggie mix (mine had carrots, peas, green beans and corn)
2 tablespoons vegan butter (or regular if you don't care about being vegan)
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour (or gluten free if you need)
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (I used blood oranges.)
3 tablespoons almond milk
salt + pepper throughout
a few tablespoons chopped parsley for the tops

First, peel and cube the potatoes. Boil in lightly salted water in a medium size pot for 12-15 minutes until very tender. 

In the meantime, cook the onion and 4 cloves of minced garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes over medium heat. Cube the tempeh (it's OK if it crumbles some) and add that to the pan along with the frozen vegetables. Continue to cook over medium heat, seasoning with a little salt and pepper, until the vegetables have warmed through. 

In a small saucepan or pot, heat the vegan butter over low/medium heat. Whisk in the flour so a paste forms. Whisk in half of the vegetable stock until a thick gravy begins to form (2-4 minutes depending on your heat). Turn off the heat and whisk in the remaining stock. We're making a thin gravy, so adjust your heat or cook time as needed. Season with a little salt and pepper. (Taste first. Most stocks tend to be well salted, but see what you think it needs.)

Once the potatoes are done, drain and transfer each to a separate mixing bowl. Add the orange juice to the sweet potatoes and mash until smooth. Add the almond milk to the russet potatoes and mash until smooth. Taste each and add salt and pepper as needed. 

Now you're ready to assemble everything! Combine the tempeh mix with the gravy. Transfer this to two ramekins or small baking dishes and one freezer-friendly, small baking pan. You could also make one big shepherd's pie from this recipe, in which case you could add everything to a pie pan. Top with the mashed potatoes. 

If you are baking the two ramekins that day, simply bake at 400°F for 12-15 minutes. This won't take long because most of your ingredients are probably still warm from cooking. Top with fresh parsley and enjoy! 

For the freezer version, on the day you plan to enjoy this, transfer from the freezer to the refrigerator 8-10 hours before you plan to bake. Then bake at 400°F for 25-30 minutes. Top with fresh parsley before serving. Happy make-ahead dinners! xo. Emma

P.S. If you don't care about keeping it vegan, feel free to top with cheese before baking or add a dollop of sour cream before serving ... in case that hadn't occurred to you already. :)

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

Ana Strumpf.

i don’t know where i’ve been, but i’ve never seen these doodled magazine covers before — have you? i love the idea though and it reminds me a lot of when i used to doodle the hell outta my school notebooks and pee-chee folders. i was super into it and felt like if my notebook cover wasn’t cool, well then i just wasn’t cool! these magazine covers turned art are by São Paulo-based artist Ana Strumpf and london based artist hattie stewart — customizing magazine covers such as nylon, Interview, Dazed & Confused, time, and Vogue, among others. doodling the faces of cover models and celebrities to reinvent their faces, each cover is unique and as creative as the next, allowing us to see past normal standards of beauty and advertisement and view them as a whole new work of art. so very cool — makes me want to get out the sharpies and colored markers and go to town!

hattie stewart.

Ana Strumpf.

hattie stewart.

Ana Strumpf.

hattie stewart.

Ana Strumpf.

Lately I've been trying to challenge myself to work on more salad dressings that can be made with ingredients that I generally already have on hand. I will often change up what vegetables I include in salads, mostly based on whatever I have in my refrigerator. But I love adding to my ever-growing list of easy-to-make salad dressings. This one features tahini and is sort of, kind of, a lighter version of this spicy peanut sauce. 

This dressing is creamy and quite balanced with a little spice and a little sweetness. If you want more spice, add a little more red curry paste or throw in some red pepper flakes. If you want to keep this vegan, make sure to use a vegan-friendly red curry paste, as it often contains shrimp otherwise. 

Creamy Tahini Chopped Salad, makes two big salads or could be divided into four if served with an entrée.

For the dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt + pepper to taste

For the salad:
one head of romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 head of purple cabbage, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
two green onions, chopped (ends discarded)
1 cup cooked edamame (I used frozen that I thawed completely)
1/3 cup cashews, chopped

Prepare your salad ingredients, which mostly involves chopping everything. Feel free to channel your inner Swedish Chef for this. And again, feel free to change up your ingredients based on what you have. I have the addition of edamame for some extra protein, and I personally LOVE chopped nuts on almost anything, but especially salad. 

For the dressing, once you have the garlic minced, simply whisk everything together until well combined. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Now you're ready to toss your salad in the dressing and get down to business. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

I have so many ideas for this dish. I wonder if the combination will strike the same creative chord for you. First, here are its elements: 1) Cauliflower, steamed until sweet and tender. 2) Béchamel sauce, flavored with spicy buffalo sauce. 3) Cheddar cheese, melted.

The form I made, in the recipe you’ll read below, is a small casserole of vegetable made indulgent with creamy, spicy sauce, a browned, bubbling top layer of melted cheese. I intended for this to be a side, the way Southern-style mac ‘n cheese is a side, with some pulled pork or ribs. That picture jibed well with a certain not-too-traditional Thanksgiving spread, one that embraced both vegetables and rich food. In the end, I mostly ate portions as a vegetarian lunch, sometimes followed by a vinegar-y green salad. This was an excellent use case.

But then while I was testing and eating, I had this other idea. Series of ideas, really. What if you cut the cauliflower into teeny tiny florets and served the gratin with thin, salty tortilla chips? Call it Buffalo Cauliflower Dip. I think it’d be a hit. Or maybe you could kind of assemble cauliflower, sauce, and cheese on toast and make a little Buffalo Welsh Rarebit. I ate and I riffed. It was endless!

If you’ve thought as much about cauliflower gratin as I apparently have, I want to make sure you know that there’s a trick here: you top the cauliflower with sauce and cheese, then broil quickly, just to melt the cheese. If you cook too long, as with a potato gratin, the sauce will separate and become grainy–even if you dry your florets really well. Don’t be tempted to do this. I promise, if you broil for just a quick period, the cheese bubbles and browns, while the cauliflower stays fairly firm. If you’d like your cauliflower less firm, the simple answer is to boil it longer first. Make sense?
This post is sponsored by Tabasco as part of TABASCO® Tastemakers program. Check out my previous three Tabasco-focused BGSK recipes: Chipotle Pecans, Crispiest Fish with Tabasco Butter, and Spicy Appetizer Meatballs. All opinions, as always, are my own. Thanks for following along with this series and for supporting the sponsors who keep BGSK delicious!

You guys! Today is a monumental occasion. Because after, oh I don't know, five or maybe six years of asking Jeremy to help me write a recipe post, HE FINALLY CAVED!

We cook together a lot. If there's one thing that months without running water or a stove will teach you, it's that eating out is kind of overrated and cooking at home is a miracle! We've been experimenting with lots of vegetable-based meals lately, and since this one turned out so delish, he agreed to help me make it into a recipe for you! 

Brussels sprouts. Historically, they've gotten a bad rap. But in recent years, they're the cool girls at all the hipster restaurants. I'm so happy for them, their time has come! 

Purple potatoes. The prettiest potatoes by a lot. I don't know how or why I never bought them until this past week! 

Anyway! Enough chit chat. I never know the right amount of dad jokes to put into a blog post. Sometimes it's way too much, sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes you're like, "Share WAY more," and sometimes you're like, "Please shut up." Here's the recipe... 

Brussels Sprout + Purple Potato Hash
*serves 1 VERY hungry person or 2 people who are also eating avocado toast. 

3 cups Brussels sprouts 
3 cloves garlic
1/4 onion
1 purple potato
coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
paprika
fresh rosemary 
avocado slices 

First, thinly slice the purple potato. Pan fry it with coconut oil (or your oil of choice, butter works too). We like to do this step separately because we like our potatoes very crispy. Plus, they take longer to cook. So let them cook while you're prepping the rest. Then set them aside when they're done. 

Next, fill your food processor with Brussels, garlic and onion and chop your veggies. Process it till it looks about like this- 

Now it's ready to cook! Throw it in a pan on the stovetop with a little coconut oil and the salt and pepper. As you're cooking it, give it a taste and see if you want any garlic powder or more pepper or salt. I feel like we over-garlic all of our food, so I made the recipe "safe". 

When the slaw is almost done cooking, throw the potatoes back in so they can heat up. 

Almost done! Just fry a couple eggs and garnish them with a little paprika, some fresh cut rosemary and some avocado slices. 

Now, dig in! You've earned it. 

xoxo. Elsie + Jeremy  

Credits// Author and Photography: Jeremy and Elsie Larson. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess Actions. 

To keep our Friendsgiving plates colorful, we needed something green to add to the table. This salad features a few favorites including: crunchy kale, Brussels sprouts, and sliced almonds, a bright burst of flavor from fresh cranberries, and a whole lot of comfort from a creamy dressing and shaved Parmesan cheese. Oh yes, this is a kale salad that deserves to still be on the holiday comfort foods table. Yum!

Creamy Kale, Brussels and Cranberry Salad. Serves 6-8 (possibly a few more) as a side dish.

8-10 oz. kale, large veins removed and chopped
4-6 oz. Brussels sprouts, shaved and any too crunchy pieces discarded
2 oz. fresh cranberries, chopped
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

For the dressing:
1 1/2 cups mayo
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
juice from 1/2 lemon
big pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

You can prep most of the vegetables the day before if you like, but for me this was the one dish that I prepared from start to finish the day of our meal. It doesn't take long to come together. Plus sometimes I like having a good chopping, shaving, etc. job right in the middle of frantically trying to figure out if a turkey is cooked through of if we have enough wine. There's just something therapeutic about chopping. 

You can also stir together the dressing the day before if you like. Once I have everything together and tasting salty enough, I thin the dressing with a tablespoon or two of water. But this is optional depending on how thick you prefer your dressing.

I do recommend mixing the dressing over the salad and topping with the Parmesan cheese just an hour or so before serving. This keeps the kale and Brussels crunchy (in a good way!). You don't want to mix this together the day before. Also the cranberries will begin to transfuse their red color throughout the dressing, so you could end up with a pale pink salad if you mix too soon. Although, this year that would have matched our table nicely even if it would have looked a bit unappetizing. 

Toss a few more cranberries on top if you want it to look extra festive. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photography: Collin Dupree and Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

You guys know I have a deep and abiding love for all things cozy. I have shared my go-to stove simmer recipe in the past but wanted to branch out and try some new recipes this year.

If you've never used a stove simmer, here are the basics! You fill pot with water and some ingredients that will create a lovely smell, then you leave it simmering on low heat and your home will fill with the scent. It's natural and smells stronger than any candle I've ever used. You can use it for a couple days (refilling the water as it get low) and it will keep working, although it gets REAL ugly by the end. If you've never tried it, I insist you must!

Recipe 1- Bay leaves, lemon slices, lime slices, 2 cinnamon sticks and some cloves in half a lemon. 

This simmer is light and fresh. I made is specifically for those of you who don't love the heavy spice scent (which I do love!). After an hour of burning, it wasn't quite strong enough for me. So I added a few sprigs of eucalyptus and an extra cinnamon stick and you could smell the light fragrance throughout all our living areas. So fresh and clean! 

Recipe 2- One orange halved with cloves, 3 cinnamon sticks, fresh cranberries and lemon peels.

This one smells like apple cider (but better) and every person who walks into your home will ask you what you're baking! 

Recipe 3- Pine cones, apples and cinnamon. 

This one is perfect for fall! It smells like you're baking an apple pie in EVERY room of your home. So good! 

Let me know which ones you guys love! I wish I had a scratch & sniff feature here on the blog so you could test them out. :) xx- Elsie 

Note: Be sure to use only natural ingredients without dyes or artificial scents.

Credits// Author and Photography: Elsie Larson. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess Actions. 

we have a loooong list of trends we’ve been seeing that we think are going to really start happening in the world. today we are going to focus on a beauty trend we see with eye makeup. i know i came away from putting this post together feeling totally inspired to go buy fun eyeliners and shadows. i need to step up my makeup game! -bri

what we really love about these looks is the unexpected quality of all of them and how the main focus is on the eyes…not a ton of makeup on the whole face. this is the perfect look for us (most of us around the office aren’t girly girls and don’t spend tons of time on our makeup everyday) but these variations are attainable, quick, and interesting.

the metallic is great because you can be a little more heavy handed with it, since it basically comes off as a neutral. i have to try one of these for a holiday party!

i love the idea of matching an all over color with my outfit like this. never in a million years would i have thought blue eyeshadow would be back in a big way.

aren’t those references above just amazing?! so unique and eye catching. definitely trying some of those.

what do you think? these eyes will definitely make a statement. are you ready for it?

column by: bri and natalie

For years I was really intimidated by cheese (it’s moldy, and stinky and can be kind of weird looking!) But after spending some time experimenting with different cheeses I finally feel comfortable picking out cheese I know I’ll love. This past summer I became obsessed making cheese plates and made it part of my 52 Dinner Parties project.  But put aside all your fears, because today we’re partnering with Triscuit to do a post on a few tips I’ve learned on how to put together a cheese plate.

Tips on Picking Out Cheeses

• Pick one Cheese You Like. I tried Comte at a friend’s house in Paris and loved it. It’s a nice basic, nutty, creamy cheese. I used that as a jumping point to trying other cheeses.  “I really love Comte, can you recommend other cheeses that are similar?” I was able to discover several other cheeses I love this way.

• Find Someone Who Knows. Sometimes I get to a cheese section at a store and no one is around but once in a while you find someone that is super knowledgeable about cheese. (It happens to me every few months.)  When this happens I corner that person and ask them a million questions about the cheeses I’m buying, I ask for suggestions, and even ask about any new cheeses.

•Ignore Cheese Plate “Rules”. I think part of the reason I felt intimidated by cheese is some of them look kind of scary, the mold freaked me out a little. In addition I had tried several pungent cheeses and after giving them several fair chances I admitted to myself that I just didn’t like them. Every cheese plate guide I read demanded that I have a stinky cheese and a variety of goat, cow and sheep cheeses. That’s great if you love them but once I had experimented a lot I felt comfortable putting together interesting cheeses that I loved (and avoiding the ones I didn’t.) But don’t feel obligated to add a goat cheese if you don’t like the flavor. Sometimes it’s also nice to have a pre-made snack for guests to grab. Triscuit has a bunch of recipes on their Made for More Pinterest board. We included one along with our cheese board below. It only has 3 ingredients: pomegranate seeds, olive and ricotta so they were super easy to make.

Tips on Making a Cheese Plate

• Everything Keeps! Guests are always impressed when I can throw together a cheese plate for last minute party but it is actually a really easy and low-maintenance party food. All you need is simple ingredients to make a beautiful cheese board. Most of the foods you can buy in advance. We keep Triscuit crackers, nuts and dried fruits on hand because they keep so well. Even most cheeses keep really well for a few weeks.

•Cheese Eaters at a Party are Pretty Lazy. The harder a cheese is to cut the less people eat it. I’ll do things like cut the sides off a wedge so it’s easier for people to cut. I’ll even cut a few pieces to start just to get people going. Certain semi hard cheeses I’ll pre-cut into cubes  or slices for easy access.

• Pick One Cheese. This is a tip I learned from David Lebovitz. Instead of having several cheeses just get a giant wedge of one really great cheese. That way you don’t end up with several half-eaten pieces at the end of a party. I love this and do this all the time.  Choosing the right cracker is important. I always like to try to have a variety of crackers to try with the cheeses! Triscuit crackers are a favorite because the texture pairs so well with creamy cheeses.

•Choose a Greenery! Something about green leaves makes everything look more appetizing. I always pick some Rosemary or Thyme or even lay out a pile of Arugula leaves as a garnish.

This post is sponsored by Triscuit: Made for More. 

Photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day

 Brownies are a weakness of mine for sure. And a good marbled brownie recipe, especially one that involves pumpkin, is a good thing to have in your recipe rolodex.

I don't actually have a recipe rolodex, but man, now that I'm thinking in that direction, it sounds totally charming but probably a bit impractical. Of course just scrolling through saved recipes on your phone or iPad makes a lot more sense...but flipping through an alphabetical rolodex looking for your favorite brownie recipe just sounds adorable to me. I digress.

Not all brownies are created equal, of course. Some of are more cake-y while others can have a consistency almost resembling fudge. These are somewhere in the middle. I don't like to feel as if I'm eating raw batter, but I do like my brownies slightly undercooked in the center. Oxymoronic? Maybe. But I really like brownies that are just as good the day after you bake them, and to me walking the line between not baked enough and over-baked is how you get that. You could even under bake these by a couple more minutes than I suggest and once cooled, cut and freeze them. Options. I'm all about it.

Marbled Pumpkin Brownies, makes 9 servings. (one 8x8 inch square baking pan)

For the brownie batter:
1/2 cup butter
4.5 oz dark chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg white
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour (all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the pumpkin top:
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 tsp or a big pinch of cinnamon

Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second increments until just melted. 

In another bowl, stir together the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract (only the amounts listed under brownie batter above). Once the chocolate/butter has cooled some, stir the chocolate mixture in with the egg/sugar mixture. You don't want the chocolate mixture to be too hot here because eggs have a tendency to very quickly respond to heat. So if the chocolate mixture is piping hot, it could cook your eggs and create a funky texture in your brownie batter, which you don't want. Then stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. 

In a small bowl, stir together the pumpkin batter ingredients listed above.

Pour 3/4 of the brownie batter into a square baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Spoon the pumpkin batter over the top of this. Then add the remaining brownie batter and swirl with a butter knife.

Bake at 350°F for 28-30 minutes. A toothpick inserted anywhere other than the center should come out clean, while the batter may still be just a little undercooked in the center. Again, this is just my preference.

Allow to cool before removing from the pan and slicing into squares. This is another one of those recipes that only uses a small amount of pumpkin puree (much like these cookies), so feel free to save the rest and use it that week in oatmeal or other baked goods. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

at least once a week i go over to my dear friend victoria’s house (sfgirlbybay) for some friend hangout time where we usually have wine, netflix and luckily for me she makes dinner! we often have tacos of some kind, but these carnitas tacos are my favorite. SO GOOD. i thought i’d share the recipe for her salsa and the carnitas….

Carnitas
recipe from this amazing Mexico cookbook
ingredients:
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 31/4 lb pork loin, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 onion
• 1 cup milk
• 1 small bunch aromatic herbs
• thinly pared zest of 1 orange
• sea salt and pepper
• flour tortillas
• salsa (recipe below!)

• heat the oil in a saucepan. add the mean and onion and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until evenly browned.

• remove the onion. pour in the milk and 1/2 cup water, add the herbs and orange zest and season with salt and pepper. reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours or until the liquid has evaporated.

• remove the meat from the pan and serve immediately with warm flour tortillas and salsa…

Victoria’s Salsa

• 3 Large Tomatoes
• 1 Large Lime
• 2 Tablespoons chopped Red Onion
• 1 Teaspoon of chopped Jalapeño
• Handful of fresh Cilantro
• Coarse See Salt & Pepper to taste

photos by: ivan solis
thanks for sharing, victoria!

So this post might seem like its totally out of left field but I just have to share. There is this fine line that we get to walk as a bloggers. I get to do really cool stuff with really awesome brands but I don’t usually talk about it here. Because honestly, how do you talk about these amazing experiences without coming across as braggy or like you are just talking about something because you feel obligated? Its dang near impossible. But today I just feel like I am going to burst if I don’t finally talk. 

Confession. This is so weird.  Every time I go into a public restroom and I see the Kohler mark on the toilet or sink it makes me grin like a fool.  Seriously, do public restrooms do that to you? If they don’t, well then chances are you haven’t been to Kohler Wisconsin.

Last October (yep, this post is almost a year in the making) I had the opportunity to attend a brand event with Kohler.  You know THE Kohler.  Like creator of the bathtub as we know it, Kohler.  Going into it I thought that it would be like any other trip, I had no idea that it would change me the way that it did.  Still, almost a year later, I think about all the time. (I actually searched the MLS listings when I got back because I want to have a little house there for during the summer.  Court thinks I am delusional because “How can he run the restaurant from Wisconsin?” Sigh.)

The Village of Kohler (that’s actually what it’s called, how cute is that??!) is absolute perfection. You know the feeling that you get when you go to Disneyland? Everything is thought out and completely beautiful and feels like it was plucked from a storybook?  Kohler is like Disneyland but real.  The village was master planned by Fredrick Olmstead (who also designed Central Park).  Every house, every tree, every trash can fits together perfectly.  The factories sit right in the center of the town in beautiful ivy covered brick buildings.  It’s hard to put into words, it just feels so welcoming.  I cant even imagine the dreaming and foresight that had to take place for a town to feel like this still, 100+ years after its creation.

The highlight of the trip (well, one of them) was the factory tour.  The tours are given by retired employees, most of whom have spent their entire lives working in the factories. Their love for this place runs so deep its contagious!

The pottery factory is full of unfinished toilets and sinks and everything inside is white and has a fine layer of dust on it.  Um. and how about those windows?!  Natural light for days.

The Foundry (where they do all of the iron work and casting) is dark and loud and full of huge machinery.  The stark contrast between the 2 buildings is incredible, as weird as this sounds, its super picturesque. Its just exactly what you picture it being.

The thing that surprised me (though it didn’t really looking back) was the attention to detail.  Even a pock mark on a sink made it unworthy for a customer. The standard for quality is unimaginably high. (Which I guess is how you stay a leader for 100 years.)

The Design Center is the heart of the city.  Its a mix of a showroom and a museum (both history and art) I loved seeing the trends from the past century.  There was so much, and surprisingly so little that changed. 

Yep, that is a giant wall of toilets and bathtubs.

We stayed at The American Club (it was originally a place for immigrant workers to stay and save money so that they could bring their families to the US).  Its full of long dark paneled hallways, stained glass, tapestries, and natural gardens.  If it wasn’t for the state of the art bathrooms (because of course) you would think that you’d been transported in time.

I guess the reason that this trip in particular impacted me so much is because the feeling of community and the standard for excellence permeates every facet of this little town and this company.  I am dying to go back and take Court with me.  Its so easy to dream of what could be in a place that IS a dream realized.

Its incredible to me that Kohler can be on the forefront of innovation while still holding so tightly to their heritage.  Maybe its just me, but its easy to get so caught up in where you are going that you forget to stop and realize the beauty of where you’ve been.

They are just so unapologetically themselves.

Its inspiring. Inspiring enough that I have a fangirl moment every time I spot a Kohler product (even if its in a public restroom!) Because I know that even if to most its just a toilet, that its not just a toilet.  It was made in this tiny town practically by hand and has 100+ years of creation and innovation behind it.

Ok I’ll get off my soap (errr. toilet?) box now . I feel like I  just need to move so that I can start fresh and Kohler-ify everything in my house.  Sounds like a pretty great plan! I’m dying to know, have you ever visited Kohler? Did you love it as much as I did? Should we all go on a trip?

Links: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. <--- Ugh! So many fun choices! 

Hey, friends! I recently became a little obsessed with collecting enamel pins. You can see a few that I posted on my Instagram here. So I had a LOT of fun creating this little shopping guide for you. If you're looking to up your #pingame, your moment has arrived. Let's go shopping! :)

You didn't think I was going to write this whole blog post without buying at least a few, did you? Haha! Hope your week is lovely! xx- Elsie 

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