Ailee Petrovic

Food November 4, 2014

Vegan Everything Bar

If you live in Houston and haven’t tried Sinfull Bakery, you are truly missing out. I first tried their delicious treats at Catalina Coffee, when I grabbed a vegan Everything Bar while checking out. i intended to eat only half at first, but on that specific day, I learned a very important lesson: It is impossible to only eat half of an Everything Bar.

Last weekend, Isla and I ran into Catalina while Sasha was at Martin’s Tailors (best in Houston!) getting new pants hemmed. Recognizing the fact that I could not get a coffee without reaching for the Sinfull treat, I grabbed a bar and decided that I would share it with Sasha (ha, well he ended up getting 1/6th). I looked at the ingredients on the back – all healthy, but some ingredients that I avoid from day-to-day, like flour and brown sugar. After church on Sunday, I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t I make an everything bar?’ After all, these desserts are supposed to be just a gathering of lots of healthy ingredients from one’s pantry.

Alas, my everything bar recipe. This first attempt included a lot of: ‘Oh, that needs some salt…’ and ‘Yikes, too dry… needs coconut oil.’ Once they came out the oven, Sasha and I couldn’t keep our hands off them. I’m pretty darn proud of this Ailee-invented-Everything-Bar (as always, vegan and gluten and refined-sugar free). Please try it at home and let me know how it goes!

Personal November 3, 2014

Week in Review

A wonderfully busy week, filled with lots of preparation for family photos on Sunday. I literally bought ten cream shirts from Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, J. Crew, J. Crew Factory, and Anthropologie to wear in the pictures, then decided (very last minute) on a pink sweater that I already owned! How fickle. And of course, lots and lots of returns to make this week.

We took our photos with Paige of Awake Photography – you can see a sneak peek of the pictures on her Instagram here. I cannot wait to share the photos with you, along with other Christmasy ones, next week.

Other highlights of our week included:

Calming Isla down by telling her “No more fussing!” while shaking your finger – she thinks it’s the funniest thing ever (see video here)
Swimming with Isla at Life Time Fitness – she is a big, big splasher
Painting (i.e. mushed berries) in her BABYBJORN highchair
Getting a blow out at The Dry Bar (I am obsessed)
Meeting Sasha’s cousin’s wonderful fiancé for the first time (and getting to walk the 3-mi loop while getting to know each other!)
Isla’s first halloween – we didn’t make it trick or treating (this girl takes bed time seriously), but got some cute strawberry pics
Having a trick-or-treater tell me they love my succulents (really??)
Helping my friend Amanda (her engagement photos here) get ready to be the world’s most convincing Elsa (see photos below)
Eating out twice at Ruggles Green (sorry Houston ex-pats!) – once with Brooke, one of my most favorite people on the planet
Taking Isla to Biscuit Home for the first time – although she slept the entire time
Trying a new food truck (Simply Greek) that is a mile from our house
Having Sasha’s classmate’s family over for dinner yesterday evening – such cute kiddos

What were the highlights of your week?

Finger painting was a fun, but very messy, activity

Baby October 31, 2014

A Berry Happy Halloween!

Happiest Halloween to you! Isla is dressing up as a strawberry to go trick-or-treating tonight in the neighborhood with her cousins. I must admit, she is not as big a fan of the costume as I am! That stalk hat really rounds it out so nicely, but she is apparently not a hat person.

I wish everyone the best Halloween! I am looking forward to this weekend. We’re getting our family photos taken on Sunday by Paige of Awake Photography, and I’m so excited. I have a handful (or two) of props ready, and cannot wait to get them back.

Are you going trick or treating tonight? If so, what are you or your little one going to be dressed up as?

Décor October 30, 2014

Dream Master Bathroom

Alas, the final post in the Dream Home series (for now, at least!). You’ve seen inspiration for our future (as in… way future) master bedroom and closet, home office, laundry room, living room, kitchen and playroom. One of the rooms that I love spending time in the most is our master bathroom – which is attached to our closet. We designed it exactly like the inspiration I posted years ago here.

I get more and more anxious to build our dream home as the weeks go by, which is not helped by our nightly walks around our neighborhood, where there are at least ten tear-down and rebuild projects within a 1-mile radius. We even got a home tour by an owner by being extra creepy on Sunday – snooping sometimes pays off!

In the meantime, I’ll just keep searching for inspiration for our dream master bathroom. Some of my requirements (or perhaps just nice-to-haves) include:

Large custom mirrors
Natural lighting (so important when putting on makeup)
Farmhouse sinks
Wainscoting on the cabinets (we have this and I love the detail!)
Like most of the other ‘dream’ rooms, a lovely chandelier
Lots of cabinets – with built-in storage for cosmetics (like this)
Calcutta gold marble or white quartz countertops
Stand-alone bathtub (would love a claw foot or sleek modern one!)
Little coffee station – I love this idea so much!
Flowers or greenery
Open shelves for towels and frames/candles

What does your dream master bathroom look like?

Week in Review October 27, 2014

Week in Review

It’s truly unbelievable that this past weekend was the last in October! Halloween is coming quickly, and Isla is totally ready to bust out her fruity costume (I am too!). The weather in Houston was low 80’s all weekend, so we were outside almost all day long on Saturday and Sunday.

Sasha and I went to my dad’s new office on Tuesday and had lunch (Ruggles Green, of course) with him and his secretary, Dottie. It was so nice to see them both, and Dad got to show Isla off to his co-workers.

Other highlights from the week include:

Discovering Isla’s new favorite giggle-inducer (beats peek-a-boo) – the sock monster!
After many failed recipes this week, making an ‘Everything Bar’ that is amazing (recipe to come soon!)
Isla learning to sleep on her stomach – we had three long weeks of her rolling over and crying until we flipped her back!
Singing one of my very favorite worship songs at church on Sunday
Many long walks in the beautiful weather, our favorite being a house-hunt around the neighborhood and to Memorial Park
Taking Isla to Catalina Coffee (best in Houston) for the first time!
Lunching with sweet Kevin for the second time – at Ruggles Green (photo below – isn’t adorable)
Running with Isla for the first time in her Baby Jogger Summit X3 Stroller (I was so nervous and fully padded the area near her head – total new mom move)
Tying Isla’s hair in a tiny little pony tail for the first time (photographic evidence below)
Trying out a new local restaurant – Fajita Pete’s, as they actually have veggie fajitas, which is surprisingly so rare for a Mexican restaurant

Little grins make my day