Durango – Page 2 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Favorite Looks of the Week October 24, 2014

Favorite Looks of the Week

This week has seriously flown by! I was so tempted to include 12 looks this week, but decided to stick to my guns and go with my favorite 10 looks. I absolutely adore Nichole of Vanilla Extract‘s look, and as always, Julia of Gal Meets Glam. Which is your favorite look? I am so ready for it to feel like fall again in Texas!

If you haven’t already, enter the Honest Co. giveaway by midnight tonight!

Lastly, I’ve shown pictures of my sister’s gorgeous house as part of my Dream Home series. Karine and her husband, Carl, were featured this week on Culture Map for their amazing home. Click here to read the article and here for the video. My whole family loves a good renovation. My parent’s home in Durango (where we stayed this summer) was recently featured here on Houzz. And lastly, Sasha and I are talking about doing another home extension project. My fingers are tightly crossed! See some photos from our first one here.

Happy Friday! Do you have big plans for the weekend?

1 Something Navy // 2 Sequins & Stripes 3 Brooklyn Blonde // 4 Atlantic-Pacific

Personal September 2, 2014

Week 7 in Durango

Week 7 has come and gone very quickly, with the holiday weekend and my parents arriving in Colorado. We are going back to Houston in one week from today – I am so ready to hug (i.e. squeeze to death) my friends, but so sad to leave this gorgeous weather and valuable family time.

In the past week, we hiked up to Fort Lewis College every morning, tried a new restaurant (Chimayo – amazing and will definitely be on my updated Durango Travel Guide), went to the Saturday farmer’s market (delicious hatch peppers and tasty wheat grass drinks!), made some crepe paper peonies (DIY here), baked more vegan black bean brownies as well as these amazing and healthy cookies, ate even more Cream Bean Berry, watched Isla play with her ‘Mimi’ and ‘Papa’, dominated my parents in Taboo, and practiced playing bean bag toss (I’m awful). The only low point of the week was getting stung by a wasp twice (in my hand and leg) – totally unprovoked on my end! Not fun.

Lastly, I recently set up a Facebook page and Instagram account for Snapshots & My Thoughts. I would love if you were to follow along so I can follow you too! Thanks for reading. xoxo

Read about our time in Durango here: Week 1 | Week 2 and 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

Décor August 29, 2014

Floral Fridays: Tulip Love

Week two of my Floral Arranging 101 with Nicole’s Classes has come and gone, and the homework assignment was to create a wild English garden arrangement. Our instructor’s example (see top photo) is literally to die for. I want her talent! Like I said last week, the local Durango flower and vase options are very limited, so I couldn’t produce as fancy an arrangement; however, I chose a bold colored tulip as my focal flower and ran with it.

I absolutely adore tulips (second favorite, to peonies, and runner-up to garden roses). I dug into my wedding pinboards and found some of my favorite tulip bouquets and arrangements. They also make for the perfect desk decoration – I’ll be sharing my favorite office spaces next week! I can’t wait.

Lastly, the winner of the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We giveaway is Vanessa W. Congratulations! Make sure you enter the BabyLit giveaway by midnight tonight and use code ‘Isla’ to receive 40% off at BabyLit.com. Have a wonderful weekend!

Tulip Floral Inspiration

Baby August 27, 2014

Week 6 in Durango

Week six has come and gone, leaving Isla almost 12 weeks old and us with only a few weeks left in Colorado. We had our favorite weekend so far, given that one of my best friends, Kirby, her husband, Brett, and their adorable 7 week old, Lillian, came to visit us. They arrived on Thursday, and we filled the next four days with multiple hikes, raft rides, walks through town, a visit to Durango Mountain Resort, and plenty of laughter and relaxation at the house. After the girls went down, we played games like Taboo (obsessed) and categories (we amazed the boys with our sports knowledge). It is such a blessing to have a best friend with a daughter so close in age to Isla – now we just need them to move to Texas from Oklahoma City!

Below you’ll find some photographs from the past week – lots of Lillian and Isla, including her new sassy shorts from Sugarplum Lane. Only two more weeks left! I cannot believe it.

Reminder: Today is the last day to enter the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier We giveaway. You have until Friday to enter the BabyLit giveaway and until Sunday to use the promo code ‘Isla’ for 40% off all books (this is a great deal!).

Me and my sleepy head while at Durango Mountain Resort

Two generations of best friends

Sneak peak of my floral arrangement for week 2 of Nicole’s Classes

Isla was cracking me up during the taking of these pictures – that tongue! Similar J. Crew onesie and similar RH Baby & Child Lovey

The future best friends in their matching Baby Gap rompers

Our OKC Thunder loving lady and squeaky Sophie

Kirby and her mini-me, Lillian, in this sweet J. Crew polka dot onesie

These are my new favorite shorts ever – can I get a pair?

Isla loves her Sugarplum Lane shorts and Carter’s top

Serious father-daughter conversations (those are some serious duck lips!)

Isla is one messy lady, so we’re loving these J. Crew tanks – puke resistant!

Brett was prepping for the alpine slide race with Sasha | Cutest dads ever | The view of downtown Durango from our morning hikes

Food August 25, 2014

Sweet Summery Guacamole Recipe

I am an avocado fanatic – I could eat them all day long, so naturally, I love guacamole. The local grocery store in Durango recently had a sale on avocados – 10 for $10, which is a steal. We bought 10 and then realized they would go bad before we managed to eat them all, as we’ve been adventuring to different restaurants for dinner in the evening. I decided to make my signature guacamole dish, which is sweet and salty, given that I use Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip and sea salt. This dip is very summery, given it’s slight sweetness. Depending on whom I am making the guacamole for, I’ll add cilantro to the top or jalapeños – enjoy with Stacy’s pita chips (Sasha’s favorite), or celery and carrots if you’re being healthy like I am right now!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip
3 ripe avocados
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/8 cup of red onions
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 jalapeño pepper (optional garnish)
Handful of chopped cilantro (optional garnish)

Steps

Finely chop 2 garlic cloves and 1/8 cup of red onions and add to mixing bowl
Add 2 tablesppons of the roasted pepper and onion dip (in most grocery stores in a stand alone section near the deli)
Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the bowl and mix
Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to the bowl – keep out in case you want to add more later
Pit and add three avocados to the bowl – ideal to use a mortar and pestle (I love this Le Creuset one!)
Mix well and add additional salt if desired