Ladies of the Mountains: A Dream Hike

Today I am joining the lovely Ladies of the Mountains as a guest blogger for their post called "A Dream Hike"! My dream hike is the Kalalau Trail in Kauai, Hawaii. The reason for my choice is pretty simple: it's not as cold there as it is in North Idaho! Also Hawaii has no snakes or large carnivorous mammals.

I've never been to these islands, but they're definitely on my to-go-asap list. Both Ben and I are pretty active, so I don't see us spending the whole vacation laying on a beach, sipping cocktails. We'd want to take hikes to explore wild parts of the island, see the tropical jungle, discover local flora, awe at the beautiful vistas and maybe camp on a beach with the Western Pacific before us, reflecting the setting sun..

via National Geographic

via Pinterest

Round-Trip: 22 miles, 3 to 5 days

When to Go: May to September for drier weather; April or October for more solitude.

According to the Guide of Hawaii: "Labeled 'the' hike on Kauai, the Kalalau Trail is a 11 mile trek into paradise. A vast array of verdant valleys, waterfalls, sea caves, and gorgeous vistas lay ahead of you." -- doesn't it sound like a perfect hike? I'm ready to go right now!

via Hawaii Guide

via Pinterest

Be sure to check out the other mountain ladies:

Gentri

Kelly

Lena

Meagan

Michelle

Nicole

giveaway: $50 to Anna Delores Photography

I'm Emily Reiter and I'm the photographer behind Anna Delores Photography. My maternal great-grandmother's name was "Anna" and my paternal grandmother's name was "Delores," and I thought a salute to my heritage was appropriate for the vintage-inspired photography that is the stuff of family heirloom: nostalgic, cherished, historical, beautiful time capsules.

I got my first camera (a purple plastic 110 film Kodak) before I was 10 years old and I’ve been obsessed ever since. I was always the girl at parties, restaurants, family gatherings, and vacations taking photographs of EVERYTHING to the point where people would yell, “Emily, quit taking so many pictures!” I’m glad I ignored their advice! I got a lot more serious about it when I got my first DSLR camera a few years ago. Anna Delores was first founded as a fine art print shop on Etsy back in March 2011, and since then has grown to a full-time photography business specializing in wedding, boudoir, and fine art imaging. My photography style is simple, nostalgic, romantic, and photojournalistic and my fine art images are of favorite places in Southern California, from flea markets to famous Los Angeles landmarks, as well as to destinations I've traveled to, including London, Rome, Paris, and Eastern Europe.

I'm currently based in Ventura County and my business is focused primarily on boutique wedding photography in Southern California.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's for brunch with Alice

Hi Everyone!

This is Alice from the blog TheMowWay and I couldn't be happier to be here today with you!

For those who don't know me yet I am a 27 year old Brit currently living in Spain with Nino my boyfriend and Paris our pet pig.

I love food almost as much as I love fashion, so I decided to share with you what we had for brunch last weekend!

Green pesto and veggie Pizza!!!

Normally I like to bake my own crust, but since we didn' want to wait, we used store bought bases.

I am a lover of green pesto, I spread it on almost everything, so I decided to do a colourful pizza by combining pesto and tomato on the base.

It added a pop of colout to the dish and it tasted heavenly!

We used as toppings what we had in the fridge! Onion, corn, cheese and green beans.

Yes! Green beans! They turned out great, nice and crunchy!

Crustless quiche!!!!

We did some changes to this great recipe which we already tried here too.

It was perfect, put cooked spinaahs and mushrooms in a pan, sprinkle with greek feta cheese, cover with the beated eggs and top with cheese.

We went out for a walk with miss Piglet while the food was in the oven, so when we got home the food was ready to serve. Perfection!!!

Banana, honey and greek yoghurt shake!!!

Just as we were leaving the house I popped two greek yoghurts in the freezer for them to harden lightly.

When we got home I mixed them with a very ripe banana we had in the freezer, honey to taste and a few icecubes. Yummy and refreshing!!!

What do YOU have for Brunch?
We would love to hear all about your favourite homemade recepies!!

TheMowWay Blog
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Opening an Etsy store with Katia from KittySnooks

Hey everyone! My name is Katia and I blog about my art, my style, and a bit of everything else over at KittySnooks! I want to thank Ben & Katie for letting me guest post – they’re such good blog-buddies and I am so happy to be posting on their wonderful blog!

I have recently embarked on a brand new adventure – opening an etsy store! I am currently selling one of a kind necklaces hand made by myself, and intend to expand to other products in the future (but those I’ll keep a secret for now!)
The way I make my necklaces come with a bit of a backstory…

I had a rotten summer – I know, not what people usually say about their summers, especially not in the positive atmosphere of the blogosphere! However, I have learnt a great deal and one of my rewarding results is in fact my necklaces. I worked a barista summer, and though this was not the actual reason behind my rotten summer, it didn’t really help me through it. I was in a coffee shop for what felt like day and night, 40 hours a week. I saw my coworkers more often than I saw my family, often leaving at 5 in the morning for work when my parents hadn’t woken up yet, or at 11:00 at night when they’d already gone to bed. It was a suffocating environment in terms of stifling my creativity, my inspiration and my emotions. In many ways I lost a certain passion - a certain grip on what was actually important in life.

So I searched for a way to reconnect with myself, and that happened to be through art and nature. It sounds like a cliché, I know. But by creating the pendants for my necklaces out of wood I felt at peace. The smell of the wood I was using, the scent of smoke whilst wood burning the designs that brought back memories of camping and canoe trips, the textures, the colours, all of it! It was – and still is - so refreshing.

That’s what I love about my necklaces – if you can forgive me for boasting about my own creations, I love that they incorporate nature with fashion (another thing I love!) and I love making them!

I suppose my point is that nature is an excellent way to reconnect with ourselves, if you ever feel worn down by an urban consumerist society.

And speaking of consumerism (ha!) take a look at my etsy store when you’ve got a second! I’ve got a few new necklace designs that I’m in the process of photographing and putting up so stay tuned if you like what you see now!

Baking bagels with Laura

Hello! I'm Laura from Kitsunetsuki, and recently I've begun attempting to teach myself to bake. I've been doing pretty well with cakes, but the last thing I baked was in August (some yummy olive bread), so when Katie and Ben asked me to do my very first guest post, I thought I'd get the spatulas out and give bagels a try.

All the best food has holes in it: donuts, bagels, swiss cheese, onion rings... but they all seem like they're quite hard to get right yourself. I've made bagels before, but it was at least a year ago, and I think regular practice is the only way to perfect the technique! This time around I used a recipe from allrecipes.com with a few adjustments: I'd run out of sugar, and didn't steam them in the oven. I think actually those steps might have made a significant difference (oops!) so I'll definitely remember to next time.

Baking bagels is so much more fun than other types of bread for three reasons: you get to boil them for a bit, squidge them into funny circles, and roll them around on a plate of seeds. If you like playing with your food, I recommend baking bagels!

I made two types, one with sesame seeds and one without--I think next time I'd like to try poppy seeds, and the ones without seeds I'd glaze with egg whites to make them look a little more special.

I'd give my efforts a B+, because the edges were nice and chewy, the size and flavour was good, but there was something not quite 'bagel-ly' enough. I'm definitely going to try the technique regularly and work out where I might be going wrong and what I could be doing better! Have any of you tried baking bagels before? Do you have any hints or tips?

Favourite combos by Lauren

Hello Chestnut Mocha readers, my name is Lauren & I blog over at Tastes Like Love about my daily adventures, delightful things, my illustrations & fancy folk. When I'm not blogging, working or drawing I like to drool over fancy houses + home wares and marvellous combinations that make every day life delightful! And today I'd like to share with you all my top five favourite combinations.

When I was little and my family would be driving home from visiting my grandparents, I would have specific houses that I would make a point of looking at as we drove past. And coincidentally, they all featured dainty little window boxes. These simple features can really give a house that little something extra.

In the summer time my absolute favourite thing to drink is pineapple and cranberry juice! I find that cranberry juice is a little too tart, and pineapple juice a little too sweet. So the two mixed together creates a perfect juicing balance!

I love nothing more than feature wall frame collages complimented with bold pattern textiles. It gives any space a sophisticated, yet striking feel. I am especially fond of pattern fabric wooden chairs. There are so many fantastic DIY's out there to achieve that professional store bought look. 

Growing up I generally didn't gravitate towards a blue or red palette, but now I cannot get enough of them! I am such a sucker for a good blue and red combo, and you can be sure that when I move into my new flat later this year it will be decked out in this colour scheme!

One of my absolute favourite food/breakfast combinations is vegemite and avocado on toast. To make this combo especially nice, gluten free bread really makes the flavours pop together. I was adamant at first to try this because vegemite is such a stubborn spread and I could only stomach it on certain moods. But with avocado, it is fantastic!

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So there you have it, five of my favourite combinations from my everyday life. I would like if you swung by my blog to say hello! Thanks for having me Katie and Ben!

New adventures by Sara

Privet! - it's Russian for "Hi!". Today is a great day, I'm in Moscow with my family! It means for the next few weeks I'll be short on Internet and blogging time. But it doesn't mean at all that you'll be bored. These weeks you'll meet many wonderful bloggers who will be guest posting at Chestnut Mocha. I can't tell you how excited I am! You'll love my blogger friends :-) Today's post is by Sara (her blog and photography are adorable!) - I'll just stop talking and let you enjoy what she wrote.

Katie

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Hello everyone, I’m Sara from Sweet Harvest Moon.

I’m happy to be guest blogging at Chestnut Mocha while Katie is on her Russia trip.
While I’m writing this, I’m enjoying some homemade applesauce cake and hot tea.
It’s finally fall.

September usually means the end of summer. The temperatures drop and children go back to school.
You see those very first pumpkins at the farmer’s market and think “is it that time of year again?”.

Autumn has been always been my favorite season. I look forward to it every year.
Sweaters, colorful leaves, hats, gloves, apple cider, rain boots, pumpkin pie, walnuts, … are some of the many things I look forward to.

September also means new beginnings. I believe in ‘September resolutions’.

The beginning of the school year is a great time to look back on things and think about the future (even when you’re not at school anymore). It’s about new things. New adventures.

This year, September is going to be extra special for me. I’m finally going back to Canada after four years.
I can’t wait to smell the fresh mountain air…

I have a feeling this autumn is going to be a good one.

Love,
Sara

ToyPortrait Valentine's Day Challenge!!!

Hello Everybody! In honor of our new service and Valentine's Day, we decided that it's time for another photo contest!!! This time, we are interested in seeing the true nature of your Toys -- we'd like portraits!

To enter, send an email to toyhop@gmail.com including:

• A wonderful photo of your toy that shows who he/she really is!
• Your Name
• Your Toy's Name
• Where your toy is from

Just for entering ,we'll give you a 25% discount on a ToyPortrait!

We'll post your toy to a contest album on ToyHop's facebook page, where you can send your friends to vote!  The photo with the most "likes" on Facebook by the 12th of February will win one of our three great prizes:

1st - FREE ToyPortrait + 50% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
2nd - FREE ToyPortrait + 25% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
3rd - 50% discount on a ToyPortrait + 10% discount on any Hop to Moscow!

Prizes will be announced on the 14th!  The sooner you enter, the sooner we can put your photo up!  We'll also feature entries here on the blog after the contest has finished.

Yours Truly,
Michael TheMonkey and the ToyHop Team