Honeymoon

Hello everyone :) Sorry about the lack of posts lately. We've been so busy with our wedding, then leaving for our honeymoon the day after! We arrived in Scotland today, and leave the day after tomorrow. We're about halfway through our road trip now. I'll leave you with some photos from our trip so far.

My Wonderful Bachelorette Day

Over the weekend I took some time off work to celebrate my bachelorette/hens day and night. Our wedding is less than three weeks away now, so things are about to get a lot more busy around here. Two of my bridesmaids, Esther and Merrin, spent the morning with me enjoying a champagne breakfast. 

Did you notice our cat Fang in the above photo? He was trying to sneak some strawberries!

After breakfast we drove up to Montville, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland to Flame Hill Vineyard for an afternoon wine tasting and cheese platter. Montville is a small town about two hours drive from Brisbane. It's also absolutely beautiful, and it's one of my favourite places to go whenever I have the time. 

I had such a nice day, and it didn't start raining until we started to drive home! After we got home we got changed and went out for cocktails, which was lovely, even though it was busy.

It's not too much longer now until I can blog about our wedding and honeymoon :) I can't wait to be Dave's wife.  

Life - An Instagram Round Up

 

Just a few snippets of our life recently via instagram. 

You can find me on instagram here @annieberquist

Dip Dye Inspiration

I think I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm slowly falling in love with all things dip dye and ombre. Some of my work friends and I are experimenting with dip dying this weekend, it should be lots of fun (and possibly quite messy). I'll be sure to post the results here! I'm so happy I've made friends at work, especially crafty ones :) Below I've posted my main inspirations for this weekend's dip dying session.  

Monique Lhuillier ombre gown

Red Envelope dip dye scarf

Free People Daydream Supernova dress

What do you think? Are you an ombre/dip dye fan? 
And what about that Monique Lhuillier gown! I die - it's so beautiful. 
Have you got any crafty plans for the weekend?

'Wedding Season' Must Haves

With just over a month to go until our wedding, it's safe to say that things are getting pretty busy around here (not to mention just a little bit stressful). There's signage to finish, gifts to buy, styling to finalise, dress fittings, honeymoon planning, a bachelorette party and more. On top of that we are both working full time and trying our best to make time to spend with each other. Phew! 

Here are my top 'wedding season' must haves:

Physicians Formula concealer in green and yellow because with all the early mornings paired with late nights (with a few overnight shifts mixed in) I definitely need all the concealing I can get!
Klorane gentle dry shampoo for when I'm too busy (or lazy?) to wash my hair.
Put A Bow On It flats are grey, and have bows on them. Two of my favourite things. What more can I say?
Buffalo studded notebook because I have way too many loose pieces of paper floating around in my handbag.
Green Tea X50 is delicious, packed with antioxidants, and is so easy to mix on the go!

Most of all, I'm relying heavily on this guy:

Because lets face it, without him, none of this would be possible. At the end of the day, I will become his wife, and that's what matters the most to me. I can't wait! :)

Salmon and Leek Risotto

Hi there! Sorry it has been so long since I last posted, I've been so busy with work and planning our wedding. It's getting to the stage where Dave can help me organise things which is nice, as he's been asking if there's anything he can do for a while now.

Luckily, Dave is an amazing cook, and is inexplicably good at making up recipes off the top of his head. He has been cooking for us a lot lately, something for which I count myself very lucky. I cook, but usually straight from a recipe, because I'm too scared of messing it up.I don't think he's ever cooked a meal that I didn't like. Yes I'm biased, but I swear it's true :) This recipe is adapted from an old one that my mum had on hand, which Dave didn't quite like because of the little bones that tend to come in cans of salmon.

To make Dave's super tasty salmon and leek risotto, you will need: 

1 leek
1 clove of garlic
2 salmon fillets (skin off)
4 1/2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
60 grams butter
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
chives to garnish

First, you will need to put about 7 cups water and the stock powder in a pot, and put it on to boil. While it's boiling chop the leek and garlic fairly fine. Then add the garlic to the stock.

Once the stock has boiled, bring the temperature down a little. Place the salmon fillets in stock and simmer for 5 - 6 minutes.
Scoop the salmon out of the stock and put it aside on a plate. Take the stock off the heat and put it aside also. In a separate, heavy-based pot, melt the butter with a dash of oil, then put the leek in to cook. 
Once the leek has started to soften, pour the rice in and make sure it is coated with the butter, oil and leek. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste.
Once the rice is coated, bring the temperature to a low - medium low heat and add two ladles of the stock. Once that has absorbed into the rice, add another. Keep doing this until all the stock is gone or the rice has completely cooked (about 6 or 7 cups). Make sure you stir occasionally to ensure all the rice is cooked evenly. 
While the rice is cooking, separate the salmon into flakes.

Once you have finished cooking the rice, stir through the salmon, then the parmesan. 
You're all done! Garnish with freshly picked chives to serve. Enjoy!

This has fast become one of my favourite, and most-requested meals that Dave cooks for me. I hope you love it too :) Do you have a favourite meal your loved one cooks for you?

Wedding Talk

Hello everyone! Over the next couple of months I will be sharing more wedding-related posts with you, as our wedding is now only three and a half months away. Time goes by so quickly. I have my first meeting with my florist next week! I thought I'd share a few of the images that are inspiring me at the moment :)

 

This bouquet

This hairstyle

This couple

What was the theme for your wedding? Or what would you like it to be? Remember you can always drop me a line at lovefordaysblog@gmail.com.