Living for Pretty

Celebrating all things pretty, happy and inspiring. From renovation stories, to recipes, decorating, parties and little life lessons, you’ll find a little bit of everything here.

Flavorful Southwest Salad

Living for Pretty's Southwest Salad

This is the first salad that I’m officially obsessed with and can’t stop making. I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and I probably have, actually). Think of this salad as a gateway drug to healthy eating – it’s delicious, fresh, healthy, filling and full of flavor and healthy fats. It can edge on the unhealthy side if you  put a lot of dressing and load it up with tortilla toppings, but I think if you’re not a huge salad eater, this is a perfect place to start. Go easy on the dressing and tortilla chips to keep this salad in the healthy bracket.

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Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale

The much-anticipated Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is here- cue fall wardrobe planning and stock ups! If you haven’t heard of Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale (I’m concerned about you, and you are likely living under a rock, please comment if you need help), it’s where Nordstrom debuts its fall collections and puts many items on sale, and THEN marks them up a few weeks later. In Nordstrom country (Seattle), it’s pretty much an official holiday. So hop on the sale wagon before it leaves and get your cozy fall closet set! Below is a list of what I’m buying and/or lusting over. I’d love to hear what you snag! I’ve personally been waiting for these Zella Leggings to go on sale for months, so I’m definitely snagging a pair and a backup!

Public access to the sale starts July 22 (but you can shop NOW if you’re a Nordstrom cardholder!). Prices go up August 8! Also, to those rock dwellers, Nordstrom has free shipping and free returns with no minimums. They are my hands-down favorite department store to shop online.

Note that the prices on hover are their ‘regular’ price – click through to see the sale price!

bridesmaid gifts (that your girls will love)

While always an honor, there’s a lot of work that comes along with being a bridesmaid. Your dress, hair and makeup will be dictated (which is hard for us control freaks), you’ll have to use precious vacation for pre-wedding festivities, and to top it all off, you have to agree to share your BFF for the rest of your life. Our girls are our life support. They were in our life first and they know every quirk and every past mistake, and they’ll be there for the inevitable bumps in the road. Make them feel special, and most of all, let them know that you appreciate all the help they’ve provided over the last few months.

 

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One of my issues with many bridesmaid gift trends is that the gifts seem to serve the bride, more than they thank the bridesmaid. Yes, those robes and totes that say bridesmaid on them are darling, they will look great in pictures, and will be used for one day, or even one week. But once you’re married, she’s no longer a bridesmaid and the item becomes a dust-collector. Give her something she will love and use, something that’s not specifically dated for your wedding, and if it happens to make for a great picture too, all the better!

Packaging is everything! Get them excited from the second they see it! I love the idea of filling cute clutches with gifts and trinkets. (And these clutches could match and look great in photos). You can also slip in a day-of schedule in it, thank you notes, lip gloss, miniature alcohol, and sugar to keep the energy up!

Women’s Build Week – And DIY projects to build your building confidence

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Billy and I like to describe ourselves as DIYers. We bought our home a few years ago and had a mountain of work in front of us. We did a lot ourselves and because of it were able to save tons of money and splurge on a few other things like getting new insulation and stone counter tops. But, Billy does the mountain of the work. We have a joke that I’m “Good Idea Mandi” and he’s “Make it Happen Billy”. It helps to have a great partnership and encouragement when it comes to new projects. Working with tools can be quite intimidating, and I’ll admit there’s a lot I don’t know, but I’m always game to learn. We are now somewhat proficient drywallers and have framed pantries and walls, put in windows and painted our home.

The other week I was invited to hang out with some pretty amazing women doing some pretty amazing things at Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s Girls Night Out during National Women’s Build Week. Across the country, Lowe’s parking lots were partitioned off for us ladies to get our build on. Seventy-five percent of women avoid construction type volunteering because they feel they lack the skills. If anyone is ever intimidated by building or feel they don’t know enough, I encourage you to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Not only will you feel awesome about helping families in need, but they also spend the time to teach you how to use tools and break down projects in really approachable ways. Habitat’s goal is to have 1000 families in new houses before the holidays. At the end of the build, I felt empowered and brought back a lot of knowledge.

You can also start building skills and confidence with a few small, easy projects. Below are some totally awesome, totally easy DIY projects with specific instructions and a complete material and tools list (I love a good list). Take those craft project to a whole ‘nother level ladies!

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Mirror with Storage 

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tip-toeing through the tulips

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One of the greatest seasonal adventures in the spring is traveling up to the Skagit Valley Tulip fields for some flowery fun. The scenes are from a fairy tale. Perfectly tended flowers and a rainbow of colors for days.

The spring time in the PNW is temperamental, meaning you don’t always know what you’ll get. Half the days are gorgeous paradise, the rest are a little wet and muddy. If you’re headed up to the tulip fields, boots are in order.

The Washington Shoe Company hosted a little field trip for Seattle Bloggers to connect and talk about new trends in the boot business. The Seattle-based company is also celebrating 125 years being in business.  You may recognize their brands like Chooka and Western Chief (available at retailers like Nordstrom, Target, Fred Meyer, and Kohl’s).

Me, my friend Torie, and a dozen other Seattle Bloggers headed up for a beautiful day. The sun was out, and there couldn’t have been a better day to do the trip. I went jacket-less all day and my long-sleeved dress kept me protected from the sun.

For boots, I chose the Freja’ Lace Up boots courtesy of Washington Shoe Company. I loved the quilting details and the laces gave it a fun look. I have wide calfs, so these were my first official pair of rain boots. All others rainboots I’ve tried on have never fit. The key for you wide-calf ladies is to find boots that are a little shorter. Chooka luckily has tons of options. I’m considering buying a few pairs!VIEW THIS POST

kitchen renovation reveal

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Finally, I bring you the ‘official’ after photos of our kitchen. This is now one of our favorite little rooms. We love to cook and have friends over for dinner, and this space has become quite a workhorse. It’s so efficient, not too big, not too small.
The wall of wood cabinets in the kitchen are original and was a big selling point, they’re so beautiful, and something we couldn’t really have bought, or built by ourselves.

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