handmade holiday gift guide // moorea seal

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ypical me, I'm behind on all things holiday related.  Honestly I don't even know if we'll get a Christmas tree this year.  I feel like we're too busy and it's just not worth it to put up a tree and rearrange my living room.  We're probably not going to do too much in the way of gift exchanging so it wouldn't have presents under it anyway.  Though, I will say that after a few years of jonesin' for a faux white tree I might finally go for it.  But anyway: Christmas!  While the whole crazed materialistic buy-buy-buy thing that happens this time of year kind of freaks me out more and more as I get older, I love that this time of year is a prime opportunity to really support local and handmade small businesses.  I'd much rather give my money to people who are living their dreams out and hustling to make their creative small businesses thrive.  One of my favorite lady-hustlers is Moorea Seal who is a fellow PNW creative gal and someone I'm honored to call a friend and mentor.  I met her years ago when we were both doing blog design for Freckled Nest and it's been such a pleasure to watch her creative aspirations flourish and business goals become realized over the years.

My favorite thing about Moorea is that not only is she a creator herself (as we speak I'm wearing one of her necklaces), but her shop is stocked full of handmade designs by other creators, so when I shop at her store not only am I supporting her, but also all the creatives whose products she sells too.  This little list is just a small sampling of a few of my absolute favorite items from her shop.  I actually have three of the things on this list already!

WED // jackson + jessica's portland leach botanical garden wedding

ack in September I had the honor of getting to photograph a lifelong family friend's wedding.  I've known the groom, Jackson, for two decades.  Our families became super close friends shortly after my family moved up to Anchorage when I was 6, and Jackson's dad was actually friends with my dad growing up in Juneau, so there's a lot of family history between our two clans.  Jackson started dating Jessica in high school, so they've been together for quite some time!  They both go to college in Seattle now, so when Jackson finally decided to propose he took Jessica to the swanky restaurant atop the Seattle Space Needle for a delicious date and then popped the question after dinner as they stood beneath the Space Needle.  After she said yes, they caught a bus to a secret surprise party he had planned where friends, family, and loved ones were waiting to congratulate them!
Jackson and Jessica didn't have a ton of money to splurge on a huge, opulent wedding, but you wouldn't have known it!  It was such an incredibly beautiful wedding, from the location, to the details.  Everything was so perfect.  When I walked into the venue for the rehearsal my jaw dropped and I did a little happy-photographer dance because I was SO excited to shoot photos in such a beautiful location.  Their venue was the Leach Botanical Garden just outside of Portland, which is a super affordable wedding venue.  Seriously, so many private wedding venues can charge enormous fees, but because Leach is run by the Portland Parks & Rec they have much more affordable rates.  So amazing.
They found their florist on Craigslist (amazing!), a gal named Sharon Harbeck, and she does flowers as a hobby so she doesn't have an actual shop name (but I did some googling and found her pinterest and linkedin pages).  The flowers were so stunning and Jessica says she did a phenomenal job staying within their small budget.  The center pieces were my favorite decorative pieces at the wedding.  Succulents, moss, and pretty flowers all tucked inside a log "vase".  I almost stole like ten of them to take home with me they were so understated, chic, and matched the location perfectly.  

 




 

Jackson's Dad spent some time growing up in Hawai'i, so Jackson has lots of memories eating Hawaiian food and I distinctly remember many times dancing the Hukilau along with my brothers and Jackson and his sister while their dad played his ukulele and sang.  They had Barbs Catering do a mini Hawaiian meal for their food because of it's sentimental value in Jackson's side of the family, but it was even more special for Jessica because it was the first meal he ever cooked her!  To save money they chose not to serve a full meal so having some rice, teriyaki chicken skewers and pineapple were good options for those not wanting pie, which is what they chose for dessert in lieu of cake. All of the pie was contributed by family members that were known for specific flavors, and it was so cool that loved ones got to share a little sweet treat. 

I asked Jessica to share her favorite moment from the day and she said, "This one is really hard to choose! Besides actually putting the rings on our fingers, my favorite moment of the day was waiting to walk down the isle. Jackson and I had chosen not to see each other before the ceremony, and I don't regret it one bit. The feeling of knowing I would see him soon, was one I will never forget. Pure joy mixed with immense nervousness (the good kind) is the only way I can describe it! I wish I could relive that moment again!" As their photographer I was with her in those moments and it was so special to share them with her. She was doing her best to breathe and calm the nerves and I started singing Miley Cyrus, "Party in the USA" to her because we'd listened to some Miley on the car ride over to the venue earlier that day.  "So I put my hands up, they're playing my song, the butterflies fly away..." seemed like the perfect little encouragement in the moment!

 

Jessica's wedding advice?  "The only thing I can really think of to say is, don't lose focus on what the day is really about. Some things aren't going to go your way, your Mom may put the favor table in the wrong corner, your florist may be late, and your lemonade might not have enough sugar. But at the end of the day you will be married to the love of your life, and everyone that is important to you will get to see you make that commitment. That's what weddings are about!"  I loved Jessica's laid back attitude, even when she was nervous or anxious.  Also, I dig a bride who, when asked if she'll take her shoes off and, in her wedding gown, hike barefoot out onto a tiny rock wall in the middle of a stream to get the shot, says, "heck yeah!"  So excited for Jackson and Jessica's new life together, and it's so great to have such a great gal as a part of our big framily!

 

apple huckleberry crisp

his little treat was something I made over a month ago, but I forgot about it in my drafts!  I figure it's still a winter-ish treat, and I actually enjoyed it as a little bite for breakfast.  We still have some huckleberries in the freezer from a hike we went on earlier in the year, so I might have to make it again!  I'd actually like to try my hand at making a huckleberry liqueur or something for a fun cocktail.  A couple years ago I made peppermint schnapps as a gift for some friends, which was a fun, homemade present, and I learned that it's relatively simple to make your own infused liquors and liqueurs.  Boozy holiday presents are the gifts that keep on giving, right?
I haven't shifted into holiday mode yet and I feel like this year I might go light on the holiday festivities and decor.  I'm even considering not getting a tree, though I may have a change of heart after seeing everyone's pretty holiday trees all decorated and lit up.  Part of me just feels too lazy to rearrange our living room to fit a tree.  Maybe I'll just pull out our little silver mini-tree that we had our first Christmas after getting married.  I've been really jonesin' for one of those gorgeous faux white trees and I think it'd look perfect against our black chalkboard wall in our living room, but that might take some convincing on Dan's part.  If I can't have a white Christmas, then I might as well have a white Christmas tree!


(recipe slightly adapted from betty crocker)
Ingredients
4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
1 c huckleberries
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


Directions
1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening or line with parchment paper.

2. Spread apples and berries in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.

3. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

out of season

t was a little silly because I knew we were going on a tropical vacation quite a few months ago, so as we were settling into the fall and winter months, I was still on the look out for warm weather duds.  This gorgeous dress was one of the things I snagged specifically for this trip, but when I got it the length was way too long.  I had a couple other dresses that I wanted to alter, so I took this one in as well and had the length brought up a bit.  One of my friends does costume design and custom work and in his off-time he does alterations, so it was really fun to be able to bring them to him to do the alterations.  I was expecting a simple hem job on this dress, super boring and easy, but he looked at it with the eye of an artist and wanted to maintain the proportions of the crocheted tiers instead of just hacking off the bottom.  It was such a refreshing experience to take my clothes to someone who really appreciates fit and silhouette, and even knows a ton about fashion and costuming history!  I've only had a couple other alterations done before this lot, but I'm super excited about the possibilities now.  One of the dresses I had altered was a vintage gold dress I was given by a friend that was about one or two sizes too big for me.  It was too cute to give away, but it was just sitting in a to-alter pile for at least two years.  It's especially nice to keep alteration in mind when shopping for vintage or thrifted pieces because it's not like you can say, "oh I like this, but I'll just get it in a different size."  Most vintage and thrifted pieces are one of a kind so it's that item, or nothing.  I'm no expert seamstress, but I've done quite a few of my own alterations in the past.  It's fun to be able to shop with an eye looking for potential, not just searching for the *perfect* piece.  Sometimes a muumuu can become a cute mini dress, and all it takes is a bit of easy alteration.


 

dress + shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: flower crown/handmade necklace/courtesy of joy dravecky jewelry

just unplug it and then plug it back in

ne of my favorite tech solutions is, "have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in again?"  It's the first thing anyone asks when tech problem arises, and it's because a lot of the time... it works.  Sometimes I think we're more like our cyber companions than we'd like to admit, because a lot of our problems or stresses can probably be solved, or at least alleviated, by unplugging for a bit and resetting.  I've got more in common with my wireless router than I thought.  It's been a long time since I got out of Tacoma to warmer climes for pure pleasure reasons, and it's much needed.  I never got any sort of seasonal affective symptoms during the winters in Alaska, despite the short daylight hours, but the Pacific Northwest "winters" hit me much harder than I anticipated when I moved there.  Obviously, my tropical surroundings indicate that we finally have escaped for a relaxing vacation and I'm pretty thrilled.  
On the flight, we sat next to a guy who became our plane BFF, bringing us so many beverages that I was rather tipsy when we disembarked, and exhorting us to get out there and see the world while we are still young and untethered.  I've been feeling quite a bit of wanderlust these days and, despite our travel companion being rather boozily enthusiastic, I feel like he galvanized my desire to see some more places in the coming year.  Travel can feel so prohibitively expensive at times, but I'd rather travel now while things are easier and simpler, than put it off until who knows when.  It will only become more difficult as the years pass and we acquire more and more responsibilities.  

 

dress/courtesy of isla :: top/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes/courtesy of bc footwear bra/free people :: necklace/courtesy of joy dravecky jewelry
Anyway, I hope you guys (well at least those with a holiday here in the US) are enjoying a day full of gratitude and reflection.  I love that this holiday is focused on thankfulness.  It's something we don't do enough of, and I'd like to make gratitude more of a habit in my own life.  Being discontent is so easy, but being grateful takes attention and intention.  Unplugging goes hand in hand with gratitude.  In a lot of ways the hustle and bustle of life seems to get in the way of slowing down and taking notice of all the things we should be thankful for.  It's nice to push pause and realign life back to a more healthy mindset.