Uncle Ken's Stir Fry

My Uncle Ken is a sensational cook. He's from Alabama and grew up with good old fashioned Southern cooking. Since I am not much of a cook myself his passion for all things culinary and his love of fine and delicious foods bodes really well for me as I often get to enjoy his cooking! 

Next to his homemade cornbread, his chicken stir fry is my favorite!
It's healthy, relatively simple to prepare and always scrumptious. 

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 red bell pepper

1 bunch of green onions

1 package of bean sprouts

2 heads of baby bok choy

2 cups of snow peas

1 bunch of fresh basil

This recipe requires fast, hot cooking so it is essential that you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you begin.

From start to finish it only takes about 15 minutes.

The tricks to this recipe is to let the oil (he usually uses Canola) get nice and hot in the pan. The bell pepper goes in first for just a minute or two and then the chicken. Once the chicken is mostly cooked add in the green onion and then the snow peas. Let those cook for a few minutes. Next in is the baby bok choy , it cooks quickly so save it until nearly the very end along with the finely chopped basil. Add in the sauce and mix it in well, allow it to sit for just a minute or two and then add in the bean sprouts as the final ingredient. They will cook in only a few seconds.

The sauce is simple and varies a bit from time to time. This evening Ken used a delicious orange sauce as the base, added a little brown sugar, some corn starch to thicken it and a little soy sauce. It's one of those you sort of make to taste. He serves this all over a bed of rice and tops it with crunchy chow mein! My mouth is literally watering as I write this, it is SO delicious! 

Hope you enjoy. 

Love, 

Bold & Bright

It's been a while since I've shared an outfit of the day. 

I am loving bold patterns paired with a pop of brilliant color. 

Persimmon orange and neon pinks and yellows are my favorite pops as of late.

I hope you enjoy!

Love, 

Fingers: Essie-Absolutely Shore Toes: China Glaze-Shocking Pink Neon Accessories: Michael Kors Watch & Personalized Gold Link Bracelet Shorts: Target Blouse: J.Crew Shoes: Jeffery Campbell

Fashionable Bubbly!

I love champagne. 

But I love it even more when it's dressed up! 

I'm a Veuve Clicquot girl, it's simply my favorite and over the years I've been collecting a variety of adorable Veuve accessories.

I've found most of my Veuve Clicquot goodies while traveling which makes them especially memorable. I discovered this signature orange canvas carrying case while in Italy and whenever we use it I always think of our wonderful vacation. 

I discovered these retro Veuve mini refrigerators at Harvey Nichols on our last rip to London. My mom surprised me and carried both of these home in her suitcase for me :) 

 And while I will forever be a Veuve girl, when I saw this today I could not pass it by.  

The bottles brilliant red crocodile texture caught my eye and it has now become part of my collection :)

My favorites and the newest addition!

Cheers, 

Just Breathe...

Finding time to relax is often more challenging than it sounds. It's so easy to get caught up in the craziness and busyness of the fast paced complex lives so many of us lead these days and that's why it's more important than ever to make some time to just breathe. The last few weeks have been very hectic and stressful and I have really needed some quiet time. 

Over the years life has thrown me some curve balls but from these challenging times I've learned to recognize the little things that help to relax; waves or the sound of water, sunshine, fresh air, quiet and a great massage. These are truly my elements of relaxation, they calm me calm down, help me to find my center and refuel my soul. This week my husband and I headed to our home in the mountains for a little down time. 

It's been wonderful :) We've been on the water and in the sunshine and fresh air everyday. I spent two hours this morning "just breathing" while I sipped on not one but two delicious lattes - it was fantastic! 

I hope you all are having a great week, be well and don't forget to take a little time for yourself to just breathe!

Love, 

The Essence of Lady Grace

I have mentioned a few times lately how crazy my life has been. Well, the crazy seems to keep on coming and I apologize because I have not posted nearly as much as I would have liked to. When my life begins to emulate a circus, I try to remind myself of what matters to me, what I value and the manner in which I chose to live my life. 

A life defined and lead with Grace...

A little fancy with some sassy...

And ALWAYS classy...

The Lady Elizabeth Grace Philosophy

Love, 

* All images can be found on Lady Elizabeth Grace's Pintrest 

♥ From Lady Grace

Just a quick but heartfelt one this evening...

 Integrity, respect for oneself & others, courage, compassion & love; these are the qualities I value and carry with me daily. I found this on Pintrest and it truly gives words to how I have been feeling lately. I hope you are all well! May this be a wonderful week :) 

Love, 

His & Hers

My friend Kelly over at Messy.Dirty.Hair has been urging me to do a post on my husband's clothes for quite sometime. My husband has great taste and a wonderful sense of style, however he's not gone shopping for clothes since we met five years ago. He leaves that to me and I love it! We recently attended a casual event in the evening and I thought it would be fun to show you his outfit as well as mine. :)

His

Tissot t-touch watch, Faconable shirt, Levi's dark wash jeans, Sperry Topsider loafers, Tommy Bahama reversible pullover, custom wedding band

Hers

Luois Vuitton Neverfull GM, Nude Tory Burch  flats, Michael Kors watch, David Yurman bracelet, yellow cashmere scarf, old navy blue sweater with oversized buttons, red skinny jeans, white J.Crew tank

Hope you enjoy!

Love, 

A Colorful Day

The Dailies

Lady Elizabeth Grace

Today has been a colorful day. It seems as though either everywhere I went or everything I did involved bright, bold and beautiful colors. 

A simple bouquet of fresh flowers...

My Momma's yellow and my pink toes with George's paws...

A bowl full of blueberries...

 And my favorite chocolate chip raspberries....

I couldn't resist posting a few more pictures of these incredible flowers...

The delicate pink is simply divine & I just love the bold red set against the yellow and white. 

I hope everyone has had a great day!

Love, 

A Little Me Time :)

Last week was crazy and this weekend was was pretty hectic as well. No matter how busy or insane life may be I always try carve out some time for myself. I consider this time to be sacred because it truly is an opportunity for me to simply separate myself from everything and just breathe. 

 Last week, on one of my busiest days, I had about an hour in between appointments. It had been a crazy day and I really felt as though I needed to feel my feet against the pavement. I happened to be close to a local trail that I had actually never been on before and so I went for a quick run. 

It was great! 

I'm a big believer in doing what you can, when you can, wherever you are. I always carry my ipod nano and headphones with me but if I think there's any chance to I might be able to get in a quick run or hike I'll throw a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in my bag too, just in case :)  

Today I went on a beautiful hike on the trail above. It was just what I needed. It was almost 80 degrees out when I began and the first 20 minutes of this trail are straight up! It was challenging but I loved every second of it :) 

About an hour later towards the end of my hike there was a magnificent cool breeze. As I drove down the hill the clouds began pouring into the canyon and the temperature began to drop.

It never ceases to amaze me how much better I feel when I'm able to sneak away for a little me time! 

I hope you all have had a restful & relaxing weekend :)

Love, 

Quick & Healthy: Caprese Sandwich

The Dailies

Lady Elizabeth Grace 

A quick & healthy lunch on the go! 

Last week was crazy and on Thursday I found myself with only a few minutes for lunch. In less than 5 minutes I was able combine some of my favorite flavors to create a delicious and healthy caprese sandwich. 

I began with a toasted English muffin, a few pieces of fresh mozzarella and sliced tomatoes with fresh slivered basil drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Simply layer the mozzarella atop the English muffin...

Pile on the tomatoes and basil...

Eat & Enjoy! 

Hope you will love this as much as I do :) 

Love, 

GCB

My latest obsession is not the latest nail polish color, designer, or fashion trend it's actually my new favorite TV show, GCB. To say that I have become obsessed would be to be stating it mildly. I have to admit that I was not a fan from the get go. I Tivo'd the premier episode, watched about 15 minutes and decided it just wasn't for me. A few weeks ago a really great friend told me she was hooked and that she knew it was right up my alley. I gave it a second go and have been hoked ever since.  

 The GCB - Good Christian Bitches of Dallas, Texas are lovely Southern ladies whose lives are consumed, driven, and guided by the Bible. How these ladies and their loved ones choose to interpret the word of God is the hilarious premise of this show.  Irreverent, caddy, superficial and over the top but never without their Southern charm, the ladies of GCB attempt to justify their vindictive and shallow ways with the words of God.   

Love those Southern Belles and Beaus

Cricket Caruth-Reilly & Blake Reilly, Sharon Peacham, Amanda Vaughn, Gigi Stopper, Zach Peacham, Rip and Calene Cockburn & Heather Cruz

In keeping with all things holy, and in one of my favorite scenes to date, Carlene Cockburn drives her Bentley GT with the license plate "HOLY ONE" to a body shop for a little update. In the scene above she tells her husband shes "having some body work done and having colon trouble," as she attempts to have a Bible verse applied on the back of her car. It should read John 3:16 however it reads John : 316.

I religiously await each new episodes arrival on Sunday evening and can't help but smile and wonder if the shows creators went as far as to select the holiest day of the week for what can only be described as an incredibly hilarious and unholy show :)

Love, 

A Hawaiian Dee Lite!

Hawaii has always been a very special place for my family and I. Since before I was able to walk the Hawaiian Islands have been like second home. Some of my fondest childhood memories are with my Gran and Gramps on Oahu, particularly with my Grampsie eating Guava cake! 

A light whipped cream frosting and Guava jelly top this delicate and delicious cake, and it's PINK!

My Grampsie passed away from pancreatic cancer five years ago, from the time he was diagnosed to the day he passed away it was only six short weeks. The one thing I tried to get him before he died was Guava cake from the Dee Lite Bakery on Oahu. I told them I would pay them anything, send a courier etc, but they refused to help. I'm a very determined person and rarely do I encounter a task that I am unable to accomplish. This remains one of my greatest defeats. I have not had this delicious cake in over five years! This week a dear friend came from Hawaii to visit and she hand carried a Guava cake from Dee Lite Bakery and SURPRISED me! Just short of getting engaged this has been one of the best surprises of my entire life!

This cake is SO SO light and fluffy, made with Guava puree it is truly my FAVORITE cake & I'm not a cake person at ALL! 

Bitter sweet none the less because while the cake is every bit as sinfully delicious as I remember it to be it was also the first time I enjoyed this delectable treat without my sweet Grampsie by my side. I literally cried while I cut the first piece. I've slowly been eating my way through the entire cake and now only a single piece remains. I know it is silly and won't change that my Grampsie is no longer with me but there is a part of me that feels guilty about eating the last piece without him. :(