zucchini bread

Zucchini is one of those things we've been getting in abundance from our CSA, and beyond sautéing it in butter and garlic, or throwing it in a quiche, I hadn't really done anything with zucchini.  I had seen zucchini bread before at coffee shops and bakeries, but had never had some.  When I found a zucchini bread recipe in on of my Grandma's cookbooks, I decided to give it a go!  It turned out so wonderfully and I've already made a second batch because Dan wanted more (and of course we had more zucchini, so why not).

The rain has come in here in the PNW, so I haven't been doing much in the way of outfit shoots, preferring to spend my time in front of a warm stove or oven instead of trying to brave the cold, wet weather to grab some outfit photos.  We've been hit by some record rainfall this past weekend, and merely going outside to run to the car results in mild drenching.  Thankfully our house doesn't have a basement and is also on the top of a hill so we've avoided a lot of the troubles that many Tacomans have been dealing with.

(recipe via Auke Bay Chapel by the Lake Presbyterian Church cookbook)

Ingredients:

3 eggs beaten until thick and lemon colored

1 cup butter, melted

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini

3 tsp vanilla

3 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 cups flour

3/4 cup raisins and/or nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Mix together eggs, butter, and sugar.  Fold in zucchini, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

2. Sift together flour, soda, baking powder and salt.  Fold into egg mixture and add raisins.

3. Pour into 2 loaf pans, greased or lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 1 hour.  Cool about 15 min and remove from pans.

 

Q + A // getting over a break up

Going through a break up is one of the worst things to cope with.  Dealing with the pain, the broken trust, the expectations that were disappointed, and the loss of someone you love is never easy, regardless of how good or bad the relationship was.  You feel like you've lost the last few years of your life, you feel like you've lost your best friend, you feel like you've lost the future you'd imagined with that person.  It's ... rough.  If you guys have been around the blog for a while (like a long while), you'll remember one of my posts about getting over the hardest break up I've had.  It took me nearly a year after the break up happened to be able to write that post.  In a lot of ways people expect emotional pain to be easier to "get over" than physical pain.  When I went through that break up, I felt like I had been in an emotional car accident that had left me in the hospital in traction.  It was almost debilitatingly painful.  It's important to realize that, like being in a bad car accident where you'll need physical therapy in order to regain your ability to walk, emotional pain similarly needs time to heal and return your heart to where it was before the break up.  

You can't expect to get over it and move on immediately, but in many ways dealing with the pain and heartbreak post-break-up can be a wonderful time of healing as well as a time to get to know yourself and really work on you.  It's unlikely you'll be ready to jump right in to a new relationship, and oftentimes that's an unhealthy move to make, hence the stigma surrounding the "rebound" relationship.  In many ways a rebound is about avoiding dealing with the pain of a breakup, and merely puts a bandaid on a broken bone.  This isn't always the case, but it's a safe rule of thumb to avoid the rebound.

 Give yourself space.  It's hard to jump right back into your social life, especially if people constantly are asking about what happened and making you relive the pain.  If you need space, give yourself that.  Maybe hang out with a couple really good friends who will aid in the healing process, but you're especially vulnerable, so avoid spending time with people who won't respect what you're going through. 

 Focus on healing your heart.  They call it a broken heart for a reason.  In many ways your heart truly is broken.  It doesn't know how to trust anymore and has a very difficult time opening up to people for fear of being hurt again.  It's a slow process and learning to trust again doesn't happen overnight.  

 Cry.  Let yourself cry.  Ugly cry.  Scream.  Mourn.  When I went through my break up I told myself I wasn't going to cry, and I didn't for about 3 or 4 months.  And then something snapped and I cried almost every night for I don't even know how long.  It was almost as if holding it in had made the dam breaking even more powerful.  Let yourself cry.  Dealing with the loss of a relationship is worth tears.  If you have to wear sunglasses to class, do it.  I was the weird kid in the back of my chemistry lectures wearing sunglasses inside at 9 am, but it hid my puffy cry-eyes and in many ways it felt like a form of armor or protection, even though they were just sunglasses.  

 Do yoga.  It forces you to look inward and confront your pain and acknowledge what is happening in your heart.  Plus, it's a great work out and an excuse to get out of the house.



 Let yourself binge on ice cream.  I don't understand it, but ice cream has a healing power.  Rebound with Ben & Jerry, they understand.  

 Exercise.  Moving your body and getting your blood pumping can give you a little boost of endorphins that will help you feel better.  Wallowing in bed can feel great, and pillows are great for soaking up tears, but you'd be surprised how much better your heart will feel when it's had blood vigorously pumping through it.  Also, it'll get rid of all those ice cream calories.

 Surround yourself with people who genuinely love you.  Family, good friends.  Make sure you're around people who you can trust and who will support you through your recovery.

 Journal.  Get all of your thoughts and emotions out on paper.  Word vomit.  It's cathartic and healing.  

 Spend time away from your Ex.  Perhaps this is not geographically possible as you might work together, live in the same town, have the same friends, etc.  Do your best to get as much space as possible.  Don't try to be "just friends" immediately following the break up.  If you guys want to be friends still, you can definitely do that, but doing so immediately following the break up will oftentimes make it much harder to deal with the emotional fall out of the break up.  Give yourself space to heal and have clarity.

 Do something nice for yourself.  Buy yourself flowers, get a massage, 



After my big breakup I moved home to Alaska to be close to family (thankfully this was possible as I'd just graduated college), got jobs as a graphic designer and a fashion merchandiser, went to NYFW twice, dyed my hair red, bought my Brave, quit my job, and drove around the country.  The time after a break up can actually be a great time for you because you can wholly focus on yourself.  You're no longer focusing on compromising for your significant other, you can do what you want to do.  Go on the adventures you've always wanted to go on, chase the dreams you want to chase.  No one is holding you back.  For a long time I wanted to wait until I was with someone who wanted to go on my Winne trip with me, but I decided to stop waiting and just do it on my own and it was the best thing I could've done.  I'd love to do it again now that Dan and I are married, but that time in the Brave, on the road, solo, was one of the most healing times of my life.  

Do you guys have anything that helps you deal with heartache?

mix + match

I love how certain color palettes correspond to specific seasons.  When fall rolls around I always find myself drawn to rust, mustard, navy, and wine.  Color that are a little more subdued, but still rich.  Fall has so many of it's own colors that it's hard to not be inspired by my surroundings.  This herringbone skirt is a fall staple.  I almost never wear it during any other time of the year, despite it being one of my favorite pieces.  The warm weather is lingering on, but this outfit with a pair of tights and a cardigan would work just perfectly once the temperatures drop.  
As always, I'm mixing prints.  I have a deplorable lack of leopard print in my closet, especially for a blog called Delightfully Tacky.  I feel like leopard print perfectly walks that line of being delightfully tacky.  It's luxe but also a bit kitschy, which is right up my alley.  Of course, sometimes leopard print can stray into full-on tacky (oh hai, leopard snuggies), but I love when it's deployed well.  Some more discerning people might avoid pairing leopard with other prints, but I'm pretty sure I can't not mix prints, so of course I am.  Next time, though, I think I might pair it with an LBD for a date night.  The bright orange would be a fun punch of color against black.
 
watch + clutch/courtesy of fossil :: top(dress)/courtesy of lace affair :: skirt/target necklace/courtesy of moorea seal :: bracelets/courtesy of musana jewelry + jewelmint shoes/courtesy of blowfish :: glasses/target
I saw Rebecca post a picture on instagram wearing a huge stack of bracelets and I was inspired to create my own "arm party."  I wear so few wrist adornments because most of them are too big and just fall off over my hand.  I had to remove four segments to get this watch to fit, but I'm glad I did because it makes me feel pretty fabulous.  I really love the look of stacked bracelets and watches, so I might start doing it more often!  Elastic bracelets work better than, say, bangles.  I'm pretty sure I could wear most bangles around my upper arm.  Maybe I'll start doing that too.  A little Xena Warrior Princess realness, eh?  
*This post is in partnership with Fossil and Lucky Magazine. Thanks for supporting those companies which help keep Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking!

holding on for autumn

Lately it's been almost too chilly to go out in only a cardigan!  I suppose it's time to dig all my big coats out of storage.  It's kind of exciting, though, to rediscover all the "new" fall/winter clothes.  Boots, sweaters, jackets, coats.  All hidden away since April, dusted off and re-hung.  Dan and I went on a mini coffee date yesterday afternoon before he headed off to work and I enjoyed a Maple Pecan Latte from Metronome.  Usually I'm a black coffee/americano girl, but lattes get all the fun fall flavors so I like to indulge in a few during this season.   You know how people say, "if you haven't worn something in a year, get rid of it"?  While I kind of agree with that, I also disagree.  A lot of items in my closet linger, simply because I only have the desire to wear them during certain times of year.  I haven't worn this top since last fall, but I didn't want to sell it or donate it to a thrift store because I had a feeling once fall rolled around again I'd want to wear it.  Lo and behold here we are!  I actually have been wearing this outfit with my wide legged, high waisted jeans, but I wasn't in the mood to wear giant platforms (they're the only shoes that make me tall enough so the jeans don't drag.  Yes, I'm too lazy to get them hemmed), so skinnies and boots were my substitute.  I like the outfit both ways.  Kendi recently styled an outfit with wide leg, high waisted jeans and I'm excited to emulate something like it!  Well, once I find a suitable top.  

 
top(similar)/courtesy of marshall's :: cardigan + jeans/courtesy of modcloth boots(similar)/courtesy of blowfish :: bag(similar)/courtesy of handbag heaven hat(similar)/courtesy of tittle millinery I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but I'll be heading to St. Louis fashion week next Wednesday and I'm actually really excited!  I haven't been to NYFW in a few years, partly because it's hella expensive, but mostly because it's not really my scene.  But St. Louis fashion week seems more down to earth, with more indie designers, less peacocking and street style photographers, and events that are more my speed.  Plus, I'll get to hang out with some of my favorite old blogger friends and new blogger friends I've yet to meet!  STLFW sounds like it's going to be very blogger friendly and low-key.  Plus I'm stoked to hand out in St. Louis!  I went through St. Louis in 2007 when my family was on a cross country RV trip, but we didn't really spend any time exploring the city, just passed through.  If any of you are in the St. Louis area, you should come to STLFW!  I'll be at Industry Night, the Saks Event, and the Neiman Marcus event, which you can buy tickets for here!

OUR HOME // kitchen before + after

The kitchen was the room I worked on first when we moved in.  For me, the kitchen is where I spend most of my time, simply because it's the hub of activity in our home.  In the morning we hang out and make breakfast and I work on my computer, I work out in the kitchen, Dusty currently spends most of her time in the kitchen (while we housebreak on the linoleum), it's just the room we all gravitate towards.  I hated that our whole house was painted in shades of beige, and was really eager to get something more bold and bright in there.  Since chartreuse is kind of my current color obsession I couldn't resist painting it chartreuse.  And I've always wanted to have a chalkboard wall in my house, so I painted a whole wall in chalkboard too.  It's not a very accessible wall, since the fridge and the cabinet and shelves cover most of it, but the texture and boldness perfectly balance the chartreuse.  I painted the trim white to a make it pop.  I love the trim in old craftsman homes, and it kind of disappeared when it was beige.  Our friend thought we'd put up new trim after we painted it because it looked so different!

I'll start off with some before photos.  These are photos from before we bought it, just taken off the listing.  Super basic and boring, but nice.  The kitchen had clearly been re-done recently with new cabinetry and appliances, which was nice, but since they're new they don't need replacing with prettier, less boring ones.  I really wanted to paint the cabinets bright white, but they have a coating on them that would be hard to strip and paint.  If we end up staying here long enough we have big dreams for knocking down half the wall between the kitchen and living room to open things up, and if we do that I might replace the cabinets.

Because we didn't get a ton of space where we could actually use our chalkboard wall,  I decided to put chalkboard contact paper on the side of our fridge, and I'm so glad I did!  We use it all the time, and it's a great spot for our calendar since we spend most of our time in the kitchen.  Also: love notes.

Above our back door there was a little space that was begging for something fun, so I went to Jo Ann's and got some of those cardboard 3D letters, painted them black with the leftover chalkboard paint and propped them up on the trim above the door.  It was a super quick and easy little project but it's one of my favorite details from the room.

I've become a little obsessed with collecting globes.  I have two in my kitchen, two in my living room and two in my studio.  Anytime I see a cool one at the thrift store I have to get it, especially because they're usually super cheap.  

The black cabinet beneath our shelves was originally going to double as a coffee/liquor cart, but the liquor area took up too much space, so we moved the coffee accoutrements to inside the cabinet instead of on top.  We just do pour-over coffee so it doesn't involve anything more that filters, beans, and a grinder.  The prints in this corner of the room are another favorite detail.  They're made by an amazing local print studio, Slide Sideways, and I got them at a craft fair where they had a booth earlier this year.

A little over a month ago, I was at the Fremont Market with

Julie

when she was in town visiting and I found some vintage food prints, and I love how they sort of match the Slide Sideways prints.  I hung the vintage prints above my stove and they fit perfectly there!

Some of my favorite personal details in my kitchen are the Alaskan infusions.  My grampa made all the little boxes on the counter.  One holds my spoons, some of which he carved by hand, one holds my other kitchen tools, he made the recipe box and my grandma filled it with recipes, and then the wooden plate with the map of Alaska next to my stove is from their house.  My grampa's carvings are some of my most precious items and I love having them out on the counter to enjoy.

Since the cabinets are new and difficult to prep for painting, I opted to just put chalkboard contact paper on them instead of permanently altering them with paint.  I love how it's a really quick and non-committal way to add a bold look to cabinets, plus it matches my other wall, which ties them together nicely.  I can remove the contact paper whenever I want in order to change things up, too!

milk bottle measuring cups

+

floral painted bowls

/

anthropologie

:: fruit prints /

slide sideways

rug/roadside shop in WA :: chalkboard contact paper/amazon 

ampersand

 + sun shine print/courtesy of

modcloth

 :: globes/thrifted

chartreuse paint/Behr "lemongrass"

(if you guys have questions about where anything else came from let me know and I can add it)