Jackson Family Photo Shoot: December 2016

I can't believe it's the end of the year! I managed to stay on top of our holiday photos this year, booking our super talented friend Sarah of Modern Kids to shoot our family's photos--she's been taking our photos since Lucas was a year old (remember last year's shoot and the year before that?). I'm always so amazed at the final photos. My boys are so crazy--I mean, this year Sarah was lucky enough to see Lucas' frank AND beans! OMG!

I bribed the boys with donuts and the promise of more treats and a movie after the shoot. Still, the frank and beans came out. Ha!

We went to Codornices Park in Berkeley for the second half of our shoot. I also decided to an outfit change would be fun. Ha! SO unlike me, but this only happens once a year. We set up a picnic under this amazing tree.

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Father's Day Camp Grilling and Beer Tasting with Whole Foods Market

Father’s Day is just around the corner on June 19th. I've partnered with Whole Foods Market to bring you a little Father's Day camp grilling and beer tasting inspiration for all you dads out there--new dads, single dads, grandads, animal dads and every other rad dad out there.

We invited our good friends Brad and Nancy and their son Ben, along with Eric and Susana and their boys Nico and Mateo, over for some urban camp grilling (think foil-wrapped camp food cooked on a backyard grill).  We also roasted s'mores over a portable fire pit, set up an outdoor movie screen for the kids, and had a blind beer tasting for the dads. Oh, and we can't forget the Warriors playoff game that happened to be playing that night. Go Dubs!

Take a look at our drool-worthy dinner menu:

• Two Kinds of Cool Kebabs: Grapes/Cheddar and Caprese (recipe from Sunset Magazine's new Camp Sunset cookbook)
• Candied Rosemary Hazelnuts (from Camp Sunset)
• Crackers/Olives/Cheese plate
• Grilled Wild Alaskan Salmon Foil Packets (recipe from the Whole Foods Blog)
• Simple Grilled Asparagus
• Hot Dogs from Fork in the Road (made with sustainable pasture-raised beef)
• Cabbage Crunch Salad from Whole Foods
• Pull-Apart Garlic Bread (from Camp Sunset)
• Peach Crisps in Foil Packets with Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream (from Camp Sunset)
• Classic S'mores

For the beer tasting, I wanted two IPAs and two Stouts, I wanted them to be from local or California breweries, and of course, the label had to be cute--Rachel from Whole Foods Gilman was amazing at helping me select a few craft brews for me to choose from. Here were my final selections:

Almanac IPA (San Francisco, CA)
With intense aromas of grapefruit and tangerine peel, melon, pineapple and pine trees. The finish has a clean bitterness and light saltine cracker note.

Iron Springs Casey Jones Imperial IPA (Fairfax, CA)
This double IPA has twice the hops and grains as its counterpart. Significant floral, citrus, and peppery notes on the nose, yet even with the enormous hop profile, the huge grain bill results in a very well balanced brew.

Modern Times Beer Mega Black House Imperial Stout - Special Release (San Diego, CA)
An imperialized version of Black House loaded with their house-roasted coffee.  Thick, chewy, and bursting with coffee aroma & flavor.

Bike Dog Brewing Company Milk Stout (West Sacramento, CA)
A sweet stout with chocolate notes and a hint of coffee and milk.

I hand painted a rough buffalo plaid pattern onto kraft butcher paper to line the tables. I designed some cute beer tasting cards for the dads to rate each beer.

Um, luckily I printed out four cards! And please note that Theo did not actually taste test any of those beers. ;)

Three rad beer-loving dads with their winning selections from the beer tasting--so fun that they each had a different favorite! They had a lot of fun discovering these new beers and were pleasantly surprised that Whole Foods had such a great selection of craft brews.

Delicious olives and cheeses including ones from Kite Hill (made with almond milk and so good!), Mitica Cana de Oveja Mitica and Fromi Brebirousse D'Argental.

These Candied Hazelnuts from the new Camp Sunset cookbook were so easy to make and highly addictive. You could also find the recipe here.

These Cool Kebabs from the Camp Sunset cookbook were super easy and quick to make. Even Theo helped out--he made the one with all grapes and one cheese cube ;)

And can we talk about these delicious little goodies? A Whole Foods Market exclusive, they're from Fork in the Road, a company that acts responsibly, humanely and compassionately and are made with sustainable, pasture-raised uncured beef without any antibiotics or added hormones.

I used this recipe for Grilled Salmon in Foil Packets for the main dish using fresh, wild Alaskan salmon from the fish section at Whole Foods, organic cherry tomatoes, lemons, olives, and fresh thyme, oregano and parsley.

For dessert I made these Peach Crisps in Foil Packets with Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream from the Camp Sunset cookbook.

It wouldn't be urban camping without s'mores by the firepit, right? Nick put together our Stahl Firepit in a jiffy. Should have started the fire earlier so it would be perfect for s'mores but the guys were too busy beer tasting!

Now THIS is urban camping! Go Warriors!

Setting out all the ingredients in a pan made it easy for everyone to assemble their s'mores. I used Elyon Natural Vanilla Marshmallows, and 365 Fair Trade Dark Chocolate, and Organic Honey Grahams from Whole Foods.

Let's not forget the amazing Father's Day gifts you could get at Whole Foods. These include a Kleen Kanteen, grilling tools, books, Allegro coffee and mugs, Kikkerland Bike Phone Holder, 3-in-1 Mini Screwdriver, TrueFlask Soft Touch Flask, Herban Cowboy products, and Thrive skin care products.

And my favorite photo of the night...

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Special thanks to Whole Foods Market for sponsoring this post. All content, ideas, and words are my own.

Jackson Family Photo Shoot: December 2015

As always, the year flew by way too quickly and before I knew it, it was time to design our holiday card and take our annual family photos. Of course, we asked our friend Sarah to shoot our family's photos--she's been taking our photos since Lucas was a year old (remember last year's shoot?). Incredibly talented, sweet, patient and a genius with my boys, Sarah somehow magically captures the best little moments--all while the boys are running around like crazy.

+ All photos by Sarah Hebenstreit
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Halloween Monster Movie Night with Whole Foods Market Berkeley and 100 Layer Cakelet

I can't believe Halloween is just around the corner! A few weeks ago I designed/styled a fun Monster Movie Night party along with the talented catering crew from Whole Foods Market Berkeley for one of my favorite blogs 100 Layer Cakelet and all shot by the talented Michelle Drewes. It was super fun! I designed these fun invitations with finger monsters in kraft jewelry boxes.

Whole Foods Market Berkeley's catering team did an AMAZING job with the spooky spread (remember Lucas' 5th birthday party they catered?)--monster pizzas, witches fingers (hummus and veg dip), graveyard dip (7 layer bean dip), banana ghosts (frozen bananas dipped in white chocolate), and caramel apple and pears. They provided gorgeous fall flowers with ghosts made of cheesecloth, "healthy" candy and not-too-scary Halloween books. We played "Monsters, Inc." on a white sheet and the kids were hooked.

I created this monster backdrop for the food table complete with eyeball pumpkin.

That watermelon brain! Those carrot fingers!

"Healthy" M&M's from Whole Foods Market Berkeley were packaged in these super cute glassine treat bags from the Oh Happy Day Party Shop.

I had no idea that Whole Foods Market Berkeley made custom cakes like this one--using one of Lucas' monster drawings. So cute! They also make character cakes using licensed images like Star Wars. Who knew?

I set up a low table with some goodies for the kids including glow sticks and jars with neon bouncy balls and spiders from Target. Lucas set out place mats and drew monsters on each one. He was so excited to help!

One of my favorite crafts was the giant pair of balloon eyeballs that were so easy to make.

Theo's favorite thing to say (or scream in your face) is, "I AM BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" so naturally we had to get him a Buzz Lightyear costume for the shoot.

Side note: Lucas' hair looks hilarious to me here! Also, he looks like me in this pic!

+ Check out the feature and all the photos on 100 Layer Cakelet!

+ Photography by Michelle Drewes
+ Catering by Whole Foods Market Berkeley
+ Design, planning, decor, invites by me
+ Party decor by Oh Happy Day Party Shop and Target
+ Cute kiddos by Lisa and Lisa

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