Outfit: Cold Weather Cute

Need ideas for cold weather attire? We have a few suggestions that will keep you both warm and stylish at the same time. We have spent the last two weeks bundling up in Eastern Oregon and Northern Idaho, the weather is sure different than Portland. Maddie misses the forty degree weather and rain in Portland. Ellie can't quiet believe this! While on vacation we learned to layer, and layer and layer. Here are some of our favorite layering looks.

Because Maddie refused to take off her long underwear the entire ski vacation... she decided to incorporate them into her outfit. Honestly, throwing a big sweater, boots, and a scarf on over leggings or jeans is the easiest way to look both fashionable and dressed for the winter weather outside.

Sweater: Free People
Scarf: Nordstroms (Similar)
Leggings: Mod Cloth
Boots: Nordstroms (Similar)
Purse: National Geographic Store

Ellie, who always finds a way to wear a skirt or dress, learned the art of tights and socks and boots. She is still moderately warm, although she did have to take off her down coat for the photos.  SmartWool socks are the save all and thick leather boots sure help!

Dress: Shop Bop (Similar)
Tights: Spanx (Similar)
Socks: SmartWool (Smiliar)
Boots: Frye
Belt: J Crew (Similar)
Bangles: JCrew
Cowl: Homemade

How do you stay warm in cold weather? We obviously still need more tips!

Ellie & Maddie

Outfit: New Years

Want the perfect New years outfit without splurging on a head-to-toe bedazzled gown? You may have the perfect look already hanging in your closet. All you need is the help of a couple important accessories. Contrary to popular belief, you can wear a dress more than once. Actually, you should pride yourself on your ability to re-wear core pieces over and over again.

New Years Party Essentials:
Sparkle or metallic (I bet you could have guessed that one)
Tights or long pants (Its December and/or January alright!)

Maddie's Outfit:
Don't be scared to wear brown with black. The proper shades DO go together. Sometimes pairing black boots, a black dress, and black tights, can turn your outfit darker than you were initially envisioning.

Dress: Aritzia
Scarf: J Crew (Similar from Target)
Earrings: Lamb Trading Company
Tights: Spanx Tights (Similar)
Boots: Steven Madden (Similar)
Top: Urban Outfitters (Similar)
Belt: J Crew (Similar)

Ellie's Outfit:
Start with the basics. Taking a pair of classic black jeans you can dress them up easily with a fancy shirt, sparkly earrings, and some pumps. I instantly fell in love with this shirt when I was at Target recently.

Jeans: Target
Shirt: Target
Pumps: Target
Earrings: Anthropologie (Similar)

Ellie & Maddie

Craft: Cowls!

With the new trend of cozy cowls this season and with the simplicity of their design,  we wanted to make some cowls of our own. Our goals: save money and make something original. We started knitting!  

We used three different patterns. Two of the cowls were made from patterns on Ravelry, (www.ravelry.com) and one of the patterns was purchased from our local knitting store Knit Purl, (www.knit-purl.com). The white cowl was a pattern from the fibre company called Artic Circle. The Blue cowl was from SpiderWomanKnits and is called the Drop Stitch Cowl. Lastly, The burgundy cowl was from Ravelry.com and is called the Marian. We had a lot of fun knitting these cowls and ended up liking all of them equally. It is amazing how quickly you can knit a cowl and how beautiful they turn out!

Ellie & Maddie

Recipes: Brussels Sprouts & Sausage

While on our family ski vacation we try and cook healthy and filling dinners after a full day of skiing.  This year, we made this dish adapted from a  New York Times recipe.  To lower the oil content and add more protein we substituted chicken sausage for pancetta and eliminated the butter and cheese.  We knew it had to be a  great dish since it included Brussels sprouts, Ellie's favorite vegetable. 

Ingredients: 

• 8 oz whole wheat pasta 
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 12 oz chicken sausage
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 8 oz Brussels sprouts thinly sliced 
• 3 oz Pesto

Directions:

• Bring pot of salted water to boil, add pasta and cook until just al dente.
• Meanwhile, heat a larger saute pan over high head and add olive oil. When hot add chicken sausage and rosemary and saute until the sausage starts to to brown slightly. Add garlic and saute for about three minutes. 
• Add Brussels sprouts, a large pinch of salt, and a splash of water, and saute until sprouts just start to soften, about two minutes. Spread the Brussels sprouts minutes to the pan and press down to flatten. Let sear for a minute, then stir and repeated. This helps brown the sprouts. 
• Drain pasta and add to Brussels sprout mixture. Add pesto cook, tossing until well mixed.  
• Serves 4 or more. 

We definitely want to make this dinner again! We ended up having lots of left overs for lunch the next day. We served this dish with a mixed green salad and Annie's great garlic dressing. Even Ellie's husband, Jay, thought the meal was hearty enough for him. We hope you enjoy!

Ellie & Maddie

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! Thank you for stopping by. We are so excited to share our life with you. First here is a little bit about ourselves.

Ellie is a first grade teacher, she lives in an old bungalow in Sellwood, a neighborhood in Portland, with her husband Jay. No doggies or kids yet, but maybe soon.

Ellie Loves: gardening, Brussel sprouts, food, knitting, tights, oatmeal, skirts, purple, blueberries, walking, pilates, reading and her husband.

Maddie just graduated from Lewis and Clark College. She lives in a funky apartment in NW Portland and works close by at the front desk of Hotel deLuxe.

Maddie Loves: running, red wine, kale, oatmeal, turquoise, yoga, gin, rock climbing, shopping, watching HGTV,  her boyfriend, big sweaters and boots.

Ellie & Maddie