Showered With Love

As I mentioned, last weekend was my baby shower up in Ojai. It was the most dreamy, love filled afternoon. I am overwhelmed by how lucky I am to have such amazing family and friends in my life.  Baby Walton is SO loved already and I know she was feeling it over the weekend. She told me so. She also told me that she can't wait to wear all of her cute outfits! Below are some photos taken by Jessie of Sweet Thing, make sure to check out the full post on her blog, and some more amazing photos over on Lauren's blog. Thank you to everyone, friends and family near and far, who showered us with love. Thank you especially to my amazing mom, grandma-in-waiting extraordinaire, who was the talented mastermind behind the whole event. We love you so much! L & C & Little Miss Walton xo

{all photos by Jessie Webster of Sweet Thing}

Little Miss W

My mom threw me the most adorable baby shower up in Ojai over the weekend. I didn't take too many photos but while I sort through them, here are some snapshots my friends Liz and Emily sent over...

{top photo by Liz Rose, bottom photo by Emily Knecht }

One Week Sale Starts Now

Nell's Compass has teamed up with Social Goodies, a website dedicated to good deals and giving back. Starting today and for ONE WEEK ONLY our candles will be 50% off, so that's $19.00 for a $38.00 candle. The best part is, Social Goodies will donate 20% of the sale to a charity (you get to pick from a list.) Time to start stocking up on those xmas gifts!

Love Soup

One of my favorite cookbooks is Love Soup by Anna Thomas. It is my go to soup bible for this time of year when the weather starts to change (yes it really does in LA!) All of the soup recipes are vegetarian and some of my favorites include, green soup, rustic artichoke and potato stew, and kale and tomato soup. Since I'm all about squash these days, I am looking forward to trying the winter squash and yam soup with poblano peppers and the spicy butternut ginger soup. Mmmmm, my mouth is watering...

This makes a wonderful Christmas gift! Only $15.09 at Amazon.

Delicata Squash

I first learned about this squash at our epic Beetlebung Farm dinner, and now I'm hooked, verging on obsessed, pretty much in love. I have made it twice in the last two weeks, slicing it up and baking it in the oven at 425 degrees with some olive oil and salt. Even the seeds bake up nicely, they are similar to pumpkin seeds but smaller. I also think it would be lovely baked with butter a pinch of brown sugar and salt (as shown in photo 2). It's a nice change from my go to fall squash: the tried and true butternut (and it's smaller and easier to slice). Tip on picking out delicata squash: the ones that are more orange and less green are the riper, tastier ones. Yay for Fall!

{photo 1, 2}

Rain Rain I Love You

I am LOVING the rainy weather today! I have always been a fan of rain, mainly because growing up I had the attic room and there was a patch of tin roofing and I would fall asleep at night to the most wonderful cozy sounds of the water coming down. To this day, rain hitting a tin roof makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I am spending the day working from home, taking breaks to eat leftover risotto and to organize various drawers, closets and cabinets in my house. I will probably consume at least 10 cups of tea. I can't tell you how amazing this day sounds to me. The nesting instinct is starting to set in folks! I may or may not get out of my pjs, we'll see. I recently found this picture of me on my Aunt Gloria's farm in England when I was little. My mom wrote Boxing Day 1982 on the back so I was almost two years old. Enjoy the rain Los Angeles! Go put your wellies on and splash around in some puddles.

Beetlebung Farm

Our last night in Martha's Vineyard was incredible. My mom surprised us with a dinner at Beetlebung Farm in Chilmark. Our good friend and local chef, Chris Fischer, runs his family's farm and everything we put in our mouths had just been picked from the earth or caught that day. I have never tasted vegetables so delicious, we were all oohing and ahhing over every bite! We took a tour of the farm before dinner, said hi to the pigs and goat (Kale is her name, because she loves it) and then sat down in the greenhouse and feasted on the most amazing dinner. I think our whole family agreed it was one of the best meals we had ever had. It was a dining experience I will not soon forget! By the way, we all licked our plates clean, not just my brother. It was too good not to.

{All photos by Kate Danson}