lynn in love with coconut shrimp!

Hello lovers!
Another Recipe Wednesday! I've started getting Cooking Light magazine which is chock full of yummy healthy recipes.

I made a REALLY healthy version of coconut shrimp and I think the Huz would agree we have a winner here!



We like our food light and tasty, but if that doesn't float your boat you can up the taste/grease factor by tons of factors (deep frying them, butter, a super decadent sauce). These are baked and perfect to us!

Coconut Shrimp (Adapted minimally from Cooking Light)

Ingredients: 1lb shrimp, 1/3 cup cornstarch, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground red pepper (i used cayenne, and added alot for an extra kick!), 3 large egg whites (I only used two and it was more than enough), 1 1/2 cups of flaked sweetened coconut (I accidently got unsweetened from the bulk section and it worked out just fine). I also added a cup of breadcrumbs to my coconut!

1. Preheat oven to 400. Prepare a baking sheet with some cooking spray
2. Prepare your shrimp, peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tail intact. Rinse with cold water and set on paper towel to drain and dry
3. Combine cornstarch, red pepper, and salt with a whisk in a shallow dish.
4. Beat egg whites in a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium high speed until frothy. (I used beat it with a whisk a few times, no big deal)
5. Place coconut in a shallow dish. (I added a cup of breadcrumbs as well)
6. Then working with one shrimp at a time, dredge in cornstarch mixture, then dip in egg white. Dredge in the coconut on all sides, pressing gently with fingers. Place shrimp on baking sheet. Repeat with all shrimp.
7. Lightly coat shrimp with cooking spray and bake at 400.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, turning at 10 minutes

Yummy! This turned out so light and crispy! I loved how there was very minimal oils, salt, sugar. Simple ingredients and great taste.
Serve on top of rice, or coconut rice.

The recipe also has a fab sounding salsa as well, but I didn't have to make it, but if you do, let me know how it turns out!

For the pineapple salsa: combine 1c finely chopped fresh pineapple, 1/3c finely chopped red onion, 1/4 c finely chopped fresh cilantro, 1/4c pineapple preserves, 1TBS finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper, 1 1/2 TBS fresh lime juice, 1/4 tsp black pepper

lynn in love with maternity pictures

Happy Monday y'all! I'm so excited to show you these pictures!
Last week, I had the opportunity to photograph Jenna Cole, my dear photography friend's maternity pictures. She had already arranged for the very sweet Bethany Jackman to take her pictures, but asked if I wanted to come along. And of course I jumped at the chance! It was a super cold and windy winter day, but Jenna had so many ideas it made for a wonderful shoot!

All you mamas out there, this is a lovely way to document your pregnancy. While there is a place for the typical maternity pictures with naked bellies and flowy fabric, there are other options as well!

You can see the rest of the pictures at the photoblog http://lynninlovephoto.com/

lynn in love with questions

I've been steadily answering questions over at formspring!

Here are just a few questions and answers: If you have anymore questions... ask away at this link: http://www.formspring.me/lynnwynnkym

Are you planning to start a family soon? How many children would you like to have?
Sure! I say 3, the Huz says 2 :) I think it's because I was 1 of 3, and he was 1 of 2. Right now I think we are more focused on getting a puppy. Because PUPPIES! love them."

What kind of camera do you use to take your pictures? They're beautiful!
Thank you so much! I have actually been using the same camera since 2004 (that's ancient in digital camera years), the Nikon D70. Currently I shoot exclusively with a prime lens, the 50mm f1.4 lens. Very soon, I hope to upgrade to a Canon 5D Mark II and a 50mm 1.2 L series lens. Prime lens produce wonderful portraits, but require you to move quite a bit since there is no zoom!"

What kind of puppy you think you're gonna get?
oooh that's a hard one! We really want a rescue dog! We kinda want a mutt that sweet, cute, smart. Smallish. Hypoallergenic. Maybe a labradoodle :)"

I love your pics of your wedding dress in the snow! Weren't you freezing your butt in that dress that day?
haha... well it seems that every time I put on that dress, I am frozen so nothing new. For my outdoor bridals it was in the 30's and for my spring outdoor wedding, we had a freak cold front which again put me in my dress in the 30's.... so I just continued the trend! Haha... it's was a bit a cold, especially when I took my jacket off. Fortunately I was about 20 feet from my apt and only shot literally for a few minutes before I ran back in again!! I'm in the 'anything for the shot' camp!

Thaden's Surgery

Yesterday, my nephew, our little Thaden Bean had his first surgery! We all noticed that Thaden has been a little hard of hearing and that his snoring can rival anybody. A little trip to the ENT showed humongous tonsils and adenoids with a lot of fluid behind his ear drums causing some hearing loss! He was scheduled for his tonsillectomy and ear tubes yesterday.

The little booger was such a great little patient we were so proud of him. He knew the surgery would help him hear and breath better and he was not scared at all going into surgery. He came out of his anesthesia as sweet as can be and charmed all the nurses!

He didn't complain much about pain, but I think the two chocolate ice creams helped a bit!

I only have shoddy Iphone pics, but the whole family was there and we had fun supporting our little fella!

lynn in love with snow day 3: snowy wedding dress

Monday, monday... I've only been awake a few hours and it's already an icky day. Feeling awkward about something going on at work, and so I'm going to indulge myself and post one more set of pictures from our snowday, because well, they make me laugh and happy.

Of course...after my silly red pictures in the snow, what was the most natural thing to do next?? Put on my wedding dress of course!! ha! I had been wanting to do a "trash the dress" session since my wedding, and just haven't had the time to do so yet. I had just seen this fun wedding snow shoot on stylemepretty. Definitely inspired, but with very little time left to shoot, I jumped into my wedding dress, threw on a scarf and went at it! I only wish I had the huz there to take pictures with me!

The Huz laughs and laughs when he sees these pictures because he thinks I'm COMPLETELY ridiculous to have been outside in the snow in my wedding dress in FRONT OF OUR APT where everyone was undoubtedly making fun of me. But whatev, I don't care.. I kinda love them!

lynn in love with snow day 2: snow gif!

I'm awake! So I was wrong it was a whomping 12.5 inches of snow!!! When I was driving home this morning from work, it was so quiet and beautiful, every tree, every building was just covered with untouched snow!

oh my, I just looked at this pictures again, and I'm so silly! Look! I learned how to make an animated GIF! (BTW the GIF only loops 3 times, so if it's not working, just refresh your page, and take another look)





I'm just loving my tripod and my remote! If you want to do self-portraits with an SLR on manual, the remote is the best! Just set up your camera on your tripod. Focus on something you will be standing by, for example I focused on that bush. Set your camera on timer with remote function. Then pose on the same focal distance as what you focused on. Hit your remote, and b/c you also put it on a timer, you'll have a couple of seconds to set up! Fun!!

Only wish I was with my family or my husband on a snow day, so I can't take picturs with everyone!!

lynn in love with snow days

oh my gosh... i couldn't believe it, miracles upon miracles, I woke up yesterday to find a WINTER WONDERLAND outside my window. Now you peeps on the East Coast are probably all 'whatever, it aint no thing' but for us Texans, this was huge. It's not our usual every 2 years, sleet and ice number, this was the real deal... giant beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky and landing softly everywhere! and it stuck! I'd never seen anything so beyewtiful!

In fact, yesterday we beat the record breaking snowfall EVER in Dallas! 8 inches!

I was so sad I woke up too late to really enjoy it and had to leave for work at 5:30pm. After running a few errands in some slippy slidey roads, I came back home and had about 20 minutes to break out my camera! (hehe...and I was happy to finally get to wear my silly fake red uggs with rhinestones that I normally would be too ashamed to wear in sunny, warm Dallas!)

I just got back home a night shift, so I can only post these two pictures... but maybe when I'm awake, I'll be able to post more. Hope you guys are warm and safe!!

lynn in love with quotes

Just a couple of pictures and quote I came across and liked :) Keeping things mushy until V-day!

lynn in love with lucky and lovely!

Hi Darlings!

Our valentine's shoot is being featured over at the Lucky and Lovely blog! Melanie is a wonderful designer and her blog is a delight! Check us and her blog out!!



Remember you can see the rest of the photos on my photoblog: www.lynninlovephoto.com

lynn in love with austin: a vintage valentine's shoot!

Happy Tuesday, dearies!

I just wanted to end my Austin recaps with a sweet Vintage Valentine Shoot of my husband and I! I've posted the rest of pictures over at my photoblog if you want to look at them there as well! :)

I was so delighted to find a 1949 Cadillac in the backyard at Verdecamp, our lodging in Austin. Despite the fact that it was 30 degrees outside, we knew we had to bust out the camera to do a little photoshoot! I've been wanting to make Valentine's Day cards ala Julia Child and this was the perfect opportunity.




You have seen Julia Child's Valentine's Card haven't you or least the remakes from the movie? :) Here are a few... Seriously, Julia and Paul were the cutest couple!!


It was so fun to be able to take some sweet little photos of ourselves. If you want to do your own shoot, all you need to do is set up your camera on a tripod, set up your scene and either using the timer or a remote, shoot your pictures!

For those of you with dSLR and who always shoot on Manual like I do, self portraits are always a little tricky. However, it's always easier when you are shooting self portraits with another person! Set up your scene. Then either using your manual focus or your automatic focus, focus on your partner. If you're using AF, then change your focus to manual, and your focus is set. Set your timer or remote. And that's it!

I would love to see your own Vintage Valentine's!

lynn in love with austin: the polas

... and of course my loves, we shant forget the austin polas!
Only 3 more boxes of hoarded expired polaroid film left :) ... and then I can only hope that they will be making more film by then or maybe move on to the Fuji Mini Instax.

I love my little polas... have NO idea why some turn out red, and then the others blue :)

lynn in love with austin: the smorgasbord

Dude. Can we talk about the food in Austin? Seriously, best stuff ever! After I got some excellent recs from my pals on facebook, I was excited to know that almost all the best places were in South Congress!

Here are the highlights!
Vespaio - This was our one fancy meal of the weekend. Yummy Italian food! The atmosphere was cozy and the food was so yum!
We had the tuna tar tare, the freshly made mozzarella and a fantastic pizza with prosciutto, truffle oil and two sunny side up eggs!




Fliphappy - oh my gosh. So apparently trailer food is all the rage in Austin right now. Austin digs the trailer and we are totally in love with them. Fliphappy is a little crepe trailer and was so incredibly good! It was a little delicious meal wrapped up in a doughy goodness. We had chicken and mushroom and a nutella banana strawberry one day, and came back the next for a grilled chicken gouda and a spinich feta. All were amazing!

I apparently am very flip happy :)




Torchy's Taco - also out of a trailer. Little Gourmet tacos - Had the Baja shrimp and fried avocado. My tummy was very happy!


Okay and don't forget dessert! We cupcaked ourselves out!

Sugar Mama's Bakeshop - a cute old fashioned bakery with great little cupcakes! We had the Southern Belle, Strawberry Love, and the Hemingway. My favorite was the Hemingway which was vanilla with lemon curd and a little biscotti!



Hey Cupcake! - I probably loved the trailer more than the actual cupcake which which a little generic. But look how cute their trailer is!


I don't think I will ever recover from all the yumminess!!

lynn in love with questions

hello lovers!
No worries, my reviews and more photos of austin will continue on. I just woke up though from another night shift and gotta rub the boogies out of my eyes first. Give me a sec, K?

Meanwhile lots of my twitter buddies been doing this formspring thing and it's been interesting to read the questions and answers. So here we go!

Ask me anything! Go to this link, and I'll do my best to answer as honestly as possible. I'll post my favorite questions here! :)

http://www.formspring.me/lynnwynnkym

Also... I need a february banner. I have in mind something all Valentined out... but I'm losing some creative mojo. Anybody wanna whip something up for me?

Love! Lynninlove~

lynn in love with austin: cruiser bikes

I've got bikes on my mind! Which is kinda strange actually. I was a very late bloomer in terms of biking. For some reason as a kid, I just couldn't get it.... how to stay upright and pedal... and stay upright. For the most part of childhood, I always remembered either being on the backseat of my older sister's bike hanging on for dear life and sitting on the handlebars. And then I remembered that one time in high school, that my family had this great idea on our family trip to Hawaii to bike around the island. I remember thinking I would rather be left on the side of the road in a ditch, then go on with this horrible activity called biking. BIKING...

But then on our trip to SF this past fall, the Huz and I decided to bike around the city... and I fell in love! It was sooo much fun going down the hills and feeling the breeze in my face. It was a great way to exercise and have fun at the same time. Since parking is such an issue on South Congress, we decided to rent some bikes for the weekend in Austin to get around our cute little neighborhood.

I came across a new bike rental shop on the internet that was near our lodgings at the Verdecamp, the Barton Springs Bike Rental. Their customer service was phenemonal and it was a great experience working them, so I just have to share to support their business. When we arrived in Austin Friday night, we were cold and cranky and didn't want to go venture out to the bike shop to pick up the bikes. We called Mike, the owner, who said he would drop off the bikes at our house! Sweet! Even sweeter was when he arrived in his shuttle bus and pulled out this adorable red beach cruiser (and a black one for the Huz). IN LOVE.

The bikes were brand new and just perfect for going around the city. We rarely used our cars at all as we biked to all meals and to explore the area. I just hitched my camera bag to the rack in the back and off we went! On Saturday, the cold must have loosened up the screws in the bike as Jon's handlebar slipped out of the post. We called Mike, who within 20 minutes arrived with tools and fixed his bike on the spot! The next morning, he arrived right on time to pick up the bikes. Mike runs a great business and was so friendly and helpful, I can't speak more praises.

I'm now in the market for a bike of my own :) Can't wait!

lynn in love with austin: verdecamp

Happy Monday, sweet readers!
How was your weekend? The Huz and I just returned from a wonderful little weekend trip to Austin. He has been working hard at work for a while now, and it was time to whisk him away for a little fun. We only had the weekend, so we made a fast getaway to Austin on Friday night to hang out in South Congress. Despite the fact that it was 30 degrees, it was such a fun weekend full of amazing food, lots of biking, and tons of photos that I can't wait to show you this week! In fact, I have so many pictures and reviews, that I'm going to dedicate this week's blogpost on South congress! Today I'm starting on our lodging.

We've always driven through Austin on our way to something or another and spend an hour or two walking down South Congress to look at the shops. South Congress is supposed to be the hippiest part of city, with tons of vintage shops and great eats. We always said we'd come back for a longer period of time and so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity. We initially wanted to stay at the San Jose hotel, a stylish little hotel right on S. Congress, but it was booked and we balked at the prices a little.

After much research, we ended up at Verdecamp and I'm so glad we stayed here! Verdecamp is a little collection of sweet little houses from the 1930's that the owners have converted into eco-friendly guest houses. There are five 1-bedroom houses and a one 2-bedroom house with the most darling bomber in the back. We stayed in the Sunrise house. It was so nice to have a private little bungelow fully furnished with a queen size bed, kitchen, and living room. I loved the eco-friendly and minimalist vibe. We shared the back yard with such cute little areas that I fully took advantage of for photos. The neighborhood is super friendly and was perfect for biking which we did all day on Saturday.

Anyways, we loved it and we would recommend staying there for anyone who was visiting South Congress.

Here's are a few pictures of our little home away from home:



I loved all the little red accents... I added my red TOMS :)


(I forget to take a picture of the couch/TV - took this one off the site)


Found this SWEET vintage car... more pics of it later!


Anyways, it was such a cozy little experience! If you are ever in Austin, check out
Verdecamp!