I love the 4th of July!!!

Growing up, we almost always celebrated this holiday by attending the annual Humble, TX July 4th Parade followed by a day spent outside with all our neighbors on the block. It was always a great time spent with friends & family and of course, lots of great food! We always wrapped up the day with our very own fireworks show...and spent July 5th cleaning up our mess!

What great memories!

Although we'll be celebrating a little differently this year, I am looking forward to a fun-filled weekend spent with family & friends and lots of tasty food & drinks.

Nothing screams it's the 4th of July like a juicy, red watermelon! It's not my favorite fruit, but it's hard to resist when it's 100 degrees outside. It just goes with the holiday, in my opinion.

I'm sure our guests will enjoy sipping on these Blackberry Cooler Cocktails

for each cocktail:

In a cocktail shaker, muddle 4 mint leaves. Add 4 blackberries and muddle to combine. Add 2 oz. gin, 1 1/2 oz. elderflower liqueur, 1/2 lemon (juiced), a dash of agave nectar (optional) and ice; shake. Strain into an ice-filled glass and garnish with a fresh orange slice.

You could substitute raspberries for blackberries and the lemon for a lime.

I think we'll definitely serve up this strawberry pie and if there's time, maybe even these whoppie pies (both just seem so appropriate for the occasion)

What are some of your favorite July 4th traditions, foods you serve (or eat) up or things you do?

favorite finds

I'm starting a new blog series - Favorite Finds - because I want to share some of my favorite finds with you! Why keep these treasures to myself when I can share them with you? And hopefully, you will enjoy them too! Basically, the idea is whenever I come across something (i.e. a store, restaurant, item, etc.) that is particularly cool. great, unique, etc., I will blog about it so hopefully some of you can expand your favorites list too.

First up...Regal Cottage

I discovered this new favorite over the weekend while we were walking around The Better Block just minutes from our condo. I got to meet the owner, and she actually makes everything herself! All her items are eco-friendly and made out of the cutest, vintage fabrics. I could have bought a lot more, but what I did pick up, I absolutely love!

I think this hair clip will look just perfect on my little girl's head

and we've already been enjoying this ball at our house

It's super soft and even has a rattle inside for an extra flair. It's the new favorite toy at our house!
If you live in the Dallas area, you can check out this fab find at IndieGenius in the Bishop Arts District and if you don't, find her stuff on etsy.

Check out this site for the giveaway!

family fun at the beach

We recently returned from the beach! My parents rented a beach house and it was so much fun for all of us to be together. Olivia did great and is already quite the little beach bum! miss O loves her Nana
and she loves Teddy too
I blew up a little baby pool for miss O and she just sat and played for a long time each day. It was nice because it kept out the sand for the most part and I could move it around so she could be in the shade.

our crew...having this canopy was a GREAT idea

cousin Jackson and Olivia

we celebrated Father's Day while we were all together and it was fun to be with my Dad and celebrate him

some of the girl cousins and Olivia - they all took turns holding and playing with her

not a bad view

O loves these guys!!

me and my girl!

building a sand castle

olivia got to spend some time with her great-grandparents! What a treat!

beach babe

Thanks Mom & Dad for such a fun week!!! I sure hope we can make this a yearly tradition!

many milestones...

WOW...I have to say that I'm a little shocked at how much my baby girl has changed since she turned 6 months old (June 6th). Seriously, she has changed before my very eyes and I'm having a hard time believing it!

Just a few days shy of her 6 month birthday, miss O learned to sit-up all by herself for long periods of time without falling over! she also has 2 teeth!!

The first one starting showing itself on her 6th month birthday and the second one wasn't far behind. I think she's teething again so we'll see when the next one pops up
She has also started eating solid foods!
She has gotten pretty good at actually consuming most of the food we feed her rather than it dripping down her face. So far, we've tried rice cereal, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots and apples. Sweet potatoes are her favorite...apples not so much.

since it's summertime and crazy hot outside, we've been spending lots of time by the pool and are even taking a little mommy & me swim class with some girls we're in a play group with.

miss O loves the water and swimming with all her little friends

Now that she has gotten really good at sitting up, I can take her into the grocery store and just put her in the shopping cart. She does slide around some but for the most part, she does pretty well. She actually LOVES going to the grocery store!

I may have mentioned this before but my girl is definitely a social one. She really does love people and she is constantly smiling at everyone. Today I ran into the grocery store to get a few things and we ended up being in there for over 45 minutes...because of the little girl that was with me. Olivia literally smiled at everyone that walked by us. She even smiled at people who weren't looking at us, trying to get them to smile back, and every time, they did! We were also stopped multiple times by admirers who wanted to talk to her. She loved every minute of it and talked right back to them! She has added la-la to her vocabulary and continues to say da-da all the time.

I have to say, I do adore her smile. It's contagious. I love that she is such a happy girl and I hope she will always love life and people like the way she does now.

Maybe she should be the face of Kroger...what do you think?!?

and the last milestone...CRAWLING!!!

she isn't doing it quite yet but she is SO CLOSE! She can scoot all sorts of directions and can even move her whole body several inches forward. I think by 7 months, she will have it down...yikes!!!

recipe

Remember this post featuring the peach & blueberry crumble? Well, I thought I would share the recipe with you because...

1) it's easy

2) peaches are currently in season and blueberries are great for baking

3) my husband can't stop talking about how good it was

4) since I just bought several pounds of peaches at the Dallas Farmer's Market on Saturday, I'll be making it again soon and had the recipe out already

5) I want you to enjoy this delicious dish too!

Blueberry Peach Crumble

For the filling: Toss 5 cups peeled and cut peaches, 1 cup fresh blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice and 1/2 tsp. lemon zest in a medium bowl. Set aside.

For the topping: Place 6 T. flour, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar , 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and 1/4 tsp. salt in food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade. Add 6 T. chilled butter and pulse until mixture moves from dry sand-like appearance with large lumps of butter to a coarse oatmeal texture, about three 4-second bursts. Add 3/4 cup nuts (I used combination of pecans and walnuts) and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly sand, about five 1-second bursts. Refrigerate mixture at least 15 minutes.

To assemble: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Scrape fruit mixture into 8-inch square baking pan. Distribute chilled topping evenly over fruit; bake for 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees; bake until fruit is bubbling and topping is deep golden brown.

Serve warm or at room temperature with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

During the Fall, replace peaches & blueberries with apples & cranberries...YUM!

6 months!!

A few weeks ago, we had Olivia's 6 month pictures taken and once again, Tiffany did a fabulous job! She captured miss O's personality perfectly! Check out her website - Olivia is featured there :) and you can read about Tiffany's story and her passion for photography.

at 6 months, Olivia weighs 15.12 pounds and is 26 inches long - 50th percentile in both

She is sitting up now all by herself and I think she is pretty close to crawling. I guess I need to purchase a few safety gates for our house since we have several flights of stairs that are not kid-friendly at all! She is still such a happy baby, very social and loves to eat! We love our baby girl so much and I cannot believe how fast she is changing/growing. I haven't had too many "mommy moments" where I get all sad and cry but I definitely had one the other day. I love that she is growing and thriving but at the same time, it makes me sad that she is getting so big so fast. I know all you moms out there understand what I'm talking about!

6 months is so much fun and is my favorite age so far :)

nothing like an at home date night...

accompanied by a 6 month old!i guess she knew her parents were having too much fun without her, so instead of going to bed she decided she wasn't at all sleepy!!

and for dessert...

a delicious blueberry & peach crumble
made with Texas fruit, and of course,
served with Blue Bell ice cream

what to do with...

pounds of fresh veggies home-grown by my dad?? easy!

roast 'em up with a little olive oil, salt & pepper

AND

slice up those tomatoes, add some fresh basil and mozzarella, s&p, olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar and you have the most delicious caprese salad ever!

leftover rotisserie chicken??
simple.
throw together my favorite summer salad using this tasty dressing!

just throw lettuce, chicken, fresh strawberries, & toasted pecans in a container with a lid and just shake it all up until the dressing has coated each piece of lettuce.

eat & enjoy!

oh, and if you need a quick sweet treat to go with your healthy salad, stop by society bakery and pick up one (or two in my case) of their many delicious treats :)

personally, the red velvet whoopie pie was my favorite!

more chicken to use up??

add some diced apple, sweet dried cherries, toasted pecans, a little bit of mayo, a spoonful of brown mustard, various spices, s&p...

and you've got chicken salad.

the sweet, dried cherries are my favorite part :)

2 leftover tortillas??

throw them directly on the stove

make sure they are nice and toasted (both sides)

add some butter & salt

roll it up like a burrito,

and the best part...

EAT!!

My mom gave me lots of great ideas on how to use up food that might otherwise go to waste, and by far one of my favorites is when I have leftover tortillas. Sometimes I purposefully don't use them all so I can enjoy them like this.

The best way, in my opinion.

Happy eating!!!