Can't Beat the Heat

I've been trying to stay fashionable this Summer, but with temperatures inching towards 100 degrees every day, it's become quite a challenge. So, I've resorted to just trying to keep my hair off of my face/neck and makeup a bit lighter than normal (because it all tends to melt off anyways...).

I found this hairstyle tutorial recently and completely fell in love. I love that it is fun and different from the old ponytail, but still easy enough to whip up in a flash. So, I thought I would share this with you, in hopes that you can benefit from it as well! I think this would look really cute even over a shorter hairstyle. Also, if you have a chance you should just click around her blog. She has some great hair/makeup.fashion tips. She only has a few hairstyle tutorials but they are all fabulous. 

So how are you attempting to beat the heat these days?


Happy Friday everyone!

WIAW- Date Night

It was so fun to be on vacation, but SO nice to be back in my own kitchen once we got home. To celebrate our return, Josh and I had an impromptu date night at the Casa de Posy. I made some tomato basil pizza, homemade lemonade, and salad, and we watched a few episodes of "Monk." I'm like seriously addicted to detective/murder mystery shows. Now, Josh is too. 

For fun, I decided to take things up a notch on the lemonade front, and when I was done making the lemonade (recipe HERE), I mixed it with 1/2 sparkling flavored water (I buy the Market Pantry brand from Target, it has 0 calories!). It was delicious, I tell you! Plus, adding the sparkling water cuts down a little on the sugar content, and when it's 92 degrees here I can consume a LOT of lemonade!

My mother always taught me to make well-rounded meals (which usually means a meat, a starch, and a veggie),  so I threw together this salad with lettuce, cucumbers, croutons and balsamic vinaigrette.

Date night was a success. We filled our tummies, Monk solved his case, and my sweet husband loaded the dishwasher. Perfection!

Bye bye, crunchy floor!

I love being able to say that something is finished, what a good feeling that is! We checked another project off our "to-do" list, and it's taken me a while to actually pull the final-project post together, but here it is!

The flooring in our kitchen was definitely leaving something to be desired- yellowed and faded linoleum from the 1980's, that made a weird crunchy sound whenever you walked on it (I always used to think there were dead bugs under there, turns out the adhesive they used had just been pulverized over the years).

Here's a couple "Before" pics to jog your memory:

And here it is, all tiled and prettied up!

This corner used to be slightly rounded, but we figured with the new tile and the wood it would be easier to square it off. Turns out, I like it this way even more! It actually makes our kitchen feel a little bigger too. Score!

Just for funsies, here's a picture of what our kitchen looked like a few months ago (taken in January):

It's fun to go back now and look at those pictures. I definitely don't miss the 80's wood cupboards or the impossible-to-keep-clean white countertops. I'm loving the way this space has opened up and brightened up!

Here's what we've done so far:

• Painted the cabinets and added hardware
• Painted light fixture above sink and replaced shade
• Re-laminated the countertops
• Tiled the floor (yay!)

And here's what we have left:

• Add subway tile backsplash (can't wait to do this!)
• Replace overhead lighting (you can't see it in any of the pictures, but it's one of those ugly brass lights)
• Tweak the decor to my heart's content (but let's face it, when is it ever completely finished?)

We plan to start on the subway tile backsplash at some point in the near future. I'm excited to finish up the big projects (and be able to move on to some other areas of the house).

Blogging-Buddies to Real-Life Buddies!

Back when I was in the planning stages of our vacation to VA, I realized that we were headed to the home-state of one of my blogging buddies, Jane from The Borrowed Abode!
 
We decided that we simply had to arrange a meetup, so she and her boyfriend Ryan were awesome enough to invite us to their Abode for a BBQ lunch. How cool is that?

They prepared an amazing meal for us! We had chips and guac and fresh veggies for appetizers, along with a homemade strawberry-basil drink. For lunch, they made bleu cheese burgers and Caprese Salad. Everything was so delicious!

For dessert, Jane made these incredible strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberries. Seriously to die for. Also, check out those cute napkins she made! I saw those on her blog and loved them even more in person.

We were so overwhelmed by their generosity and hospitality. We absolutely loved spending an afternoon with them and it was so fun for me to finally meet Jane in person!

After our lunch, they even took us to the famed Caffe Amouri so we could get a fill-up of caffeine for the long road trip ahead (after visiting with them, we hopped in the car and drove straight home- all 19 hours!).  

It was the best way to end our vacation. It's strange to "meet" someone in person for the first time, and yet feel like you've known them forever! What a great experience. Thanks again, Jane and Ryan for having us over!

Va-va-vacation!

We took SO many pictures of our vacation to Virginia, and I just would love to show you all of them! Unfortunately, blogger won't allow me to upload 500 photos in one post, and some of you live too far away to just pop in for coffee. So, the best option I can think of is to give you a picture-loaded post with a little less verbosity than usual. So here goes!

We packed up our car and drove to Boyce, VA, first. My sister Morna came with us, it was so great to have her along! We visited my Aunt and Uncle from my Dad's side of the family; they live in a beautiful, 100 year old farmhouse! We met some kittens....

Did lots of exploring around the area,

Spent plenty of time chatting and catching up with our dear family in the kitchen (why is the kitchen always the main gathering place? I don't know, but it's so fun),

Climbed a mountain,

Yup, those are my legs after climbing/clambering up 400 feet of rocks. Did I mention the mountain was also called Rattlesnake Ridge? Scary.

My cousin Hannah managed another 400 feet after that, looking adorable the whole time.

I experienced the joy (and sheer terror) of jumping off a rope swing in to the river...

Isn't my little sis gorgeous?

On our last day, we had lunch with a big group of cousins and a stroll around the beautiful city of Georgetown. 

Then, we hopped in the car again and drove 3 more hours to the coast to visit my Aunt and Uncle on my mom's side of the family (are you tracking with me through all the crazy familial relationships? If not, that's ok!). 

We spent the 4th of July swimming in their neighborhood pool (the guys went to the shooting range- of course!), and attempting to have a picnic dinner while watching fireworks on the Chesapeake Bay.

Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas about the fireworks show and it was cancelled. Wah.

Nevertheless, we soldiered on! We ended up drinking tea and playing card games by candlelight instead- the perfect activity for Summer storms if you ask me!
One day, we drove to Colonial Williamsburg and got to ride on a ferry! (Check out my hair in this pic, isn't it awesome???).

Josh and I also had a breakfast date at Waffle House,

 

 

We spent a couple of days at the beach, and it was glorious. 

Here we are with my wonderful Uncle and Cousin,

We also got plenty of shopping in and a visit to a cute little tea room with my Auntie.

On our way home, we got to stop and have breakfast near DC at my cousin Abram's place. He was so sweet to make us all breakfast!

We also were invited to a BBQ at the home of one of my best blogging buddies, Jane from The Borrowed Abode. However, that deserves a whole post of it's own! 

What a trip! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family, both here in MN and across the US. I came home feeling rested, rejuvenated, inspired, and joy-filled. Isn't that what vacations are all about?