BON ÉTÉ! LINKS TO MAKE YOU SMILE (part deux)!!

All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.  ~L.M. MontgomeryAnne's House of Dreams

monthly care package would make Aunt Flo's visits a lot better...chocolate, tea, and tampons!

The cutest pouch to keep summer with you all year long. 

This is the most beautiful pizza I've ever seen and perfect for summer.

Nails in the summer should be blue to match the pool. I've been alternating white and this gorgeous polish? 

Back to school shopping will be so exciting once H&M opens their online store...it's about time!

I'm an introvert. My sister, Paige is an extrovert. She likes to mess with my hamster ball.

Hilarious! Famous book titles with a letter missing. 

Summer cocktail heaven tastes like white peach basil and blueberry mojito

Bon été! xx


Posts you may have missed:

Birthday Party pour deux (and me too)!!



Summer means birthday bonanza in our family. July is like Christmas with several birthdays in a row. 

For the past two years, I've doubled the fun for my kids and combined their birthday parties. This year, I wanted to have their birthday party on MY birthday! After all, they were the very best presents that I've ever received! 
After a week of rain in Texas (which is extremely rare for July) our birthday fun was rain free and HOT!
 We had plenty of cheek squeezing time with babies and friends.

 Pool blue cupcakes for little hands to hold. 

 Jumping in with friends feet first then sticking the feet right back out for hand stands.


It was a memorable day of splashing and laughing for my now five and seven-year-old...and my best birthday yet. 

Posts you may have missed:

P.S. Minted makes the cutest birthday invitations!

Family Vacation: Rosemary Beach




The week before we arrived for our fifth year at Rosemary Beach, it had rained there a week straight. The Saturday we flew in, it magically stopped! Vacation weather is hit or miss...ours was luckily a hit! 

I spend my spare time fantasizing about travel. There are many European cities that I'm dying to explore...but we keep returning to the family vacation that we can count on for family fun. We love LOVE Rosemary Beach! 

After a month of wearing a bulging pink hard cast, my daughter finally had her arm cast cut (sawed) off just in time. We happily skipped along eager to see the emerald coast. Our first day at the beach was her seventh birthday. She kept saying that her arm felt naked and how she liked the way the ocean breeze felt on her newly repaired arm!

Everywhere you shop and eat in Rosemary you will find a book of activities for the week. Our favorite thing about Rosemary Beach is the simplicity of doing the same thing every day...wake up and eat breakfast in our house, find a little activity (storytime, children's theatre, arts and crafts) for the children, spend several hours at the beach, and come back home (stopping at the Sugar Shak first) and then get ready for dinner. It's a perfect routine for our family.


 
  

My most favorite store in the world is Pish Posh Patchouli’s where you can design your signature scent at the custom scent bar; then select soaps, lotions, perfumes galore. My little mermaid created her first perfume mixing coco mango and coconut. We think it smells like Rosemary Beach. 


The day before we left, I took the kids for one last sweet treat at the Sugar Shak and the cashier was telling me that the weather for the next week would be rain, rain and more rain. I told her, "That's OK because we're going back to Texas tomorrow where it hardly ever rains." The cashier looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "So that's why Texas women have such BIG hair!" Funny!!

There are many more "must see" places to hit but for our summer family vacation, Rosemary Beach is as good as it gets.

Posts you may have missed:
Rosemary Beach: A Watercolor of a vacation
Return to Rosemary

TASTE Rosemary with these recipes from our favorite restaurants: 

PARADIS MARTINI from Restaurant Paradis
Yield: 1 serving.
3 ounces Pinnacle or Pearl Pomegranate Vodka
1/2 ounce white cranberry juice
1/2 ounce peach schnapps
4 ice cubes
1 Tea Forte lavender citrus infuser
Put vodka, juice and schnapps in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Serve with the infuser on the side. The imbiber dips the infuser into the martini until it is flavored as desired.

TOMATO OLIVE VINAIGRETTE from Onano 

Yield: About 8 servings.
4 large ripe tomatoes, (peeled, seeded, and diced)
2 shallots, minced
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and minced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and set aside for 1 hour to let flavors blend.
Serve as desired.
(To serve Spinach & Gnocchi Grouper with Tomato Olive Vinaigrette as does Onano Neighborhood Cafe, sauté baby spinach leaves and potato gnocchi in browned butter and set on a plate. Add a piece of grilled grouper. Top fish with a large dollop of room-temperature Tomato Olive Vinaigrette.)

SERRANO WRAPPED FIGS from La Crema

Yields: 36 pieces.
36 figs
1/2 cup red wine
Sweetened Goat Cheese (recipe follows)
36 thin (3- by 1/2-inch) slices Serrano ham
Smoked paprika
Tupelo honey
Put figs in a bowl and add wine; set aside 30 minutes.
Cut off both ends of figs and create hole in the center with a large pastry tip. Fill hole with Sweetened Goat Cheese.
Wrap each fig with a slice of Serrano ham. Insert a toothpick in top. Serve on a plate sprinkled with paprika and drizzled with honey.

SWEETENED GOAT CHEESE
Yield: About 1-1/2 pounds.
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
8 ounces goat cheese, room temperature
Tupelo honey to taste

Beat cheeses together until well blended. Add honey as desired. Refrigerate until used.

Bon été! Links to make you smile!!


“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ~Henry James

A hilarious slideshow of parents putting sunscreen on their kids 

A summer feast that can't be beat

Six French inspired reads for the summer

How to dress bohemian chic this summer

This movie opens on my birthday and "I'm so excited!"

Oh those Russians and their commercials for Tampax

I'm a huge fan of the Graham Norton ShowThis scene with Kristen Wiig, Steve Carrell, and Chris O Dowd had me rolling because they weren't acting

We went here on our honeymoon. It would be a dream to take the kids. 

Bon été! xx