Father's Day!

Just a quick post to say that I hope you all had a wonderful fathers day! I hope that everyone had a great family filled day celebrating Dad's everywhere!

Dreaming of Italy

So, W and I have settled on a spot for our next vacation and yep, you guessed it: Italy! 

I wanted to pick somewhere to explore, had great history and food, and that we had both never been. We're headed to Anna Maria Island in July for 6 days, and to Ocean City New Jersey for a weekend; I was craving something not so beachy. Well, I am trying to squeeze a stop to the Amalfi Coast in on this trip as well, but the majority will be discovering Italy!

We've decided on Venice, Florence and Rome. I think they're the pretty cliche trio when travelling to Italy, but I am beyond excited! We are in the process of getting an appointment with our travel agent and trying to map it all out for this September! It will be a little anniversary trip so to speak. I've been day dreaming of the Trevi fountain, delicious wines, a slice of tiramisu (or 6) and a gondolier ride! Also thinking about a day trip to Pisa (insert cheesy photo of said tourist holding up the tower), a trip south of Florence to a vineyard, and pasta overload.

And I'm dreaming of Positano. I can picture myself right there under one of those orange umbrella's on the beach, napping in the midday sun. AGH! Is it September? yet?!

And just to leave you with a photo of our little puppy!

Life as of Late

I cannot believe that May has basically come and gone. It just seemed like the warm weather started, and now we're headed full on towards summer! I'll be the first to say that summer is/has never been my favorite season. I'm all for the ice cold beverages, pretty blooms and beach days. I am not a fan of bees or any bug for that matter, the heat, thunderstorms, and humidity. I enjoy summer, but fall is where it's at for sure. 

Today in CT it's in the high 50's, and I'd be lying if I said I was not already 

thinking about sweaters, boots, and all the color changing leaves...

Back to May, here's what we've been up to lately in iphone photos and all. 

These were taken at our friends beautiful wedding! I spent too much time dancing instead of taking pictures. My bad on that one. 

We bought Mr. Mack a kiddie pool from Walmart. Let me tell ya, it was interesting at first and now he's obsessed! I posted a video on instagram, go check it out. At first he would not get in, he just circled the outside. We put his ball in the middle of the pool and he stared at it, not knowing how to get it. I stepped in and felt how freezing it was, so I didn't blame him one bit. Once he saw I was in, and Wayne started getting the ball and throwing it back into the pool he got a little more curious. One paw led to two, to all four and that's it! He did not want to get out. This is where we will spend the majority of our summer, with out a doubt.

My brother in law's burger creation during a contest at a local burger joint. His was selected to go head to head in a competition for a week long promotion. It's two fried dough buns, marinara sauce, basil, and a slice of fresh mozzarella. Yum! 

 

Talk about good lighting. No filter needed for these beautiful peonies I bought at Whole Foods this weekend! 

 

This was from the weekend before last. We went to a local brewery for a friends birthday. We had a great day outside drinking delicious local beer!

Also new, I'm working on changing up the business website and getting the new logo out there! 

Here she is! Loving it! 

Loving Lately

I've decided to start doing a regular, weekly, biweekly, monthly, whenever post 

about some of the things I've been eying lately. So, without further adieu, here is what 

I've been loving lately! 

#1. Wire Baskets - Perfect for storage, or to appear organized, or to be organized. I'd be fine with appearing organized! 

 

Source: Crate&Barrel

#2. Star Mirror - The one below is from Pottery Barn (swoon), but I do think I recall seeing one at Target! I am obsessed with stars lately. They just give such a whimsical touch to anything.

Source: Pottery Barn 

#3. A garden gnome - W and I are working really hard on our gardens, flower pots, etc. I'll post some photos of our progress soon! Anyways, how sweet would this little Mister be to guard my flowers?! 

I think I need him. 

Now.

via pinterest.

 

#4. Purity - Normally I go to a dermatologist and have a prescription face wash to keep my face clear of breakouts. I was gifted this little bottle of Purity, ran out of my face wash and needed an appointment to refill my prescription. I decided to give it a go and I'm now obsessed! It has worked really well so far, and contains Sodium and Sulphur, two of the ingredients in the prescription face wash. I'll use it a bit longer before I decide, but I think I've officially jumped on the Philosophy bandwagon! This stuff is great. 

Source: Sephora 

 

#5. Star String Lights - We scored a strand of these at Home Depot I believe. So excited to get these up this weekend! All I need is a fire and a yummy cocktail to go along with!

Source: Target  

Happy hump day everyone!

Birthday Celebrations & My favorite dinner!

We'll start this post with Wayne's birthday dinner!

He turned the big 2-8 this year. The bolognese sauce was a hit! I followed this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. It was delish! I definitely recommend it! We made a few adjustments (no carrots, added a stalk of celery to name a few). Bolognese on top of cheese tortellini - my mouth is watering right now! Wayne and I fell in love with this meal while visiting Little Italy in New York City. While I don't have pictures of the meal, sorry, I do have a couple from the day.

 

note: buffet server now has all the drawers! just need knobs..

Ok, so now for my favorite meal. Let me tell you, this is not hard what so ever. I think that's why I love it so much! I introduce you to.. Crockpot Salsa Shredded Chicken over brown rice.

So, how do you prepare this? I put 4 boneless chicken breasts into the crock pot, and poured a jar of hot salsa over it, about 16 ounces. I had one 12 oz jar, and added about 6 more oz. from an open jar in the fridge. Put the crock pot on low 8 hours. My crock pot always cooks things quicker than the time set, so 6 hours later, the chicken was super tender and falling apart - not to mention the house smelled amazing. I put a few cups of brown rice on the stove, and wa la! Dinner was served! Add a scoop of sour cream, it will not disappoint.

added some s&p and garlic powder, then let it cook away!

 shred the pieces, it should just fall apart.

 put it back in to mix with the remaining salsa.

 serve over brown rice!

What I also love about this meal, is the leftovers, we made chimichangas with the rest of the chicken the next night. Oh, Mexican food how I love thee!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

xo

Home Updates

With the calm of the winter, and life after planning the wedding, we were finally able to get going on some projects around the house. One was the dining room! Wayne was hard at work on our buffet server and was going to make us a liquor cabinet as well, but we snagged this one at an estate sale. It's distressed and matches the other furniture/the feel of the room pretty well! We still have a ways to go: getting drawers, finding homes for everything, and putting the final touches on the room. Super happy with the progress thus far.

Mack was hard at work helping me clean and organize.

 Over the past weekend I bought this sweet little runner from Target for our hallway! 

It is so soft and cozy. I am obsessed. 

Thinking we need a nice mirror and this pendent light to finish off the space!

 

 

 

On the agenda for this weekend - we're celebrating Wayne's birthday with a family dinner for 17 on Saturday night! Wish me luck. So baking and cooking to prep for that, as well as some Easter goodies! I hope everyone has a happy and fun Easter weekend! 

xo

6 Months!

Today marks 6 months since Wayne and I were married! 

I can't believe how quickly this time has gone by. It really is amazing to think that a half of a year has passed. It has been 6 great months of learning more about each other, figuring out our schedules, what works, what doesn't, and just having a great time with one another.

 

I'm excited to break out that cake in the freezer in another 6 months! 

The only bite I had was the one Wayne fed me at the reception! We're going out to eat at a sweet local Italian restaurant, so I'll settle on a yummy dessert instead. (:

Cheers!