Can I confess something? Meal planning and prep is one of my guilty pleasures, which I think stems from love of both organization and talking about food. My husband and I started the habit casually a few a years ago, talking about new recipes we might want to try for the week. Recently, we’ve got a bit more serious about it, and sit down to make a plan for the week – usually on Sunday mornings – before we purchase our groceries for the week.
read more
This post was created in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain®; all opinions, images, and content are my own.
Alright, folks. I’m going to say something controversial: I’m really excited for fall this year. I know, I know, we still have a few weeks of warm summer weather to enjoy and I shouldn’t wish it away. But as soon as I walk into a big box store and see those aisles of fresh school supplies and plaid scarves and cozy sweaters I get so thrilled. Not to mention those fall flavors that are popping up on shelves too, tis the season for pumpkin spice after all!
read more
This post was created in partnership with buybuy BABY. All opinions are my own.
We have been on the road for what seems like the whole summer. Jane has been buckled in her car seat and hitting spots all over New England since she was born. We took our first trip with her to Vermont when she was just two months old. Last month we spent several days at my parent’s house in New York, and she was on the road again this weekend for some slumber partying at my in-laws house as we headed to a wedding in New Hampshire. We still haven’t tested her travel-experience on an airplane, but she’s been putting some miles on that car seat!
read more
There are two things that have made us ripe targets for a friendly “pop-by” this summer: 1) Living close to the beach, and 2) Having a cute baby that family wants to visit! I actually love a surprise pop-in from friends and family, it was one of the things that I’ll always cherish about my own childhood. We grew up with a well-known open door policy that meant people would stop by for dinner or drinks on any given day of the week, and my mom always graciously popped a bottle of wine and added an extra place setting to the table.
read more
This week I fluffed the pillows, rolled out a new rug, and tucked a few fresh flowers and some newly framed artwork into our new master bedroom. This was a huge project for us, and one of the best makeovers we’ve completed in our house. I had to go back to my email account to figure out when exactly we started the project and I laughed when I realized we’ve been working on this room since mid-April. Projects used to go a whole lot faster pre-baby, but after nearly 4 months of chipping away at the renovations, we’re “finished” with the bedroom!
read more
A few weeks back I had a little night-out on the town with some of my blogger buddies at Boston Magazine’s Best Fest. It was a much-needed evening of adult interaction! That evening it happened to be pouring rain, and about 95 degrees outside — I can’t fully explain how hot and humid the air felt, other than that the one saving grace of the weather was a popsicle cart serving Patron Tequila-infused frozen treats. They were amazing. I tried a few different flavors — the paloma popsicle was my favorite — and vowed to find a way to recreate them at home. Luckily the folks at Patron were kind enough to share some of their recipes with me, and I tweaked one of the, to make own batch this week!
read more
One of the perks of living not to far from the beach is that we get lots of friends and family visiting over the summer, and we take our hosting duties seriously and try to make it like a little weekend vacation for them when they visit. In general, I’ve tried to avoid too much beach-themed decor in our house, but when it comes to party supplies and entertaining I’m all about the nautical touches. We have a few more weekends ahead of us that call for festive, nautical summer details — including planning for a big lobster bake feast before summer ends (and using our new personalized lobster cups!). I’ve been eyeing a few additions to my party supply arsenal, like an anchor-adorned wine cooler, some colorful lawn games and beach games, and I’m always adding drink stirrers and cocktail picks to my collection. I’ve rounded up a few more of my favorite nautical party supplies below so you can say Ahoy to seaside summer gatherings! 
read more
We have a few summer traditions that are absolute essentials in our family, and one is particularly tasty: making my grandma Ida’s homemade blueberry cobbler recipe. It’s simple and fairly quick to make. We’ve done it so many times I can almost assemble it blindfolded. Most importantly, each bite tastes like a burst of summer memories; the warm blueberries scooped out onto a plate with vanilla bean ice cream melting over the top. We had family visiting recently, and with the plethora of blueberries available this time of year it was the perfect time to pull out the weathered recipe card. It’s always such a hit, in fact, as I was taking these pictures, my sister’s boyfriend was hovering nearby wanting to know when he could snag a plate to dig-in. 
read more
This post was created in partnership with buybuy BABY. All opinions are my own.
In general, food is pretty much universally my favorite topic to talk about. When Jane started to show interest in solid foods I was so excited, because it means we get to talk about food even more than usual. With that big transition came lots of research and questions and frantic Googling (can babies eat greek yogurt?!), so I thought it would be helpful to share a little bit about our experience with Jane and food for others going through the same thing. We have found some products we swear by, and a few favorite foods that helped Jane make the solid food transition jump pretty seamlessly.
read more
It’s been radio-silence over here this past week. I’ve been busy working on some new projects for the end of summer; lot’s more (tasty) content is coming soon. I also took a little bit of time off to head down to New York for family time as we said goodbye to my sweet Grandfather. He was a huge part of my life; I was lucky to grow up on the same block as him and my grandmother and we had a close relationship because of it. We reminisced about his humor, his kindness, and his love for mischief (and whiskey) – a silver lining in all of the heavy heartedness was getting to spend time with family and friends we rarely see. 
read more
