Entertaining

A Double-Duty Fall Tablescape.

Please note: This post is created in partnership with Christmas Tree Shops andThat!. All opinions, images and content are my own, thank you for supporting brands that support this site.

I know some people love to hang onto summer forever, but fall is my absolute favorite New England season. I’m feeling all of the cooler weather, leaves changing, sweater-wearing kind of days ahead. So when my friends at Christmas Tree Shops andThat! invited me to see all that’s new in their stores for fall I was super excited! The shelves were stocked with tons of new items, as always, and got me really inspired for the season ahead. read more

Travel

Beach Gear Favorites.

A few weeks ago my husband and I were sitting on the couch and chatting about our weekend plans. We started throwing around the idea of going to the beach and after a few minutes we were deep down a rabbit hole discussing how the worst part of beach days is all of the lugging and hauling of our stuff to and from the car. Sometimes the idea of packing everything up almost deters us from doing the trip (and we live a 5-minute drive to the beach, so it’s not much of a trip at all!). We came to a determined agreement that we would refine our beach-packing process this summer and hone it down to only the essentials, the best of the best. After a very serious inventory of what we actually use at the beach we have a new system down, and I’m happy to report the last few beach visits have required much less schlepping. I thought I’d share a few of our refinements, and the favorite beach gear items we use again and again that made the beach bag cut! read more

Life

2019 Summer Reading List.

What is it about summer that makes reading so enjoyable? In the good ol’ days I could sit on the beach during a vacation and make my way through 3 books a week! Of course life with a toddler has definitely changed my reading pace, but I have found I’ve been reading a ton this summer thanks to picking up books at night instead of flipping on the TV. I have a big stack I’ve been collecting for my summer line-up and thought I’d share my 2019 summer reading list to spark some inspiration if you’re looking for a good beach read of your own:

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Life

The Download – 06.18.19

It’s been a wild couple of weeks and I have lots to share — from fun events and projects, to summer finds, new recipes and lots of updates on my reading list! Scroll down to read more in this week’s download:
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Life

The Download – 05.16.19

It hasn’t quite felt like spring, and just like that Memorial Day is next week, so I think we might be skipping the season all together! While we were wait for the temperature to catch up with the seasons, I’ve got lots of cheery warm-weather entertaining inspiration, holiday weekend recipes, getaway packing tips, and new books to add to your summer reading list. Scroll down to read more! read more

Recipes

Fire Roasted Mexican Street Corn Bites.

If I open a restaurant menu and see Mexican street corn listed as an option there is a 100% chance I’ll be ordering it for meal — it’s one of my favorites. I included a recipe for it in my cookbook, and a few years ago I made a dip-version of this dish for a dip potluck party I hosted (one of the most fun get-togethers I’ve ever thrown!). I thought I would resurrect the dish and give it a new twist, this time using fire-roasted corn which I always snag in the frozen food aisle at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. This version gets tons of flavor from the fire-roasted corn, spices and citrus, and the crumbly cotija cheese. You can make the corn dish and serve it as a dip, but I wanted to up the presentation game and spooned heaps of it into scoop-shaped chips for individual servings. These little corn bites practically disappeared when I made them, so make sure you pop a few in your mouth before you share them with guests  — get the full recipe below:
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Life

The Download – 04.22.19

Monday isn’t so bad today because I’m coming off such a good weekend high. We had our favorite Indian food take-out, started to build some raised beds in our yard for our summer vegetable garden, and celebrated Easter yesterday with lots of family and food (Jane ate approximately 25lbs of chocolate bunnies and pastel M&Ms). It was really a perfect, relaxing weekend – I even got to finish a great book (more on that below!).  I’m riding my good mood and hoping to have a productive week, and thought I’d kick it off a few links and updates: read more

Recipes

Trader Joe’s Hack: Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad.

A few months back I took a poll about new content you guys wanted to see here, and I got a big response to one of my ideas: Trader Joe’s hacks. I shared my first one (sheet pan cauliflower gnocchi!) and was amazed by the response — holy moly did people love it! It was one of my most shared posts ever (in 10 years of blogging!), so I’m back today with another recipe that makes use of some tasty Trader Joe’s ingredients for a quick-fix dinner. read more

Life

The Download – 02.07.19

Oh boy guys, I’ve had this week on my calendar for almost a year now! This week marked my TENTH anniversary of starting this little ‘ol blog. I’ve sat down to write about a dozen variations of blog posts to commemorate the occasion, but funny enough, I’ve been at a loss for words to explain it. Partly because it feels like any other week — after a decade of working on this site, it’s one of the most steady parts of my routine and life. And partly because it also feels SO monumental. read more

Life

My Beauty Routine Make Over.

I have a nagging resolution that I have made for the past few years and never really did anything about: updating my make-up routine. I’m slightly embarrassed to say my make-up bag contents are nearly identical today (at 34 years old) to what I was using in college. Those products that I’ve probably been using for the better part of a decade are about as simple as they get, and I keep telling myself that I’m going give my routine a revamp to feel more age-appropriate.  My friend Amanda is a talented make-up artist and esthetician, and she offered to give me a little make-up therapy session to finally tackle this resolution of finding a refreshed make-up routine. I learned SO much from our lesson that I had to share her wealth of tricks, tips and favorite products here – it was too good not to share! read more

 
 
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