I’m currently on the train to New York for a quick work trip, and I’m using it catch up on some blog post I’ve wanted to write since the summer. A few kid-free hours on the Amtrak to NYC feels like the apt time to share a few pics and tricks from my last visit to New York with a kid-in-tow! We are very lucky that my sister and brother-in-law live in Brooklyn and give us a reason to visit every few months. On our most recent trip, my sister planned tons of kid-friendly New York City activities that made it a magical experience, and the reason that Jane loves visiting the Big Apple! Sharing a few of the fun things we did below, in case it helps plan your next NYC family trip! 
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I am partnering with my friends at RiceSelect today to mix up some tasty back to school snack mixes and storing them in repurposed rice jars. These easy, no-cook snack mixes are a great way to use up leftover snacks, the last scoop of dry cereal, a few nuts that are left over from a recipe, and other end-of-the-box ingredients.
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I hosted some friends on a recent summer night and there was the teeniest chill in the air that hinted at the change of the seasons. I set out to experiment on a dish that still had the bright, fresh flavors of summer, but with a hearty twist. The result: this lentil and quinoa salad, full of crisp spinach, delicately sliced slivers of red onions, crumbles of goat cheese and crunchy almonds, and topped with the tastiest, juicy peaches. Add the lentils and quinoa while they’re still warm to the bowl to help wilt down the spinach and red onions, and soften the almonds a bit. The goat cheese will also blend into the mixture, but save a little to add on top too! The celery seeds give the salad extra flavor, and I kept the dressing super simple with some fresh citrusy lemon juice and a light drizzle of oil and vinegar. Add the fresh peaches to the bowl right before serving to keep them from getting mushy, the sweet flavor of summer peaches is the highlight of this dish!
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I got the most beautiful box of colorful summer ingredients from my friends at Clover Food Lab delivered last week and it inspired one of the tastiest (and summer-iest!) salad I’ve made in a long time. It was a perfect pairing at my book club dinner with herb-y lobster rolls. Atop a big bowl of fresh mixed greens, I sprinkled thinly sliced red onions, juicy tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden, loads of summer blueberries and fresh corn cut off the cob. Everything was topped with goat cheese crumbles and chopped up pecans and almonds. Give it a little drizzle with white balsamic and good olive oil (I LOVE Graza Olive Oil!) and season with salt and pepper before serving – major YUM! Get the simple recipe below: 
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I can not stop myself from eating these Manchego, Olive, Soppressata and Melon Bites! They’re a super easy, no-cook appetizer idea that is perfect for summer entertaining. Start with mini skewers or toothpicks and add small blocks of manchego cheese (or another sharp cheese of your choice), marinated olives (get these from the grocery store olive bar), slices of soppressata (fold them into ribbons on the toothpick for easy bites) and cubes of sweet cantaloupe. I made them a few hours ahead and kept them chilled in the fridge under plastic wrap until ready to serve. They’re a refreshing, flavorful bite to pass around the table at summer parties!
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Kicking off my annual book review post to catalog and review all of my reads throughout the year. You can see everything I read in previous years on: 2018’s list, 2019’s list, 2020’s list, 2021’s list, and 2022’s list! For loads of what-to-read inspiration, scroll down for my 2023 reading list with mini reviews for each book, and see what’s up next in my reading queue!
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We kicked off summer with a fun long weekend trip down to Washington, DC! I hadn’t been to DC since before we were married, so exploring the city with a kid and through new eyes was a fun adventure – it felt like we were there for the first time. We packed our trip with lots of kid-friendly museums and experiences, so I thought I’d share our itinerary and some travel wins for future planning! 
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One of our favorite family traditions is our annual camping trip (ahem, glamping trip) to Huttopia! This was our fifth year staying at a Huttopia campsite, and our third trip staying at the Southern Maine location. I last wrote about our New England glamping adventures after our first trip (Jane was just a baby!) and figured it was time for an update on our experience and favorite parts of this family friendly New England glamping weekend! 
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We kicked off the official start of bbq season this weekend, so I was in the kitchen experimenting with some tasty new side dish ideas. Every summer barbeque needs a pasta salad, and I have a few classic versions I always lean on but decided to mix it up with something fresh. Fresh English peas and sweet snap peas are some of my favorite seasonal veggies, and they were the inspiration for this pasta salad recipe. They got tossed with some fun corkscrew shaped pasta, crispy, salty bits of cooked prosciutto, and a lemony dressing with fresh lemon thyme. The result was a bright, tangy side salad that was perfect for al fresco entertaining – get the full recipe below!
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I’m back from a week of bliss in Mexico, spent sitting by the pool, eating unlimited tacos and sipping spicy Paloma cocktails. My husband and I celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary this month and were lucky enough to get away for a few days to celebrate (thanks to my Mom for babysitting!). We’re not typically big resort vacationers, but since we were making this a kids-free trip, we decided our focus was going to be on relaxing. Our wishlist for this trip was an all-inclusive and adults-only resort with an easy, direct-flight from Boston (we flew into Cancun) and great food. Unico 2087 in Riviera Maya checked off everything on our list! 
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