I have been feeling little bursts of summer all around this week — a few warm days, lots of playtime outside with Jane, and our yard is coming back to life! It’s been just the motivation I need (getting back on track post-vacation was rough) to get rolling on some new content with summer in mind. Get ready for grilling recipes, outdoor entertaining ideas, and home projects coming up in the next few weeks! And in the meantime, a few links to check out in this week’s download:
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My husband asked if we had any plans this weekend and I answered (maybe too quickly), “The Royal Wedding!” — as if, you know, I’m going to get up at 6am on Saturday morning to attend these festive nuptials. The fervor in my response was met with some teasing, but I am genuinely excited to wake up early this weekend to watch the coverage on TV. It might partly be that we’ve just returned from a trip to London, so I’m still riding a buzz for all things British, including afternoon tea and all of the treats that go along with it. In fact, I decided it was the perfect time to make some baked treats to enjoy during the royal wedding broadcast, inspired by our vacation tea time.
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I had an absolutely, lovely, low-key Mother’s Day. We woke up out in Western Massachusetts where we were staying for my brother’s college graduation the night before. I got to see my own mom in the morning and exchange some hugs and treats before we hit the road, stopping on the drive back for a quick visit to wish my mother-in-law a Happy Mother’s Day too! In the afternoon I took a long walk with Jane by the water, played with her in the yard for a bit, and then my husband got us take-out from my favorite Indian restaurant for dinner. It was a totally chill afternoon where I ignored deadlines and emails and to do lists, and that is exactly what was needed!
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After quite a few journeys under my blogging belt, I have gotten accustomed to scribbling down notes when we travel now to help me compile these destination guides! It’s sort of like my own little scavenger hunt when we visit a new city; I love finding special spots that I can report back on. We lucked out on this trip in so many ways – the flights were easy (we got a great deal on Norwegian Air), we managed the jet lag well, and we had amazing weather. Locals kept telling us that it was rare to have that much sunshine and warmth the first days of May, and the timing had been perfect to see so many of the spring flowers in bloom. The trip gave me a fresh case of the travel bug, and as I write this recap of our week in London, I’m already scheming our next adventure!
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Home, sweet home! I got back this weekend from an amazing vacation exploring London and parts of England. It was a wonderful trip, full of beautiful weather, tons of sightseeing, and my fair share of eating and drinking! But it’s true what they say, there is no place like home. It’s been a slow start to the week as I dig out of my inbox and ease out of the jet lag fog, but coming back to what finally feels like spring weather has helped with the adjustment. While I play catch up, I thought I’d share a few links and updates below:
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The number one thing that gets me through winter (and let’s be honest, the very wintry spring we had this year!) is thinking about how gloriously wonderful summer will feel when it finally arrives. I start making a mental bucket list of all of the things I want to do when warm-weather hits, and at the top of my list is usually entertaining outdoors. My friends at Better Homes & Gardens have been getting me extra excited for some al fresco celebrations this summer with their annual Summer Entertaining Guide! It’s chock full of great entertaining tips, cocktail recipes and outdoor decor ideas (oh, and a giveaway for a $250 Crate and Barrel gift card!). Flipping through this inspiring guide got me thinking about a few of my own favorite summer entertaining tips:
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We have been the biggest fans of the Chicco Bravo travel system since Jane was an infant– the stroller and car seat are probably our most used baby products we’ve had since she’s been born. The brand just launched a new version of this model that has many of the same features – like the quick fold mechanism that is SO key when you’re juggling a squirmy toddler and a bag of groceries in the parking lot – but it’s smaller and lighter. Now that Jane is bigger, we were looking for something a bit more flexible to throw in the car with us for quick errands and weekend trips, so I jumped at the chance when Chicco offered for us to try these new wheels out!
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Around the time that Jane was born, we noticed how much trash we were creating as a family (bags of diapers will do that!), and we started to make an effort to do more to reduce our impact on the environment. We started buying our dairy products from a local farm that reuses their glass containers, my husband built us a big recycling center in our back hall, and we even started composting our food scraps. These things are a just start, I know there is a lot more we can do, but our small changes were such easy swaps to be more eco-friendly. I thought that Earth Day would be a great chance to share a few of the items I use to be bit more conscious of my impact on the environment. 
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Can we all agree on one thing? The absolute best reason to watch the Kentucky Derby is so that you can have an solid reason to mix up an ice cold mint julep! I realized this week that the derby is coming up in a few weeks, and decided to try my hand at mixing up a berry-muddled version of this classic cocktail. The most delicious mint julep I’ve ever tasted was made at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia — the drink was brimming with crushed ice, fresh mint leaves, and a pretty dusting of powdered sugar — YUM! I gave the derby staple a slight spin with some muddled mixed berries in the bottom of vintage cut crystal glasses that my mother-in-law just passed down to me, and gave them some Kate-flair with horseshoe drink stirrers too! Scroll down for the full recipe. 
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Let me let you in on a little blogger secret. When it’s super quiet on this site, it usually means that something good is coming soon! I’ve been busy working away on lots of spring content (you know, that season in between winter and summer where the weather starts to get warmer?) and can’t wait to share all of it. I’ve also been working on some behind the scenes projects for my cookbook– lining up some fun events for the fall and working on some website changes – it’s going to be exciting. We did have a few brief hours of sunshine and warmth yesterday and I’m happy to report I ignored about a dozen important items on my to do list and took Jane to the playground. We ran around in circles, picked daffodils, played with bubbles and sidewalk chalk, and it was bliss. Here’s hoping for a few more days like that in our future, and in the meantime, here is some weekend reading for you!
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