Last week we were visiting my family in New York for a very special occasion (and my favorite summer tradition) — my hometown’s fireman’s parade. Growing up we lived across the street from the local firehouse and our house was the prime viewing location for the parade. My parents always threw a big party, invited tons of friends, and put out a fabulous spread for guests. The party always signaled the ushering in of summer vacation for me and is one of my favorite childhood memories. The annual event definitely influenced my love of entertaining today! This was the first time I’ve been back to see the parade in several years so I knew I wanted to make some special bites to bring with us to the viewing party. 
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Of all of the times to entertain throughout the year, I think that summer entertaining is my favorite. It’s typically casual and laid-back, means we get to fire up the grill and eat outside, and often uses my favorite color palette: red white and blue! The easy DIY chambray napkins I have to share today are perfect for all of those elements that make summer entertaining so special. This set that I made for upcoming Fourth of July celebrations has a patriotic twist, but they could be customized with monograms for bridal showers, dates for anniversaries or birthdays, or even some simple shapes for a graphic design. 
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I spent this past weekend up in Portland, Maine celebrating one of my best friend’s bachelorette weekend. We had a blast — eating lobster rolls, taking in a baseball game, soaking up the most gorgeous summer weather, and of course, enjoying some cocktails and bar hopping. I’m still recovering — apparently it takes 3-4 days to recover from bachelorette parties once you hit your thirties — here’s hoping I’m back to normal by Thursday of this week. The good thing about bachelorette parties in your thirties though is that we have quite a few of these girl’s weekend celebrations under our belt. All of that experience adds up, and makes it much easier to put together perfect activities, itineraries and party swag! 
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I have been singing the praises of grilling season now for a few weeks. For good reason: there is no better way to quickly pull together a tasty dinner. In fact, I haven’t turned on our oven since we pulled our grill out of winter storage and onto the patio! One recipe that has been on near-constant rotation at our house recently is a simple grilled shrimp dish with a garlic basil marinade. I serve it with grilled veggie skewers of zucchini, red onions and tomatoes (brushed with the same flavorful dressing) and some warm couscous and fresh herbs.
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I have been craving a fresh, fruity summer drink and mixed up a batch of this easy raspberry mint lemonade to quench my thirst! It’s such an easy recipe — just a few muddled fresh raspberries and mint leaves in the bottom of a glass, topped with ice and filled to the top with some good lemonade (sometimes I look for a sparkling version at Trader Joe’s!). If you’re serving it as a cocktail — which you totally should — add about an ounce of vodka to the glass before you top it with the lemonade. It makes a refreshing beverage to batch prep in a big pitcher for summer parties, and it looks so very festive with the bright green mint and red raspberries muddled in the glass. Leave the vodka on the side so guests can decide to spike it (or not!) to their desired drink strength. And set out some festive straws and long sprigs of more fresh mint to let everyone garnish their cocktails!
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Ignore what the calendar says – it’s officially summer over here. The temperature has been rising, my favorite sundresses and white denim pieces have made their way out of the closet, and we had our first after-dinner walk to the ice cream shop. I also spent more time than I’d like to admit researching kiddie pools today (I can’t decide: the watermelon or the donut pool? Tough choices!). I’m sharing a few of our recent and upcoming summer adventures below, as well as a few more links and updates in this week’s download:
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Over the long weekend we had several barbecues to attend, and I got the idea to make a little homemade hostess gift to bring along to each party. I felt like a real rockstar for coming up with the idea, some homemade limoncello infused with a lemon thyme simple syrup, and getting them packaged up in pretty glass bottles tied with baker’s twine and fresh thyme sprigs. Let me tell you what was not a rockstar move: forgetting them all in the fridge before we embarked on our day of BBQ-hopping! I didn’t realize until I got home that night, that all of my cute hostess gifts were still chilling in the fridge. The good news is, the recipe won’t go to waste — you can find it below to DIY yourself — and the drinks won’t go to waste either. I’ll be pouring myself a limoncello and soda spritzer tonight! 
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I took a little hiatus from cooking when we were on vacation earlier this month, and struggled to get back in the kitchen groove when we returned. Sometimes when I get in to a “what should I make for dinner?!” panic and need dig into the pantry to get inspired. My friends at Ken’s Foods recently sent me some of the dressings from their line with some new flavors to try! My inspiration hit when I pulled a bottle of Dijon Honey Mustard dressing off the shelf.
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I find that some of my most enjoyable party experiences are those that revolve around casual settings and shareable food – and there is no better way to create a casual, shareable vibe than with a taco party! In the spirit of kicking off summer, I have been working on some new taco-inspired recipes for al fresco entertaining. On the menu: quick and easy grilled chipotle chicken tacos that guests can assemble themselves with all of the toppings. And to cool off after a bite of these spicy tacos, I’m serving up big-batch pitchers of frozen peach margaritas – they use frozen fruit for a sorbet-like texture, yum. Head over to the Chinet®brand blog today to get the chipotle chicken taco recipe, instructions for making the frozen peach margaritas, and a few tips for setting up your own summer taco fiesta!
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Memorial Day weekend is upon us, which means it’s time to kick off summer, wheel out the grill, and get our backyard celebrations started! I admittedly jumped on the BBQ train earlier this week when I saw some cute hot dog napkins at Target that quickly inspired our dinner plans. Grilled hot dogs, some macaroni salad, and pickles made for a pretty delicious weeknight treat. Now that the first al fresco meal of the season has been taken care of, I’ve been digging in my archives for more Memorial Day menu ideas and thought I’d share a few of my favorites here as you plan your own long-weekend celebrations! 
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