We’ve had quite a week around here. Last weekend was filled with houseguests and beach days and holiday weekend BBQs. Until Sunday night when I was knocked down by a stomach bug that kept me couch-ridden for 48 hours. It hit my husband next, right as I was coming out on the other side of the worst of it. We’ve been recovering, cleaning, and generally quarantining ourselves over here since mid-week. Between the great 2017 stomach virus and the holiday weekend, we blinked and the whole week passed us by. I’m telling myself we’ll catch up next week; Friday feels like we’re hitting the re-set button. Before I sign off though, I wanted to share my Friday download with a few fun links, products and recent blog posts worth sharing. Plus a cute picture of Janie, because after this week we all need to pop the bottle and have a drink!
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I think the best thing about the Fourth of July being mid-week this year is that we get to double the celebrations and BBQs and general summer festivities across two weekends. I had the best time last weekend hosting one of my girlfriends and her daughter at our house for a little mom and babies night-in while our husbands were away for a bachelor party. Since we were staying in after the kids went to bed, I decided to make homemade lobster rolls for dinner. Heading to our local fish market and grabbing a few fresh lobsters that were caught in the harbor across the street made for a tasty meal.
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I am on a Farmer’s Market kick right now and am doing well with my own personal challenge to try a new recipe each week inspired by the seasonal ingredients I’m finding there. This week, I started to see a nice variety of sweet, colorful summer tomatoes and knew they were the ingredient for me. Appetizers have been on my mind with all of the upcoming summer celebrations and BBQs. I thought it would be a fun idea to create an individually portioned starter that guests could grab and nibble on while playing lawn games.
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I am eagerly watching the weather for this holiday weekend and crossing my fingers for beach time and sunny walks and of course some cocktails on the porch. It looks like we may get at least one day of that perfect summer weather and I’m preparing for some friends to stay over with a few fun celebratory details. Among them is a little icy treat to keep us cool – some blueberry popsicles made with IZZE sparkling blueberry.
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I’ve noticed this week that all of the neighbors are putting out their American flags and bunting to prep for the Fourth of July. I feel so lucky to live in New England this time of year when you see all of the historic homes putting on their patriotic best. It gets me into the spirit for the holiday, and I look for all of the ways to add a little bit more red, white and blue to the festivities. We typically spend our Fourth of July weekends hopping from pool parties to beach picnics to lakeside BBQs; so casual is the name of the game for entertaining. I thought it would be fun to give one of my favorite All-American BBQ staples a patriotic twist this summer: red, white and blue chips and dip!
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Once summer arrives we pretty much abandon our oven and move most of the cooking out to our grill – especially since we’ve moved to our house and upgraded our grill. We have started a new weekly tradition of making our own pizzas – usually on Friday nights just like I did with my own family growing up. When my friends at Peapod asked me to come up with a fun new grilling recipe, I knew I had to focus on pizza. Pizza on the grill has so many advantages: it cooks fast, the crust gets crispy, and the cheese and toppings get that perfect golden brown. We use an inexpensive pizza stone and experiment with all sorts of different recipes.
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Do you ever get that feeling of summer-guilt? It’s when it’s so incredibly nice and warm outside, and you have that pang in your gut that says you should really be at the beach or drinking outside on a patio or going for a walk somewhere with a nice breeze. I that feeling this weekend. I think it happens in New England particularly because summer is so fleeting here. A mere 8 weekends, 9 or 10 if we’re really lucky, of that warm air and sunshine that passes by so quickly we feel guilty if we don’t take advantage of every second of it.
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Is there any better way to kick off the official first day of summer than talking about the beach? Well, maybe actually being at the beach and drinking sip of rosé would be better — go ahead, pour yourself a cold glass of summer water before you read on! In mental preparation for the next few months of (hopefully) beach weather, I pulled my new beach bag out of the closet today. Just seeing it ready to go by the door makes me so happy. This year I’m using a giant Roberta Roller Rabbit tote that I screen printed with the name of our local beach.
I just looked at the calendar to write out the date for this week’s Friday Download post and almost fell off my chair when I realized that June is halfway over (and gasp! Jane turns 5 months in just a few days). Time if flying, and I know summer will be speeding by too (how come winter never zooms by as fast as these fun warm-weather months?). So I’ve got lots of summer ideas on the blog this week that I recapped below, plus a few other fun thoughts to wrap up the week. 
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This post was created in partnership with buybuy BABY. All opinions are my own.
I was having a conversation with a family member this past weekend about how I get nothing done with Jane around, because even when she’s sleeping or sitting and playing, I just want to watch her and see what she’s up to. My spying on her has only increased since she’s gotten a bit better at playing with her toys independently. I love to watch her examine them and carefully choose which one to pick up next. It’s fascinating to see her make those decisions and really start to engage and explore them.
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