This weekend I had major order envy when one of my girlfriends had an amazing eggplant caprese sandwich while we were out to lunch on Newbury Street. I was still thinking about yesterday afternoon and decided to make a salad version for dinner with my own twist. Breaded eggplant with some tomatoes and mozzarella, topped with sun-dried tomato pesto — it was such a nice combination of fresh summer flavors!
I’m sharing a recap of the great Twitter chat I hosted with Wayfair last week, and sharing all of the great tips and tricks we heard about for entertaining weekend guests. I’d love for you to head over to the My Way Home blog and join the conversation! 
My weekend recap is a little light today, because truthfully I spent most of it hiding in my air conditioning from the crazy heat wave we’ve been having in Boston. I ventured away from the window unit in our bedroom for just enough time to mix up some St Germain cocktails — anything to stay cool and refreshed! How did you beat the heat this weekend?
Entertaining a weekend guest can be a daunting task — even when it’s one of my closest friends or siblings visiting, I still find myself in prep-mode before their arrival. I’m usually fluffing pillows and tidying rooms, grabbing items at the grocery store, and putting out my best soaps and towels right up until the doorbell rings.
Does this sound familiar? Have some thoughts on this topic? Well if so, I’d love for you to join me tonight at 8pm for a #homemakerhappyhr Twitter chat hosted by Wayfair! We’ll be discussing tips and tricks for entertaining weekend guests, finding fabulous hostess gifts, and decorating guest bedrooms.
And to help you prepare for your own entertaining and decorating challenges, the nice folks at Wayfair are giving one lucky reader a $50 gift card!
To enter, leave a blog comment below with your email address. For extra entries you can:
- Follow @domestikateblog on Twitter
- Follow @wayfair on Twitter
- Like Wayfair on Facebook
Add a comment for each extra entry; I’ll announce the winner on Thursday night!
Some of my favorite bloggers are sharing their summer entertaining essentials for being a savvy hostess this season, last but not least in the series is Julie of JulipMade!
Hi DomestiKated Life readers, Julie from Julip Made here sharing with you one of my favorite summer party ideas along with the tools to make it happen. For me there is nothing better than spending a day at the vineyards munching on cheese, sipping on wine, and wiggling your toes in the grass. See below for some ideas to make a vineyard picnic come to life…
Thank you so much for having me Kate and please stop by for more entertaining, food, cocktail recipes and more!
I went back through a few snaps from the weekend on Instagram, and combined they just look like Summer. I stocked up on lemons to make a delicious, fresh cocktail with elderflower cordials, wild tea vodka, and sparkling lemon water (I got thirsty just typing that!). And another highlight of the weekend was the arrival of a crisp new pair of Jack Rogers sandals in the mail — I had some very happy feet. What were you up to this weekend?
It has been a zillion degrees in my apartment for the past few weeks with this heat wave in Boston, which means I have been quite lazy with making dinners at home. I saw a recipe that required no stove time in this month’s House Beautiful and it finally inspired me to cook something up besides take out. This recipe was a perfect simple summer meal; I added on some grilled corn for a little extra color and flavor, and it turned out delicious!
Some of my favorite bloggers are sharing their summer entertaining essentials for being a savvy hostess this season, up next in the series is the master of the bar cart, Roxy, from Society Social:
Hi lovers!! I’m so tickled to be here sharing my summer entertaining essentials because a good social is what I love for! I live in New York City in a shoebox of an apartment so I’ve got to get creative considering the space constraints and I think a sunset picnic in the park is just the thing for the city girl craving big social style! In this case the park will serve as my living, dining, and bar area! Cheers to you!
Bamboo 21 piece insulated picnic basket, Watercolor Picnic Blanket, Francis Ford Coppola Rose 2010, Outdoor lanterns, Monogrammed linen cocktail napkins, Croquet Set, Bose Sound Link Wireless Mobile Speaker
My friend Navya, from the little flower cottage, is back posting her second installment in our flower series:
My husband and I throw an annual party and I like to make sure the house is feeling patriotic as soon as guest walk through the door — but you won’t find any store bought banners or dyed flowers here! To me, the Fourth of July is all about celebrating our American roots, so I think it’s a perfect time to break out a few of my vintage pieces to set the tone. Since our party is pretty casual I’m often out back with friends (ice cold drink in hand) while guests continue to arrive — so this year these pretty flowers and vintage books will be greeting all our latecomers!
