TGIF!

Hey y'all, as soon as Josh's flight gets in from London (he's such a jet setter) we're off to NYC for the weekend!

Can't wait to tell you all about it!  Enjoy the weekend!

Summertime

It's Party Time over at Wendy Poplars today!  Being the topic of my favorite season, I had to join in.

1. How do you most like to entertain during the summer (pool party, picnic, cookout, etc.)? - Or if your situation doesn't allow for entertaining right now, what do you look forward to being able to host?

I like to entertain with cocktails on our back porch, and have friends over to grill out.  I feel like entertaining in the summer is way more casual than the rest of the year.  Coming from Florida, not having immediate access to a pool here is very difficult for me.  We do have a roof top and indoor pool at our gym, but the best part of a pool party is having a Pineapple-tini in hand, which would be weird at the gym. 

I am looking forward to my sororities alumnae group's Summer Soiree and Picnic on the National Mall coming up.  That will be so much fun!

2. Do you have a favorite summertime dessert?

My favorite summertime dessert is ice cream!  It's actually my favorite anytime dessert. 

Every summer growing up I would look forward to my church's ice cream fellowship.  It would be after a Sunday evening service and we would all go to the fellowship hall where there were tables and tables of homemade ice cream.  Amazing!

Now that I think of it, I have a ice cream maker.  You know the kind where you have the ice and salt in the bucket, and you spin spin spin the container with the cream and sugar. 

Thank goodness it's electric, although it needs to be made outside because the sides sweat, and well, that's just how you do it.  I believe it's in my parent's garage in Florida.  I will have to be sure to bring that back to DC when we are visiting in a few weeks.  I also gave an inside electric model to Lacey at one of her Bridal Showers. 

I feel relieved to know that there will be two ice cream makers in my vicinity this summer.  PTL!
3.What is your best outdoor summer date idea?

Well, my best outdoor summer date was the night that Josh proposed.  The fourth of July is my favorite holiday.  Josh had taken me on a beach trip to San Marco Island, just off the coast of Naples to spend the weekend.  We stayed at the beautiful Marriott resort, it was the perfect mix of old time Florida with all the modern amenities. 

The next morning Josh had rented us a private beach cabana.  They brought us bottled water by the bucket and all the magazines I could possibly want to read - it was pretty awesome.

After dinner we went out to the beach to watch the fireworks.  We could hear the music from the band playing at the resort and were dancing in the sand.  Josh was spinning me around and as I turned he got down on one knee and asked me for my hand.  It was perfect. 

When we got back to our room there were chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting for us.

It was the best summertime date ever!

4. Share any outdoor decorating tips/ideas you have...

I think the best way to decorate outside during the summer is with plants and flowers.  Showcase natures beauty!  I also like to decorate for Memorial Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July with lots and lots of red, white and blue!


5. What will we find you wearing most in the summertime?
 
Sundresses and flip flops. 
 
Specifically:
 

Maxi

 

Madras

White Linen

 

Lilley

 

Super Sangria

This weekend, Josh and I had our neighbors over to enjoy the beautiful weather.  I made what turned out to be an awesome White Sangria.

I rinsed, pealed and chopped fruit we had in the fridge including strawberries, blueberries and pink oranges (who even knew those existed)? 
I put the fruit in a pitcher and poured a bunch of triple sec over it and let it sit a little bit so the fruit could absorb the goodness.  Then I added a bottle of Riesling and topped it off with Peach Grape Juice. 

It was absolutely amazing!  I know it's not really a traditional recipe for Sangria, but we enjoyed every last drop of it.

Backporch Blogging

I am enjoying the beautiful 65 degree temperature.  It's the makings of a perfect Virginia evening.  The sun is setting, I have a glass of Shriaz and this beautiful view.

This weekend my neighbor Megan and I planted flower boxes and a herb garden.

Here you can see my bountiful basil, ravishing rosemary and sumptuous sage. 

On the other side of the porch I have my cantankerous cilantro and magnificent mint. 

You can see I really admire my herbs.  I am so excited to see the plants grow and flourish.  My thrillers and thrilling, my fillers need a little more filling, and my spillers-not yet spilling.  I'm looking forward to what everything will look like two weeks from now - it will be time for their first Miracle-Grow treatment. 

A little back story on Miracle-Grow.  In college I took Organic Vegetable Gardening (along with Plants, Gardening and You as well as Growing Fruit for Fun and Profit - I was almost able to minor in agriculture).  That would be an interesting combo on my resume.  Anyway back to Organic Vegetable Gardening.  I took the class with my two best friends, it was later in the afternoon, so campus parking was lifted - a good thing because the Agriculture College was on the far side of campus.  I had to drop my Principles of Floral Design class due to how far away it was from the main campus - I would have to ride my bike to the class and that was something I was not willing to do!

So we would pull up to the Agriculture building, and head into lecture, then we would go out to the fields to plant and tend our plots.  We had the option of sharing plots with each other, but with bright eyes I told my friends "No, let's all get our own plots, so we can have more vegetables at the end of the semester."  Mistake #1.  It was also my bright idea to pick the plots closest to the road, so we could admire our work as we drove by.  Mistake #2.  My friends and I tilled the land and weeded, preparing to plant our vegetables.  My mistake #2 lead to us having to haul all our equipment from the storage shed to our plots-the furthest away from everything. 

While everyone else in the class had paired up, the three of us were all working our plots on our own.  A favorite pairing of ours were a hippie duo that we named the "young lovers."  As the semester went on, the young lover's vegetables thrived, while ours hardly sprouted.  I do owe my friends to this day because they fertilized my plot while I was at a homecoming pageant rehearsal.  Now, fertilizing in Organic Vegetable Gardening class does not involve Miracle-Grow, no it does not.  Even after our plots were fertilized with the gifts only cows can provide, they were still sad in comparison to the rest of the classes.  And that's when we knew it.  The young lovers must come at night and use Miracle-Grow on their plants.  It's the only way.  Even though I had very little to show after all my efforts in the class, I did learn a lot and even earned an A, we were obviously not graded on if what we planted actually grew. 

I'm hoping to have a little more luck this go around and plan to use my trusty friend Miracle-Grow to help me along the way.

Kindred Connection Party

I am joining Kristin over at Wendy Poplars today for the Kindred Connection Party.  Feel free to join in the fun!

1. If you had a day from this past week that you could "live over" (either for good or bad), which one would it be and why?

I would live over Friday, Saturday and Sunday!  One of my best friends, Reema, was visiting this weekend.  On Friday Lacey, Reema and I toured Virginia Wine Country.  It was so much fun!

Saturday morning, I did a 5K with Junior League to benefit Bright Beginnings.  The race was at Hains Point, which is a beautiful park right on the water in DC.  The tree lined streets were beautiful, and it reminded me of my afternoon walks and bike rides on Davis Islands in Tampa. 

Photo

After the race, Josh, Molly and I went to a crawfish boil - it was amazing!  I wrapped up the evening at dinner with the besties at Uncle Julios. 

Sunday was my first anniversary, and I got a pair of diamond earrings! 

So if I could tour wine country, go to crawfish boils, spend time with my best friends and get a pair of diamond earrings again, I would live it over and over again!


2. Do you work outside the home? Are you a SAHM? Are you self employed?

I work outside the home, and love what I do!  I work for a global outplacement, coaching and career management firm.  When companies make decisions that impact careers, my company provides services to support the organization and their employees.  I am able to help people everyday, and have fantastic colleagues.  I really look forward to coming into work every morning.  Oh, and my office building is attached to a really nice mall.  So I am able to get my kicks whenever I am actually able to take a lunch break!

3. What are two blogs that you really love, and why?

I LOVE Boo Mama.  She is soo funny, I just feel this connection with her, and she really makes me laugh.  I am totally on the band wagon, but Pioneer Woman and Kelly's Korner are a must read for me.  Pioneer Woman's love story is amazing, oh and her recipes are TO-DIE-FOR!  I can get enough of the pictures of cute little Harper (Kelly's daughter).  I love that she is able to use her blog as her ministry.  It's great how she can share God's love through this outlet.

Gardening

I am very excited to break out my spade and watering can.  I am planting my flower and herb garden this upcoming weekend with the assistance of my lovely neighbor, Megan.  She will be a benefactor of my harvests.  We both plan to indulge in a signature cocktail I create.  I am thinking something along the lines of lemonade, vodka, berries (blue or raspberry) and sage.  I let y'all know how it comes out!

My plan is to go to a few farmer's markets, the local garden center, and home depot for my plants, also one of the local high schools was selling plants from their ag program - I will stop by there as well.  I want a pretty large selection and want to compare quality and prices before I make all my purchases. 

Last year I grew one flower box full of red geraniums and pink petunias accented with green foliage.  This year, I am adding two more flower boxes, for a total of three lining my balcony.  I do know that I want all the flower boxes to be consistent with the same pattern repeating in each box.  I was planning to follow the southern living motto of container gardening.  A thriller (tall flowers), a filler (medium height flowers with thick foliage) and a spiller (flowers or ivy that cascade over the side of the box). 

Southern Living

On the other hand, I also love the idea of having all the same flowers, below is an inspiration.

Susan Jones

DC summers are pretty warm, and the plants would all get afternoon sun.  I am planning to go with a purple/blue and white (maybe with a touch of orange) color scheme.  Do you have any flowers that work well for you or that you would suggest? 

I am also significantly adding to my herb garden, pretty much tripling it's size.  Last year I grew mint, basil and a jalapeno plant.  This year I'm going big.  My main focus will again be the mint and basil, I am devoting two large planters each to these. 

Southern Living

I also plan to add cilantro, parsley and rosemary.  Here's where it gets tricky.  I want to try a few more herbs, but don't know how much of it I will actually use in my every day cooking.  The front runners are sage, chives and thyme.  I am on the fence about oregano, marjoram, and dill.  Any thoughts, suggestions, am I missing an herb that you can't live without?  Let me know!  I will post pictures after our gardening party!

First Anniversary

Sunday we celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  It was such a great day.  We were able to reflect on all of our wonderful times together, and dream about the possibilities our future holds!   I had a top cake tier recreated.  The trip from Florida to DC, plus a year in the freezer didn't seem feasible for our original top tier. So, I called up the bakery and had them create a special treat for us.

   
Josh and I did a tapas kind of dinner with fruit, cheese, dips, filet mignon and scallops.

Here's a picture of the spread, it was wonderful!

We exchanged gifts.  Sticking to the tradition of paper, I gave Josh tickets to the Zack Brown Band with Dave Matthews coming up this summer at Nationals Stadium.  He gave me a ream of paper for our home office, and the option to choose a few new personal stationary designs.  He also surprised me with beautiful diamond earrings! 

This was us this time last year, celebrating the start our lifetime together.

Toasting again to another wonderful year!