Safe Haven

I was lucky enough to be invited to spend a couple days with a sweet family in Stone Harbor, New Jersey this summer.  I had never been there before and now I can say it has to be one of my favorite spots.  Very family oriented, quaint little town with fun shops, good eats, and pure relaxation mode.  

We rented beach cruisers for a day or two and biked around town and I was in heaven.  I've been saying I have wanted a beach cruiser for a while now at my parents' place at the beach, but it's pretty crowded there, and I always get nervous biking with the traffic.  And of course, I would prefer my bike to have a nice wooden Nantucket basket for Baxter to ride with me ;)  So, I was delighted to ride bikes as much as possible and was super bummed to return them the last day.

We biked up to the beach, around town, to lunch, and to the beachside bars to meet friends after soaking up rays on the beach.

It was so nice to also get to visit Avalon right down the street and have a wonderful dinner at the Sea Grill.  I had the most delicious salmon topped with bruschetta!  Mmmmm!  After dinner, we headed to The Whitebrier for a drink and then to Princeton Bar & Grill to meet friends for a another cocktail and good company.

I loved biking around in the morning admiring the beautiful homes and gorgeous landscaping.  This is Steve Biscotti's home in Stone Harbor.  I don't know if I would have ever thought to have that color wood siding on my own, but I am absolutely in love with it now!

We had another wonderful dinner at the cutest little Italian place across the street.  Everything tasted as if we had actually been in Italy (not that I've been there, but what I would imagine!). 

Our mornings were spent with coffee on the deck with a beautiful view of the bay.

And the sunsets in the evening were even more breathtakingly beautiful.

I could not have asked for a better vacation with perfect weather, great company, and lots of laughs!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as I am here!

Looking for Lauren?

WOW, times flies in the summer!  

Recently, my laptop has been getting worked on and, being a little tech-challenged, I could not figure out how to blog from my phone.  However, I'm not sure I would have had much time to blog as we have been super busy around here!

But my laptop is back and life (I think) will be a little bit more calm in the next couple weeks.

In June, my cousin, Katie got married.  My sister and I did not mean to dress alike, but it made for a couple fun pics!

 Just look at the beautiful bride, her handsome hubby, and gorgeous boutique!

 This centerpiece at the cocktail hour was by far my favorite arrangement I had ever seen!  The picture does not even do it justice, it was amazing!

Lindsey and I loved it so much, we wanted to get a picture by it!

 And here was one of the many beautiful arrangements on the tables. Breathtakingly beautiful!

 It's been HOT-HOT-HOT around here, topping at 106 degrees!

Bax has been enjoying many Frosty Paws on the deck this summer.

And I have been keeping cool at the pool with these cuties!  They are getting some personalities now and I can't believe it's possible, but I love them more and more each time I see them!

We have attended a couple fundraisers at Hillendale Country Club and on the water at Nick's Fish House.

 Bax and I were able to spend time with a couple great Dad's on Father's Day this year!  My dad got his new bike a little early for his birthday, and we decided to try it out on his day!

 I think Mom and Bax were jealous of his new bike...

I joined a local country club and have been able to take full advantage of some adult beverages while soaking up the sun and relaxing poolside!

 In between all the fun, I have also been working hard.  I recently been traveling a couple times to Philly for work...

 but always come home to fun times!

 We headed to Ocean City, Maryland for a "couples" weekend away...

and cooked up a little Shrimp Boil for dinner….

 Enjoyed some "Beergaritas" at Dead Freddies at the beach...

 with great friends….

 And of course, what beach trip would be complete without a visit to Seacrets?!

 …and some 4th of July cocktails at Macky's?!

 I did head home for a quick day of work, but turned right around and headed to Stone Harbor, New Jersey to celebrate the Forth of July with amazing fireworks on the beach!

 We are finally home and ready to relax and catch up with you all!

Hope you all had as wonderful of a Forth of July as we did (and hopefully not as HOT!)!

Tuesday Treats: Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Cake

After a couple weeks of chocolatey recipes I needed a break (I know, I never would have thought I would say that!)  Loving the summer weather, I wanted to bake something a little more refreshing and found just the cake on Pintrest!  

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 Tbsp lemon juice, divided

Zest of one lemon

2 1/2 cup flour, divided

(I used 2 1/4 only)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

8 ounces plain, Greek yogurt

(I used 7 oz Fage plain Greek yogurt)

12 ounces of strawberries, diced

(I probably used more than that)

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease bundt pan with baking spray and set aside.

2.  In medium bowl, whisk together 2 1/4 cup flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix in lemon zest and set aside. 

 3.  In mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add each egg, one at a time and beat well.  

4.  Stir in one tablespoon lemon juice. 

5.  Alternate mixing in flour mixture with yogurt, mixing until just blended.

6.  (Combine strawberries with remaining 1/4 cup flour- I skipped this part).

7.  Gently mix berries into batter.

8.  Pour batter into prepared Bundt cake pan. 

 9.  bake for about 60 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.

10.  Allow to cool in pan for 20 minutes.

 11.  Turn out cake and let cool completely.  

 12.  Once cool, combine remaining lemon juice (I actually used just from an entire lemon) and powdered sugar (I put a couple more spoonfuls of powdered sugar in bowl also). 

13.  Drizzle over top of cake.

ENJOY!!!

Tuesday Treats: Gooey S'mores Cookies

Ingredients

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup Jet Puffed Mallow Bits, yup, Mallow Bits, have you seen them...

I had not seen these until finding this recipe on Pintrest.  I found them at Target in the baking aisle. They are so cute and I think I will be finding a lot more to make with these! 

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease.

2.  Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugars, until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat together.

3.  In separate bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder and salt.  

4.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, and mix together. 

5.  Add chocolate chips and marshmallows and stir to combine. 

6.  Place scoops of dough on prepared sheet. 

7.  Bake cookies for about 10 minutes.  

ENJOY!  

(Sorry for the picture quality, it's what I got with the iphone!)

Baby VOL

One of my best friends had her baby shower over the weekend.  She is one of the strong ones who is not finding out what gender the baby is…I don't know if I could do that, as I would want to monogram everything I owned for the child!  

I like to find something unique for my friends for their babies and I found just the thing for this friend.  Leslie has been one of my best friends since 6th grade, as then we attended college together and roomed together, were in each other's weddings, and she has been a rock during hard times. 

Since I needed to find something gender neutral, I thought, no matter if the baby is a boy or girl, they will have to be ALL VOL!!!  I found this cute little onesie, pacifiers, and a little hat for Baby B!  I cannot wait to teach this precious one all about SEC football!  

GO VOLS!

TGIF: Enjoying Summertime

We have been loving this weather around here!  Yup, even the hot sticky humidity!  

Baxter has been loving his trips up to Oregon Ridge to throw the ball around and jump in the water.  

Last weekend we headed up to New Market, Maryland to visit our friends new house.  Look at this view!  It was the perfect relaxing day on the beach/lake with good friends and a cookout with some delicious adult beverages! 

Even the pups played well together, yet were ready to come in after a long day in the sun.

Unfortunately, Bax wasn't feeling well and we had to take a trip to the Pet ER the other night.  After some antibiotics and feeding him baby food and water through a syringe, my baby boys is back on the mends!  We bagged the beach, as we didn't want to risk him being too far from the vet, but we made the most of our weekend home, and had a great time!

After a nice dinner and flight of wine with a friend on Friday night, we headed to the boat on Saturday. Look at this pontoon boat we saw!  I couldn't help but take a picture!  That evening I hung out at a friends house on the deck enjoying the beautiful summer weather with great company.  

Sunday I headed to the pool….this little one was my cabana boy!  How cute is he?!

He was such a good boy and stayed at the pool for quite some time!  His mom is a rockstar…you should have seen all the stuff she carried to and from the pool!  She wouldn't let me help her, either!  Her arms are going to be buff in no time!

That night, I headed home to get ready for the next day.  Friends were coming over for crabs! 

What's better in the summer than crabs, beer, fresh veggies, and corn on the cob?

Some juicy watermelon?!  YES!  

And Mom's Summer Pasta Salad!

Ingredients

1 box bowtie pasta

Italian Dressing (I always use fat free)

Shredded Parmesan cheese

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

Directions

1.  Cook and drain pasta.  Run under cool water and drain.  

2.  Combine pasta, italian dressing, shredded cheese, and chopped peppers in large bowl. 

3.  Refrigerate over night.

4.  The next day, toss pasta again when ready to serve and add a little bit more italian dressing. 

ENJOY!