7.17.2012

beat the heat: lavender lemonade

Whether you're planning a party or just need something to cool you off from the heat, lavender lemonade takes a fun spin on a childhood favorite {and your taste buds will be pleased}.


What you need:
One gallon of water
7 sprigs of lavender
2 cups lemon juice
3 cups sugar {about 12 lemons}
1/2 cup lime juice {roughly 5 limes}

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil with a tbsp of lemon zest and sugar. Add lavender sprigs and remove from heat. Add lemon and lime juices. Cool to room temperature, strain and chill. Serve on ice with lavender sprigs, mint, basil or thyme for garnish. Enjoy!

 



7.12.2012

hair dids

Down here in the south, it has been a sauna! I officially stopped straightening my hair two weeks ago, which I don't think has happened since I was in 6th grade! I'm pretty adamant about straightening my fro. But these days, it frizzes up instantly or it gets nasty from sweat and I have to wash it daily. Washing = an hour or so blow drying and straightening. I don't have that kind of time!

Anyway, I'm getting tired of wearing my hair in a bun or braid every day {and my coworkers prob thing I'm some sort of bum}. I'm in desperate need of cute, EASY do's that require little to no straightening action.

Pinterest... here I come! Simple hairstyles for work that look cute but require little work.








Source: youtu.be via Queen on Pinterest



this may be my favorite {perhaps because I've been wearing my hair in a bun or braid for the past two weeks and this is a mix of the two!}

How do you wear your hair on a lazy day?


ps. Mike and I are planning on spending our one-year anniversary on/near the Chesapeake Bay  for a long weekend-- any suggestions of places to go in Virginia on the bay?

7.09.2012

have fun


.

we just got back from a family vacay filled with aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, the whole shebang. and I was reminded of what it was like to be a kid - run around sweaty and barefoot for hours on end, being called in by mom for dinner, not a care in the world. Although things have changed {and responsibilities happen}, there's no reason you can't still have fun every single day. choose to be you. choose to love what you have. choose to have fun!

7.01.2012

weekend happiness

We've had our first weekend in months where we had no obligations, no plans, nothing -- and, boy, did we need it. Our weeks and weekends had gotten so full of obligation after obligation that neither of us could even remember what it felt like to have a night where it was just the two of us. Needless to say, this weekend has been GLORIOUS!

The only down side is that we've had scorching hot weather.. I'm talking 100+, instant sweat bath, nasty hot. We spent the weekend mostly inside beating the heat. We celebrated Mike's last day at work with some yummy beer and a relaxing night. ps. it's new news that Mike got a new job -- it was crazy how it all happened and a super quick process.

We watched a lot of tv {kind of unusual} and saw a great documentary about food {our all-time favorite thing} called Forks over Knives that my friend Mallory told us about months ago. If you eat food {which I hope most of you do}, I def recommend watching it. The documentary is based off of The China Study and is just packed full of good information. I will admit, it helped reinforce our decision to eat a plant-based diet {although there are a few things that I won't ever give up -- uh, cheese and sushi}. Either way, watch it. It's free on Hulu. So, you don't really have an excuse :)!

We also went to the mall and made a spontaneous decision to switch our running shoes to the new barefoot style running shoe.

I'm in love. They've only gotten about two miles under the sole but I can already see a wonderful relationship blooming.

It's weekends like these that I love. Not that I don't enjoy vacations, packed weekends or wonderful guests. It's the weekends filled with the little things like watching movies with neighbors, playing euro cup with my husband and buying new shoes that remind me of how blessed I am and give me that little bit of rebooting time before the week starts.

Happy weekend!