Styled by Jess

Couple Things…

Our Z sure did love the beef burger flavored chips we got her in London (hamburgers are her favorite food).

And what do I see the first time I go to the grocery store after we’re home from London? Steak flavored Ruffles…are meat chips taking over the world?

I got a sweatshirt from the new Feed for Target line. $25 and will provide 20 meals across America – great mission.

Z’s goal this week has been to get her shoes on all by herself…she’s almost there!

We celebrated the Fourth yesterday of course…with pinwheel straws…

…and another selfie of me in my niece’s Patriotic cap and wearing my Fourth of July outfit.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Fourth of July – here is what I’ll be wearing today to celebrate our freedom… all decked out in red, white, and blue! And of course I’ll be eating ice cream from one of these yummy Patriotic cones!

1. Ironically, I will be wearing a blue and white striped dress that I bought at Jaeger while in London. 2. Society 6 has the best prints for iPhone cases, of course you need the American flag for the Fourth! 3. For this Patriotic day, a red belt is perfect for this dress, like this one from Forever21 – only $5! 4. This navy straw Mar y Sol “Sydney” crocheted cross-body bag from Nordstrom is perfect with this outfit. 5. These red sandals from Zara are great – and on sale!

Fourth of July Ice Cream Cones

The Fourth of July is this week?! In my excitement to share recaps of our UK Holiday with you, I almost forgot about the upcoming holiday. Then, I had a few ideas of something to wear and something to make…so I decided to put the second part of my recap on hold until next week and bring you some fun Independence Day ideas…

How will you be spending the Fourth of July this year? I bet with a little backyard BBQ with hamburgers and hot dogs perhaps? Followed by an ice cream cone? You don’t get much more American than that to celebrate our Nation’s Independence!! Well, I thought I’d share this idea I had to make your ice cream cone be a little more patriotic. And don’t worry, I know the Fourth is tomorrow – this DIY is super simple and comes out super cute in red, white, and blue.

You will need: ice cream cones, white chocolate chips, colorful sprinkles in red, white, and blue, and a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or Martha Wrap.

Melt your chocolate chips – white chocolate melts differently than regular chocolate, so I suggest melting it over a double boiler. If your white chocolate gets too hot, it will harden and become unworkable. Don’t fret (and don’t throw it away!) just add more chips and stir, the new chips will simultaneously melt and cool the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted, use a spatula to “paint” a thin layer around the top of the cone.

Sprinkle with your red, white, and blue sprinkles.

To make a flag that you see in the top photo: pour blue sprinkles in a pretty wide stripe. Then pour your red sprinkles as stripes on the rest of the chocolate. Use white star sprinkles with chocolate on the back to stick to the blue sprinkled area.

Allow your cones to dry overnight before you use. These would be especially good with homemade ice cream like this blueberry ice cream – enjoy!

Mixed Fruit Crisp

We had just a few strawberries left from our pick-your-own adventure so I thought it would be nice to mix the remaining strawberries with some other fruit to create a Mixed Fruit Crisp. Let’s be honest, you can make a crisp from just about any fruit out there – peaches, blueberries, apples, blackberries, rhubarb, etc… so why not mix a bunch together? Here’s what I did…

Cut your fruit into bite size pieces, here I have blueberries I tossed in whole and strawberries. And then I added…

Bananas!

Add about a teaspoon or 2 of corn starch to your fruit mixture to make sure the juices thicken when you bake.

Mix your crumble (Ina and Martha both have great recipes for the topping).

Top the fruit with the crumble.

Bake according to your crumble recipe and enjoy while still warm!

London Recap, part I

We’re home from our UK holiday! We had such a great time exploring London and then paying a quick visit to Scotland. Our little Z vacationed at my parents’ house while we were away and we missed her SO! But it was really nice for my husband and I to get away and explore on our own…which meant we could stay out late and then sleep in as late as we wanted – oh the luxury! We did a lot of touristy things like tour the Tower of London and see the Crown Jewels…we toured Westminster Abbey and Churchill War Rooms…we traveled on a Double Decker tour bus to see the sites…we visited the Tate Modern…we took a cruise down the River Thames…we toured Kensington Palace and surrounding gardens…we saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace…

But, we also really tried to just take in the city with eating at local pubs…picnicking in Hyde Park…taking the Underground everywhere we went…drinking Pimms Cocktails…enjoying the buzz of activity in Covent Garden…we even went and saw a movie one night(we saw Gatsby, not much else was playing). Obviously we did fashionable things too like visit Harrods…shop at Harvey Nichols…have tea at Selfridges and pop into every Zara in site to look for these shorts – no such luck, btw.

I thought I’d share some of my favorite photos with you today to recap the London portion of our trip. Later this week I will share photos of the amazing local food we tried and what restaurants we went to, and next week I’ll share our 36-hour jaunt to Scotland! I hope you enjoy…

The pomp and circumstance at the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace was like nothing we’ve seen (above photo, we were sitting on a huge wall overlooking the entire area).

Two things above: 1) The word choice difference b/w the US and UK kept us chuckling all week and 2) Single glass wine to-go: seriously the best idea ever, we found these in an M&S food mart.

We picnicked in the Rose Garden of Hyde Park and then walked around after…I loved that the park was so crowded on this beautiful and sunny London afternoon! I also loved that there were slingback chairs available to sit and relax!

The street performers were everywhere in Covent Garden.

Strawberry Mojitos

I mentioned last week that I’d have a couple strawberry recipes for you this week, so here is your first – a cocktail! I just love mojitos – I think they’re the perfect summer beverage. In fact, we had blueberry mojitos as the signature cocktail at our wedding! I thought I’d share with you today the recipe to make your own strawberry mojito from scratch and since it’s right in the middle of strawberry season I suggest you make these now!

You will need: Club soda, a muddler, white rum, strawberries, fresh mint leaves, lime, white sugar, and ice (not pictured).

First, muddle strawberries (I used 3 since mine were so small) and about 10 mint leaves in a tall glass.

Add 2 Tbs of sugar (more or less depending on your taste) and 1 more strawberry (or 2 of they’re small, like mine were) and continue muddling.

Fill your glass with ice, pour 1 1/2 oz of white rum over the ice and then fill glass with club soda.

Stir well! Garnish with a lime and a couple mint leaves. Enjoy!

What to Wear – As a Tourist

While we’re in being tourists in the fabulous city of London this week I thought I’d share with you my thoughts on what to wear while you’re being a tourist. When you’re traveling to a place like London, you know you’ll be out and about all day visiting museums, parks, famous stores (Harrod’s!!), all the while trying to look great because you’ll be posing for tons of photos, trying to be comfortable because you’ll be walking miles, and trying to be dressed for the weather – which – in a place like London is a giant variable. SO! With all that in mind, here is what I’ll be wearing while being a tourist this week in London. Seeya later mate (trying to fit in a little)!

1. I am addicted to my chambray, similar to this from Madewell so I will absolutely be wearing it a lot on this trip; 2. A cute baseball cap from kate spade Saturday if it’s sunny and you need to protect your face; 3. A necklace because you still want to accessorize while you’re being a tourist! I love this one from Topshop for a pop of color; 4. You should always carry an umbrella in London, it might as well be cute like this one from Anthropologie; 5. A white tank for under my chambray – these BP double scoop neck tanks from Nordstrom are my fave; 6. I love a bright pant – and they look so great with chambray tops, especially in your vacay photos! I love these Toothpick jeans in Fresh Purple from J. Crew; 7. Our good camera – the Nikon D60 for all our photo taking; 8. ;My favorite Silver Sparkle Converse sneakers – the perfect urban sneaker for a gal who loves sparkle and comfort; and 9. A crossbody bag to hold all your stuff and wear comfortably all day. I have one the same shape and size as this kate spade bag and it’s perfect for travel.

Couple Things…

We went to our favorite beach over the weekend and I got my favorite summer drink at their snack bar – an Arnie Palmer with a hint of fresh mint!

I made my husband bacon jam as part of his Father’s Day dinner on Sunday, it was as good as it sounds and we still have some in the fridge for later.

On Monday I had this amazing goat cheese, tomato, and zucchini (hidden under the cheese and tomatoes) flat-bread from the same farm where we went strawberry picking on Father’s Day.

Our little Z was sick all week =( Here she is doing a little reading while we wait for the doc.

And this is Z on our little lunch date beaming with glee because she has her own mini Panera cup/cover/straw to drink from…it’s the little things in life, right?

This is me trying to pack for London! It’s cold, rainy, sometimes warm, could be sunny….yikes!

Have a great weekend…you know where I’ll be! =) Be sure to follow me on twitter to join in our London adventures!

What to Wear – Airplane Travel

So……… we’re going to London! And Glasgow! We leave tomorrow night! We are more than excited, as you can imagine. We have some friends living in Scotland right now so we thought we’d visit them and start with a jaunt in cheery ol London. So of course I had to share a little round-up of what I think is great to wear while you’re traveling on an airplane. I am against wearing your jammies as some people seem to do these days…but I am for wearing something totally comfortable. So here goes…

1. I start with a tank in case the plane is hot like this one from Zara…; 2. And also wear some sort of cardigan or wrap top like this one from J. Crew Factory; 3. I bring a Turkish Towel – they’re great to keep you warm on the plane if it gets chilly, and you can also use it on your trip as a picnic blanket, beach towel, or even a bath towel if you need one; 4. I always seem to wear jeans with a little stretch, like my favorites from Urban Outfitters; 5. I also pack a large carry-on like this one from Tory Burch so I have room for snacks, my kindle, iPhone, headphones, etc…; 6. I bring cute socks like these from Target to wear if you need to take off your bulky shoes (see #8); 7. Water. Airlines give out those tiny bottles nowadays which is not nearly enough. I buy the biggest bottle I can find once I’m at my gate in the airport; and 8. I always wear the bulkiest shoes I am packing for my trip to save room/weight in my suitcase. I’ll be wearing my Isaac Mizrahi Oletta Oxford Shoes.