Happening Lately.

Happening Lately.

After a month of almost non-stop travel, we are finally back home! My little family has experienced a lot of adventures since the end of April, and we have had SO MUCH FUN, but we are seriously ready to get back to normal. Babies thrive on routines. Heck, I thrive on a routine. It's back to grocery lists and scheduled naps and, oh yeah, this thing happened while we were gone - SUMMER!!!

I am still in the process of compiling all the photos from our trips to St. Simons Island and Rome (I found a few more Madrid photos and added them to the previous post, in case you're interested in seeing a few more) and I will have those up for you over the next week or so. One trip that I have almost zero photos from is the one from this past week - I was in Florida with my husband's family, where we basically go back in time and pretend that technology doesn't exist. Which was fitting because, this year, none of our technology worked anyway! The service on the beach that we love seemed to be worse than ever, so it wasn't hard to forget about owning a phone or computer. We just relaxed by the ocean and watched our babies eat sand while we ate grapes and sandwiches. I actually read a book. Well, part of a book. Okay, I read two chapters of a book and it was spectacular. I forgot how desperately much I love to read. It's been a long year of very little reading, but now that my baby is getting older, I feel like some of those pastimes will make a comeback in my world. Fingers crossed. Anyway, all that to say that I actually have very few pictures of the family beach trip (except for the few snippets above), because I needed to take a break and check out from my usual over-photographing, and that is quite alright. I got the memories!

I hope you all have some wonderful summer plans on the horizon. Since we stacked all our summer travel at the beginning of the season, come July and August I will probably be itching for another trip! But that's okay. I will just live vicariously through all of your vacation photos :) In the mean time, I hope you have a marvelous Monday and soak in some of this warmth!

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.
It's mid-September. And yet summer lives on in the great state of Georgia. In case I haven't already mentioned it, Georgia is HOT in the summer. It's the kind of sweaty heat that thickens to a choke in your throat as you breathe, lending a sort of rainforest-y halo to the seemingly never-ending season. A constant beading of perspiration gathers on my forehead, coupled with a continuous longing for popscicles and ice cream and margaritas. Just to quench the weather. Now, I'm certainly not complaining, since I experienced a sinful amount of cold this past winter in Manhattan. However, This summer I was nine months pregnant in this sickly scorching heat, and I needed an outlet. In the form of a goooooood treat.

One of my favorite summer outings since relocating to Georgia once again has been taking little trips up to the truly delightful Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, located in the White Provisions district of Atlanta. My bff Tricia introduced me to this lovely chain and I've been understandably obsessed ever since. Jeni's has all kinds of insanely delicious & super unique flavors, my favorites being the Brambleberry Crisp and Brown Butter Almond Brittle. In a waffle cone, of course. But Jeni's also offers a ton of yogurt and sorbet options, and you can buy by the pint to take home! Bless her. Jeni knows what a woman wants.

// The West Side. It's rising up. //

// That's one ridiculously happy preggo girl :) //

// Why is my BFF so cute?? //

// Oh, that's ice cream love. //

With summer lazily winding down, the ice cream cravings will soon turn to pumpkin pie and hot chocolate. Go get your Jeni's fix while you can still sit outside and feel the refreshment!

Just for fun.

// Via 1, Via 2, Via 3, Via 4 //

A Great Day for FUN STUFF.
Good morning! How are you? The birds are waking me up these days... that's been a refreshing wake-up call. I've spent the past week interspersing my unpacking (in air conditioning - what a concept!) with some lazy lounging around the house with my family. I can't tell you how wonderful it's been. These people just soothe my soul, and they're helping me relax... not be so tense about all the transitioning. I'm grateful to have these days where I can just focus on staying fit ("fit" is a fluid concept these days, since I can hardly roll over or bend over without help from others), eating healthy (they force broccoli down my throat) and focus on the baby (whose room us currently a dumping ground for all our storage bins). But what I can't wrap my head around is the fact that he will be making his debut in 8-ish weeks - ah! So much that still needs to be done! Like all my reeeeeeeeading (more on my bevy of baby books later.)

In the mean time, I've been finding some fun stuff around the web this week and I thought I'd share with you.

This Week's Swoons:
- Shop this Anthropologie video, set in Savannah, GA! How sweet is that?

- Get your fresh June Desktop Calendar from designlovefest. I know, I know, it's about a third of the way through the month, but so what? Your desktop could always use some pretty-fying. I chose the strawberries. And now I want to go berry picking :)

- Loving these little baby boy suspenders with bow tie. I die.

- Kourtney Kardashian is preggo again! None of you care? No?? K fine.

- OMG this Kate Spade diaper bag went on sale this week and I'M DROOLING.

- I've been saying this for a while, and I'll say it again: the fanny pack is making a comeback.

- The prettiest temporary tattoos. A fun way to dress up your summer - and not commit :)

- Mama needs a cocktail. But I shall settle for these infused lemonades - yummy!

Happy Wednesday to you, friends!

Spencers at Sea

Beach Time.
I am a smidge obsessed with my family. I'm just going to start by saying that.

We went on vacation this past week to the beach. Stevie and I haven't been to the beach with my entire family in years, and it really hit me when we were all together again. Wow, I have missed this. It's hard to put the beats of my heart into words, but these pictures really capture the essence of this much-needed trip. Babies. Cousins. Corona. Bocce Ball. Seafood. Sand in absolutely everything. Big hats. Small itinerary. Coffee clutch. And a million new miracles to celebrate. Oh, we found the time to celebrate.

I can't find enough words to encompass how much my hurried little heart needed this pause. The sea has a way of getting underneath my skin and smoothing out the folds of my unnecessarily-panting mind. Clarity always surfaces. God always speaks. And my family always, always makes me laugh big. Being at the beach with these astounding individuals is like taking a deep breath, holding it in and treasuring the moment, and then exhaling like a new woman. I am so thankful for them. The tan is a just an added bonus.

// Victory lap. For laying out all day. //

// Are your teeth rotting yet? That's how sweet these folks are. //

// Sisterhood looks like. We just need some traveling pants. //

// Mom and Cousin Amber (who might as well be a sis) // Sun setting like a champ //

// I know. Dorky. All-American. Linen. I don't even care. //

// Kites really don't get enough credit for being whimsically awesome. //

// These people again. I can't get enough. //

// Cousins. Their babes. Gobble gobble gobble. And again I want more. //

// Dad volleyballing like a champ. //

// The family models. // Rachel Lynn and her main squeeze Charlie. //

// Snorkeling (obviously) // Posing (what's new?) //

// Sunset and family love, with a side of Bocce //

// Morning running club (Los cuatro corredores!) // My mother looking like a French bike lady (we've seen too many Hepburn movies) // Views and Seafood //

This is a mere snapshot. My hurried heart finally took a breather and for that I am so glad. With the upcoming transition of this week, I feel like my head is on straight and my eyes are restfully focused forward. I hope you get the chance to vacation with your favorite people this summer. Take the moments you get with them and cherish it. Because somehow we are all growing up SO stinkin' fast.

Love love love.

TASTE: Fresh Veggie Homemade Salsa

I woke up this morning to inches of fresh white snow.

I couldn't help but cry out in shock. Yes, it's been on the forecast for days, but I've been willing it away! More snow? MORE??? I mean, we still have icy patches of dirty snow from Nemo. There are thousands of cigarettes burned into each of these disgusting snowy depositories. Selfishly, I wanted to run errands today. I wanted to RUN today. This weather, while it looks positively lovely outside my window, is really cramping my style. I can't drive in the snow! I can't do anything in this weather. I want to see little pink buds on the trees, I want the sun to warm my soul and tan my sallow face. I want to wear sandals on my pedicured feet and sing pop songs at the top of my lungs whilst skipping down the cobble-stoned streets. But it is 30 degrees and STILL snowing. Hmm have I complained enough? I am doing everything I can to beckon Spring: I'm thinking happy thoughts, dressing in neon colors, and making summery foods. Like this homemade salsa (best if served with margaritas).

Take a moment to gather all these Fresh Ingredients:
- Tomatoes (3-4)
- 1 Onion
- 1 Lime
- 1 Hot Pepper
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro
- Salt and Pepper (to taste)
- Some Garlic (if you really want to add a kick - this is optional!)

The Method: (is pretty simple)
- Quarter the onion and tomatoes and throw them in the food processor. Blend just a bit.
- Then add the cilantro and 1/4 of the pepper (depending on how spicy you like it!), and blend those as well.
- Lastly, cut up the lime and squeeze all the juice into the mixture.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Voila!

Yum.
I put my salsa in re-seal-able jars so we can eat it at our leisure. There is no need to ever buy store-packaged salsa again! Now if you really want to get crazy... here is a lunch I've been making with the salsa lately. It has tons of veggies so it feels fresh and healthy. I love feeling like I'm getting lots of veggies in early in the day :-)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 Avocado, sliced
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 3-4 Baby Bella Mushrooms, chopped
- Some shredded Mozzarella
- A handful of Baby Spinach
- 1 Tortilla
- The yummy salsa you just made!

Method: Combine all and enjoy! It's even more fun if you have a pretty plate to munch upon. See, you're ready for Spring already.

Happy healthy lunch day!