Mediterranean White Bean Salad

I'm switching things up and doing a recipe today because I'm visiting my parents and of course their Internet is not working and of course no one knows how to fix it.  So you get a recipe today and obsessions tomorrow:)  I leave for my family beach vacay in less than two weeks,  so this Mama is on a strict salad diet trying to drop a few lbs before I have to rock a bikini in public.   I eat salads because one thing I'm not giving up is my vino.  Small sacrifices, right?  This Salad is light, fresh, and delicious!  It has so many great flavors.  It would be the perfect side dish to serve with some grilled fish or chicken.  I ate it for lunch several days in a row.  It saves really well and is oh so tasty.  Bon appetit!

MEDITERREAN BEAN SALAD

{Adapted from Proud Italian Cook}

-Cherry Tomatoes halved

-Sliced Fennel

-Red pepper sliced

-Kalamata Olives

-Red Onion

-Crumbled Feta Cheese

-Drained Canned Cannellini Beans

- Parsley

- Basil

 Toss all together and then mix with lemon juice and olive oil, also delicious at room temperature.

Scenes From Our Weekend

Here is what went down. My weekend got off to great a start when I received this book in the mail from my sweet friend Giordana.   This book is a real gem filled with great fashions.

Saturday we started off celebrating the hubs birthday with some tasty peach cocktails.

Then we went on a boat ride and ran into this crazy storm.  I mean look at those clouds.   Luckily we were close to the Yacht Club where we waited the storm out with some tasty beverages.

Several of you asked for pics of me wearing my new necklace, so here it is!  Fringe Boutique is currently sold out but you can order one here.

Sunday Morning my little man and I hit up an Estate Sale down the street and scored these awesome goodies.  Vintage Martini Shaker (you know I love a good martini), great coffee table book, and blown glass whale for Sterling's room.  All for under $20.  Gotta love an estate sale!

Figured out the key to a successful car ride:  Fruit Loops.  This kept Sterling entertained for awhile and honestly I forgot how good that cereal is!

Cooked up a tasty veggie bowl.

Sterling had a playdate with his best bud Henry.  Thanks to Yo Gabba Gabba he always wants to make a funny face.  I mean he did this for every picture.  Sigh.

Happy Monday Dolls. 

xoxo

Thoughts For Friday

First and foremost happy birthday to my sweet hubby today!  I love you and hope you have a spectacular day , which I know you will because Sterling and I will be helping you celebrate! 

On Wednesday this week,  I checked our mail and the most wonderful surprise was waiting for me.  The girls at Fringe Boutique mailed me this necklace because they knew I had been wanting it!  How sweet, right?  I freaking love it!  She will be worn this weekend for sure!

My MayBooks also came in the mail and I can't say enough great things about them.  I ordered the Ikat one as a monthly planner and the hot pink/red one I ordered with lined paper to use for my to-do list.  I am a freak and make a to-do list every. single. day.  Helps me stay productive or at least feel like I am being productive.

Can we talk about how dumb Krsiten Stewart is?  I mean who the hell cheats on Rob Pattinson?   I never got them in the first place.  I am just not a huge fan of hers.  I feel like she never smiles and her hair always looks dirty and unkept.  Rob was way to hot to be dating her.  I do at least appreciate her owning up to the fling.  Most celebrities try to deny it but at least she was honest.  Carry on Rob, you will have no shortage of women fawning over you.

I am not sure how I feel about this Justin Beiber Magazine Cover.  The title "Hot Ready Legal"  just seems really suggestive and kind of commical.  I guess he must have just turned 18.  I mean he still looks like a baby to me.

I tried on this Joie Blouse recently and now I am obsessed with it.  I want it in every color.  It is the perfect blouse for fall.  It fits great and looks so good with skinny jeans. It comes in a bunch of colors but these three are my favorites.

{Joie Marlo Blouse}

In order to beat the heat we have done alot of pool dates.  This picture just makes me laugh.  My man loves him some goggles.

Happy Friday.  Stay Cool Ladies.

House Happenings.

I have a few new things going on in our house.  First I finally found a kids Louis Ghost chair for Sterling and I adore it.

How adorable is it with his little desk?  He loves to sit here and color.

Awhile back I won these Foo Dogs on Cassie's blog and they just came in the mail recently.  How awesome are they?  Currently they are in my dining room, but I am contemplating moving them.

I finally finished painting the rocking chairs on our porch.  A simple project that took me way longer than it should have.   They were black before if you don't remember.  Next up I want to paint the floor and recover the cushions.  Maybe that will happen sometime this year, I am so slow with house projects.  I feel like I never have time!

Next on my growing list of projects is recovering these wingback chairs.  Now that we have a new rug in our den the wingback chairs just don't match.  Plus I am so not a plaid person anyways.  These used to be my parents that they passed down to me, hence the fabric that doesn't match.

Here is the question.  Would you go with a pattern or a solid color?  My rug is pretty busy, so would a pattern be too much?  My rug if you need reference:

I dig this patterned fabric on these chairs.  but wonder if it would clash.

My other option is to go super neutral.  I am thinking a solid taupe or gray color and maybe even add some nailheads.  I am leaning towards this because then I could always spice things up with fun pillows.

Any other great ideas?  I have the hardest time making decisions like these.  Help a sister out.  Also if any locals know good places to find discount fabrics share your sources! 

Grilled Eggplant Stacks

On Monday nights Matt usually has softball games that he plays in thru his law firm.  Now don't get me wrong,  I miss him on those nights, but those are the nights I get the freedom to cook what I actually want (and watch all the trashy reality TV I want to as well).  Matt thinks that a meal is not complete with meat and there is nothing I love more than a vegetarian meal.  So, on the nights that he plays ball I always cook completely vegetarian meals.  Meat really grosses me out alot of the time.

I have had this recipe saved forever.  I pinned it and it was dubbed "The Recipe that got 100,000 pins"  Should be good right?  If that many people are repinning it.   Saturday I finally picked up some fresh eggplants and was ready to get down to business and cook.  This recipe was full of so much flavor.  It was light, healthy, and delicious.  I highly recommend.  I think it would be great to serve at a dinner pary because look how beautiful the stacks are!   I even had two stacks left that Matt ate when he got home and he commented that they were way better than he thought they would be.  A gold star review for a vegetarian meal from the hubs,  Trust me you should make these tasty stacks soon.

GRILLED EGGPLANT STACKS

{4 Servings}

1 large eggplant

3 large tomatoes, to match the diameter of the eggplant

0.4 lbs Bulgarian feta, crumbled

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

juice of half lemon

2 garlic cloves

½ extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut of the eggplant crosswise into ½” thick rounds. Lightly season them with salt and leave them for 30 minutes on a side to let water to come out of the eggplant.

Once ready drizzle some olive oil on top of each slice and grill them on a lightly oiled grill rack for 2 -3 minutes each side.

Blend the basil leaves with 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon salt in an immersion blender until smooth.

Cut the tomatoes crosswise to 1/4” thick rounds.

Lightly oil the baking pan. Arrange 4 eggplant rounds side by side. Spread 1/2 tablespoon of the basil-garlic mixture on top of each one, then generously sprinkle feta crumbs. Top each with tomato rings. Add another layer of eggplant, basil spread, feta and tomato rounds and top with the rest of the crumbled feta.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Drizzle some olive oil on top of each stack and bake for 15-20 minutes.

ORIGINAL RECIPE VIA

Obsessions

RACHEL PALLY KAI MAXI DRESS

I am in love with this new Rachel Pally maxi dress.  The color is pure perfection.  You could easily wear this thru Fall.  I own several Rachel Pally pieces and they are so soft and comfortable. 

CHANEL TRAY

I am pretty sure I need one of these in my house.

BB DAKOTA MAYA LARIAT CARDIGAN

I know it is hot as heck outside but that is precisely why I am dreaming of fall.  I like to start buying fall things now because the good stuff always sells out fast,  as I am sure this cardigan will.  For the price it is a steal.  It would look so good with skinny jeans, a white tee, and knee high boots.  It even looks cute on the model over a summer dress.

BRASS HEADBOARD

Love this headboard!  Really love the look of the whole room.



SPARKED AGATE BIB NECKLACE

I am supposed to be on a necklace buying hiatus but this necklace keeps haunting me.  I have seen it in person and it is even more gorgeous than the pictures show.  Such a great statement necklace for only $58.  Comes in mint or coral, but how do I even decide between both great colors!  Leaning towards the mint though.....

Scenes From Our Weekend

I just realized this is the last week of July! Where has the first half of this year gone?  I feel like the Holidays are going to be upon us before we know it! I started off Friday with a pool date with my favorite ladies and their kids.   Apparently I need to get Sterling a puddle jumper, he was the only kiddo sans a float!

I will say it again but I am obsessed with my Rag and Bone White Skinny Jeans.  They are the perfect white jean and I have tried on many.  This was my outfit from Friday:

{F21 Blouse (old) , Rag and Bone Jeans, JCrew Necklace via Ebay, Tory Burch Emmy Flats}

Friday night we enjoyed some time near the water.  It was so nice and refreshing.  Always the perfect end to a busy week.

Check out my glass of wine that I ordered Friday at our Yacht Club.  Now that's what I call a healthy pour wine!

I have a new addiction and it is a smoothie every morning.  I usually do bananas and strawberries but I switched it up Saturday with fresh cherries and it was amazing.  I blend:  Approx 1/2 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt, 2 Bananas, 1/2 cup pitted and diced cherries and ice.  This makes enough for 3 smoothies for me, Matt and Sterling. 

Sunday we cooked a down home kind of meal: BBQ Chicken, Butter beans, Okra, and Skillet Corn.

We don't cook chicken often because I am super weird about chicken and the way it is cooked, but I was craving BBQ chicken last night.  I had no idea what kind of BBQ sauce to buy.  I browsed and browsed and 90 percent of all the store brand BBQ sauce's first ingredient was Corn Starch- umm I don't think so, not eating that processed shiz.  After reading labels for 20 mins (I am not kidding) I randomly picked this bottle.  The ingredients were fairly fresh plus I liked the guy on the label.  Well it turned out to be awesome!! Such great flavor we will most def use this sauce again!

I stayed up way too late last night watching the Bachelorette season finale and After The Final Rose.  Reality Steve was right on about her choosing Jef.  I did feel bad for Arie he seemed truly shocked.   I thought it was nice she let him go early,  unlike Ashley last season who let Ben get down on one knee and propose when she knew she wanted JP- so rude and humiliating.  Jef really grew on me this season and his hair finally got a little better towards the end.  He seems like a very respectable guy hard to believe he is only 25.  I hope they last but I am not counting on it.  Lastly, I have to admit I did not like Emily's final dress at all- did y'all?

Neiman Marcus just started their Last Call Sale.  All sale items you get an additional 25% off.   That means almost 70% off regular prices!  There are some seriously good deals online so check it out!


Get to shopping and Happy Monday!