Remember

Today I am taking time to remember all those affected by 9/11. I can't believe 10 years has passed since this tragic event occurred. I remember I was in college at UNC-Chapel Hill, getting ready for class watching Good Morning America when they interrupted with the first plane crash, then while reporting that plane crash, the second plane crashed. I was shocked and terrified. I remember calling my mom who had no idea it had happened and just being scared, wishing I was near my family. My heart broke and went out to all those who had to die that fateful day.

This week I was reading People and it had an article on the kids of 9/11 who were born after their dads died the crash. They are all 10 years old now and never even got to meet their dads. Tears streamed down my face as I read that because now that I am a Mother those stories hit me even harder. My heart ached for the wives who lost their husbands and had to deliver those babies alone and for the children who would never met their brave fathers. But these kids persevered and have so much strength and faith and that makes me so proud.

Today I want to remember those who died, the firefighters and NYPD that helped and anyone else affected by this tragedy. I am not going to lie I am still scared another attack might happen but I think our nation came together and is much stronger because of this. Hopefully we will never have an attack of that magnitude again. We stand united and proud to be Americans.

Get It Girl

Gwyneth strikes again. How gorgeous does she look while promoting her film Contagion? I have no desire at all to see Contagion- I mean seriously I am too much of a hypochondriac to see movies like that, even the trailer scares the crap out of me. But had to share these pics of my favorite gal. Happy Friday! I only have one day of vacay left and then its back to reality:(

Thursday Eye Candy: Celerie Style

Lately I have been smitten with Miss Celerie Kimble's Designs.

I received her book "To Your Taste" last year for Christmas and I have been flippig through it all weekend for inspiration.

Her work is gorgeous. A mix of traditional, modern, and electic. I absolutely love it.

I love elements of all these pictures. Her taste is right on point!

Roasted Eggplant Dip

I feel I have been eating pretty unhealthy lately, so I wanted an appetizer that was tasty and healthy and this fit the bill. This recipe is compliments of my girl Ina's very first cookbook and actually probably one of my favorite cookbooks she has done. This recipe is super healthy and so easy to make. It even tastes great the next day if you want to make it ahead. I served this as an app for a dinner party with hummus, kalamata olives, and pita chips- the perfect Mediterranean platter!




Roasted Eggplant Dip

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant
2 red bell peppers, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking.

Cool slightly.

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the tomato paste, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend. Taste for salt and pepper.

Obsessions-Beach Style

So far we are having the best time on vacay. Although my liver and belly are taking a hard hit with all the delish food and drinks. I thought I would share a few things I am loving this week.

PANTENE BEAUTIFUL LENGTHS RESTORE SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER
I bought this because it was in bottles that were easy to transport and lets face it my hair is in bad shape from the sun, color, and heat tools I use. This shampoo and conditioner is supposed to help with breakage of long hair. I also ended up getting the deep conditioner which is amaze. The products smell great and really left my hair smooth and shiny even at the humid beach. I think for the price Pantene makes a really great line of hair products.

NEUTROGINA PINK GRAPEFRUIT FOAMING FACE WASH
Again I choose this because it was in a bottle that was easy to pack and it won the Allure award for best face wash. I love this face wash. It has small beads in it to exfoliate and it smells amazing. It foams up really well and gets all your make-up off. My sister loved it too. This might become my new favorite face wash.

FRENZY SAUVIGNON BLANC
My mom first tried this wine out in Las Vegas and loved it. She found it here at Total Wine and we all loved it. It is super light and the perfect glass of wine after a long day in the sun! It retails for around $10

CABO WABO ANEJO TEQUILA
I am sipping this as I type this post. It is such a smooth tequila. Matt and I both think it has a slight mint flavor at the end which we really like. It is kind of expensive about $60 a bottle but trust me it is worth it. Good tequila is made to sipped and enjoyed:)

THE VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY
The view is just gorgeous. Holden Beach is such a beautiful beach and our house is awesome. I love having cocktails with my family every night enjoying this amazing view! I am going to be sad when this week is over!

The whole family on our balcony

Me and Sterling

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend!

It's Vacay Time!

I am so excited because tomorrow morning we are leaving for our week long family vacay. Every year my parents rent a house for a week and we all go and have so much fun. I miss living in the same city as my brother and sister so I always love seeing them! We lay out, swim, and drink and eat way too much. I am hoping to sneak in a date night with Matt since we will have so many babysitters around:) We are headed to Holden Beach this year if anyone has restaurant suggestions!

I am almost done with Sarah's Key and I picked up Heaven is For Real to read while I am sunbathing. I watched an interview this week with the family on Dateline and it seems like such an amazing and inspiring story.

I am super excited to wear my new Tolani Cover-up. It is very similar to this one Jessica Alba is wearing.

While we are at the beach we usually go out for one big family dinner and then each couple gets assigned a night to cook dinner. Let me tell you its gets kind of competitive. This year Matt and I are thinking about doing fish tacos, half fried and half grilled. We have cooked grilled fish tacos alot but never fried ones, so send any suggestions or recipes my way!

Another Beach Trip tradition is my hubby always makes Pirate Punch. A crazy concoction of rum, champagne, lime juice and a few other things. Let me tell you they are pretty dangerous because you can't taste the liquor! This is us enjoying them last year.

We also always try to get a family picture. This is me and my boys last year. Crazy how much Sterling has grown!

I am looking forward to a fabulous and relaxing week! Have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend!

I Don't Mean to Brag But.....

How adorable are these pictures of my little man?? I try not to bore you all too much with pictures of my gorgeous babe but I had to share these. Over Mother's Day my parents surprised me and had my wedding photographer (George Lainis with CatchLight Studios) come and take some pictures of Sterling. I have not had any professional pictures done since he was 2 weeks old, so I was super excited to have these done. My little man is quite the camera flirt.