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.

White Pizza Dip

On Saturday night I had my sister and her hubby and another couple over for dinner and we served this pizza dip as the appetizer. It was even better than I expected. It said to serve with bread but we decided to serve ours with bread and Fritos. Everyone definitely preferred it with the Fritos. I think the bread was too heavy for the dip. I think it would also be good with Tositos. This dip is off the charts amazing. I am a pizza freak, love it in any way or form, so I was scarfing this dip down. The mix of cheeses and pepperoni blend together perfectly and it really does taste like pizza. I highly recommend you make this for your next party!

Here is our dip with a huge hole compliments of my inpatient and eager husband. By the end of the night he had pretty much demolished half the dip by himself!




White Pizza Dip

1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup (8 oz.) ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup (1 oz.) chopped pepperoni
1 loaf Italian or French bread, sliced

Preheat oven to 350°. In shallow 1-quart casserole, combine Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix, sour cream, ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with bread.

**We used the mini pepperonis and found this was much easier since you don't have to chop them.**


Print Recipe HERE

Obsessions

BEACH DECOR
Since we live at the beach I tend not to like my house to be too beachy. But lately I have been drawn to some small natural beachy accents. I am really smitten with the mirror and fish chandelier.

CUPCAKE PROCESSCO
If you love the Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay you have to try their Processco. My good friend Erin just told me about it and I immediately went to the store and bought some. It was $11.99 a bottle and delightful. The perfect amount of bubbles and not too sweet.

NATURE'S VALLEY GRAHAM SQUARES
After Jill blogged about these I knew I had to try them. They are so tasty and at only 90 calories the perfect snack. Best part is my little man loves them too. I can't decide which flavor I like better, the dark chocolate and peanut butter are equally fabulous!

SNAKESKIN LAMP
How insane is this lamp? I absolutely love it and want it for my den! I also think it could be super fierce in a nursery.

Matthew Studios

DVF WOOL MINI DRESS
I know I already listed my top 5 fall fashions but I think I need to add this dress to my list. It seems simple, but to me that is the perfection of it. You could dress it up with a great necklace and heels or wear flats for a daytime look. I love the rich purple color. Jewel tones are my favorite color palette for this fall.

VMA Fashions, In my Humble Opinion

For the most part I feel like I am way too old to be watching the VMA'S. I remember a time when I looked forward to them so much, now I pretty much just tune in to see the fashions. My favorite part was Beyonce's adorable announcement that she was pregnant! They are going to have one gorgeous talented baby! Here are a few of my best and worst dressed picks.

BEST DRESSED
Beyonce

Probably my favorite look of the night. She looks amazing in orange and I love the one-shoulder dress.

Zoe Saldana

I read somewhere that Rachel Zoe dresses her which explains why she always looks amazing. This dress fit her perfect and I thought it was a fun look for the awards.

Katie Holmes

Love the dress not too sure how I feel about the shoes. Katie has been looking great lately though, but on the super skinny side.

WORST DRESSED
Miley Cyrus

This looks like something an 80 year old would wear. Not digging the dress and jewelry together. The dress is just way too busy.

Selena Gomez

I just don't get this outfit. I think Selena is so cute and this look just dates her. It reminds me of something a vampire would wear.

Katy Perry

I have no words for this outfit just bad.

HONORABLE MENTION
Britney Spears

I am not a huge fan of this look but I don't exactly hate it either. I think the shoes are the worst part, the shorts may may been cute with high heeled pumps. I miss the days when Britney was at her peak. I think she needs a stylist!

Happy Monday! Who did you love last night?

Random Thoughts

I am so glad it looks like Irene is going to miss hitting Charleston, although I am sure we are in for some serious rain. I am usually stumped for activities when it rains besides cooking/eating or watching marathons of the Real Housewives which makes my husband very angry. He does not share the same love for reality TV as me!

My sister is coming in town this weekend so I am having her and her hubby over for drinks and apps. I have been dreaming about these two recipes since I saw on them on pinterest and think I am going to make them tomorrow night.
White Pizza Dip + Baked Brie with Rosemary, Honey and Almonds

This week I got the cutest blouse at Forever 21. I have had a credit there forever but lately I haven't seen much that impressed me. Until this gorgeous number, I am in love with this blouse. Can't wait to sport it with my skinny jeans and boots this fall.

I really want a bar cart for my den. I keep seeing cute ones all over the Internet. Although I wonder if having glass bottles that low is such a good idea with a rambunctious 18 month old....

Did anyone else think Kim Kardashian's wedding was a bit much? 3 dress changes and a 20.5 carat ring + A $200,000 matching wedding band? Between her headpiece, earrings and necklace she was wearing over $ 15 million in jewelry plus she paid $150,000 to have her hair and make up done. I just think that is outrageous. I read somewhere that she was calling her wedding "the royal wedding." While it may have been over the top I am not going to lie you better believe I will be watching the special in October.

I will leave you with this. Happy Weekend Dolls. Stay Dry.