Yolande

Happy Friday!

I'm not going to lie...during the summertime, Friday is NOT my favorite.
In the summer, Friday means the week is over & we are one week closer to school starting back up again.  Booooo :(
 This meme is perfect...Monday through Thursday in the summer this is how I feel:
 Summer....there are so many things I love about you including this:

And this is so true....I feel human in the summer because I can sleep in & I have time during the day to get stuff done :)
I have 10 favorites to share with you today!

4th of July is one of my favorite days of the year.
Our friends have their annual French Toast Breakfast that we go to in the morning.
Then we walk down to the parade.

 I love our little hometown parade :)
 After the parade, we headed home. Usually we have a big 4th of July party at our house, last year we didn't have it because our kitchen was under construction & this year we didn't have it because our backyard is under construction.  Our other friends who also have a 4th of July party had their party on the 3rd this year, so we had a free afternoon, so we swam! I made the kid 4th of July ice cream sandwiches:
And chocolate dipped strawberries:
 We BBQ'd for dinner & Kate wanted a pie for dessert so I made a berry pie with a star crust :)

I am slightly obsessed with Rompers this summer.
Here are some of my favorite rompers...and they are on sale!

Love THIS one...so comfortable!
 You can't go wrong with a solid black romper like THIS one...it can be dressed up or down:

I also like THIS one because it has sleeves (it also comes in olive or rust)

Rompers are so comfy! All of the ones I posted aren't too short for me...I am 5'9 and the small & medium sizes fit!

Napa is my favorite!
 I had the privellege of heading to Napa Valley last weekend to have a business launch party for one of the girls on my team!

Such a fun day!

This long wear Lip Gloss is my all time Favorite

Get it HERE

I heard from a girl at the MAC counter that they are discontinuing it...I am bummed about that, so I am STOCKING up!
I have 3 of the colors. They stay on for hours! Best lip gloss EVER! Get it while you can!

This might be my new favorite quote ;)

Of course I need Jesus & my family also....and coffee....and wine ;)
But, speaking of Gardens & Library's....if you missed my Garden update yesterday, you can check it out HERE

One of my favorite things to have for breakfast lately is this egg scramble. It's 2 eggs, some grated zuchinni from my garden, tomatoes from my garden & a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Of course I add Chalula on top because it's my favorite! YUM!

Eating food from my garden is my favorite!

{SIX}
Speaking of books...I am currently reading this series and it might be my new favorite:

I saw book 3 in the Free Little Library down the street. 

You can read about the series HERE

Going to the Fair is one of our favorite summer activities.

They were so excited to check out this part of the Fair....some of the rides are SKETCHY!
 Like these swings...I won't let my kids go on them...I do like taking pics of the swings, so pretty!
 We went to a magic show & Claire was picked to be the magician's assistant :)
My favorite part of the fair is the Pig Races...so fun!

We had so much fun at the fair....we stayed until after 5...we've never stayed that long!
Do you love the Fair?

Rodan +Fields Reverse is my favorite regimen.
It gets rid of sun damage, age spots & pregnancy melamsa.
I use Reverse in the morning & Redefine at night, just like her!
Love these results in under 2 months of use:

The Warriors are my favorite basketball team..
It was rough losing in the Finals to the Cavs after we had a 3-1 lead.
But, the news of Kevin Durant signing with us this week made me cheer up!

Summer Salads are my favorite! I love dinner in the Summer because we grill some sort of meat on the BBQ and then I make a yummy Summer Salad to go with it..
Here are some of my favorite Summer Salads.....
Avocado, Bacon & Corn Salad {HERE}

Caprese Orzo Salad HERE:

Broccoli Salad HERE:

Chicken Taco Salad HERE:

 Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato (& Avocado) Salad HERE:

Cowboy Salad HERE:
Spinach Strawberry Salad HERE:

Want more salad ideas?
Check out the Salad tab HERE in my Recipe Box!

Have a great weekend!

Anyone else shocked that it is December 1st?!?!
That snuck up on me....fast!
Since Thanksgiving is over, that means is it Officially Christmas Season!
This week has been full of Christmas crafting & baking, so here are 3 easy projects I pinned & made!

Pinterest Project #1
Snow Globe Gift Card Holder
Here is what you need:
- Empty jar & lid (or mason jar)
- gift card
-glitter
-ribbon
-tiny ornaments (or other embellishments)
- glue gun

Step 1: Take your lid & get ready to add ribbon to it.
(I used an old fudge jar & it had writing on it, so I wanted to cover it up. If you use a mason jar you won't need to do that)

Once your finish your lid, now it is time to glue the gift card to the lid using your glue gun.

Put on your lid (make sure it is screwed on tightly so it doesn't leak) and flip it over.

And, there you have it! A Snow Globe Gift holder!
This was super easy & took less than 15 minutes to make.
Such a fun way to give a gift card.
It won't damage the gift card
(I wouldn't keep it in the jar for more than 3 days)
Also, next time I am going to use a larger jar, like a spaghetti sauce jar because the gift card looked very magnified/distorted in my fudge jar.
(The reason I didn't use a mason jar is because I wanted to make sure the jar didn't leak when you flipped it over. Sometimes you can't get that tight of a seal on a mason jar lid.)

Pinterest Project #2
Wrap Christmas books for each day of Advent
I pinned this idea a few months ago & couldn't wait to do it for my girls.
We actually have a lot of Christmas books. 14 of them!

I individually wrapped each book & the idea is that on each night of Advent the girls will get to unwrap a book for us to read. (Kate will unwrap on odd days because her birth year is odd & Claire will unwrap on even days because her birth year is even)

I put all the wrapped books in a basket under our tree. The girls are so excited about unwrapping the first book tonight.

Because I only had 14 books, last night I ordered a few more books from Scholastic because I get a teacher discount & books were only $3. I also wrapped up one of the girls picture bibles and on the night they unwrap the Bible, we will read about the birth of Baby Jesus. (I think I will save that one for December 24th). Also, I am going to check out some more Christmas books from the library & wrap those up later this week so that we have 24 books.

Pinterest Project #3
Brownie Christmas Trees
Here is what you need:
Box of Brownie Mix, Green frosting, sprinkles, candy canes.

Make Brownies according to package directions.

I normally make my brownies in a 8x8 or 9x9 pan because I like them thick, but for this project, I made them in a 9x13 so that I could get more brownies.

After my brownies cooled for a couple hours, I cut a triangle out of paper to use as my tree template.

I then cut out triangle brownies.

Get your decorations ready:

You could use sprinkles, m&m's, or whatever!

Use your green frosting to decorate, add some sprinkles & break off some candy cane as your trunk. And, there you have it, a Festive Treat!
Here are some of the other ones we made:

A 9x13 dish would make 8 brownie Christmas trees (we only made 6 because we may or may not have been snacking on the other 2....)

This was another fun & very easy Pinterest Project!
Yeah for 3 Pinterest Sucesses this month!

Linking up with Jess:

Also, don't forget about the 2nd Annual Cookie Recipe Exchange Link Up next Wednesday, 12.07.11