Any Excuse to Party: Lemonade Tasting

Summer is well underway, with boating, beach vacations, breezy dresses and sweet summer fruit the most important things on my mind. I decided to put together a lemonade tasting party, as a celebration of one of Courtney's last day's in the state before her big move to San Diego. It was so easy, and fun!

To put together your own lemonade tasting, head to your local favorite artisan market or wine shop (AJs and BevMo were my choices here in Arizona), and pick up anywhere from 3-6 varieties of lemonade. Since it was just the two of us, I settled on three - strawberry lemonade, sparkling pomegranate, and classic lemonade with a bubbly twist. Dress up the event with some stripe straws, and fruit, which also will help you keep the flavors separate while you're tasting. 

This would also be a fun set up for a BBQ, bridal shower, or pool party! So many summery events to celebrate in this wicked heat. Hope you enjoy!

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Coleslaw for People Who Hate Coleslaw

I am a coleslaw hater. I think it smells funny, and the thought of eating cabbage drenched in drippy mayonnaise makes my stomach curdle. That being said, I needed a summer side dish for a dinner I was hosting at my house, and the first thing I thought of was coleslaw? Makes total sense.

Even as I was waltzing down the aisles of the market, I couldn't help but doubt my decision to use coleslaw as a side dish. Alas, the grocery list had been made and there as no turning back.

This recipe makes a lot of coleslaw. So I'd recommend either falling madly in love with the stuff, where you'd want to eat an entire bowl in one sitting, or invite a large group of friends over to enjoy it. I halved the recipe, although then I was stuck with half a cabbage I had no idea what to do with.

Once you've chopped, sliced, diced and shredded all of the veggies you can put them aside to make the dressing. An interesting combination of ingredients, it is the perfect balance of acidity, sweetness and a little spicy bite.

It's important to make as big of a mess as possible while doing all this. Helps the flavor.

Mix well, and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving, so the flavors combine. It's so, so good! Brought a smile to more than one coleslaw hater, so I consider it a success. Best served as a side dish to all kinds of summer foods, but my favorite is putting it on pulled pork sandwiches. YUM.

Coleslaw Haters Coleslaw

• 1 head green cabbage, finely shredded
• 2 large carrots, finely shredded
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3/4 cup best-quality mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons minced green onion
• 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons celery salt
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Sriracha to taste

- Combine the shredded cabbage, onion and carrots in a large bowl. 

- Whisk together the mayonnaise, dijon, sugar, vinegar, celery salt, sriracha, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl, and then add to the cabbage mixture. 

- Mix well to combine and taste for seasoning - add more salt, pepper, sugar or celery salt if desired. 

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Summer Reads

When summer hits it usually reinvigorates my interest in reading. Thanks to the crazy Arizona heat waves, my weekends are usually spent sitting in the pool or in the house. This gives me the perfect opportunity to catch up on all of the books I hear people loving throughout the year. And no, I will not be reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

A little fiction, some for inspiration, a few to help my career and some spiritual focused. My list is pretty short so far, any others that I need to add? I'd love any suggestions, and would love even more to start a book club! With fruity drinks & fun appetizers of course. Ah summer, you bring out the best in me.

1. The Night Circus
2. The Happiness Project
3. Four Hour Work Week
4. Blue Like Jazz
5. The Tipping Point 
6. The Secret
7. Divergent
8. What Would Jackie Do?
9. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
10. Love Does
11. Leadership is an Art

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{Summer Days}

This is the first year since I've graduated that I can feel the ache of summer vacation slowly trickling back into my thoughts. I can imagine the warm sun on my face and chilly breeze while boating on Lake Washington, fighting the urge to put on a sweater since it was supposed to be summer, and supposed to be hot. I crave BBQs during this time of year, sweet watermelon balls, corn on the cob stuck in all of the crevices between my teeth, and the smell of fire crackling beneath my toasting marshmallow. The miss feeling you get when you check the time and it's already past 8 p.m. and the sun is still setting, it's like you've been given the gift of a few additional hours to spend with friends. Summer brings a feeling of love in the air, not the passionate and all consuming love felt during Christmas time, but a light almost bubbly happiness shared with friends, family and loved ones that is hard to replicate.

I wonder if I every truly appreciated these days and feelings growing up. Sleeping in until the sun wakes you up, moving slow in the mornings and plotting your pool-hopping plan of attack for the day. The funniest part is my memory of summertime is such a cliche memory. I can't specifically imagine a time where day after day I spent floating in a pool or boating, being lazy without a care in the world and wasting hours staying up with friends. It's almost as if I've picked out the most special memories of years past, and combined them to make one amazing memory that I cling to and hope for during this time each year. 

This year I've promised myself to care less about chores on weekends and more about laying in the pool. To read more on the patio, and to stop fighting the 2 p.m. urge to nap. To take more day trips and spend less time indoors. To stay up too late on Saturday & Sunday and feel truly fulfilled upon returning to work Monday morning. With that comes the idea of a summer bucket list, which I'd like to put together soon. 

What will be on your summer 2012 bucket list?

{The thing I look forward to most on weekends...}

Blazing hot temps in Phoenix = frozen treats whenever I please.

Which is usually only on the weekends (thankfully) since there isn't a Yogurtland near my house. 

It's my all time favorite. I'm quite loyal! All the others just don't compare.

Madagascar vanilla, coconut, and a dash of red velvet if I'm feeling like it. 

Toppings are simple, a few mochi & coconut shavings. 

Holy.

Ignore Lauren's weird jellyfish topping. She swears it was good, but I just couldn't agree! 

Happy weekending friends!

{Friend Hangover & Mellow Mushroom}

I'm alive! After an amazing weekend with my girlfriends, I have been suffering from quite the friend hangover. My mind is still in a haze, I keep reminiscing about the fun times, deliriously laughing at inside jokes, feeling tired all the time as though I've been depriving myself of sleep & noticing weird things throw about my apartment. The weirdest part is I took them to the airport on Sunday. Longest.hangover.ever. Regardless, I love my friends & accept the friend hangover with open arms! 

Continuing on. When the ladies were here we went to Mellow Mushroom for happy hour, a great spot with a huge assortment of drinks & bites for very cheap prices. The Tempe location is huge! We were seated in a big booth and thankfully had a super knowledgeable waitress (atleast she knew way more than we did), who is originally from Seattle (bonus points), who brought us tons & tons of drink samples (major bonus points) so we would make the right decision when we finally settled on one.

I ordered a local beer, SanTan Brewing Company's Sunspot Golden Ale. The beer was light & refreshing, totally hitting the spot. There must have been upwards of 60 beer choices on the menu, and I cannot even begin to think of what Lauren settled on after our great waitress had her sample at least 10.  Don't twist our arms (they were small!).

Our late lunch happy hour turned into a combined dinner as well, so we went to town on the cheap menu & ordered anything and everything that looked or sounded remotely tasty. It did not disappoint. 

{salad & pita/hummus plate}

{pretzels & the capri, a caprese salad}

{meatballs & stuffed portobello mushroom}

Alex is a non-beer drinker, so we also had the opportunity to sample some delicious cocktails! The Strawberry Mojito was a hit. I think we probably sat at the restaurant for about three hours, laughing at ourselves, at eachother, telling stories & mostly hiding in the air conditioning. These Seattle people hadn't conditioned their bodies yet to function in an oven.

{Weekending: Summer Edition}

This past weekend couldn't have been a better example of how I like to spend days off in the summertime. Fun events mixed with a few easy errands (Target is ALWAYS a win. not a chore), baking, laying by the pool bronzing, and time spent with good friends. 

Friday Chris and I marked another box off the bucket list, by heading to the Diamondbacks game. We had good seats, crazy cheap beers (in comparison to Safeco Field in Seattle!), and watched as the Dbacks lost. 

It didn't matter though, it was just as fun to watch all of the crazy LA Dodgers fans in their masks & capes, shouting one-liners and picking fights with the Dbacks fans. Oh the sportsmanship. After, we met some coworkerfriends for drinks & dinner at Bliss/reBAR, ate soft tacos, so good pretzel bread and a Philly cheesesteak.

The weekend was filled with delicious fresh fruit, which made an excellent topping for my early morning Eggo waffle breakfast on Saturday. I almost felt like I should turn on some cartoons to complete a perfect kid morning.

BBQing at a friend's new house "forced" me to go to Trader Joe's to pick out some pretty sunflowers, and to taste test their featured summer white wines. Green Fin chardonnay was the winner, which I definitely recommend for a hot afternoon! Once at the house we dined on amazing grilled chicken & kabobs, pasta salad and super flavorful local corn. Then we played with their new Kinect for the rest of the evening, laughing at our poor zumba salsa skills, my awesome athletic abilities & how silly everyone looks while playing. Incredibly fun!

For dessert I made Martha Stewart's peach crumble from her July/Aug Everyday Food issue. It was so delicious, and easy! Served a la mode with some vanilla bean ice cream.

Sunday the boyfriend and I watched the women's world cup, saw Horrible Bosses (which I was kinda disappointed by), rented Just Go with It (loved it - cheesy but funny), and made small jumps forward on our Switzerland travel plans.

I loved this weekend. Planning to repeat again soon!