Lately...

Please pardon the random and disheveled post; thus is my life lately.  It's full, busy, exciting, and all over the place.  

We showered two of my best friends in two days.  

Celebrating Baby Lucy.

Celebrating Baby Griggs.

I loved this quote from Griggs' shower.  So sweet and true.

Look what came in the mail!  My first pair of Lulu's!  So excited!  Now if I could just find a minute to get to the studio.

I will be honest...some days, this is where I work.  I LOVE my new job!

Helping people lose weight, focus on healthy eating, and reclaim their vitality is a passion of mine!  I've sent out a few ten day nutrition/weight loss meal plans with a daily meal replacement of Shakeology.  So exciting to see friends and family making their health a priority!

Frozen yogurt dates are the best.

But not as good as sweet kisses.

Busy, crazy, full lives mean quick, healthy dinners (and a lot of Shakeology) are on the forefront.   Omelets with tomatoes, mushrooms, and goat cheese are becoming a regular dinner of ours.

A year ago, weeks like this would have thrown me into a tail spin of stress, anxiety, and ulcers; however, yoga has taught me that we get to choose our thoughts.  Choosing to be stressed is exhausting, but choosing to have peace around a full schedule makes every day so much more enjoyable for me, but more importantly for Wills and William.   

"If we are not happy, if we are not peaceful, we cannot share peace and happiness with others, even those we love, those who live under the same roof. If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace." 

I AM trying to choosing to embrace these busy weeks with gratitude for an overflowing life. 

Spinach, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Tortellini

Thanks, Pinterest, for an easy, delicious, somewhat healthy crock-pot meal.  William agreed; this was perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.

Here's what I used.

William has no idea I used all natural chicken sausage.  Let me tell you, he ate it up!

All thrown in the crock pot with a full bag of fresh spinach.

I browned the chicken sausage in a little extra virgin olive oil.

Ready in 4 to 6 hours depending on how hot your crock-pot cooks.  Yum!

Blueberry Picking

Same tree.  Same ladder.  Same "Papa."  This used to be me picking blueberries with my dad.

Moments like this, with my mom and dad, shaped my childhood.  I am so incredibly thankful my little boy gets to do the same.  I am convinced that experiences in the outdoors, whether camping in the woods, building tree forts in the backyard, crabbing beside the ocean shoreline, or picking blueberries, build character and values that are solid.  

I do believe Wills ate more blueberries than he helped gather.  That's the best part.  

Grilled Pizza

Seriously, I could live off of pizza.  I love experimenting with new flavors, fresh ingredients, and a variety of herbs.

I didn't get to celebrate my actual birthday with my parents, so we celebrated at Land's End a week late, with fresh, homemade pizza.  Since then, I've been doing my best to recreate this on my own, minus the grilled part.

My mom and I chatted, laughed at Wills, and sipped wine while she made the dough.

And this amazing Herbed Grill Oil from a pizza focused cookbook.  It was perfect and added so much to the overall flavor of the pizza.  Definitely recreating this all week forever.

Fresh basil and mozzarella.  Hand-picked tomatoes.  Mushrooms.  Italian Sausage.

The grilling of the crust is a little tricky (just ask my dad) but worth every second of frustration.

For the past two nights, I made herbed grill oil, spread it on a pesto foccacia bread from Fresh Market, and topped it with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil from my little garden.  A simple, delicious dinner.

Perhaps this weekend I can convince William to try this out on our grill.  :)

4th of July Strawberry Cake

When I asked what I could bring to the 4th of July Cookout at William's Uncle Barney's house, his Aunt Lisa responded with, "a dessert - it's your specialty."  Ummmm, I'm guessing she meant my sister or my mom?  Because baking is definitely not my specialty.  I've only baked one cake, ever.  And although I do try and enjoy attempting cookies, muffins, and cupcakes, I rarely do so for a crowd.  Remember this disaster?

But, they asked for a dessert, so dessert it is!  I went all in, and four hours later, had a delicious Strawberry Short Cake.  The Pioneer Woman came through, again.  But it wasn't without a few bumps along the way.

My mom knew I was attempting the challenge of a cake, so when I called her, and said, "I already messed up,"  she started laughing.  I added a Tablespoon of Vanilla to the batter instead of a teaspoon and called to inquire whether or not I needed to start over.  She assured me it was fine and to continue.

Wills didn't seem to mind the extra vanilla.

I chopped and mashed a pound and a half of strawberries.  This was the only easy part.

Getting the cakes out of the pans was a joint effort of banging on the top with fists and spoons and finally just turning it over to William and closing my eyes.  I was scared to watch.  Surprisingly, with a little patience, we were on to the next step.

I don't have any pictures of the cream cheese icing process.  The recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds of powdered sugar.  Seriously?  Pounds?  I called my mom.  She started to explain, google, and ask questions about the size of the bag of powdered sugar I bought.  At this point, I was 3 hours in, the kitchen was a disaster, the slightest bit of sunshine was starting to peek through the clouds we've been covered under for days, Wills was restless, and I was ready to be DONE and head to the pool.  "Can you just tell me how much to put in?"  She responded and said about 5 1/2 cups.  Sorry, and thank you, Mom.

At this point, the only measuring cup left untouched and clean was a half cup.  I wasn't about to wash dishes, yet.  I told William to stop talking because I had to keep count of the 10 and a half times I needed to refill this cup.  I lost count at three and ended up dumping in most of the bag.  Whatever.  I was over it.  All in all, I tasted it before icing the cake, and it was perfect.

A little 4th of July garnish.

I'm glad that's over.

Happy 4th!  By the way, the cake was a hit!

What I ate Wednesday

This might be the best breakfast ever.  I ate it while I planned my dessert for a 4th of July cookout and sipped on a cup of coffee.

Whole wheat toast, sliced tomato hand-picked from the Lowcountry, avocado, a runny egg, and sriracha.  Oh my.  I am making one again for lunch today.

It finally stopped raining, so Wills and I enjoyed a morning at the park.

We shared this entire cup of watermelon in the car after we left.

After running a few errands, we stopped for a spontaneous lunch date at Panera Bread. Just us. I had half of a mozzarella, tomato and basil panini and a cup of broccoli cheddar soup.  I know this is a strange choice in the heat of summer, but their soup is so delicious; I couldn't pass it up.

Wills had a grilled cheese and yogurt.

While waiting for William to get home, Wills painted, and I made fresh guacamole for our chicken taco dinner.

Two avocados, lime juice, Himalayan sea salt, a little onion, and chopped tomato.

Chicken taco for dinner.

Pesto Pasta with Arugula and Tomato

What do you do when your husband is out of town?  Let me tell you, it was a really wild night over here. :)  I put together a simple vegetarian pasta, painted with my little boy until he went to bed, and then curled up on the couch with a great book, Shape magazine, and The Bachelorette on demand.

Here's what I used for my pasta.

Chopped arugula and tomato.

I added a Tablespoon of pesto to the whole wheat noodles.  Tossed in the tomatoes, arugula and pine nuts, and topped it with some shredded Parmesan.

The flavors were perfect together and paired nicely with a glass of cab.