SUMMA SUMMA SUMMERTIME - OUTDOOR DINING

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You guys! Its summer, and all I can do is think about outdoor dining. Well.... not literally, but it is kind of my fave! Even when my husband and I are scouting out a place to eat lunch or dinner, my first comment is usually "who has great patio seating?" It truly is one of my most adored thing in life.... dining al fresca.

We have been hard at work on our kitchen (I can't wait to share), however, that has left us with not much time or dolla bills to whip our tiny little backyard and slab of a patio into shape. I am patiently waiting and dreaming in the meantime. Here are some inspirational pics that I can't stop staring at. I love that outdoor dining (decor) doesn't have to be "expensive" or even look a certain way. Globe lights are a must though! I just adore the family feel that comes with dining outside. Don't you ?

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^^ Dying dying dying over this gorgeous pergola with the baby swing attached! ^^

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Enjoy your weekend loves! Grab a cocktail, and enjoy it outdoors with great company!

XO

THE ULTIMATE SUMMER SALAD

Hey you guys!! Hope you had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend! We sure did! It is quite surreal to sit down and breathe in just what it means to have FREEDOM. It sounds so cliche to say, but I truly am grateful for the men and women that fight for our freedoms and put their lives on the line daily! Their wives, husbands, kids and parents are just as much of a hero as they are themselves. Thank you thank you!!

 I wanted to share my new favorite salad recipe. I threw this together for a party we attended yesterday and amazed myself. I am not super adventurous with salads, but definitely want to start trying to be. You guys!!!! This salad..... you will be SO happy you gave it a try! It has the sweet fruity flavor mixed with the spice of onion and tomatoes. Love love love it!!! It was a hit at the party, and I must add that I even had a helping at breakfast this morning....what??? 

What you will need....

1 16 oz. pkg. of Spring mix salad

1/2 of a small seedless watermelon

1/4 of a red onion

1 16 oz. pkg. fresh strawberries

1 4 oz. pkg. of crumbled goat cheese 

half of a 10.5 oz pkg. of golden snacking tomatoes

Dressing of your choice! 

( I prefer a balsamic vinaigrette and the fuji apple dressing from Panera was a hit at the party. You could absolutely just do a small pour of EVOO and toss the salad and love it just as much. The fruit adds so much flavor!!)

How I made it....

** I made mine for a party, so it is pretty large! Feel free to just layer these things in a much smaller bowl with smaller portions for your own personal salad!**

In a large bowl, layer spring mix, watermelon, tomatoes, onion, strawberries. Do this THREE times. Then, on the top of the salad, add all of the goat cheese! It will work its way down to the rest of the salad. ENJOOOOY!

-J

Oh.... and here we are with our littles over the weekend!!

^^ after church on Sunday! -J ^^

^^ Digging for Roly Polies in the garden! -L ^^

PAINTING PARTY AT THE VINEYARD + GIVEAWAY WINNER

Our party "throwback" this week is my daughter's "Pom Poms & Painting" themed 2nd birthday party. Amara still enjoys painting so much! We kept it fairly simple by holding it not in our house... whoop whoop! outdoors at a beautiful vineyard. I assembled basket lunches for the adults, boxed lunches for the kiddos with juice boxes and canned sodas and called it a day! Of course we bought wine as well.... I mean, we WERE at a vineyard.

 I set up a painting table with a place setting ( 3 sheets of watercolor paper, an art smock and a paint set) for each little guest. Tags and invites done by Lauren at Rock Paper Scissors.

Follow our simple DIY party hat tutorial here. I additionally added some poms to each hat.  I hand -dyed some in water color water to get the pastel look. 

I actually cut circles out of one of Amara's many paintings at home to make tags for the boxed lunches! It just made it all that more personal.

I filled clear paint cans ( found at Joann's Fabric Store) with different colors of tissue paper to resemble "paint" and stocked each can with $1 items. My favorite favors were the mini paint sets!

I set up a dessert table with some sweet treats! I hot glued pom poms to the front of the table cloth to go with the theme.

homemade cupcakes with DIY cake toppers. I simply cut stripey straws into thirds and hot glued pom poms to the ends.... voila!

Rice crispy treats on a stick dipped in candy melts. These were much harder to make than I thought they would be, but they were a hit so they were worth it!

My favorite thing of all is the "year of instagrams" banner I did. I watercolored little flags, glued them to mini paper clips to label each month. I loved this banner so much!!

It was such a beautiful evening!! Now, its time to start gearing up for birthday no. 3... yikes!

** THE WINNER OF OUR STYLE ME PERFECT GIVEAWAY IS.......

MANDY LINTHICUM!!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!! **

CONGRATS!!! We know you will love the service, and even more importantly.... your sweet stylist!!

Thanks to all who entered!

WHAT I WORE - STYLE ME PERFECT

Have you entered our personal styling GIVEAWAY with Style Me Perfect? It ends tonight!!

Here are a few more outfits styled for me right out of my closet (and a few purchase suggestions). 

It's soooo easy to get dressed these days! All the work is done for me by my amazing stylists at 

Style Me Perfect. 

Girls Night outfit HERE

Casual/Lunch with Friends outfit HERE. I wore this for Mother's Day brunch!

Date Look outfit HERE

Weekend Wear outfit HERE

Okay ladies, get on this GIVEAWAY- it's super fun and easy!!

-L

PARTY HAT TUTORIAL - FREE DOWNLOAD

Here's a quick and easy party hat tutorial for you. If you want a solidly constructed hat with the string and everything (so you can force your baby to wear it like I do) but have it match your decorations, this is my fav way to go. Scroll down for the tutorial and download.

Ari's third birthday party HERE

Ari's second birthday party HERE

 PARTY HAT TUTORIAL:

1. Start with any store-bought hat

2. Unfold the hat, design-side down

3. Trace around the hat

4. Cut out traced shape, a little outside the lines to leave room for error

5. Put double stick tape on the two straight edges of the traced shape

6. Start with the "tab" side and tape on the hat, wrapping around the paper as you go

(If you want to do a little fringe or pom pom add this in before you close up the hat)

7. Decorate! 

Download party hat numbers HERE

 And here are my babies in their birthday hats! Oh how I love to torture them.

Jenni covered her hats with chalkboard paper and wrote with chalk. Amara's first birthday party HERE

We'd love to see your party hats! Email us!

 -L

PERSONAL STYLING GIVEAWAY: STYLE ME PERFECT

I don't know if any of you mamas out there feel the same way, but after I had Max, I was in a fashion rut. My body wasn't (and still isn't) back to normal. It's been seven months, and I still have the last few pounds to shed. Maternity clothes are too big, my old clothes are a little too small, and scarily enough after having a baby, your body shape just changes! It's frustrating! I mean...it's all worth it blah blah blah but seriously, I can't keep wearing leggings and tunics every day, ya know? 

I needed help! Get me out of this frumpy mom rut! Enter: STYLE ME PERFECT. The genius personal stylists got me out of my mom uniform by opening my eyes to the possibilities that already existed in my closet and suggesting some super smart additions that I could easily buy online! The result is I actually look forward to getting dressed in the morning. Picking out what to wear is fun again, and I have some amazing new pieces to add to my existing wardrobe. The package that was perfect for my personal needs was the Stiletto Style Concierge Service. I requested certain types of outfits (running errands, girls lunches, date nights, etc.) and my personal stylist sent me looks with purchase suggestions and pulled from my own closet. It was actually so satisfying to fill out their easy-to-use closet form. Not only do my stylists know exactly what's in my closet, but now I know what's in there - oh that's where my favorite sweater went!

My favorite part of the Style Me Perfect experience was being able to text and video chat with my stylist! I sort of felt like a big deal. Here's what happened... I was going to a concert that night and wanted to look cool but not like I was trying too hard :) My stylist pulled from what I already owned in my closet plus the new leather jacket bought for a previous outfit they suggested, and voila! It is now my go-to "night out" outfit! 

Closet Look - Concert outfit HERE

Now for the BEST news ever....

We are THRILLED to be partnering up with Style Me Perfect for an incredible giveaway! 

What you get:

1 week of the Stiletto Style Concierge Service

10 minute closet edit (FaceTime/Skype)

Unlimited style advice (texting/selfies)

2-3 closet looks

Light supplemental shopping suggestions

Whether you need outfits for date nights, job interviews, special events, or trips to the park with your kiddos, you will absolutely benefit from Style Me Perfect!

TO ENTER:
It's easy! Enter below by completing any one of the options provided.
Leave a comment on what kind of outfit you might want styled for you.
To rack up more entries, feel free to check off as many as you like. Plus it'll make us feel super popular.

Oh, and for ONE MORE chance to win, tag two friends on our Instagram post!

Giveaway ends Thursday and the winner will be announced on our blogs Friday, May 23. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll be posting a few more outfits and board links in the next week. So obsessed.

Check out Style Me Perfect's BLOG for tons of outfit ideas!

Good luck, ladies!