Celebrating the 4th in Style {{Food}}

I love food at an outdoor BBQ! There is always a huge variety and you can try out new recipes with no shame. Last year, I did a round up of 4th of July themed eats here that you might enjoy and I also have a Lemon Berry Trifle recipe that would be amaze, which you can find here. 

Couscous Fruit Salad by Noble Pig

Red, White, and Blue Summer Salad by Real Mom Kitchen- add chicken and you have a main dish! 

Blueberry, Strawberry, Jicama Salsa by Two Peas and Their Pod- I've also seen this done as a fruit salad without all the spiciness. Just sub the jicama for apple, cilantro for basil and take out all the spicy elements. 

Red, White, and Bleu Slaw by Taste of Home 

Easy Flag Fruit Dessert by Family Fresh Meals - you could also sub cheese (brie, swiss, white cheddar, etc.) on here for the white component. 

Patriotic Oreo Pops by Makoodle 

Red, White, and Blue Rice Krispy Sparkler by 5 Minutes for Mom 

Red Velvet 4th of July Cupcakes by Your Cup of Cake 

Linking up with Emily for Tuesday's Recipe Swap! Go check out some of these awesome recipes being shared! 

What do you love to eat at a BBQ? 

Celebrating the 4th in Style {{Drinks}}

June is flown by, dang quick. If you haven't realized yet, the 4th of July is rapidly approaching and is also on a Saturday this year! I rounded up some of my favorite drink recipes to share with you all, so you can go out and get white girl wasted. Have fun and be safe this 4th!

Pop Rocks Shooter by the decorated cookie

Red, White, and Blue Jello Shots by Can't Google Everything 

Red, White, and Blue Margarita by Gimme Some Oven

Wine Sparklers by The Kitchn

Red, White, and Blue Sangria by Home is Where the Boat is

I am linking up with Kristin for Thursty Thursday this week! Go check out some other amazing drink recipes! 

What are some of your favorite 4th of July refreshments?

Cancun Recap

We had a blast in Cancun. The itinerary didn't go exactly as planned, but like I told the groom- I'm not gonna have a hissy about that, I'm here for my SIL's wedding first, the vacation is a bonus. I'll be honest, most of the photos look exactly the same, so I am not going to inundate you with beach/pool photos. I'll just give you the highlights.

Sunday- Arrival Day... There was a tropical storm that we flew into. Which means lots of turbulence, being in dark clouds, seeing lightening, etc. We had a missed landing and had to circle around Cancun for about 40 minutes to land again, we definitely hydroplaned and I thought we would crash into the airport. When we got into the airport, there was water EVERYWHERE, plaster was coming off the walls, and water was leaking from the ceiling. Arriba!

Dark, dreary, and windy with water halfway up the bus wheels. 

We had rooms in the Adults Only Deluxe Villas at the Riu Palace Peninsula, which I would highly recommend! They were spacious, luxurious, and comfortable. There was a whirlpool bath in the room, a bidet in the restroom (LOL), his and hers sinks, and a private jacuzzi on the balcony! Since we were on the adults only side, we had a private pool with cabana beds that were exclusive to the villas. 

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday- Monday, whale shark day was cancelled due to high winds and turbulent water. Instead, we all hung out by the pool. We also went to dinner at Harry's, which is the best steakhouse ever. No joke. We ate dinner next to Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and what appeared to be Mark Ruffalo and Seth Rogan and all their families. Legit next to. I may have stared creepily for a few minutes. 

Gabriel, his sister the bride, and his parents at Harry's 

Wednesday, Gabriel and the bride (his sister) did 4 dives, 2 day and 2 night, so the rest of us hung by the pool. I may have gotten white girl wasted this day on accident. My bad. 

Adults only pool 

Dubya got a little pink and had to stay in the shade. 

pool time! 

Thursday- hanging out and WEDDING DAY! The wedding itself started at 5pm, followed by cocktail hour while the bride/groom took photos, then dinner and dancing. It was a beautiful day, filled with lots of laughs, and tons of fun. The bride looked gorgeous!

Friday- Gabriel and I went on the whale shark adventure! I was scared shitless, but I still did it. Ya'll I don't swim. I don't like, nor enjoy it. It gives me anxiety, so I wore a life jacket, followed ALL instructions to a T, and made sure to stay out of the way of our guide and captain. 

It is all pretty simple really, you take a speed boat out hunting for the whale shark- for us this was about 3 hours... with 30 minutes being with the boat breaking down! Then, you and a few other people get in position to hop out of the boat, watch and wait until the whale sharks fin comes near your boat, THEN VAMANOS! You hop out and swim next to the whale shark as fast as you can. IT IS FUCKING HUGE. We each got to swim next to it 2x, so you are really spending a few hours doing this even though you are only in the water a few minutes. 

Next, you do the calm, sedate activity. You take a leisurely drive to a reef and snorkel for a bit and eat the BEST ceviche you've ever had in your life. 

G would only take good photos of my butt.  And yes the life jacket was way too big. 

Saturday- All about packing up and heading out. Thank goodness, this go round our flight was totally uneventful. Filled with the expected screaming kids and people taking naps. I'll take that any day over turbulence and lightening clouds. 

Sunburn Essentials

This is the thing nobody every talks about... and I know that I am not the only one who dreams of having that luscious tan looking skin when they are sitting out in the sun, but the reality is I am pale, have freckles and burn easily. So, in the spirit of celebrating the lack of tan I am getting while setting on the beach, I thought I would share some sunburn tips and tricks I have come across in my day.

Even though you have these awesome tips and tricks, don't forget use SPF and reapply at least every 2 hours!

Some basic tips for when you are red:

• Use a cold compress- this can be a cool washcloth that is wet with either water or witch hazel. 
• Avoid soap- this can dry out and irritate your already irritated skin. 
• Moisturize! I like to keep coco butter lotion in the fridge, but the BEST relief is refrigerated ALOE WITH LIDOCAINE. 
• Moisturize! From the inside out this time, drink lots of water. 
• Use oatmeal- Aveeno sells oatmeal bath packets that are wonderfully soothing to your sore skin. Soak in a cool tub. You can also make a cool oatmeal paste and slather that on and remove it after a bit. 
• Use vinegar- use either apple cider vinegar or white vinegar on a washcloth and cool in the fridge then lay on your burn. 
• Use cucumber- slice that sucker up and set it on your burn. 
• Use tea- I have heard some people swear that only Earl Gray works for this and others say mint tea. Either way, brew some tea up and cool it down, then either wipe on with a cotton ball or use a washcloth as a cold compress. 

DIY Remedies from the web:

• DIY After Sun Spray- this recipe uses three essential oils that are soothing to the skin. 
• DIY Essential Oil Lotion- this recipe uses a vinegar bath or wipe down first, followed by mixing coconut oil with essential oils and rubbing yourself down.
• DIY Crispy Critter Spray- this recipe uses water, aloe, and essential oils.  

What are some of your tips/tricks for sunburn?

Beach Day Essentials

Since I will be in Mexico this week, I wanted to put together a post about what I feel like are must haves for the beach. These are also things that I take with me to the pool or the lake. Really, anywhere that is hot and you will be spending more than a few minutes :) 

Sunscreen - I like to buy SPF 30 and 50. I use the 50 when I am out on or in the water, because water reflects light. I use the SPF 30 all the rest of the time. I have to tell you the best place to get sunscreen is Ulta. The always have $3.50 off coupons that you can stack with their BOGO deals. I got 2 cans and 2 bottles of lotion for $14 with tax. I call that a score! After that, I would say Walgreens is a good option, their store brand is usually on sale 2/$5.

                  

                    

Water- If you are out in the heat, you NEED to drink water. Even if you are consuming adult beverages, which we all know if you are at the beach you should be, you need to drink water to make sure you don't get dehydrated. For me, I like to have bottled water on hand or, preferably, a reusable cute cup. It's even better if it has a monogram. 

                                                             reusuable mason jar 

Stylish Head Protection- I sunburn super easily, so head protection is a must! It also needs to be stylish and fit my big bobble head. I found the perfect, inexpensive, cute option. It comes in a variety of color options and online there is even more variety. The one linked below is the exact one I got and is less than $7! 

Fedora

Reading and Music- There are tons of options out there for reading and music material. I highly recommend a digital reader for this purpose. You can have magazines, books, and the ability to get new things at all times. I like to use an iPad and the ebooks and magazines from the public library. Ya'll if you haven't set this up you should! Right now, I have Tami Hoag, gossip mags, and fitness mags ready to go. I also think that by having an iPad you have music and reading all in one. Create a couple of playlists, with a variety of music- low key classic rock, current hits, etc. 

                           

Monogram- I know this isn't really a necessity, but a good monogram is always appreciated. I got the best monogrammed bikini top from Simply Southern Grace 1 off etsy. For the less than $20, you can get something personalized to you! The one I got was navy with a white monogram, which I feel like can mix/match with a variety of colors. I also ordered monograms from RJRCustomz to put on the previously mentioned reusable cute cups. 

What are some of your beach must haves?

Friday Faves: Beach Ready Edition {{6.12.15}}

I know, I know nobody gives a shit that I am going to Cancun next week. But, you know what? I care, so there it is (yeah, I'm giving you all the stank eye). I care because I haven't been on a vacation in 2 years and this is going to be mine and G's honeymoon trip we never had. And by that I mean we are going to do all the stuff we planned to do, but his family will be there and so will 50 of his sisters closest friends. So, in continuing the theme, here are my beach ready Friday Favorites.

Fave Online Workouts: I know that I go back to these a lot, but you guys Cassey Ho at Blogilates does some of the best workouts videos I have seen AND THEY ARE FREE! They are easy to follow, she cues well, and her voice isn't (too) annoying. These below are my favorite on days where I don't have a class at the community center and I do them then ride my elliptical while watching Scandal or Law & Order SVU on Netflix.

Fave Beauty Product: I'm going with self tanner on this one. Self tanner for the win! My personal favorite self-tanning lotion is Banana Boat Endless Summer. It goes on easily, doesn't streak, doesn't smell too horrible, and has no glitter. The color shows up within three hours of application. My other, more expensive, favorite is Versa Spa 360 Spray. Versa Spa is the brand of spray tanning booth that they use at all my local tanning salons. I figured rather than paying out the ass for a single spray tan, why not let G spray me and get 3 sprays out of it?  

Fave Recipe: If you are looking for a healthy, cool, refreshing summer recipe this is it! The Grilled Chicken Tzatziki Salad from I Heart Nap Time is a recipe I used to keep my calories in check to be bikini ready. I used kalamata olives from our gourmet olive bar at the bougey grocery store, but other than that didn't change a thing. In the future, I will add fresh dill for a bolder flavor in the tzatziki, but it was definitely better than sore bought. Again, SUPER EASY! 

Fave Clothing: Ya'll know I had to buy stuff for this vacation, so I had to make it worth it. I tried to buy items that were beach perfect, but also reusable for for the rest of summer. 

Pineapple Tank from Kohl's

Cognac Wedge Sandals from Kohl's

If you've got big tata's these two swim tops are for you! The one in black in white is super supportive and has lots of support. I plan to use it to snorkel with killer whales. I also plan to buy more of this bralette style. The halter below is super, duper flattering as well! It comes in cup sizes, has full support and makes the girls look amaze. So much so, I now own that top in 2 colors. Bonus- almost everything is on super sale right now at Victoria's Secret! 

              Getaway Halter from VS                                          Beach Sexy Bralette from VS

                                 

What are some of your Beach Ready Faves?