Summer Lovin'

I have had a really great week. I worked the day shift all week and just loved it. It was so nice to drive home while it was still light out and have time to cook, relax or hang out. My sister came over yesterday and we had a lot of fun grilling in the yard and having some drinks. Today, we went to NYC to get our hair cuts. And on our way to have some lunch at the Shake Shack (where you have to wait on a long line for a really great burger!), we found a street fair. So today was pretty awesome, too.

Check out my hair... It's so short and curly!


Since I'm in such a good mood, I thought I'd share some of the things I just love this summer.

Cold-Brewed Coffee: I am so addicted to cold-brewed ice coffee! It just tastes so rich and yummy. I take two big cups with me to work now since they've closed our cafeteria and I'm trying to save some money. It's so easy to make. Just use 1 part coffee, 4 parts water. I use about 3 cups of coffee, add water and let it sit overnight in a big pitcher. Then I run it through my coffee pot - without turning it on to filter out the coffee grinds. The coffee mixture is very concentrated so I fill about 1/3 of my cup with coffee and fill the rest with water and some milk.

Grapefruit Margaritas: I discovered this drink thanks to Jen Caputo. I made them for my sister and her friend last night and they loved it too. I might make myself one tonight!

Food Network and Cooking: Randi has me hooked on the Food Network and Top Chef so I've been really inspired to cook lately. In addition to the drinks I just mentioned, I've been making more of my own food, bringing dinner or lunch to work, and shopping at Whole Foods. Some of my favorite new recipies are this awesome white bean and eggplant hummus, which we also snacked on last night, this pasta salad with mozzarella and salami, and these rosemary ranch chicken kabobs, which is actually a recipe I found over at the Lily Pad forum. Good stuff!


Taking Penny Out: I'm trying to not be so lazy and walk Penny more. We took a nice walk at the park recently.


Hanging out with my friends: There's been lots of fun at open mic and karaoke. My friend Tony has started playing at open mic and he's really good. We had another little high school reunion a few weeks ago, too.


And since I got out early from work this week, I got to watch the new Grease sing-a-long at Pier A Park in Hoboken. I jumped on the light rail after work and was there in a few minutes. I met up with Pam and Eric and we spent the evening on the waterfront singing along with everyone in the park and enjoying the view!


Reading: I almost died laughing Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea and I just started Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang. Don't read these if you're easily offended!

Movies: This has been a pretty lame summer as far as movies go. Most summers, I'm at the movies every weekend, but the movies aren't doing it for me this year. So far I've seen Iron Man 2 (eh OK), Sex and the City 2 (lame!), Shrek 3 (funny) and Toy Story 3 - just plain awesome. Bring some tissues!

Vampires: See my last post! True Blood is on TV and I need to go see Eclipse!

These Owls...
How cute are they???? I made them using an American Girl kit like I did with my iPod case. :) Super easy to make. I have another set that's a purple bear. I'm going to give them to my nieces.

This frame:
I bought this ages ago and finally got some prints for it! I love seeing it in my room with lots of my favorite people!

Tiger Lilies: They look so nice in my yard! Our yard it pretty messy, but the flowers look nice.



So that's summer so far! I am working day side again next week and then another week in August. That's almost as good as a vacation! I hope you all have a great Fourth of July! And please leave a comment to let me know what you're loving about summer!