Thursday Looks

ONE - super gorgeous dress under $200

TWO - such a fun summer dress!

THREE - loving this top

FOUR - cane acrylic clutch - yes!


FIVE - so many occasions for this dress!

Shortcuts for Getting Dinner on the Table, A Few Meals

Dinner continues to be a hard part of my work week every week. The best thing I have done over the years is to meal plan, order groceries then cut/clean all fruits and veggies every Sunday. If I do those things, the work week is A LOT better. I'm talking I cut the red pepper that I need for shrimp and grits on Wednesday night. I also clean/cut fruit for kid's lunches. It just makes life a lot smoother.

Another thing that works for me is to make a more complicated meal for Sunday night. Something that sounds good but takes too long during the week. And I hate to be a debbie downer but if we have spaghetti, that is not an easy meal to me. It takes too many dishes! So if we do pasta, I usually do it on Sunday. 

I also like to make a meal for Monday on Sunday evening. Even better if we have leftovers for Tuesday. If I can make it to Wednesday, I can wing Wednesday from the freezer then get my act together for a Thursday meal. 

Just a few tips on how I'm surviving. 

Meatball Subs - got the $1 french bread loaf from Wal-Mart and used this recipe to make meatballs (made these earlier in the day when I had time). Sliced the bread lengthwise, hollowed out the bread, sliced the meatballs and put them on the bread. Drizzled Rao's marinara over and topped with provolone. Kevin said this one was a winner! I served with green beans on the side.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas - I made these on a Sunday night to have on Monday before a baseball game. 

Shrimp and Grits - I already had everything chopped and ready for this. Also used quick cooking grits. Took me about 15-20 minutes to get this on the table including defrosting the shrimp. 

Easy is the name of my game. Oh, another thing I always do - we have Mexican food every week one of the nights. I make the taco meat early in the morning while I'm doing the kid's breakfast. Makes dinner very easy when you have the meat already done. Win! 

Grady Game Ball

Grady got the game ball on Saturday at his game. He played awesome. Had three solid hits, hustled on and off the field every time, played well and cheered for his teammates. I was so proud! My Dad got to watch one of his hits on FaceTime. A great day! He loves baseball. 

Porch Flowers

Grady and I went over to Lowe's this past weekend and got a bunch of flowers! I got them all planted when we got home. Excited to have them done and will now get to enjoy!

This is the banana plant that my parents gave us at the beach last year. I took out everything that was around it and replanted with this!

Grady picked out this mandeville. 

Petunias and daisies 


Cucumber, jalapeño, tomato and basil


This isn't ny typical style but it was fun and whatever. 


Geranium 

Five on Friday

1. Grady loves these all time greats books if you have a little boy that loves sports! I'd say these are good for ages 5-7. Amazon!

2. My friend Nina had this on her lips and I was like that's so fun! Can't wait to try it. 



3. This picture cracks me up. Girls on the Run water bottles. Soooo many Stanleys. 

4. They are too cute. They do this on their own and then I just melt! 


Little love buckets 

5. Had a busy week of work, tennis and teacher appreciation week. It was good though but very late nights! I need to sleep!

Thursday Looks

Found some cute ones this week!

ONE - may have to grab this $158 cute dress. 

TWO - an easy throw on dress for the summer. Bunch of colors. $47

THREE - well this dress is a stunner!


FOUR - a dress for work. 


FIVE - I saw a girl on the court the other night wearing this skirt. It's super cute. 

Recipe: Presidential Crab Salad

Dad and I made this delicious dinner one night over Spring Break in Ocean Isle. He brought a couple pounds of crab down from Maryland so we put it to good use. 

We found amazing large tomatoes at the market in OIB on the holiday weekend. Kevin and my parents did some errands one day and they went to a produce stand and got the lima beans and corn. It was fresh and delish!

I happened to find this recipe in my big binder of old school recipes! It's email from my mom in July 2012! Oh the good times when she could email me!

Presidential Crab Salad

3/4 cup diced red onion (I used 1/4 cup)

3/4 cup diced celery (I used 1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons of mayo but add more if need be (see how it looks)

Old Bay sprinkled in (she says until you get tired of pouring ha!)

1 pound crab meat

I boiled the lima beans for about 30 minutes and added bacon and salt and pepper to the boiling mixture. These were even better the second night! 

We cooked the corn in the microwave (3 at a time) for 4.5 minutes. You leave the husk on and only cut the bottom off to stand it up. Then after they have cooked you can push the corn right out. Add butter and old bay of course!