A few weeks ago I received a review copy of The Picnic: Recipes and Inspiration from Basket to Blanket and was super excited, since picnics are a regular thing around here and we are always looking for new ways to liven them up. The book turned out to be a treasure trove of tips for making outdoor meals more convenient and picturesque and recipes for putting together the perfect array of food and drink for a well-balanced meal.

This fruit salad recipe was our favorite recipe we found. We've already tested it on a recent playground lunch and we made it again over the holiday weekend to take to one of the many BBQs we attended. It was a hit! Everybody in the world seems to love cherries, pistachios, and mint separately and when you put them together they seem exotic and extra-special. The tartness of the cherries matches well with the mint and the pistachios are a perfect added crunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Bing or Ranier cherries (stemmed, pitted, and halved)
• 1/2 cup shelled, roasted and salted pistachios
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced

Toss together ingredients and serve in your prettiest bowl. Pro tip: use a chopstick to easily pit the cherries. I read that in The Picnic, too! I told you this book was handy.

Happy Monday!

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, so we are sharing one of our favorite summertime treats today. The Ringo sundae at Doumar's has literally been voted the best in the area and here is why: vanilla ice cream, topped with hot fudge, topped with real whipped cream and cherry and Doumar's famous ice cream cones (they make them in-house) crushed up and sprinkled on top. They don't scrimp on the hot fudge either, the ice cream is really swimming in it.



^^ You haven't really seen everything in Norfolk until you've spent a summer afternoon watching them make cones on the world's first cone machine ^^

Like I said, it is one of our favorite summertime treats but we stopped in for one last week thanks to the string of summertime-temperature days we had. Oh who am I kidding, when you're a pregnant lady you don't need an excuse for ice cream.

Happy weekend!

May is my favorite month of all, so this was a fun day to capture. Head over to No Monsters in My Bed and Not-So-SAHM to see what their days were like!




8:00 AM: Morning play dough and coffee.




8:30 AM: "Take a picture of my outfit, Mom. It's an ENSEMBLE." (Thanks Fancy Nancy.)



9:30 AM: Part of my mother's day present from Anouk: a wind chime made at school and watermelon plants for our garden (how apropos)



11:00 AM: Playdate at friend M.'s house! The moms work on various sewing projects and the kids practice yoga?




1:30 PM: A. and I spend so much of our time fighting over our new hammock. Today she won.




2:00 PM: After lunch snack.



3:30 PM: My mom watches Anouk while I take Hank cat to the vet. He does NOT like shots.



5:00 PM: The best part about doing laundry: finding the random things Anouk has stashed in the pockets.



7:00 PM: family walk/bike ride before bed. Don't you wish you had someone to carry you across the street?



7:15 PM: 97% of the dandelions in the neighborhood are directly the result of Anouk. Sorry, neighbors.

Take Away the A by Michael Escoffier: Taking the letter out of various words to form new words is a new concept for my just-beginning-to-work-on-reading four-year-old, and this book fascinates her.


Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney: Maybe the loveliest kids' book ever? A little girl in Victorian times tells her grandfather she is planning on getting a job and seeing the world -- and then, she does just that. But her grandfather told her to not forget to add beauty to the world in some way, so Miss Rumphius also scatters lupine seeds to brighten the landscape -- lots and lots of lupine seeds. And then she gives her little namesake niece the same reminder. Just beautiful.



Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema: Like the House that Jack Built, only an African village is waiting for the rain that will bring the drought-stricken landscape to life.



The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak : The joke is on the parent (or reader) in this one. The book, as the title says, has no pictures but it has a lot of words that the person reading the book absolutely has to say out loud and which makes them say all sorts of silly things (Blork!) We read this book for 28 straight nights in a row, and it took at least 10 before I wanted to bash my head against the wall. Which is actually saying a lot in the book's favor.



Is There a Dog in This Book? by Viviane Schwarz: A group of cats (Anouk will read anything with cats in it) are suspicious of the dog that follows them through the pages of this book (she will definitely read anything with dogs). It was a nice alternative to the Book With No Pictures when that one got to be too much to bear for another night in a row. The two have something of the same vibe.



Julia, Child by Kyo Maclear: The story of young Julia Child and her friend Simcha writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking...but instead of teaching cooking they're trying to teach a bunch of grownups how to be childlike again? I don't know. I think the book is a little gimmicky but Anouk loves it and the message is truly sweet so it makes the list.



Harold's Fairy Tale by Crockett Johnson: I didn't even know there were other Harold and the Purpole Crayon books besides the original until we found this one in a stack at a used book sale. We like it even better than the original, probably because Harold seems so much more creative in drawing his way out of sticky situations (and we've read the first a thousand times).


What have your kids been reading lately?

Seashell crafts! They are the current craze in our house, mostly because we have amassed a giant collection of shells. It's also the easiest candle making process I've ever come across -- all you need is a bag of tea lights (ours were a million for $5 at IKEA) and some beach treasures, and voila.

Safety note before we begin! This is definitely a craft that needs not only adult supervision but definitely adult participation, too. The candles can sometimes be a little unstable, so make sure to keep them on a safe surface while lit and don't leave unattended while burning.

You will need:

• Seashells
• Tea lights in metal containers
• Hot plate
• Glass heat-safe container

Turn the hot plate on a low to medium low heat setting. Remove wicks from tea lights and place in a heat-safe glass container (we used a Pyrex measuring cup). Place the container on the hot plate until the candles have melted completely. While the wax is melting, prepare the shells by wiping them with water and a soft cloth and checking them for holes and cracks (you don't want the wax to run out).

When the wax is completely melted, use a potholder to pick up the glass and pour a small amount of wax into each shell. Place the shell back on the metal tea-light container to hold it steady and upright while it dries. While the wax is still clear and liquid, insert the wick. To speed up the wax hardening process, place on a cookie sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

I think these would make adorable stocking stuffers or teacher presents -- and is a fun way to preserve some of your favorite beach memories. Plus, they look really pretty scattered around the house. Ooh, ahh.

Happy weekend!

One of my biggest pregnancy cravings this time around has been for salads, which is strange because I am definitely not a salad kind of person. But nowadays, I want to make them for dinner almost every night. The only problem is getting everyone else to agree to salad night (In James land, salads are appetizers and in Anouk land a bowl of leaves is ehhhh...). This tortellini salad pleases everyone, it's fresh and green enough for me but filling and substantial enough for everybody else.

Arugula and Tortellini Salad (very, very slightly adapted from Mama Miss)

16 oz bag frozen tortellini
1/3 cup pesto
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
8 oz bag arugula
fresh Pecorino, shaved (the original recipe calls for parmesan, which is also delicious)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain tortellini according to package instructions. In a bowl, combine pesto and yogurt and stir. Rinse and dry arugula and add to large bowl, add cooked tortellini and pesto/yogurt sauce. Toss to combine, top with cheese, add salt and pepper to taste.

ARTS:

• Seeing Matisse at the Chrysler
• Game of thrones is back!
• Reading The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos 
• Reading Before I Go by Coleen Oakley
• Hearing Cheryl Strayed on the Savage Love podcast
• Seeing The Sound of Music in the theater for the 50th anniversary 

FOOD:

• Chicken salad sandwiches at the new Slover cafe
• Potato salad from this recipe

PLACES:

• Anne's first Busch Gardens trip!
• Shopping with sis and mom at the wburg outlets
• Seeing tulip trees and cherry blossoms in bloom at Botanical Gardens
• The first beach day of the year with friends!
• Zoo tales for the first time in ages
• A lazy Saturday at Bluebird Gap Farm
• Driving around backroads Poquoson and talking with friend A. <3

STUFF:

• My piano! It's finally come to live at our house, after years of my parents keeping it during our condo phase, yay for annoying the neighbors
• Filling a bag with books for $5 at Anouk's school book sale
• Buying a heap of vintage fabric and trims from an estate sale

ETC:

• Visiting another great estate sale with Angela and Matt
• Participating in my first Kids Clothes Week
• Dyeing Easter eggs with playgroup
• Easter Monday pain au chocolat and egg hunt at Molly's
• Anouk's school carnival (I've still got you, ring toss!) 
• "Mom, I think dad really wants to go to a petting zoo. Really bad. We should take him this weekend, OK? So he won't be sad." 
• "You're cuter than a thousand mud holes." - Anouk's new saying, I have no idea where she got it? 

We've been to the Virginia Aquarium approximately a million times, but somehow, we never quite make it over to the Marsh Pavilion. It's not in the same complex as the main building, it doesn't have seals (mine and Anne's favorite) or sharks (James's favorite). But by not visiting, we were making a big mistake. The Marsh Pavilion is pretty cool, and worthy of a visit in itself, and here are a few reasons why.

1. OTTERS. They roll, they tumble, they dive and play, they are just as cute as seals (maybe more?) Watching these little fellows glide through the water is entrancing, I could have watched all day.

2. Snakes! Lately, Anouk's big obsession is with snakes (don't ask me!) She swears she is going to be a herpetologist when she grows up, and thus needs to go look at and "study" snakes whenever possible. Turns out it is kind of hard to find a place to see lots of snakes in the HRVA region -- except at the Marsh Pavilion, where there were just enough slitery friends to keep her happy.

3. Aviary. The half-acre aviary features a raised path that allows you to walk through and get a close look at the 55 bird species that reside there. Including the great horned owl, Owlex, who is a popular aquarium resident and always fun to watch.

4. Adventure Park. The new adventure park (zip lines!) is located along Owl Creek at the Marsh Pavilion. It's only for ages 5 and up (and definitely not for preggos) so we didn't visit it on our last visit, but boy, does it look fun.

Speaking of Owl Creek, did you know that you can take the Owls Creek path from the Bay and Ocean Pavilion to the Marsh Pavilion? It's a 10 minute walk along the marsh and woods preserves that border the creek, with a 30-foot observation tower to climb for an aerial view. During the summer, activity carts are stationed along the trail for a more interactive experience.

Have you been to the Marsh Pavilion? What's your favorite thing to see there?

I got a few comments on Anne's birthday posts here and on Instagram regarding her super-awesome glitter birthday shirt and exactly two requests to share how I did it, and you know I aim to please my readers so... here goes. Anne was afraid that without a sort of outward sign, nobody would know that she was now four instead of three, so we decided to make a shirt using the trusty freezer paper stencil method. She also asked that it be glittery, which was a bit of a challenge because if you have a girl, you will know that glittery clothing -- especially DIY glittery clothing -- does not always keep its glitter after a few washes. But Anouk was adamant. So I headed out to the thrift store to pick up a blank tee and then sat down to research paints and then got to work.



You will need:

• Metallic fabric paint (we used Tulip Metallic in Gold) 
• Glitter acrylic paint  (Martha Stewart acrylic in Gold Glitter)
• Freezer paper
• X-acto knife
• iron
• foam brush

The how to:

Place a piece of cardboard or plastic inside the shirt to prevent the paint from going through the cloth. Prepare your stencil: draw your design onto the freezer paper so that the shiny side will be down against the fabric. Use the Xacto blade to cut out the stencil as carefully as possible. With a dry iron, iron the stencil to the fabric with the shiny side against the fabric. Pay special attention to the edges so that no paint seeps underneath.




With the foam brush, apply thin layers of metallic paint to the stencil until opaque (it took about four thin layers of paint, letting them dry in between). When that has dried, apply thin layers of glitter paint over top of the metallic paint (we did two layers). As soon as the final coat is almost dry, peel the stencil off -- I find if you wait until it's dry all the way, sometimes it gets a little stuck on.

(Aside: This is a great method to use to rescue clothing with stains on it -- I have a gray tee I love that has paint on it and I stenciled a giant glitter gold heart over top to make it look new again. Hooray!)

Anouk loves her birthday shirt and wants to wear it almost every day which means that I can safely report that after about 20 or so washes, the glitter is still holding up. Hooray again!