Happy Friday, almost July, and four-day-weekend eve! Wahoo! Here's what I've been loving this week:
1.
Smoothie Bowls! My favorite way to sneak in some veggies (spinach) and protein (almond or cashew butter) into Parker's diet (and also a fun way to get Patriotic with red, white, and blue!). Parker also loves helping to make the smoothie bowls, adding all the ingredients to the food processor and pressing the "on" button - if you have a little one, these are a great way to get them involved in the kitchen. I give Parker his bowl plain because little man loves to put the toppings on all by himself. I can't blame him, adding the toppings is the best part! Find my favorite smoothie bowl recipes here :)
2.
My PSA for the week: these gorgeous postage stamps can be found at your local USPS. I do believe they're the prettiest, poshest stamps I've ever seen.
3.
Our basil is going crazy! This is the first year we've had our garden fenced off, and I'm so happy that the chipmunks aren't eating all the basil! The rest of our garden is a bit slow-going this year - we are practicing our patience waiting for our cherry tomatoes to ripen :)
4.
5.
I've been on a suspense/thriller kick lately with my reading...
My favorite read of the year was Behind Closed Doors
. It's a completely twisted story and unlike anything I've ever read. It's about a newlywed couple living in a new town, but that's about as much as I can say without giving out any spoilers ;)
Smoothie Bowls! My favorite way to sneak in some veggies (spinach) and protein (almond or cashew butter) into Parker's diet (and also a fun way to get Patriotic with red, white, and blue!). Parker also loves helping to make the smoothie bowls, adding all the ingredients to the food processor and pressing the "on" button - if you have a little one, these are a great way to get them involved in the kitchen. I give Parker his bowl plain because little man loves to put the toppings on all by himself. I can't blame him, adding the toppings is the best part! Find my favorite smoothie bowl recipes here :)
My PSA for the week: these gorgeous postage stamps can be found at your local USPS. I do believe they're the prettiest, poshest stamps I've ever seen.
3.
Our basil is going crazy! This is the first year we've had our garden fenced off, and I'm so happy that the chipmunks aren't eating all the basil! The rest of our garden is a bit slow-going this year - we are practicing our patience waiting for our cherry tomatoes to ripen :)
4.
At age four, I think Parker is finally transitioning out of naps. We still try a nap every day (and he still insists on changing into pajams). Most days he just rests for a bit, but some days he'll sleep for a solid three hours (usually when we have plans that afternoon meaning I have to wake him up, ha!). Be still my heart - is there anything sweeter than a sleeping child? On a side note, the sleeping photo (and most of the photos above) are with my beloved 50mm 1.2 lens (best birthday present ever). I've been trying to use our Canon 5d more often - it takes just the best photographs! And the 50mm 1.2 is definitely my jam. If I had to use just one lens forever and ever, this would be it!
5.
I've been on a suspense/thriller kick lately with my reading...
My favorite read of the year was Behind Closed Doors
. It's a completely twisted story and unlike anything I've ever read. It's about a newlywed couple living in a new town, but that's about as much as I can say without giving out any spoilers ;)
I also picked up Into the Water
, the second (and new) release from Paula Hawkins (author of The Girl on the Train
, which I enjoyed). Unfortunately, I feel Paula Hawkins fell into the "sophomore slump" with this one. It read like she was trying too hard. Each chapter was from the point of view of a different person, and I'm not lying when I say there were more than a dozen different characters narrating. It made keeping track of who was telling the story a bit arduous, and I kept wondering while reading how anyone could possibly listen to the audio version and remember who was narrating. The actual story followed the Gone Girl style of going back and forth in time and included lots of twists (down to the very last page), but overall I'd give it three out of five stars (with Gone Girl of course earning five out of five).
I recently discovered Mary Kubica, who fits the Gone Girl style of writing as well. I'd give her book The Good Girl
a solid four out of five stars. The book was about an abduction gone wrong, going back and forth in time to finally let the story unfold.
After all the suspenseful reading, I had to kick back with fun, light hearted, fivolous, hilarious Kevin Kwan. His new release, Rich People Problems
, is the perfect summer read. Kwan's first book, Crazy Rich Asians
, follows New Yorker Rachel Chu and her trip to meet her boyfriend's Singaporean family for the first time. She assumed he came from a humble background, but what awaited in Singapore was nothing short of a palace complete with private planes, and a family that was equal to Singaporean royalty. The shenanigans that ensue with the various family members (jet setting weekends, couture shopping sprees, and real estate absurdness) are very US Weekly and Vogue magazine inspired. Rich People Problems is the third installment, and I think my favorite! Kwan must have definitely spent some time in California as well, because my heart would smile with every Bay Area (Stanford, Palo Alto) or UC Santa Barbara reference!
cookbook. I purchased the book a couple years ago after visiting a Jeni's scoop shop for the first time (and declaring it the best ice cream ever). I had a renewed interest this year after husby asked for homemade ice cream for Father's Day, and now I'm determined to work my way through the entire book (well, save for some of the more "out there" flavors like celery and gouda). I'm all for the semi-wacky though: Beet Orange Poppy Seed, Star Anise and Lavender are all on my radar! The recipes do take a fair amount of work (and some require what seems like a million steps), but oh my word, I can't believe I'm making ice cream this good at home. If you have an 
