I love little twinkly lights hanging from trees and umbrellas at night! It makes the setting feel more magical and the moment a little bit more special. And isn’t it amazing how good everyone looks by the glow of the light?? Extra bonus!
Now the question is: how long can we sit outside without mosquitoes bugging us to go back in?
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I can totally see the situation in my minds eye: you just spent the day at the beach with your book, watermelon and frisbee. Every once in a while you dip into the water only to return to the dry sand. Only problem is, the sand clings to your feet like a second layer of skin. Which in itself is not so bad – until you get home. Why is it that sand has the sneaky ability to end up EVERYWHERE?? In your hair, clothes, basket, in your book!
I have the perfect solution to your sand problem:
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Outdoor showers!!
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I know these are what dreams are made of (and I won’t be getting an outdoor shower). But a girl can still daydream, right?!
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There is something very therapeutic about washing the beach off your body at the end of the day. You feel warm from the sun, and the sand exfoliates your feet….
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And afterwards you feel so refreshed and energized! Now you can put on a fresh change of clothes, chop veggies for a fresh salad, throw something on the barbecue and bask in the glory of the wonderful day spent outside as the night slowly draws to a sleepy end.
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Sigh! Maybe some day…
Hey friends!
Today I am in Tofino, BC. to learn to surf.
Well, I say learn because I have never surfed before… and if I can just get up on my board or even on my knees I will be happy. Otherwise I can just ride on my belly like this dude:
…because THIS is not going to happen:
Tofino doesn’t have huge waves like that anyways 
But THIS I can do! Walking around with a board while the sun sets. Aaah the life of a surfer!
I am away on vacation this week. But don’t you worry – I have scheduled summery posts for every day this week. I hope they inspire you to to get out an enjoy the warm and lazy months of the year!
It’s that time of year again when berries are everywhere in abundance (and often also on sale – yay!). Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries…. and I am determined to get all the anti-oxidants and vitamins that I can get! Even if it is in the form of dessert.
These berry ice cream sandwiches are the lazy housewife version of fancy desserts. They have a little bit of attitude and fanciness, but are really dead easy to make.
I guess you could make the cookies and ice cream yourself (some people do that kind of stuff you know!), but in an effort to minimize kitchen-time and maximize backyard-time I used store bought cookies and put the desserts together in a flash.
These ice cream sandwiches are not messy at all. I ate TWO myself just to make sure of that. I guess someone’s gotta do all the research around here Word of warning though if you want to photograph it on a hot July afternoon – you only have a few minutes to work with before it starts looking like this yummy and melty mess:
Wanna give it a shot and make your own?? This is what you will need:
Since a treat is supposed to be just that (and not an every day thing), I say go with whole cream ice cream. It is so worth it! As for the raspberries, feel free to play with the recipe and sub in your favourite fruit, or whatever fruit you have in your fruit basket that need to be used up. I used frozen mixed berries for the puree and just warmed it up in the microwave for a minute.
For assembly, simply layer the cookies, little ice cream balls and puree and top it off with fresh berries. Do you think it is possible to make a triple decker?
Enjoy the berries while they last! It’s pie season soon enough…
Happy Friday!
Do you have some fun plans for the weekend? I hope you get some relaxin’ in there somewhere!
One of my biggest goals for this summer was to slow down a little bit. Not planning too much for my days, not over committing myself, slowing down my pace (sometimes to a crawl), because quite honestly – I really need that! I have been plugging through at a hectic pace for the last few years and was hoping if I slowed down a bit I would be able to gain a new perspective and re-evaluate a few things.
One of my favourite places to relax is in my parents’ backyard – I think I have to plant myself there a few more times before the cold weather forces us to huddle together inside!
One of the reasons why this spot is one of my very favourite escapes from the big and busy world is this awesome little structure! We have had a rough time naming it, but eventually settled on “hut” and “shack”.
The hut is a magical place – just look at it!
My brother designed the hut and then built it with the help of the other males in the family. You see that ledge that goes all around the seating area? Perfect for putting your coffee cup, wine glass or cheese plate! The ledge also makes for extra seating, as we have crammed a crazy number of people into the hut.
Element number two that lends to the greatness of the hut is the candles! My uncle made the chandelier that is hanging in the ceiling – and the ledge has plenty of room for various candles and lanterns! At night, when the candles are lit the whole hut has a magical glow to it as the light flickers against the cedar wood. Mmmm I can already smell cigars and feel the light blanket over my knees on a brisk fall night!
My mom changes up the cushions every few years by re-upholstering them with new fabric (this specific fabric is from Ikea – am I right, mom?).
This backyard is such a great example of how you can create something from nothing. 6 Years ago this was a brand new neighbourhood – no grass, no fences, nothing! Don’t you think they have created a great little oasis for themselves?
It makes me think of all the things I still want to do to my own backyard – but for now I’m gonna take a seat with my new book (Anthony Bordain’s “Kitchen Confidential) and fully embrace ‘slowing down’.
Have a fabulously relaxing weekend! Take good care of yourself!
Another day, another mood, another welcome party at my front door! Different moods and different seasons call for different looks, and even though I have a certain ‘style’ that I like, I love to mix things up.
It is no secret that I am a huge fan of green (it is probably at this point a very strong contender for my favourite colour, thereby pushing orange into the runner-up position)!
This little vignette in my front entrance is green in more ways than one! I have been collecting all the green glass bottles that I could get my hands on for the last while.
Reusing old bottles is such a green way to display your greens! And the bottles are green glass to boot.
I may have had lunch with a friend and asked her at the end of the meal if I could have her Perrier bottle and then promptly stuffed the empty little bottle into my purse!
There may also have been some dumpster diving to retrieve a nice Jagermeister bottle. And do you recognize the little green bottles from this post?
I wish I could say that I picked these flowers from my very own garden, but I got them at our corner store. Maybe next year, right? This is our first full summer in our house and despite all my grand ambitions I have not yet planted anything new and have instead been working with what we already had.
I can picture a whole flowerbed of these beauties in my backyard and would love to wander out there every few days to fill some bud vases.
But until then, I support local shops and delight in pretty flowers in my double green vases!
Some like it hot – and I definitely do! I have always been a big fan of adding some spice to food (although I don’t like adding too much because the meal still needs to be enjoyable!). Just think of it as added flavour! A bottle of Frank’s Red Hot or Tabasco is a staple on our dinner table.
I also have a fierce love of mojitos. Imagine my delight when we sat down for dinner at a restaurant in Cape Town in March and I saw Spicy Mojitos on the menu!! For realz! It was one of those moments when you just slam the menu shut because you know exactly what you are going to order and you know for certain that there cannot be anything else on the menu that would make you change your mind!
I put these refreshingly spicy (??) drinks in the back of my mind and decided to make them this week since it has been unbearably hot outside!
They are not much different from basic mojitos, with the only additional ingredient being red hot chili peppers. The part that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE about these mojitos is that they are still extremely refreshing, but the aftertaste has a bit of a kick to it. It kinda wakes up your mouth a little bit while still hydrating and cooling you down!
Wanna give them a shot?
You will also need one of these awesome mojito muddlers. I know – a utensil specifically for making mojitos! You may recognize it from Revel’s blog header (in a picture taken at our wedding). Of course, if you don’t have a muddler you can use a wooden spoon too!
Throw the mint, sugar and limes into your glas and use the muddler to, well…. muddle it together. It will get nice and juicy from the limes. As far as measurements go I say go on personal taste and preference!
Next you can pour in the white rum and top up with club soda and ice.
Ok, time to add the heat! These little chili peppers pack a lot of it! I cut up only one chili pepper and split it between two mojitos. You can do even less if you want. Remember, it is the pepper flakes that carry the bulk of the heat. Oh, and wash your hands right after cutting the pepper, because you will not want to accidentally touch your eyes, nose or mouth with our hands (as I learned a few years ago – Yikes!)
For the last step I just added a couple of extra chili peppers (NOT cut) and slices of lime for garnish to make it look pretty – because I’m into pretty
I have to say here that I know know not everyone is a fan of spice. Well, rest assured because you bunch of weirdos can easily make these mojitos without the chili peppers. Was that too harsh? Im sorry – it’s HOT out! You can even make mojitos without alcohol too if you so fancy! It will still be wonderfully refreshing!
How about you – can you handle some heat? What other mojitos have you had? I had a lovely mango mojito in New York and I may just have to try making those next!
