A summer essential....

One thing I know I couldn't make it through the summer without is my Reef Slap flip flops, they may not be beautiful but they truly are like walking on clouds. I have put a lot of miles on these babies, they have been to many museums, the park, the beach and long walks with the family. Yeah I think I love them.

What is one of your summer essentials?

Stouffer's Gift Pack winners!

The winners are:

Issy of Swimming on Dry Land and Luckycat1818 luckycat1818@yahoo.com

Congratulations!

Oh the simple things...

Give a boy some water and goggles and it = FUN!!!

Michigan Cherry Chicken Salad

Did you know that Michigan represents about 75 percent of the tart cherries and 20 percent of the sweet cherries grown annually in the United States. Right now we are in the peak of our Cherry season and boy are they yummy! I love dried cherries in my oatmeal, in my cookies, I love cherry salsa but I especially love a Cherry Chicken Salad!

Cherry Chicken Salad:

2.5 ounces baby spring mix
2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced
1/4 cup dried cherries (and especially good with Michigan cherries!)
1/4 cup candied walnuts
4 Tbsp blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup Raspberry Vinaigrette (I know it is a cherry salad but I love it w/ Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing I like either Ken's Raspberry Vinaigrette or Newman's Vinaigrette)

Divide baby spring mixed lettuce between 2 plates. Top each plate with grilled chicken breast, dried cherries, walnuts, and blue cheese. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salads.

Bon Appetit!!!

One day he may kill me for this...

These goggles are just about the silliest things I have seen, and one day he will kill me for posting this. Will has been taking swimming lessons and we are still on the hunt for the "perfect" goggles, these didn't cut it but they did give us a good laugh.

New in the shop

Just a few new necklaces in the shop, all in fancy script font and the matching script number font is now available. I have been having a lot of fun creating pieces with the new matching number font, it is so fun and compliments the lowercase font so nicely. You can view the entire collection at Kristen's Custom Creations.

The Favorite Shirt

This is Will's favorite shirt and if he had his way he would wear it every single day. He especially likes to wear it for special occasions which doesn't always go over so well. I am sure he will be heartbroken when it is too small.

Do you have a favorite shirt too?

Giveaway: Stouffer's Gift Pack!

One thing I think is more important than anything else is eating dinner together as a family. As a kid we had dinner together as a family almost every night and this is something we do in our household too. I am pleased to bring you a giveaway sponsored by Stouffer's!

Stouffer's would like to help families get closer through regular family dinners too and is offering 2 of my readers a coupon for a free family-sized dinner from Stouffer’s, a Family Dinner Box of Questions to get the kids talking and the limited-edition “Let’s Fix Dinner” book by award-winning artist and author Todd Parr.
Stouffer's is also donating 100 percent of the net proceeds of each book purchased to Habitat for Humanity for the Let's Fix Dinner book, the books are currently on pre-order and will be shipped out in August.



To enter:

Leave a comment that you would like to win (yes that simple)

Extra entries: (please leave a comment for each extra entry)

Follow my blog 2 extra entries

Tweet about this giveaways 2 extra entries (can be done daily)

Contest is open to the US only and will close on July 27th at 11:59 PM. Please leave a valid email address if you do not have a blog that links back to you. Once the winner is selected you will have 48 hours to claim your prize otherwise a new winner will be chosen. I received the very same gift set from Stouffer's. Good luck!

My favorite spot and YUMMY Blueberry Muffins...

I made these yummy Blueberry Muffins, from The Pioneer Woman's site. They are super easy to make and a crowd pleaser. I like to eat them at my favorite spot and of course with a cup of coffee.

Do you have a favorite spot?

What'cha reading?

Sadly I have to admit that I haven't read one adult book this summer, but hey the summer isn't over yet. We have been reading with Will the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and we are quite enjoying them.

So tell me what is the best book you have read this summer? I am looking for that blockbuster hit that I won't be able to put down.

Summer fun...

Over the weekend we visited The Henry Ford and it was HOT, and if I had known how refreshing Will's spray fan was going to be I would have let him get it when we got there not when we left. The boy was right it really was refreshing. I never have quite understood why someone would like stilts.... am I missing something?

Patience.....

Patience:
The capacity for calmly enduring difficult situations.
2. the ability to wait calmly for something to happen without complaining or giving up.

I designed the "Patience" necklace for those trying to conceive. As someone who had great challenges becoming pregnant this piece is near and dear to me. Both of these pieces have a rose quartz dangle charm, it is believed that Rose quartz is a bead of love and fertility. It is said to help promote pregnancy and to protect the mother and unborn fetus from miscarriage. Both necklaces are available in my shop Kristen's Custom Creations.

But now that Will is 4.5 this serves as a reminder that I need to be more patient, he is still learning and things just take time.

Are you a patient person?

I better start loving this....

I am thinking if I don't want to spend my summer weekends alone I better start enjoying going to Mustang car shows, since the older Will gets the more he enjoys going to car shows. This weekend we went to a Mustang car show and after about 5 minutes I was really bored it must be how John feels when I drag him to the mall.

Happy Birthday Old Man, (Daddy)!!

I can call him old man since he is 1 year older than me. Birthdays are a big deal in our house and we tend to celebrate them for a few days. We have some fun things planned this weekend dinner out and a car show (his choice). I hope you enjoy your special day even though you have to work!

So tell how do you celebrate Birthdays for your loved ones?

Cousins.....

Will and his big Cousin Owen. These two boys thoroughly enjoy their time together even though they sometimes fight like brothers! Growing up I never had a cousin around my age to play with so I think these boys are very lucky!

Thank Goodness for...

Air conditioning and swimming in the lake. What a hot 4th of July. We spent it either in the lake or in air conditioning. We had a restful weekend and hope you did too!

Is is HOT in your neck of the woods?

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing all a safe and Happy 4th of July!

Eclipse: Have you seen it yet???

Have you seen it yet, I haven't but plan to. I will say I am getting a little tired of all the hype of the Twilight Saga, even Burger King is offering Twilight prizes in their Kid's meals, where next will we see Twilight Saga merchandise? But I will say Go Team Edward!

There's A New Sheriff in Town.....

Have you seen Toy Story 3 yet? We saw it last week in 3D. I especially loved the Barbie and Ken scenes!