point pleasant beach: part one

over the weekend, we took a trip to point pleasant beach to celebrate our anniversary.  we love point pleasant because it is such a clean beach with an awesome boardwalk.  there are so many great restaurants in the area too.  while we were there, we swam in the ocean every day, walked everywhere instead of driving, got totally beat up by the waves, swallowed way to much salt water, strolled up and down the boardwalk, sampled some salt water taffy, got a bit sunburned, saw sting rays in the ocean, ate a ton of seafood, and watched fireworks on the beach at night.

it was a nice little weekend getaway, and we really had such a great time!

love, laurie

have a great weekend!

it's friday!  this weekend, we are looking forward to continuing our anniversary celebration by taking a little trip to the beach.  i'm looking forward to sticking my toes in the sand, enjoying the warm sun, and watching fireworks while sitting on the beach at night!

happy weekend!

love, laurie

celebrating two years

last night after work, we celebrated our anniversary by having dinner at the same place where we were married two years ago.  it was so nice to be back at the exact location where we said "i do" and where we celebrated our marriage with our family and friends.  that location will forever be such a special spot for us.  we really enjoyed sitting and talking together over dinner about the past two years of our marriage.  and of course, we really enjoyed the food too!  (i had veal with mushrooms, mozzarella, and creamy risotto, and ryan had lobster, shrimp, scallops, and haddock over rice.)

for dessert, we placed a special order for the same cake that we had at our wedding (harvest spice cake with pumpkin mousse filling, covered in whipped cream frosting).  it was absolutely delicious, and brought back so many good memories of our wedding.

here's to two years of wedded bliss, and many many more to come!

love, laurie

two years!

dear husband,

happy two year wedding anniversary to us today!  

i can hardly believe that we have been married for two years 

(and that we have been together for eight years now) 

. . . sometimes it seems like so much longer.  

i am incredibly blessed to have you in my life,

and i am so very grateful for all of your love and support.

i look forward to spending the rest of forever with you.

i love you more than words can say.

happy anniversary!

love, laurie

xoxo

summer salad with strawberries, feta, pecans, and poppy seeds

in the summertime, meals should involve fresh ingredients and very little effort.  so, salads that do not require standing in front of a hot stove are perfect.  one of my all time favorite salad combinations has to be strawberries, feta cheese, pecans, and poppy seeds, over a bed of romaine lettuce.  it is so simple, yet so refreshing.

we have made this salad several times in the past week because we just can't seem to get enough of it.  we have been packaging it up in to-go containers and taking it to work for our lunches too.

we topped our salads with this raspberry balsamic vinaigrette.  the flavor of the raspberry balsamic dressing compliments this salad perfectly.  plus, it is all natural and has only five calories per teaspoon!

summer salad with strawberries, feta, pecans, and poppy seeds

prep time: 5 minutes

yields: 2 servings

ingredients:

4-5 cups romaine lettuce

1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup pecan halves

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

directions:

rinse the lettuce, then dry it with a salad spinner to remove all excess water.  in a large bowl, toss the lettuce, strawberries, feta cheese, pecans, and poppy seeds.  plate the salad and top with your favorite salad dressing.    

enjoy!

love, laurie

our saturday bbq lunch date

on saturday, we had quite a bit of time to kill while my car was being serviced at the car dealership.  so while we waited, we decided to try a new bbq restaurant for lunch.  i thought it was pretty cool that the restaurant gave us a bowl of pickles and peppers before our meal instead of a basket of rolls or bread.  we both ordered bbq pulled pork sandwiches with fries and coleslaw.  the portions were huge, and everything was so good!  (you really can never go wrong with pulled pork in my opinion.)

in other news, yesterday my parents came home from their vacation.  i'm happy that they made it back safe and sound.  i missed them during the past week, and it was weird not being able to talk to them while they were gone.  (they didn't have cell phone reception.)  so, i am really excited to see them soon and to see all of the amazing pictures that they took while they were on their trip.

hope everyone had a great weekend!

love, laurie

happy friday!

this silly little guy loves to sit in my big yellow pasta bowl whenever i leave it out on the dining room table.  the problem is, he doesn't quite fit in it as well as he once did.  silly kitten!

here's something fun for your friday . . . google the word "askew" and see what happens.  very clever, google.  

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

a little ice cream date . . .

. . . believe it or not, that was the "small" size!

caprese salad skewers

caprese salad is my all time favorite italian salad.  even though there are so many different variations of caprese salad, i always come back to the traditional: tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese, covered in minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.  so simple, yet so good.

to change things up a bit, i decided to serve my favorite italian salad on skewers.  this fun twist on a traditional favorite is great for a picnic or a dinner party.  drizzled in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, these caprese salad skewers are sure to be a hit at your next gathering!

caprese salad skewers
yields: 6 skewers

ingredients:
3-4 vine ripened tomatoes
12 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese
25-30 fresh basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
balsamic vinegar (for drizzling)

directions:
cut the tomatoes and the mozzarella cheese into 1 inch cubes.  skewer the tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil.  drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.    

note: this recipe can also be made with cherry tomatoes.

enjoy!

love, laurie

oh, happy day!

back in may, my sweet friend kelly gave me an amazon gift card as a graduation present.  i was so excited, because i knew exactly what i wanted to buy with the gift card . . . emily schuman's new book and joy wilson's new book!  i have been a long-time fan of both emily's blog and joy's blog, so i was beyond thrilled to get my hands on their new books.

when i got home from work yesterday, i saw that my package from amazon arrived in the mail with both books in it.  needless to say, i am a very happy girl!  i started thumbing through the books last night, and i can't wait to read them and to try some of those amazing recipes!

love, laurie