Fresh berries. 3 tablespoons chia seeds. Maple syrup to sweeten. Cook down and stir for about 15 minutes. Fresh jam.
File this under the easiest thing to come out of my kitchen ever.
I love summer.
The Bouqs
I love flowers and, for as long as I can remember, I have made a point to pick up a fresh bouquet every week or two. It’s the simplest thing I can think of to brighten up a room or a mood. The same goes for when I need to send a gift- flowers are always the first thing I think of but if I am not familiar with a florist in the area and online deals end up being a bajillion times more expensive than advertised (looking at you, FTD), I end up going with a Plan B.
Enter The Bouqs, an online flower company that ships gorgeous bouquets for the flat rate of $40. When I first heard of The Bouqs, the whole eco-friendly, grown on the side of an active volcano thing, while super cool, didn’t entirely lure me…I just wanted to know 1) was this really going to cost $40? 2) travelling from such a distance, would they still be alive? 3) would they look remotely like the photos on the website?
Answer? Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
My flowers arrived packaged within an inch of their life, gorgeous, bright and 6 days later, they are still going strong. AND it really was only $40 for everything- flowers, shipping, volcano transport, whatever. Awesome. And there’s a feature where you can set up flowers to be sent based on special occasion (if tend to forget birthdays or like to plan ahead) or every week/month if you want to get someone used to being treated to blooms all the time. I bring my grandma flowers every time I see her but as that isn’t as often as I like, Hazel might find herself enrolled in the monthly plan…
Check out The Bouq’s here and use the code WELCOME15 for 15% off your order.
This post has been done in partnership with The Bouq’s but all opinions and experiences are entirely mine.
One Month
It’s been a month since Ryan and I got married and said our sacred vows in front of the housekeeper.
Yep.
Our ceremony was beautiful and in this beautiful chapel downtown that just takes my breath away. Our officiant was a lovely woman who tended to forget things. Like our marriage certificate. And having us say the vows we wrote.
The morning of our wedding, we went for a swim and to the spa at The Langham for a little down time. I can’t say enough how important this was- we started the day calm, relaxed, and together. I sat in a heated chair reading Vanity Fair for 30 minutes. Amazing. So when the things that inevitably come up, came up (late flowers, hair taking longer than planned), there was no stress or drama around my reaction- it was what it was and would be fine. Which it will be. Always.
We were in our suite preparing to go our separate ways when Ryan got nervous about the vows and requested we go over them. So we recited our vows to each other while wearing hotel robes, barefoot, and while the super sweet housekeeper was straightening up the room for the day. She came out from the bedroom to this scene, the only time I cried all day, and exclaimed “you two are so cute!”. An unexpected moment but one I will remember for all of my days.
So those were our self-written wedding vows. To have and to hold and to support golf hobbies and green juice and morning walks and never forgetting that loving each other is the very best thing we do. They never saw the inside of that chapel and a month later, I still wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve never done perfection well but love…we’ve got that one down.
Link Love
I love Lindsay Letters and her beautiful, inspiring prints…and her Christmas shop is on sale through the end of the month. The “Oh Holy Night” canvas will finally be mine!
Champagne, sailing and beautiful weather in store this weekend- A Shore Thing is the only thing that could get me to Navy Pier.
Sheffield Garden Walk is always my favorite summer fest and it has two stages this year!
Speaking of summer festivals, this is the time when I realize summer is half over and I have yet to make a picnic and head to Millennium Park. Time is ticking for the Grant Park Music Festival.
And on that picnic, I will bring this Summer Peach and Balsamic Pizza. Yum.
30 career moves to make by the time you are 30 from The Everygirl.
Sometimes I wish that someone could just bring me ice cream the second I want it. Today, Uber will do just that, 11-5pm in select cities, ice cream to your door.
Happy Friday!
(Mug via the Shauna Shop at Lindsay Letters)
The Time the Cubs Won A Game
The day before our wedding, we took all of our guests to a Cubs game. Part of why we had such an intimate wedding was so we could do things like that- we love our city and giving our guests a full Chicago experience was high on our priority list!
After a some bloody Mary’s and sangria at our condo, our party o’30 walked over to Wrigley and settled in for what turned out to be an awesome game. Home runs! Bases loaded! Actual points being scored! Cubs win!
It’s safe to say that I have not been to many games like that.
I was going through the last bag of wedding things this evening when I found the above newspaper clipping. My parents saved the paper from our wedding day that had the Cubs score on it. Such a momento, for so many reasons.
Sigh. Family love.
Chicago love.
Cubs love.
A Bowl Full of Cherries
I don’t know what the phrase “life is like a bowl full of cherries” really means but this past Saturday had a bowl full of cherries in it and it was lovely so I have to think it means good things. I watched Forget Paris and mindlessly pitted cherries and was left with the best problem: what do I do with this beautiful bowl of summer?
Answer:
Overwhelming Kindness
Last night, I sat down to reread through the cards we received from the wedding. I don’t know if it’s that days are usually filled with spam email, catalogues and bills in the mail and other forms of unwanted communication but looking at these cards that had the sole purpose of wishing us well on our wedding day and in our marriage was overwhelming. And so, so kind. These gorgeous roses? From a dear old friend from high school. Unbelievable. Wonderful.
People overwhelmed me with their kindness. I still can’t believe it and I am grateful x1000.
The Best Kind of Mornings
A 7:30am “Are you up?” text that leads to a Saturday morning coffee date with one of your best friends to look at honeymoon photos and catch up, all while a torrential downpour is raging outside…these are the best kind of mornings.
Link Love
This edition of link love is primarily good focused because coming home from the honeymoon and getting back to “normal” food has been brutal. I am literally dreaming at night about caprese.
Speaking of caprese, this caramelized peach caprese with smoked sea salt is happening this weekend. But with the hibiscus salt we picked up in Rome. Yum.
And speaking of peaches…bourbon peach Popsicles. Yes. Boozy and summery and refreshing- a trifecta if there ever was one.
Smitten Kitchen won the internet when the recipe for Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches was posted.
Now that The Negroni is the official cocktail of our summer, I looked up it’s history. Good one, Count Camillo.
We were spoiled silly at The Langham for our wedding so we weren’t surprised to see they were recently named the 6th best hotel in the world by Travel & Leisure Magazine. Well deserved!
Cherries are on sale tomorrow at Whole Foods so that means we’ll be making brandied cherries for old fashioneds and maybe this cherry crisp with chia and dates for good measure. Cherries for everyone!
Happy (almost) Friday, all!