If you follow me on social media then there is a good chance you have seen me post about Younique’s Customer Kudos for this month. The August kudos is a bundle called the Defend Innocence collection.
Defend Innocence
Smoked ribs and watermelon salad
We love to smoke on the weekends. When I first shared this information with my friends they were really confused as to what type of smoking I was doing! So I clarify, we love to smoke MEAT on the weekends! Because smoking is time consuming we generally don’t smoke on week days unless we have a day off. Adam decided to smoke these lovely St. Louis style ribs with two different rubs. One half had the Charleston Pig Company rub, which we really like. Adam made a rub for the other half with brown sugar, onion salt, and cayenne pepper. We allowed the ribs to sit out to get to room temperature before placing in the smoker. I have a Brinkman charcoal smoker that my parents got me for my birthday a few years ago. Cause that’s what you do in a family of foodies, get each other foodie gifts! Adam used a combination of mesquite and peach woods to smoke these ribs. The ribs were in the smoker for about 4 hours after which Adam wrapped them in foil and let them rest in a cooler.
Gorjana Summer Sale
If you have noticed all of the beautiful gold tone jewelry I wear you have probably been admiring pieces by Gorjana. This is my absolute favorite jewelry designer. Gorjana creates simple and elegant designs that are ideal for layering, which explains their motto “live love layer”. I got my first couple pieces from Rocksbox (see below) and have since expanded my collection through Gorjana and Rocksbox sales.
I had to share with you that Gorjana is having their SUMMER SALE!
Corn salad
Good evening everyone! I wanted to do a quick post for you on a wonderful summertime dish that is a staple in the Fillman household. It is no surprise to you by now that I love recipes with simple, fresh ingredients. This time of year juicy peaches, tomatoes, and corn are at their peak. They really don’t need an accompaniment to be enjoyed but if you have some good olive oil, high quality cheese, or some sea salt they can all be enhanced.
I went to the farmer’s market today without a plan. If you’ve seen my excel spreadsheets you know it’s rare that I don’t have a plan. As soon as I pulled up and saw the sign advertising corn I knew what I’d be making tonight. I was able to pick up the rest of the ingredients while I was there: tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, and limes. This is another of those recipes that you can tweak. Don’t have cilantro? Use parsley. Don’t have lime? Use lemon. Scallions or shallots instead of onion. Don’t like tomatoes? Don’t use them! Even though you’re basically insane. Don’t you eat caprese? Ok, I’m sorry, I digress.
So anyway, I husked and boiled 6 ears of corn and then let them cool.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Roundup
Hey Guys! I just wanted to do a quick roundup for you on the Nordstrom Anniversary Early Access Sale! This is the best sale of the year and has new styles for the fall at great prices! The sale is open for cardholders now! You can apply for a store card and shop early even if you don’t have the card! The sale opens to the public on July 22nd. Prices don’t go back up until August 8th. So you have plenty of time to snag great items! I may even do some Christmas shopping.
I bought the “Lush Perfect Roll Tab Sleeve Tunic” in the photo above last year and it’s still available in 3 colors! The newer version “Lush V-neck Crepe Blouse” is also great and comes in 7 colors!
I decided to do a roundup for you for some of my favorites. I promise I didn’t buy them all! (wink wink)
TOPS
BOTTOMS
SHOES
ACCESSORIES
OUTERWEAR
Check it out and tell me what your favorites are! I’ll be sure to post my new items when they come!
Love always,
Chambray dress
Just a quick post for you guys tonight on this cute little dress because who out there doesn’t love chambray?! It’s so versatile and there are so many colors and weights of the fabric. It is also an easy way to wear something very similar to denim without the weight. This chambray dress is just as simple as throwing on your favorite pair of jeans and t-shirt but looks so much nicer! I wore this for a picnic on my parent’s farm. I like to wear something light in the summer to help host parties but also something that I won’t destroy when serving food or cleaning up dishes. This sundress was really comfortable and because the fabric is durable I didn’t have to be too careful. I paired it with some of my current favorite accessories, most are from Rocksbox (see below). And a big bonus is that we got to shoot on my parents beautiful property!
J.Crew Gingham
This is my new favorite outfit for the summer. If you haven’t seen me in these white J.Crew jeans yet you will; I’ve worn them 3 times in the past week. I ordered 3 other pairs of white jeans before I settled on these (thank goodness for Nordstrom’s free returns). The other pairs seemed to be too tight or too short but these were just right (I am wearing the 30″ inseam for reference). They gap a little at the waist on me so I may have been able to go down a size but I didn’t want to risk it given the style and color. In this size they are very comfortable and are not too clingy; I just have to pull them up every now and then. You all know how that goes.
Omelette – an easy weeknight meal
When I get home late on a weeknight I definitely do not want to spend the time making an in depth meal. One, because I’m usually starving (or hangry as we call it.) And two, because I don’t want to spend the remaining hours of my day slaving over a meal. The great thing about an omelette, or its cousins the frittata and quiche, is that you can use any ingredients you have on hand. We always have eggs and bacon so that’s where I started for this omelette.
LuLa-red, white, and blue
This weekend in the United States we will be celebrating Independence day. To me, this American holiday is a bit more light-hearted than Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day. Those holidays have much more meaning for me now that I have been around the military for a few years. The 4th of July, though, is always a great time to head home to my parents’ farm in PA. We have a big picnic with our closest friends and family and enjoy each other’s company, some good food, a few cocktails, and of course sparklers!
I thought this red, white, and blue LuLaRoe dress would be perfect for the 4th of July. If you’re not familiar with LuLaRoe then you should change that. The company was founded out of necessity for a single mother to be able to both support and care for her children. It seems as though she has accomplished much more than that for herself and hundreds of women. I’ll ask some of the LuLaRoe consultants I know to weigh in and will likely do another blog post just on that subject.
Palm print cami dress
Welcome to summer everyone! Summer is my favorite season for fashion. The clothes are light, airy, and generally less cumbersome, which means I can pack more when I travel! Also, I could pretty much live my entire life in Lilly Pulitzer for the summer but that’s a whole other topic. This little dress was a nice and inexpensive addition to my summer wardrobe. I imagine that if you saw my closet you’d wonder why I was buying new clothing at all! But I like to freshen up my wardrobe and having a few new pieces each season (or maybe each week) is fun.
I have seen a lot of adorable palm prints this year: tanks, rompers, dresses; but I hadn’t seen anything I absolutely loved. That may be in part because things were sold out or cost more than I wanted to invest for something I may only wear for one season. Enter Old Navy.