Road trips, Cake and House Boats

Morning friends! I am all sorts of scattered today as the kitchen is a disaster post birthday celebrations, clothes are waiting in the dryer (only the third time I've restarted it) and washer, and we haven't packed our bags for another wedding weekend in Raleigh. In case you missed it, I was just on this same road trip on Tuesday. An added bonus, Stephen and I both have to drive {keeping the gas industry alive} since my car needs to be worked on in Raleigh next week! Sigh...no pinning while hubby drives this time around! 

I had to share this labor of love birthday cake that I made for Stephen. I made it last year as well and he requested it again, so I think we are working on a tradition. It was in Martha Stewarts magazine last summer and I have to say it is delicious. Nothing is better than a cold slice of cake on a hot summer day, and add in chocolate chip cookies = perfect.

CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE BOX COOKIE CAKE

I break this cake down into a three day process. 

Day 1: Bake 8 dozen cookies

Day 2: Assemble the cake and let it sit overnight in the fridge

Day 3: Add whipped topping and chocolate shavings and serve! 

Ingredients

4 cups cold heavy cream

8 ounces mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon whiskey (optional)

8 dozen chocolate chip cookies (2 1/4 inches, baked until crisp)

Chocolate shavings, for garnish

Directions

Whisk 3 cups cream and the mascarpone in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar and whiskey. Whisk until medium-stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use (or up to 3 hours).

Arrange 9 cookies in a circle (with cookies touching) on a cake stand or a plate. Place 2 cookies in center. Carefully spread 1 cup cream mixture evenly over cookies, leaving a slight border. Repeat to form 7 more layers, ending with cookies (you'll have a few cookies left over). Refrigerate, lightly draped with plastic wrap, overnight.

Whisk remaining cup cream until soft peaks form. Spread over top of cake just before serving. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Here are a few shots of the cake along the way...sorry for the horribly embarrassing bad photos!

YUM!

Lastly, I am thrilled because I rented a house boat for Sunday night {part of the birthday present} and we get to stretch our weekend a little longer! We will be staying on an island and watching the sunset {perhaps a sunrise as well} and living it up house boat style! 

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What do you have planned? Y'all have a great weekend! xoxo.

Happy Birthday Hubby + Guest Post

Happy Birthday to my sweet, handsome and precious husband!! To a man that patiently loves me, and loves our sweet doggies to the moon and back...you deserve the best day today! I can't wait to celebrate today, and many more birthdays and wonderful moments with you. I love you!

And now for the guest post...today you can find me over at the adorable Simply Sarah sharing some of my summer faves! {Think drinks and beauty products} I had a blast putting it together so I hope you will check it out! Thanks for having me Sarah!

I've got some last minute birthday details to work on... y'all have a fabulous Thursday! xo.

Short Story

The heatwave is finally giving us a little relief, but I am still in full blown "stay as cool as possible" mode. What have I turned to lately? I am loving shorts. And I am loving the way these ladies styled them. They step it up a notch with heels or booties, a touch of glam jewelry...and look effortlessly put together. 

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I had a day trip to Raleigh yesterday and picked up a few pairs of these J.Crew Shorts, {on sale!} in navy and maroon. I think they will work well for casual looks going into fall when it is still as hot as it can be. Might even pair them with booties...stepping out of the box a little bit!

What are your tips for looking stylish in the heat of the summer?

xoxo.

Heatwave Happenings

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Goodness gracious it has been HOT here in the South ladies. Have you had the glorious heatwave as well? I haven't seriously styled my hair in almost a week. My husband had to sit under the ceiling fan and then take an ice cold shower Saturday afternoon because I'm pretty sure he almost had a heat stroke {stubborn men}. I went for a walk a few days ago and spent the entire afternoon drinking an unprecedented amount of water infused with Propel. I'm so over it. I love the summer, but honestly 100+ isn't cutting it anymore. This left me with no option but to find some things to do inside, which in reality were things that really needed to happen.

Among ironing duvet covers and pillow cases {sigh}, vacumning and sweeping sweating on the porch...I managed to accomplish a few things worth mentioning. On a TJ Maxx jaunt, I found a set of watercolors on clearance just screaming for me. Of course, I bought them. Inspired by summertime, I played around with some coral watercolors.

I framed the tiny watercolor print in an inexpensive frame from TJ. I also found the jars {seen on the left} with the cutout pattern. I have always loved these style jars and know they will work in my home for years to come. It was time to update the mantel with a fun summer look to enjoy the last half of the season.

Saturday night we fried up some goodness in the form of Grouper Bites. The husband {recovered from his heat stroke} fried these with a simple seafood breading. Ah-maze-ing.

A good part of Sunday afternoon was spent reorganizing our kitchen cabinets. We don't have a luxurious pantry or anything close so all of our food gets crammed in our cabinets, not to complain. After a while, things just get SO messy. My Mom had just purged the beach house pantry and had a few extra organizers that I took home.

Here is example one: 

And after adding a double decker carousel....

Not even sure how I functioned in that cabinet up until this point. I also organized our "baking" cabinet, and under our bar but I will spare you those photos because they aren't all that interesting.

Did I mention that throughout the day I made a homemade Spaghetti sauce? One of my favorite things to make although I don't do it too often. It makes a ton= enough for dinner and multiple frozen leftover containers.

My parents joined us for dinner, their last night on island time before heading back to Raleigh. I had to infuse some livelihood into the house, so I had some fun arranging Spider Mums. 

So tell me, what are you doing to keep cool these days? 

xoxo.

Fourth Recap

Happy Friday y'all! I have to say my week has been totally confusing with the holiday falling right in the middle of the week. Here we are again, gearing up for the weekend. Nope, I am not complaining! I mentioned in my last post our plans for the Fourth. We have a cookout on the waterfront and then watch the fireworks afterwards. Everyone is always in a such a fun mood and we always have a blast here! Major props to you ladies who had your recap up yesterday, things just don't work that quickly around here anymore! 

I made a bunting for the mantel last minute, DIY printable found here.

I made these Garlic Chicken Puffs to bring over to the party. Incredibly easy, and delish {lets be honest, anything with a crescent roll can't be too bad!} I stuck the flags in them for a little fun. They were so cute!

Prepping the BBQ. Call me biased but it is THE best I have ever had. He has secret sauce and all.

The star of the show!

I told you everyone is always in such a fun mood at this party. Here is example one. 

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

Excuse the nappy hair, humidity and wind are not my friends in the summer!

My sister also made these adorable and addicting cake pops, how presh are they? So patriotic for the 4th. We had a little too much fun eating them later but those pictures are not eligible for posting {lets just say, they are chocolate cake and the candy cover sticks to your teeth!} Too funny.

Ending the night watching fireworks over the water = perfect!

I hope you all had a fabulous time celebrating our wonderful country. We are so lucky!

Now, have a great weekend! xoxo.

Happy Fourth of July!

Country Home

The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday for so many reasons. For the last five years I have gotten to enjoy this day at the beach, soaking up America's beautiful scenery while with friends and family. The last two years, hubs has cooked a pig all day, which we bring to a huge cookout with friends on the waterfront and watch fireworks. Our neighborhood at the beach also hosts a parade in the afternoon and everyone goes all out decorating their cars, bikes, golf carts etc. Most importantly, I am proud of our country and wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world. What are your plans for the Fourth? Enjoy your holiday today! 

God Bless America.

Lazy Girl Fitness Inspiration

You might have seen this series floating around Pinterest. I saw it a few weeks ago and loved the brilliance of it. Especially since we are lounging and eating our way through the day at the beach for the third day in a row, and will continue to do so through the Fourth. It's amazing how quickly I can feel out of shape after a few days off!

So maybe I will do calf raises while I am brushing my teeth this morning...

And go into some side lunges....

And when I read the latest House Beautiful later, I will do some leg raises...

And add in a few standing push ups next time I'm in the kitchen...

 I'm sure my family won't mind if I lunge through the entire house today....

For more Lazy Girl Fitness, check out her blog here, especially if you want to hear about Microwave Abs and workin' it while you do that laundry.

Realistically, I think I will be able to fit this into my schedule. We are off for a day on the boat!

xoxo.