Friday Faves

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It’s finally here! The Friday of July 4th weekend! I could probably skip the coffee today and run solely on my excitement (Lies. I could never skip coffee).

BUT! I am EXTRA excited because I took off all of next week from work to relax, spend extra time with my boys, cook some recipes for the blog, and swimming/spending as much time as possible outside. This past week has been especially draining. Kieran, my poor bug, has been soooo sick! Ear infection, horrible cough, and a possible asthma diagnosis (fingers crossed that the wheezing the doc heard was only from his chest cold!). He’s on a couple meds and has to breath using a nebulizer mask a few times a day. Poor baby. On top of the emotional distress of having a sick child, none of us slept very well this week. I went to work on Wednesday on about 2 hours of sleep. SO, with my baby on the mend, this long weekend/vacation week could not have come at a better time. We all need it!

With all that said, I have some other (far less serious) concerns. I have so many fun things planned and I just hope that I remember to take time to relax and savor the moment. You see, I have a hard time relaxing. I really do. Sitting around idly (aka: relaxing) is out of my comfort zone. It’s hard for me! I am a busy bee and often have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish in a day. Staycations usually don’t involve too much relaxing…because I am still at home and that requires, well, the usual at-home things (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc). BUT! I am determined to take my Kindle poolside and just chill at least a handful of times. For my sanity. For my wellbeing.

Anywho. As you may have guessed, the food webs have basically exploded (as they usually do) with tons of fun things for your holiday weekend. Here are some of my favs:

These Melon Caprese Skewers are so genius! It’s one of those “how did I not think of that!?” things.

How freaking gorgeous is this London Fog French Toast with Sugared Blueberries?!? I want to live in those photos.

Hot dogs are something I eat like…twice a year? Maybe? And I am definitely having one this weekend. These Chicago Dogs look like the perfect way to start.

This Crispy Bacon Pasta Salad with Fresh Herbs looks so fab. I LOVE the idea of bacon and corn in a cold pasta salad. A fun twist on the traditional, for sure.

These Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are just the cutest. Also: I want to faceplant into that frosting. ASAP.

Burgers also BELONG on this weekend’s menu, and these Spicy Bacon Chicken Burgers with Ginger Jalapeño Relish are calling my name.

What’s more all-American than brownies?! I love this twist: Chocolate-Studded Coconut Oil Brownies! Definitely trying.

This Simple Summer Cheeseboard is just…beyond. So gorgeous.

These Salted Caramel Stuffed Nutella Chocolate Cups are basically my dessert dream. Two of my most favorite things combined in a gooey cup form! Loooove.

This Creamy Roasted Garlic, Chicken, and Bacon Farfalle Pasta made my mouth water as soon as I saw it. A must make! (side bar: I’ve decided that farfalle is one pasta I definitely don’t eat enough of. Going to remedy that soon)

 

This week, I shared this incredibly delish (but so easy!) No-Bake Chocolate Blackberry Tart and these super fun Ginger-Mint Watermelon Mojitos for the festivities this weekend. I have a bonus recipe I’ll be sharing tomorrow, too, and you definitely don’t want to miss it.

Happy Friday, friends! And happy holiday weekend! I hope it’s filled with tons of yummy food, fun, and fireworks!

XOXO.