June has been such a fun month. It definitely felt like summer all month, so thank goodness for sprinklers and slip and slides. June also meant our summer vacation, a road trip to Dallas for a Texas Rangers game. I’ll share more about our exploration of the city in an upcoming recap post. Here are a few favorites from the month of June.
Favorite dinner – Skillet Chicken Suiza from Bev Cooks. This meal was a bit more labor-intensive than I prefer for summer dinners (meaning: I had to pull out the food processor), but the flavorful sauce was worth the effort. We eat a lot of Mexican-style dishes at our house, and I loved this one for something a bit different.
Favorite breakfast – Banana Bread from Everyday Reading. Banana bread is always a classic and a crowd-pleaser, and we really liked this recipe.
Favorite dessert – No Churn Chocolate Cookies and Cream Ice Cream from Bakerella. I have an ice cream maker attachment for my stand mixer, but it’s kind of a pain to use, so I appreciate a good no-churn recipe. This one was so rich and chocolaty, and Jona enthusiastically helped me both make and eat it.
Favorite podcast episode – The Lazy Genius Yard Sale. I don’t think we’re going to get around to having a garage sale this summer, but when we finally do I will be re-listening to this helpful, practical guide.
Favorite book – An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. I waited a looooong time to get this one from my library, but it was worth the wait. Tayari Jones managed to pack so much into this compelling, couldn’t-put-it-down novel that it kind of blew my mind.
Favorite children’s book – Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. I remember reading and loving this one as a child, so I picked up the audio version to take with us on our roadtrip to Dallas. It was a huge hit, we were all cracking up listening to the goofy stories. Jona kept asking for it throughout the trip, and it definitely made the long car ride bearable for him. (Unfortunately, Violet was not as easily pleased.)
Favorite post on Shea Lennon – How to Dress Comfortably in the Summer. I can’t seem to get enough of the dusty blue + blush pink color combination right now and this look is one of my favorite ways to wear it.
Favorite new blog to follow – The Hungry Bookworm. I have been loving this new-to-me blog that brings together two of my favorite things in life: books and food.
Favorite wardrobe addition – striped shorts from Loft. With highs reaching 100 degrees every day we were in Dallas, cute but comfortable shorts were a necessity for our trip. I love this pair and felt comfortable and still “me” in this pair I picked up earlier this month. See how I style them in this post.
Favorite travel – our trip to Dallas! I’ll be sure to share more in an upcoming recap post.
Favorite local outing – Old Shawnee Days. I love local fairs and festivals, and we had a blast at this local one in the nearby city where we used to live. (We now live in a different city, but both are suburbs of Kansas City.)
Favorite kid date – evening storytime at the library. Our library offers an evening storytime once a week aimed at kids aged 3 to 5. I’ve been taking Jona whenever I can and he loves it. Plus it gives him a chance to pick out his own library books, which he loves to do.
Favorite milestone – Violet’s nonstop talking. She’s been saying words for quite some time now, but this month she’s been putting 2-3 words together to make semi-sentences. I swear, every day she says something new or says a word I didn’t know she knew. Her favorite words right now are “o-KAY” and “al-RIGHT!” and “heavy!” Oh, and she somehow picked up “beer” and she thinks it’s hilarious to say “I want beer!” and she just gets this grin on her face because she knows we will laugh. #parentsoftheyear
What were your favorites this month?
