Traveling, pampering & eating

Now, you know that if a post title contains all three of those words, Patty is a happy camper! U-huh! We are leaving for the sunshine state tomorrow morning for some much-needed R&R, but I had to squeeze in one last sewing project.

Speaking of Marimekko, lookie, lookie what I made...



It's a travel pillow & matching eye mask! Made with their gorgeous Unikko stretch twill fabric.



As much as I want to keep them, these are a thank you gift for my mom for volunteering to keep my kids with them for 2 whole weeks while I get some stuff done back at home.



So, mami, if you read this before I see you... just act surprised, K? :)

I'm thinking as soon as I get back, I need to make myself a set. If anyone wants one, just let me know. I have some more of this fabric and I also have a couple yards of the Marimekko raspberry Kivet dots. YUM!

So, on to the pampering. This afternoon, while the last load was in the washer, Sophie & I headed out to get manis & pedis. What a treat! And a wonderful girlie bonding time.



Sophie is so happy with her new pink toenails & fingernails. She can't stop staring at them. And I'm pleased with my travel toes too... hmmm... did I just coin a new term? LOL! I usually get French or a neutral/nude color before traveling, but today I opted for something more cheery and fun. This is OPI's California Raspberry. And Sophie chose Holy Pink Pagoda! :)



Oh, and in case you were wondering... nope, I did not alter these photos. Sophie has really big feet for a 6 year old and I have incredibly small feet for a 37 year old. ;)

And finally on to the eating... my favorite part! Am I the only one who purges her fridge before a long trip or do you all do this too? Every time I go out of town for longer than a couple of days I have to make sure that we either eat or give away anything fresh/perishable (fruit, veggies, milk, bread, etc.) because I can't stand the thought of it going to waste while we're gone.

Today I riffled through the fridge for all said foods and dinner was born. I took all of our cherry tomatoes, halved them, threw them in a bowl, then chopped up all of our fresh basil, then marinated both in balsamic vinegar, olive oil & garlic salt and served them on a bed of fresh spinach. That took care of pretty much all the veggies we had left.



Then I boiled 2 lbs. of fresh shrimp and just served them "as-is" (peel & eat style) with some cocktail sauce on the side.



We had a ton of fruit to take care of too, so I decided to make a citrus punch with the oranges, lemons & limes and then made a pseudo-fruit-salad with the bananas & blueberries. Dinner was tasty, fresh & healthy and now I don't feel guilty about leaving all that food behind to spoil while we're spoiling ourselves.

So this is it! We're off to the sunshine state for a few days. I will try to check in here & there but for the most part I will be vegging out on my parents' backyard hammock. I hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day and weekend and I'll see you next week.