Summer is creeping up on us very quickly. Are you ready?

With summer right around the corner, (although most people signify Memorial Day as the start of the summer) it's time to start planning all those fun trips and adventures. This year I have decided to make a small bucket list of sorts, of all the things I want to do.

What do you all have planned this summer? Anything special? I know out of all the things I have on my list, Glamping with my girlfriends and renting a cabin for a romantic weekend with my love is on top of my list! Tell me your list in the comments!

Hey guys! I am currently away and having a blast up in Maine with my love so, Trish over at Beyond the Khaki Pant was ever so kind to stand in. You can't get one Trish, you get another! I am so excited to have her here today! One of my favorite topics is doing things on a budget and Trish sure delivers some great tips today! Enjoy and see you back here on FRIDAY!

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Title: Date Night Ideas on a Budget|| Trish @ Beyond the Khaki Pants

9 Date Night Ideas on a Budget

Trish www.beyondthekhakipants.com

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One last thing before I go.. Over the past 4 days I have been co-hosting the Blog Staycation 2014 with some great ladies. I am out of town and did not get a chance to write up my experience yet with the weekend but I want to give you all a chance to link up if you participated. Let us all see what you accomplished!  Expect my post on Wednesday ;)




   
   

Monday already? How does that happen? Even with a 3 day weekend thrown in there, Monday always seems to creep up WAY to quick! Not only is it Monday, but it's a summer Monday. What do I mean, you ask? It means you probably ran ragged all weekend long, got no real relaxation in, and now it's Monday and you are right back into the grind. I don't know about you, but that equation is just all out exhausting!

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE summer and all that it brings. I would not trade in the nice weather, summer parties, or drinks on the balcony for anything... However it's the fact that in today's world we try to fit in every event, every vacation, every anything else that needs to be done into 3 months! That's roughly 12 weekends we try to jam pack with anything and everything so we don't miss anything. We then grumble back to work every Monday complaining how tired we are only to put in another 8 to 10 hours in at the office. Does that sound like fun to anyone? Anyone? Didn't think so.



One of the best plans I have come up with in order to help cut down on all of the craziness that is summer weekends is to plan at least 1 weekend a month where you stay home and take some "me" time. If you have a family plan a family "us" time. Follow these simple tips and you are on your way to a little less stressful summer..

•  Make a list and prioritize it. Include 3 categories. High, Medium, and Low. Add all of the things you want/have to do in the summer. Separate them into the 3 categories.

• Keep a calender. Look at the list you just compiled and add all of the high priority items first. These normally include things such as vacations, weddings, and family events (birthdays, graduations, ect).

•  Once you have all of your high priority dates listed out in front of you, it gives a better idea on what the rest of your summer looks like.

• Take all of the medium priority items and add them into the calendar. These items are normally events like fairs, sports events, and kids events. 

• Now that you have all of the important dates on the calendar you should look at your weekends and see whats open. Pick 1 weekend from each month to use as your "me" or "us" time.

•  If all of your weekends are not totally full at this point it leaves room to add items. These are events that may not yet have a firm date, annual things you attend every summer if you get the time, or things you really want to do but isn't a priority. 

• One of the most important tips I can offer is to learn to say no. You are not obligated to attend every single event that comes your way. You can politely decline if you feel like it is going to be to much. Summer is a time for fun but you also don't want to burn yourself out.

Now even if you cannot commit to taking a full weekend off each month, try for a Sunday. This way you can commit to an event on Saturday and still have one day to relax and recharge. Do what you have to do to give yourself some time away from all of the craziness that is summer time!

What do you think? Do you run ragged every summer only to wish you had slowed down just a bit? How do you balance it all? Leave your answers in the comments! Happy Monday!!

Happy Monday all! I had a busy weekend celebrating 2 birthdays and the official start of summer. Now nothing says summer like a big ol' juicy hamburger! I was lucky enough to be selected on Crowdtap to host a McCormick Grill Mates party. I was so excited to get this opportunity and to be able to use it for the kickoff of summer AND a birthday party all in one! How convenient!



I received a nice sized box of goodies from McCormick to incorporate into my BBQ fun. The box included (From left to right):

• Memphis Pit BBQ Rub
• Steakhouse Burgers- Steakhouse Mushroom Seasoning Mix
• Smokin' Sweet Tea Marinade
• Tennessee Smokehouse BBQ Rub
• Steakhouse Burgers- Smoky Applewood Seasoning Mix
• 2 Montreal Steak Sauces
• Worestershire Pub Burger Seasoning
• Chipotle & Roasted Garlic Seasoning
• 3 Montreal Steak Seasoning
• Steakhouse Burgers- Classic Burger Seasoning Mix

Most of these seasonings were new to the Grill Mates collection. Right away the wheels were turning on how I wanted to incorporate these into my party. I decided on making some sliders so all of my guests could sample the flavors before deciding on a burger. I never made sliders before and was happy to find slider buns at my local Wegmans. This made it more exciting for me. Mini buns for my mini burgers!

 
I rushed home on Friday to start prepping my food. I was going all out. Cutting up onions. mushrooms, tomatoes, and peppers. Pulling out all of the condiments in the house. These babies were going to be epic. Once I got started I realized I had never made sliders before and I didn't have a grill ready to use. My guests were going to be arriving soon and I wanted to have the first set ready for their arrival. I decided to bake them! I decided for my first run I was going to use the Classic Burger seasoning, Smoky Applewood seasoning, and Steakhouse Mushroom Seasoning. I rolled out little burgers mixing in the seasoning as I went.


 I baked the 6 little sliders for 10 minutes on each side. They smelled amazing and my guests starting showing up. I quickly assembled the sliders so I could get the party started with some yummy food!


 The first 2 are Smokey Applewood. I added some sauteed onions and BBQ sauce to give it a nice flavor. The middle 2 are Classic burger. I added a tomato slice to give it presentation. The last are the Mushroom burger.  I added sauteed onions and mushrooms to give it a flavor that was out of this world.


All of these burgers were a hit. I really loved the Mushroom burger. The flavor was amazing. I also really liked how juicy they were doing them in the oven. I will definitely do it this way again. We moved on to the regular sized burgers on the grill. I decided I wanted to try the Worestershire Pub Burger Seasoning. The flavor was amazing. So in love with all of these seasonings.

I am so thankful I had a chance to try out these seasonings from McCormick. They were all a hit and I will be buy more in the future. I want to thank Crowdtap and McCormick for this opportunity. I found some products I probably wouldn't of bought otherwise.

Now spill it. Have you ever used any of these seasonings? How do you like your burgers? Do you bake them or grill them? Tell me in the comments!

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend went well. June is here and all things summer start lingering on the mind. I can't help it. Everywhere I go I smell wonderful bbq cooking, I see kids running around in the park, and I hear music being turned up while the windows are being put down. Its a great feeling. I had a wonderful first experience last Thursday where I attended the Ithaca Festival Parade. I have heard it is a really unique parade and one you have to see at least once in your life. Let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. The only way I could really capture the uniqueness of this parade was to take photos. I have picked out the more unique ones to show. I hope you enjoy and get a chance to visit this parade in the future!

Lots of people!

Stilts!

Ahh Fun stuff!

Horses

Mini car

Balloons

Make Fire!

Groovy truck!

Cupcakes!

Birth Control Man?

Lots of culture here

Now the one thing I have always heard about as a must see is the Ballerina Volvos. Yes there are no words for how unique this is, You really need to experience it in real life, but until you do here is an idea of what to expect!

Add caption

There you have it! The most unique parade I have ever been to! Have any of you been? Whats the wackiest parade you have ever attended?

I know, I know, I promised vacation deets today. I really wanted to show off my fun time off the radar but something really irked me and I needed to vent about it. It is that time of year (Summer) where social media really REALLY annoys me. I am sure some of you are going to read this and roll your eyes (and that's ok) but I needed to get this off my chest before I un-friend everyone and that wouldn't be fun either. (This post isn't meant to offend anyone, these are just my opinions. Everyone is different and you may disagree but that is okay to my friend!)

The first thing that absolutely drives me bonkers is all of the season finale spoilers! I really hate to bitch about this one but seriously, NOT everyone can watch a show when it airs. Plus you have all the people in other time zones who have no choice but to wait. Please refrain from immediately telling the world who died or what crazy shit went down. I DIDN'T SEE IT YET! THANKS!

The next thing that I could live without is everyone on social media becoming a meteorologist. "OMFG It is SO hot outside! I can't even deal! It needs to cool down!" Okay people we all know its hot outside. It may even be hot inside depending on your living situation. But the point is we had a really cold winter all over the USA and now it is warm and everyone is crying about it. Take a chill pill! (Literally!)



I love taking vacations over the summer just as much as everyone else, but seriously do we need to do a day by day countdown? We get it, you are excited about going to Mississippi to visit your BFF from kindergarden (Yes I just made fun of myself :) but you do not need to post about it everyday for 4 weeks straight.

Speaking of counting down to a vacation, you also get the "I need to get in shape" posts along with "I am going to work out now and look hot for my vacation" which is in 4 weeks as we learned from previous posts.  I get it, we all want to look good for our summer vacations, but unfortunately this usually can't be fully achieved in one month like some magazines claim. You need to have a healthy lifestyle year round if you want to look "hot" in that little bikini.

Work it girls! (Source)

 The last thing I really get annoyed at is all of the meaningless full day events posts. "I went to 27 BBQ's today and only ate one hotdog but I think I went swimming in a lake, a pool and a pond. It was fun. I will go and do it again tomorrow but this time I might try a hamburger." Must we know every detail of your summer day? This is how you get stalkers ya know!

I hope you found some humor in some of these summer social media hates of mine. I really don't like to complain. but after 2 of my tv shows being spoiled this week I was absolutely steaming at the ears.

Have you ever had one of those days that started off good and then you got some news that just bummed you out? That's how my day went. I was walking around in a pretty gray mood until I remembered I had a new book at home to read. My day was looking up. I would go home and curl up on my couch with my new book and escape from my gray day.

I was suddenly very happy I had decided to participate in the Semi-Charmed Summer Book Challenge. I really love to read but have been really lacking in picking up a new book lately. My cities annual book sale started this past weekend and this challenge encouraged me to go and pick up some new books at very discounted prices.

This Challenge runs from May 1st to August 31st. There are 13 books total which I feel is very doable. I have posted the categories with the 6 books I have committed to so far. I am still debating the other 7.

The categories are as follow:

Freebie! Read any book that is at least 200 pages long. 
Read a book that was written before you were born. 
Finish reading a book you couldn't finish the first time around. Divergent by Veronica Roth
Read a book from the children’s section of the library or bookstore. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Read a book that is on The New York Times' Best Sellers List when you begin reading it. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Read a historical fiction book that does not take place in Europe. 
Read a book another blogger has already read for the challenge.
Read a book with “son(s),” “daughter(s)” or “child(ren)” in the title. Please Excuse My Daughter by Julie Klam
Read a book that was/will be adapted to film in 2014. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

Read a book written by a blogger.  
Read a biography, autobiography or memoir. Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman's Prison by Piper Kerman

Read a pair of books with antonyms in the titles.

What do you think of the books I have chosen so far? Do you have any suggestions for the categories I am still deciding on? I would love recommendations!

I am really excited to get this started. I really want to succeed in getting all of the categories completed as they will introduce me to some new books I may not of thought to read prior.

Have any of you participated in a reading challenge? Did your succeed?  Give me all your feedback and join me if you feel the urge!

Wish me luck!