'Merica & Layered Lemon Cake

Don't know about y'all but if there is one day

 that I am proud to be an American, it's Memorial Day.

I mean I'm a very patriotic gal so I would say that I'm proud

to be an American EVERY day, but especially on Memorial Day.

Last weekend was spent being
1. Proud to be from this beautiful country and thankful
for all of those who have fought for our freedom
2. Surrounded by my amazing family and friends
3. Showered by this gorgeous Florida sunshine

Notttt to mention another fabulous weekend on the river.

Before I just start to throw pictures at you let me first share
a new little somethin' somethin' that I tried for our traditional Memorial Day weekend/
Grandma's Birthday BBQ.

Layered Lemon Cake mmmm mm mmmm!

Click riiighttt HERE for the BHG recipe that I used. So easy!

Obbbviously couldn't resist these napkins from Target.. 

The kiddos jumpin' in

My handsome Nephew! :)

Mom and I

Jakey Baby got to play in the pool too..

despite Grandma's efforts to keep him out

Claire and Grammy

Happy Birthday Granny!!!

Couldn't fit 83 candles on that baby.. 

Also, extremely proud to announce that we purchased

another boat! WEEEEEE!

AND Jake approves.

AND it doesn't feel like I'm driving a Carnival cruise line... 

which is a major bonus compared to our last one.

Happy official Summer!

Weekend, where did you go?

Does anyone else also feel that our weekends 

should consist of 3 days rather than 2?
All in for a 4-day work week say AYYYEEE?! 

I was planning on a Friday post but I may or may not have had

a mini melt down session due to streeessssss OOPSS.

But anyway welcome back Monday 

anddddd a quick Weekend Update recap with Sami!

Thursday (because I'm still at the point

in my life where the weekend technically starts on Thursday)

we went to the 1st pre-season Magic game.

I am less than thrilled for this season.

I blame you, Dwight Howard.

I am also a little annoyed that I paid $90 for your pink jersey

that was fun for all of ONE season. 

Friday night consisted of cleaning and a well-overdue

night in watching movies. Going out was not an option after the Friday that I had :/

Saturday! Tailgating! Surprised??

I'm running out of game day outfits so I literally bought a little black
UCF dress last minute. I plan on recreating it.

I think yes. 

Sunday was another boat day. Probably the last for a while. 
I curse Florida for lacking an actual FALL or WINTER- but I must say
I don't hate still being able to jump in the water in mid-October :)

And of course we brought Jake.

He was well-behaved until Morgan & the boys started catchin fish.
Then it was back to him attempting to launch himself overboard. 
This is when we took advantage of the fact that he has handles. 

Little Bubbbyyyy! :) 
He looks a little sad, yess?? 

Before you go! I had to share these awesome little cookies
from Bridget over at Bake at 350!

Bride of Frankenstein how cuuuuttteeee are theseeee??!
She is extremely talented and has an amazing skill set for cookie details. 

On another fun October note, my Bunco Fundraiser is this Thursday!
That means I only have 3 days to figure out how to actually play.
hashtag callgrandma.

Wednesday October 24th I'll be starting an obnoxious
"Countdown to Halloween" baking session. 
There are just way too many things on Pinterest that I neeeeed to try!

Boat Day with Mom & Dad

Happy Happy MONDAY!

I should probably work on a new way of

starting my Monday morning posts because I

realize most people aren't as chipper as I am after the weekend.

I'll work on that!

Meanwhile... 

I didn't get to bed until super late and had a very busy start to my day

which meant breakfast in the car again.. HOLLAHOLLAA!

I am 100% addicted to these Belvita breakfast things.

They taste like Teddy Grahams.

I don't feel that I need any further persuasion as to why you should also purchase them.

If you are thinking to yourself "What is on your body slob-kabob?" 

Calm down. It's actually not all that terrible. 

I only have 2 client meetings today and I have made

the transition to heels for those :) 

And the reason for the shrug is because 

IT'S OFFICIALLY FALL NOW HEELLLOOOO :):)

Walked out of the house this morning to 75 degree weather!

Brrrrrrr

Only kidding... but recall that I am a Florida girl

and we don't have an actual Fall or Winter so I will take

any excuse to bundle up. 

Even if I have to crank up my AC in the car 

to make that acceptable. 

Getting off topic!

So we took my parents on the boat out to New Smyrna yesterday!

My parents are always a good time so needless to say it was a great day.

No floating- we fished pretty much the whole time. 

Highlights of the day include:

Dad hooking a huge red fish that was thrashing

and jumping out of the water like something that would

be on the Discovery Channel (and then losing it).

Bryan's "photo of defeat" after losing a black tip shark

off of the gaff. What can I say? I capture every moment.

Mom flagging down a jet ski to tow us in- probably one

of the coolest people I have met in a while. 

Long story short- there was a problem with the gas line- blahblahblah

we had to get towed back. Bryan felt terrible having my parents there

(Mom didn't understand why until I explained that it was a guy thing..

in women terms, it would be like me going over to Bry's parent's house

to make Thanksgiving dinner and I set the turkey on fire. She immediately understood.)

And finally, a beautiful NSB sunset :)

Oh and let me leave you with a recipe!
I made skinny egg salad to bring on the boat yesterday for sandwiches.

No one knew it was skinny otherwise I think it would have gone

untouched. But no one noticed and it was delish.... and low-cal.

100 Calorie Sandwich Thins 

8 Peeled, Hard Boiled Eggs

4 Teaspoons Light Mayo

1/2 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

Salt and Pepper to taste

Separate yolks from egg whites.

Discard 6 of the yolks.

Chop eggs and combine with mayo, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.