Traverse City Cherry Festival

Summer festivals are the best! This weekend, my husband and I are traveling to the Traverse City Cherry Festival. This festival is located in beautiful Traverse City, MI, a great lakeside community with wineries, beaches, quaint shops. There's nothing like driving to Traverse City and seeing all of the beautiful cherry trees in July. The festival is a perfect time to sample everything and anything cherry!

Must Have Outdoor Games

Sometimes parties are really boring. We've all been to the party where everyone sits around and talks for a really long time about pretty much nothing. We eat, talk, and eat some more. How exciting. To avoid party boredom, show your guests a good time with some fun outdoor games. No one is going to pass up a game of bocce, croquet, badminton, or even horseshoes. If you're having a late night party, try a glow in the dark bocce ball set. Your guests will love it!

Fun Party Lights

No party is complete without fun party lights. I never thought about chili pepper lights until I first saw them at a friend’s house a couple of years ago.

Serving Great Food

Sometimes the most difficult part of a holiday party is serving all of your delicious creations. You can never have enough serving trays. Actually, if you do, please give me one since I never seem to have enough! Otherwise, I might have to sneak this great bamboo set (includes cutting board) into my house. This set would complement our bamboo place mats really well!

Trying something new for the holiday

Sometimes it’s easy to stick with the same tried and true recipes, especially for holidays. How many times have you had the same version of deviled eggs or classic potato salad? Sure, some people like these tried and true recipes. Some people like to experiment with the classics and add some new ingredients to deviled eggs and transform them into crab deviled eggs.

It’s fine to keep the classics, but if you’re bored with them, it’s fun to try something different. So, this year as you celebrate July 4, instead of the traditional July 4 flag cake, why not try something completely different such as a Black Forest Cheesecake Parfait or an Apple Pie à la Mode Parfait? I am sure your guests will appreciate your sense of adventure!

Picnic Essentials

I am going to share 1 of my biggest secrets....I hardly ever buy gifts from wedding registries. Sometimes if I don't know the couple very well or there's an interesting collection of items, I'll make an exception. Most of the time I stick with a picnic backpack. This is the best gift for any couple who enjoys al fresco dining. There are some high end packs out there but I have found some great deals in the past couple of years. Last year, I bought a reasonably priced pack & included with my gift --a bottle of wine and chocolates. Picnic world offers the best selection of packs and other picnic accessories. Now that I've told you my secret, you can expect a picnic backpack similar to this one from me!