Holy Guacamole!

Every year in August for as long as I can remember, the Greer clan as reunited in Sandbridge, Virginia for a week long family reunion filled with beach, booze and bocce. In honor of our Aussie cousins (who don't have many Mexican food establishments in Australia) we hold our annual Mexican night. This year had nearly 35 people, including cousins, significant others, cousins cousins, newly weds, a cat and a dog.  We have a taco dip, taco bar, beef and chicken tamales straight from Texas, salad, chipotle roll ups, empinadas, and the list goes on! My contribution this year was the guac.

What you need:

4 large ripe avocados

1 large tomato

garlic, minced

Juice from 2 limes

Salt and pepper for taste

Cut the avocados and put into a large bowl. Mix and mash until you get the consistency you like. I like to have chucks of avocado in mine, while Joe likes it more mashed up. Dice the tomato and add to the avocado. Add a table spoon of garlic, lime, salt and pepper. Stir and serve with your favorite chips!

For more recipes, click here! 

Summer Bucket List: See Fireworks

4th of July was a success!

Weekend in NYC!

I was very brave and took the new airline Peoples Express to NYC to have an annual reunion with my college girlfriends!!! Lauren lives in Midtown and made the long weekend the best ever. We went on a run in Central Park, shopped around Manhattan, walked through Times Square had brunch (with bottomless mimosas!) in the Upper West Side, went to happy hour in the Flat Iron District, and the highlight of the weekend was seeing Phish perform at Randall's Island. We squeezed it all in and had a fabulous time! 

On the ferry to the show!

2 mile run in Central Park

Bottomless mimosas

Craft brews and Phish!

Summer Bucket List: Go to a Concert

The Wailers played a free show at the oceanfront last week. Trudy and I found a rare spot at Catch 31 by the firepits. We drank Blue Moon and enjoyed the tunes!

Summer Bucket List: Watch a sunrise

Watched the sunrise AND ran 2.15 miles. All before 7:00 am. Go me!

Perfect Summer Weekend

This weekend we crossed off more items on the bucket list!! The weather was perfect and I was able to spend time with my friends, family and Joe!

Thomas loved Joe!

We started off by making Strawberry Cake Cookies for a cookout at our friend's house. Britney and James' had a few friends over for burgers and Cards Against Humanity. James was deployed today and won't be return until October. It was a great way to see him off.

Boardwalk Art Show 2014

Saturday we hopped on our bikes and went to the Boardwalk Art Show! I've been dying to go over the last few years. While we didn't buy anything, we saw a ton of great pieces to put on our wish list.

Fried food anyone??

I wish I had taken more pictures!!

We picked up Hilltop sandwiches from Taste and went back to the farm to wash the boat in preparation for the summer. We finished off the evening with a dip in the pool and homemade grilled pizzas. Similar to our homemade pizzas last summer, but we put these on Naan and grilled them for about 10 minutes. Delish!!

Father's day was spent on the boat fishing for who knows what with my parents. My sister and her man came later and we indulged in potato salad, burgers, grilled squash and homemade Italian cake made my sister, the baker.

Happy Father's Day!

Strawberry Cake Cookies

My amazing, fabulous coworker made these cookies for us at work one day and she forwarded me her altered recipe. They are so soft and moist, and were literally gone in an instant. To me, strawberries scream summer time, so I used this flavor for the cookout.

You will need:

2 boxes of cake mix, any flavor

3 eggs

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

1 tbsp of extract (we used vanilla)

sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Roll into small balls and dip the tops into the sugar. Place on a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Centers will be soft and may fall a bit. 

HOW EASY IS THAT?

For more recipes click here!

Weddings Are Better in Flipflops

We spent the last week at the beautiful Dreams La Romana Resort in the Dominican Republic to celebrate the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends! Ashley and Travis kicked of their relationship our junior year of high school at my 17th birthday party on Cedar Island. They met on an island and fittingly got married on an island.

Ashley and I met in first grade at Norfolk Academy and immediately became friends. As kids we were often mistaken as twins (sometimes the Olsen's).  Fortunately for me we have remained friends since then and I will always have a special place in my heart for her.

Travis and I met when we were in ninth grade at a middle school crew regatta. After dating another one of our friends for a few months, Travis and I still remained friends.. It was only fitting that I invited him to my island birthday party, because I obviously knew that he and Ashley would hit it off immediately.

The trip was one of a lifetime. Ashley and Travis's friends were the best ever. I miss them already. We spent our days in the sun drinking, reading, eating and lounging. Occasionally we would bust out a game of water polo or beach volleyball. When sober enough (or not) we went sailing or kayaking on site.

In lieu of a traditional rehearsal dinner, we traveled to Punta Cana for the day for a private catamaran cruise and snorkeling excursion. The crew was not prepared for our group, as we literally drank the boat dry. Luckily a skiff full of more alcohol arrived just before we started to plan a mutiny.

The wedding was Friday evening under a beautiful waterfront gazebo. The bride and groom wrote their own vows which coincidentally both mentioned "two legged and four legged children". Following the ceremony was a cocktail hour on the pier with entertainment from a local mariachi band. Dinner was a seated buffet, topped with a much needed rain dusting to keep things cool. We danced all night and continued the after party at the resorts discoteca!

With last week being Memorial Day weekend, that also meant the start of my 2014 Summer Bucket List! I was also to check off a few items already!!

Enjoying a frozen lemonade and modeling our flower crowns from Fairview Place

Swimming in the Natural Pool in Punta Cana 

Just a handful of our group enjoying the beach!

Bride and Groom playing floating beer pong in the pool

Joe and I snorkeling in Punta Cana

I can't get enough of this 

Congrats to Mr. and Dr. Powell!!!

For details on Ashley's bridal shower, click here!
For more on the 2014 Summer Bucket List, click here!

Summer Bucket List: Run/Walk the Boardwalk

Welllll.... technically I ran to the end of the Virginia Beach boardwalk.

I am in this picture somewhere!

My awesome gym EVOFIT has started a Run Club to help individuals train for 5k and Half Marathons.  Last night was my first attempt.  Our warm up with a mile run to the NORTH end of the boardwalk. Half a mile there and half a mile back. Following that was the actual work out, which I enjoyed since it wasn't long distances. After each 400m lap, each runner received a playing card. At the end, I ended up with a poker hand! The person with the best poker hand got a sweet prize.

Following the run, EVOFIT provided cold beers and a raffle for an Ipod shuffle. The girls from Lululemon had a few of their running items up for sale. There were runners of all levels. Everyone was super encouraging. I'm am so glad I made it out. Great night!

Here is the work out! The amount of burpees, squats, etc was decided by randomly drawing a card from the deck.

Summer Bucket List: Weekend of Many Adventures

Might as well cross off all my weekend activities in one post! What a great weekend. I am so bummed that summer is almost over!

Saturday we attempted to boat to the Paradise Ocean Club.  We made it through the choppy Chesapeake Bay only to realize that I was super uncomfortable in the rough seas. So after that hour and a half detour, we made it back to the steady Lafayette River and spent the day boozing, cruising and knee-boarding.

Boat day!!

Sunday Funday started with a bike ride down the boardwalk to the 51st annual East Coast Surfing Championship.  After watching some of the surfers, my friend Trudy and I stopped into Waterman's for a famous Orange Crush. We really wanted to eat lunch outside, so we biked north to Mahi-Mah's for a burgers and bloody's on the patio.

Sunday Funday!

Summer Bucket List: Go to the Aquarium

We were lucky to be invited to a membership information reception for the Aquarium Connection. This group of young adult helps support the Virginia Aquarium through membership and fundraising events. I can't wait to eventually join this great organization!

Joe made a friend!

Summer Bucket List: Go to Whole Foods

I had some time on my lunch break the other day, so I decided to check out Whole Foods. HOW COOL IS THIS GROCERY STORE?! I love the "self serve" atmosphere. I didn't have much time to shop around, but I did indulge in a made to order sandwich from the Deli! My pictures aren't the best because I didn't want to seem like a tacky tourist in a grocery store.... that would be lame.

Delicious Pizza

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Salad bar includes quinoa and chick peas!

Summer Bucket List: Save Money

I have officially started saving for retirement! Horray for the 401k!

Summer Bucket List: Celebrate a Birthday

This past week I was able to celebrate three birthdays!! My mom and sister share a birthday! How cool is that??  We went over there Friday night for Chicken Satay and delicious homemade Almond Cake.

My family!

Sunday night I celebrated the birth of my girlfriend Rebecca at Tempt in Virginia Beach.

Happy Birthday ladies!

Summer Bucket List: DIY Pizza Night!

We had so much fun this weekend making our own pizza! I found whole wheat dough at Harris Teeter for about $3.00. Can't beat that! We hit up the salad bar, olive bar, and cheese department for some fresh toppings including mozzarella, pepperoni, sun dried tomatoes, marinated mushrooms and peppers. We added some sauteed spinach and used fresh basil from my herb garden! Baked for 20 minutes on 420 degrees. Amazing!!

Summer Bucket List: Paint a New Picture

Trudy and I had a blast Sunday painting beachy vignettes for our house!

Masterpieces

Summer Bucket List: Pool Party at Joes!

While some of our friends couldn't attend this Saturday, we still had a great time with the roomies and dogs. It was a beautiful day by the pool on Cedar Cove Farm!

Nell is too cute

Summer Bucket List: Attend an Outdoor Concert

We went to see the Dave Matthews Band on Friday night at Farm Bureau Live. Such a great show and what has now become a family tradition with my dad. I think this was my 8th time seeing him??

Sissy, Dad and myself

Summer Bucket List: Host a Crab Picking!

We have a place on Cedar Island up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. While the crabs have been sparse this summer in Norfolk, we were hitting the mother load on the shore.  We must have averaged 30 crabs per day (we were there a week, you do the math).   I was able to bring some home for my roommate to pick and make crab cakes.

So silly!

Crab cakes anyone?

Summer Bucket List: Old Beach Farmer's Market

I have been dying to check out this local farmers market in Virginia Beach! Old Beach Farmer's Market takes place at Croc's every Saturday in the summer. Off season is it open the third Saturday of each month.  Vendors include Fruitive, The Creative Wedge, Croc's and Pelons.

 Check it out what they have to offer:

Fresh Seafood

Corn by the truck full

Homemade pasta and breads

Artisan Cheeses

Homemade Salsa

Local Meat Butcher

Locally Made Hot Sauces

Goat's milk and cheeses

Fresh Produce

Flowers

Herbs

And retail!

Cloth Diapers

Unique Handmade Jewelry

Homemade Soaps

Handmade gifts

Used books

Beach decor

I bought a nice hunk of TUNA from them!

Can't wait to go back!!