Hi friends, hope everyone is doing well! I want to first announce thew inner of the new mixing. bowls, congratulations goes to-

Please email your info (shipping and name) to [email protected]. As soon as the bowls arrive, they will be on their way!

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Hard to believe it’s Memorial Day weekend! First a huge thank you to all the service men and women who have served and continue to serve (my own father included) our great country. Particularly this weekend, I say a special thanks for those who made the ultimate sacrifice. We must never forget and forever be humbled by their service.

I will have been in VA visiting my parents so this was prepared ahead of time. The weather has not exactly been very summer like lately but hoping for that to change, and it’s bound to warm up soon! . Having a mother with dementia has been quite heartbreaking and something I still grapple with about fully accepting but I also have never felt more compelled to stay connected with my beloved mom as I do now. It is a journey and one that I am doing my best to adjust to, and to bring her joy and peace however I can.

I hope wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you are safe and enjoying your holiday weekend, even if it’s a bit different than what it normally would be. I know in NY, the temps are only going to be in the 60’s which in a way is a blessing as it will likely keep throngs away from the beaches, which is what I call a silver lining in light of what is going on. Anyway, here is this Sunday’s post as we begin the unofficial start to summer-

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1 MEANING OF MEMORIAL DAY Cannot let this weekend go by without acknowledging the real meaning of this somber holiday weekend. We get caught up with the fun side, the beach outings, BBQ’s, widespread sales but lets not forget this is a day to honor and celebrate the countless sacrifices those in service have and continue to make. Awe inspiring to say the least.

They gave up two lives- one they had and the one they had yet to live. I think about all the families whose lives have been changed forever for the ultimate sacrifice that these brave men and women have made. I am proud as both an American and as a daughter of a Navy Commodore to honor and remember all service men and women who had died in their service for our country.

2 ONE FABULOUS HOME. Love this Atlanta home,  such a beautifully curated home, intimate and cozy, beautiful yet sophisticated. Enjoyed soaking up the details of this wonderful family home. Click here to read more over at Veranda Magazine.

3 GORGEOUS EARRINGS FROM NICOLA BATHIE Love this line of jewelry and had a few pair of her signature earrings picked out for a few events we had going on and needless to say, those plans came to a screeching halt. But I am hopeful that one day, who knows when,  I will once again have things on my calendar, places to go, people to see and reasons to dress up again! In the meantime, this is a resource worth sharing, as her designs are just fabulous and the minute I discovered them I was in love.

Click here to see this fabulous line.

4 INSTAGRAMS OF INTEREST  Such a bevy of beauties this weekend. I love rounding up my favorites, some weekends it’s very hard to know when to stop:)

5 IT’S MELAMINE SEASON This is the last day of our new trellis and topiary sale and then our current melamine patterns are on a very special sale in honor of them being featured on The Today Show!! All are 25% off and are sold in sets of fours. Click here to see our current collection that is 25% off.

With it being the alfresco season….it’s a perfect time to be sure you are well stocked on stylish and  easy to care for dishes. What I love most is how these can so easily mix and match. I have been doing a lot of that, there is no bad combination:)

And it’s the last day to take advrtqange of our fabulous new design Trellis and Topiaries during four presale. Click here to preorder yours-

And speaking of melamine and topiaries how fabulous are these new arrivals! I am in love with this new hand blocked place mats and napkins, click here to see.

6. DELICIOUS FISH TACOS  I made fish tacos the other day and forgot just how insanely good they are. I used mahi mahi but you can use any flaky, mild white fish, I like using sole too. The measurements are approx as I just wing it (having made this many times). This will become a regular again on our menu, especially since there are plenty of stay at home cooking days in my future lol. Pictures are not the greatest as it was night time and didn’t have the best lighting but you get the idea:)

• About 2 lbs of mahi mahi (enough for three people)
• One bunch cilantro finely chopped
• One bunch of fresh dill finely chopped
• Fresh corn from 2 cobs of boiled corn
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 limes cut into wedges
• 2-3 cups shredded cabbage
• 1/2 of a tomato finely chopped
• 1/4 cup mayo
  1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/4 on an onion finely chopped
• 1-2 avocados cut into cubes (optional to put on top of taco)
• olive oil
• Lemon Dill sauce (McCormicks sold in seafood shops are sections)

Use either a prepared marinade like a lemon dill or make your own with a few TBSP butter, fresh lemon juice (about 3/4 cup) and about 2 TBSP of finely chopped dill. Marinade the fish in either your own marinade or one like McCormicks. Can be done for as short as an hour or several.

When ready to cook-heat up a little olive oil in a sautee pan and sautee the fish with a little of the marinade for about 10 minutes (gently turn over midway).  Add fresh dill with salt and pepper then transfer to a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes OR you can not cook in sautee pan and  just bake on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes (the fish will be softer and will fall apart a little more).

Meanwhile take your half the chopped onion, chopped cilantro,  yogurt, mayo, juice of one lime, garlic, salt and pepper and put in a food processor to make your dressing. It will be somewhat thick. Gently fold into the shredded cabbage, add corn and tomatoes and a little bit of the  fresh cilantro  then add remaining chopped onion. This will be your dressing to place on top of the fish taco. You can make up to an hour ahead of time, would not do it earlier than that as it could get soggy.

Get your tortillas ready and turn heat on burner on a medium setting, put a tiny bit of olive oil to lightly coat the sautee pan and cook on both sides until they are just about to bubble (1-2 minutes).  Take fish out of oven and add the equivalent of one whole filet to each tortilla,  top with a generous amount of the cabbage mixture on top, squeeze lime on top and serve with a garnish of lime wedge..bon appeit!

The mixture once processed will look like this

Cut the corn and chop all remaining ingredients

Add the dressing to them slaw mixture and gently mix

Pretty!

Meanwhile the fish is going into the oven (above)

As soon as fish is done, I start with the flour tortillas

Fill each tortilla with a nice amount of fish, add the slaw, squeeze lime and add lime for garnish

Avocado is optional but we love it

Yum!

7  SUNDAY’S SURVEY So, we are in the third month of the Pandemic. Our country is still in a very fragile place and obviously that is to different degrees depending on where you might be. A lot of talk about priorities shifting, people realizing certain aspects about their lifestyle, family time, and more. Maybe things and priorities  they were too busy to stop and think about pre Covid times. It certainly has been a time to reflect and maybe rethink some things.

I think for me, it has given me a newfound appreciation for certain things I took advantage of before and it has made me realize what a luxury things like travel and dining out are. It has also allowed me to feel closer and even more connected to my family members.  Even small outings, like getting a pedicure to going to a peony farm sound like life changing events right now:)

Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of times I felt like I was jumping out of my skin (when we were sitting home day in and day. out and it felt like a Groundhog day every day) but overall as things hopefully normalize starting next month, I will go back with a new if not temporary appreciation for certain things. Wondering how many of you feel the same?

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And that’s a wrap for this Sunday. As the unofficial start to summer begins, I am hopeful for things to slowly loosen up though here in NY that really will not be the case (even with many new restrictions in place) until mid June.

I am hoping to cherish summer in a different way and though our travel plans have fallen through, and the destination wedding  and NYC wedding we were so excited about attending is postponed until 2021,  it will be about local adventures, like beach outings, hopefully more of PB, visiting farms and gardens and hopefully plenty of alfresco entertaining. Hope you enjoy your day and stay safe this holiday weekend. Until next time……