After a really busy school year, summer time could not have arrived soon enough. So nice to have no homework to think about for two months, woohoo! We have adjusted nicely to our new house, kids and dog all enjoying their new surroundings. Boxes still need to be unpacked and we still do not know where everything is, but we are enjoying the beautiful area we moved to. Having a 200 acre lake, golf course, and tons of other activities across the street has been awesome. If the weather would just stay cool and clear like today we are golden!
I need to quickly catch up on a few events I attended recently, and then I need to dive into all that I learned from my first blogging conference, Blogger Bash. Last month we were invited to two blogger events at restaurants. Since we love to cook, going to these events are really fun and interesting, even if I can’t eat much due to my allergies. First, we visited the Corner Bakery in Arlington. Ric Scicchitano, the first employee at Corner Bakery was our guest chef. He was funny and informative. He created each of the new grilled flats right before our eyes on a Breville indoor grill. The food looked and smelled incredible. The grilled flats are reasonably priced, and only 310 calories for this Vegetarian Caprese flat! All the ingredients are locally sourced and each and every sauce, topping, and ingredient is prepared fresh every day. This is the kind of food you want to enjoy on a hot summer day. Since I could not eat anything because of my allergies, the chef insisted on making me something safe that I could enjoy. This chilled swiss oatmeal(muesli with yogurt and fruit) at 350 calories was a perfect pick for a hot summer breakfast. I have never tried oatmeal and yogurt mixed together with fruit before, and I was surprised at how good and refreshing it tasted. I will have to remake this at home soon! After enjoying our time at the Corner Bakery we were lucky enough to have a week-long test drive with a super hot, fire red, Camaro 2SS Coupe. This car is super fun to drive. As a Mom it felt really strange to not be driving a minivan or Mom mobile. The husband and teenage sons thought this car was super cool and that we should buy one immediately. Diane also loved this car and hugged it goodbye before it was picked up. It was so much fun stepping out of our comfort zone and enjoying the ZOOM ZOOM of the camaro. We miss you #littlered (our nickname for this car). After our fun camaro visit, we were invited to Cafe Rio in Manassas. We had a beautiful drive there through hills and horse farms to get there. We had a behind the scenes tour of the restaurant and we learned that all the food is prepared fresh every single day. Diane even got to try her hand at making her own tortilla….. are you hiring Cafe Rio?
Last but definitely not least, Jake was invited to participate in a kids cooking competition with a ticket that he won from Hip Mama’s Place at Ah Love Oil in Reston. It was really fun for him and provided a perfect experience as we dive into the world of cooking competitions and recipe creations. I love that I am raising confident and competent chefs in my house. It is so much fun to watch my kids create original recipes and feel at home in the kitchen.
I also have a quick giveaway for you! The Corner Bakery provided me with some Gift Certificates and I would like to share them with you. Please leave a comment and tell me: What the best thing you did so far this summer? Winner will be picked on August 1st and I will mail you some Corner Bakery cash.
Love that you got to drive a Camaro for a week! And, what cool experiences at the Corner Bakery and Cafe Rio! Sounds like a good week! And, Jake did a cooking competition, very cool. The best thing we have done this summer was spend time together at the pool and just enjoying the lazy days of summer 🙂
Stephanie, sitting by the pool and enjoying your summer sounds perfect to me!
Took the kids to a concert at Ravinia! We saw Danny Elfman conduct the works of Tim Burton. So fun!
April, that sounds like a great concert! Enjoy the rest of your summer.
It must have been hard to part with the hot red Camaro! I am going to PA every weekend to help my dad who is recovering from a broken hip & adjusting to a feeding tube, so there have been no vacations and little free time. I have cherished a stolen afternoon or two reading a good book in the sun as my “me time.”
Giving back the Red Camaro was not easy. A few members of the family kissed and hugged her goodbye. I hope your Dad grows stronger each day. Enjoy your book and your me time!
We went to a park we’ve been wanting to get to for about a year now. It has a 96 foot metal slide, a pond to feed the ducks and all kinds of different themed play areas. We had a blast
What a fun park! What is it called?
The best thing we did this summer was take our annual Midwest trip. It was awesome to spend time with family and friends that we don’t see often.
Sounds like a fun trip, always great to see family and friends.
We’ve had swimming lessons this summer so lots of relaxation by the pool in-between lots of rainy and cool days in Indiana. It’s been really nice to really take advantage of the pool this summer! Love the red Camaro-that must have been so much fun to drive!
Cool days in Indiana? I think we should move there. It has been soooo hot here. We miss our red camaro a lot.
The oatmeal and fruit idea is genius! I’ll definitely have to give it a try!
Isn’t that an awesome breakfast idea? I hope you will give it a try!
Yum! That grilled flatbread and oatmeal look delicious! What a fun time!
It was so much fun hearing the first employee of Corner Bakery explain the newest menu items. I hope you can try them soon!
Our summer fun is coming up next week, when we’ll be heading to Portland for a vacation. Most fun thing I’ve already done this summer was to go crawling through a cave!
Have a great time in Portland, I have always wanted to go there.
Congrats Angela! You were the winner of this giveaway as picked by Random.org
Congrats Angela! Random.org picked you as the winner of the Corner Bakery Gift Certificates.
I rode in a 100 mile bike ride- best thing I’ve done so far this summer!
WOW!! 100 mile bike ride is no joke. Sounds like a great way to spend time this summer.
Ooh, how fun was it driving that Camaro all week?! It looks like you’re having an awesome summer so far, and all that food you ate sounds so delicious. I’ll have to try the oatmeal and yogurt. Never thought of that before!
The camaro was so much fun, but so impractical for a family of 7. But having it for a week was a mini vacation from real life 🙂 Try the yogurt and oatmeal, it was amazingly refreshing for a hot summer breakfast.
Took a family vacation with my two daughters and SIL and granddaughter- had a great time!
sounds like a great way to spend summer vacation!
Went to Maryland for a family vacation. Toured around, did geeky things, and just had a good time with family.
We lived in Maryland for 18 years, it is a great place to visit!
I went to Hawaii two weeks ago
Going to Hawaii is on my bucket list! Glad you got to go there Elena.
Just relaxing by the pool with a good magazine!
That sounds incredibly relaxing. I love getting lost in a good magazine too!