the details: part 2

i hope you all took some time over the past 10 days to really think about the small things in your life. it's those little things that really get us. at least for me.

i promised a recap, so here are some of the things I shared via twitter this week: 

ice cold water. *glug glug glug aahhh* 

the sound of brock's heartbeat when i lay on his chest.

little sun kisses all over your skin. warm. comforting. relaxing.

that first salt and vinegar chip that makes your cheeks suck in and jaw tense up. 

to see others i tweeted about, check out my twitter! or you can see some things that i noticed with camera in hand on my instagram. 

i have to be honest, i really paid a lot more attention. i appreciated more, thought more, and smiled more. and i am a lot more grateful for those simple things in my life that we sometimes skip over and miss. don't miss those things! soak them up! talk about them.

cherish them.

what little things have you noticed lately? 

for the details on the details, check out part one.

watermelon salsa

if you have been following my instagram, you know what's coming!

that's right my friends, watermelon salsa. does anyone else crave fruit like crazy when the sun is blazing? i love it. watermelon. mango. strawberry. pineapple. you name it, i'll eat it!

fruit salsas are definitely one of my favorite ways to go. they are just so fresh and delicious. it's probably that zingy lime!

my daddy always made mango salsa for cinco de mayo and i loved it! i had never tried any other fruit salsa... until now! on the 4th of july, brock and i were enjoying a fabulous, good-home-cookin kind of breakfast with his parents and grandparents while rachael ray shared her watermelon palooza show with us! there were some genius things i had never thought of before... like watermelon ice cubes {duh! they don't melt and water down your drink, and you can eat them after}! or watermelon popcicles {another duh! put it on a stick and freeze it, baby!}. but the best was the salsa.

so i immediately went out and bought a watermelon!... two days later after all the fun and fireworks. and of course, like with any other recipe, i did a little tweeking. so here's the original from ray ray complete with a video. or you can just take my word for it and try it out yourself. you will swoon.

watermelon salsa

ingredients:
3 cups of watermelon in tiny little cubes
1/2 of a cucumber, peeled, seeded and also in tiny little cubes
2-3 jalapenos seeded and chopped teeny, teeny, tiny
1/4 of a red onion, chopped
a small handful each of fresh cilantro and mint, chopped*
zest and juice of 2 limes
salt

instructions:
combine all ingredients in a bowl.

definitely do what rachael ray says and salt right before serving! salt makes food extract liquid and will bring out a lot in those little watermelon pieces. so don't do it ahead of time.

serve with tortilla chips, or with some meeeat! {we had ours with steak and it. was. good.}
it's super delicious with totino's tortilla chips with a hint of lime!

*i say handful because it is hard to measure herbs, so just eyeball it, but try to keep them equal.


now go buy a watermelon!
brock and i seriously ate the whole bowl. good thing it's all fruit and healthy stuff, i didn't feel quite so guilty!

the details

life is crazy. everyone's life is crazy. we run from here to there all day long. we all have a million and one things to do, and we all try and squeeze in one more. that's the facts. 

don't feel special if you life is especially busy, because guess what? you're not any busier than anyone else.

oh, i had to blah blah blah, and i barely had time to cook dinner! 

you poor thing. me, too. 

we all work hard, we all run crazy, we all want to be better at something but lack the time, and we all wish for two extra hours in a day. it's nothing new. 

the solution is to simplify. anyone have any ideas on how to do that? because i'm at a loss. maybe someday i will have that figured out, but today is not that day.

in the meantime, i have something that might just help. 

there are things in our life that make the world go round, make us tick, make life life. the little details that surround us every day. things we miss amidst all our crazy busyness. things that make us human!

things like the soft, thick, warm touch of a beautiful day lily.

so here's the challenge: for the next ten days, let's blow up instagram and twitter with those simple things. think of your senses. what do you see? what do you feel? what do you hear? what do you taste? what do you smell? 

or maybe it's an abstract thing like pride for your country, or peace. 

hashtags are our friends, so let's use one to keep us all together! i will do a recap on monday, the 15th of some of the wonderful simple details you notice in your life!

#thedetails

you can find me on twitter and instagram and follow along, tag me, or just share your details! [at]tasminskye i can't wait to hear all of those wonderful things that take place in your life! 

 

chicken + strawberry salad

summer is for salads. 

all kinds of salads. they come in a lot of variety {which is good for us creative folks}. i am especially in love with the combination of chicken and fruit in salads. today, i'm going to share one of my favorite summer salads, but first, a story. 

my gramma is the best gramma ever {so everyone, be jealous}. she found this adorable little tea shop back home in the "a" state called chantillies. it's basically the most frilly, girly, lacy, pink place you could ever imagine. it's the kind of place that is only open for lunch. the kind of place that you dress up for. the kind of place with decor that only says flowers and tea cups. none of the place settings match, but they all go together. fresh lemonade is always on the menu, and everything is fresh and delightful. 

on one of my trips to chantillies with my gramma {i believe this was with my mama and little sissy}, we ordered the chef's daily special: chicken strawberry salad. now, this is my version that i am sharing with you. obviously, it won't be identical. that's why it was a special. but it's still delicious, and eating it makes me think of my gramma. win win.

chicken strawberry salad [gf, df]

makes 4 servings

ingredients:

8 leaves of romaine lettuce, rinsed

2 chicken  breasts, cooked and cooled

8-12 strawberries, depending on size

1 can of mandarin oranges, drained, juice set aside

1/2 cup of chopped nuts, walnut or pecan are best

1/2 cup of tiny cubed mild cheese, like edam, or fontina **optional**

2 tbsp yellow mustard

2 tbsp honey

pepper

other delicious ingredients not included in this picture or my latest serving:

green onions

craisins

pineapple

instructions:

layer the first 6 ingredients in order, dividing between four plates, or putting it all in one bowl.

take 2 tbsp of the reserved manderin orange juice and stir with the mustard, honey, and pepper. 

drizzle it on top and enjoy with a glass of fresh lemonade for the perfectly refreshing, cool summer lunch!

easy peasy grilled salmon + corn on the cob

it's recipe time. a couple weeks ago, i shared a recipe on kory's blog. that was my barbeque pork steaks. today, i'm gonna share a recipe for grilled salmon and corn on the cob.

have you noticed the theme? you got it... grilling! i'm getting pretty good, if i'm allowed to say so! brock was very please with last night's dinner, and so was i. so i hope you like fish.

i only say that, because not long ago, i wasn't a fan. but i'm a fan of butter and garlic. so why not put it on some fish and grill it? right or right?

i know fish can be a little pricey. we don't eat it often, but every once in a while, it's a nice change. and the health benefits definitely make the cost a little easier. i need those omega3's, people! so do you. so do your self a favor and get some salmon this week!

 

grilled corn on the cob

makes 4 servings

ingredients:
4 cobs of corn
2 tablespoons of olive oil
garlic
dried cilantro [if you don't have this, parsley is a good substitute]
chili powder
salt + pepper
aluminum foil

instructions:
1. shuck corn and place in cold water, completely covered for about 10 minutes. this gives it a little extra moisture. they float, so you may have to put something heavy on them to keep them under the water.

2. after removing from the water, shake them to get all the excess. place each cob, diagonally, on a square sheet of aluminum foil.

3. drizzle olive oil over each cob, and spread it until the corn is well covered. sprinkle on desired amounts of seasoning. wrap up the foil nice and tight to keep the moisture in.

4. grill the cobs for 5 minutes on each side over medium heat [turn about a quarter of the way each time for a total of 20 minutes].*

grilled salmon

makes 4 servings

ingredients:

4 salmon filets

3 tablespoons butter {real butter, not margarine, not vegetable spread, those are way worse for you than butter, just get some butter, ok?}

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced---depends on size, 3 larger, 4 smaller

salt + pepper

instructions:

[do this while the corn is soaking!]

1. melt the butter in the microwave, maybe 20 seconds. add garlic and stir. salt and pepper salmon filets, then spread the butter on each side with a basting brush. 

2. grill salmon on each side for 7 minutes, over medium heat.

*i just grilled my corn on one half for the 7 minutes along with the salmon, then flipped half way over for the second round. after i removed the salmon from the grill, i grilled the corn on the quarter sides for 2 or 3 minutes. it worked just fine and made for less opening of the grill during the cooking process of the fish.

a little craziness + a beautiful mess

after the storm last week, you'd think life would be a little better. but it really feels like a whirlwind of everything happening all at once!

i started a new job, i'm working on projects, trying to do some summer cleaning (not spring cleaning because i was in school then, but it's the same principle), running errands and theeeen... a three day weekend. how nice! we had a relaxing one, which was great. just hanging out. we also went to the last day of the norman rockwell exhibit at our local art museum which was awesome! unfortunately, i wasn't allowed to take pictures. sad day. but way cool! he's fabulous!

on another note, has anyone downloaded the new app from a beautiful mess?? love it! here's some of my little edited shots since i downloaded it a couple weeks ago. well worth the dollar!

Mail it Forward

on wednesday i told you one of my summer goals was to publicly launch mail it forward. that goal is about to get a big check mark next to it!

i'm so excited to be sharing this with all of you. you are probably wondering what mail it forward is. let's start at the beginning:

back in march, i was hit with some pretty amazing inspiration from all kinds of directions and in many different shapes and sizes. since then, i have been working very hard designing websites and blogs, collecting ideas, formulating goals, and sinking my teeth into a whole lotta goodness.

i'm the kind of girl who likes to cheer people up, and i finally found a way to do that with an unlimited capacity! there's a fire inside of me that i hope never goes out! it's been a long time since i was inspired in a way that never let me stop thinking about one thing. and that one thing is mail it forward.

mail it forward is all about spreading happiness through the mail. starting this week, i have mailed two very unsuspecting people (whom i've never met or heard of) a small note of encouragement and cheerfulness. and i'm going to keep sending more. every note encourages the receivers to mail it forward, in the hopes that the cheerfulness won't stop spreading!

i have more than enough ideas to help this thing get rolling, grow, and progress for a long time. but i would really love the support of my dear friends and readers! after today, nothing about mail it forward is going to be publicized on this blog. i want to be completely separate from it because the point is for me as a person to remain anonymous, especially to the recipients! i'm only sharing this with you today because i need your help!

please check out the website and the blog! share your thoughts and suggestions with me, and then share the links with your friends. help me get this going! you can follow the blog on bloglovin, or keep up via twitter, but just share it! and help me spread some happiness!

i'm so grateful for all of your support and your love already. it means so much to me to know people out there care about lil' ol' me. so thank you.

the next phase

well dear friends, it's been too long. do i start every post this way or what? i feel like a lamo mostly because I love blogging and it's one of those things that I just want to do! like all the time! so why don't i just do it?

well i'm going to. school is over for the semester which means i have time to form a habit now. blogging is one of those habits i want to form.

with one semester left of school, its about time i get my butt in gear and start doing what i want to do! right? here's a list of some summer goals i have as a new start to what i'm calling the next phase of my life:

1. blog 2-3 times every week
2. create a series on the blog
3. publicly launch mail it forward
   {did that peak your interest?? more on that very soon!}
4. simplify my life by simplifying my home//belongings
5. be productive
6. tan

ok so that last one may seem silly, but for real, i always come out of summer just as white as I was in the winter. no more, i say! so there. this is just a short list, but these things are really important to me!

what are some summer goals that you have? 
follow on bloglovin here.

Just some things that make me happy

well friends, i'm nearing the end. next friday I will officially be on summer break. with that comes cleaning projects, more blogging {yay}, 2 weddings, and lots of exciting stuff.

until then, i will be a nutcase. but here are some things that have brightened my day.

 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

not to mention, my new iPad is currently making me very happy. and so is the moodboard lite app which i made this mood board with. super fun, totally recommend it if you love creating mood boards or are a pinterest fan, or whatever!

have a happy week friends!