Friday Favorites

My tomato plants have flowers! Amazing what one little rain storm can do out here. 

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all had a good week. One of the boys had a 24 hour bug in the middle of the week so I wasn't quite as productive as I wanted to be. I did get some yummy things made after he recovered though so there are some great posts lined up for next week! 

We finally had some rain last night and I'm hoping that will break this heat wave we've been in. I'm over the 100+ temps thankyouverymuch. 

What I've been reading: 

I'm almost done with Instant Mom by Nia Vardolos and Quiet by Susan Cain. They are both really interesting reads. I had such a connection with Instant Mom that I'll be devoting a blog post to a full review. It's an honest, beautiful and heartbreaking depiction of infertility and adoption. My boys and I have been tearing through chapter books lately too, so I'm going to round those up in one big post. 

I'm pushing myself to learn more about photography (see below) so I can push myself on my food photos. I'm dying to dig into Plate to Pixel by Helene DuJardin. It's full of techniques and styling tips and just downright gorgeous photography. For now though, it needs to stay on my to-be-read shelf.
Between sick kiddos and swim lessons I've been taking much longer to get through books these days. I'll just think of it as savouring the stories, and not being slow :)

Good reads around the web this week:

Since last Friday I was a slacker was part of a holiday weekend this week's Friday Favorites will have a few more links than usual to cover all the good stuff floating around from the last two weeks. 

This gorgeous chocolate sheet cake from Pink Parsley with berries would be a great end to a summer party. 

This list of vintage children's books from No Time for Flash Cards has lots of my favorites on it, and some new to me books that I can't wait to read with the boys. 

The amazing Shana at Ain't No Mom Jeans made Chicken Tacos with Peach Salsa. What a perfect way to use those peaches that are in season now! 

Ritz cracker ice cream sandwiches? My new favorite late night snack. Thanks Joy the Baker!

This house makes my inner anglophile giddy. 

Do you meditate? I do in spurts, but not nearly enough. A dear friend loved this challenge the last time they did it, and I'm thinking of giving it a try! Anyone want to do it with me? 

I finally got Photoshop Elements this week, and I've been having SO much fun playing around with it. I'm really excited to do some real editing on my photos for the blog. I've been reading all sorts of tutorials on the web, and I found some cool actions to try on this blog. If you have some favorite resources please share in the comments! I'm on the hunt for some new props and I'm going to try to DIY a lightbox this weekend too. 

I can't get the idea of this cake drizzled in caramel out of my head. 

I've already passed the big 3-0, but this article really made me laugh!

I took the boys out for milkshakes the other day and now I'm obsessed with making variations at home. Shutterbean just made this Orange Cream Float...YUM.

Have a great weekend everyone!