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You’ve probably seen on Instagram or Facebook that we’ve been overseas in Britain and France for about two weeks now! We’ve been having such a fun time, just returning from a wine tour of the Bordeaux region, and moving into a few days in Paris to end our trip. Blog posts soon to come!
But for now, I’m so excited to share with you a few of my must-have items for travel. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to travel a lot – both domestically and overseas. Every experience has taught me new tips and tricks for travel, including what to bring (and what to leave at home!). Check out my must-have items below!
Does anyone else get incredibly dehydrated while traveling? Especially on long international flights, I’m so guilty of forgetting to drink water. This trip we’ve been dealing with really high heats and limited air conditioning, which is not a great combo! I love to bring my S’well bottle with me, because it’s sturdy and doesn’t leak. There is seriously nothing worse than a leaky water bottle in your bag, so that’s a big deal to me! These keep your water cold for a long time too, and I love that.
I love the Jewelry Snug case for travel! It rolls up and doesn’t take a lot of space, but I feel confident that any jewelry I take along will be safe. The inner compartment is great for earrings, because it keeps each pair separate. My very favorite part is the plastic “sheets” for bracelets and necklaces. Each sheet has two plastic sides that stick to each other, so not only do your items stay safe – necklaces and bracelets don’t get tangled during transport. Ain’t nobody got time to sit there and untangle knotted necklaces. Pure genius! The basic jewelry snug comes with two sheets, which for me is plenty, but you can also buy extra sheets if need be. I will seriously not travel without this!
I’m very selective in my perfume, and I’m not about to leave my favorite scents at home while I travel. But I also don’t want to take a big bottle that will take up room and/or be above the TSA limit if I’m only taking a carry-on. That’s why I love that Jo Malone sells small 1 oz perfume bottles are perfect for travel. Jo Malone is my favorite perfume brand, and Red Roses is my absolute favorite scent (I wore it for my wedding!). It’s so happy and smells like a literal rose garden. I get so many compliments every time I wear it!
It’s no secret that I love dresses, and that doesn’t change when I travel! But there is nothing worse than taking a wrinkled dress out of your suitcase. I recently discovered this travel steamer, and it works like a charm! On this trip I’ve used it on my dresses, but also on a lot of Charlotte’s clothes that got wrinkled. It’s so quick and easy to use which is a definite plus. It’s just big enough that it might be tricky if you’re only using a carry-on, but it’s been a life-saver on this trip!
Congratulations to Chelsey Hall who has won the 17 oz. S’well water bottle of your choice! Please email me at kirsten.bell@thiscelebratedlife.com to claim your prize.
Didn’t win this time? Subscribe here for a chance at next month’s prize!
Did you catch My Favorite Things: Rose Edition? You can check it out here!
There’s just something so refreshing about salads in the summer! In the winter I’m more drawn to warm and comforting food, and then once spring rolls around all I want to eat is fresh fruits and salads! Maybe that has to do with it also being swimsuit season haha!
As we move into the warm weather season, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite salad recipes with you! These are all really easy to put together, and can be served as a main course or as a side. We sometimes make them all and have a summer salad medley for dinner!
Kale Caesar Salad
Ingredients:
3/4 cups olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
3 garlic cloves
1 egg
4 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1 bunch kale
5-6 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
Directions:
Combine the first nine ingredients, olive oil through ground mustard in a food processor to make the caesar dressing. Blend until fully emulsified.
Remove the spine from the kale leaves, and tear leaves into bite size pieces. Pour the caesar dressing over the kale. Top with bacon, pistachios and parmesan cheese. Serve!
Apple Ginger Tuna Salad
I love the crunch of the celery in this recipe, and the fresh pops of flavor from the ginger and apple. I prefer to mince the celery, apple and ginger really finely, because I don’t like to get huge chunks of it in my salad. You can use this to make tuna salad sandwiches, or just eat it plain!
Ingredients:
Two cans tuna (6 oz each), drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 celery stalk, finely minced
3/4 apple, cored, skinned and finely minced
2 inches fresh ginger root, skinned and finely minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and serve. Now that’s my kind of recipe!
Greek Salad Skewers
These are one of my favorite things to eat during the summer, and they’re a great summer appetizer for barbecues. You can top these with your favorite Greek style dressing, or serve them plain! They’re honestly good either way. My preference lately is to thinly drizzle a little olive oil over them, along with a dusting of salt and pepper. These are perfect served on cocktail picks.
Ingredients:
1 block of full fat feta, cut into 1/2 – 3/4 inch cubes
Grape tomatoes, halved
Kalamata olives
Cucumber, sliced to size
Directions:
Assemble the skewers in any order you like. Be careful when adding the feta, as it has a tendency to crumble if handled too roughly. This is one reason to use full-fat feta, because along with tasting better it also holds up better. Top with your dressing of choice if you like, and serve!
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