Mouth Watering Springtime Salad { Guest Post: Katie Elizabeth }

Hey everyone!    I'm Katie from the Katie Elizabeth blog, where I write about a variety of topics including - but not limited to! - life with my husband, Golden Retriever puppy and baby girl on the way here in Michigan, my favorite beauty products and my love for online shopping (it's a real addiction ;)).  I'm so excited to be here on P!nk Persistence today!
Totally beyond jealous of the amazing trip Pinky is on right now and I can only imagine all of the mouth watering, drool worthy food she is feasting on.  Today I thought I'd share with you guys one of my favorite spring time recipes.  It is so delicious, healthy and easy - my three requirements for a weeknight dinner.  Not pictured is the balsamic vinaigrette dressing which I highly recommend making yourself because it's that good (and easy, too!).  
Enjoy! Salad Ingredients 4 cups spring mix salad 2 hard boiled eggs, diced 1 chicken breast 1 avocado, diced 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 cup mozzarella balls (we love to use Feta instead, too) Salt and pepper
Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tbsp dijon mustard 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp dry basil 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 1/3 cup olive oil Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions 1.  Mix garlic, mustard, lemon juice, basil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Slowly stir in olive oil, whisking until oil and vinegar are combined.  Set aside. 2.  Coat raw chicken with salt and pepper and any other additional seasonings. 3.  Grill chicken 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through, 170 degrees. 4.  Divide spring mix, eggs, avocado, tomatoes, mozzarella and sliced grilled chicken into two bowls. 5.  Top with balsamic vinaigrette.
Thanks so much to Pinky for having me - hope you all have a fabulous day and stop over and say hi sometime! :) Oh my yum, this looks DELICIOUS, Katie. Just the thing I'll need to munch on after over indulging the past 30 days. Thank you so much for guest posting, sweet friend!

Cruising the Western Mediterranean {Guest Post: Kate}

Good Morning Pink Persistence readers! My name is Kate, and you can find me blogging over at Green Fashionista. I'm excited to be filling in for the fabulous Pinky while she's taking the trip of a lifetime across the pond. I thought it would be fun to share the Mediterranean cruise I took during my first trip across the pond a few years ago.

Our first stop on our European adventure was in Barcelona, and then it was time to board the Norwegian Epic for a 3 night Mediterranean cruise with stops in Marseille, France and Palma de Mallorca, Spain before finishing off our trip in Lisbon, Portugal. Cruising the Mediterranean was absolutely surreal, such an amazing experience!

Other than Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Allure of the Seas, the Norwegian Epic is the largest ship on the water. It was massive!

Room 10128 ~ Once you go balcony you can't go back!

*Ready to set sail on the Mediterranean*

*1st drinks of the cruise - of course I got the souvenir cup*

*Svedka Ice Bar ~ $20 admission which includes 2 vodka mixed ice drinks*

*Amazing to look out the window and see the beautiful Mediterranean Sea*

*Main Dining Room*

*Casino Bar*

*H winning us some money at roulette*

*One of my favorite things about cruises is all the food*

So much amazing entertainment on this ship! Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil dinner shows in the Spiegel Tent, comedy club, piano bar, Irish pub, jazz club, night club, and dance parties under the stars.

Now if only I could rewind back time for my countdown to look like this...

Make sure to join Kerri, Emily, and I every second Wednesday of the month for Wanderlust Wednesday to link up your favorite travel recaps and wishlists. 

Kate, I totally agree with you, once you go balcony there is no going back. Right now we're enjoying our balcony view on our Eastern Mediterranean cruise, but I think we might need to check out the Western cruise on our next big trip. Thanks so much for guest posting, beautiful! 

Five Favorite Post on a Friday {Guest Post: Emily}

Good morning and Happy Friday to all of Pinky's lovely friends & readers! I'm excited to make a guest appearance today while my girl is off on a trip of a lifetime exploring Europe. It's always been a dream of mine to make it across the pond so I'm excited to live vicariously through her travel adventures. 

Some of you may already know me but I'm sure many of you don't so I wanted to briefly introduce myself before getting into the meat & potatoes (so to speak).

I'm Emily and I blog over at Martinis & Bikinis where I talk about my everyday life in Florida along with my travel adventures, delicious recipes, entertaining/party ideas, home DIY projects, fashion, and shopping deals. My pup Lola also makes an appearance from time to time because I think she's cute.

Since it's Friday and I usually share five things that I love, I thought I'd switch it up a bit and share five of my favorite posts that fall into the categories I mentioned above.


Entertaining
Brunch is one of my favorite things to indulge in on the weekends so I thought it would be fun to host a brunch at home for friends/family. In this post I shared some yummy brunch recipe ideas to add to the spread along with a refreshing mimosa bar.

Travel
I live with the travel bug. I've been traveling with my parents since I was an infant and just love exploring new places and cultures. My husband and I have been trying to cover some grounds on the map. International destinations excite me the most but sometimes US adventures are just as amazing. Check out my recap of San Francisco and Wine Country. It's so beautiful there, a piece of my heart was left behind.

Recipes
I love experimenting in the kitchen and sharing recipes that are delicious and most of the time healthy. This Jalapeno and Swiss Stuffed Chicken recipe is one of my faves from last year. If you don't like spicy food you can always replace the jalapenos with any other ingredients such as chopped ham, mushrooms, or a veggie of your choice.

DIY Home Projects
Home improvement is one department I haven't focused too much on recently. I hope to change this sooner than later but one of my favorite DIY projects was creating a black & white photo gallery wall with our wedding photos which included some sentimental touches in there.

Fashion & Beauty
I'm not a fashion blogger but I do LOVE fashion and beauty products so I often do reviews about products that I love or that are on my radar. This Pink & Rose Gold fashion/beauty combination was one of my favorite blog posts to date.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my faves. Feel free to stop by Martinis & Bikinis and say hi! I love meet new bloggers!
Pinky, I hope you are having a blast in Europe!! xoxo

You can also find me on:
Instagram  |  Facebook  |  Twitter

You're a girl after my own heart, Emily! I love all of the posts you shared today, especially the mimosa bar and pink and rose gold posts. You know I'm all about that pink ;)! Thanks so much for sharing your faves today!

Everything You Need to Know About Packing {Guest Post: Kristen}

Hi Pinky's readers! A huge thank you to the wonderful Pinky for having me over at her place today while she's off on an amazing vacation that I am insanely jealous of! For those of you I haven't met before, my name is Kristen and I blog over at See You In A Porridge (unrelated to goldilocks) about a whole lot of nothing and everything; books, cats, travel, expat life (I'm from Australia) etc etc.

One of the things I love to post - and read - about is packing. I'm one of those people who love to squish everything in a carry on. Mainly because I've been the unfortunate person who has had her luggage stolen / lost / damaged / delayed and I was just sick of it. When I first started looking into carry on only packing, I thought there was no way I could do it. I'm the girl who brought 2 full size suitcases on a 2 week trip. It was always the same though, because I brought so much it was so overwhelming that I would end up wearing the same few things and buying new stuff on holiday (I have a wee bit of a shopping problem). So I read basically every post on the entire internet on how to do it, and I've done it successfully several times. And so can you!

I have been able to pack using just a carry on for every trip I have been on in the last couple of years; Australia for 2 weeks, NYC in winter, 2 weeks in Europe and our most recent trip to Disney World / Universal (and a couple other times I haven't blogged about!). I'll never go back to checking a bag.

Today I wanted to share a basic packing list with 10 items that easily make 15+ outfits. You could change it around to suit your needs, tastes or location. You could throw in accessories - the thing is, this is super basic but it just shows you that you absolutely can do it, it's a matter of wanting to do it, and planning. That's it.

All item details can be found here.

And the outfits I put together:

You'll notice the skirt is also a dress - I know Pinky has a few maxi skirts that can be worn as dresses, which is just brilliant. I also used a different shirt in the bottom left corner to show one of my favourite things to do over a dress - knot a tee. It's the perfect way to get more wear out of a dress, especially if it doesn't convert to a skirt, and the knot is fun.

If you look at any of my packing posts, you'll find that most of them look the same, and that's because I know what I am comfortable with and what I like. I like neutrals and stripes, and that's just what I like. Packing posts, in my opinion, aren't meant to be a hard and fast rule, but a guide, and I love looking at them because they give me ideas, but I don't have to follow them down to the letter. So you don't have to follow this, nor do I expect anyone to take 10 items and actually wear them this many times without doing some laundry - but it gives you an idea, hopefully.

If you don't want to pack using only a carry on, you don't have to. But if you do, you absolutely can. Don't be discouraged, it's really not that hard. Read my tips on how to pack less here. My thing is - I'm still an overpacker at heart. I want all the options, I want to be prepared for all the things. You can still do that using just a carry on, I promise. We use the ebags motherlode bags and love them, they make my overpacking heart happy.

Thanks again for having me, Pinky!

NO, THANK YOU for such an informative post and for being SUCH an incredible wealth of information. Y'all the first person I contacted after Le Husband suggested the Europe trip last summer was Kristen. I knew had read about her summer trip and knew she had the info on the best deals and if it was something possible budget-wise. SHE is such a supportive friend and helped me constantly when I had questions about packing. The reason I can do 30 days in a carry on is all because of her, so THANKS SWEET FRIEND!!! Love you!

Christina from the New Mrs.

Morning and happy Friday, friends. I know most of y'all are stoked it's Friday and normally I'd be on the woohoo party train. But, alas, Friday means we've left Breckenridge and are now in Denver, signallying the almost end of our fabulous vacation. Luckily, I have a fun weekend of kickball events planned [cross your fingers for a win on Saturday, please] and I am really excited to see my kickball friends for the weekend. To end my week of guest posts, I have the beautiful Christiana for you today. I started following her blog earlier this year and LOVE her sense of fashion and her party ideas and tips. Check out her amazing post for a fun July party!!!

Hi all, I'm Christina and I blog over at The New Mrs. where you can find me talking about everyday life, marriage and relationships, traveling, a little bit of fashion, a pinch of home decorating and some recipes.  I'm also always sharing about my husband and my new puppy Stella.  I also talk a lot about the hosting/entertaining that we do - especially around the holidays.

Has anyone been watching Christmas in July week on the Hallmark channel? I sure have!  One of the things I listed on my summer bucket list (which I've been wanting to do for years) is have a Christmas in July celebration! So, I thought today that it could be fun if we turn down the thermostats, pretend like Christmas is almost here and talk some Christmas in July ideas… 

This could be a fun theme night if your at the beach for a family vacation or just a special night at home.  Who doesn't love Christmas? This could add a little excitement to any little old week. You could make a big deal out of the celebration and possibly include presents - something small like a pollyanna. Or something low key with just your typical Christmas dinner or Christmas brunch.  Dress in red and green.  Bake your favorite batch of cookies.  Sip a Christmas cocktail.  Use Christmas plates - if you have some or next year, plan ahead and get some stuff on clearance after Christmas and save it for summer.  If you have children then do a couple easy Christmas crafts.

I feel that the best enjoyment would come from using YOUR favorite actual Christmas ideas but it can be fun to incorporate some summer/Christmas in July ideas too.  

Here are five ideas that look simple enough and can make your celebrating a little bit more festive.

I know some people like to make these around the holidays but I think these melted snowman cookies would be the perfect summer treat.

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How easy would this be?  Just make a cute little label, print it out, slap it on a water bottle and you have instant melted snowman drinks.  In the melted snowflakes pitcher you could make some sort of drink with sprite or again just go simple with water.

via                                                                                                     via

This would be an instant hit for any Christmas in July party and quite a refreshing treat for a hot July day.

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I mention all the time over on my blog that I enjoy testing out cocktail recipes much better in the summer - During the winter season, I like to just stick to my usual favorites.  There are so many red, summery drinks that would make for a festive cocktail for your celebration.

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How cute is this?? The perfect mix of summer and Christmas - need I say more?

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There are still three weeks left in July so plenty of time to get in some sort of Christmas in July celebration! But if not, don't worry we are just FIVE months away from December and the actual big day.. I think we all know that the holidays will be here before we know it!

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Christmas and summer?!?!/ Christina, you are a girl after my own heart :)! Those cookies and cocktails look FABULOUS! I think I'll have to try one this month! Thanks so much for your wonderfully Christmasy post… five more months, ladies! Who's excited?!!?

Katie from Katie Elizabeth

Hello and happy Thursday, ladies.I can't believe the week is almost over, vacation is just flying by to quickly. Today I have the fabulous Katie guest posting.  I've been following Katie for the last few years and love her take on decor, she just has such an eye for style. She also has some amazing recipes in her arsenal and all you foodies won't want to miss this post.

Hi everyone!  I'm Katie from the Katie Elizabeth blog where I write about a variety of topics including (but not limited to!) life with my husband and Golden Retriever puppy in Michigan, my favorite recipes and my love for any and all beauty products.  I'm so excited to be here on P!nk Persistence today while Pinky is on vacation! :)   As I mentioned, I love to cook (and eat).  We seem to be SO busy in the summer though and sometimes dinner is a last minute thought.  Not to mention, it's so hot out that the last thing you feel like doing is slaving over a steamy stove.  That's why salads are a great option for summer lunch or dinners - they're healthy and easy, plus you can prepare them ahead of time.  And I promise they don't have to be boring!  I've rounded up 5 of my favorite flavorful summer salad recipes below, hope you enjoy!  

Southwest Pepper Jack Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing I don't know about you, but I was sold at creamy avocado dressing - holy yum.  This salad has just the right amount of kick to it and the black beans make it very filling.  

Strawberry Chicken Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing We're smack dab in the middle of strawberry season right now so this is the time to try this deliciousness!  Strawberries + balsamic is such an unexpected combination but they really do go perfectly together.  And then topped with feta cheese?  Yes, please.  

Harvest Cobb Salad A Cobb salad is a classic and I love the spin on this one - give me all of the apples and cranberries.  You can honestly never go wrong with a Damn Delicious recipe.  

Caprese Avocado Chicken Salad Of course I had to sneak one of my own recipes in here ;)  Caprese is possibly my favorite thing of all time.  It is so good and so fresh and so good, did I mention that already?  We have this salad at least once a week - it's a great Monday meal when you want to detox a bit after the weekend!  

Thai Cashew Chopped Salad Sometimes you want a salad... that tastes nothing like a salad.  This Thai version is perfect for that and I love the crunch it has thanks to the peanuts.   You can also find so many more delicious salad recipes on my Pinterest 'Food' board here!  Thanks for letting me hang out today - make sure to come by and say hi sometime :)

Oh my goodness, Katie, my mouth is watering just looking at all your salads. #yummy! I definitely will be indulging in a few of these when I get back, because we all know what happens on vacation #eatallthefood. Thanks so much for guest posting, lady!