Ashley Brooke Designs

Good morning and happy Monday to you! I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend full of sleeping in and yummy brunches!

Here is a peek at what I was up to this weekend…

Photo 1. All of our new neighbors are so nice, but we haven’t had much of a chance to get to know many of them other than waving to each other when I walk the dogs.  So you may think I’m crazy, but I felt like we needed to introduce ourselves to our closest neighbors, so that is just what we did! I decided that our neighbors may be more excited to meet us if we brought them baked goods, so I whipped up a batch of double chocolate chip cookies, placed them in small mason jars, tied them up with twine, and attached a matching little tag and off we went on our bikes to introduce ourselves. My sweet husband thought I was nuts but was a trooper and came along with me… after we got over the initial nervousness of knocking on a stranger’s doors we had such a great time! I’m happy to say we are now on first name bases with most of our nearest (and fabulous) neighbors… mission accomplished!

Photo 2: I whipped up a batch of homemade (skinny) strawberry-mint lemonade this weekend, not only is it such a pretty drink, but it is so good! This is a summer favorite in our house, but since it already feels like summer here in Florida I thought it was a must have!

here is my recipe (I do it by taste, so make it how you like it):

6 large lemons squeezed and strained

a handful of mint leaves

a handful of sliced strawberries

a few cups of ice water

Agave to taste

… let me know if you try it!

Photo 3. We celebrated Mother’s Day on Saturday with my mom and Sunday with my mother-in-law. On Sunday we went to a oh-so-fancy (and delicious) brunch with my in-laws and had such a wonderful time… I think brunch is the best meal, don’t you?! Honestly, any time mimosas are involved it’s always a good time! And on Saturday we went on a long walk around downtown Winter Park, got lattes, and then went to the Farmer’s Market with my mom! Both days were equally special and it was so lovely to spend time with them doing their favorite things.

P.S. This photo is of my sister and I at the Farmer’s Market… it’s crazy how much we look a like isn’t it?! We even had our hair braided the same way and got coordinating popsicles, ha!

P.P.S. I’m on the right just in case you couldn’t tell!

Okay, I’m off to tackle my crazy to-do list and try to figure out how to pack for a trip to New Orleans (any fun Nola recommendations are welcome, this will be my first trip there!) later this week… I’m going to try and get my infamous packing skills under control, what can I say?! I like to have options! Anyways, cheers to a fabulous and productive week ahead!!

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