Last night was one of those quintessential summer nights.
A simple dinner, an evening swim in the lake (that included my best attempt at the mermaid hair flip) and his and her milkshakes!
Dinner
Dinner was inspired by my friend Cara. She posted a picture of her dinner on Instagram the other night and was kind enough to email me the recipe when I commented on how delicious it looked! It was a Blue Apron recipe, but I revamped it a little bit so I could use ingredients we already had on hand.
I didn’t measure anything, but combined the following in a baking dish:
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 bulb fennel, sliced
- Two large handfuls of cherry tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Garlic salt
- Olive oil
- Fresh thyme
- Ground pepper
- 2 large chicken breasts
I tossed the veggies and spices in olive oil before placing the chicken breasts on top. I then drizzled olive oil on top of the chicken breasts and sprinkled them with additional fresh thyme, garlic salt and pepper. I covered the dish and baked it at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
I thought it was decent, but Ryan loved it! Usually I am the tomato lover in our family, but he raved about the sweet cherry tomatoes in this dish.
Since the above recipe didn’t make that much food, I was still a little hungry after I cleared my plate and ate a mug of granola with almond milk as well.
Much better!
Evening Lake Swim
After dinner, we saw that the rain clouds outside were slowly dissipating, so we decided to take Sadie out to the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve for some evening hiking and swimming!
I’m assuming the rain scared most people away because we had the entire nature preserve to ourselves. It was pretty cool!
(Sadie enthusiastically jumping up and pawing my white tank top with her muddy paws right after this picture was taken was not so cool. You would think I would know better than to wear white on a hike!)
Sadie ran along the bank of Lake Norman, pausing only to freak out about a large stick in the water.
Of course that was the stick she wanted to use to play fetch. Not happening, crazy lady.
We hiked for about 30 minutes or so before the lake called to us.
The water was like glass and we had such a wonderful time swimming around, calling Sadie out to us and soaking up the warm summer evening.
It was one of my favorite nights in our new hometown so far!
On our way home, Ryan suggested milkshakes, so we picked up small watermelon and peach cobbler shakes to sip on during the drive back to our apartment. We finished them up while watching the end of So You Think You Can Dance before bed.
It was a great night all around!
Question of the Morning
- Share something fun that you’ve done on a summer weeknight this year!
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Yum! Have you ever tried Raisin Bran Crunch and chocolate almond milk? Sounds crazy but it is my go to late night snack!
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve been wondering what to do with the fennel bulb growing in the garden! That looks like such a beautiful night, I love summer nights like that. My fiance and I just went on a great bike ride the other night- came home with the sunset. I love the looong days of summer 🙂
Perfect summer night! I love summer nights at the lake. Watching the sunset over the lake is just so beautiful.
It’s funny, whenever my BF and I finish a walk or exercise we always pick up a little treat on the way home (generally) — even if it’s just a slurpee or a drink. It keeps you going! haha.
My favorite thing has been to lay in the grass by my pond, watch the stars, and laugh with my boyfriend.
Sounds like a great summer night. Ours have been a walk with the baby and pup to get ice-cream!
That definitely is a perfect summer night!
That just looks so relaxing!
PS I immediately started humming that song from Grease when I saw the title of this post – and now I’ve GOT to watch it!
I went running with my friend in the rain. I wasnt too excited about the plan, but it turned out to be an awesome adventure!
Aw that’s awesome!
I love summertime! And your hair flip. Work it girl!
Jealous! Perfect summer evening! Especially with the smoothie pit stop! Pretty good mermaid hair flip!!!
nothing like a good lake swim! i had plenty of those on July 4th wknd and have been thinking about it all week and wishing i was still up at the lake in this July heat! love the mermaid hair pic – i remember being so obsessed w/ mermaids when i was younger and spending hoursssss doing that with friends in the pool. 🙂
That sounds so fun! Also, love the hair flip picture! Awesome!
I think running on trails has been the most fun thing I’ve done lately on summer nights. Its like the perfect time to run. No sun beating down but shady and cool enough to run! Loving these summer nights!
haha love your hair flip! Sounds like such a good night. Anything that ends with a milkshake is good in my book 🙂
Watermelon and peach cobbler shakes…you must have been to Cookout! It’s my favorite place to go for milkshakes! My husband and I live not too far away in Mountain Island Lake!
We were!!! Ryan thinks their watermelon shake is the best thing going…
Haha, as soon as I read the flavors, I too was going to say you must have been at Cookout! Delicious.
Let Ryan the watermelon shake is only available in July & August! But then you get to look forward to their egg nog shake in December, which is my favorite.
Awe love that hair flip picture!! I think some of the best nights in the summer are spend with family, outdoors, walking or biking or hiking or something. Fresh air and sunlight = amazing.
haha I love the hair flip!
I love how active you all are *after* dinner! Come 7:30 or 8pm, it’s usually just couch time for us. If we’re feeling really wild, we’ll have some friends over for a drink on the patio! haha
Well, this is cheating because I did it last year, not this year, but just about a year ago, I went down to Taste of Chicago on a Wednesday night and saw a free fun. concert, which was so cool! It was a perfectly beautiful night–not hot, not humid, not a cloud in the sky–and it was so so so much fun to sit outside and listen to great music for FREE! Big fan 🙂
Hair flip = sassy! What a fun hike!
Now I want to watch Grease.
Hmm. That’s a tough one. I had a nice father/daughter dinner at Freddy’s Steakburgers with my dad last night, before going to check out our new house. My mom and sis are out of town, so hanging with my dad was something we don’t get to do a whole lot.
Well, this sounds like literally the most perfect summer night. I would have just included some wine drinking in there to round it all off ;). I went out for a beer with a friend and we dined al fresco, which was quite lovely. I love relaxing summer evenings!
Sounds like the PERFECT summer evening!!
That’s what all summer nights should be like! I don’t get home from work until almost 7 so I don’t get to enjoy much of those summer nights.
I.must.have.those.shoes.!!!! (yours, not Ryans lol) OMG!!! They are exactly what I have been looking for!! Preferably on amazon (there is a gift card begging to be used!!!) Please please tell me all about them. You are a HUGE inspiration to me, thanks for taking the time to blog for us.
I love it! Sounds like the perfect summer night. 🙂 Since we’ve lived in AZ, Cody gets home a LOT earlier than he did in Utah so we get a good chunk of the evening together. We’ve had a lot of fun weekday nights as a little family, and I love it. Some of my favorite evenings are hanging out together in the pool with Hunter and the dogs. We all have a blast and get to catch up on each other’s days – so fun!
These are the kind of summer nights I live for! Sounds absolutely perfect.
That sounds so perfect! I’m a tad ridiculous when it comes to the outdoors and had a minor OCD panic attack at seeing your shoes & clothes sitting in the woods because all I can think are spiders and ants and bugs haha. Something to work on… lol. That evening sounds perfect though! When I visit my boyfriend, we’ve started making a habit of picking up our dinner out somewhere and taking it on campus (he lives in our college town) to enjoy outside while the sun sets. I love the personal time we get together this way and the conversation is always great!
Summer weeknights are just the best! I love going on late night walks around Boston…usually ending with an ice cream cone, of course 🙂
I like your style 🙂
Sounds like an amazing evening. Summer night swims are just the best. 🙂
So jealous it is warm enough and light enough to swim at night!
Look like an awesome summer evening! I’m super impressed with your mermaid hard flip too!
My perfect summertime weeknight is simply grilling out and sitting on our little patio covered with string lights. Afterward, I like taking a short walk with the husband and pup!
Love the mermaid hair! What a perfect summer night! For a second, when I saw the picture of your clothes I was like “did they go skinny dipping?!?!?” haha!
Ahhhh! This sounds like so much fun! Bella would love it. She is still a pup (okay, she’s 8 months old, so she is a big pup lol) and she is soooo excited about water. Around here they have so many restrictions as to where you can and cannot swim, it’s kind of crazy. I’d love to rock that mermaid hair look too! xoxo
You seem so happy lately! It’s infectious and wonderful to see!
Thank you, Laura!!!
That does sound like a perfect Summer’s eve! And that hair flip is amazing. 😉
So perfect!! I would love to go swimming in such a gorgeous lake like that. Hair flip is ON POINT.
A couple nights ago, I went on an evening walk with my parents and then I came back home and made peanut butter banana soft serve. It was lovely!
My aunt lives on Lake Norman and I have been a few times–what a beautiful place to live! Something fun hmm probably walked to a nearby gelato place. I LOVE gelato and I especially love having one in walking distance to my apartment.
LOVE the mermaid hair photo.
And Ryan? Seriously? Hottie. 🙂
…I am old enough to be his mamma but just had to say.
This has only happened a couple time but I’ve been loving the nights my husband and I get the baby to bed and we are still awake enough to go out on the deck and chat. Since it doesn’t get dark here we could be out until 11pm and it’ll feel more like 6pm.
I LOVE SUMMER NIGHTS! Last night, a family friend took my sweet boyfriend and I as well as my brother, sister, and my brother’s girlfriend out on the lake for some wakeboarding as the sun was starting to set. I don’t think I have felt that happy all year.. it was wonderful.
Thanks for sharing!
That’s it…I’m moving to Charlotte! The recipes look so good! I think my hubby will love it 🙂
Sounds pretty perfect! Swimming in lakes reminds me of my childhood, so peaceful!
Looks like fun!! My perfect summer night is having a campfire with family and friends in the backyard. With s’mores included, of course 🙂
so fun! One of my favorites was a bike ride along a local trail, probably because (with being pregnant) I’ve been hesitant to get on the bike and, after realizing I could still maintain my balance, I cherished every minute of that ride 🙂
Congrats to you, Jaclyn!
My husband and I spend most evenings hanging out on our deck after the kids are in bed. I love the quiet time and being outdoors! We’ve also managed to do smore’s a few nights this summer! Can’t go wrong with that! And now I want a milkshake! That might be the treat of choice tonight!
Sounds like a awesome night. xo
How fun! I never go to the lake anymore, at least not since we sold our boat. Waaaahhhh
LOVE the mermaid hair pic! you nailed it!