When we moved into our neighborhood a year ago we were thrilled to discover that we had unknowingly bought a house on the coolest block in town. Our neighbors have become incredible friends and we love that they all have kids, and that they also share our family-centric yet fun-loving ways. This time of year the afternoons mean nearly a dozen kids running up and down the street riding bikes, throwing lacrosse balls and chasing down the ice cream truck. When JOLLY TIME asked if I wanted to host a fun summer party for our neighborhood crew, there wasn’t a chance I’d turn that down.

Today my sister is 27 weeks pregnant with her first baby, a little girl who is already loved so very much. I was pregnant myself at this time two years ago (Emerson turned 18 months a couple weeks ago), so naturally we’re talking a lot about babies these days, and the things you need for babies and all the crazy large and small ways that babies change your life. One thing that has come up more than once is Ash saying, “I have no clue what I’m doing!” And that honestly just makes me laugh. Because no one knows what they’re doing when they have a baby, am I right? I sometimes still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing and my baby has quickly morphed into a tiny toddler girl with an abundance of spitfire and sass. So today I’m joining up with my fellow mom friends to dish on finding confidence as a mom.

June is one of my favorite months of the year, probably due to associating it with the start of summer vacation as a kid. Even now as an adult, many years past even my college or grad school days, I still love the start of summer! There’s an energy and lightness that comes along with the summer solstice that begs to be celebrated, which is why today I’m joining up with my pals at Dr. Oetker Virtuoso to share this sangria recipe. Appropriately enough, I’ve dubbed it a sparkling summer solstice sangria, and loaded it up with mango and raspberries so it’s super fruity and delicious, but not overly sweet. Paired with your favorite Virtuoso pizza, it makes for the perfect casual summer cocktail hour on the back patio or front porch.

For whatever reason Father’s Day (like Mother’s Day) feels like one of those occasions for which homemade gifts are always the best idea. Even if Dad really wants an upgrade to his grill utensil set or has been longing for a new neck tie, chances are he’ll really really appreciate a homemade Father’s Day gift even more. Make him a DIY etched beer mug and pair it with a six pack of his favorite craft beer and he’ll be crazy impressed and feel especially loved. Dad’s not a drinker? No worries! Snag some good root beer and a half gallon of gourmet vanilla ice cream and he’ll still love this one. If you’ve never etched glass before, it’s surprisingly simple, but still seems really impressive so etched glass projects make perfect gifts in that way. You can make a mug in a half hour or less so there’s no major time involved here either. Win-win-win!

At long last it’s finally really feeling like the start to summer here this week and I have been loving the sunshine the last few days. Has anyone else had a spring that has been endlessly rainy and chilly? All of this to say, I have about zero plans this weekend that don’t revolve around spending some time outside, most likely working in the yard and planting some herbs. In the meantime I rounded up a few of the things that caught my eye this week!

You guys know by now that I’m a vegetarian and have been for well over a decade, so you may be wondering why I’m serving you up an appetizer today that is the very definition of un-vegetarian. It turns out though that this prosciutto wrapped asparagus was a huge hit when I made it on a whim on Easter and at the time Bob made me promise I’d make it again and also that I’d share it with you since it was a huge hit. You know you have a winner on your hands when you write a blog for a living and the family is declaring, “You need to post this!” while they’re enjoying something new you just made. Bob is actually the one who suggested this would make a great Father’s Day appetizer since it could also be made on the grill. So there you go, the official word on this recipe, according to gentleman of the household.

I’ve been in such a weird food rut lately, which isn’t very typical for me and I’m starting to feel it. At the moment I’ve basically been opting for some variation of avocado toast (generally on naan bread) as often as seems reasonable, because I’m just so bored with everything else. I love to cook, but behind the scenes I’ve been juggling a lot of huge projects (that I really really hope I can share with you in the coming weeks) so I’ve been eating on the fly more often. Frankly, I usually devote most of the food prep time to making meals for Em and then I just grab whatever is handy. This week I am planning to stock up on a bunch of fruit, frozen and fresh, so I can start working more smoothies into the routine.

Inspired by Father’s Day and the cute graphic aprons I made over the holidays (which in turn were inspired by Kelly’s cool DIY graphic tees), today we’re making these super fun DIY Father’s Day shirts! Featuring your personal favorite daddy-inspired pun or phrase, you can make these shirts quickly and inexpensively. They’re so easy to make, in fact, that you could easily make a whole bunch for all the fathers in your life that you want to salute, from your own dad to your husband to your brother.

With Memorial Day coming up next week, I’m getting really excited for loads of fun summer parties and picnics over the next few months. Always an advocate of simple yet lovely entertaining and parties, today I’ve teamed up with my old friends at Dr. Oetker Virtuoso Pizza to share a few tips for hosting a totally easy yet completely chic patriotic picnic, perfect for Memorial Day or even the 4th of July!

Friends, after much ado and about two years more time than anticipated, I am so excited today to finally be announcing the all new The Sweetest Occasion! A couple of years ago I knew it was time to freshen things up with new branding and a new look, but I also knew the site needed a fair amount of restructuring to make it more organized and user-friendly. Along with my incredible friend Erika Firm of Analog Creative Co. we tackled the new branding and logo. Wildly, that was over two years ago. Soon after I found out I was expecting and because of that we had to move and then I had a newborn and then we bought a house and then we started renovating, and on and on and on. Until finally, I got together with the dream duo of gents at Roundhouse Designs, and from there Ryan and Nick set to work bringing the design I’d blocked out to life. I’m so grateful to them for putting up with me these last few months.

I am so excited that as of this week it’s finally starting to feel like summer around here! That beautiful, easy start to summer where lilacs and cherry trees are finally in bloom and everything is just so green and gorgeous. Basically, days that beg for porch sitting and garden planting and the perfect rosé cocktail. I love a great wine spritzer recipe on just such days! Light, refreshing, a touch fruity and like the perfect pour of summer in a glass.

There’s something about food served on sticks that people seem to instantly love. Case in point, the antipasto skewers I shared last year were one of your run away favorite posts of the year! (And, guys, they’re so damn tasty!) Spearing yummy little bites onto sticks is also a super easy way to serve up delicious, crowd-pleasing party appetizers. You can make them in advance, mix and match a million different flavor combinations and keep everyone begging for more.