Party everyday.

In case you haven’t noticed, the fun never ends at our house. This week, we’ve been celebrating a year of ATL-living in the greatest house on the block AND we took a mid-week vacation in honor of America for some 4^th of July festivities. Man I love summer.

We kicked things off on Sunday when we met our favorite ladies/Brunch Betties at Rosebud. Dot was in town from Boulder, so it was a great excuse for everyone to be there. We had a grand ol’ time and the food was delish…and so many options!

Sunday Supper club finally reconvened after a long hiatus at Parish with Arlo and Dad on Sunday night. We’ve been to Parish a couple times, for brunch and for dinner, and always enjoy it. This time, our waiter informed us that the chef and menu had changed. We were all a little disappointed because we loved the old menu so much, and I’m not sold on the new one just yet. It’s the same fancy twist on southern-style cuisine, but something’s missing. Regardless of the lack-luster changes, we had a great time as always.

Monday night (the actual move-in anniversary), we treated ourselves to La Tavola, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places. Read about my first time there here. It’s an Italian place with a gluten-free menu, and amazing food…you can’t get much better than that. We split the Arugula salad, Chris got the Pork Belly Ravioli, and I got the Lamb ribs. And what’s a celebration without cake? Nothing at all, so we split the BEST flourless chocolate cake ever for dessert.

For July 4^th, we had some relaxing roommate pool time during the first part of the day. Jfal won the Big Splash contest at the pool, and won $10 to the concession stand, so lunch was on him! We were those proud parents in the corner cheering. Awesome start to the day.

Then we made our way to Whit and Nate's for a cookout with some of our favorite people. Everyone brought a side to share, so we made an awesome fruit salad complete with mostly red fruits: red grapes, red apples, watermelon, and strawberries. 

I wish I’d taken pictures, but other people brought some great salads with fresh goodness like cumbers, tomatoes, mozzarella, etc. Kind of like these:

Then we made our way to the Decatur Square for some fireworks. July 4^th is one of my favorite holidays I think. It’s a great excuse to get together, be festive, and be outside. Loved it.

It’s been unseasonably hot over the past few weeks, so we haven’t wanted to use our kitchen too much. With that in mind, we’ve been researching recipes with minimal appliance use, but still a cheap, filling, yummy meal with leftover-capabilities. So we started on the salad route, and came across this recipe for Avocado Chicken Salad on Pinterest! I was feeling something with avocado, and we always love Mexican, so this seemed like the perfect fit. And it was. So light, cool, and delicious, and not a single appliance was used.

Avocado Chicken Salad

from Cooking Light Magazine, April 2012 with some of our own modifications

2 tbsps olive oil

2 tbsps fresh lime juice

A dash kosher salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3/4 Peach, Pineapple, or Mango salsa

1 small can whole kernel corn

1 ripe avocado, peeled and chopped

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. 

Meanwhile, shred the white meat from the rotisserie chicken.

Add chicken, corn and cilantro; toss to combine. 

Gently fold in salsa and avocado.

Serve in corn tortilla shells and/or chips.

We think the combination of avocado with a fruity salsa is wonderful, but using something more spicy would probably be great too. Next time, we want to double the recipe (minus the chicken). We ate off of our Mexican-looking plates, and finished things off with some leftover fruit salad and some Sex and the City.

It’s been an amazing year in Atlanta, full of change, new experiences, great food, and some of the best memories yet. Can’t wait to see what year two brings.