I've been on a bit of a pinning spree this week.  Pinning all sorts of different exteriors I love from the Modern Farmhouse (source) to Santa Barbara (source)...which might be my two favorite exteriors.  Vastly different, I realize, but equally beautiful in my eyes.

To see more of what I'm pinning on the regular, follow along.

Here are the lists of weekend open houses going on across the Valley.  If you haven't used these links before, I break each list into different cities, then they are sorted by price, so you can find what you're looking for fairly quickly. Once you find a property you want to walk, click on the 'open house' tab at the top right to see the date & time of the open house...and be sure to let me know if you find a gem!

 Gilbert  ||  Mesa  ||  Arcadia  ||  Scottsdale

If you'd like to search everything listed on the MLS, you can do that here.

If you're like me, then you consider chips and salsa a food group all their own.  One of the things I missed the most this past pregnancy was my lack of desire for chips and salsa.  It honestly had me flummoxed because, um, well I eat it nearly every single day.  True story.  

As such, I've got more than one homemade salsa up my sleeve...instead, I've got four we rotate through on the regular.  Green, which is made almost weekly, rotated with red, which is well, made almost weekly as well, then this pico de Gallo and finally a black bean and corn that is more filling and great for a party.

With temps warming up in these parts I'm getting that itch for casual chips and salsa consuming poolside.  What can I say?  I'm a simple girl with simple desires.

​Let's get it started...

Add garlic.  If you do fresh, scale back just a touch, as fresh tends to be a bit stronger.  I don't even measure, but this is what I added to that first tomato.

Next up is your red onion, add about 1/3 of an average size onion.  I don't love a huge onion bite, so I use my food processor to get these pretty fine.  You get the flavor without literally biting into an onion. 

In my opinion, cilantro is the best thing to happen to fresh salsa, so just use the whole bunch.

I use kitchen sheers for a coarse chop, then add to bowl.

Again, I don't measure anything when I make this, so just drizzle a bit of olive oil.  I did two circles around the bowl this time.  You're always better off adding less as opposed to more since it's always easy to add a bit more if need be in the end.

A generous sprinkle of salt and pepper...

and then this! This is the magic touch!  Add about a TB of balsamic vinegar.  It won't look like much, but you can always add more if you need too.  You definitely don't want it to be soupy and once you let it set in the fridge for about an hour, it gets juicier, so go easy on the olive oil and balsamic your first go.  If you get over-excited like I often do and add too much, don't stress.  Just hold a plate over your bowl & tip it over the sink to drain some of the juice out before serving.  Does description make sense?  I hope so.  

Pour yourself a Diet Coke or your beverage of choice and enjoy!  Also, as a side note, the best store bought chips for any salsa are hands down the On the Border ones -- love their Cantina Thins.

If you've been around these parts for any length of time, then you might remember my last venture, Olive Lane.  Olive Lane was my online storefront that I ran for about 4 years.  It started with jewelry, until I could learn the ins & outs of the back end, then moved on to graphic tees.  I started it mostly because I had an idea & wanted to test it.  In all honesty, I wasn't sure if it would work. Turns out I was pretty good at designing tees and 6 years later, I'm still wearing that very first tee I designed.

This past month, one of my cute nieces called me up & wondered if I'd be up to help her design a few tees for a fundraising effort.  She's headed out on an humanitarian trip to Argentina this summer & wanted to sell tees to raise money.  Can you guess how quickly I jumped up & said, 'me! me! me!'  

Yep, that quick.  

I'm not sure what my biggest driving force was: getting to design again (yes! I've heard your cries for more tees!) or the fact that my niece was willing to do some work to earn that money.  Probably a little bit of both!  

We came up with 3 different designs and each comes in kid and adult sizes.  Not gonna lie, when she showed up with boxes of tees, I got a little giddy inside.  Head over to her website (yes, she built that herself!!!) and stock up on what are sure to be your favorite summer tees! 

As a quick FYI on fits:
Hola Bonita: relaxed fit, true to size
Be the Good: fitted, size up (I wear a M)
Llama: this is printed on a Men's V-neck & I promise will be your favorite fitting shirt of all time.  It is supposed to be a relaxed fit.  If you are on the fence on size, size down.

Kids: all fit true to size

When in doubt, go black and white.  I can't for the life of me find the source for this image, but it deserves credit, so if you know it, please, let me know!  

Here we are again, with the weekend around the corner and you know what that means, lots of real estate to be walking!  I'm giving you all the usual lists, but there really is only ONE house you need to walk and it's my listing in Alta Mesa!  Get all the details of the house here, and come say hi!

I'll be giving away $100 to HomeGoods, so just come sign in, take a peek and you're entered to win.  Easy enough right?

Here are the lists of weekend open houses going on across the Valley.  If you haven't used these links before, I break each list into different cities, then they are sorted by price, so you can find what you're looking for fairly quickly. Once you find a property you want to walk, click on the 'open house' tab at the top right to see the date & time of the open house...and be sure to let me know if you find a gem!

 Gilbert  ||  Mesa  ||  Arcadia  ||  Scottsdale

If you'd like to search everything listed on the MLS, head here.

About 2 weeks ago I hosted a FREE class for new real estate agents where we sat around a table, eating lunch and discussing 'best practices.' That class was mostly focused on the actual nuts + bolts of real estate transactions, but as we were talking they all expressed a desire for another class focused solely on marketing.

You can guess how my heart swelled.  There is nothing I enjoy more than figuring out how to market an item.  Seriously and for real.  The way I see it, we're all involved in marketing, whether we are the creator or the consumer.  I'm fascinated how Coke has managed to convince us it's not a good time until we've poured ourself a Diet Coke and how Target has convinced us that we can always afford, just one more thing.  As a mom, I love figuring out how to 'market' to each of my kids.  I like to sell them on all sorts of things, like making their bed, getting good grades and brushing their teeth.   

It is all around us and it has been my world for the last 15 years and the best news is?  It has nothing to do with how many followers you have on social media.

So if you are involved in real estate, join us!  This FREE class with be a high level overview of a lot of different options that I'm currently seeing in our market.  I'll show you what's worked for me, what hasn't and tell you about a couple new ideas I'm working through.  I don't promise to have all the answers for you, but I do promise you'll leave feeling motivated and inspired in new directions.

Shoot a quick RSVP & can't wait to take our relationship to the next level. ;)

1. This probably deserves a post of it's own, but what are you thoughts on kids + social media?  For as much as I LOVE social media for myself & peer group -- honestly, I love so many of the people I meet there, I feel equally disgruntled when it comes to kids + social media and smart phones in general.  Am I in the minority on this or is it a concern of yours as well?  Had a nice long talk with my oldest about it yesterday.  I'm grateful he's the one I get to navigate this with first.  He's awfully forgiving of my failed attempts.

2. I designed some tees in conjunction with my niece who is fundraising for a Humanitarian trip this summer.  Not gonna lie, it felt good to scratch that itch and I've wondered if you'd be interested in small collections throughout the year?  I'm thinking 2 for summer, 2 for fall, 2 for winter and 2 for spring?  I know it doesn't sound like much, but really it's all I could commit to & I'm wondering if that would feel like a good balance for you as well?  Will you leave a quick comment if that interests you?

3.  I've recently discovered Clean Simple Eats (@cleansimpleeats is her IG handle) -- I mean I used to follow awhile ago, then stopped and now I'm back.  Do you ever do that too?  Anyway, I've said this before and I'll say it again: I've never been on a diet.  Mostly because I just don't really believe in them annnnd I enjoy enjoying good food.  That being said, I will 'eat healthier' when I realize I've gone too far...like when you rip your favorite pair of pants because you became addicted to granola one month.  #truestory.  ANYWAY, she's created these amazing recipe books that are macro-nutrient balanced & they are GOOD!  I stole a peek of a friend's and now I'm anxiously awaiting her Spring collection.  She does 6-week challenges with them & I think I'll be jumping on board.  Wanna jump with me?  I can promise you two things: I will not post my before & after pics AND I probably won't eat every meal perfect.  So if that sounds like a teammate you'd like to have, I'm your gal.  Leave a comment below telling me you're in & we can encourage each other along the way. 

​4. How often are you washing your hair?  I can go 3 days and day 3 is nearly torture.  I know so many stretch ridiculous amounts of time and I'm baffled.  Really...please tell me your secrets because I'm grossed out by day 3 but am jealous of your 7 days.

​5. I'm noodling painting my kitchen island white.  My husband is totally against it, but will be out of town here soon, soooo who knows what might happen. ;) 

It's nearly the weekend & Spring Break is nearly OVER!  I can't hardly believe it.  We were total bums this year & while everyone hopped a trip to the beach...well we planted a new hedge.  You can guess how much my kids LOVE me.  One day though, one day, I'm certain they'll look back and remember and be glad I made them work hard, right?  Let's hope so.  

In the meantime, I've got your lists of Open Houses this weekend.  Let me know if you walk any other them by tagging me in your stories @sonny_daily.

If you've never used these lists before, start by clicking on which city you're interested in.  Listings will be stacked by price, lowest to highest.  Click through the listings until you find one you like, then click on the 'detail' tab in the top right corner & under that you'll see the Open House' link.  Click there for the date & time. 

MESA  ||  GILBERT   ||   SCOTTSDALE   ||   ARCADIA

If you are in the market to buy or sell, now is a great time to get started.  For reals, we are right at the start of buying & selling season in Arizona.  Shoot me an email & I'd love to help you. 

Confession: I've never counted a macro in my life and I don't intend to start, BUT I am trying to eat better and more balanced.  Breakfast is one area where I know I can improve.  I mean, it's not hard to do better than a bowl of Frosted Flakes...and yes, I'm serious.  

I've been making a version of this smoothie for years, but just recently came across a high protein Greek yogurt option I'm really loving!  

Start with about 1/2 of the container of yogurt, add 2 handfuls of spinach, a banana and about 1/2 C - 3/4 C of orange juice.  Any juice would be fine, it merely sweetens it up.

Blend until smooth.

Then add about 2 C of frozen mixed berries -- make sure they are frozen!  You can buy them bagged at any grocer.  The frozen ones make the smoothie good and cold and give it a little crunch in places.

Blend until smooth.

Then pour & top with your favorite granola.  ​I always serve mine in clear plastic cups like these ones -- they are easy to hand off to my kids on their way out the door and then just throw away.  I also typically use a shake straw, you can find these at any grocer, making it so that the granola usually fits through the straw.

High Protein Smoothie

1/2 container Vanilla Greek Yogurt
2 handfuls of spinach
1 banana
1/2 C orange juice
blend.
2 1/2 C frozen mixed berries
blend.
handful of favorite granola

The top pinned image this week came from one of my previous posts, which is kind of fun.  This was a listing I hi-lighted in a Listings I Love post.  Want more of those...because trust me, I have a handful that I'm just wondering who is going to be they lucky duck to scoop them up!

If you've never used these lists before, start by clicking on which city you're interested in.  Listings will be stacked by price, lowest to highest.  Click through the listings until you find one you like, then click on the 'detail' tab in the top right corner & under that you'll see the Open House' link.  Click there for the date & time. 

MESA  ||  GILBERT   ||   SCOTTSDALE   ||   ARCADIA

If you are in the market to buy or sell, now is a great time to get started.  For reals, we are right at the start of buying & selling season in Arizona.  Shoot me an email & I'd love to help you. 

I only have a few party tricks...and this is one of the better ones.  I brought these mini bruschettas wtih me to the Gentry Open House and you guys raved...speaking of Gentry, it's under contract & I'm just realizing I haven't given you all the peaks of it.  I'll post all the pics from the listing tomorrow so you can re-walk it anytime!

Anyway, back to the bruschetta.  It all started when I fell in love with the bruschetta from a Fox Concepts restaurant called Sauce.  I would order it every single time we went, sometimes even picking it up to go when a craving hit.  Fast forward and they've since changed the menu and to my dismay my beloved bruschetta was taken off the menu!  

It was a simple enough recipe, so I've since begun making it myself.  Here's what you'll need:

1 loaf french bread
green pesto -- I like Costco's version the best, but you can find it by the spaghetti sauce
tomatoes -- I like the ones on the vine
mozzarella -- buy the kind that is by the deli and in water, it's a million times better
balsamic glaze -- you can make this by reducing your balsamic vinegar, but it takes forever & stinks up your house.  And if you're anything like me, you'll forget its on the stove and burn it & then be mad...so just buy it.  You can find it by the vinegars or salad dressings in your local market.  Trader Joe's makes a great version.

Remove from oven, and place on serving plate.

While it's broiling, chop your tomatoes & mozzarella into bite size pieces.  Then place on top of bread.  You can be messy with it, you'll use a fork to eat it.

Then and this is the best part!  Drizzle with balsamic glaze and enjoy!

To make the mini ones, just buy a smaller loaf of bread from your local bakery.  You'll cut your mozzarella smaller as well as your tomatoes.  In the top photo I used cherry tomatoes, some red, some gold for color -- my best friend over at Bake and Gather came up with that for a wedding she did & I loved it too!  You can toast or not toast the mini ones.  At Gentry they were not toasted, only because it makes them a little more difficult to eat -- if your party includes a plate and somewhere to sit, toast the minis as well!