5 Essentials for Your Road Trip Survival Kit

Ensure the survival of everyone's sanity in the car on your next family road trip with these 5 Essentials for Your Road Trip Survival Kit...

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of Single Edition Media.

We are gearing up for our last big family road trip of the summer & heading to the Midwest next week (Be sure to give me on a follow on Instagram to discover exactly where we will be traveling to & to follow along with our travel adventures!). Our hotel rooms are booked, the route to our destinations have been plugged into the GPS, our itineraries are just about finalized, & I am starting to throw together our road trip survival kit. And yes, I said survival. Because it is ALL about the survival of everyone's sanity when there is a restless 5 year old in the backseat. ;)

In addition to the usual road trip must-haves (think coloring books & crayons, snacks, water bottles, headphones for each member of the family, etc.), I will also be adding the 5 essentials listed below to my family's road trip survival kit...

Vanilla Spiced Rum Soaked Cherries

Looking for a way to make those sweet, in-season cherries last just a little longer? Then make these boozy Vanilla Spiced Rum Soaked Cherries!

I just love when cherry season rolls around each summer. My only problem with cherry season is that it just doesn't last quite long enough. Who's with me on that one? I mean, just a few measly months each year? Come on! Cherry season should definitely last longer. But since I can't somehow magically extend the length of cherry picking season, I will instead find ways to make these sweet, fresh cherries last just a tad longer. 

One way to extend the life of those juicy cherries is by boozing them up. ;) Soak them in a little rum or brandy, & you can make them last at least a month longer. Plus, they are soaked in booze. That's just bonus points in my book.

5 Family Friendly Outdoor Adventures in Anderson County, Tennessee

With it's rolling mountains & valleys, as well as serene rivers, & lakes, Anderson County in eastern Tennessee is the perfect family friendly destination for outdoor enthusiasts & adventure seekers...

This post was created in partnership with Adventure Anderson County. As always, all opinions & thoughts expressed below are 100% my own.

With it's rolling mountains & valleys, Anderson County in eastern Tennessee naturally sets the stage for a family friendly & adventure packed vacation. Whether you and your family members happen to be hiking enthusiasts, avid fishermen, nature lovers, or perhaps prefer something a little more adrenaline inducing, Anderson County is the perfect destination for outdoor enthusiasts & adventure seekers. 

My family and I spent 4 days in Anderson County discovering & exploring exactly what it's mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes have to offer the adventure seeking family.  Below are my top 5 recommendations of family friendly outdoor adventures to experience in the Anderson County area of Tennessee...

12 Tasty Mojito Recipes for Summertime

The classic mojito is taken to a whole other level of deliciousness with the addition of sweet summer berries & fruits in these 12 Tasty Mojito Recipes for Summertime...

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When it comes to summertime sipping, my cocktail of choice is a refreshing & fruity mojito. We have an amazing mint plant in our backyard that comes back summer after summer, so I always have an endless supply of free fresh mint on hand during the hot summer months. I walk outside, snip off a few sprigs, and come back to the house and muddle up a couple of bubbly mojitos for my husband & I to sip on while sitting on the back deck.  

For those of you not familiar with this perfect for summertime cocktail, the mojito has it's roots in Cuba. It is a refreshing concoction of muddled lime & mint with a little simple syrup & a shot (or two) of light rum, all topped off with bubbly club soda. The beauty of a classic mojito recipe is that it lends itself very well to other flavors, especially summer fruits & berries.

While I can always go for a traditional mojito, we often like to change it up and add strawberries or blueberries to the mix. And sometimes we swap out the light rum for a spiced rum, like Captain Morgan. In my never ending quest to always have a variety of delicious mojito recipes on hand, I decided to browse some of my favorite cocktail bloggers' sites to gather up the very best. Each of these 12 Tasty Mojito Recipes for Summertime that I am sharing with you all today take the classic mojito to a whole other level of deliciousness with the addition of the sweet flavors of summer...

Summer Harvest Potato Salad

The freshest locally grown potatoes & veggies come together perfectly with a super simple 3 ingredient fresh basil dressing in this Summer Harvest Potato Salad...

As you all may recall from the recipe I shared for my Farmers Market Frittata last month, I am on a mission this outdoor farmers market season to show you all how you can create a delicious recipe purchasing only locally grown & raised produce and meats at your local farmers market this summer. Each month I will be sharing a recipe here to the blog inspired by and featuring some of my own personal favorite fresh & local finds from my local market. 

For the month of July, I am sharing a fresh & lightened up potato salad recipe with you all. I am all about homemade potato salads for backyard BBQ's and summer picnics. But we all know that traditional potato salad recipes usually tend to be heavy and loaded with mayonnaise (which is big no-no when the hot summer sun is pounding down on your picnic table). For this Summer Harvest Potato Salad, I combined the freshest in-season locally grown potatoes & veggies with a super simple 3 ingredient fresh basil dressing.

10 Budget Friendly & Trendy Home Bar Essentials

You can have a functional, yet stylish home bar without spending a fortune with these 10 Budget Friendly & Trendy Home Bar Essentials...

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I definitely think there is a misplaced belief out there that to have a well equipped home bar, you have to be willing to drop some cash. I am here to tell you all that notion is totally & utterly false. You can have a functional, yet trendy home bar without spending a fortune. In fact, you can purchase everything I have listed in this collection of 10 Budget Friendly & Trendy Home Bar Essentials for less than $100 with your Amazon Prime account! :)

Don't have 100 bucks to spend all at once right now? No problem! Start with the area of your home bar that will initially get the most use. If you are a cocktail lover, start with first five items I have listed below giving priority to the compact bar set with the cocktail shaker. Are you more of a wine drinker? Then skip the cocktail essentials for now and get started with the wine tool set. You can always build your home bar from there, adding on as you can afford it. 

I chose each of the bar tools & accessories I have listed below because they are A. under $20. B. available via Amazon Prime (hello, free shipping!), & C. stylish & trendy. I went with a lot of stainless steel in this collection of home bar essentials because it is always in style & holds up well to years of use. 

Now let's get your home bar equipped the budget friendly way, shall we? ;)

5 Must-See Outer Banks Attractions (From North to South)

Traveling from the north to south, these are the 5 Must-See Outer Banks Attractions that are worth both your time & money...

Located just off the coast of North Carolina, you will find a chain of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks (otherwise known as the OBX). In general, the Outer Banks has a laid back vibe with wide open beaches and only pockets of touristy craziness. And unlike many popular beaches along the mid-Atlantic coast, you can spend an entire week completely avoiding any kitschy tourist traps (however, avoiding the traffic on and off of the islands can be a whole other story though!). 

But just because you can hide away during your entire visit to the islands, doesn't mean that you should. ;) Not when there is so much to explore and discover among the five major islands of the Outer Banks!

My family & I have vacationed in the Outer Banks now three times in the past 6 years. During those week long visits, we have learned which OBX attractions are worth your time & money and which ones are not. And I happen to be sharing my personal list of the 5 Must-See Outer Banks Attractions with you all below, starting from the north at Kill Devil Hills & working our down south to the southern most island of the chain, Ocracoke... :)