The thing I love most about summer barbecues is the side dishes — salads, dips, etc..  I love trying and tasting everything, seeing how someone else’s potato salad recipe differs from mine or what sides they grew up with as go-tos.  It’s the best.

While Kyle does most of the daily cooking in our home, I like to make things for events and special occasions.  It gives me a chance to try out a new recipe on other people.  That way, if it’s terrible, we can toss the leftovers.  And if it’s great, I get tons of kudos and can save the recipe for the next potluck or barbecue.

One of the recipes that I have been dying to try is this healthy-looking Eggplant and Caramelized Onion Grain Salad.  I love the idea of the earthy vegetables being mixed with sweet grapes.  And the farro sounds like a nice alternative to pasta, though you could do an orzo instead if you don’t like grains.

It has a walnut vinaigrette, but for a group meal, I would probably just replace that with a red wine or lemon and herb alternative.  No reason to risk someone’s allergy over salad dressing when there are plenty of good alternatives.

Last winter, I chopped off a lot of my hair because getting up for work at 5:45 AM would be easier with less hair to blow-dry.  Now that I’m growing it back out a bit, it’s at an awkward in between length, so I’m on the hunt for fun hairstyle that would work for medium hair.

Despite the fact that this scarf tie hairdo is on a long-haired model, I’ve found a scarf looks great tied into slightly wavy, second day hair.  For the scarf, I just picked up a striped twilly scarf on Amazon.  These are typically tied around bag handles to prevent wear and tear and add a fun pop of color or print.

You can also buy packs of scarves in a variety of prints for not much money.  However, if you prefer a nicer option, Dior and Hermes are an option.  For something in-between, Centinelle has several options; I love their poppy printed one.

Looking for more scarf-related hairstyles?  DIY Darlin’ has a few more.

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