Happy Friday friends!! I don't know about you, but I'm really happy it's the weekend. If I could spend Saturday any way I wanted, I'd sleep in late, have coffee in bed, read a bit, then pack a picnic lunch and walk with B over the Manhattan Bridge to DUMBO for a waterfront picnic. Sounds dreamy, right?!

Alas, this weekend is busy busy busy - full of graduations and baby showers and bridal showers and birthday parties and dinner parties and a Sunday video shoot (more on that later!). I'm not sure why everything seems to be happening this weekend - I ended up having to say no to most of the invites because there is just too much going on. So even though a picnic isn't in my cards for the weekend, for those of you who DO feel inclined to pack a lunch and head to the park, I wanted to share my new favorite chicken salad sandwich recipe.

Chicken-Salad

I grew up in Nashville, where chicken salad is practically it's own food group, so of course I had to come up with my own version. But unlike the mayonaise and cream-cheese varieties found there, my chicken salad recipe is surprisingly light: I toss shredded roast chicken with a lemon-Dijon vinaigrette, stir in toasted pecans, chopped green onions, and tarragon, and mound it on a grainy baguette with some pretty lettuce leaves. You could add a little mayonaise or salted butter to the baguette if you like, or some sliced tomatoes or cucumbers or radishes. It's a pretty versatile sandwich.

Just for fun, I wrapped these up with some parchment paper and tied with a bit of red-and-white twine. Of course you don't have to make it look so Pinterest-y, but I thought they were cute! You could round off your picnic with this roasted veggie quiona salad, a bottle of rose, and for dessert these raspberry oatmeal bars or my favorite chocolate chip cookies.

NYC-Lately

Before I sign off, here are a few things I've been meaning to share with you all...

--I'm not a big Youtube video-watcher, but this is one of the funniest things I've ever seen (thanks Jenn!).

--We ate here last night and holy cow...best Thai food of my life!

--For all of you wonderful mothers out there - Happy Mother's Day! James of Bleubird blog just launched a beautiful new online magazine for moms...do yourself a favor and take a look.

--I can't wait to go see Laurie David's new documenery Fed Up.

--Brandon read me this disturbing story in the New Yorker about a tech entrepreneur who wants to replace food with a product called Soylent. Bizarre.

--How annoying are you on Instagram?! (Thanks Kelly for posting this quiz!)

--A great guide on how to use Pinterest to grow your business by my friend Megan.

--I've always wanted to go to New Orleans, so it was fun reading Joy the Baker's favorite spots...

--Jeanine's homemade AlmondElla (Almond Butter + Chocolate) on toast...wow.

Have a great weekend everybody! Have a picnic for me, please!!

xo, Anna

(Food photos by Signe Birck; NYC photos from my iPhone.)

[recipe:best-lemon-dijon-chicken-salad-sandwich-recipe]