Favorite Finds Friday!

Favorite Find #1: Dunkin Donuts Cookie Dough Latte

Cookie dough.  Caffeine.  ALL IN ONE DRINK---WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN ALL MY LIFE??  Under normal circumstances, if given the choice, I will always choose Starbucks over DD coffee.  I just find the syrup there to taste less....syrupy.  Less fake.  However, I recently discovered this little bit of iced heaven in a cup and found a new favorite drink.

Your move, Starbucks.

Favorite Find #2: Thirty One Super Organizing Zip Top Tote

We take a lot of road trips each year, and if you have kids you know that road trips = tons of stuff.  Not just tons of stuff for the actual place you're going to, but stuff for the car as well (my sanity savers in the car are snacks, portable DVD players, sticker books, and Leap Pads)  On a typical road trip, this stuff was just scattered everywhere (*shudder*) or haphazardly thrown into plastic shopping bags.  A few months ago, a friend who sells Thirty-One products posted a bunch of items that were having their patterns discontinued and this super organizing tote was one of those...I snatched it up on super sale and I'm glad I did.  It fits all of the stuff I mentioned above, plus their headphones for their electronics, some toys, crayons, and snacks.  All of that stuff fits right in there, and I can zip it up and off we go.  Love it!!

Favorite Find #3: TOMS Canvas Shoes

These have quickly become my favorite shoes.  They are so comfy and perfect for either running errands on the weekends or wearing on Fridays to work with jeans.

Goodbye, beach.

I will eventually do a full trip review, once I sort through my 300+ pictures (I wish I was kidding!), but for now, I leave you with this shot of two little boys who played their hearts out, overcame fears, and cried when we had to leave the beach:

Favorite Finds Friday

Favorite Find #1: American Eagle Boy Jean Crop

For years, I lived in my crop jeans from the Gap in the summer.  They were a dark wash and they had a nice big cuff at the bottom that I liked.  Sadly, I had to retire those crops last summer :(  They were just way too low cut in the back for me to be comfortable in either at work or doing things with the boys...and the material was pretty much permanently stretched out, the bum area started to sag within just a few hours of having them on.

I was on a mission to find a new pair this year, and in the spring, I noticed that a fellow baseball mom had on an adorable pair.  I asked her where she got them, and I was really surprised to hear that the answer was American Eagle!  Friends, I have not stepped into an American Eagle store since I was probably 20 years old working at the movie theater and being a mall rat on my breaks.  But hey, this mom seemed to like them, so they were worth a shot!  A few weeks later, I noticed they were having a huge sale (they were $19.99!) and offering free shipping (and AE is one of those great stores where you can return things to the store....who wants to have to pay for return shipping??) 

disclosure: not me.

disclosure: this is me.  in a bathroom.

 I love, love, love these crops.  So much so that I may even try a pair of their regular jeans for the fall.  They are soft, comfortable, minimal stretching, and (the best part) the back comes up high enough that I don't have to worry about giving a free show to anyone (with the front still low enough to be flattering)

Favorite Find #2: I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends by Courtney Robertson

Ok, so my last favorite find Friday mentioned something about a former Bachelor contestant, and now this one does, too.  Stop immediately with the judgement, we all have our vices.

Anyway-this book was available for my kindle from my local library, so OF COURSE I snatched it up because BACHELOR.  If you are at all familiar with this franchise, you know that Courtney Robertson was from Ben's season and is probably one of the biggest "villains" in the history of this show.  Like most of America, this girl got under my skin while on the show, but man was this book entertaining!  Assuming that it's even half true, it made me feel sorry for her and I also loved reading some of the bachelor secrets about the show.  Easy read, two thumbs up from this gal! 

Favorite Find #3: Walmart Chicken Tray

No, this isn't a joke.  Remember when I said I was scaling back on my luau prep and the time and effort I had to put into it?  One of the things I decided to do was rather than making a bunch of smaller dishes, I was just going to order 2 big chicken trays from walmart.  We had purchased one for Jake's birthday party in January, so I knew it was tasty.  For $65 I was able to order one large and one medium size tray, which gave me 12+ pounds of meat.  I ordered chicken tenders, boneless wings (my personal favorite!) and chicken poppers.  The platters were empty by the end of the night, so it must have been good!

If you are hosting a get together and want a simple, tasty way to feed your guests, definitely check out their trays!!

Happy Friday!

Favorite Finds Friday

Hopping on the bandwagon of other bloggers, I decided to start Favorite Finds Friday here at Parenting Uncensored!  Here we go....

Favorite Find #1: Fitted boyfriend swiss dot shirt from the Gap

We've had unseasonably cool weather here the past few days (someone pass me a pumpkin spice latte!) so on Tuesday I busted out this shirt that I had purchased from the Gap in early summer.  The price listed online is $29.99 but the Gap almost always has some type of coupon code or savings special going on (I got the shirt for $12.99!)  I love it because the fabric doesn't pull across my chest (and gape open at the buttons) like a lot of button downs do.  It's also a super soft material, and I think the little tiny dots give it a little something extra. Here is a shot of me (in terrible lighting) and a better shot on a model.

Favorite Find #2: Mix and Match Mama blog

As you may already know, I am a huge Bachelor/Bachelorette fan.  I have watched way more seasons of it than I care to admit (ok, I'll admit it--I've watched it from the beginning), and there have been many former cast members on there that I have grown to love.  However, recently I have taken my bachelor/bachelorette love to the next level and have been loving a former contestant's sister.  Yep, that's right...my celebrity stalker tendencies have taken a twist, and I am LOVING Sean Lowe's sister's blog, Mix and Match Mama.  While having a discussion about the current season a few weeks ago, my friend Sarah couldn't believe that I wasn't following Mix and Match Mama's blog.  So of course, I had to check it out for myself since I felt like I was missing out.  And she was right, I have now adopted her as a new pretend BFF and I want her kids to play with my kids.  Seriously you guys, this family is adorable....I love her style, I love seeing Sean and Catherine randomly pop up in posts about what they did over the weekend, and she has some delicious looking recipes on her foodie blog: http://www.mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com/

I really want to try this BLT Pasta dish, I think it looks delicious!

image courtesy of mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com

If you're looking for a fun, lighthearted blog to follow (with some yummy recipes thrown in everyday), check it out!

Favorite Find #3: Merona Tote Handbag from Target

I don't tend to go ga-ga over handbags, but I do always need a nice, sturdy bag to haul my stuff to and from work.  I tend to carry a lot of stuff with me (I ride the bus, so I always have my kindle, an umbrella, etc.) so I like my bags to have divided sections so that it doesn't always look like a bomb went off.  After carrying a Nine West bag that I scored at Goodwill for $5 for the past 3 years or so, I finally had to put that one to rest (the inside lining was shredded and I was losing things in the bottom of the bag, oops!)  I found this one at Target and it's perfect for what I need.  There are 3 sections inside (one having a zipper), an outside pocket where I keep my keys, an smaller zippered pocket inside, and 2 other inside slots (where I keep my phone in one and my office key and work ID in the other)  I got it in the color pictured below, which goes well with just about anything or any coat that I wear.  This one is still available on the Target site, marked down to $24.74! 

So there you have it, my favorite items of the week!  Happy Friday!!

8th Annual Luau!

Aloha! 

We had a first at the luau this year....not necessarily a good first, but a first nonetheless.  IT RAINED.  I was hoping I would never have to say those words in a recap post about the luau.  Thankfully, it held off until around 7 (the party started at 4) so everyone had already had a chance to get some drinks and eat.  When the party moved inside, it was mostly parents piled in the bar area and kids taking over the playroom and Jake's bedroom :)  Both of those rooms looked like Toys R Us had exploded the next morning, but it was kind of a good thing because it forced me to go through everything, sort it all back out and even box up some older toys that the kids don't play with anymore (shhh....don't tell them I did that!)

A huge thank you to everyone who came out for the party, it was a blast as always!  And thanks to our parents as well, without them, we would lose our minds trying to get everything ready then clean it all up the next day.

Without further adieu, the party pics!

My new favorite decorations, pink flamingo friends I picked up last year when a store was going out of business!

 

Some festive family shots:

Later in the evening, Liam got ready for college practiced his dance moves by hopping up on the bar.

 

That's a wrap for this year!

Wordless Wednesday: dreaming of Disney again (but settling for a cup of coffee instead)

Goodbye, glider...and babies.

"It has to go, it's really bugging me." 

It had sat in the guest room for months...collecting dust, taking up space, and partially blocking the bed.  Once we gave Liam his "big boy" room, we didn't need a glider in there anymore.  Taking the glider out of his room didn't bother me; it was hard to sit with him in it to read to him anyway, he was getting much too big for that.  We moved it into the guestroom without much thought.

A few weeks ago, I was trying to find something under the bed in that room and became very frustrated that the glider was blocking my way.  While it wasn't super heavy, it was very wide and awkward, and difficult to maneuver out of the way.  My frustration that day, combined with the fact that I knew we'd be having overnight guests a few times throughout the summer, inspired me to snap some pictures of the glider and put it up on craigslist.

The glider was in pretty good shape and I priced it well, so we had a number of inquiries pretty much right away.  Once I started responding to those emails is when it hit me....I won't rock any more babies in this chair.  I won't spend countless hours singing to them, or reading to them, or nodding off in the chair in the middle of the night due to my own exhaustion.  No more glider...no more babies.

The first person to email me about it had arranged to come see it the evening after I posted it, and as we were carrying it down the stairs that night, I shared this little realization/confession with Brian.  I discovered that instead of thinking I was out of my mind for being sad about getting rid of something we weren't going to use, he had actually had the same thoughts. He even said he had second thoughts about posting it on craigslist when I suggested we do so, but then realized it wasn't doing us any good in our home anymore so he told me to go ahead and post it.  We thought briefly that maybe we should pull the listing down, but it was too late, we had someone coming to get the chair that night. (To clarify, neither of us are having second thoughts about being done having babies...we know that's the right decision for our family, the second thoughts are more about getting rid of something that we have kind of an emotional attachment to)

But of course, it's craigslist and that person didn't bother to show up or call, so we were faced with one of those "now what?" moments.  I knew it was silly to keep it, so I moved to the 2nd person who had responded to the ad.  His wife was expecting their first child in just a few short weeks, and a glider was the only thing he still needed for the nursery.  He was so grateful that it was still available, and agreed to buy it that weekend.

I know this sounds silly, but I was so happy that it went to a nice couple who would continue the tradition of rocking babies in it.  I don't know why I would care, but I hated the thought of maybe selling it to someone who would only re-upholster it and then use it in a living room or an office.  I wanted it to be in a nursery, with a soft-lit lamp on a table beside it, and a parent enjoying the sweet baby smell while rocking back and forth.  I wanted it to be with someone who would read that baby books and sing songs at all hours of the day and night. 

It was a great few years, glider....I hope you bring as much joy to the next family as you did to ours.

Jake, 6 weeks old

Jake, 3 months old

Aunt Amy and Jake, 7 months old

me and Jake, 9 months old

Nana and Jake, 14 months old

GG and Jake, 18 months old

Liam's turn to use the glider! 2 months old

Liam, 3 months old, Jake 3.5 years old

Christmas Eve bedtime stories - Liam 1.5 years old, Jake almost 5 years old

**This post was featured on The Blogger's Digest!**

Mandatory slow down.

While I don't consider our family to necessarily be super busy people, it feels like we always have something.  Some of those things are necessities (always trying to catch up on laundry, housework, etc. on the weekends) and some are voluntary (kids activities, birthday parties, getting together with friends)  It's a catch 22 for us....we really enjoy doing all of that kind of fun stuff, but sometimes we just look at each other after collapsing on the couch on Sunday and say "where did our weekend go??" when it felt like all we did was run from one thing to the next.

Summer especially tends to feel like this (I'm not sure who invented the phrase "the lazy days of summer"....probably the same person who invented the phrase "sleeps like a baby"...lies all lies)  Summer time is great, but it also brings weddings, showers, parties, vacation, and of course, yard work. Sometimes I feel just about as tired as these two look after a long day at summer camp:

 

Unfortunately, we've had 2 things happen that have kind of caused a mandatory slow down for all of us.  First, Brian found out he tore his rotator cuff and will be having surgery next month.  It's a total bummer for him, especially since he has a hard time not doing things like obsessively mowing neat lines into our yard with the mower and spreading mulch to perfection.  We quickly realized that we would need to majorly lower our standards this year and do the bare minimum in terms of outside landscaping.

Then a few weeks ago, I found out I had pneumonia and I've basically been trying to get over it ever since.  Getting old is HARD, my friends, this thing has been kicking my butt.  It's been over 3 weeks now and while I had a brief period of feeling better last week and returned to all of my normal activities, I was paying for that choice over the weekend and started to feel bad again.

So because of these things combined, we haven't done a lot of the stuff we normally do in the summer. We haven't gone to "big" pool (as the kids say--aka, the community pool), we haven't gone to the zoo a bunch of times, we haven't done a backyard camp out with the kids as we were hoping to do, our flowers are half dead, our bushes are overgrown, and there are so many handprints all over the glass doors and windows of our house it looks like someone was trying to escape out of the house in a frantic manner.  Let's not even discuss the fact that there is still a fallen tree taking up a whole side of my yard as well.

I had a brief panic attack last week when I realized that our annual luau party is just around the corner, and that the thought of decorating, cleaning and making a ton of stuff was enough to make me want to curl up and take a nap.  So I decided that the party will go on without quite as much effort.  I'm not going to spend hours the day before cleaning (only to have everyone in the house the next day anyway, I'm not actually sure why I ever bothered to clean in previous years!), I'm going to order some of the food, and I'll put up the decorations that are easy to do and require the least amount of tear-down/clean-up effort.

And you know what?  I don't think that anyone really cares about these things at the end of the day.  The kids aren't asking to go to the zoo.  They have mentioned once or twice wanting to go to the big pool, but are also perfectly content with the blow up pool in our backyard.  No one (but me) cares that our flowers are wilted, or that our mulch sat in the driveway for over a month before we finally broke down and paid a neighborhood kid to finish spreading it, since neither one of us were in any shape to be doing so.  No one is going to care that I don't have a thousand luau decorations up or that my house isn't clean for the day of the party.

We haven't committed to a bunch of things, and we are doing the bare minimum around the house....it was kind of a mandatory thing this year, but maybe we're on to something for the future.
Brian and I said going into this new year that we wanted our mantra to be simplify, simplify, simplify.  Maybe this is the universe's way of making sure we do just that.

So how about you?  Do you feel like you get to embrace the lazy days of summer, or are you too busy to do that?  

image courtesy of divaaniblogit.fi