My New Site Is Live!

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Follow my blog with Bloglovin ftlo-graphic After many months of planning and designing, my new blog, Howe We Live, is now up and running, and I’d love to have you come take a peek. Going forward I will no longer be updating the site here. Style, Food & Wellness and DIY posts will direct to my new site. Thank you so much for your support and readership here at For The Love Of. I’m really excited to be blogging in this new space though, and I hope you’ll join me over there.

XO,

Andrea



Shopbop Sale Time!

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A couple of times a year, Shopbop puts just about their whole site on sale, and now’s one of those times! Currently, you receive 25% off your entire purchase, up to $500, and 30% off if you spend over $500 – use code MAINEVENT16 at checkout. I’ve grown to really love Shopbop for the simple fact that I can find so many great brands all in one place, and they offer Amazon Prime customers 2 day free shipping (and returns). The site can be kinda overwhelming though, so below are a few of my favorites for the upcoming Fall season. shopbop-sale Rag & Bone Floppy Brim Fedora – one great thing about hats is that you only need 1 or 2 classic, good quality styles in your closet to last for years and years. This fedora, available in 2 colors, will definitely stand the test of time, and its craftsmanship ensures it won’t fall apart on you.

Free People Spirit of the Maxi Dress – gorgeous printed fabric and loose silhouette make this the perfect Thanksgiving Day dress; season and waistline appropriate.

Madewell Kenmore Blanket Coat – I actually purchased this coat for our New England trip last week, and only had the occasion to wear it once because the weather wasn’t all that cold. But I loved it that one time I did wear it! Super comfy and fit nicely over a long sleeve sweater.

Madewell Pop Seed Stitch Sweater – another recent purchase of mine, I love that this sweater is long enough to cover my stomach, but it still gives the illusion of it being kind of cropped. It’s also cotton knit, so it won’t pill like many knit sweaters tend to do. Great price too!

Kaanas Salinas Sneakers – I have a pair of these and they are so comfortable and stylish, without looking too trendy and young for me 😉 They run small, so don’t be afraid to size up. I’m typically always a 8.5 but the 9 is a teeny bit snug on me.

Splendid Tobey Oxfords – Great color and minimalist design. I’ve seen a lot of oxfords in the store and many of them are patent leather, really pointy toes and just a little too young looking for me.

Madewell High Riser Gray Jeans – I have one pair of Madewell jeans and they are so comfortable, flattering, and I really love the higher waist band to hold in the mom pooch.

Cambridge Satchel Tassel Saddle Bag – All Cambridge Satchel bags are made in England by hand and are amazing quality. I have a bag myself and was floored by just how pretty it is when it arrived. This color is perfect for Fall and Winter.



Introducing Leia & Gymboree Giveaway

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This post is sponsored by Gymboree, although all opinions are my own. I appreciate your support of brands which help keep this site up and running. Visit Gymboree’s back to school shop.  final-8901 Despite our best efforts to slow things down, life has continued to move at fiercely fast pace in 2016. So much has happened this year, including losing our beloved pup of 15 years, Madeline, aka Maddie, the day after Syd’s birthday in May. She was our first baby, joining our family long before we even thought of having kids, and she was a loyal, loving and gentle dog, really the best dog we could ever have hoped for.

The kids took it harder than we had expected them to, but also rebounded with amazing ease and deep understanding. As parents we may often feel stuck in the trenches raising these kids who many times seem to not “get it”, choosing not to listen, pick up after themselves or use their manners with any level of consistency. But what gets us through those moments of frustration are when we see our work making its way in them, even faintly or briefly. After Maddie passed, they cried and retold memories, but they were also understanding that it was just part of life, and respectful in not asking for a new pup the very next day. In fact, it was finally me who brought up getting a new pet, even before they did. Something inside of me wasn’t quite sure if we were ready for another dog, but last month I mentioned that maybe it was time we thought about adding a kitten to our family. And so it was, about 3 weeks ago, we took a trip to our local SPCA, where we were introduced to Leia.
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A sleepy little 2 month old, she caught our eye with her orange and tan patches of fur, and sweet pink nose. We met her first, then met another sweet 3 month old kitten with solid gray fur, but in the end it was Leia who stole our hearts. We brought her home that very day, after coincidentally meeting the mother and daughter who had been fostering her at home for the past two months, even before she was brought to the shelter for adoption. Seasoned foster parents, they declared her the best kitten they had ever fostered, and missed her so much they had come into the shelter just to visit her. What’s that they say about fate?  final-8881 She’s been home for 3 or 4 weeks now, I can’t remember exactly which, and we are all completely obsessed with her. She has taken over my Instagram, already acquiring her own hashtag, and I just want to snuggle and hold her all day. The kids do too, and while she’s certainly feisty, she seems to tolerate the nuisance ridiculously well.
final-8890 I myself have never been much of a “cat person” having never owned a kitten or cat until I acquired one through marriage 😉 While that cat may have lived with us, I didn’t really consider him “my” cat or even “our” cat, and sensing my misgivings, he was often aloof and cranky with me. But this kitten? Holy smokes I am IN LOVE, obsessed, head over heels googoo gaga for her! She is so sweet and playful and I LOVE watching her run around the house playing. I often stop Art and say “look at her do this or look at her do that” and he just thinks it’s funny how smitten I am.

final-8906 Of course the kid are in love as well, and so far they’ve barely fought over her, as I feared they would, and they haven’t pressured me to adopt another dog yet, as I also feared they would. We have plenty of love to give to another pet eventually, but for right now we all seem pretty content to dote on and love this sweet kitten.  We are also very lucky that none of us have any allergies to cats 🙂

final-8919 So while A LOT has happened the past few months, adopting and welcoming this new creature into our home has definitely been the highlight.

Other than that, Syd is already 2 weeks into the school year, having started 4th grade the first week of August. He was bummed to be starting a whole month ahead of Taylor, but after the first day he was pretty excited to be back in the swing of things and he likes his teacher a lot and has a good group of friends in there. Since Taylor has finished elementary school and will begin middle school in a few weeks, this is the first year the two older kids are on the different schedule. If you recall, our elementary school runs on a year-round schedule compared to the rest of the district running on a traditional schedule. I was really worried how it was all going to play out, but so far it’s been fine and uneventful, thank goodness.

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final-8938 The week Syd went back to school, I also called up Hayden’s preschool and asked if they had anymore room for another kiddo in the last month of their summer school program. Luckily they did have a couple of spots open, so Hayden also started back just two mornings a week, which gives me a small window to spend some alone time with Taylor before she begins middle school, as well as get some work done. It’s been good for him and I, as he loves school and being constantly occupied, and I love just a couple of hours free of the constant interrogations that only a 3 and 4 year old know how to give so well. He is the sweetest kid, but man he doesn’t stop talking. Or moving. Ever. Ha! 😉

final-8962 So I’ve already got 2 kiddos well into the back to school groove, and another 1 to go. But all 3 are pretty well set with school clothes and shoes and are going back in style, thanks in part to Gymboree and their Partner Up Shop. Easy mix and match, colorful and stylish clothing and accessory essentials that make it easy to get dressed every day, and even easier to get all the shopping taken care of in just one trip.

final-8971 I partnered with Gymboree to try out a few things, although I already knew we would love everything. I’ve shopped at Gymboree for all three of these kids for 11+ years now. In fact every single outfit Taylor and Syd were professionally photographed in for their first few years if life were from Gymboree. I could never resist their prints, colors and Gym Bucks 😉 The quality is beyond reproach as well, and I always know that clothes from Gymboree will last long past their ability to even wear them. I have also always loved their sizing, knowing that for instance a size 8 will fit my 8 year old for a good year or more. For years I have purchased the kid’s matching holiday PJ sets from Gymboree, and many years the kids can wear the sets for 2 years in a row!

Shop here for the latest Gymboree back to school styles, and see links below for details on the kid’s outfits.

final-8980 On Syd & Hayden: The Jogger Pants in Heather Grey, Colorblock Tee & Dinosaur Tee, Hi-Top sneakers

On Taylor: Gem Sweatshirt, Best Friend pant in Plaid & White Bow Clip

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An Unexpected Perfect Gift for the Tween In Your Life

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IMG_8091 Folks, Taylor turned 11 last month and we are officially parents of a tween girl. I’m not going to lie, things have been challenging the last few months, but we are working tremendously hard at trying to figure it out with our little girl. It’s a balancing act between raising a confident girl who thinks beyond looks and trends, and a girl who’s going to feel comfortable in her own skin and within her group of peers. We’ve had lots of conversations recently about respect, gratitude, kindness and vanity. We certainly haven’t figured it all out yet, and I know we’ve only just begun to trudge through the tough parts, but we’re making progress and we’ve seen a lot growth in our girl who still thinks it’s cool to be goofy and silly.  IMG_8111  I was recently gifted this pair of Brookstone cat ear headphones, and I wasn’t sure how Taylor would react to them. I’ve been taken by surprise a lot the last few months in what Taylor deems is cool and not-cool. Note to self, dancing and singing while walking arm and arm with her across the Golden Gate Bridge is apparently not cool. So anyhow, when I unpacked them, I was pleasantly surprised that she quickly snatched them out of my hands and claimed them as hers. IMG_8125 IMG_8147   IMG_8161  After charging them up and reading through the directions, we discovered that the headphones are not only exactly that, but also serve as speakers so that friends can listen to your music too. There’s also a little mic included for gaming, which we don’t really do at all yet, but nonetheless another cool feature. As you can see, she spent the better half of the afternoon dancing around the house wearing them, and singing along to her current favorite singer, Bea Miller. IMG_8177

Having passed the tween girl cool test, I’d definitely recommend these for a gift. The quality is fantastic, and the headphones are nice and comfortable. I especially love that they serve double duty as well. The cord also has the typical start/stop and volume options that most earbuds have, so that’s great. You can purchase them in-store or online, and if you do buy them online, you can opt in for promo emails and skip paying tax.

“This is a sponsored blog; while the views expressed here were genuinely mine, consideration was paid to me by Brookstone to review this product”



Daily Style – Laid Back Prep

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IMG_7979 Blazer & T-Shirt – J. Crew; Denim by AG, flats by Steven & Sunglasses by Wildfox, all purchased through Shopbop save 25% off with code INTHEFAM, Bag – Rebecca Minkoff

I can’t believe it’s already been 3 weeks since I flew out to DC and visited the White House. I’m promising to get my post live this week, because I want to talk about Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, and I also want to tell you all about how impacting my time in DC was for me. But before I try to put into words all that I want to say, I figure I’ll get the easy part out of the way and talk about what I wore.  IMG_8011

The official invitation for the event called for business casual attire, but everyone I spoke with suggested I weigh on the side of conservatism and try to show up looking more business than casual, and bonus points for a little east coast prep thrown in. While I have a several dresses that may have worked for a number of occasions, none of them felt quite right. They were all either too casual, too colorful, too jeweled, too much pattern. Anyhow, you get the picture. So I decided that such a special occasion deserved a little shopping trip. IMG_7983

I really wanted to get a dress, however I knew that after this event, a conservative dress option would most likely get zero use. I finally landed on separates so that I could be comfortable and stay warm, as well as get more use out of the individual pieces. I landed on this blazer, and a pair of cropped, flared navy pants, along with the same white t-shirt and ankle lace up flats. So essentially this exact outfit, with just a different pair of pants.  IMG_7992

I love the gingham checked blazer, and the day I went in I scored it at 25% off, as well as an additional 20% off for having a coupon. The pants I wore were also on sale, so I got an entire 3 piece, quality outfit for under $200. Back home, I knew I’d get a lot of use from the blazer, when styled a bit more on the California casual side, and indeed I have. This is my favorite way to wear it, when I’m not going to the White House 😉

I’ve shared the lace-up flats on IG a couple of times, and get lots of compliments on them when out and about. They are comfortable and well made, and at $90, on the less expensive side of the spectrum considering most similar styles are priced upwards of $200. The denim jeans are fab, and look great with sandals or my white converse. I got them both the last time Shopbop had a sale, and now they’re having their Friends & Family sale so you can core them both at 25% off. The shoes fit true to size and the jeans run a bit on the smaller size, so I sized up to a 30 instead of my usual 29.  IMG_7990

The Shopbop Friends & Family 25% off sales code is INTHEFAM, and is valid today if you have a registered Shopbop account. If you don’t, the code won’t work until tonight at midnight, and is valid through Thursday 4/7.

I’ll be back this week with my DC tales, and hope to be back on a permanent blogging schedule starting now, since we are finally pretty well settled in at home now.



Shopbop Spring Sale

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Hey there friends! Popping in real quick to let you know that the Shopbop Annual Spring Sale is in full swing and ends tomorrow night.  Depending on your spend amount, you get anywhere between 15%-25% off your total purchase, and of course free shipping. You can also connect your Amazon account to your shopbop account for free 2 day prime shipping. Below are a few of my favorites; a couple of new purchases I may have made during the sale, and a few that I’m just drooling over. Happy Friday folks! Today is made extra special by the fact that I was just invited to the WHITE HOUSE!!! The White House, you guys! I will be going to meet and hear Michelle Obama speak on childhood nutrition and the Let’s Move initiative. Needless to say, I’m beaming from ear to ear for this incredible honor. Now, what the heck should I wear?!? shopbop-sale AG Ankle Legging Jeans; Petit Bateau Sailor Top; Wildfox Steff Sunglasses; Ella Moss Inka Pants; Free People Midi Dress; Steven Madden Genna Flats; Dolce Vita Slide Sandals

shopbop-sale



Bathroom & Master Bedroom Home Reno Update

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IMG_7826 I sound like a broken record here, but things have been busy at home as we continue to unpack and settle in. Last weekend we finally unloaded the huge shipping container that held the remaining contents of our home, and half the stuff either made it back into the house, and the other half got shoved in the garage. After living with a minimal amount of items during our time at the parents, as we were unpacking the pod, both Art and I looked at all the “stuff” we had previously shoved in our house and agreed that we didn’t need a good chunk of it. So ironically, we enlarged our home by 290 square feet and now have all this extra storage, which we’re hesitant to fill up.

In the end I’m of course grateful for the extra space that came with the renovation, not just the additional storage, and know that we will make good use of extra cupboards and drawers. And by make good use, I mean not filling it up with 1000 children’s books or old kitchen items I hold on to for who knows what reason. All this to say, our house currently feels light and airy, whereas our garage feels like a dark and claustrophobic dungeon. We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us.

So things are definitely moving along at home, but we’ve yet to complete one room in the house. I learned that holding off on purchasing some items until we really needed them wasn’t the best strategy, as things are often times sold out and/or on back order, hence why Taylor’s bathroom currently has no lighting fixtures or cabinet knobs. But we’re dealing with our blue painter’s tape solution and patiently waiting for the final odds and ends for each room to trickle in. When we made the budget for our renovation, we didn’t do a great job including the supplementary costs for things like toilet paper & towel holders, new mirrors, additional lighting fixtures, etc. And I certainly didn’t realize how pricey cabinet hardware was. So I spaced out what I ordered when to slow the bleeding of funds, and now we’re left with blue painter’s tape for knobs. It’s all good, there’s certainly worse problems we could have and I’m not complaining. But that explains some things in the photos below.

Speaking of the photos, even though we are not quite finished, I thought it would be fun to at least show you what we’ve got completed and what the final stages of a remodel look like. So let’s take a little tour of just the 2 bathrooms and our master. IMG_7824 Beginning in the master, this past weekend they installed the covers for the beams above the sink, and today they installed the faucet and shower trim kit, after being on back order for several months. Our cabinet knobs just arrived Friday, so those will hopefully get installed this week, and I need to place the order for the bath accessories like towel bars and toilet paper holder. Oh, and we need to get mirrors of course. The ones Shelly had originally chosen for us are of course no longer available.  IMG_7828 I was very nervous about how the whole open window and beams idea was going to turn out, but it honestly turned out better than I had expected, and I’m so happy we took the risk here. We had originally figured we would hang a pull down shade for privacy, but I’m hoping we can leave it like this. Unless the neighbors behind us build on a 2nd story, we should be fine as far as privacy goes. There’s just no taking showers when we’re having a backyard swim party, but I think we can manage that. The natural light that comes in is amazing, and at night we have a perfect view of the moon through the window. Once everything is complete I’m hoping to have one of my photographer friends come over and take photos using a different lens that can better capture the space. IMG_7832 The ceilings are 9′ tall in the bathroom, which makes for a lot of square footage to cover in the shower. The tile that was originally designed for the shower would have just been way too expensive, so we went with a standard subway tile and used the tile we originally had chosen in here, for the kitchen back-splash. To create a bit of interest and break up the tall ceilings, the designer at Ann Sacks suggested we use 2 different sizes of subway tile, and break it up with a matte black horizontal line.
IMG_7835 The black matte is continued in the floor, with a penny tile filled in with black grout. The matte floor feels amazing when taking a shower and really creates a dramatic contrast.  IMG_7836 Speaking of floors though, the thing I love most about the bathroom though, are the painted concrete floors.  IMG_7893 One of the major advantages of adding a bathroom in the back of the house was being able to give it outdoor access and essentially make it a pool bath. There’s a pocked door for privacy and another door to limit access to the master bedroom. So our floors in here will likely be continually wet and grimy, but better to quadrant it off here than give the kids access to the traipse through the entire house with wet feet. My hope is that eventually they will learn how to dry their feet off before going in the house, but I hear that often doesn’t happen until adulthood when they have their own mortgage to pay. 😉  IMG_7843 The door which closes off the bathroom from the master is mirrored on both sides, since we didn’t do closet doors with inset mirrors. I love them.
IMG_7851 And speaking of closet doors, here you see my side of the room and my closet, and Art has an identical closet on the other side of the room. The dual opposing closets was the main reason we left mirrors off the doors, otherwise we would have had that hall of mirrors effect. My only regret with these doors was that I didn’t insist the handles go on the left side of each door rather than the right. My contractor thought it looked better this way for some reason I can’t even remember, but they kinda don’t make sense this way since us Americans tend to do things from left to right, not right to left. Oh well, the doors have a large enough inset on the panel that I mainly just pull them open that way.
IMG_7845 The wall that the headboard sits on will eventually get a wallpaper treatment, so until then it’s kinda plain jane in here. I do love the windows on either side of the bed though. IMG_7846 By the way, we wound up going with the Martha Stewart for Home Depot closet system, and love how it turned out. Much cheaper than custom, but you still get a semi-custom feel, and there are nice add-ons like the slanted shoe holders, tie racks and drawers.  IMG_7848 A few readers who follow me on Instagram have asked about our interior and closet doors. I’m not too sure who the manufacturer is, but we asked our contractor for shaker style options, and he brought us back a catalog for a company which offered a few different styles. We went with the single panel option and he purchased them at Ganahl Lumber. We love them and am so glad this was one item we decided to add in to the project after the fact. We went with a simple single plank baseboard and door casings and love the clean lines, although don’t love how dusty the baseboards get. We were warned but went with them anyhow. Oh well, I’ve just been sweeping them down with a broom and despite the dust, I really like them.
IMG_7853 Lastly, going into Taylor’s bathroom, we still have a few odds and ends to finish up, including choosing wallpaper, but with the addition of just a rug, shower curtain and some hand towels, the bathroom feels close to completion. IMG_7854 We added a bit of square footage in here so that the toilet was no longer sitting half way in front of the tub, so now it feels a lot more spacious in comparison to what we were used to. I’m thinking one of the wall ladder shelves would be cute here on this empty wall. The floor tile is a combo of a lined hex and a smooth hex. We had the lined tiles alternate on the diagonal to add more interest, which is sort of difficult to see in the photo. IMG_7858 Because we’re going to eventually do wallpaper in here, and the floors have a lot of visual interest already, we decided to keep the shower simple with subway tiles again. To change it up from the master though, they installed them in an offset vertical pattern.
IMG_7864 As I said before, we’re still waiting on knobs in here, as well as the sconces. We will be hanging the mirror that previously hung above our mantel, so just need to get it installed the next time the contractor sends one of his guys back. That’s another downside to not having everything ready to go all at once; once the majority of the project wraps up, the subcontractors get pulled to other jobs and your job is then put on a lower priority. So someone will come work on finishing up odds and ends maybe once or twice a week now, as opposed to being available to come whenever product comes in.  IMG_7859 I shot photos of the kitchen today as well, but since this post is already long enough I’ll hold off posting those until tomorrow or Wednesday. In the mean time, I’ll do my best sourcing items below. Let me know if you’ve got questions!

Master Bath:
Flooring: Cement Tile Shop
Shower Tile: Ann Sacks
Faucets: Kohler Purist Line
Countertops: Marble slab
Cabinet: Custom, using “reclaimed wood” veneers which is quite silly when you think about it haha!
Cabinet Pulls: Schoolhouse Electric
Sconces: Restoration Hardware
Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Classic Gray
Rug and hand towels: Target

Taylor’s Bath:
Flooring & Shower Tile: Ann Sacks
Faucets: Moen Align Line
Countertops: same marble slab as master bath
Cabinet: Custom, painted the standard white that the finisher always uses(??)
Shower curtain and rug: Target



Healthy Eats In Our Fridge

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IMG_7571 Hey there dear blog readers. Apologies for the silence over here the last couple of weeks, I feel like there’s so much to catch you up on I don’t even know where to begin. Biggest news though is that we ARE HOME!!! We moved back home almost 2 weeks ago, and so the last several days have been filled with packing and unpacking. There is still so much left to be done, from cleaning up the backyard that we let go to hell, to unloading the huge shipping container sitting in our driveway, but for now we are so thrilled to be back home. We love our house and the renovations we’ve done, and I’m enjoying spending time in the kitchen, deciding where everything is going to go in its new space.

IMG_7568 The first week we spent at home, our kitchen cabinets were not complete so we were unable to really do major unpacking. I cooked with my cast iron skillet and a spatula I borrowed from my mother in law. Other gadgets, like can openers and such were intermittently borrowed from neighbors on an as needed basis. We ate off paper plates and recycled utensils. Last week though, they completed the cabinets so we were really able to get settled in and I took a much needed trip to the grocery store and spent double what our normal budget was getting our fridge and cupboards all restocked. So since our fridge looks as clean and organized as its ever going to look, I thought I’d take you on a little fridge tour so you can get an idea of the foods we usually keep stocked at home. Our current fridge contents are pretty much as ideal as things get around here, and sometimes you’ll definitely find more junky foods in there, and many times it’s half empty, or half filled with leftovers. But for now, I’d like to just take a moment to marvel at its pristine beautifulness 🙂 IMG_7564 We went with a Samsung counter-depth fridge that has French doors and a secondary refrigerator drawer above the freezer. It’s where we’re keeping our deli meats and cheeses. The Samsung offered the most cubic feet for a counter-depth fridge, and so far I haven’t missed the extra couple of feet, although we’re only a week in so we’ll see. I’m definitely going to have to be more on top of keeping this clean and organized. Above is an overview of what we’ve got in our fridge this week. Lots of veggies, a roasting chicken, and several drink options including kombucha from Fermentation Farm, sparking water, orange juice, iced tea, wine and beer. We have a couple of dips on hand including hummus and Bitchin’ Sauce (like hummus but made with almonds instead of garbanzo beans), eggs, greens for salads, sauteeing and juicing, and a couple of kinds of Ezekiel sprouted grain bread. Beet greens and cilantro are stored in a bit of water in mason jars to prolong freshness. Speaking of freshness, I’ve got to stock back up on Fresh Paper because it did help my produce last longer.  IMG_7575 IMG_7574 Produce crisper contents change, but I usually always have whole and baby carrots on hand, fresh herbs, celery and snap peas for the kid’s lunches, beets for juicing and roasting, cauliflower for cauli rice, and something to make life interesting. This week I’ll steam some artichokes and put out a cured meat and cheese tray for an easy Friday night dinner, and the fennel will be used in Ina’s roasted chicken recipe.  IMG_7566 This fridge doesn’t have a ton of door space for condiments, so I’m going to have to be choosy with what I bring home or else risk a lot of clutter. Must haves include maple syrup and Kerrygold butter, which I usually get at Costco, jam, Red Boat fish sauce (the best!), mayo and ketchup and a couple of varieties of mustard for dressings and sauces, and yogurt & creamer for coffee. I also have several fermented foods and fermented chimichurri this week, and I also try to keep a couple of these Orgain protein shakes on hand for days I’m in a real hurry and need something after a workout.  IMG_7565 The deli drawer contains more yogurt (kids like Fage, I love siggi’s for its tartness and low sugar content) for on-the-go, deli meats and cheeses, Niman Ranch bacon and sausages, and Tortilla Land flour and corn tortillas. These tortillas are the best tasting store-bought tortillas I’ve ever had, and although they need to be cooked for 60 seconds before eating, they are worth every second of time “wasted” and I love their simple ingredient list.  IMG_7579 Typically our freezer is a lot more full than this, but for now it’s got the necessities, and I hope I can continue to keep things pared down instead of hording, like I typically do 😉 Frozen fruit for smoothies, frozen veggies for some recipes and quick dinner sides, and a few kinds of frozen protein, including wild caught salmon and grass fed and grass finished beef.  IMG_7581 In the other freezer drawer, we’ve got a couple of kinds of ice cream, frozen bananas for smoothies, ice packs and some frozen veggie patties. Also, Art wants to start making himself better breakfasts on the go, so we bought some frozen sausage for him. Haven’t tried them yet though so can’t say how they are.
IMG_7583 And there you have it folks. Having a well-stocked fridge and freezer definitely makes it easier to eat healthier, since if you bring good food into your home, you’re going to eat good food 😉 The hardest part is truly just making the time to cook the food and set aside time to eat proper meals instead of running through and getting take-out. Having had our lives sort of in upheaval the past few months, I know this is easier said than done, but going forward I’m really excited to get back into blogging here on a regular basis, and that includes publishing easy recipes that will hopefully make your lives easier. Now taking requests 😉

And more house photos coming up soon, as we finalize each room.



Cute Little Babes Giveaway for Cool Baby Clothes

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IMG_7527  I’ve shared with you before that when Taylor was first born, I tried my hand at starting a kid’s clothing line called Baby Taylored. Specializing in graphic tees and easy slip on pajama pants, I poured countless hours of time, energy and emotion into my line. We experienced a decent level of success in local boutiques in our area, and since this was in the days before Etsy and social media, our numbers were decent all things considered. As you know, I ended up abandoning my dream of getting into a big box stores because I wound up returning to work full time, and I’m sure everything ended up working out as it was meant to be. While I may no longer be in the baby making clothes business, I still like to support and shop other small scale kid’s clothing lines because I know first hand how much love and attention to detail is involved in pursuing such a dream. Enter Cute Little Babes clothing company, and the stylishly cool baby clothes they produce.
IMG_7535 Designed by mom of 2 Sarahi, Cute Little Babes clothing items focus on form and function, producing clothes that are as stylish as they are comfortable. From super soft hoodies to cozy lounge pants, each item reflects a bit of novelty from prints to silhouette.
IMG_7542 The grey hoodie that Hayden is sporting is made of a silky soft knit that washes beautifully and comes out of the dryer wrinkle free, and the simple drawstring free design around the neckline gives it just the right unique touch, to make it stand apart. IMG_7532 The melange french terry knit pants are not only ridiculously cute, but allow him to run, crawl, climb and jump with ease. IMG_7540 Did I mention that all of Cute Little Babes clothes are HANDMADE?!? Yeah, they are, and considering that, the prices are really great. IMG_7559 I’m thrilled to be giving away a $50 store credit to Cute Little Babes, and I know you’ll love their items as much as Hayden and I do. In the past 2 weeks since receiving our order, I’ve washed this outfit at least 4 times, and each time it’s clean he pulls it out and declares, “I wear my hoodie today!” To enter to win, simply follow the prompts below, which will as you to leave a comment, and visit my Facebook page. If you haven’t yet liked my Facebook page, I’d love for you to sign up today so you can stay up to date and never miss a post. Entries will close this Sunday at 11:59 pm PST, and are limited to US entries only, please. Good luck!

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What Worked In 2015

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IMG_9551 Last year, I wrote a post detailing the different things that worked for us throughout the year. Changes in products, routines, or simply sticking to things that already felt right, the exercise of looking back and reflecting on the good, with how life went right, instead of how it went wrong, felt unabashedly positive and wonderful for the soul. So, why not repeat the process, especially since 2015 was full of changes? Here’s my list, in no particular order, of what worked well for me, the kids, and us as a family, this past year.

Audible (as well as Overdrive): An avid reader for as long as I can remember, I just this year actually began listening to audio books. Growing up, my father was more likely to play a library loaned “book on tape” on his cassette player, than actual music, but for some reason I never saw the appeal. Well, this year I finally caught on to what is so captivating about books on tape, especially when talking solo walks and doing chores around the house. Beyond their ability to rack up book reading productivity, they also have a knack for bringing characters to life in a way that’s almost impossible with standard books, and there were several I listened to this year, which I think I actually enjoyed much more than had I read them in standard form. I initially signed up for Audible, but quit after a couple of months to save some cash, only to eventually sign back up because I missed it so much. The Overdrive app, which allows you access to your local libraries e-books and audiobooks is great, however most popular and newer books usually require a long wait list. Audible offers that instant satisfaction of course, so I just limit my subscription to 1 purchase a month, then rent standard books the rest of the time.  Keep an eye out for a post listing the 25 books I read last year, coming up next week.

Walking + MuTu System: Thanks to MuTu and Audible, I took up a regular walking routine this year, and as much as it makes me feel like a geriatric to fess up, I have truly grown to love walking and look forward to the days when Art and I are empty nesters and take our daily walks together haha! I wrote about the MuTu system for healing my diastasis recti earlier in the year, and part of the program requirement was to take a 20 minute daily walk, hence why I began walking. I’ve since stopped using MuTu, although I keep up with the regular walking schedule and ab exercises. By the way, I’ve continued to see improvement in my pelvic floor function, which means I no longer pee when sneezing or jumping and my gap has closed to a small finger width opening. However, the belly is still there, so while definitely flatter, I’ve now come to the realization that what’s left of my mom pooch is truly just loose skin and a few extra pounds, and not something that will be magically go away now that my diastasis is essentially healed. Womp womp 😉

Fitbit-Surge Wearing a Fitbit: Last Christmas I received a Fitbit Charge, however, I returned it so that I could purchase the fancy Surge when it came out. If I had to do it all over again, I’d have purchased the Fitbit ChargeHR instead of the Surge (smaller, less money and easier to wear at night), however I still love having a Fitbit and would rather have the Surge than nothing at all. It works incredibly well at keeping me mindful with how much I move, and the heart rate function is a great feature, especially when doing HIIT workouts. Side note, I’ve definitely noticed that any form of HIIT workout keeps my heart rate elevated for a longer period of time than a regular static exercise like jogging or yoga. This means my post HIIT resting heart rate stays elevated for up to 2-3 hours, whereas when I just do a static exercise, it falls back to normal straight after the cool down period. The benefit of this information? Well, it’s made HIIT routines a lot easier to get through, knowing that I’m really impacting my body and metabolism far beyond just the 20-30 minutes I spend in my routine. I’ve all but abandoned the app though, and checking in with how I rate compared to my friends. I got into it for a while, but eventually found it was making me unnecessarily competitive. The kids and Art have now caught the Fitbit fever as well, and the only one who doesn’t have one is Hayden. Art has the ChargeHR and the older kids have the Charge.

Calm PRT + Travacor: After my initial Hashimoto’s diagnosis, I visited an integrative doctor and naturopath, both housed in the same office, and they got me on a supplements routine. The 2 supplements that made an immediate and noticeable difference in me physically, was this sleep aid supplement combo. I was suffering with almost nightly insomnia, falling asleep very easily from exhaustion, but waking up between 2-4 amevery night, unable to fall back asleep. After taking this combo for about 2 months, I developed such a consistent sleep pattern that I no longer needed to take it. I occasionally suffer from the same type of insomnia, but now it seems to be directly related to being over tired, stressed or drinking wine too close to bedtime, and rarely lasts more than just 1 night. I can’t recommend this stuff enough!

Unsubscribing from news sources + political sites on Facebook: I am obsessed with keeping up with the news, as well as politics. But I have a bad habit of not only reading news stories and articles on Facebook, but also reading the comments. As the political landscape heated up in the last 6 months, I found myself wasting precious minutes throughout the day scouring the comments left on Facebook posts, trying to use these comments as a barometer of the political climate in the country. It was unhealthy on many fronts, so in late November I unsubscribed to all news outlets and political candidates pages, and my life has been happier and healthier as a result. I still keep up with the news by listening to the radio (Sirius has all the major news channels and then some), I just now have a lot more time on my hands since there’s no commentary to sift through. Added bonus, I no longer risk pissing off my friends on Facebook, since I was that friend who freely posted/shared politically charged articles. Win, win! IMG_4699 My Beautycounter Biz: Developing my Beautycounter business continues to be one of the best things I’ve done for myself, personally and financially, in the last few years. I am doing work I truly enjoy, for a brand I respect and love, and have been rewarded for it tenfold. It’s also been a great feeling, knowing that I’m playing some small part in helping women and families switch to safer products, and the regular paycheck has been a relief.

2015 brought on countless changes in our lives, from moving in and living with my in-laws for over 6 months, to dealing with the excitement and challenges of a home renovation. We have learned a lot this past year, and can’t wait to move in to our new home soon. Life was chaotic and unorganized for much of last year, but I have to say, I think we did a pretty good job of just rolling with it and learning from it, rather than allowing it to consume us. We made some mistakes here and there, but overall the year taught us a great deal about scaling back, not sweating the small stuff, and developing a clearer picture of how we want to live in our home, given this fresh start. We are damn lucky and grateful, and I can’t wait to get my hands on all our stuff and reorganize and re-prioritize.

What worked well for you this past year? I’d love to know.