All Things G&D

What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?

2012-05-26T09:54:00.002-05:00

This week's featured lunch:

A peanut butter and jelly "star sandwich"
Cottage cheese
Strawberries and grapes

I'm still trying to get Kate to eat bread, and it's been several weeks since I've offered her some so I decided to give it another shot. I stuck with peanut butter and jelly (a classic) and used a cookie cutter to cut it in the shape of a star to get her a little more interested in trying it. Just in case she wouldn't eat it, I made sure that her two sides were things I knew she really liked and would be enough to fill her up until her afternoon snack. I'm not sure yet how it went over at daycare, but Kate was super excited about her "star sandwich" when I was making it. I'll have to make another one for this weekend and see if my trick worked!

Want to see what's in my lunch bag? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to find out! I post weekly pictures (and links to recipes) of lunches I pack for myself during the work week. Yum!

Thank You Care Package

2012-05-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Remember my crazy list of things I was frantically trying to accomplish before G and I left for Seattle a few weeks ago? One of the things that was an absolute must do on that list was sending my fabulous friend Allison a thank you care package for all the work she's done on my new blog design!

Thank you care package using a scarf instead of tissue paper!

First I lined the inside of the box with cute blue wrapping paper, filled the box with all sorts of goodies, and wrapped it up using this adorable floral scarf as an alternative to tissue paper. I bought this scarf (also seen here) for myself and loved it so much that I had to go back and get another one for Allison! To finish off the care package I spelled out the words "Thank You" on the box and "Allison" on the card, using raised sticker letters from Target.

It's a fun and easy way to say thank you to a friend!

My New Blog Design!

2012-05-21T00:03:00.000-05:00

Pop the bubbly - we've got some celebrating to do!

(You can't see, but I'm doing "raise the roof!" motions with my hands.)
(And maybe a little dance.)

I've got a colorful new blog design thanks to my fabulously creative and amazingly talented friend Allison!

I loved my old houndstooth header she created for me, but after 3 years it was time for an update. Let's face it, my former tag line of "taking life one bottle of wine, 64 throw pillows, and a dozen handbags at a time" was just a smidge outdated. Over the past two years, those 64 throw pillows have been replaced by the 64 stains I now need to get out of my couch, and my designer handbag budget is now my daycare and organic groceries budget.

Life has changed.

My blog has changed.

And now, after months of planning, I've got a fabulous new design to go along with it!

Here's how utterly incredible my friend Allison is when it comes to graphic design: I emailed her with a wide variety of ideas that pretty much had nothing in common with each other, and articulated quite clearly that I could not quite articulate what it was I liked about any of them. The only real direction I gave her was that I wanted to keep orange (my favorite color) in there somewhere.

I'm lucky that Allison is one of my very best friends and knows me so well because she not only understands my desire to keep things as simple and clean as possible, but she also knows my blog and created a header that showcased topics that weren't even on my radar!

The VERY FIRST design idea she emailed me for a blog header was almost exactly what you see above, and it took my breath away. I couldn't see any similarities between it and the ideas I sent her, yet it was absolutely perfect.

She told a story in my blog header without saying a single word.

And that, my friends, is the mark of true talent.

This magenta circle featuring a little girl reaching toward a butterfly was so utterly perfect for Kate that I literally fought back tears the moment I saw it. This is one of the many examples where Allison's friendship and attention to detail are priceless. Kate adores butterflies, and this magenta color has reminded me of her ever since I painted her nursery this color - two things an impersonal graphic design company would have never known!

This food-related circle took me by surprise when I saw it in Allison's original design because I never intended to write about food as much as I do, but it is definitely where my interests are these days and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I told Allison I think she knows my blog better than I do!

One high-heeled shoe in honor of my fashion posts and one running shoe in honor of my running posts? There's only one word for it: Brilliant!

The only change I made to Allison's original design (other than colors) was adding this house circle to the mix. Even though I haven't blogged about home design as much as I used to, it's still something I love and a topic I know I will always write about - plus I love that this house represents my home life, and that is something I'm certain I will always be writing about!

I absolutely love the simplicity of this design, and I know from personal experience that oftentimes it's the things that appear "simple" at the end result that actually take the most work. I cannot thank my friend Allison enough for all the time, thought, patience, and attention she put into this project. From the blog header, to the sidebar designs, to the background and fonts, to my new logo and signature - heck, even my Facebook page! - her talent and creativity has touched every part of my new design, and I am forever grateful.

I hope you love the new look here at ATG&D as much as I do!

What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?

2012-05-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

This week's featured lunch:

Chicken & Cheese Quesadilla
Apple Slices

Quesadillas are a quick and easy meal option for Kate since they're made with ingredients I'm sure to always have on hand - tortillas, cheese, and shredded chicken. Every couple of months I roast a whole organic chicken in our crockpot, shred it, marinate it in Mexican seasonings, and then package and freeze it in individual portions. Kate enjoys eating it plain, in quesadillas, or in tacos. It's a great way to always be only minutes away from a hot (non-processed) meal!

Want to see what's in my lunch bag? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to find out! I post weekly pictures (and links to recipes) of lunches I pack for myself during the work week. Yum!

G&D in Seattle

2012-05-15T06:08:00.000-05:00

G and I had such a wonderful time visiting his sister Lesley and her boyfriend Ben in Seattle! We arrived on Thursday afternoon after dropping Kate off at daycare and me taking lots of deep breathes trying not to have a nervous breakdown. A quick stop at Starbucks before heading to the airport and a 4 hour flight later, and we had arrived! Lesley and Ben live in the upper Queen Anne neighborhood and our first order of business was exploring their beautiful neighborhood while we waited for Ben to get off work.

Overlook at Kerry Park in Seattle

Lesley's neighborhood is on a huge hill, so we had excellent views of the Space Needle and downtown Seattle. I'm afraid of heights the way a Kardashian is afraid of getting cancelled so we didn't go up in the Seattle Space Needle, but happily admired it from the ground. They painted the top of it orange in honor of its 50th anniversary, but I like to think it was because they knew I was coming.

Thursday evening included dinner with Ben and Lesley in Queen Anne, followed by our introduction to Menchie's Frozen Yogurt Shop (the devil!).

On Friday morning G and I started the day with a run - he ran 3 miles and I ran an additional 2 (those were my Menchie miles). Afterwards, I met jbhat at a coffee shop while G relaxed back at the house. Ben and Lesley both had to work on this day, so G and I had the opportunity to explore Seattle on our own. We walked to downtown and our first stop was Pike Place Market!

Our first order of business at Pike Place was hitting up the very first Starbucks store ever opened!

This brass thing inside says "First Starbucks Store" on top.

I got a grande nonfat chai tea latte, and this began G's weekend love affair with caramel frappuccinos.

The Market was fantastic, and I think if I lived in Seattle I'd be buying fresh salmon, vegetables, and flowers there every week!

G and Willy, the fish guy

G read about the Giant Shoe Museum in the Market and joked for weeks leading up to the trip that that's what he was the most excited to see. It was basically just a wall you walked up to and there were four different windows you could look into for a quarter each. Kind of a like a peep show - but with giant shoes.


G put his quarter in to see the giant shoe behind the curtain. I just saved you $0.25.

Lots of beautiful fresh flowers!

We had lunch at Lowell's (they filmed a scene from Sleepless in Seattle there!), dessert at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and then continued exploring downtown Seattle. I was really excited to check out the Underground Tour, so from Pike Place we walked down to Pioneer Square and enjoyed a beer while we waited for our tour to start.

Did you know Seattle has an Underground?! See that beautiful grid of glass in the sidewalk our tour guide is standing on in the first picture? That's my tour group standing underneath that exact same glass grid in the second picture! Turns out it's not just a pretty sidewalk detail - it's actually a skylight put in when downtown Seattle was rebuilt (following a fire in 1889) in a way that raised their street-level up one story, leaving all the original sidewalks and first stories of buildings now underground. It's a fascinating bit of Seattle history and so neat to see!

The third picture below is our tour guide standing in front of what used to be the main entrance of Seattle's first bank (and is now underground). The 4th picture below shows our tour group entering another part of Seattle's Underground, going below street-level.

The Underground Tour

After all the running walking we'd done for the day, our feet were tired, so we had G's sister Lesley pick us up from Pioneer Square on her way home from work. That evening the four of us went out for sushi and had drinks in Ballard with Ben and Lesley's friends.

Ben, Lesley, Me, and G

On Sunday morning we hiked through Discovery Park with Ben, Lesley, and their dog Morty. I didn't bring my camera for the hike, but it was beautiful! Afterwards, (after our second visit to Menchies) Lesley took us to Ballard Locks to watch boats go through the Lake Washington Ship Canal. It's a pretty neat process! Basically, a "lock" is a controlled passageway that allows a boat to go from a body of water at one elevation to another body of water at a much different elevation. While we were there, we saw two boats being raised up in the locks so they could continue on their way.

The first three pictures below show the boats entering the lock from the west. Once both boats are secured inside the lock, the west doors close, and the boats are now completely enclosed.

The second set of pictures are taken looking in the other direction and show the lock filling up with water to bring it up to lake-height. Once the lock is filled and the boats are raised to lake level, the east doors open and the boats continue on their way! The whole process of filling the lock takes maybe 5 minutes.

Click to enlarge

Beautiful mountains in the distance:

On our last night there we met Ben's family for dinner at Steelhead Diner (so good!), followed by drinks downtown.

We had so much fun visiting Ben and Lesley (and Morty)! I absolutely loved Seattle. It was such a fun place to visit and I'm really looking forward to returning in a couple of years - and next time with Kate!

You Know You Love Your Child's Cuddles When...

2012-05-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

...you're pretty sure she just peed on you, but you don't even flinch because you don't want the moment to end.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?

2012-05-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

This week's featured lunch:

Tuna with mayonnaise
Veggie pasta
Grapes

I am so grateful that my picky little eater loves tuna! It's healthy, easy to always have on hand, and requires very little preparation. These things make it a staple in our house for Kate. Since she doesn't like to eat bread, I just stir a little tuna and mayonnaise together and she eats it out of the bowl with a fork.

Lately I've been trying to introduce Kate to veggie pasta. This particular brand (Barilla Piccolini Mini Farfalle) is made with tomatoes and carrots, and is in what Kate has cheerfully declared a "butterfly" shape. I've discovered that she only likes it if I offer it to her plain - no cheese, no alfredo sauce, no pasta sauce, and not even a drop of olive oil. Sometimes she likes to sprinkle the noodles over the tuna in her bowl and eat them together, so now I've been serving her tuna with "butterfly pasta" on the side - and some of her favorite fruit, of course!

Want to see what's in my lunch bag? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to find out! I'm posting weekly pictures (and links to recipes) of lunches I pack for myself during the work week. Yum!

Red Skinny Jeans

2012-05-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

Loving my new red skinnies!

I got this oversized safety pin at JoAnn Crafts and it works great to keep my scarf all wrapped up when I don't want to mess with knotting it:

Safety-pinned scarf

Jeans: Joe's Jeans (color is chili pepper red)
T-Shirt: Old Navy
Jacket: Gap
Scarf: Old Navy
Shoes: Nicole (from DSW)

Red Toenails

2012-05-06T19:59:00.002-05:00

Kate is ridiculously perceptive. I snuck away to paint my toenails yesterday and the very first words out her mouth as soon as she saw me afterwards were, "Oooh, I like your red toenails, Mama!"

Her admiration of my toenail polish continued for the rest of the day yesterday and into today. I'm not one to rush into "girlie" things with Kate--if anything, I try to avoid it for as long as possible!--but this afternoon, after admiring my painted toenails for 435th time she so very sweetly asked, "Can Kate have cute red toes like Mommy?"

How could I say no to that?!

Kate's red toenails over Mommy's red toenails.

What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?

2012-05-05T05:00:00.000-05:00

This week's featured lunch:

Protein-packed pasta salad
Grapes

This pasta salad has been a favorite in my family ever since I was a kid. It's super easy to make and you can customize it to your family's tastes. I make mine using whole wheat pasta spirals, hard-boiled egg, canned tuna, and cheese--lots of healthy protein! (Hopefully one day I'll be able to incorporate some vegetables into the recipe--peas would be great--but for now this is how my family prefers it.) Mix is all up with some mayonnaise and you've got yourself a great little lunch for your toddler!

Want to see what's in my lunch bag? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to find out! I'm posting weekly pictures (and links to recipes) of lunches I pack for myself during the work week. Yum!

Things Loved In April

2012-05-02T12:50:00.000-05:00

1. Our trip to Seattle

G&D and Lesley & Ben

Not only did I survive Seattle, we had a wonderful time visiting G’s sister Lesley and her boyfriend Ben in the Emerald City. We did all sorts of fun touristy things. So many, in fact, that Seattle is getting its very own picture-filled post, coming soon!

2. Meeting jbhat

I was so excited to meet “jbhat” (one of my favorite commenters on my blog) during our Seattle trip! Jbhat has done a pretty good job of maintaining online anonymity which is why I’m not sharing her real name…but I am plastering her picture on the internet. I also know her cell phone number. (Not that I’m sharing it, mind you; I’m just bragging.) It was so lovely to meet her. She is incredibly warm and kind and effortlessly beautiful. She has an adorable little dimple in her right cheek (just like Kate!), a gorgeous family, and a huge heart. Chatting with her felt like chatting with a lifelong friend. I could have sat in that coffee shop all day getting to know this woman!

3. Menchie's Frozen Yogurt Shop

Do you have one of these in your city? For your sake I hope not. This place is suburbia’s version of the corner crack house. It’s a build-your-own-yogurt sundae shop featuring a ridiculous amount of frozen yogurt flavors and toppings—oh yeah, and free samples. We only went there twice but talked about it every five minutes. I think I put about 20 miles on my running shoes between running, hiking, and walking while in Seattle…but I’m pretty sure I still gained 15 pounds thanks to this delicious place. Damn you, Menchie’s! DAMN YOU!

4. Red skinny jeans…

…which fit me for about 2 days, before I discovered Menchie’s (see #3).

I’ve been wanting a pair of red skinnies all winter, and finally (now that it’s almost summer, of course) I found a pair I like! They’re Joe’s skinny jeans in chili pepper red which is exactly the deep red color I’ve been looking for—and best of all, they’re super soft and comfortable!

5. Heel pads

I’ve always hated wearing flats. I have a cute little pair of metallic flats that I’ve been dying to wear with my skinnies and skimmers, but they always rub at the back of my foot and drive me crazy! I can wear my 3 and 4 inch heels all day long, but a pair of flats will leave me sore and blistered simply walking from my front door to my mailbox.

Not anymore!

I picked up a package of “back of heel protectors” and they work like a charm! (I found mine at Target, although I’m sure they’re available pretty much anywhere shoes are sold.) Simply peel off the paper in back, stick them to the inside of your shoe just behind your heel, and enjoy walking without blisters! I brought my flats to Seattle (to wear with my red skinnies) and was able to walk all around town without any discomfort. I feel like a whole new shoe world has opened up for me now thanks to these little things!

What were your things loved in April? I'd love to hear about them!

What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?

2012-04-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of week ago I shared that my current solution to Kate's hatred of bread is to make "tortilla sandwiches"--basically, a sandwich using tortilla triangles in lieu of bread. So far it's a huge hit, and as many of you know, when it comes to picky eaters once you find something they'll eat you ride that wave as long as you can!

This week's featured lunch:

Two tortilla triangles spread with veggie cream cheese and filled with colby jack cheese and ham.
A homemade apple plum bar.

I usually pack three things for Kate's lunch, but on this day I decided to stick with two items. They are both things I know she likes and that I know will fill her up. Sometimes it's best to just keep it simple, don't you think?

Want to see what's in my lunch bag? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to find out! I'm posting weekly pictures (and links to recipes) of lunches I pack for myself during the work week. Yum!

Kate: 25 Months

2012-04-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

Kate: 25 Months

Kate peed in the potty!

Well, technically, she “tinkled” in the potty since that is what she has decided to call it.

“Kate tinkled in the potty!” she announces with glee--and you better believe we’re right there cheering along with her! The last time Kate peed on the potty was when she was 15 months old, so we’ve been waiting a long time to hear those tinkles again!

Even though Kate first showed interest in the potty at 15 months old, we weren’t consistent about putting her on it, and eventually she lost interest. We started putting her back on the potty a little more consistently at 21 months old, and since then we’ve tried to put her on at least once per day. We don’t push it—we just ask and if she says yes, we sit her on there; if she says no, we don’t. Our potty routine consists of Kate sitting on the potty and one of us sitting on the step stool in front of the potty to read Kate a book. As you can see in the photo above, Kate has decided to implement a similar routine for Puppy.

Kate came down with an awful rash this month. We weren’t sure if it was a reaction to soap, a food allergy, or a virus, and her pediatrician’s office was equally as stumped. We tried all sorts of creams to help it and eventually she was prescribed antibiotics. That damn rash lingered for over a month (even after she finished antibiotics!) and we still have no clue what caused it. During that time, G and I tried everything we could think of to give her skin some relief—including letting her run around the house without any clothes on.

This is where this month's potty success comes in.

Kate’s diaper area looked so awful from the rash that we decided we'd rather deal with accidents around the house than have her wear a diaper. We asked her to let us know when she needed to pee and we’d put her on the potty, even though we didn’t think she actually would.

Well she did!

During this bare-bottomed time she did have a few accidents, but for the most part when she realized she had to pee she asked us to sit her on the potty and she peed in the potty. We were so proud of her! I even put her down for naps without a diaper on and she woke up nice and dry. We’re definitely getting closer on this potty training thing!

After a month of being rashy and in and out of the clinic, it’s no surprise that one of Kate’s favorite things to do right now is practice playing doctor. She grabs the digital thermometer, puts it under her armpit and proudly announces, “I take my temp!” She loves pretending to be a doctor so much that G bought her a toy doctor's kit. She wears the stethoscope around her neck like a necklace, holds the other end to chest and says, "I check my heart-beep."

Kate (25 Months) checking her "heart-beep."

Her imagination is really starting to take off! One day at lunch she was eating a taco, and it was falling apart, so I ripped the tortilla shell and rolled a little section of it around a piece of hamburger to give her a bite-sized piece. I handed it to her and she looked at it carefully and stated, “It looks like a penguin!”

“Oh my goodness,” I replied with surprise, “It does look like a penguin!”

She then proceeded to bounce her little tortilla penguin across her plate, singing, “Waddle, waddle, hop, hop!”

Kate continues her love of cars and trucks. For Valentine’s Day she received a Cars valentine with a picture of Lighting McQueen and Mater on it. She’s never seen the movie and had no idea who Lightening and Mater are, but she carried that valentine with her everywhere she went. After a week of this (and after hearing from my friend Saz that Cars is a great first movie for kids since there are no scary parts) Kate and I went to Target and I bought her her very first movie. It was love at first sight for Kate. She loves watching the opening race scene again and again and again, and shouts, “Cars go fast! Cars go fast!” as they speed around the track. It’s been a great distraction for her while she recovers from her rash, and G and I really like the movie, too!

We’ve spent a lot of time cuddling this month since Kate hasn’t been feeling well, and my favorite is when she asks, "Hold you like a baby?" (Which to her means “Hold me like a baby.”) The first time she asked me to cradle her in my arms and hold her “like a baby” I swear I felt my milk coming back in. “Okay!” I replied with way too much enthusiasm. Since then, she asks us to “hold you like a baby” all the time and we never turn her down.

As much as I want to think of her as still being my little tiny baby, she is definitely growing up. This month Kate stopped using a booster seat at the kitchen table and just sits on the chair “like a big girl” now. We were also finally able to push her bedtime back a little bit, which means we finally have enough time in the evenings to sit down and eat dinner together “as a family!”

Here is Kate’s current schedule, changing for the first time in nearly a year!

  6:30am: Wakes up
  7:00am: Breakfast
  7:45am: Leave for daycare (3 days/week)
  9:00am: Morning snack
11:00am: Lunch
12:00pm: Nap (if she takes one; she’s decided “no naps!” lately)
5:00pm: Gets home from daycare (3 days/week)
6:00pm: Dinner
7:00pm: Start bedtime routine, bath
7:30pm: In bed and quickly sleeping

I'm Going To Seattle...

2012-04-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

...not dying.

That is what I have to keep reminding myself.

G and I leave for Seattle tomorrow morning, and I'm feeling a feeling very unfamiliar to me. That feeling is ANXIETY.

I've got to admit, I'm not a fan.

I'm usually not one to worry about anything. I think it's a pointless, worthless waste of time. But factor Kate into the mix--specifically, me being away from Kate--and I'm a bundle of nerves. Make it G and I both being away from Kate at the same time and I need tranquilizers. I don't know why! We're leaving her in the hands of Grandma Pam, the most caring and competent caregiver we could ever hope to have for our child. There is absolutely NOTHING to worry about...and yet, I can't turn it off.

I'm a control freak. And when I'm anxious I turn into an even bigger control freak.

If you've ever tried to work with me, plan an event with me, or marry me, you might think it's impossible that my need to control everything around me could ever be worse.

Oh I assure you, it can.

For starters, I make lists.

I'm a list-maker anyway, but toss a little anxiety into my control tornado and I take list making to a whole 'nother level. I make lists about the lists I need to make! Today (Tuesday; less than 48 hours before we ~~die~~ go to Seattle) I made a list of all the things I absolutely still need to accomplish before we go, prioritized by importance to Kate, and then broken down by time of day (Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday night, Wednesday morning...).

And then I gave each task a time limit.

What?

Here is just a sampling of my list of things that I absolutely must do before we leave for Seattle:

Make a batch of veggie muffins for Kate
Make a double batch of blueberry protein pancakes for Kate
Stock the house with fruit for Kate
Buy another gallon of milk for Kate
Make Kate's favorite popcorn
Write Kate's 25 Month post
Write Kate's 26 month post
Organize Kate's inside activities
Do a write up of everything Kate needs, likes, feels, does, etc.
Make Oreo truffles for Pam and my friend
Mail a care package to my friend
Make Spicy Black Bean Salad for Pam
Wash the bedding in the guest room for Pam
Clean the bathrooms
Put my clothes away
Pack
Stock my wine rack
Stop at the bakery
Find the perfect pair of walking shoes
Return all the un-cute walking shoes I just ordered from Zappos
...and all those jeans I just ordered from Piperlime.
Paint my nails.
Charge all of the batteries ever made for anything.
Buy gallon-sized Ziploc bags
Wash my car
Test drive a Toyota
Draft an "if we die" email and schedule it to send on Monday in case we don't return
Get a new iPhone
Make a video of everything I want to teach Kate, like Michael Keaton did in that one movie
Eat all of the leftovers in the fridge

So far I've completed numbers 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 17, and 24.

Yes, buying gallon-sized Ziploc bags got prioritized over putting my clothes away and getting a new iPhone. WE WERE OUT OF THOSE ZIPLOC BAGS IN THE HOUSE! What if, when Pam is here taking care of Kate during the 4 days that we're gone, she needs a gallon-sized Ziploc bag for some LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY?!!

Guess what.

They'll be there.

In the drawer right next to the gallon-sized Ziploc freezer bags, and the quart-sized freezer bags, and the sandwich-sized bags, and the snack-sized bags.

BECAUSE I'M ON IT.

There will be no life-threatening Ziploc bag emergency while we're gone. Not on my watch.

Numbers 6 and 7 absolutely must happen because what if I die (I'm going to Seattle--not dying!) and I wasn't caught up on writing Kate's monthly posts? She'd be all, "What the hell?! My monthly posts stop at 24 months, but I was 27 months old when she died! Clearly she didn't love me." Which we all know is NOT TRUE because I love Kate more than anything I've ever loved, liked or admired--COMBINED!--but this is where my Crazy Anxiety Brain takes me. And it also explains #29. And the sculpture of her face that I'm currently whittling out of a pine tree in the back yard, which did not make the narrowed down list of 30 things above, but is very much a part of my unabridged list of 1,586 things I WILL accomplish before 8:00am tomorrow morning when we leave town.

Number 9: six pages.

That's all I'm saying.

While I may be a list-making, control-crazed, overbearing Mom in need of psychotropic medications now, I have to admit, somewhere in there, Normal Dusty is really looking forward to this trip. Here's my list (!) of things I'm most excited about:

Seeing G's sister Lesley and her boyfriend Ben--the reason we're going to Seattle!
Spending quality time with G, just the two of us.
Not having a schedule we need to stick to!
Getting drunk at lunch.
Visiting the very first Starbucks ever created!
Did I mention no schedule?
Sleeping in.
Going to Pike Place Market.
Starbucks again!
Meeting one of my favorite blog commenters, jbhat!

"jbhat" has been commenting on my blog for years and I knew instantly that she and I were meant to be friends. She is so funny and smart and clever, and when I found out she lived in Seattle, I knew we had to meet up on this trip. We're getting together for coffee on Friday morning, and I'm practically dying with excitement to meet her!

And then I remind myself:

I'm going to Seattle--NOT DYING!

Want to know how I handle being away from Kate, meeting total strangers, and getting drunk at lunch? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to follow along with my vacation updates!

Kate's Chicken Taco Chili

2012-04-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

Kate (24 months) stirring the spices into her Chicken Taco Chili

In my most recent "What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?" post I shared how much Kate loves chili, and this Chicken Taco Chili is one of her favorites. It's incredibly simple to make, and easy to customize with what your family likes. Plus it's a crock pot recipe so you can fill it up before you leave for work, and dinner will be ready when you get home!

Ingredients
30 oz tomato sauce
3 T. homemade taco seasoning* (or 1 store bought packet)
30 oz black beans
2 chicken breasts
Water

Directions
Pour tomato sauce and taco seasonings in crock pot. Using your emptied tomato sauce cans, add 30oz of water. Stir to mix well. Stir in black beans. Lay the two raw chicken breasts on top.

Cover crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

30 minutes before serving, remove chicken breasts, shred on a plate (the chicken is really tender at this point so it will practically fall apart), and stir shredded chicken back into the crock pot.

Serve with your favorite sides and toppings. We like to eat our Chicken Taco Chili with a little bit of cheese sprinkled on top. We also like to scoop it up with our favorite Archer Farms Flax Seed Tortilla Chips.

Tip: I like to make a double batch of Chicken Taco Chili and freeze the extra in salsa jars. It's a great way to store smaller portions of chili for daycare and work lunches!

Chicken Taco Chili in a salsa jar--a single serving grab and go lunch!

This is a very basic recipe, so feel free to customize it with ingredients your family likes. You can add corn, diced tomatoes, diced chili peppers, onions...your options are endless!

*THIS is the recipe I use for homemade taco seasoning. I make a great big batch of it and store it in my pantry in an emptied (and cleaned) salsa jar (seen in this post).

What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?

2012-04-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

One of the few things Kate loves is chili. I make a pepperoni chili and a chicken taco chili and she gobbles both of them up. When I ask her (with pleading eyes), "What do you want to eat?" she almost always answers me with, "No."

(That means 'eff you' for those of you unfamiliar with toddler talk.)

Her second most common response to that question is, "Chili."

This, of course, means that I will make chili all year round regardless of the temperature outside. It could be so hot outside that my crock pot is at risk of melting to my countertop and I will still plug that sucker in and make Kate her chicken chili.

This week's lunch features:

1. Leftover chicken taco chili with cheese on top.
2. Half of a veggie muffin
3. Grapes

Want to see what's in my lunch bag? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to find out! Starting tomorrow I'll be posting weekly pictures (and links to recipes) of lunches I pack for myself during the work week. Yum!

Kate: 24 Months

2012-04-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Kate: 24 Months

Kate can do anything.

I've pretty much always had this hunch, and now she just flat-out tells us.

"Kate do it!"

"I do it myself."

I'm all about raising a self-sufficient and confident daughter, so we let her "do it herself" as much as we can. The photo above was taken shortly after Kate woke up from a nap. She always takes her socks off when she naps, and as I was changing her diaper I mentioned that we were going to need to put her socks back on.

"Kate do it!" she excitedly replied, and then grabbed her socks and started trying to put them on before I could even finish pulling her pants up!

There is so much I love about these pictures...her little onesie-covered tush sticking out, the fact that the first sock she put on is upside down, how she gives up with her left foot and decides to go back to where she had success and puts both socks on one foot, her tongue sticking out while she concentrates...and most of all I love her sheer determination.

That's my girl.

In addition to putting on her own socks, she also likes to take her jacket off herself, and zip up her coat (although we have to get the zipper started for her first). It is fun to see her getting a little more self-sufficient every day!

Remember when I told you how much Kate loves trucks? Well that was an understatement. Kate LOVES TRUCKS--all caps, all trucks, all the time. She absolutely adores watching the garbage trucks on Tuesday morning, and has totally turned into Quality Control over our trash collection. As soon as she hears the trucks she races to the window to watch them pick up the bins from our curb with their electrical arm, empty our garbage, and then set our bins back down on the street. Lord help the garbage man operating the electrical arm that accidentally knocks over a bin in Kate's presence--she is ALL OVER IT.

"The garbage man knocked the garbage can over!"
"Do you see it?"
"Look Mama! The garbage man knocked the garbage can over!"

Hours later she will still report to any new set of ears, "The garbage man knocked the garbage can over today."

The next morning, after 12 hours of sleep, she will wake up, yawn, stretch, and look out the window to see if that tipped over garbage can is still out there. Regardless of its presence she give me her Most Serious Look and state, "The garbage man knocked the garbage can over."

The City of Madison better be seriously concerned once this kid is able to start writing Letters to the Editor.

Speaking of letters, Kate has been learning her lower-case letters. She's has known all of the capital letters for months now, but it never occurred to us that there's a whole other set of letters she still needed to learn until one morning she pointed at something and asked me, "What's that?"

"That's an A," I replied.

Kate looked at it in confusion and I soon realized why. To her an "A" looks like this: A. The "A" she was pointing at, however, looked like this: a.

I watched her little brow furrow as she struggled to make sense of this brand new piece of information. I tried to help by explaining, "That's a lower-case A."

More confusion. Of course. "Lower-case" means nothing to her.

I tried again: "That's a little A."

More confusion. I quickly realized that to her a "little A" would be a capital "A" that's just smaller.

I tried one more time: "That's a baby A!"

Finally, I could see the understanding come into her eyes. This made sense to her! After all, baby animals look different than big animals, but they're still the same animal. A "baby A" would explain how it could still be called an "A" but look different from a capital A.

"A baby A!" She cheerfully announced as she pointed to it again. She quickly noticed there were all sorts of "baby letters" and she wanted to learn them all. It didn't take her long, and now she has most of them down (although baby d's and baby b's still trip her up).

One of Kate's favorite things this month is "hiding" from us by placing her hands over her eyes or standing behind the kitchen curtain. If we don't notice right away she'll prompt us by saying, "Where's Kate?" which then turns into a fun game of us asking, "Where's Kate? Where could she be?!" as we search all over to find her.

"Is she in the oven? No...."
"Is she in Mommy's bag? No..."
"Is she under the couch? No..."
(Sometimes Kate will even join in this part of the fun and say from behind her curtain, "Is she in the bathroom?")

All the while she is in plain sight and giggling hysterically, until she opens her hands (or pulls away the curtain) and exclaims, "Here I am!"

Oh, how we laugh!

Other things Kate loves this month are raisins, her crayons and coloring, fish, the color purple (she always wants her milk in a purple sippy cup and calls it "purple milk"), reading bedtime stories to us (she has some of her books memorized), and saying "man down!" when she drops something. Her favorite songs right now are "Mickey Mouse's "Floatin' Bubble Song" and "Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." She squeals with delight and runs all around the living room when these songs come on!

Now what kind of Mom would I be if I didn't mention that 24 months means Kate also turned 2!

We had so much fun celebrating Kate's 2nd birthday with a Sesame Street themed party! Almost as much fun as the party were the days leading up to it while we prepared. Knowing Kate wouldn't get that "wow moment" all the other kids experienced when they walked in the house for the first time, I decided to give her several little "wow moments" each day leading up to her party. I waited until she went to sleep to work on her party decorations so she'd wake up in the morning to a fun new surprise! Her first surprise was seeing the life-sized Sesame Street lamp post on the wall. The next morning she woke up to find a sea of balloons in the living room (she loved that!). Other morning surprises included the balloon chandelier in the kitchen, seeing all "her friends" (Sesame Street characters) lining the walls, the massive colorful sea of balloons hanging from the entry hallway, and lastly, Elmo's goldfish Dorothy coming to visit. She was so excited over every little detail, but Dorothy took the cake!

Meeting Elmo's goldfish, Dorothy!

She loved watching Dorothy swim around the fishbowl, talking to her, and showing her all sorts of things she can do--just like the kids on Elmo's World do!

(Sidenote: Around the 51 second mark you can hear Kate singing "Happy Birthday to Jesus" which is a song they sang at her daycare Christmas pageant a couple weeks prior to her birthday.)

Lastly, for some strange reason, Kate started saying, "I don't know" with a British accent last month. I have NO CLUE where she picked this up, but it's the funniest thing! I'd been having the toughest time catching it on video (the trick is asking her a question that she understands and doesn't know the answer to--not so easy when it comes to this little smartypants). Well I finally caught it! You can hear it slightly at the very beginning of this video, and then it's really obvious at the end. Hope this makes you laugh as much as it does me!

A Bedtime Conversation

2012-04-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

I was cradling Kate in my arms "like a baby" at bedtime tonight. We had just finished reading a story and I was about to begin our prayers when she looked at me carefully and said, "I love your hair, Mama."

I laughed in surprise and replied, "Oh! Thank you, Kate!"

"And I love your eyes," she added, pointing to each of my eyes.

"Aww, thank you Kate. That is so sweet of you to say," I replied with a smile and a cuddle.

"I love your cheeks, and your forehead, and your ears, and your mouth, and your teeth," she added, pointing to each one as she said them.

Then she put her tiny little hands on each of my cheeks to hold my face and whispered, "I love everything."

My heart burst as I snuggled her tight, covered her in kisses and exclaimed, "Oh Kate, I love everything about you, too!"

I continued cradling my precious girl in my arms as I began our bedtime prayer the same way I have every night for the past 2 years and 3 months: "Dear God, thank you for my wonderful daughter Kate. She is the joy of my world..."

Sesame Street Hallway

2012-04-18T05:33:00.000-05:00

So far I'm 2 for 2 in the "going overboard" department when it comes to Kate's birthday parties. I always do a little more than I had originally intended, and spend a little more than I had originally planned. I can't help it! To me it's worth it, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

After Kate's parties, I'm always so sad to take her decorations down and return to life as usual. I decided to keep at least some of the party going after her first birthday by reusing a few of her party decorations in her nursery. It was a great way to get even more out of the work I put into them, and I love having a daily reminder of her fun day.

I love it so much, in fact, that I've decided to do the same with her second birthday party!

For Kate's 2nd birthday we had a Sesame Street-themed party, which was a huge hit. One of Kate's favorite decorations (other than the hundreds of balloons, of course) was the life-sized Sesame Street lamp post wall decal I custom ordered from Modern Wall Graphics, and matching Sesame Street character wall decals I found at Target. They lined our entryway for weeks after her party was over--and now they have a permanent spot in our upstairs hallway!

The gang's all here!

Our plain and boring upstairs hallway is now fun and colorful with all of Kate's favorite characters lining the wall, right at her eye-level. I love having yet another daily reminder of Kate's special day!

Haven, Here I Come!

2012-04-16T03:00:00.000-05:00

What happens when hundreds of décor-obsessed do-it-yourselfers converge in one location for 48 hours?

No one knows! It’s never been done before! (Although something tells me the Crowne Plaza in Atlanta is getting a fresh coat of paint and some updated wall art.)

I’m attending the first-ever Haven Conference for DIY and home décor bloggers this June, which means I've got just over two months to grow out my eyebrows, lose my Fargo-esque Midwestern accent, and…oh, I don’t know…maybe actually blog about a home-related project or two?

Lately, my most common DIY projects are taping Kate’s artwork to the fridge and changing the toilet paper roll, but some of you may remember that I actually started as a home décor blogger. I’ve always loved decorating and organization, and while I may not blog about it as much now as I used to, it’s still a very present part of my life.

That said, here's the deal: I’m afraid I'm going to arrive at Haven and they’re going to kick me out.

“Mom Blogger!” they’ll yell as they chase me out of the Crowne Plaza with their paint rollers and power drills.

“Imposter!”

“WINO!” one (or several) of them will yell—at which point I’ll stop running, turn to look, thinking someone just offered me wine, and I’ll get maced in the face with a can of spray paint.

This is how it all plays out in my head when I find the time to blog and chose to write about Kate singing her ABCDs instead of this totally awesome desk I refinished last summer that’s just begging to see the light of the internet. (Not to mention the updates I've made to the room it's now sitting in that I haven't photographed since 2008.)

This is what happens when you get knocked up, people.

Correction: This is what happens when I get knocked up. Everyone else is still a home décor blogging rockstar. I am now a potty-training and nutrition obsessed parent who still fluffs her 64 throw pillows and reorganizes the Tupperware drawer when the lids get a little unruly...I just can't be bothered to take pictures of any of it.

Well that's about to change!

I have all sorts of home-related posts I'll be publishing between now and June so they don’t kick me out when I arrive at Haven. And you know that cute little offspring I like to blame for turning me into a Mommy? She's moving to a "big girl room" soon which means...drumroll please....

TWO rooms to redecorate!

The Circle Room will become Kate's new bedroom, and her nursery will become an upstairs playroom. I'm so excited to get started with these transformations!

Stay tuned for the return of home decor, DIY projects, organization, and, of course, wine drinking while painting, on All Things G&D!

(You knew it was just a matter of time before it'd be back, right?)

What's In Kate's Lunch Bag?

2012-04-15T03:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve got one heck of a picky eater on my hands these days. She used to be so good at eating whatever I put in front of her, but ever since she’s learned how to form words she’s also formed this pesky little thing called an opinion.

Here’s what she doesn’t like: vegetables (no surprise), macaroni & cheese (what kid doesn’t like mac & cheese?!), bread (which rules out sandwiches--she’s cutting me off at the knees with this one!), and 99% of the time she refuses to eat pizza even though she loves cheese, pizza sauce, and pepperoni (sigh).

Here’s what she does like: Chips.

You see my predicament.

I pack Kate's lunches on the days she attends daycare (3 days/week), and I thought I might start sharing some of them because I'm fairly certain I'm not the only parent struggling with the "What to pack for my child's lunch?" dilemma.

Here's one of her lunches from last week:

1. Strawberries
2. Honey and banana-flavored Greek yogurt
3. Two tortilla triangles spread with marinara sauce and filled with colby jack cheese and Applegate Naturals pepperoni slices. This "tortilla sandwich" is my current answer to Kate's adversity toward both sandwiches and pizza, and so far it's a huge hit.

So that's a little peek inside Kate's lunch bag--let me know if you'd like to see more!

Want to see what's in my lunch bag? Like All Things G&D on Facebook to find out! I'm posting weekly pictures (and links to recipes) of lunches I pack for myself during the work week. Yum!

Thou Shalt Covet Glass

2012-04-13T03:00:00.000-05:00

I’m no expert on the anti-plastic movement, but I do know it’s out there. I’ve read enough magazine headlines while standing in the checkout line to know that Glass = Good. Plastic = Poisonous Cesspool of Cancer-, STD-, and Alien Baby-Causing Chemicals.

We’ve been slowly making the great migration to glass in our house, but a couple of things were holding me back:

I still have perfectly good chip-free, stain-free plastic storage containers that I’m not ready to just toss.
Glass food storage is expensive!

I’m getting around #1 by continuing to use my perfectly good plastic to store food that doesn’t need to be reheated, and I’m getting around #2 by getting creative!

A few months ago I was scraping out the last of Kate’s applesauce jar and was about to toss it in the recycle bin when I realized, “Hey, this is a good sized glass jar. I could use this for something!”

Here’s something you should know: I’m about the furthest thing away from a hoarder that a person could possibly be. I despise and refuse to keep things in the house that don’t meet a current need or serve an identified purpose “just in case.”

I have about a 2 second window between realizing “I could use this for something” and coming up with exactly what that “something” will be, or else that item must be evacuated from my house. Lucky for that applesauce jar, I thought of it!

Kate’s empty glass applesauce jar—an object created to hold food—can be used as glass food storage!

(Do they hand out Pulitzers for this kind of brilliance?)

Since then, almost no glass jar has been tossed in the recycle bin at our house—applesauce jars, salsa jars, honey jars, alfredo sauce jars, the jar the peanuts came in—all of them get a new life once emptied of their original contents! (The only jar I’ve reluctantly tossed since coveting glass storage is the minced garlic jar—no amount of washing could get rid of that strong garlic smell and I didn’t want to risk everything being stored in it tasting like straight garlic.)

Ground oats for Kate's Oatmeal Drops in an applesauce jar, orange slices in an artichoke hearts jar, Green Smoothie in a honey jar, and homemade taco seasoning in a salsa jar--just a few of the many things I store in glass these days!

The great thing about reusing glass food jars (other than their $0 price tag!) is that they can go straight from the fridge to the microwave for re-heating. I’ve even been using them for freezing batches of soups and sauces!

Almond Chicken Soup with Sweet Potatoes, frozen in applesauce jars.

I fill the jars almost to the top (leaving space at the top since liquid expands when it freezes), and refrigerate it first to get the jar and its contents cold. Then I set the jar upright in the freezer with the lid off, wait until the contents freeze, and then put the lid on the jar. Large jars (like applesauce jars) work great for freezing 2 servings of soup, and small jars (like salsa jars) are the perfect size for freezing single servings! I love grabbing a jar of chili from the freezer, transferring it to the fridge to thaw, and bringing it to work for my lunch, heating it up, and eating it—all from the same jar. It makes a great grab-and-go lunch during the busy work week!

Chicken Taco Chili in a salsa jar--a single serving grab and go lunch!

Have I convinced you to covet all things glass in your house yet? If not, send all that glass goodness my way—I’ll put it to use!

Kate: 23 Months

2012-04-11T03:00:00.000-05:00

Kate: 23 Months

Kate continues her love for accessories and is beginning to take it to a whole other level of creativity. Note the bottles of bubbles in her pockets? That was all her. She also wears sunglasses around her waist like a belt, and insists that I string her Snug Bug toys together in a circle so she can wear them as a necklace. Bugs as a necklace? Lady GaGa wishes she thought of that one!

Kate is starting to say some pretty cute things for an almost 2 year-old. “Oh my goodness!” is a favorite of mine that she’ll use when she’s excited or surprised. G also taught her to hold two fingers up and say, “Peace” which is super cute. But my favorite thing to hear from her this month is, “Markets are up!” She learned this one from Grandma Pam who turns on the TV to check the stock market when she’s here watching Kate on Tuesdays. She tells Kate, “Grandma’s got to check the markets” and will then tell Kate if the stock market is up or down. Kate has since decided that the markets are always up and will go around exclaiming, “Markets are up!” followed by squeals and cheers. She had us in stitches when she busted this out out of the blue after her daycare Christmas pageant. We were so proud of her and were clapping and cheering and saying, “Yay Kate! Great job!” and she got all excited and joined in the cheering saying, “Yay Kate! Great job! MARKETS ARE UP!”

Yeah, you heard me right—I did say “her daycare Christmas pageant.” I’m still playing catch-up with Kate’s monthly posts, and her 23 month post brings us to Christmastime. I already wrote about how much Kate loved our Christmas tree, and the magic continued on Christmas day. Kate savored opening her gifts—making sure to get every piece of wrapping paper off—and thoughtfully admired each and every one. I loved that she did not instantly toss each opened gift aside, looking for her next present.

We are beginning to teach Kate the concept of “privacy” this month. We always know when she’s pooping in her diaper because she will run behind the loveseat and stand where we can’t see her. If we come to check on her she will say, “No! Go to the kitchen, please.” which is a spot where she knows we can’t see her when she’s behind the loveseat. I respond to her by saying, “Oh, would you like Mommy to leave you alone? Do you need some privacy?” She’s starting to catch on and will now ask for “Privacy, please.” when she needs to do her business.

We continue to sit Kate on the potty, usually at least once a day, but we haven’t had much luck with potty training yet. We don’t want to push her though, and we’re really just trying to put her on there to keep her used to sitting on the potty and not being scared of it. She loves sitting on the potty and sucking on a lollipop, while we read a book to her. I have to admit, I’m kicking myself for starting the whole “potty pop” lollipop thing. I originally did it to coax her back onto the potty and now she’s a total player about it. She asks to sit on the potty all the time just so she can get a lollipop. I put the brakes on it this month by implementing a new rule: only one lollipop per day. (And you have to know IT KILLS ME that she even has one that often! I take a little bit of comfort in knowing they’re all-natural, but still—sweets are sweets. Ugh.) This led to some pretty major tantrums at first, but when Mama makes a rule she doesn’t break it. Kate knows this, and knows her ~~tantrums~~ negotiations are useless with me.

Enter the beginning of parental manipulation.

Kate stunned both me and G one day when she said she needed to sit on the potty, asked for a lollipop, and I responded, “No. You already had a lollipop today. You only get one lollipop each day, remember?”

She politely responded, “Mommy go in the kitchen?”

I mentioned earlier that this is her common request when she needs to poop (plus she asked so nicely) so I obligingly stepped the necessary 3 feet away from her to be standing in the kitchen.

She then turned to G, smiled adorably, and said, “Lollipop, please?”

TOTAL PLAYER!

Here’s what I don’t get about Kate not jumping at the chance to be potty trained—she HATES getting her diaper changed! I mean, come on! She’s a pretty smart kid; you think she’d put two and two together. Nearly EVERY DIAPER CHANGE IS A STRUGGLE. She is the sweetest little girl all day long but mention “diaper change” and she’ll cut a bitch.

G and I are constantly thinking of tactics to make diaper changes less of a battle and this one is our current success: We give her a book and ask her to find or count something in it. “Can you find a fish in this book?” “Can you count the airplanes on this page?” She loves being challenged, so this is right up her alley, and luckily it distracts her long enough to get her changed without having to call the cops.

Once her tush is nice and dry she’s back to being a total sweetie, and right now that includes wanting to hold hands everywhere she goes. Everywhere. Just before walking from Point A to Point B she’ll pause, reach out, and ask, “Hold my hand?” Personally, I love it. I will happily hold on to that little hand every single day for as long as she’ll let me.

She is also so into jumping! She loves to jump in her crib, on the ottoman, and on her foam Elmo puzzle while holding mine and G’s hands and jumping together “as a family.”

“As a family” is another one of her latest favorite sayings. She loves it when the three of us to do things together like jumping, walking up the stairs, sitting on the floor, going outside—anything!—“as a family.”

Last but not least, Kate has all of the basic colors down: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, gray, brown, and pink. It’s one of the many things she’s likely learned during diaper changes (in between trying to shank us).

Kate's 23 Month Videos
While hanging out with Daddy down in the basement, Kate found a socket wrench, decided it was a "doctor's tool," and proceeded to check G's ears with it. This is now one of her favorite things to do:

Kate's had her "ABCDs" mastered ever since she was 20 months old, but this month was the first time she finally let me record her singing them on camera!

And here is a video of her singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider (in between hiccuping!):

If you're interested in her little medley of the two songs, you can check out this video as well. She also does a few of the Itsy Bitsy Spider hand gestures...when she's not too distracted with playing with the Christmas ornaments and watching the football game on TV.

Kate has a new dance this month where she almost looks like she's dancing in slow motion. The clip below was recorded about a week before her 2nd birthday party when balloons were just beginning to overtake our house!

Additional Kate 23 Months Posts:
The Magic of Christmas
Things Loved in December
My Love Language

Easter 2012

2012-04-09T13:35:00.000-05:00

Easter 2012

There was no shortage of fun yesterday as we celebrated Kate's 3rd Easter! We started our morning with a search for our Easter baskets (Kate found hers behind the living room curtain and squealed with delight!), followed by an ooey-gooey breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls. Afterwards we went to Grandpa & Grandma's house for an egg hunt in the yard, a wonderful meal, and some lovely family time.

Hope you all had a joyous Easter!

Thirty-One Giveaway Winner!

2012-04-08T06:40:00.001-05:00

Thank you to everyone who entered this week's Thirty-One giveaway! The winner of the Organizing Utility Tote is Sandy A!

Congratulations Sandy--please check your email for information on how to claim your prize!

Don't forget! During the month of April Lisa Harvey, the fabulous Thirty-One consultant who sponsored this giveaway, is running an awesome special: Spend $31 and you can get any purse in the catalog for 50% off! And the best part? All Things G&D readers get FREE SHIPPING on orders of $50 or more (shipping is typically an additional 8% charge to your order), plus a chance at additional free products! Just place your order through Lisa's "G&D Online Blog Party" order link before April 27th and receive:

FREE Shipping on an order of $50 or more.
FREE Shipping and FREE gift on an order of $75 or more.
FREE Shipping, FREE Gift, and $20 in FREE spending on an order of $100 or more, or if you would like to host your own online show.

Now is the perfect time to do a little spring shopping--and Mother's Day is right around the corner! Get your shop on!

PLEASE NOTE: When you place your order online through the G&D Online Blog Party order link, your order will not be shipped and your card will not be charged until Lisa closes the party on April 27th. She will remove the shipping charges on your order at that time. Orders will arrive approximately 7-10 days later. If you need your item sooner you may order separately from the Blog Party, however you will not be eligible for free shipping or products. Please email Lisa at lisaharvey31@comcast.net with any questions you have or to request your own copy of a catalog!