Not Normal

Nerdy Weekly Baby size: Week 15

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 01:07:00 +0000

Week 15 for the Nerdy Weekly Baby series!

The size of your baby nerdling this week is:
Sheriff Carter's Arm Patch

Gestational age	Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
	(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
15 weeks	3.98 inches	2.47 ounces	10.1 cm	70 grams

Eureka was a show that I loved from the moment I started watching it.

Because the opening theme music reminded me of the whistling from The Andy Griffith Show, which I grew up watching.

Because the kids writing chalk equations on the sidewalk for fun was awesome.

Because the science, while not real, was funny and slightly believable.

And who can't love Captain Jack Carter? I still love seeing him on Maytag commercials, he is just fantastic!

Was anyone else out there disappointed with Eureka was cancelled?

Tomato and Goat Cheese Pie Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000

I don't know if anyone else has a meal the eat only when there significant other is out of the house, but I do.

Isaac hates goat cheese because growing up his family had goats and he claims that he can taste whatever the goat was eating.

And he doesn't approve of meals that don't contain meat.

So when he plans on a night out, and I plan ahead and purchase the proper ingredients, this is my go-to meal. This summer I made this recipe as often as one of my heirloom tomatoes turned red. The girls sometimes will eat it too, but I usually end up eating it all myself :) I've made it several times for my friend Rebecca, and we love it every time!

Tomato and Goat Cheese Pie
Adapted from Wry Toast

Ingredients:

1 Frozen Pie Crust
1/4 cup Red Onion
Dash of Sugar
8 oz Goat Cheese
2 tbsps Honey
1 large tomato
Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Caramelize the onions in a pan with a bit of olive oil and a dash of sugar on medium heat for about 15 minutes.
Break apart the goat cheese into the pie crust, drizzle with Honey and spread the caramelized onions on top.
Slice the tomato and layer on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cook in the oven uncovered for 45 minutes.
Take out and let cool for 5 minutes. Share it with a friend, or just eat the whole thing yourself :)

Let me know what you think!

Nerdy Weekly Baby size: Week 14

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Week 14 for the Nerdy Weekly Baby series!

The size of your baby nerdling this week is:
Vox communicator from Galaxy Quest

Gestational age	Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
	(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
14 weeks	3.42 inches	1.52 ounce	8.7 cm	43 grams

Galaxy Quest is such a fantastic movie! Being a nerd, I appreciated all the parody references SPOILERS!!!:

rolling across the planet in a defensive posture
that the Omega-13 device only turns off at the final second
that Sigourney Weaver's only job on the ship was to repeat the computer
that Guy is expendable

I'm not sure if anyone else has caught this while watching the movie, but the movie was originally rated R and you can definitely tell by one scene where the dub over words in favor of something more family friendly :) It makes me laugh every time I see that scene.

If Galaxy Quest is really your kind of geeky movie, you'll really appreciate the book "Red Shirts". It too is a parody of Star Trek where seemingly intelligent red shirt crew members make incredibly illogical mistakes while traveling on-planet with their officers. Lots of fun references and fun characters to enjoy cheering for!

Have you found any other books that you love reading because they appeal to your inner nerd?

Israeli Salad Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000

This time of year I'm searching for amazing simple healthy recipes to incorporate into my life. Something tasty enough that I can eat it several days in a row when I make enough for leftovers and quick enough I can just get it made.

I was eating this salad like crazy this summer when our garden was full of cucumbers and roma tomatoes and fresh mint. So when I saw a package of cucumbers in the almost bad bin at Kroger, I grabbed them and some roma tomatoes with this salad in mind.

I often use this recipe as a topping for a romaine salad accompanied by diced chicken and goat cheese, with the juices created by the salad as dressing. I have also paired it with feta cheese and served it over grilled chicken. The Publix Apron's class we took served it over falafel waffles, but we sadly don't own/have room for a waffle maker.

How would you use the recipe?

Israeli Salad Recipe
(adapted from Publix Apron's Cooking School)

Ready In 15 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Cucumber, diced small
4 roma tomatoes, diced small
2 slices of red onion, minced
1 Tbsp dried parsley or 1/3 cup fresh parsley chopped small
10 fresh mint leaves, diced
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Instructions

Dice all of the vegetables and put them together into a bowl.
Add in the parsley and mint
Add most of the lemon juice and all of the olive oil.
Add the salt and pepper to taste, and remaining lemon juice if it needs it.

Use it as a topping for salad, for chicken, or just eat it as is!

Nerdy Weekly Baby size: Week 13

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 12:05:00 +0000

Week 13 for the Nerdy Weekly Baby series!

The size of your baby nerdling this week is:
Size of a Lego Death Star Ornament

Gestational age	Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
	(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
13 weeks	2.91 inches	0.81 ounce	7.4 cm	23 grams

In 2012 (can't believe it was that long ago), my amazing brother-in-law found plans for a Lego Deathstar and Lego Millenium Falcon Ornament. We then dug through his buckets of Legos to find the proper pieces! He had every single one I needed and the turned out fantastic! I still hang them up every year (out of reach of my kids who destroy Legos...)

For Christmas this year, I bought my BFF, who just recently announced she was pregnant, this awesome book, 100 First Words for Little Geeks.

Someone I follow on Instagram shared this book and it is fantastic! I couldn't help by purchasing one for myself as well :) and some of the references in it are fantastic.

I think my favorite is explaining looping (as you use in coding) and I hope every coder out there like me loves the reference included in the book!!!

What gifts have you purchased for your geeky pregnant friends?

The Mom Diet: How to Diet like a Mother

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 19:20:00 +0000

2019 is here! The start of the new year brings new hope for the future. So many resolutions and plans for change especially in regard to your well-being.

And so many fad diets! One of my friends recently told me about the Guinness Diet where you only drink Guinness and vitamin D orange juice (to replace lack of Vitamin D and C in Guinness) because it contains all the minerals your body needs to survive...

But today I am sharing the only diet you will ever use again! I have been using this consistently since I had my first child and am sure I will continue for at least 18 more years.

The Mom Diet

Restrictions:

None! You can do this with any food group, it is especially great with "Junk Food"

Rules:

You must feed your children before you start eating yourself, something they specifically asked for like PB&J
Make or acquire food for yourself (as if you were going to eat it all by yourself)
And here is the key:

Share a portion or all of your food with your child.

You will immediately notice that you are eating less!!

As a weight-loss solution, this diet tends to work best when you have no more of the food you had planned to eat in the house. For example, that last piece of candy you had been saving and hiding in your desk drawer for when you need it the most, like when your kids are on your last nerve, usually about 5 minutes before dinner. Attempt to eat said piece of candy, and of course that is the moment they walk in...

This diet also works great for foods you thought your kids wouldn't love. Like Blue cheese. Cuz what 2-year-old likes blue cheese. Oh, mine does apparently. She loves it best licked off Wheat Thins then requests more be slathered onto the soggy licked cracker. Delicious!

And after some thought, the only exception to this diet is alcohol. Do not share alcohol with your kids... Call any drink that you don't want to share "beer" and they will immediately not want it.

Has anyone else had success with this diet? Share your success stories below or with the hashtag #themomdiet on your favorite social media site!!

Winter Blues Wednesday

Amazing Gains! (or Midway Update for 6 Month Challenge )

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 12:00:00 +0000

So when I initially started my workout challenge in September, I located a benchmark test online to track my fitness progress. I wasn't sure there would be much to report, I knew my weight hadn't really changed much and wasn't really sure where else I would see results.

But I did the test this morning and so amazed by the progress!

My most impressive (to me) progress was gaining 1 inch of muscle on my biceps!!!

I unfortunately didn't measure my thighs or calves when I started, so not sure if I gained anything there!

I lost .75 inches in my waist, 1 inch in my hips, and lost .8 lbs (I weighed in after breakfast so might not be accurate).

I was able to do 28 full push ups in 1 minute (vs 24 but I think I remember I did girly ones the first time, maybe...)

1:45 seconds of plank vs 50 seconds, 35 squats vs 27 squats in a minute.

I did the heart rate test again, but my heart rate increases when I finish up 3 minutes of steps so I'm not really sure what number I'm supposed to use...

Started my next 4 week set today, and I'm really trying to take advantage of the time I have to workout each day and get more gains. My goals with this set are to:

Focus on eccentric phase of each exercise. For example, I have extended the eccentric phase of a squat that by slowing counting to 5 while lowering into the squat.
Timing my rest periods. I'm still watching Ultimate Beastmaster while training, and often get distracted as the competitors try to move through the course. I now am setting a timer during my rest periods for 25 seconds so I can get myself back to working out.
Keep progressing on exercises. Some of the exercises used in of this set are from the last set. I'm hoping to keep adding weight/reps to make more progress.

Anyone else have any great non-scale victories lately?

Nerdy Weekly Baby size: Week 12

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Week 12 for the Nerdy Weekly Baby series!

The size of your baby nerdling this week is:
Length of a Rubik's Cube

Gestational age	Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
	(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
12 weeks	2.13 inches	0.49 ounce	5.4 cm	14 grams

I love a Rubik's cube! I can actually solve one (not in record time...) I even once got a free drink at a bar because I solved one that was sitting on the counter.

I used to keep my Rubik's Cube on my desk at work, and would solve it while I waited for meetings to start, for my computer to boot up, or while on conference calls.

My amazing co-workers thoughtfully ordered me a cake with a Rice Krispie Rubik's Cube on it for my first daughters baby shower!

Has anyone else had something nerdy incorporated into their baby showers?

My Marauder's Map Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 14:50:00 +0000

I know many people go into Target and spend too much time and money there because of the fun items they sell. Joann's is my Target. I go in there with a very specific item to purchase, and leave with 4 other things.

That very thing happened last Wednesday. I went in to purchase some metallic Heat Transfers, and left with 3 pieces of fabric too....

One of the pieces of fabric was this jersey Marauders Map fabric. I loved the design and that it was jersey, but such a bold design in that color would be too much for a dress or full shirt. But I knew I wasn't leaving the store without purchasing some, and had to come up with a plan.

I spent about 5 minutes brainstorming how I could use the fabric while Olivia searched the Disney section for fabric (she found something :). I love how raglan tees look on me and thought that pairing the fabric with a red knit fabric would be perfect.

For the pattern, I created a pattern from a raglan shirt I own. I decided on full length sleeves and meticulously cut out the fabric so that the red map title would appear at the top center of my bicep on each sleeve. I'm glad I purchased as much fabric as I did, making those specific cuts used up quite a bit of fabric.

I then attached the sleeves to body of the shirt and was so excited.

The final piece was adding the collar, which I have done unsuccessfully on other shirts several times. I went to my sewing expert, my mother-in-law, and she expertly added the collar.

What she explained was that when sewing the collar, you actually need 2 rows of stitching to make it lay flat. She also surged the inside of the collar to make sure it didn't pucker.

So what I learned is next time I need a collar, I'll just wait and let Mom do it :)

This shirt turned out fantastic! I love how the red compliments the map fabric. I'm not sure this shirt is appropriate for wearing for Christmas, but I'm sure you'll see me wearing it all the time!

Had to wear it with my Time Turner Necklace and Golden Snitch Earrings

Anyone else have a new favorite shirt?

Winter Blues Wednesday

The Dangers of a Silhouette Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 14:24:00 +0000

Ok definitely a title meant to draw you in :) Keep reading to find out how it is dangerous!

I adore iron-ons, I have used them for costumes, Christmas sweatshirts, and onesies.

Last month, I discovered that there was such things as metallic and glitter heat transfer paper, I started dreaming of making more shirts. But using an X-acto knife would be super time consuming for the designs I wanted.

I asked one of my friends to let me borrow her Silhouette and as luck would have it, she was trying to find a new home for it! I picked it up the next day (I could barely wait that long) and if we hadn't had plans that evening, I would have been creating immediately!

I waited til the morning after receiving it and attempted this Harry Potter always shirt. I had found the shirt at Target while looking for some much needed long sleeves, but thought it could use something extra. I was so pleased with how it turned out, I even wore it to help at Olivia's school that day. She noticed it immediately!

After returning from her school, I attempted another design, but failed when I didn't attach the paper to the cutting mat (I had seen it done both ways on YouTube tutorials, but maybe not for such intricate designs). My second attempt, after returning to Joann's to purchase more Metallic heat transfers, turned out great!! The rose gold on the pink shirt is perfect! I also love the design because it incorporates two things I love, Jurassic Park and a Rubik's cube.

Fail

And just to be clear how dangerous this machine is, Olivia and I were going to the Chorale Christmas Concert at Marist last night, so at 3pm I decided it would be a fantastic time to make a shirt for her. Even though I had no design in mind, or a shirt to put it onto.

Luckily, Isaac was shopping at Target where he located some cute long sleeve plain tees. I picked the "la la" design from Olivia's current favorite Christmas song, "The Christmas Can Can" by Straight No Chaser, and she loves the shirt. I chose Navy with pink glitter lettering so it wouldn't just be a Christmas Shirt, and the size 5T is large on her, so maybe it will last til next year!

Isaac has decided he would like to join in on the fun too and is coming up with vinyl ideas for labeling TKC items. I'm sure I'll be kept busy with ideas from him as well!

So finally....
The Dangers of the Silhouette

Spending all of my money on the materials
Spending all of my time on the internet searching for more designs
Running out of room in my closet/my girls' closet for clothes
Running out of things to label/decorate in my house

Can't wait to try out and share more projects! I have a particular project in mind for Olivia as a Christmas present, I will share it afterward!

Nerdy Weekly Baby size: Week 11

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 14:02:00 +0000

Week 11 for this series!

Week 11: Size of a Lego Man

This is definitely my favorite size week :) Such a relatable size!

And I know there are now Lego characters with short legs (like the adorable Hobbits that I have decorating my dining room), I bet they even have taller characters (not sure I know of any of those), but I'm talking about the standard Lego figures.

Gestational age	Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
	(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
11 weeks	1.61 inch	0.25 ounce	4.1 cm	7 grams

Lego Movie Dress Up (also pregnant with Juliet)

If you have ever been to my house, you know I love Legos. I have so many Lego sets, I keep Lego figurines on the top of some of my door frames, created Lego birthday cakes growing up, I've even dressed up as Benny from the Lego Movie for Halloween with some of my friends who also love the Lego Movie. I have Legos and Duplos for my kids as well, but my girls know that some legos are Mama's Legos.

During my first pregnancy, I read about all of the different ways of dealing with natural labor, and one of the techniques I read about was using a focal point that you could focus on to distract from the contractions. I briefly considered purchasing the Princess Leia on Endor Lego Figure to use as my focal point, but at the time I could only find it for $50 on Ebay and couldn't justify the purchase. Just found it today for $7.49 on Amazon... if it weren't right before Christmas I might purchase it to put a door frame :)

Any other adults out there still love to purchase Legos?

My 6 Month Workout Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 19:04:00 +0000

I am nearly half way done with 6 month workout bet (11.5 out of 26 weeks done) and started my exclusively strength training segment of my 26 weeks! I planned out my 26 weeks with a build up and slow down to hopefully keep from burning out.

Again, the bet is to complete 4 workouts a week for 26 weeks, with a total of 104 workouts.

My plan:

1 week warm up (mostly low impact Fitnessblender workouts)
8 weeks of FB30
12 weeks of modified Female Training Bible
4 weeks FB Strong
1 week slow down
....hopefully continuing with a new challenge with another awesome prize

I discovered Fitnessblender.com when I first started getting back in shape after Olivia (my first). I made a bet with my best friend Christina, that I would lose 1.5 lbs a week for 10 weeks and needed some exercises to go with the calorie cutting I was doing.

I knew that I couldn't commit to going to a gym to workout. Fitnessblender had so many videos that I could do at home without equipment and I love that Kelli and Daniel train like real people, sweat and lose their breath, lose count of reps, and have to lower their weights when they push too hard. I discovered I loved the strength training portions of the workouts, and started looking for more ways to add strength training to my workouts. One of my co-workers, Nina, kindly gave me her dumbbell set that she was no longer using and soon was using them during workouts.

I discovered BodyBuilding.com and found the Female Training Bible as a great full strength training program. The Female Training Bible is broken down into 3 sets of 4 weeks and I adapted the workouts for my home gym using only dumbbells. Isaac has a bench and barbell in the basement, but I love just using my Power Blocks (a reward for another fitness challenge I did) which can go up to 24 lbs per hand.

I start each set of weeks trying to find my starting weights so that I can incrementally increase the weight that I do for each exercise. If you can see in the photo below, I make notes about how much weight and how many reps I do for each exercise that week, whether I need to push myself harder the next week ("do more"), or whether those exercises were "good". Lately I've been watching Ultimate Beastmaster on Netflix while doing my strength training. Athletes launching themselves across the course makes feel like a couple more reps is nothing :)

If you want to see my modified version of the Female Training Bible,
simply comment and I'll be happy to share my Google Sheet.

I am planning at the half way point of the challenge to measure against a fitness test I did at the beginning and see how far I have progressed. Anyone else out there enjoying a fitness challenge right now?

Nerdy Weekly Baby size: Week 10

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 14:35:00 +0000

Week 10 for this series!

Week 10: A Mockingjay pin from Hunger Games

Gestational age	Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
	(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
10 weeks	1.22 inch	0.14 ounce	3.1 cm	4 grams

I started reading this series when it came out, but some way or another, I did not finish the first book for quite a while. I finally did on a road trip with Isaac's family where one of Isaac's brothers spoiled a pretty important plot point...

I love to whistle so one of my favorite things to do at Dragoncon is whistle the Mockingjay theme at cosplayers dressed in Hunger Games attire.

I don't have much to say about Hunger Games, but wanted to share this nerdy baby book that I loved reading while pregnant. It appealed to nerdy side with all the data and statistics related to pregnancy.

It is called "Expecting Better".

Mostly it made me understand some of the very laid back decisions I made about pregnancy.

I didn't care for some of the rules that society, but not necessarily doctors, told me about what was or was not acceptable to do while pregnant. I felt like there was too much undue stress to watch out for foods (like deli meat/sushi/cheeses) where lately recalls due to dangers for pregnant women (listeria, e coli) have come from food considered healthy (cantaloupe, lettuce). So instead I:

I enjoyed sushi safely
I ate some fantastic cheeses
I drank a cup of coffee each morning
I kept working out throughout my pregnancies
I prioritized keeping my stress low

I have two beautiful girls who were lovely big babies! I hope this book helps someone else out like it helped me out!

November Step Challenge Results!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 13:09:00 +0000

November is over and that means the 10,000 steps a day challenge is complete!

I was able to complete 10,000 each day for the entire month, and it was fantastic!

I loved walking outside in my neighborhood before picking up my girls from the bus or a school. I loved my walking trips to Target with Juliet in the hiking backpack and Olivia skipping along next to me, walking to our polling location to vote, walking back after having lunch with Isaac nearby our house.

Some evenings I checked my Garmin to find that I had already completed my steps, and other days I spent walking around the house trying to finish them up.

One night, right in the middle of the month, I removed my watch for bed (I don't care for sleeping with it on) and found I only had 5000 steps. My workload that day had kept me from moving frequently and we had been away from home in the evening and came home tired. I thought as I saw the step count, 'well it's alright, I'll have one missed day and I'll get back to it tomorrow.'

So I laid down and tried to fall asleep only to be driven from bed by my loudly snoring husband. Well I can take a hint, and proceeded to get the rest of the 10,000 steps for the day while Isaac continued to snore. Fell asleep easily after that even with the snoring knowing that I hadn't given up!

How did everyone else fare in November?

And here are the winners from the challenge:

-Most steps for entire month: Frederic Maufay (also most steps in a day at 36066)
-Most steps in a day: Nancy at 30228 steps
-Everyone who completed 10,000 everyday this month:

Julie Stuckmeyer
Kathy Powell
Tosha Fuher
Wendy Abeel
Faith Dietrich

And great job to everyone who kept logging their steps everyday!

Brianna Klopf
Cindy
Theresa
Val Davis
Wendy Hoover
Wendy Turner

I hope that this challenge brought some great memories for you and some conscious time to make moving a priority during a likely cold, dark, and indulgent month :)

What challenge is everyone doing next?

Nerdy Weekly Baby size: Week 9

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 15:04:00 +0000

My friend had her baby this Tuesday and he is so adorable! So excited for their family and the joy he will bring!

So moving on to week 9 for this series!

Week 9: The One Ring from Lord of the Rings

I own each of the 4-Disc Special Extended Editions of Lord of the Rings and my friend Katie got me into watching all of the Special features (mostly at the time we were crushing hard on Orlando Bloom). I enjoy watching the special features for those movies so frequently, Isaac is always wondering when I will watch the actual movies.

I especially loved hearing how they came up with the design for the One Ring. They drafted several designs, but never quite what Peter Jackson was hoping for and of the crew had a wedding ring very similar to the design he wanted so they used his as a template.

I love the variety of rings they use in the movie too, some human sized, some Hobbit sized, one massive one in the snow to reflect the surroundings, and one with a magnet in it when Bilbo drops it in Bag End so it wouldn't bounce all over the front hall.

I own a replica ring that has the black speech engraved on it, it's fun to wear on a chain around my neck. One of my friends gave it to me because she knew I loved the movies. I also own several of Lord of the Rings lego sets (all of which are currently slightly dismantled because I let my daughters play with them).

See the mini one ring gollum has?

Any other Lord of the Rings fans out there?

Gestational age	Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
	(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
9 weeks	0.90 inch	0.07 ounce	2.3 cm	2 grams

Indiana Jones and the Poorly Decorated Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 13:00:00 +0000

For several years now, I spend my Black Friday not shopping, but sitting cozily on my couch watching a marathon of movies. It started with the prize from an exercise bet I made with Isaac in 2015, where I dreamt of a relaxing day of watching an entire series without being interrupted by a toddler. Isaac graciously took Olivia and kept her away all day while I ate homemade lembas bread, Bilbo's Scones and drank tea and watched Lord of the Rings all day (extended edition plus lots of the special features).

Scones, Lembas Bread and I have no clue what the loaf is...

This year, I thought it would be fun to include other nerdy friends in my marathoning, so we had our friends Mike, Vicky and Calum come over and the adults watched Indiana Jones (the kids ran around playing and sometimes watching Pocoyo, Indiana Jones is not kid friendly). We managed to watch 2 of the movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade (Temple of Doom is not my favorite and does Crystal Skull even count?) I've forgotten how great the chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are, so glad we got to watch that one.

Vicky was amazing and as soon as I mentioned we should have themed snacks, Vicky jumped on it and immediately claimed monkey brains for her themed item!

And she did not disappoint!! She found some awesome crystal Skull Glass where we ate Chunky Monkey ice cream (get it :) and jello monkey brains!!

I contributed with a plate of stale gummy snakes, some very poorly decorated cookies (medallions, one attempt at the gold idol, and lots of boulder cookies), and some very tasty calzones that were supposed to look like snakes, but didn't.

It was a fantastic day! So much relaxing and chatting and enjoying some great movies. Can't wait til next year where we'll try another series!!

How did your spend your Black Friday?

Nerdy Weekly Baby Size: Week 8

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 25 Nov 2018 15:23:00 +0000

No, I'm not pregnant. But one of my close friends is and actually due TODAY!

I was recalling how frustrated I was with the generic baby sizes in relation to vegetables. I even wrote a blog post while I was pregnant with Olivia (only 5 years ago), for only week 23, and it seems like people enjoyed it :)

So I give to you the Nerdy baby weekly size! I'll post this weekly hopefully, I know I have lots of friends who are pregnant and I hope that this will help along the way.

Week 8: Size of Blue or Red Pill from the Matrix

It is also about the size of one 1x1 round brick and one 1x1

round plate (They are in the picture next to my earrings).

I actually made some matrix earrings long ago out of Sculpey clay. I can't remember the last time I wore them because I'm always concerned that people will think that I'm wearing mismatched earrings.

Length (US)	Weight (US)	Length (cm)	Mass (g)
(crown to rump)	(crown to rump)
0.63 inch	0.04 ounce	1.6 cm	1 gram

The 3 things that currently keep me Active

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 12:40:00 +0000

Before switching to working from home, I had been dreaming up grand visions of how my days would change. Me time would be more available since I no longer needed to drive to and from work, including dropping off and picking up my girls. I would look like a supermodel ;) , since I would of course have more time to exercise and eat healthy lunches. I would sew outfits galore for me and my girls with all the additional time.

Right...

So after a good start, our family traveled to Hilton Head for an exciting vacation with my parents, where I considered our hours of biking each day exercise, especially after the first day where my bike seat kept falling and my legs were sore!!!

Then I had plenty of excuses I used beyond that:

Olivia started kindergarten and we were adapting to the schedule
I don't enjoy waking up super early to exercise
I don't like exercising after dinner cuz I get all jittery
I don't like showering in a rush after exercising because I end up still sweaty even after a cold shower
Juliet and Olivia no longer had syncing nap schedules, and they love watching me exercise. I'm always nervous about hurting one of them while using weights or jumping around
I was helping more with Isaac's company
We were hosting dinners more often since both Isaac and I needed adult conversations
...I'm sure I can think of more :)

I know I am a much better mother when I exercised because I have more energy and I know that I'm taken care of, so I can then take care of my family. I know, but I keep using

3 things finally kick-started prioritizing exercising:

This Epic Lego Set!

Isaac and I traveled to Orlando mid-September (without kids) for a work conference, and we always enjoy visiting Disney Springs and the Lego store located there. This set sat at the entrance to the store and I was immediately smitten. I love Lego and I love Harry Potter, and thought that miniature versions of epic things similar to their architecture collection would be awesome. I needed that Hogwarts set, and if it hadn't required us bringing the box back on the plane (we traveled carry-on only as Isaac reminded me), I would have purchased it on the spot.

I waited 72 hours (as Mrs. Frugalwoods recommends) and still really badly wanted the set. I typically don't spend that much money on physical stuff, so I thought this would be the perfect reward for an exercise bet. I have used exercise bets before to keep myself motivated to work out consistently with rewards, but never for such a large reward.

Isaac said it needed to be a pretty significant bet, so we nailed down that I would come up with a workout schedule, and would be required to do 4 workouts a week for months (totaling 104 workouts). I finished up week 7 today, with one extra credit workout stored up in case I get too sick one week to workout (as I did last winter). I'll divulge more details on the workout schedule in a different post. As of now, the Lego set is setting unopened in our office as a reminder of what I'm working towards (besides looking hot :)

Walktober

My friend Brooke set up this wonderful walking challenge in October. The goal was 250,000 in the month, with some prizes for most steps in a day and most in the month. 250,000 in October comes to a bit more than 8,000 steps per day, which I thought was feasible. Last year I went from September 15th to November 21st with at least 10,000 steps every day except one. It was amazing to have such a clear goal, and made me carve parts of my day out for walking (like during lunch, before watching TV, while watching TV :) I was able to make the goal and did 399,216 steps (about 13,300 each day). I loved arranging time during the day for my extra walking. I then set up another challenge in November (currently have 55 participants :) and am so glad to be able to continue my walking streak!

Yes.Fit

I normally don't click on Facebook ads, but I saw this ad for a "Beauty and the Beast" virtual race. They offered a cool looking t-shirt and/or medal and I was realizing as I switched to fall clothes, that my t-shirts were starting to get a bit raggedy. I'm not one for medals (I don't need extra bling around my walls), but the shirts are awesome. I've already completed 3 races (Beauty and the Beast, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and It's Fall Y'all). Also signed up for the Turkey Trot (free if you don't want any swag) and am waiting on Olivia to get her pedometer to start up the Unicorn race cuz she would love the shirt). You can do the races on your own timetable by walking, running or cycling, and don't need to complete the entire distance in a day. Definitely pushed me to walk farther each than I normally would to get to the next Mile Marker. If you're new to Yes.Fit and want to try a race, use the Promo Code LJ35aVWr during check-out, and you get a discount.

What is everyone else doing to keep themselves active as it gets darker and colder?

November Step Challenge!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 14:07:00 +0000

As many of my friends know, I love walking! So I was so thrilled when Brooke started up her Walktober Challenge!

I've been purposely scheduling times to walk throughout the day: after dropping off Juliet at Playtime, a loop of the neighborhood before Olivia's bus arrives, quick shopping trips to Target, and meals at restaurants in walking distance. We had a glorious Saturday where the 4 of us walked to lunch and discovered a splash pad in our local strip mall. I spent a gratifying 5 hours walking to and from Georgia Tech and conversing with my Dad along the way.

As October draws to an end, I realized how much I've been enjoying the cool breezes, changing leaves, and just quiet time to myself to think or listen to a book. And without a challenge to keep me motivated, I will definitely revert to my lazy ways and not plan for walks as I have.

So the plan is, November walking challenge with prizes! I was gonna call it Movemeber but guys already appropriated that name for something else :)

The prizes will be for:

Most steps in a day
Most steps in the entire month
Reaching 10,000 each day for entire 30 days

Please message me if you would like to join in and I'll invite you to the spreadsheet!

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Getting Olivia prepped for Kindergarten (or the Hair-in-the-Eyes Saga)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 12:30:00 +0000

My big girl is starting Kindergarten in August (I was gonna say the fall, but that is right in the middle of summer) and I've been reading up on how to be sure she is ready for school. Most things are about how they need to be able to recognize their letters, put on jackets by themselves, being able to listen, and playing well with others. I feel like she is very ready for kindergarten, except in one way.

Her solution for breakfast hair

She dressed herself in all Purple

Hairbow and still in her eyes

Her hair! It is constantly in her eyes and she doesn't mind it at all. Sometimes I find her coloring, and I'm not sure how she can even see what she is doing. We have tried hairbows, headbands, ponytails and her favorite, tiaras. I instated a rule that her hair has to always be out of her eyes, especially while eating, but she doesn't seem to mind it at all!

Her beautiful soft hair is gorgeous, but I am so lost on how to style it for when she goes to school so that it will:

A. stay out of her eyes all day so that she can see and learn
B. will stay put all day as she is so active
C. is something she can easily fix if it does fall out so someone else doesn't need to fix it for her

Ladies out there, what can I do? Please help, I've got two of these little straight-haired girls and I'm lost! I'm trying to avoid bangs because I'm sure they would grow out and once again be in her eyes.

Fresh Blackberry Muffins (from our garden!)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 13:20:00 +0000

This spring we have been enjoying the fruits of our berry planting from last year. We decided we wanted some plants along the side of our driveway between our neighbors and I thought that berries would be the perfect solution, even though they are deciduous (not super good cover in the winter). We planted 6 raspberry plants and 5 blackberry plants!

Last year we were lucky enough to get two rounds of raspberries, but the blackberries never flowered.

Not so, this year, we have so many blackberries! For a while, they weren't turning black quicker than my girls could pick and eat them. We go and pick berries generally every other day because that gives the plants long enough to make fully ripe berries.

But this morning after letting the blackberries go two days, we had more than a cup of blackberries! Enough to make blackberry muffins!!

Here is the recipe I adapted from Simply Recipes. I always love how blogs say adapted, but in my case it was definitely adapted because I had to use greek yogurt instead of sour cream because I don't have any in the house :)

Blackberry Muffins (makes 8)

Ingredients

1 1/4 all purpose flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbsp warm melted butter (1/2 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of fresh blackberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°.
Combine dry ingredients except sugar.
Mix together wet ingredients and sugar.
Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Slice the berries in half and then add them to the mix!
Spray the muffin pans and then add batter. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Blonde Ambition - The Search for a Dolores Wig

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 May 2018 23:40:00 +0000

Hey everyone - it's Christina (Rebecca's college BFF who now lives in DC). I am working on some cosplays for upcoming cons near me and Rebecca was gracious enough to let me use her blog to share some behind-the-scenes of my prep.

A little about my cosplay style -

Have always loved dressing up but just starting cosplaying for cons this year
Goal is to have fun and make something I feel happy in
Not going for screen realism
Want to be recognizable
Want to minimize sewing
Love finding items at the thrift store and converting them into a costume
Willing to buy the items that are really hard to make or I can't find the right thing

I recently discovered Westworld on HBO and am *mildy* obsessed now. I binged all 10 episodes of Season 1 in April while I was on fun-employment, and HBO is airing Season 2 now. If you also watch, I highly recommend this podcast to help unravel what is happening and the crazy timelines.

One of the main characters is Dolores, an android host in a western themed 'vacation on steroids'. (Don't worry - no spoilers in the description that follows) In Season 1, she is a sweet but confused character. In Season 2 she has much more grit and determination, as evidenced when she makes her first appearance with her jacket removed and sporting a bad-ass bandolier. When I saw that on screen I knew I wanted to make this costume.

Season 1 Dolores

Season 2 Dolores

This costume seemed relatively easy as I would only need:

White chemise with blue ribbon trim
Blue skirt
Brown boots
Brown leather belt
Brown leather hip satchel
Bad-ass bandolier
Blonde hair

I felt SUPER confident about this costume as I already owned/had made items 1-4. The blonde hair is the real kicker for me as I am a dark brunette and dying my hair honey blonde was not a viable option. Therefore a wig would definitely be required.

I know nothing about wigs, so I watched some tutorials and asked around on my cosplay Instagram handle to get recommendations. Wanting to get the look, without a large investment, I ordered two blonde wigs from Amazon with good reviews that were ~$35 each.

Wig 1 was very well made, easy to wear, and the tresses were the *perfect* color, but the roots were just too dark for the look I needed. In Season 1, her roots are a bit darker than Season 2, but this was still too much.

Note - ignore the lace on my forehead in all these pics - that gets trimmed shorter and then glued down to hold the wig in place

Wig 2 was also well made and easy to wear, and had no problems with the roots, but the tresses were a bit too pale for the look - wrong shade of blonde. Of note, this wig came in its own silky bag and not only included wig caps (standard for most wig orders) but also included 2 freebies - false eyelashes and a wig comb.

Back to the square one, I took the advice of some fellow cosplayers and checked out the sale happening at Pose Wigs. I narrowed it down to two options, one of which was on sale for $40 instead of the $80 full price one I thought was slightly better, so I took a chance on the sale wig. Although high quality and reliable, the downside of Pose Wigs is that unlike Amazon there are no returns (for hygiene reasons), therefore I have to make what I order work for me (this costume or something else in the future).

I am thrilled that it turned out to be perfect!! It looks a little strawberry in this photo, but is a good shade of dirty/honey blonde. The length is to my elbows, rather than to my waist like the first two wigs, but its actually more manageable so I like it better. Will get some wig glue and will do a full hair and makeup test this weekend to make sure I have everything ready by the con on the 15th.

If you need a wig for anything, Pose Wigs has a sample sale going on where samples are 50% off. Use code "cherrycos10" for 10% off any order. Shipping was fast.

More posts to follow soon on making the bad-ass bandolier and pulling it all together.

5 Things that cost more to Work from Home (and 5 that cost less)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 May 2018 12:55:00 +0000

Day 1 attire, my favorite Jurassic Park
Shirt and Ellie Sattler's earrings

Today is the first day of my fully remote job and it is new and exciting! I'm going to try my best to not spend everyday in pajamas, but it is the first day and I have the best of intentions so we'll see :)

And while working from home has so many advantages, there are some things that I will be spending more money on.

1. Coffee

I drank the coffee at work that everyone else complained about, but really I just like a little coffee in my milk :) I still need my coffee fix, so I'll spend more on that.

2. Toilet Paper

Because I'm home more...

3. Dishwasher detergent

Because I'll be eating lunch and breakfast here. I usually had a breakfast bar when travelling to work, and I was eating out way more frequently than brown bagging it, so didn't have dishes to wash.

4. Air Conditioning

Since I'll be at home during the hottest part of the day when I normally leave the house temperature higher, we'll be running the AC earlier.

5. Craft Supplies

Now that I'm working entirely from home, my girls will be with me more frequently and will need more distractions while I do my work. We have already done a DollarTree run and filled our Amazon shopping cart with supplies to keep them occupied.

But there are some things I'm likely to save money on:

1. Lunch Out

I was eating out almost every lunch that I was going into the office (only twice a week but still) and it was glorious! My co-workers pick out some amazing restaurants and led me to try new things (Pho, Korean BBQ, Jamaican, Indian, Laotian) and I will definitely miss it. Maybe I can sneak out sometimes and catch a meal with them :)

2. Gas

Not only did I have the commute to work, but I also was dropping off my girls with the grandparents (which my girls adore) which extended my drive.

3. Clothes

Not that I was spending much on that to begin with, but since I can wear more casual clothes, I won't need to spend as much

4. Disposable Diapers

Ok, how does working from home save money on diapers? We use cloth diapers at home and are in the process of getting Juliet potty trained because I'm home to train her!

5. Takeout

When I had to go in to work, there were days when I came home with the best intentions to cook, but ended up too tired. Hopefully now I can do more prep and be able to cook more dinners from home!

Rocket Shoes for Ms. Frizzle

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 11:36:00 +0000

DragonCon Countdown: 7 days!! Only a week away!!

For my original Ms. Frizzle Outfit, I purchased some cheap shoes from Goodwill to attach rockets to, which was a terrible idea. Cheap shoes for multiple hours at DragonCon meant I quickly acquired blisters and had to find bandaids which only slightly helped. This year, I decided to wear my heels that I've been practicing wearing all August and somehow attach the rockets without damaging the shoes.

My amazing co-worker Liz suggested I use some kind of clip to attach them to my shoes and I knew that Olivia's rubber covered hair clips would be perfect!

I quickly made some rockets out of construction paper and super glue, and can quickly clip them to my shoes!!

I'm pretty sure at this point that the Ms. Frizzle costume is all ready for wearing next Friday at DragonCon! The schedule came out already on the app to all my fellow attendees, can't wait to see everyone there! Even if you aren't going to the Convention, consider going to the Parade Saturday morning at 10am, Olivia loved it last year!

Light Blue Clever Girl Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:25:00 +0000

DragonCon Countdown: 10 days!!

With this shirt I have used up the last of my fat quarters from Spoonflower and my favorite "Clever Girl" fabric. I had a hard time figuring out how to add this to a shirt, but I think it turned out very well!! The clever girl fabric is a silky faille and the navy blue is a stretchy thick Polyester.

I was initially afraid that the faille would not be stretchy enough for the top and that I would have a hard time getting it over my head, but the navy stretches in all the right places and works together with it perfectly.

Final outfit for DragonCon during the day done and another classy shirt for work!