Today we went to Target to get Valentines for Rayna’s preschool class.  I’ve been pinning lots of cute Valentine card ideas on Pinterest and I had really wanted to make this one, which is a little fish bowl made of a plastic baggie, a card that says “I’m glad we’re in the same school” and some Swedish Fish.  Isn’t that so sweet?  But I also knew I wanted something that would take a minimum of time, frustration and supplies (read: money) to make.  Besides, would parents be skeeved at unwrapped candy like that?  I don’t know.  I’d hate to make such cute Valentines to have them get chucked in the trash.

So I pushed the kids in the cart to the Valentine’s Day aisle and it was a war zone of kids freaking out over which Valentines to choose and helpless moms trying to reign in the choices.  I’m not even lying.  Partially by necessity, we went to the next aisle over which was filled with trinkety things to add to cards.  Then I saw this:

On sale for $3.49!

I had exactly 20 kids on my list!  The bag even comes with little “to and from” stickers to put on the kids but there was no Valentine sentiment.  I know we’re talking preschool here, but I can’t give a Valentine without a card.  So I figured it would be easy enough to print one up on the computer and it was.  I made this in Publisher in a couple of minutes:

I used 4 sheets of card stock I already had on hand

Then I just cut them out, wrote the names on them, and attached a little can to each card.  It took hardly any money ($3.49 for 20) and only a little bit of time.  You could get a lot more decorative, make them rounds, etc. but I was looking for easy-peasy.  Pretty cute, huh:

Oh, and I got the “‘Doh’ you want to be my Valentine?” line from this blog.  Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

Me at the conference in 2010

I have an exciting announcement!  In case you don’t follow my every update on Facebook and Twitter (and who doesn’t?! …kidding.) then you don’t know the best news I’ve received so far this year:  I’ve been invited to Disney Social Media Moms!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I went to the Social Media Moms Celebration the first year they had it, in 2010.  Last year it was an open registration thing, and I pined away about whether or not I should register.  I ended up not even trying to go, once the reality sunk in that traveling to Disney World while 39 weeks pregnant was not the best idea.  But that didn’t mean I wasn’t really sad about missing it!

Flash forward to this year, and I didn’t even know there was going to be another conference.  I was kinda offline for a couple days & I checked Facebook and saw some other bloggers talking about going to Disney Social Media Moms 2012.  I felt so sad and crushed to realize that invitations were sent, and I was not on “the list”.  So I did what any social media mom would do, I took to Twitter.  I scrolled through the #DisneySMmoms stream that I already stalked watched regularly enough, and saw that many people’s invitations ended in their Spam folders.

My mind raced:  “Could it be?  No…Don’t get your hopes up, don’t get your hopes up…JEEZ, CHECK THE SPAM FOLDER ALREADY!!!!”  Marc was literally pulling the van over (yes, this was taking place via my phone in the passenger seat of the car while we were out with the kids) while I checked my SPAM folder.  And there it was, like a golden ticket, I was invited!

Me!  Little ol’ me.  I registered immediately and then took to proclaiming on Facebook exactly how I feel:  like Cinderella at the ball & someone might notice that I really don’t belong there!

Can you tell I’m excited?  With all of our home shenanigans, we haven’t made it back to Disney since the last conference, and Rayna will just be so completely blown away.  Mickey and Tinkerbell and….Woody!!!  I can’t wait to see how different it is with her this time around.  And I’m so excited to be able to attend a conference, as I haven’t been to one since long before baby Marc was born.

Some of the other bloggers that are going to the conference are joining a “Counting Down to Disney” blog hop, so I’m going  to be posting some more Disney memories in the weeks before I go.  To check out the other posts see the links below.

Let me ask you all:  what are your Disney must-haves for really little ones?  Rayna will be 4 and Baby Marc will be 1 so it will be new territory for us with two kids this time around.  So far I have an ADR (reservation) for a character breakfast for Marc and the kids while I am at the conference but that’s all I have planned so far.  I’ve been reading a Disney World with Kids book, but I’m not sure it’s very helpful.  What say you?

I guess that could be about a lot of things (like blogging, ha!) but actually what I’m talking about is….exercise!

Yes, the world has fallen off its axis, Bay has started exercising.  Ok, I guess it only feels like that to me, but you get the idea.  It’s been a looooong time.  It has been well over one year since I did anything remotely resembling strenuous activity.  Baby Marc will be 10 months in a couple of days (gasp!!) and I sure haven’t done anything since he’s been born.   And before that I was pregnant, obviously.  And I guess some people exercise when they’re pregnant, but I sure didn’t have the energy, plus, looking back I think it’s safe to say that I was a bit depressed during that time.

But I’ve had a really hard time getting motivated to exercise.  While I’m nowhere near happy with the way I look, I’m not really someone who places too much emphasis on physical appearances (understatement).  Of course it’s nice to be in shape, but I haven’t seen a really compelling reason to begin.  So recently, my sister Jessica was chatting it up with my friend Genie, who has always been beautiful and athletic, and who is now doing personal training.  Jess had an idea to have Genie do some personal training for us at Jess’ house (she has a little gym room).  Genie was happy to do it and I found myself dreading going (see this post about my constant sense of dread, lol)

Well, I went.  I went and almost died, let me tell you.  The first day was cardio and something else, abs maybe?  I almost passed out, puked, or died.  It was a wake up call!  I knew I was in the worst shape of my life, but I just. couldn’t. do. anything!  I managed to pull it together and finish the workout, but it was embarassing.  I knew then that something had to change.  After barely being able to move on Tuesday, I knew I had to do something that I could do at my house during the week.  So I downloaded the Couch to 5k app that I see a bunch of people talking about on Twitter and Facebook.

A treadmill is pretty much the only exercise equipment I own, so I figured that it would be a good place for me to start.  The first day’s walk/run combo was really difficult for me, but I have to say that it is getting better (I’ve done 3 days total).  Plus, this week’s workout with Genie I was considerably less embarassing (read: I didn’t have to leave the room)  So, now that I’ve said it “out loud” here on the blog, I’m going to have to stick with it, right?  Besides, I can’t go back to passing out in front of my sister and friend.  That would be pretty uncool.

If you’re in my area (South Jersey) and you are looking for a personal trainer or running coach, I suggest you check out Genie.  Click here to go to her blog which has her contact information on it.  I know she teaches boot camp classes and does invididual training, but I’m sure she’d be willing to do training for a couple of moms together (a la me and my sister) if you’re interested in that.  I think it’s a fun way to stay accountable to each other.

Photo credit: perfectoinsecto on flickr  – What, you thought that was me?  I wish my floors were that clean!

Or would that be an introverted extrovert?  This month’s From Left to Write book club pick is “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain.  I knew before I started reading “Quiet” that I am an introvert.  Fo’ sho.  And just to see what my husband would say, I asked him if he thought I was an introvert or an extrovert.  And then I was kind of amazed that he was waffling and started to say “…well…”  I thought it was so cut and dry.

Marc thinks I’m an extrovert(ish) because I “put myself out there”.  Because I am not (that) afraid to go to new places and meet new people, like blogger events or Meetup group playdates.  So yes, I guess I have moments of extroversion, but ultimately I would say that I’m an introvert through and through.

While reading this book, there were various questions to help one assess whether or not he/she is an introvert.  As I was reading the questions, almost all of them had me answering “yes” in a loud, monotone, Napoleon Dynamite-ish way.  There was one that stuck out, it was something along the lines of “do you enjoy being in the company of friends, but find that you need alone time afterwards to recover?”  (loose paraphrase, I’m too lazy to go upstairs and get the book off my dresser).  Not only would I say yes, but I have to add my own:

“Do you have a general sense of dread when thinking about hanging out with your friends and not want to call them or make plans to get together?  Does sitting on the couch with the computer in your lap, your iPhone in your hand, playing Scramble with Friends with your husband who is sitting 2 feet away from you sound more appealing than happy hour with your mom friends?  YES?!  Then you my friend, are not just an introvert, you have crippling social anxiety!“  ding, ding, ding!!!

I don’t know why that is.  I really love seeing my friends.  I like hanging out with other girls, drinking wine, playing games, complaining about other people, and all the usual stuff girls do.  But something about committing and making plans gives me tension.  After I hang out, though, I think “that was so fun!!! I must do this again!! Soon!!!”  And then the cycle repeats.

So in a lot of ways I’m kind of a bad friend.  I don’t realize that a lot of time has elapsed between communications until things get awkward.  I often say that my friends have to be really hardy.  They know that I might forget to respond to their text AND their facebook message, but that I really do adore them and mean to respond to them and eventually will.  Thank God for these people that still like me!

And thank God for Marc being such an extrovert.  While I read this book, it was so funny to realize just how introverted he is not.  He thrives on constant communication with people, going places, competing in his career as a salesman.  I guess that’s why we are a good pair.

Are you an introvert or extrovert?  Author Susan Cain explores how introverts can be powerful in a world where being an extrovert is highly valued.  Join From Left to Write on January 19 as we discuss Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain.  We’ll also be chatting live with Susan Cain at 9PM Eastern on January 26.  As a member of From Left to Write, I received a copy of the book.  All opinions are my own.

Not so shocking confession: I hate menu planning.  I mean, let’s be honest, who wants to sit down and think about meals for the week, in advance, look at recipes, type it all up, etc?  It’s a lot easier to wait until 5:15 when I call my husband to remind him to leave work (workaholic, much?) and tell him that “I got nothin’ in the way of dinner!” and then we load up and go out to Cosi.  (I love Cosi!!)  But obviously when we’re on a budget, that’s not the best idea.  And it does get stressful trying to figure out what to eat the day of.  So in a way I love menu planning.  I guess it’s a love-hate relationship.  So anyway, here’s my plan for the week:

Monday- Tortellini with mushrooms and bacon

Tuesday- Beef Lombardi

Wednesday- Chicken with sun dried tomatoes

Thursday- Tilapia

Friday- Meatloaf

Saturday- Out!

Sunday- Pizza

For more menu plans/inspiration check out Menu Plan Monday

At this stage in my life, any date night is blog worthy.  But last night’s date was my Christmas gift from Marc, and was a really lovely time.  Before Rayna was born, Marc and I used to have a membership at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philly.  We loved it, because of course the shows are really fun, but also it ensured that we would actually get out and have a nice “city date” and not just eat at Bahama Breeze for the umpteenth time.

So flash forward two kids later and the theatre is just one of those nice things we used to do, and might do again in a few years.  Instead, when trying to come up with my Christmas gift, Marc went ahead and bought a membership again, to make sure that we actually went on some fun dates.  And what’s nice is that they are pretty well spaced so they’ll still be pretty special.

Last night’s, though, was extra special because the show was ‘The King and I.”  I love The King and I.  So our babysitter finally arrived and we were off to the city to try to find someplace to eat before the show.  Note to self, and any others who might want to get dinner near the theatre on a Saturday night at 6:30….make reservations more than a day in advance. I was thinking about trying a Greek restaurant nearby called Kanella, and then they were booked.  And then everything was booked.  So we decided to try Jones or El Azteca if we couldn’t get in anywhere else (both of those were suggestions from Twitter friends, I love getting immediate Twitter feedback!).

After roaming around the streets around the theatre, we started getting stressed out about getting back to the theatre on time.  So we had to go somewhere very close and eat fast.  There’s a Panera-esque place right by the theatre, there was a Chipotle-esque place, and a Chinese place.  Marc was voting for Chinese and I was getting distressed that we weren’t going somewhere nicer.  So we decided to go just a smidgen further and then we stumbled upon M.  That’s the name of the restuarant, “M.”  It was attached to a lovely courtyard of the historic Morris Hotel and was quiet and romantic-ey.  They didn’t have availablity in the dining room, but could seat us in the bar area, at one of the tables looking out of the window…score!

Then we get the menu and the choices were strange.  Almost everything was priced around $12-18 and I deduced that they must’ve been small plates.  And they were, kinda.  You could order small plates a la carte or get a sampling of 3 for $30, 4 for $40, etc.  We decided to just get 2 each, one soup and one meal.  The descriptions of the food were perplexing; it would say something like “Butternut Agnolotti. Chicken Sausage. Pickled Cantaloupe. Raspberry.”  Huh?  But we went with it, and it was definitely interesting and delicious, albeit tiny.

First, the bread came with a “burnt hay butter”, yes burnt HAY, which I didn’t care for, it was almost like someone sprinkled char from a grill on perfectly good butter, but whatever Marc liked it.  Then came the amuse bouche which was a “smoked chocolate” which tasted like crumbled bacon, very strange.  I also did not care for this, and Marc did.  Then were the soups, mine was something I never heard of like Jerusalem artichoke?  I don’t know, but it was very yummy.  Marc’s clam chowder was good, but no Jerusalem artichoke.  Then our meals came out.  I should’ve noticed that the waiter kind of asked me “what else” when I ordered the agnolotti that it was going to be miniscule.  But here it is:

that's it!

It was good, just not as good as Marc’s rib eye with cheddar crust.  That was killer.  So I guess now that you are fore warned I would recommend M as the food was really different and delicious if you know what you’re getting into.  Plus, the service was great and they were really into helping us get to the show on time.

So the show.  Was.  Fabulous.  It was really cute, just like my beloved movie edition.  No one can replace Yul Brynner, but the main actress was actually way more likeable than Deborah Kerr, who I never really cared for.  The sets were great, the extras were great, the children were just ok (one flubbed her lines and some other tiny ones seemed to have a hard time focusing), but one MAJOR distraction was one of the background dancers.  Imagine an Asian Jack Black in tights doing ballet with serious GUSTO.  The other guys dancing in the Uncle Tom’s Cabin performance were all toned and muscular, but this one guy was like Chris Farley in the Patrick Swayze Chippendales SNL sketch.  I couldn’t stop giggling, it was a riot!

I’m really looking forward to our next night out at the theatre, but it’s not until May.  It will probably seem like a lifetime til then!

First off, Happy New Year!  I wish all of my family, friends and blog-friends a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!  There’s something so nice about a fresh new year.  The holidays are cleared out of the way and there’s months to go before summer, so why not try to get a little “out with the old, in with the new” action, right?

It seems as if everyone is down on “resolutions” nowadays and the new message being preached is to make very specific, written goals.  I have not come up with those goals yet.  But I probably should.  Right now I just have the vague resolutions that everyone has:  lose weight, save money, spend more time with family, read more, be a better person, etc.

The only really specific thing I mentioned in my last post (which was just a menu plan Monday) is that we are trying out the envelope system for budgeting.  Marc and I read a Dave Ramsey book a while back (…I want to say it was Total Money Makeover, but I really don’t remember) and he definitely presents a solid plan for paying off debts and saving your money, but it is a wee bit extreme.  But the envelope system really makes a lot of sense to me, it is where you set aside envelopes of cash in advance, so that you can plan to spend only that amount each week.  Marc gets paid every two weeks so I just made two weeks of envelopes at one time.  Right now we are doing five envelopes, one for gas for each car, one for a (very) little spending cash each, and one envelope for groceries.  We’ve done one week so far and it’s been pretty hard.  But in a way it’s also fun to try and make it work, I like a little challenge.

Today we also unearthed and purged our total mess of a garage.  It was essentially a dumping ground for all the boxes and bins when we moved in, and it really, really needed to be done.  Since Marc had off today we made that our day’s focus.  It was a bit difficult at first, we had Rayna outside with us and she was in the way, then Marc was being disagreeable and dramatic about it all, and then finally, later when both kids were down for the afternoon nap we managed to pretty much finish it.  There’s still a lot more to organize, but it’s 1,000 times better than it was.  So that was really nice to start the year off in such a productive way.

Now I will just have to sit down and come up with specific, actionable goals and then I’ll share them here.  I read the Money Saving Mom blog and I have to say her goals are so intense.  She has broken down homemade projects to try every month, books to read every month, audiobooks to listen to every month.  It’s amazing.  Maybe if I can even have a fraction of those goals I’ll be in good shape.

Photo credit: danielmoyle

Yeah, I’m back on the bandwagon.  After all of the holiday spending we are trying out the envelope system of budgeting.  It’s going to be a really big change for me, because I’m used to spending a bit mindlessly.  So first step to being on track with my budgeted envelopes is to plan.  This week of course contains New Year’s Eve, and Marc and I were already planning to have a little date at home so we’ll make that fun and save the $ of going out.

Monday- Hamburger hot dish (I actually made a double batch of this to bring to a new mom, it’s really easy and travels well)

Tuesday- BBQ porkchops…this is the easiest recipe ever, you just put still frozen boneless chops in the crock pot, squirt bbq sauce over them and cook on low for 3-4 hours.  It’s a good way to use up those bottles of sauce that sit in the fridge.

Wednesday- Baked tilapia

Thursday- Pork fried rice (using leftover pork from Tuesday)

Friday- Creamy chicken soft tacos

Saturday- We are having our “at home date” so I’m picking up Bobby Chez crabcakes and making filet mignons, yum!

Sunday- Pizza

Check out the other menus on Menu Plan Monday

This was my tree 4 years ago...

Yeah, so, I ripped that picture off my blog from a post that’s 4 years old.  (I can’t believe I’ve been blogging that long either.  It might not be top quality, but at least I’m not a quitter!)  Why no picture of my tree this year?  It’s in pretty sad shape right now, actually.  I think it was pretty cute in this 2008 picture, 2009 it was probably pretty cute too, 2010 our tree was in storage since we were living at my parents’ and now this is it’s first year back and it’s not without a story.

We stored our fake tree pieces in a big Rubbermaid container, but unfortunately the big stick didn’t fit in it.  So it just kind of rattled around loose during the year.  Somehow, in the move from our old house to my parents’ house, the stick got separated from the container of branches.  Flash forward to a few weeks ago, we break out the branches, but can’t find the tree pole.  Anywhere.  Like, we tear the place UP.  We call my mom, she searches the house, we drive over and search the place too, just to make sure.  When my dad gets home from work we learn that he threw the pole away.  A-to-the-R-to-the-G!!!

So my sister actually got us a tree for cheap on Craigslist and I strung it up and discovered that half of our lights didn’t work.  So I bought more lights.  And decorated it.  And realized that it really needs more decorations.  Oh, and our star broke.  But it looked ok for a while.  Until this week a whole bunch of lights (the old ones I guess) went out.  All that to say, it’s now a wreck.

But definitely not as much of a wreck as last year.  When I was searching through Christmas posts past, I ran across last year’s post & can’t believe what a different place we are in this year (literally and figuratively)…Thank God!  (oh and if you have a second, the video in that post is pretty hilarious).

Happy Holidays to you!!

I recently hosted a Winnie the Pooh ”MommyParty” for Oral-B Stages.  Basically that means that Oral-B Stages provided me with some materials to host a fun play date.  I had a Winnie the Pooh viewing party, where we watched the new movie.  We also had some snacks and, of course, play time.  First we set up, popping popcorn and blowing up balloons:

We put together the goodie bags the guests would take away.  Inside each was an Oral-B Stages toothbrush, Oral-B Stages toothpaste, Disney Lavender Wash & some coupons:

I was also provided with popcorn and cute little popcorn boxes for the guests to enjoy during the movie.  We put out some other healthy snacks too, including Rayna’s favorite, grapes!

The guests were moms and kids from one of my playgroups.  I haven’t been able to make too many playdates lately, so it was really nice to see everyone.  It was also most friends’ first time in my new house.  Yikes, I really need to entertain more!

I was at a quandry when trying to decide where to host the party–the basement has all of the toys, but little seating & a smaller tv, while the upstairs family room has some toys, but more comfy seating & a much bigger tv.  In the end, the basement playroom won out.  We had some folding chairs (and the floor of course) for the mommies, our silly bowl chairs for movie watching, but lots and lots of toys. :)

We started up "Winnie The Pooh"

We played ourselves out

We checked out the goodies

And we took the fun home

“Winnie the Pooh” was a big hit (I heard that Santa is bringing this DVD to some of the little guests), the popcorn was a huge hit & so were the goodies.  The general consensus in the group is that the kids already love to brush their teeth so everyone was really excited to give the products a try.  So far I heard from one friend that the toothbrush fits great in her daughter’s hand…I agree, the Stages brush is much better than the toothbrush we were using previously.

Thanks MommyParties and Oral-B Stages for sponsoring this party and providing me with the supplies in exchange for this blog post and feedback!