I travel a lot, too much sometimes.  No that’s crazy, there’s no such thing as too much travel.  I love roaming the globe, but I hate packing.  It’s the worst thing.  It’s the most chaotic, stressful, over-involved what-am-I-supposed-to-take-what-if-I-pack-the-wrong-things events of travel.  It’s a necessary evil, the packing business, but I’ve figured out the least stressful way to make it work for me.

I roll my clothes.  I roll them on hotel beds one piece at a time until they’re so compact there’s extra room to do a little airport shopping.  I always bring a snow globe home for my little guy and now the only way to get them through airport security is to buy them on the other side of said security.

Next time you pack a bag, try it and see.  You may like it, Sam I am, you make like it on some ham.

ROLL YOUR CLOTHES TO PACK A SUITCASE    <——— Click the link to go to the full post

It’s time for a top 10 countdown, of the blog post variety.  I’ve never done this, but I thought it would be a fun idea since there’s a lot of content some of you haven’t seen.  There’s a lot of good stuff in the early years, and I’d love to share it with you because, today I’m leaving on a jet plane.  Don’t know when I’ll be back again.

Just kidding, I do.  In 10 days.  But it’s always a good time to throw out some John Denver lyrics to make things sound melancholy.

Things are actually pretty awesome because today I’m heading to Paris!  I know, don’t hate me.  I’m jealous of myself. It wasn’t a planned thing, it just happened, and when life presents you with amazing opportunities, the thing to do, I’ve found, is grab the brass ring and get on board.  No matter what.  When my husband booked 4 tickets to Warsaw a couple of years ago I packed my bags and rearranged our whole life so we could take a month-log family trip to his home country.  It wasn’t super convenient at the time (it never is) but we did it anyway.

We didn’t have to be asked twice to take a family trip to Costa Rica, and when Hawaii came calling, I packed my bags and left.  I have a Life List full of things to get done before I die and I’m actively working on crossing them off one at a time.  I don’t have more time or money or good heavens, BETTER HEALTH than anyone else, but I make travel a huge priority in my life.  Period.  I usually pay for it later with swollen feet, popped off toenails and a huge Lupus flare, but it’s worth it.

So today I’m jetting off to Paris, this time with a girlfriend instead of my kids.  I’m going to hang out in Cannes, Paris, and Barcelona for 10 days, and then I’ll come home and be in bed for the month of June, and I can’t wait!  For Paris, not the losing my toenails part.

Do you have any great suggestions for any of those cities?  Museums, places to eat, neighborhoods to visit?  It will be my first time in all 3 places, but this time I’ll speak the language, at least while we’re in Spain.

I won’t be posting at all while I’m gone, but you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook to follow the journey.  Is very excite! (I hope you get the Borat reference).  See you soon!  I’ll miss you.

Travel, isn’t it about time?

Are you big into home renovation?  Do you love to rip out floors in a do it yourself kitchen remodel, and then lay 250 square feet of tile all in the same day?

You’re nuts.

I’m nuts, you’re nuts, together, collectively we are all insane.  DIY is awesome; until you have to start the actual DIY.  Or you start the DIY and run into all sorts of problems, budget increases, *COUGH, COUGH*, scope creep, and the general inundation of crap all over the house all the time.

Maybe it’s just me.  It probably is.  I’m sure you’re organized when you remodel things at your house.  I’m sure that if you were in the middle of YOUR master bathroom remodel project things would be coming along swimmingly.  But things are sketchy at my house right now.  I’ll show you photos in another post so you don’t just think I’m saying that, but just you wait until you see photographic evidence of the mess that is my life right now.  You’ll swoon on my behalf, and not in a good way.

Our master bathroom was in a sad state of disrepair masked with duct tape, and glued together behind the façade of lots of paint and pretty towels.

So we ripped the whole master bath out, down to the studs.  It was a hairy project, and the bathroom underneath the paint and duct tape was a little bit worse than I expected.  We sledgehammered walls (and anything else in sight) with glee, until we ripped up the floor and tore down the walls and saw what was underneath.

Mold.  Black mold everywhere.  On the insulation, into the studs, all over the backside of the gross vinyl, and deep into the sub-floor.  In fact, the mold was so bad the floors underneath the bathtub were completely rotted through.  I always had a terrible fantasy when I was showering in my old bathroom that I’d fall through the floor into the garage.

I wasn’t far off.

When we ripped everything up and were all working on tearing things out, my 13-year-old fell through the sub-floor and up to her waist into the garage.  AWESOME.

Don’t call child services, she was wearing protective eye-wear.

We were behind schedule with this master bath project before we even started.  Mold is for serious thing, so we had to get that under control before moving on and building out the framing.  We didn’t have an architect, so it was me and our contractor friend (who’s doing a huge part of this project) and my husband standing around for a couple of days with red pencils in our hands, marking up the walls with layout plans.  Eventually we figured it out: if we tore out the built into the walk-in closet and gun closet (every good home in a cowboy town has one) we could turn the entire space into a huge steam shower AND have a jacuzzi tub.  Winning!  We had to cut our closet in half to get it done but I’m okay with that.  Utah is cold 9 months out of the year and my feet are numb 9 1/2 months out of the year.  A steam shower was sort of the whole point of this project.

So we laid out some master bathroom remodel design ideas and started building it out, and so far it looks good!  I spent hours walking around the small space once we’d torn everything out, picturing every possible scenario and sketching designs onto every available surface until we made it work.  I hope it turns out well because I made all sorts of decisions with no professional architectural knowledge of any sort.  Do you do that?  Eep!

What do you think?

The steam shower is built out, the closet is semi in place, the Jacuzzi tub is all nestled in its little corner and we’re well underway.

Have you ever done a huge remodel?  A big bathroom remodel from the studs?  If you’re part of a couple, did you stay together?  This project is trying to kill me.  Master bathrooms, AAAAAAAH.

Makeover a Mom Handbag

I’m a mom who needs a makeover for my handbag. My name is Stephanie.  I’m the mom who carries everything AND the kitchen sink in her handbag.  Don’t you? Do you remember Allison’s long running ‘what’s in your purse‘ series? I loved those posts because I’m always curious how other people, (mom-people specifically) organize their stuff. Seeing what was inside all those pretty purses was fascinating!

Once or twice I thought about submitting my own (mom) purse, but then thought better of that humiliation. Because on most days I’m lugging around a purse stuffed with notebooks and magazines, a diaper bag with paraphernalia for 3 kids, and a car seat with a 19-pound kid. No matter how hard I try there’s just a lot of stuff.

And this is my not-so-stylish diaper bag. OK, it’s not even a diaper bag – it’s what I call the purse side car. You know, the old, ugly, tired canvas bag that you fill with all the stuff that you don’t want in your purse.

In it you will find, diapers and wipes for the 10-month-old. Two complete spare outfits for the potty training 3-year-old. (Learned this one the hard way.) Snacks and crayons for the the 5-year-old. More snacks for me.

Thanks to Petunia Pickle Bottom I got a mom purse makeover. Just look at that organization!!! And trust me, there’s plenty of room to spare because this bag has zippers and pouches everywhere.

And my new favorite thing? There’s a changing pad hidden in the bottom of the purse.

Brilliant.

So I’ve ditched the purse and canvas bag combo for one chic bag. Good choice, don’t you think?

What kind of purse do you carry? Please tell me I’m not the only one who is lugging around the side car.

Did you see Allison’s post about her What’s in Your Purse Series, stressed mom edition?

Have you guys noticed this geo trend going on? There’s been geometric shaped everything lately, from how to jewelry to candles to how to geometric planters; even holiday decorations are getting geodified. Yes, geodified. Well, now it’s time to add some geometric flair to your ears with these simple earrings you can make in just an hour (and that even includes bake time)!

Materials for How To Geometric Earrings DIY:

• Polymer Clay in the color(s) of your choice
• Blank Earring Posts – available at most craft stores
• Razor blade, Xacto knife or clay knife – something to carve and slice the clay.

• Step 1: Cut off a ½” x ½” cube and then slice a tiny sliver off of the cube
• Step 2: Place the post on the back of cube
• Step 3: Stack the sliver on top and smooth together with your fingers
• Step 4: With your cutting instrument start slicing different angles until you get the shape you want!

Insiders Tip: I found that fewer, bigger cuts look better than a lot of tiny cuts. And don’t worry if you cut off too much or don’t like how it looks, you can just pull it apart and try again until you get it how you like it!

Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 275F for 30 minutes.

Afterward, take them out of the oven and resist the urge to touch them! They may still be a little soft but will continue curing as they cool. Wait until they cool completely before handling them.

You can add a coat of glaze to your new baubles if you want to add a little more shine to them, but that it isn’t necessary. Once the earrings are cool and glazed (if you chose to do so) your earrings are ready to wear!

These earrings are so simple to make that you could make so many different pairs! Try marbling the clay together and stacking two colors on top of each other and make a color-blocked pair.

What a fun way to add a pop of neon for your Spring wardrobe! Happy Crafting, go make your own geometric earrings (you know how to now!).

12 amazing bloggers teamed up to bring you the most blowout giveaway of the year. One lucky winner will win a big fat brand new Canon Rebel DSLR t4i camera (boom goes the dynamite) along with a gorgeous chevron purse camera bag from Epiphanie in which to carry your new precious.

Are you dying yet?  I’m dying a little for you.

I love Epiphanie camera bags a lot, and not just because Maile (the brilliant girl behind the bags) is one of the best humans on earth, but the new chevron camera bag is a big, big, fat, cute win.  Winning at life.

Here’s how this whole Epic May Giveaway thing goes down:

Canon Camera Big Giveaway

• To enter to win the Canon Camera + Epiphanie Bag you MUST enter using the widget on the blog post.  No other entries will be counted.
• The giveaway runs May 10th through May 24th.
• One winner will be chosen at random and notified by email once the big give is over.  If you are said winner (winner winner, chicken dinner) you will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.
• Giveaway is open worldwide!  Seriously!

- Christine of Boston Mamas
- Jane of This Week for Dinner
- Kami of NoBiggie
- Marie of Make and Takes
- Audrey of Mom Generations
- Allison of Petit Elefant
- Kristen of Rage Against the Minivan
- Rachael of Todays Mama
- Meagan of The Happiest Home
- Heather & Whitney of Rookie Moms
- Pinterest You Are Drunk
- Eat Blog Run

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sponsored by the ladies of Boston Mamas, Eat Blog Run, Make and Takes, Mom Generations, No Biggie, Petit Elefant, Pinterest You Are Drunk, Rage Against the Minivan, Rookie Moms, The Happiest Home, This Week for Dinner, and Todays Mama.

Hurry and enter the BIG give!

I travel a fair amount in my life, mostly with kids, plenty without.  Regardless, there’s always, ALWAYS some sort of laundry emergency when I travel.  I tend to spill when I eat, all over the front of whatever it is I’m wearing.  It’s kind of an epidemic, but whatever, no need to alert the authorities or anything, it’s just part of the treasure of being me.  And at some point of all this regular travel (it was pretty early on), it occurred to me I needed to bring a travel laundry kit with me wherever I go.  Goest.  Goeth.  Trip, trippity, travel.  That way I’m presentable for at least a portion of my trip, wherever in the world I happen to be.

It’s pretty simple really, how to make a travel laundry kit.  The trick is remembering to replenish it every time you unpack your gear.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on the road only to realize I have no quarters, or you know the important stuff like, oh, laundry detergent. 

Here’s how it all comes together:

How to Make a Travel Laundry Kit

I’m preferential to Ziploc bags.  They make my world go round.  Don’t stress out if you’re an environmentalist (I am too!), I use Ziploc bags over and over and over again for years on end (no, really) before I recycle the remaining shreds.  Put whatever you want in your travel kit, but I would recommend at minimum having the following.

• compact laundry bag
• tide pen
• liquid or powder laundry tabs
• local currency
• clothesline/thin rope
• clothespins
• fabric softener
• portable clothesline

If you want to add a sewing kit and a lint roller, go nuts.  I personally don’t sweat stuff like that when I’m traveling, but this is your travel laundry kit and you can put it together how you want to.  Unless we’re traveling together, in which case I might get bossy and have to intervene and teach you how to pack a laundry bag.

Not that you don’t have mad skills of your own.

Was that a double negative?  I love you, you’ve got mad skills, is what I meant to say.

You don’t really need me to teach you how, but in case you do need an easy checklist to make your own travel laundry kit, now you’ve got the know how.

Boom.

Okay, so maybe I am.

I want my kids to have their own Summer movie memories so I’m currently compiling a huge list of movies for my children to see before I leave the nest (*SOB*).  It’s unbelievable to me sometimes the stuff they haven’t seen (shut up, I know they’re still little).  I’ve got an arsenal of amazing movies up my sleeve for them, and while this list isn’t for kids, it is for you.  (Unless you’re a kid, in which case ask your parents before you go getting me in trouble.)  Now that it’s almost Summer I want to share my 5 top summer movies to see.  This list is far from comprehensive.  Think of this as a jumping off point in your cinematic Summer education.

5 Top Summer Movies to See (ASAP)

1. Top Gun

2. Grease

3. Stand By Me

4. The Sandlot

5. The Endless Summer

(I couldn’t stop, so here are a bonus 5 movies!)

6. E.T.

7. Jaws

8. Field of Dreams

9. What About Bob

10. Dirty Dancing

(Okay, okay, just 3 more.  And then I’m done. Pinky promise!)

11. Tommy Boy

12. Point Break

13. The Graduate

Now that I’ve got you all excited for movie season, I have a giveaway for you!  A movie giveaway!  Because movies! Are! Awesome!

Have you seen the lineup for the Summer 2013 movie season?  You guys!  I’ll be in the theater all summer if you need me.  The Great Gatsby comes out in two days, then the new Star Trek (it looks so good!), Man of Steel (Henry Cavill, swoon), Monsters University, Despicable Me 2 … I could go on an on.  So many good movies coming out this season.

Fandango + Visa Gift Card Giveaway Details:

• $30 Fandango gift card
• $50 Visa gift card

To enter:

• Leave a comment below (not email) telling me your favorite movie, summer or otherwise.  I’d love to hear about your favorite movies!
• Giveaway runs today May 8th-Wednesday May 15th, Midnight MST.
• Please include your email address so we can get in touch with you if you win.
• Winner will be announced at the top of this post.
• If you win you will have 48 hours to claim the prize before a new winner is chosen.

Check out Fandango’s Weekend Ticket to help you find the best movie fit for you.

“Whether it’s finding the ultimate date movie or a film the whole family will enjoy, Dave Karger – Fandango’s Chief Correspondent and one of the country’s most highly-regarded movie experts – will help consumers find the perfect movie on “Weekend Ticket.”  The weekly series will offer movie reviews, celebrity guests, and movie fan buzz fueled by Fanticipation – a first-of-its-kind tool to measure moviegoer excitement based on Fandango’s proprietary data collected from its online and mobile traffic, the social media engagement of its fans, and its advance ticket sales.”

Check out Fandango on Facebook

Follow @Fandango on Twitter #Fandango #WeekendTicket

Giveaway sponsored by Fandango.

The Endless Summer movie poster, The Sandlot movie poster.

I’m a mom.  Not to state the obvious, but there it is.  And as a mom I carry around a ridiculous amount of, well, crap in my purse.  I’m not sure there’s a euphemism for the stuff I haul around on a daily basis.  I’m super OCD (it’s not awesome like you’d think it would be) and my purse stresses me out to no end, all the mom paraphernalia I need just to get out the door.  It’s the stuff of nightmares.

About once a month, when it occurs to me my shoulders are extra achy, I look in my purse and realize I’m carrying enough nonsense to keep a small nation afloat for a month.  I usually put 5 things back into the purse and like magic, the junk multiplies and has junk babies.  And the cycle continues.  It’s pretty awesome.  No, not really, no it isn’t.

I’ve dumped out my purse before to show you what’s in my purse and what’s in my purse-within-a-purse and it’s like confessions-of-a-secret-hoarder every time.

This is what I found inside my current purse (T.J. Maxx) when I dumped it out this week.

Here we have everything.  Oh, hey!  There’s the iPod shuffle my husband has been looking for all month!  And do I spy a tampon?  THAT would’ve come in handy had I known it was in there.

Anyone need a pen?  Or a purple marker?  How about a pencil from IKEA, I’ve got one of those too.

Top L to R: two pouches for Skullcandy ear-buds, sans headphones, migraine medicine, protein bar (you never know when you’ll need one) Skullcandy headphones, sans pouches, iPod shuffle (there you are!), my daughter’s earrings, a tampon, penny, Leatherman pocket knife, diet coke bottle cap (for the points! that earn you nothing!).

Oh hai there makeup.  L to R: eyeshadow brush, ELF lip-gloss, BUTTER LONDON lip-gloss, Bare Minerals lip-gloss, Maybelline 24 hour lipstick, 2 more Bare Minerals lip-glosses, Bath & Body Works lip-gloss, Cover Girl lip stain, L’occitane hand-lotion.  Top row: two MAC eyeshadow pots.

Hello there fortune cookie fortune.  I think it was a good one, so I kept it.  Probably that’s why, that’s it!  For sure.  Grocery store receipts, empty gum package, yogurt coupons, IKEA closet plans, self-drawn closet plans (for the master bathroom remodel project), more receipts, notebook full of lists and lists and lists and random blog post ideas.

*SIGH* I should be embarrassed about the state of my purse but mostly it makes me tired just looking at it.  Is there a jail for offensive purse owners AKA stressed + busy moms?

Right?

Anyway.  *ahem*

I did find it in myself to whip up some mashed sweet potatoes, because my kids need to be fed once in awhile.  Not very often, but sometimes.  So I was in the kitchen a few weeks ago, making sweet potato rolls (it was a whim, don’t ask) and the recipe called for mashed sweet potatoes from a can.  Nasty.  If you have sweet potatoes (yams) within reach, even if that means a trip to the store so you can try a new recipe, do it.  Fresh sweet potatoes (yams) are heaven.  Mashed sweet potatoes?  Holy-have-mercy, come-to-mama.

This recipe is from Paula Deen, so you know there’s butter involved.  If you’re vegan you can use the usual butter substitutes, but if you’re not, bring. it.  The honey and cinnamon are the frosting on top.  So to speak.  Next time I make this recipe, and there will definitely be a next time, I’ll add more cinnamon.  It just needed a little more kick.  And you could add some nutmeg, oh yum! p.s.s.s. this particular recipe is pretty big, but you could totally cut it in half, our fourths, or whatever makes your heart happy.

Sweet Potato – Mashed Potato Recipe

• 10 cups sweet potatoes/yams, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

To Make

• Peel sweet potatoes (yams), rinse, and add to a large pot on the stove.
• Cover with water and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft and tender.  It took about 15 minutes+ for me, because I’m at a high elevation.  8-10 minutes is recommended.
• Drain water.
• Put the potatoes back in the pot and add the remaining ingredients.  Beat with an electric (DON’T do this by hand!) until smooth and mashed potato-y.
• Garnish with cinnamon and serve warm.  Add extra butter on top if you’re cool with having an early heart attack (I’m cool with it).

That’s it guys, a super duper simple, easy, sinfully tasty sweet potato recipe.  Enjoy!