Foodie Pen Pals – August

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

Oh, happy is the day there is a box waiting for me on the porch! It’s way better than getting bills in the mailbox! Especially happy is the day I know the box contains Foodie Pen Pals goodies!!!!!!!!!! Bonus points when it arrives just before the toddler’s nap!

My pen pal, Marisa knocked it out of the park with her box out Trader Joe’s goodies. I wasted no time tearing that box open and checking it out. Look at what she sent!!!

First, I took a picture of everything. Then I did what any stay-at-home-mom with a napping toddler would do. I went straight for the chocolate!!!

It was so creamy and delicious! I had to just break of two pieces and put the rest in the fridge so as not to eat the entire thing.

Next up I had to try the smoothie recipe she sent. I halved the recipe as I only had one banana on hand.

2 bananas, broken into chunks and frozen overnight
2 cups milk (rice milk)
1/8-1/4 cup cocoa or cocoa powder
3-4 heaping tbsp peanut butter
drizzle of honey
Blend until smooth.

Yum! It was a delicious treat! Definitely something I will make again (and again). She noted that the amounts were approximate so one could vary the amounts a little every time and it will taste a little different. Maybe next time I won’t actually measure everything out! That would be adventurous for me!

The Luna Bars came in handy for a quick snack. She even sent Kids Clif Bars. Cupcake approves!!!

The freeze dried mango, however, was her favorite. The resealable bag made it a great snack to throw in the diaper bag (is it still a diaper bag if she doesn’t wear diapers anymore?).

We both snacked on it while we were out shopping and she finished off the bag at Stroller Strength class. I’ll definitely pick some up the next time we make it over to Trader Joe’s!

What a fun package of goodies! It was fun to try some new stuff (rice milk, Luna Bars, freeze dried fruit). I’m not sure I would purchase Luna Bars for myself in the future, but I will definitely get rice milk since it’s great for smoothies (which I make a lot) and freeze dried fruit!

Are you interested in trying the Foodie Pen Pals program? Here’s more info!

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

Head over to The Lean Green Bean for more info or to sign up!

***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

Chocoholic

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

I’ve seriously been craving some chocolate cake lately. Like wanting to punch every person that pins chocolate cake on Pinterest because I don’t have any craving it! Yesterday I was fed up! I needed cake. What’s a (pregnant) girl to do? Bake. Lucky me, I had a box of chocolate cake mix just waiting for me!!! I decided to be somewhat good and use a can of pumpkin instead of oil and eggs to make it. I can call it healthy now, right? OK, maybe slathering it with caramel frosting negates that? I couldn’t wait to eat it, so I might have put the frosting on a bit too soon and it sorta melted off a bit. Doesn’t matter. It tasted just as good!

1 box chocolate cake + 1 can pureed pumpkin + 1/2 cup water + bake at the temperature and time indicated on the box = one delicious, moist cake!

And if I hadn’t had enough chocolate for the day I had a small meltdown when I realized that I was out of chocolate syrup. No chocolate syrup = no chocolate milk with my cake (or breakfast). No chocolate milk = one sad pregnant lady! I decided to make my own. I’ve never actually made my own chocolate syrup before since I can always get the Hershey’s premade stuff so cheap with sales and coupons. It took no time at all! I might never buy chocolate syrup again since I always have the ingredients to make it on hand!

1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
dash of salt
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a small saucepan. Add water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Cool. Store in the refrigerator.

And just in case you think all I do is cook or bake any more (I think you might be right) I also decluttered the kitchen counter top. Either nesting is kicking in or I’m just getting tired of having no counter space in the kitchen!

And thank goodness for all the chocolate because Cupcake’s Bubba (pacifier) weaning is taking it’s toll on me! Naps are a battle! Every 15 minutes she’s throwing the “I gotta go potty” excuse at me. And she doesn’t really need to go. And I spend two hours trying to get her to sleep and then give up because “nap time” is over. And then around 6:00 she turns into a monster. And apparently monsters don’t take baths. Unfortunately for this monster she HAD to. She was supposed to take a bath the night before but threw a tantrum so I just put her to bed. Well, she had played at the park and painted and ate chocolate cake so there was no skipping bath this time! I dragged her in there kicking and screaming!!! She cried the whole time. She went to bed before 7:00. Yeah, that girl still needs a nap. And because it was too late in the day for me to take a nap I curled up in the window seat with my puppy and a book! Momma had clocked out for the day!

Hey, come back tomorrow for more food talk! It’s Foodie Pen Pals reveal day!!!!

Watermelon Lemonade Sorbet

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

I told you if I made another recipe from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home and liked it I would let you know. Well, guess what? I like it! This time I tried a sorbet. And since it’s still super hot here I figured a summery sorbet would hit the spot. I picked watermelon lemonade sorbet. I love watermelon. I LOVE lemonade. I love sorbet. It sounded like the perfect plan!

mmm…….watermelon………….For some reason no one else in the house wants to help me eat this! What is wrong with them?!?!?! It’s so delicious and juicy!!! So I pureed it.

I used 3 lemons.

Heat up a little sweetness.

Add the sweetness to the pureed watermelon.

Chill.

Take pictures of what’s left of your lemons after they’ve been juiced before you throw a few in the garbage disposal to freshen it up and pitch the rest in the compost bin (you’re welcome for the green cleaning advice).

Pour the sorbet base into the ice cream maker and let it whirl for 20 or so minutes until it looks like this!

And then you have to wait some more after putting your sorbet in a storage container. But finally it’s time to dig in!!

One scoop?

Two scoops?

Fill ‘er up! And dig in!

I loved it! It was sweet and tangy and cold and delicious! The toddler did not. Weird since she will eat watermelon and drink lemonade. But she is a toddler after all. Maybe today she’ll like it? The hubby has not tried it. He’s weird. Oh, well. More for me!

Watermelon Lemonade Sorbet

1 small to medium watermelon, preferable with black seeds
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup

Cut watermelon into 2-inch cubes to make about 3 cups. Remove the seeds (reserve a few black ones to add to the sorbet if you want). Puree the melon in a food processor. Measure out 2 1/2 cups of puree and transfer to a medium bowl. Reserve the rest of the watermelon for another use. Measure out the remaining ingredients.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

combine the lemon juice, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the lemon syrup into the pureed watermelon. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour the sorbet base into the frozen canister and spin just until it is the consistency of very softly whipped cream.

Pack the sorbet into a storage container, tossing in a few black watermelon seeds of you’ve got them. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

34 Weeks

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

Only 6 weeks to go!!! Maybe less if this little girl comes early like big sister did! I think we’re ready for her. I’m ready for her to get out from under my right rib! It’s quite uncomfortable. This constant bulge on my upper right hand side. Not that it’s easy to bend over, but her position has made it virtually impossible! I can’t lean to the right even a bit. Wanna see how big the belly is?

It’s not that big is it? Sometimes I feel like it’s huge. Sometimes when I look in the mirror I don’t think it’s so bad. My (maternity) clothes still fit! That’s a good sign, right?

I had my OB appointment last Thursday. They confirmed I passed the gestation diabetes test. Woo hoo! I didn’t gain any weight in the last two weeks, which was good since I’m up a little more than I’d like to be. I’ve missed a few classes of Stroller Strength lately, but this morning I will be there! Unfortunately it looks like I’ll be missing a lot of Thursday classes since I have my OB appointments on Thursdays.

I’ve been feeling a bit bummed lately as hubby has really turned up the running. I want to get out there and run. But that just ain’t happening! January. In January I don’t care how much snow is on the ground I’m going to hit it! But I digress…………..back to the here and now.

Sleeping ain’t been going so well. My arms fall asleep easily when I lay on my side. And unfortunately sleeping on my side is the only option these days. And I have to get up to pee at least once a night. Sometimes twice. I guess I’m just getting used to sleepless nights.

My OB thinks I might have been dehydrated again, but I’m not sure how that is possible. I drink water non-stop! Tons and tons of water! At least 2 Cactus cups (32 oz mug from my college days), usually 3, plus a glass of milk, plus I eat fruit every day, which is mostly water right? It’s either dehydration or a UTI and I don’t have any other UTI symptoms. So I’ve been drinking even more water and threw in some cranberry juice just for good measure. Needless to say I spend a lot of time running to the bathroom. Between pregnant me and newly potty trained Cupcake the bathroom might be the most popular place in the house!

I’m still waiting for the nesting bug to hit me. Actually I have grand ambitions of cleaning and organizing, but I don’t have the energy. It’s still hot. I think that’s part of the problem. Oh, and the toddler. She kind of gets in the way.

So, silly question time. I want to keep a baby monitor in Cupcake’s room. Can I put another one in the nursery and the two not interfere with each other?

Don’t Tell Hubby

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

I spray painted his grass. He does not like when I spray paint his grass. But I had these two pieces that needed paint. And Cupcake was napping. And I didn’t want to get the big tarp out for two small pieces. And I had these pieces of cardboard that weren’t quite big enough.

I couldn’t leave this black, though. It wouldn’t work in the big girl room. Nothing else in there is black.

And I loved the shape of this frame, but there’s no red in the room.

So I sprayed. And at first I thought I was doing a good job of not hitting the grass. But my cardboard is as small as it looks, so…….

Maybe if I overspray with green paint it’ll help.

Maybe not.

It’s not like the grass was green any way! Between the drought and the heat and the city being on a watering ban and the fact that we don’t actually water the grass anyway most of the yard is brown and crunchy! I think the spray paint blends right in!!!

The Furbaby

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

I talk about Cupcake a lot. And I’ve been talking about H2.0 lately. I’ve name dropped Oscar once or twice, but I haven’t really introduced you to our furbaby. Our first born. Our ~~pain in the~~ adorable, cute, loveable dachshund. Cinnamon over at Eat Pray Tri has given me just the reason to tell you all about him! 23PAWS – on the 23rd of the month we post about the pets in our lives!I love this idea!!

Ain’t he cute? And he’s funny, too! I could tell you some stories that involve white paint. Or a story about a dachshund shaped tan. Or show you some of the ridiculous places he hides in.

Where to start?

How about some fun facts?

Birthday: December 3, 2004

Favorite food: Peanut butter (marshmallows are a close second)

Favorite sleeping spot: The kitty spot (on the back of the couch)

Hobbies: Chewing rawhide (when he’s allowed), destroying stuffed toys, chasing birds out of the yard, playing fetch, burrowing under blankets, sleeping

Favorite vacation spot: The lake

Favorite vacation activity: Pontoon boat rides

Favorite hairstyle: Rocking the mohawk

Biggest pet peeve: Cupcake

His territory: Anything he can see from his yard

Motto: “I’m a fat dachshund trapped in a skinny dachshund’s body.”

Allergies: Hickory trees, maple trees, cedar trees, sweetgum trees, sycamore trees, walnut trees, Johnson grass, dandelions, clover, corn pollen, oat pollen, wheat pollen, 11 of the 13 most prevalent fungi in Ohio, cat dander, dog dander, feathers, human dander, tobacco, mites, mosquitoes, staphylococcus and more. This is no joke. We paid a lot of money and time at the dermatologists office figuring this out. Yes, Oscar goes to the dermatologist. Did you notice the part where I mentioned he was allergic to dog dander?!?!?!?! He can’t even live comfortably in a bubble!

Here’s puppy dealing with an allergic reaction.

That’s what he looked like after his allergy testing.

Here’s his allergy list. Lots of x’s in the 3+ and 4+ columns.

As a result of the allergy testing he gets a weekly allergy shot (given by yours truly), twice weekly baths with antifungal/antibacterial shampoo. He’s tried out several diets included salmon and sweet potato and kangaroo and oats. I think we’ve finally settled on a food that has essentially already been chewed for him. He can no longer have his beloved rawhides (which is a bear to deal with on movie night!). We’ve also recently started a second weekly shot. This time it’s a staph vaccine. Hopefully this will keep the infections under control. Oh, the things we do for our furbabies! He’s cute and we’ve kind of become attached, so I suppose we’ll keep him!

Unraveling

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

OK, maybe not. Sometimes I feel like I am. My patience wears thin when the 2 year old thinks she can run away from me in a parking lot, can just eat fruit snacks for dinner, or when I pack a bag or put something away and she immediately unpacks the bag or throws whatever it was across the room the second I turn away. But that’s not what this post is about.

This is about the crocheted blanket that took me forever to finish! It wasn’t difficult. I just kept running into an issue.

I kept running out of yarn!!! I just wasn’t happy with the size of the blanket every time I ran out of yarn. So, I’d wait for the yarn to go on sale and run back out the craft store to buy more. And then I’d run out again. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. And then I ran out of purple yarn, then green yarn, and was happy with the size, so went to finish off with the yellow and I had that much to go and I ran out again!!! How I ran out of yellow yarn on the last row and not the other two I don’t know, but I was mad!!

I started this blanket so long ago I don’t even remember when. It was before I found out I was pregnant. I honestly had no real plan for the blanket when I started, but once I got going I decided I wanted to use these colors in Cupcake’s big girl room. Too bad I hadn’t added a row of pink………..

So last week I ran to the craft store with my 40% off coupon and picked up another skein of yellow. And threw it in the bag with the blanket. And forgot about it. And then hubby and I had a movie night! It’s been a while since we had movie night. So I got the blanket out and finished it!! It took me 5 minutes.

But that doesn’t mean the blanket was done.

There was still some weaving in to be done. Luckily I had been doing a little bit of that as I went along. Because I changed colors at every row I had at least two ends to deal with per row. More when I had to switch skeins in the middle of the row.

Boring………………..

I actually hadn’t looked at this blanket in Cupcake’s room, so I wasn’t entirely sure how the colors would “go” but…

I think it’ll work just fine!

Cupcake had to take it for a test drive in the reading nook.

And she snuggled in.

Toddler approved!!!

The pattern I used was a free pattern from Lion Brand. It called for Quick & Cozy yarn, but I used Hometown USA instead. The blanket is pretty thick. It’s heavy. It’s cute. I made more rows than the pattern called for. I just eyeballed it for the size I thought looked good. I think it’s a good size to grow with her.

Now what to do with the rest of the skein of yellow yarn? Off to browse some patterns………….

I Scream, You Scream

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

I love me some ice cream! I received Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home as a birthday gift back in June. And if you know me you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE ice cream. So why did it take me so darn long to make some ice cream out of this recipe book?!?!?! I don’t know. Salty Caramel was first on the to make list! Thank goodness I passed my 3 hour glucose tolerance test because I had bought all the ingredients to make some ice cream and I couldn’t make it and not eat it!!!

I had planned to make the ice cream on Thursday evening, but or course I forgot to freeze the ice cream bowl the day before, so I had to postpone until Friday. It sort of worked out well, though because I had a rough day on Friday and needed something fun to do! Normally that would be baking. So that’s (kinda) what I did!

I typically make ice cream recipes from Ben & Jerry’s cook book. But the best recipe calls for raw eggs. You don’t cook the recipe. And I don’t so much like paying 3x as much for pasteurized eggs as regular eggs, so I haven’t made any ice cream from that cookbook during my pregnancy.

These recipes don’t use eggs, but they also require cooking. So this is completely different for me! It required lots of bowls.

And a bit of prep.

And dry-burning sugar.

To make a delicious caramel.

Add cream and corn syrup and bring to a boil. And wish you had smell-o-vision. It made the house smell fantastic!!

A little milk and corn starch to thicken things up!

And this is where it gets creamy (and salty).

Vanilla.

Call the hubby upstairs and ask him to come down and help you because you need 4 hands for this operation. Pouring hot ice cream base into a freezer bag is scary stuff.

After it’s cool it’s time to freeze.

After you package it up you have to wait………….I hate waiting. But after some time in the freezer you end up with this!

Three scoops please!

Time to dig in!

It was delicious! It is definitely caramel, but I don’t really taste the saltiness. It’s so creamy! Hubby thinks it tastes like a Warther’s Original in ice cream form. Cupcake just said yum and asked for more (I suppose that’s all you can ask of a 2 year old). I’ll definitely make this one again, but first I’m excited to try a new flavor out of this book!

So, if you were to ask me if I think you should buy this book, based on this recipe I would say YES! It was a little complicated (compared to the Ben & Jerry’s recipes), but the taste is fantastic! I’ll let you know when I make another batch how it turns out, too!

A Day in the Life: Crabby Patty Day

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

Little did I know when I woke up yesterday morning it would be a crazy day! I woke up feeling comfortable. The windows were open, a nice cool breeze was coming through, Cupcake crawled into bed to snuggle with me. She did NOT want to go potty when she woke up. We were already butting heads. She demanded pancakes for breakfast. I was not really in the mood for pancakes. Plus her grandma made her pancakes for breakfast on Tuesday and she had pancakes for lunch on Wednesday. She settled for yogurt and a cereal bar. I made a smoothie.

We moved slowly. It was cool and rainy. We had nowhere to go. We played trains. We read a few Elephant & Piggie books. We had strawberries for a snack. I loaded the dishwasher. I emptied out the hall closet, tossed a few things out, Freecycled a few things, and put all the shoes away like they’re supposed to be. Cupcake played.

We made our way upstairs to do a little more work. I pulled all of H2.0′s clothes out of the closet along with bedding, Boppy covers, blankets, etc. I soaked baby clothes. Two scoops of OxyClean and 45 minutes or so of soaking got the yellow stains out of the burp cloths and sleepers!!! I sorted the adult laundry that I had done last night. I washed more big people clothes. I washed more baby clothes. I scrubbed the sticky, detergent residue off the top of the dryer, reorganized the shelves, vacuumed out the lint, and wiped down the baseboards. Cupcake helped wiped down the baseboards.

She also dipped her blankie in the toilet. So my plan to attempt a Bubba (pacifier) free nap was out the window. We couldn’t possibly have a Bubba and blankie free nap. Blankie took a trip through the wash with the baby clothes.

I showered and got dressed, I got Corinne dressed and planned to head out to the craft store. And then I realized it was already noon. So instead we had lunch. She ate her PB&J, but left her strawberries (that she asked for) and went back to playing. I really wanted to vacuum the upstairs, which is something I can’t do when she’s napping, so I put her strawberries in a bowl, parked her on the couch, turned on an episode of Dora the Explorer and snuck off upstairs to vacuum.

She didn’t budge.

And then it was nap time. She went down without a fight. I cleaned up lunch. Walked around the house so Oscar could sniff the yard. Sat down to watch an episode of Breaking Bad. Caught up on my Google Reader. And an hour after she went down she started crying. Cupcake doesn’t typically cry like that during nap time, so I headed upstairs to discover she had wet the bed. We were 5 days accident free. More laundry for me. And thank goodness for the waterproof mattress pad.

I thought since Cupcake woke up early we could run to the craft store and the dentist. I needed the dentist to make an adjustment to my Invisalign trays. I was just there on Wednesday and the dentist that was filling in for my usual dentist goofed. Turns out my usual dentist is going to be out for a few weeks and instead of being able to just drop in (which I’ve done before) they had me make an appointment for next week. Boo!!!

It took some coaxing, but I finally got the girl on the potty, in pants, with shoes on and out the door. We were off to Joann’s. Simplicity patterns were on sale for $1 and I want to get working on Halloween costumes. The pickings were slim for baby patterns. By slim I mean they only had one. That limited me quite a bit. Luckily I found a toddler pattern for Cupcake that coordinates. Cupcake helped me look through the pattern book, then silly me thought I could get fabric cut since I had a 50% off coupon. Did I mention I didn’t put her in a cart. I ended up having to chase her halfway around the store. I got my fabric cut, bought it and my two patterns and we were off to Target.

I bribed her to sit in a cart at Target by offering her a snack. It worked. I needed to buy freezer bags. I also had coupons that would get me free pens and free chocolate. And I wanted to look at towels. It was a quick trip. I didn’t buy any towels. Traffic sucked going home. Cupcake kept asking for fruit snacks.

I made chicken and dumplings for dinner. It turned out pretty good, but I burned my finger. Cupcake had another accident during dinner. Again, we had been accident free for 5 days (a few of which we were out of town – she even stayed dry during the car rides!). After a wardrobe change the whole family went for a walk. I’m pretty sure I waddled.

Upon our return it was bath time for Cupcake. She played paints. She played with her squirt toys. She kicked and splashed. She pooped in the tub. SERIOUSLY?!?!?! She has never, ever, ever done that before. Even when she was an infant!!! And now she’s supposedly potty trained and poops in the tub!!!!!!! That was fun to deal with.

The dryer buzzed to let me know her bedding was done. I remade her bed, got her ready for bed, and put her to bed. And then I put my pajamas on. And then I needed to do something relaxing. I had piles of baby things that needed sorted, so I got to work. I sat on the floor of the nursery and folded, and ogled, and set aside the clothes that I want to pack in the hospital bag and enjoyed a breeze coming through the window. Hubby stopped in and gave me a shoulder massage. And my blood pressure went back to normal.

And then I made ice cream.

And watched an episode of Breaking Bad. And went to sleep at 10 pm.

How was your day?

Many Hats

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Heather Hawkins

I am a woman of many hats. My first job is mom. Cupcake is a demanding employer. She has so much energy. She is so smart. She is creative. She is messy. I’m constantly chasing her. I’m constantly trying to engage her. I’m constantly trying to come up with fun projects for her. I’m constantly cleaning up after her. Oh, and don’t forget I have a furbaby that needs me, too!

My second job is wife. Hubby takes care of us. He goes to work every day. He comes home and works on his Master’s Degree. He puts up with my craziness. And he still loves me at the end of the day. I try my hardest to keep the house clean. I try my hardest to put a delicious meal on the table every night. I’m OK with him having his guys weekends, beer brewing nights, and I even let him stay up late and sleep in on the weekends. I’m pretty awesome like that.

Lately I’ve been wearing another hat. Quite often, actually. I’m the new president of my sorority’s alumnae chapter. I’ve been active in my alumnae chapter ever since I graduated from Purdue. When I moved to Ohio I knew no one, but hubby here. I figured the best way to get out and meet some new people was to start with my sorority. After all I already had something in common with these ladies! So here I am, 9 years later (wow, I feel old now) taking over the reigns of the chapter. I attended a conference earlier this summer (remember I made marshmallows for my roommates?) to help start of my term on the right foot. Since then I’ve been trying to learn the ropes and more recently trying to create our newsletter. Um, yeah, it’s just now hit me the responsibility that comes with this office. I’m actually procrastinating working on said newsletter by typing this blog post! I better type quicker so I can get back to it.

I have another hat. One that I don’t wear as often as I’d like. I’m a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts. A new catalog is coming on September 1st, so I’m hoping to get a little busy with it here soon. I like to get out of the house in a non-child related capacity every now and then and this is my way to do it. And I like to feel like I’m helping the family out even if it is just a little bit. I guess I better crank out this blog post, that newsletter, and get planning my new catalog kick off party!

Oh, and I should probably put my crafty hat on and squeeze in a little time to finish Cupcake’s big girl room! All I have left to do is replace the light switch and add some decor on the wall behind the bed. I have a few pieces that I’ve been playing with, but I’m not happy with it. I think baby is sucking the creative juices out of me.

So, yeah, sorry about the rambling, but after having traveled for almost 2 weeks, 3rd trimester exhaustion hitting (probably because I can’t get comfortable sleeping), and “business” I’m feeling the need to put my feet up and watch Breaking Bad (thanks for the new episodes on Instant Watch Netflix!) and talk someone’s ear off. Lucky you!