New Friend Friday

Another Friday which is bitter sweet.  I'm glad it's the weekend, but every Friday means I am one more week closer to going back to work.  I have three weeks until school starts and that awful feeling in my stomach is starting to form. I just need to enjoy these last few weeks of summer break and be happy I have this time off with Jack and Lenny.

Enjoy your weekend, and be sure to check out my giveaway below for a custom camera strap! 

Participating in New Friend Friday and Five Question Friday


1. Did you have a favorite blanket or toy as a kid? If so, do you still have it?
Yes, I had a favorite blankie for so long my mom finally told me she "accidently" gave it to good will.  I cried for days.  I found it in her dresser drawer when I was in college.  I loved that blankie!


2. Do you dream in color?
Yes, every time.
3. How tall are you? Do you wish you were shorter or taller?
I am 5-6, I wish I was a bit taller.

4. If you could have anyone's (celeb or other) voice as the guide on your GPS, who would it be?
Trace Adkins.  Very sexy.


5. Do you return your shopping cart to the corral or leave it wherever in the parking lot?
I always return them, otherwise I feel like people will say "oh look at that lazy girl, she can't even put her shopping cart away!"

A Fabulous Giveaway!

As some of you may know, we recently bought a new camera.  I LOVE it.  I don't know how we took pictures without it.  What I am not too happy about it the strap.  Not very comfortable and also not the most stylish. 

Along came Jennifer at the Broward Patch on Etsy. She sent me a custom made strap from her shop; all I told her is I wanted something that is not too girly for my husband as well.  She sent me the perfect strap!

These straps are soooo soft because they are made from cotton and they are padded all the way around, so they are way more comfortable than the strap that came with the camera. Most of all, the designs are super cute! Anyone who has a camera should have one of these!  Jen is a stay at home mom, and LOVES custom orders!

Don't I look so stylish wearing it!?!?!

Jen is offering one of my readers a custom camera strap! And  if you don’t have a big camera, she also makes smaller digital camera straps, too!!

Official Entry: (Required)

Please visit Broward Patch on Etsy, and comment on which strap you would choose if you won!

Bonus Entry (after required entry)
1. Follow Jennifer's Blog at http://browardpatch.blogspot.com/
2. Follow my blog (if you do just tell me)

**Contest will end Sunday August 7, at 11:59pm. Winner will be choosen using random.org!
Good Luck!

A 9 month old wordless wednesday

First of all I have a winner for the Pear Tree Greetings cards.  With only 12 entries, Jayda won!  Congrats, I will be emailing you! 

I don't know if I mentioned this, but Jack just turned 9 months.  I CAN'T BELIVE IT! Nine months!!!! Where did time go?  So of course I did my usual monthly photo, although this month was more difficult because Jack would not sit still, he wants to crawl ALL THE TIME.

So here are some of my pictures of my 20 lb. 12 oz., 28 1/2 inch guy,  from our 9 month photo session.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!

So our internet has been down all weekend.  We had an awful storm Friday night and we just FINALLY got it back working, after days of being on the phone.  So I am back, I am sorry about Meetup Monday, but I think it is best to put it on hold for a while since I am having such a sad, low turnout.  : (.

Anyways I am happy to be up and running and looking forward to a giveaway later in the week!

But now for today.  Today was one of those days.

One of those days where you feel like you are THIS close to losing it.  I usually am VERY calm and cool on those days, but today was bad.  Jack was in an AWFUL mood, he was whiny and screaming all day.  I don't know why, and nothing I could do would calm him down.  Lenny was on a barking rampage all day and he woke Jack up twice from his nap. 

I was on the phone with the phone company all day trying to fix the internet and the house was a mess.
I lost it.  Once Jack finally went down for a nap I sat and cried.  I haven't cried that like in a very long time.  It felt good to get it out. 

So once Jack got up I got everyone together and we did what would make anyone happy.....we went swinging. 

For some reason, swinging makes me feel great.  Maybe because I loved it when I was little, but I love it.  It released all my stress and made all of us a lot happier.

Even Lenny felt better just by watching us swing!

So I had a bad day. Being a "new" mom is hard sometimes.  Life is hard sometimes. There will probably be many more bad days ahead for us. But at the end of it all, that's all it is...a bad day.  Tomorrow will come and I can start my day all over.  And we will make it good, because we have each other.

Surprise!

 My husband and I always love a good meal.  A few weeks ago I received an invitation to attend an appreciation dinner at Ben Pao, in Chicago which has amazing Chinese food and is one of our favorite places. General Mills and MyBlogSpark sponsored the event as a thank-you to their bloggers who've posted giveaways of General Mills products. The dinner was free, and I received a $50 MasterCard gift card to cover gas and parking in the city, providing a truly "free" night out.


So last Thursday, my husband and I went to Ben Pao.  The restaurant was even closed for this dinner!
We were served four courses.  Soup, appetizers, entree and desserts.  I choose Beef and Broccoli and my husband choose Kung Pao.  The food was amazing, like always, and we were STUFFED!

Throughout the meal, a camera crew roamed the restaurant asking the guests about their blogs and their thoughts on the meals. Little did I know there was a "catch" to this dinner.

When we finished our meals, our server brought each of us fortune cookies, and the cameraman returned to the table to ask if he could film us opening the cookies.
This is what was in the cookies.

We laughed SO hard, we were shocked.  We would never have guessed that we had been eating frozen Chinese food available at the grocery store! The soup, appetizer platter and desserts were actually Ben Pao's own restaurant food, but the entrees were bagged, frozen meals from Wanchai Ferry.

The camera men were filming a commercial for Wanchai Ferry!  We had a great night because of   MyBlogSpark, Ben Pao and Wanchai Ferry!

Hot Hot Hot! And welcome new friends!

It's hot here.  Very hot.  Because of this we have been stuck inside alot.  Going outside would mean we would be a big sweaty mess after 2 minutes.  

This means we are stuck inside most of the day.  Which also means I am starting to work on our photo wall.  I have no idea where to begin or what pictures to choose.  Do any of you have a photo wall?  How do you choose which pictures to use?  Where do you get your frames?  Do you have a theme?  I could use some help.

To all my new friends, hello, and welcome! 


 I hope you all have a great weekend!  We have ABSOLUTELY no plans, which is music to my ears.  This means a weekend of grililng, pools and relaxing.  The summer is quickly passing by, so enjoy it!

Wordless Wednesday

Every morning at 6:20 am, Choo Choo Soul comes on The Disney Channel.  They sing one song.  Jack stops whatever he is doing, sits and is frozen like a statue for 3 minutes.

Just a little list...

....of some things I'm loving right now.

1. Grande Mochas from Starbucks.

2. Morning walks.

3. Fresh basil in my backyard

4. Hugs

5. The fact that I started this blog to keep track of my life.

6. Celebrating my Grandpa's 97th  birthday Sunday.

7. Complementing people

8.  Anything chocolcate chip

9.  When my husband calls "just to say hi"

10.  Having drinks and dinner outside.

11.  Going to a Cubs game.

12. This little guy.

12. And this one too.

What are some things you're loving right now?

Enjoy your Tuesday....summer is flying by!

Meetup Monday and a Pear Tree Greetings Giveaway!

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. It was HOT here.  Hot enough that I wished for fall for a few minutes.  Just a few minutes.  Now that the weekend is over, join Meetup Monday, and enter this great giveaway I have!


First the giveaway!!!

With all the texting, blogging, facebooking, and emailing that we do, handwritten notes seem to be a rare thing.  I love handwritten notes.  I have a drawer at home full of old Birthday, Christmas and Valentines Day cards as well as notes that were special to me throughout the years. 
There is something special about hand written notes.  Not only is it extremely personal, but it's a great feeling when you send someone a handwritten note.

To honor these special moments, Pear Tree Greetings is giving one of my readers a free set of personalized note cards (up to 16 cards) from their new collection! Shipping is included!

I LOVE these:

   

Mandatory Entry:

Comment on someone you would like to send a handwritten note to and why.

Extra Entries:
1. Follow me (if you do tell me)
2. Join Meetup Monday

Please leave your email address with at least one of your entries. Contest ends July 26th at 11:59pm, and winner will be choosen via Random.org. Good Luck!


Now for Meetup Monday

<a href="http://www.justanothermomday.blogspot.com"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i219/agrip76/coffee.jpg" /></a>

1. Add a link to your main blog (or most current post)

2. Leave a comment on the two blogs above your name in the list.

3. Visit as many blogs as you can and leave comments and follow if you like.


So please, grab my button, grab an extra large coffee, and I hope your Monday goes by quickly!

Because I want to....

Today is a busy day.  We are going to the pool, grocery shopping and to a 1st birthday party.  It's also 90,000 degrees outside which makes me crabby.  But to brighten my day and your weekend, I decided to put some picures of Jack in the post... just because.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

<center><a href="http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="New Friend Fridays" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/4731192098_60e98411a4_o.jpg" /></a></center>

Welcome new friends and old.  I decided to join Five Question Friday's this week so that you can all get to know me a little better.  I hope you all have fun plans for the weekend. Jack has his frist "date" today at the pool with a mom a just met a few weeks ago.  I'm excited!

Please come back and join my "Meetup Monday" (the link will be up this time).  Have a great weekend!

1. Do you collect anything?

I used to collect Disney snow globes.  But now I really don't collect anything.  Maybe wine corks!

 

2. Name 3 celebrities that you find good looking.

To be honest I don't find many celebrities good looking.  I do think these guys are quite cute and I am putting their character names...McDreamy, the dad from Friday Night Lights, and Jude Law

 

3. Do you have any scars? If so, what's the story behind it (them?)?

No not one scar. I am pretty lucky.

4. What is a food that you like to eat, but others might think it's gross or weird?

Peanut butter and banana sammys.  I don't really eat any other strange food.

 

5. Have you ever seen a tornado in real life?

There was one "tornado" in Chicago two years ago.  We were at the Cubs game.  It was crazy and scary. 

Working Mom Meals...Blueberry Edition..

So we have 17 pound of blueberries.  They are everywhere.  I am wondering if it is possible to turn blue like Violet on Willy Wonka.  So along with eating some, freezing some and giving Jack and Lenny bowls of them, I decided to make a few blueberry desserts.   This is one of them.  They are super simple and they are best served chilled. 

A perfect summer treat.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Crumble Bars  (recipe from Smitten Kitten)

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares.

I would love to hear some of your favorite blueberry recipes! I have about 15 more pounds to bake!!

Wordless Wednesday

There's no place like home...

So we had our first time away from Jack in Michigan.  We had a great time.  We slept in both days.  We went to wineries, and to the beach and had a good time with friends.  We went blueberry picking and relaxed.  But there was nothing better than coming home to a smiling little guy and a tail wagging dog.

I told my husband this was the last time away from Jack that we will have for a while.