Year of Creativity February Photo Essay

The theme of the Year of Creativity for February was "Love" so last Friday I took the girls to the Seattle Public Library - Central Branch and we spent hours in the red room exploring the heart of the library. We also went up and down the escalators and played puppets in the children's room. It was exhaustingly fun! 

You can see the entire set here.

Week in Review 2.25.17

This week felt like a whirlwind after my great weekend in San Diego. It just flew by so fast! 

Exercise

I got in 4 workouts this week - three boot camps and one Orange Theory class. I went to the Orange Theory class with my friend, Laurie and I had a great time working out with her. Unfortunately I wasn't enamored with Orange Theory which I've been dying to try for a long time. The looooooong 30 minutes on the treadmill did me in. Even though we were changing inclines and speeds, it was still incredibly boring for me. Also I just love my 45 minute boot camps at Sync. I love them! I'm at 40 workouts for the year. 

Food

I had a pretty good week focusing on healthy foods. In my accountability group, I made some goals for the week which were 1) Journal all my food 2) Drink ALL my water and 3) Eat 5 vegetables a day. I did pretty good on this! Drinking all my water is such a challenge and I started having salads at breakfast to get those veggies in early. 

The Girls

The girls and I continued with The Peaceful Preschool this week. We baked an apple crisp, visited an apple orchard, learned about how apples grow and worked on the letter, "A". 

The girls also had two field trips with their school this week. Maggie and I went to see "The Snowy Day" at the Seattle's Children's Theatre and Molly went to the Wing Luke Museum with her class. I was sad to miss Molly's field trip but I had other obligations that day. 

Other Goings On

I started gardening this week! I started my seeds in my garage, planted peas outside, built pea trellises and picked up some fresh dirt for my garden beds along with two huge pots for more container gardening. I used tips from Amy Pennington for my trellises. I can't wait to really get out there and garden! Spring is coming soon! 

Stories Published

Which Ride is More Booty Shaking? SoulCycle vs. FlyWheel I neglected to share this earlier. I had a ton of fun comparing FlyWheel and SoulCycle. 

The March issue of Seattle's Child is out! 

Travel Help with Bubblebum

I'm lucky to have great little travelers for my kids. I love to go places and they love adventuring! We're a good mix. However sometimes car trips can be challenging due all the stuff that seems to travel with children from special carseats to toys and tablets. I was recently introduced to some fun kid products guaranteed to make travel easier and I'm thrilled to share more about them! 

Full Disclosure! I was lucky enough to be given a few products for testing purposes in exchange for this post. The girls excitedly ripped open the package and immediately wanted to use the BubbleBum Junkie. The BubbleBum Junkie is the perfect way to keep all your kid's entertainment items and snacks organized during road trips or even just jaunts to the store. I know I get tired of things falling all over the car and listening to cries of, "Mom! Can you get my book, kindle, etc?" The kids found the activity trays to be the most delightful feature of the BubbleBum Junkie. I love that you can seatbelt in the BubbleBum Junkie so it doesn't fly around the car if you stop short. It will also hold a tablet so both kids can watch a movie without a fight over who gets to hold the device. 

Over the weekend, Molly tried out the Sneck pillow system in Scott's car. My car still has a 5-point harness for her seat but Scott's car uses a high-back booster which she loves but often complains about the belt cutting into her neck. The Sneck solves this problem and provides a comfortable place for napping in the car! The travel pillow's micro-bead pods are cozy and makes it perfect to take along on car trips, plane rides or even on the train. The Sneck easily attaches to the headrest with a Velcro strap that also has storage for MP3 players or small toys.  

My favorite product has to be the BubbleBum seat! The BubbleBum is the original, inflatable car booster seat for kids aged 4-11, weighing 40-100 lbs. Now that the kids are getting older, traveling with their car seats on planes is a HUGE pain. Also car seats can make travel very limiting in cities when you are dependent on Lyft or Cabs. The BubbleBum solves this issue! Weighing less than one pound, the BubbleBum deflates in minutes and can be stuffed in your bag when not in use. I also love that you could put this in your kid's backpack for after school playdates! 

The BubbleBum won GOLD in the 2014 National Parenting Publications Awards and is a IIHS (Insurance Institute of Highway Safety) “Best Bet” in their booster seat evaluation report, where they’ve branded BubbleBum as one of the best for safety. All of these factors make me excited to use the BubbleBum on our trip to Disneyland next week. Molly told me that she loves the pink design and thinks it is "beautiful". The BubbleBum comes in Pink Chevron and Black. 

Sponsored Post: I was given product in exchange for a review of these products. The 

content and opinions expressed here are my own. 

Take Back Our Lunch Apples! Apple Granola Peanut Butter Wraps and Opal Apples

Sponsored Post: This post is sponsored by Opal® apples 

but the content and opinions expressed here are my own. 

While Molly has been at preschool, I've been lucky enough to have her lunches and snacks covered but with kindergarten starting in the fall, my thoughts have been turning to school lunches. I do my best to provide my kids with healthy, whole food and thinking about packing lunches has slightly stressed me out. I worry about food getting squished and apples turning brown. 

I was excited to learn about Opal® Apples which are Non-GMO Project verified.  These naturally non-browning apples are perfect for the school lunchbox. This means I can cut apples for Molly's lunch without worrying about them browning by lunchtime. Another exciting feature about Opal® Apples is that they are grown in Washington State exclusively by Broetje and Congdon Orchards.

Opal® apples have a beautiful appearance with a crunchy texture and sweet, tangy flavor which pairs well with peanut butter and sweet, crunchy granola! I created these delicious wraps that we've been eating with gusto at lunch and breakfast. I'm definitely adding these to my school lunch recipe file though I'll probably substitute the peanut butter for sun butter and make sure the granola is nut-free. Until then, we'll consume the apples and peanut butter with glee! 

I picked up nearly a case of these apples on my monthly Costco run and we've been eating them like mad. I've been putting the apples, thinly sliced, in our snack bags when we leave the house in the morning. I love that they are still nice and fresh without a tinge of brown when we finally dig into them hours later. 

I'll stop going on about these awesome apples and leave you with an equally awesome lunch wrap. Add dried fruit or chia seeds for extra flavor or mix up the nut butters and granolas but never leave off the Opal® apples. 

Apple Granola Peanut Butter Wraps



by Rebecca Mongrain

Prep Time: 5 minutes




6081000



Ingredients (2 wraps)

Two 10-inch Whole Wheat Tortillas
¼ cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
⅓ cup thinly sliced Opal apples
2 tablespoons granola




Instructions

Take your tortillas and spread each evenly with peanut butter.

Lay thinly sliced Opal apples  evenly, lengthwise, down the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle with granola.

Beginning at one long side, roll the tortillas up.

Cut in half and serve. If serving later, wrap tightly and store in the refrigerator until serving or packing in lunch boxes.


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Sponsored Post: This post is sponsored by Opal® apples 
but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Week in Review 2.18.17

The week before last our house was beset with a horrible flu and cold. We rotated through the sickness and laid about moaning. This week was a lot better but we are still in recovery mode. I've also had a pile up of work but I got back on my workout routine which made me happy. This weekend, I'm spending it in San Diego with my best friend who just had a second baby and another friend who I haven't seen in ages! 

Exercise

I got in 5 workouts this week - four boot camps and one intense cycling class. The week before I barely scraped in four workouts due to sickness. I'm still on target for 217 in 2017. I'm at 36 workouts for the year!

Food

Eating healthy these last two weeks was a constant struggle but I made the best of it. I did some coffee research for work and drank way too much coffee on Thursday. I was literally shaking by the end of the morning. Whew! I did have an amazing drink at Mr. West's Coffee Bar - a Cereal Milk Latte! SO GOOD! 

The Girls

The girls and I started The Peaceful Preschool this week and we are having so much fun! We did salt letters, make glitter glue letters, read some awesome books and learned all about apples and the letter, "A". 

The girls were also busy with school and we had a Lunar New Year celebration the week before. They had a great time watching the dancers even though I was so sick and tired. They are getting anxious for Spring and keep asking when they'll be able to play outside more. They also celebrated Valentine's Day at school and my Valentine's were pretty awesome. 

Other Goings On

I've been busy purging the house of clutter and excess stuff. I donated 12 bags of stuff to the NW Center for the blind last week and gave two bags of children's clothing to a friend. It feels really good to have stuff leaving the house. 

Stories Published

A Comprehensive Guide to the Many Skybridges Across Seattle - I thought this would be a simple story when my editor assigned it to me but I quickly discovered there were way more skybridges in Seattle than I knew about and that capturing good photos of them could be a challenge. I had a great time discovering more about Seattle! 

Project 52 - Week 48

The girls and I went to the coffee shop for some research I was doing. Molly offered to pose for a shot when I mentioned how great the light was. She said I got two shots before her modeling career was over. 

Lunches, Going Minimalist and Skybridges Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

23 Make-Ahead Lunches to Get You Through the Week - I'm focusing on eating really healthy food right now. We've been sick in this house for much to long and I'm throwing everything I can at it which includes healthy, delicious food. These lunches look so good and I love that they are make-ahead, which is always great. Even though I'm home most of the day, I still find lunch to be a hustle.

The Minimalists Have you heard of these guys? I'm going on a trip this weekend so I plan to listen to a few of their podcasts for purging inspiration. I donated 12 bags of clothing and toys to the local charity this week so I'm on a roll! I feel like I've finally broken through the SAVE IT ALL mindset and am ready to clear the decks.

I trained myself to be less busy — and it dramatically improved my life I am terrible at slowing down and yet when I have a schedule that is slower and more open, I am happier. This article is fantastic and has a lot of tips that I'm implementing. How do you slow down?

Writer, Traveler or Mother? This weekend I'm traveling alone and there will be a part of my brain that wants to yell, I'm a MOTHER! I'm alone on this trip. And yet, I think trips alone can be so fulfilling. They recharge me. I'm heading down to San Diego to visit my best friend who just had her second child. My hope is to help her but also to relax some. The best part is that other people's children are so much more relaxing than my children. When I hear, Mom! Mom! MOOOOM! the little voice won't be calling for me. I'll report back on my trip next week.

A Comprehensive Guide to the Many Skybridges Across Seattle My editor recently sent out some story ideas and creating a guide to the skybridges across Seattle was one of them. Honestly, I did not know that we had so many. I did leave some out because I either couldn't find information on them or couldn't get a decent photo. Maggie and I spent a lot of time driving around taking pictures. By the end of the week, she was chirping in with, "Look Momma! SKYBRIDGE!".

Week in Review 2.4.17

Whoosh! This week flew by and I feel like I was dropping balls all over the place. Those be the breaks sometimes though. I had three hours to myself on Friday and I used them to get ahead of myself. 

Exercise

I worked out 5 times this week - 3 boot camp sessions, one barre and one hard cycling class. I've decided to put my ClassPass on hold once this month is up as I'm having a hard time actually using up my 5 classes. I have too many other exercise opportunities. I'm also starting an Accountability Club with Sync Fitness so I'm going to up my boot camp to 4 times a week and fill in the other 1 or 2 workouts with barre3, CorePower or walking. 

Food

I'm working on an article about the Best Latte in Seattle so I've been sipping coffee all over town. This sounds great until you are so hyped up on caffeine that you can't think. Oops! It's been tasty though! 

I put a hold on our organics box this week and made a veggie sauce out of all the vegetables that have been hanging out in my fridge. It's super good and I've been enjoying it on everything all week. 

I'm also working to reduce food waste around here which led me to making banana bread on Wednesday night after swim lessons. We've been feasting on it ever since. 

The Girls

The girls were good this week. I took the above picture on Wednesday in response to a request from the Seattle mayor for everyone to step outside with a light at 7 p.m. and show that all are welcome here. The girls loved it and made them feel included too. They had some extra time at preschool as I had some obligations which they loved, especially Maggie. She loves to nap at preschool even though she doesn't nap at home anymore. She's going to be beyond excited when she gets to do it again next week. Poor Molly ended up sick today so I'm hoping she feels better soon. We're having a quiet day over here. 

Other Goings On

I spent the week making phone calls fighting against the nomination of DeVos and the appointment of Bannon to the NSC. I also gathered my postcards in one central location so I can quickly grab them as needed. 

Image: Territorial Seed Company

The chicken upkeep has been ticking up and they have been getting more free roaming time. I had the hedge around our yard trimmed on Thursday so they've been mad at me ever since. I'm getting excited about adding to the flock in the spring. I also ordered seeds from my garden! I've never done that before so I'm super excited about this next step in my growth as a gardener. I *may* have over ordered though because the excitement is too much. I plan to blog about this later but I'm super excited about the Ketchup-n-Fries plants that I ordered!  They are grafted together tomato and potato plants. I ordered two to arrive in late April. I'm pretty excited! 

Stories Published

There's a One-of-a-Kind Camp and Lodging Experience in Westport This place is going to be awesome and I can't wait to see it this summer. We had such a fun trip to Westport that I want to go again. 

Project 52 - Week 46

I took this because it shows the chaos of my house and it shows what inspires me. 

January Book Report

I dove hard into my goals this month. One of them is to read 52 books this year. I took off a good chunk of that goal by reading 5 books this month and starting a 6th (which I'll be reading all year long). 

The first book I read was A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny. I've long been a fan of Chief Inspector Gamache and this book did not disappoint. The book starts with Chief Inspector Gamache as he takes over charge of the Sûreté academy and continues as all these books do with a mystery to solve. The underlying current of sadness and hope belays Penny's personal dealings as she deals with her husband's dementia and what that means for their life together. I highly recommend starting with Still Life, Penny's first novel and reading through to this, the 12th installment of Gamache.

I'm taking part in Coffee & Crumb's Year of Creativity this year. January was spent on Inspiration and a few books were recommended to us. One was Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I listened to this last year and had to listen to it again. Her words are inspirational and always get me thinking. We listened to part of this on a road trip and even Scott was intrigued. I believe everyone should read this book to open up their lives. 

My next book was The Trespasser by Tana French. I've been reading French's books for years and always get sucked into them. The Trespasser is told from the viewpoint of Murder Detective Antoinette Conway. It starts out slow and honestly could have had about 20% cut but I really dug the story. Her case looks like a simple domestic violence murder but quickly starts to twist and turn before the stunning conclusion. 

Gillian Flynn wrote a short little book called, The Grownup which I devoured in one evening. We were in a hotel and I couldn't read my book due to all the lights being off so our kids could sleep. I, however had The Grownup on my Kindle app and got to reading. This is another thriller (I seem to have had a theme in January) where the tale takes you on a windy road. I'm hoping that Flynn is busy at work on another book because I'm ready for it! 

Stephen King's On Writing was another recommended piece in the Year of Creativity. I've had this book on my bookshelf for a few months so I was more than ready to dive into it. I loved hearing how King's childhood shaped his writer life and made him into who he is today. I also loved reading his advice. It was pretty eye-opening to hear that he edits his pieces just a few times. I always get this impression that writers are editing and re-editing their pieces which is just not my style. I'm a write a crappy first draft, edit and then turn it in kind of writer. 

I heard about the book, Year Between Friends: 3191 Miles Apart by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes in a podcast while we were vacationing in Hawaii last December and quickly put it on my wish list. My best friend saw this and sent it to me for my birthday. The writers said they hoped people would read the book as each month came so that is what I've decided to do. I read January in January and will be reading February in February, etc. I won't be writing about this book every month. The stories across 3191 miles always touch me. They remind me of my other best friend who lived in England when we began writing each other and now resides in Arkansas. This book is my way of keeping both my best friends in my heart and hopefully will inspire me to send them more snail mail. 

Yearly Book Total: 5/52

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means if you buy something from a link, I receive a very small percentage back.