A lovely summer week :)

Well, this has been quite a lovely week.  Lots of sun and lots of fun!

I'm going to make this a quickie- just wanted to share a few things...

First- went blueberry picking last Saturday at North Star Orchards.  One of my FAVE places to visit with the kids.  Great in the summer and great in the fall!  It was rather hot, so we picked as many blueberries as we could stand (10 minutes worth) and went in the shop to get some produce and mini half-moons.  Their blueberries are deelish.  Their iced blueberry cookies are crack.  I look forward to going again real soon, especially since there were still plenty of unripe blueberries on the bushes, so we really had to use a discerning eye to pick out nice dark ripe ones.

Ohhh I digress for a sec- they sell this yogurt there that is out of this world!  It's high protein (11g... not really sure what that means lol but I guess that's a lot!), it's a totally different consistency than regular yogurt or greek yogurt... it's more... custardy??  I don't know.  You can stir it all you want, and it's not going to get smooth or homogenous like regular yogurt.  I'm sure I'm making this sound horrible.  But it's ahmaazing.  I had it after I worked out this morning (that's another story!).

If you are anything like me, you always have a few boxes of cake mixes in the house.  I may not have the essentials to make a cake (oil, eggs, whatever nonsense goes into a cake), but i usually have a box on hand haha!  So I thought... what if I just put a ton of blueberries in a yellow cake.....  I reduced the water to 1/3 instead of 1 cup (used duncan hines yellow cake mix) and voila, it was a healthy/unhealthy snack.  No icing, no nothing.. it basically tasted like a moist muffin.  It was gone within 3 days, probably mostly by me.  (Yes I am aware that this is a completely unoriginal idea that no one will find inspiring.)  Tons of blueberries, not too sweet, yeah it was great.

Second, I finally completed a craft I've been eyeing for a while.  Well, it's not totally complete, one last thing I need to add- a big letter T.  I made a burlap wreath for my front door!  Took a few tries, but once I got the hang of it, it was so easy, so fun, something I could see myself do a zillion more times to make themed wreaths for holidays or gifts!

The materials...  (not including the big letter T)

The mostly-finished product!  I feel like I took this pic at a weird angle... you can trust me, it is a work of ART in person!  haha.

OK, so, how to make this:  obviously you could fill up a board with just burlap wreath tutorials.  I originally tried just using this cute little website:  http://www.thetallytales.com/2014/02/the-secret-to-making-fluffy-burlap.html.  That resulted in mega-frustration because I couldn't "get it."   So then I took to youtube...  And I found a couple great tutorials-  This one was the main one I watched over and over, kept re-watching it:

(I am squealing because I just embedded a video.  I am soo tech savvy!!!!  Look at me!!!!!!)

But yeah, basically you just sort of awkwardly make 3 unsecured loops (one through each wire), then twist the burlap once (the twist appears to be the major thing to remember), then repeat until you're done.  You basically tie it to the wire frame twice; once when you start, once at the end (I guess 3 times if you have to use more than one roll of burlap ribbon, like me.)  It's super awkward until you get the hang of it, then you realize it's silly-easy.  ONE MAJOR THING TO KNOW- this is an outside job.  The jute goes everywhere, including your brown capri leggings.

This other lady ROCKS and broke it down really slowly, and made you feel so comfortable when you're ready to set the freakin burlap on fire because you're losing your mind:

I'm definitely going to check out her YouTube channel.

Now, I mentioned before that I worked out this morning...  I have never been consistent with working out, 4 days on, 3 days off, 2 days on, 3 months off... you got it.  But I am very interested and always feel better inside and out when I do.  Well, I finally tried out Results Matter with Erin... decided last minute to go this morning at 5:30am for Turbo.  Had no idea what Turbo was even, other than it sounded fast and terrible.  It was pretty much awesome, I felt great, it was a good amount of hard but not discouragingly so, and I was in a great mood all day and I can only attribute it that class!  I don't have a great track record with working out BUT I could totally see myself going back.  I highly recommend!

A few other highlights from a great week:

 Andrew LOVES watermelon (and corn on the cob)!

Don't you HATE it when that happens!!!  Makes me lose my mind when I do that.  Happens like twice a year.

We caught butterflies (unsuccessful) and sold lemonade (successful) during Andrew's nap!

ermergerd btw do you totes love my new blog background????   Found it here http://thecutestblogontheblock.com!!!  

ok ok ok ok ok on more PS- KRISTEN CHENOWETH IS KILLING HER SOLO IN DISNEY'S DESCENDENTS!!!  When are they going to give her a starring role in a feature film???  I am soooooo in love with her voice!

Hey dudes/dudettes!

It is indeed summertime!!!  It's actually about halfway through.  Needs to slow the eff down.

Again, it's been a lifetime since my last post.  Sigh.  I love working on the blog, and I think throughout the day, TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!  I'm so writing after bedtime!  And then I never do.  I am so cooked by 9:15, gah.  But, here we are.  And it's super fun writing this blog with the gif just going to town above my text.  Will Smith is so awesome.  Hasn't really aged at all either.  

But I'm not here to talk about THAT.

First, just want to say how awesome it is that people have commented on my blog in a positive way, even said omg why haven't you written more??  It is very baring, and I feel like I'm opening myself to a new world of embarrassment, and I've already got plenty of embarrassment in the non-tech world.  I might embarrass myself more than I don't embarrass myself. Whatevs, long hair don't care.

OK, let's see, in the finite amount of time I have to do this, I'll just share some of my current obsessions.

Besides that GIF of Will Smith dancing.

Ok, I'm moving on now, I promise.  

Loving 2 newish shops in the village of New Hartford- The Topping Tree and Linsey Layne.  So much damage to be done there.  The Topping Tree is a hair accessory shop, and I want everything in their store.  They just had their grand opening this week, unfortunately I wasn't able to go (didn't think everyone would appreciate me bringing 3 uninterested children).  But, it's not going anywhere, and I plan on treating myself on occasion!  Lindsey Layne is right next door, and I think everyone in my local world is aware of the amazeballs of this little boutique, but if you don't, check 'em out on Facebook and in the store!  Perfect afternoon or evening:  lunch at Georgio's, shopping at The Topping Tree and Linsey Layne.  Or, for people with 3 uninterested children, you can always shop online :)

Speaking of shopping online, I like everyone else loves shopping online.  I think I've told everyone I know, but I use subscription services through Amazon and Target, and I looooove it.  I never buy paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, diapers, etc. etc. etc. in the store, I just have it shipped to my house, so when I go shopping in store, I don't have to buy these big big items that take up way too much real estate in my cart.  Thousands upon thousands of items to choose from, with various lengths of subscriptions (monthly, 6 weeks, 3 months, etc.).  So, just in case you hadn't heard of subscriptions, there you go.  Hopefully that was the lamest part of this blog.

OK, another big thing I'm into are these books; I think they might qualify as self-help LOL.  One I've already written about in my blog, Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford.  It is totally speaking to me at this time.  I'm not even done reading it, I am reading it very slowly so I can reflect and apply some of the thoughts in the book.  It's a book that relaxes me and gives me something to think about and work on.  Also, I recently bought some parenting books.  You know, it's a funny thing, the shame that comes with buying parenting books.  I would tote it around and often lay it upside down so people wouldn't see the cover and think things about me.  But you know, why wouldn't I read parenting books!  The more I thought about it, I have (mostly) changed to feeling proud that I would actually research new techniques on the most important and challenging endeavor of my life- parenting!  (admission:  I care way too much what other people think about me)  In late May, when my mind was quickly unraveling over the stresses of work and parenting, I decided to look into techniques for disciplining our middle child, in particular.  I had yelled enough times, and I do not want to be a yeller.  So, I went on amazon, found some appealing books, and ordered enough to get free shipping (I HATE paying for shipping.  Hell no.)  So I bought these:

Now, I've read about 2/3 of Peaceful Parent, Happy Child.  Love it.  It's more on the theory side of things, but has some practical strategies in there as well.  It's a good mix of "here's the psychology/biology behind why" and "how to parent best."  I'm also trying to read slowly and absorb.    It's geared towards parenting children ages 0-7, so jump on it if you find yourself struggling with young children.  

Orange rhino is more of a 30 day challenge to not yell.  It's written by a non-writer such as myself haha, it's very cute and has some great quick strategies to parent better.  It's visually very appealing and the pages are smooth!  (haha!)  The thought of the orange rhino is to remain a warm, calm person and avoid being a regular rhino mom that will charge when provoked (aka scream at your kids like a lunatic when they piss you off).  Another one I highly recommend.  I haven't read it cover to cover, but what I have read, I love!

Haven't gotten to the siblings book.  Mostly bought it to save on shipping (my husband would call that "female reasoning" LOL).  I'm looking forward to getting to it and I have no doubt I'll find great things in there.

I will be honest and say I still feel a little bare by telling the world that I bought these books, but I keep telling myself that doing some reading to give me some new strategies is only a good thing and I  am not too proud to work toward improvement!  Hopefully, by sharing I can help someone else who is feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do or where to look.

OK, I think I'll leave it here, but I have a small request.  If you have any advice for my blog, please let me know!  I know it is a bit of wishful thinking to think I'll get back into doing this regularly (or, actually do this regularly lol) but if you have any ideas as to what I should write about, etc., let me know!  I think for one, I am going to try to stick to specific topics for each entry; narrowing the breadth of what I get into.  I feel so vulnerable by writing a blog, I am aware it's fairly terrible, but I do enjoy tinkering with it.  Thanks for reading!  Hope you were at least mildly amused by the GIFs.

This chick's the best.  

Wait!!!  Ermergerd one more thing.  My husband is obsessed with all things Apple computer, and this is totes old news but we just watched it again the other night.  Hilarious!

Bill Hader WWDC 2015