not one for the records

a quick post tonight, cause it's late and i'm tuckered.

i didn't exercise today.  i didn't make a green smoothie.  but i am blogging.  and i did enjoy my kiddos, some shopping at the mall, a fantastic french toast breakfast made by my husband, and a pizza and s'mores dinner date with friends.

today, some things that made me happy...

- watching harper dance around in the mall in her new pink hunter boots.  she was listening to the piano tunes, and had not a care in the world.  her confidence and sparkability are awesome.

-watching crosby explore the fine china section in the mall, and make sneaky eyes at me when she knows she's not supposed to be doing something.

-laughing and enjoying the company of friends from our old street who have moved as well, and seeing our kids pick up right where they left off.  pizza on the deck and bonfire s'mores (for the second night in a row!)...yum.

goodnight all.

promises kept

6th of july.  a day of promises kept.

first thing this morning, i headed out to a cycle class taught by my friend, maria.  i've been wanting to go forever, and we've tried several times, but this time it happened.  and it rocked.  thank you maria for a fantastic class, and for inspiring me on the crest of my cycle teaching journey.

                                                         

next up was a pedicure with harper.  she's been asking for several weeks now, and so today we ventured out for our 3rd annual birthday month pedi.  despite looking bored, she really did enjoy the soaking, the foot scrub, and the paint color choices- one foot blue and one foot green.  she enjoyed it so much so that she napped close to 2 hours between the ride home and the couch.

                          

final promise was our first bonfire s'mores session in our backyard fire pit. since we initially promised on the fourth of july, harper has been asking and asking and asking.  so in between bursts of rain today, we hauled out our bucket filled with chocolate, graham crackers and mallows and roasted up a few.  the fire wasn't the best because the wood was wet, but it fulfilled the promise.  happy girls we had.  and happy sugary bellies.  until the rain sent us running back inside.  happy.

bedhead and zen

we've had a few late nights this past week.  actually, since school ended and summer started and we moved into the new house, our bedtime seems to have been pushed back some.  so our mornings are a bit slow and the girls have been sleeping in a bit.  this little one woke close to 9 am after a very late and rough night of some loud, booming fireworks that scared her just a bit.  she must have had a very restless sleep!



today was another home day.  we were able to finish unpacking boxes in our dining room, making our meal space roomier and complete.  of course, the curtains and paint need to be updated and i'd love a new dining table eventually (with a bench on one side...swoon), but it's workable for now.  i was also able to squeeze in a yoga class, so score for exercise today (i missed the last 2 days).  i have been committing to a weekly power yoga class since january at a close studio that i just adore, but the last month has thrown me off with moving so i haven't been.  i got back into it today, and found the zen and stretching and strength i missed.  i actually was so relaxed that i caught myself falling asleep during the last 5 minute corpse pose.  that cued me into the fact that my body is quite exhausted, so when i got home, i announced lunch and a family nap.  no one argued.  the girls slept for 3 whole hours, and michael and i both napped for a good hour before getting up and finishing a few more things around the house while the girls still snoozed.

we ended the day with dinner and a downtown summer festival with friends.  we tried a yummy new restaurant (not new, but new to us), danced and ran to music in the park, and sugared up with ice cream and cotton candy.

smoothie- check.  exercise- check.  blog post- check.  i'm 5 for 5 on 2 of those, and 3 for 5 on the exercise.  i'm off tomorrow morning to a spin class with a dear friend to get some motivation and inspiration.  i received my spinning certification 2 weeks ago, and am preparing to teach my first team-taught class at my favorite local studio, so maria will be giving me some tips on how to set up a class and motivate participants.  i'm a bit nervous about teaching my own class, but also pretty excited.

off to bed i go!

happy fourth

                                            

today, we spent the day in the sunshine, swimming in our deck pool, mowing the expansive lawn (that took michael 2 hours on a tractor to do only the backyard...it's a work in progress), seeing despicable me 2 in the theatre, and hosting a family bbq with fireworks.  pretty full, and pretty awesome.

red velvet pancakes and a green smoothie...yum.

ended the day with strawberry pie, vanilla ice cream and all-american zoku bomb pops.  and a few fireworks shows that we didn't have to travel anywhere to enjoy.



hope your fourth was happy!

house tour...the kitchen

hey there.



it's day 3, and it's 10:30 pm and i'm blogging from my bed while harper chats next to me.  she can't sleep because the fireworks are booming like mad all around us.  and the coolest part is that we can see them from our new master bedroom windows.  we were going to try and make it to a park for fireworks tonight, but they're just so late with  young kids, but this deal worked even better.  we picked a pretty cool place to live.  so, i digress.  and i feel like i'm going to digress a whole bunch in this post.  stream of consciousness and all.  that's how i typically roll anyways.

it's day 3 and i accomplished two-and-a-half-thirds of my july challenge today.  smoothie, check.  blog, check.  exercise, half-check.  i didn't make it to a class or a run, but i did vacuum and cook up a storm in the kitchen, so i'd say that counts.

speaking of kitchen, i decided to give you a little glimpse into our new home.  today's glimpse is the kitchen.  this was the first room to be completely organized, thanks in major part to my mama's help, and one of the few without any boxes still left sitting.  and i worked hours on the details.  rearranging, setting up the cookbooks just right, figuring out the best place for the coffee pot.

and so it begins.



i love love love glass jars and chalkboard labels.  i think i may chalkboard label everything in the kitchen by the time i'm done.  and ball jars are a new addiction, especially the vintage blue ones my sister gave me as a housewarming gift.  she knows me so well.  they are the perfect vessel for my new and improved iced coffee.  you see, as of july 1, i've retired my favored amaretto creamer.  i still loved it, but was tired of the chemicals i was certain i was putting into my body on a daily basis.  i still doctor up my grounds, but this time, i've been trying almond milk, organic half-n-half, coconut palm sugar and agave nectar and trying to see what i like.  it's a work in progress, but i'm bound to make it stick this time.  sayonara amaretto.  july is my month.



we move on to the white cabinets, still in need of hardware changes, but finding knobs and pulls i like is like finding a needle in a haystack, and the new stainless steel double oven gas range and french door fridge.  i truly died and went to kitchenaid heaven.  they are dreamy.



off of our kitchen is our laundry/mud room, perfect for a daily load of laundry.  i love not having to walk down the basement to check the laundry.



there used to be a wooden wine rack on the top shelf, but that was removed to make way for my cookbooks that used to be kept in the dining room at the old house.  love having them in the kitchen for easy reach much more.

oh again with those jars and labels and ball jars for my paper straw addiction!



this little magic was inspired by my friend, maria, who is the queen of all things organized and a fellow neat freak.  she seriously has her stuff together and i am always in awe.  so instead of magnets on the front of the fridge, she put up a piece of steel and uses it at her house as her daily inspiration and go-to board.  i loved it when i saw it at her home, and low and behold, we have a similar area in our kitchen.  so off to the steel warehouse i went to get a piece of steel cut and mitered.  it fits great, and i love it.



what's missing is a kitchen table in our bay window, and it is set to be delivered early next week so when that arrives, i will share it here.

so there you have it, a brief glimpse into the room we spend 78% of our day in it seems.  harper has been mixing up spice soup concoctions on a daily basis; pouring, stirring, a pinch here and a dash there.   dried onion-chocolate chip-parsley-sprinkle-oregano-salty-sugary concoctions that no one can eat.  but she's not harming anything, and she's independently growing her kitchen skills, so i encourage it.  as well as the clean up afterwards.



and look at this...the deck just off our kitchen recently went through a pool installation.



we enjoyed today shared between the deck and the kitchen.  and it was a fabulous day.

the fireworks outside my window have ended, and my eyes are heavy.  til tomorrow.

moving right along

it's day 2, and i'm 2 for 2.  i've drank up my green smoothie both days, although today's concoction was not a favorite...lime, avocado, kiwi, kale and coconut water.  (i'm thinking i don't really care for whole citrus in my blends.)  i'm blogging tonight, albeit very late, to get at least something on screen.  and i've gone out in our new neighborhood for the second night tonight.  last night, i took max for a mile long walk, which is way longer than he's done in a long time.  poor guy has been pretty neglected, but he is showing more signs of arthritis in his knees, and tempered walks will really help.  tonight, i took the same path as with max, but i ran it.  and i ran it the fastest i have ever run 1.3 miles.  it felt good.  this neighborhood reminds me of the one i grew up in.  lots of homes on big spaces of land, no sidewalks, but wide paved roads to run and walk on, friendly people out walking dogs, watering lawns, taking out the garbage.  it feels like home to me.

and speaking of, here are a few recent pictures from our move.  this was the box and trailer phase.  boxes filled every nook and cranny of our home, before they were loaded onto the trailer and driven to the new home's garage to be stored until closing day.  the sellers so graciously allowed us to store our belongings here, saving us a whole lot of hassle and time that would have been spent in a storage unit.

               

                                                

more pictures to come.  but, here's to day 2!

the july project

it’s july 1, we’re in our new house, and i have seriously been blog slacking.  so i’m making a commitment to this month, a huge one.  it involves 3 daily steps that are going to be tough, but i need to do.  i’m outlining it here, so i verbally commit myself to it out loud and in public.  i have a very good friend, maria, who has done an annual happiness project since 2012, and i find her inspirational to making small goals for yourself.  when i have a huge to-do list, it’s difficult to take the first step to accomplish much, but with smaller goals, it gets done .  and by making these goals, i hope that by july 31, they will become more routine.

• green smoothie challenge- i completed the simple green smoothie challenge in april, and found it so worthwhile, i signed up again.  it’s an easy way to fit in more fruits and veggies, and 99% of the recipes are so delicious.  i found the best way for me was to have a green smoothie for breakfast, as it set the tone for the rest of my day, and michael joined in as well.  toward the end of the month, he was asking if i was making smoothies each morning.  we both began to crave them!  you can find more information at www.simplegreensmoothies.com.
• daily blog- i have missed this space and sharing my thoughts, and realize that my memories are right now in my head, but they need to be penned for my girls.  i am also seriously lacking in my digital scrapbooking, but i think i’m saving that for august.  so expect some type of daily post, whether it be long with photos or a quick note of what we’re doing, and a back log of what has already happened, including a dance recital, a 2^nd birthday (um, about 3 months ago!), a farewell to preschool, and a big move!
• daily exercise- i have agreed with a friend to a 31 day daily exercise routine, whether it’s a full spin or yoga class, a quick 10 minute jog, a walk with the kids, or a kickbox video at home, i will make a sweat daily. 

i’d love to hear your comments if you make daily or monthly or annual commitments to yourself.  here’s to a happy july!