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life update

March 24, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Since Remy Bea was born (you know… TWO months ago), life has been a roller coaster, which I’ve talked about. Extensively. Like, extensively. And this here blog has suffered the wrath of long days and nights… By the time I have a few moments to myself to sit down at my computer, I just stare at a blank screen — sometimes for an hour or more — just trying to put words into sentences. But I promise — we have actually had a life over these last 8 weeks — we have actually had fun!

Lavish Salon + Cleats // Fundraisers For My Cousin

My cousin’s 9-year old daughter has been hospitalized for over 7 months now, awaiting surgery to have her pancreas completely removed. Friends of hers arranged two benefit fundraisers for the family and their expenses.

The first fundraiser was at Lavish Color Salon on Valentine’s Day. 100% of the proceeds + tips went directly to my cousin and her family. Haircuts, makeup, nail polish changes, basket raffles, and pictures with Elsa + Olaf were aplenty!

Ari l-o-v-e-d Elsa! At first he was a bit standoffish; but after he warmed up to her, he literally chased her around the salon.

The second fundraiser was at Cleats Restaurant in Chardon. They shut down the restaurant because the turnout was so huge! It was packed! It was wonderful to see such a great turnout for such a wonderful cause! And it happened to be such an amazingly beautiful day.

NOTE: Just before I went to post this I noticed that Gia was featured in a video from The Today Show!

Therapy dogs bring joy, happiness back to kids at children’s h…“Gia had been so sick every single minute of the day. Months and months went by with us not seeing a smile on her face or joy in her eyes, and the first experience of seeing our little Gia back was when she and Drummer got together.”

Posted by Today Show on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

{if you feel so inclined to donate, or just to read the story of Gia, please go here.}

The Akron Art Museum // Tots Create

It’s no secret that I freaking love the Akron Art Museum. It’s a wonderful asset to our community (no, I’m not [yet] a member and have literally zero skin in this game). Their Free Thursdays are the bomb dot com. But they also host amazeballs events, including Creative play dates for tots!

This is me: “You mean my kid can make a mess at YOUR place and I don’t have to freak?? DEAL.”

In the last month we’ve gone to two Tots Create events with Ari’s friend Veronique (and her mom, Betül). He has had so much fun — and released so much creative energy!

The Library // Story Time + Cooking Demos

Sigh – the library! Such a hidden gem! Our childrens section of our library here in Cuyahoga Falls has just gone through a major renovation. It is amazing! Ari loves the ‘puters [aka computers], which are kid-friendly in their bright colors and fun mouse! I’m impressed at how easily Ari has caught on to using a computer!

In addition to the computers, he has absolutely loved story time. Story time, at this age, consists of a ‘warm up’ song to get them singing and moving, before settling in for a series of short stories. It’s wonderful and engaging!

Another local library does other events like cooking demonstrations! Chad has taken Ari to a couple of these demos and events! I’m not certain if Ari has taken much away from it (I’ve not gone with them — Mama needs a break once in awhile!), but it’s awesome that these are offered, nonetheless!

The Parks // SOAR + More

I’m not certain if I’ve mentioned this before [though I’m certain I have at one point in my blogs life…], but we have a park in our backyard. Literally. Behind our property line is a park, complete with a toddler wading pool + playground! Unfortunately the playground is a bit out of Ari’s league at this point. It’s a ‘bigger kids’ type of playground.

But about 10 minutes from where we live is SOAR — an amazing wheelchair accessible playground, which happens to also be equally accessible to kids of all ages! Ari loves it — and I love it! Win-win!

We’re so grateful to have had a few really nice days to get outta the house and enjoy some sunshine!

Arts + Crafts // Creativity at Home

Not only have we had several playdates with friends + their kids over the last 6 weeks, but we’ve also managed to get in our share of crafts at home! Much in part to some help from Mimi, Ari has gotten all kindsa crafty!

I, on the other hand, prefer (at this point, at least) to use the Target easy-‘assembly’ craft-type things. Easier. Less-messy. More mom-of-a-newborn friendly. 😛

SO MUCH MORE //

We’ve been hitting up places like Cafe O’Play, The Lego Store, and local coffee shops with friends to pass the time. As hard as the days are, it oftentimes helps to have a ‘change of scenery’ — for all of us!

Mama’s Night Out // Paint Nite + CIFF Preview Party

I’ve had one semi-successful “night out” without Remy Bea. I went to a Paint Nite event with a dear friend. It’s, like, my 10th paint + wine night in the last 3 years. The one I recently went to was…. disappointing, to say the least. But I did get out for a night and get creative!

My first painting for Miss Remy Bea. ?? #latergram #paintnite #akron #RemyBea

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on Mar 23, 2016 at 6:51am PDT

I also had the chance to attend the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) preview party at the Akron Civic Theatre!

I will never get tired of this view. @akroncivic #ciff40 #akroncivic #wksu #ciff

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on Mar 16, 2016 at 3:24pm PDT

I actually brought Remy Bea with me to this event. Not only did I see previews for a ton of movies I want to see, but Remy Bea was a huge hit with the crowd!

So yeah… life has been every emotion under the sun: Fun. Exhausting. Creative. Hilarious. So exciting. Miserable. And mostly just oh so full of life! ♥ I may be exhausted, friends; but my heart is happy.

farewell 2015

December 31, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Looking back on my photos from 2015 (because, let’s face it — that’s the easiest + quickest way to glance back), it’s clear that my year was comprised of the following:

Moosh playing. At parks, at Cafe O’Play, at home, etc. We definitely had no shortage of playing in 2015!
Cooking. Me cooking, specifically. Which had previously been unheard of! So no wonder I documented it. Oh, much, much more cooking to come in 2016!
Spending time with family. Moosh, Chad, my parents, my sister, Chad’s family, my aunts… It’s been a wild ride, surrounded by those I love! ♥

And so I’ll leave you with this:

[youtube=https://youtu.be/AcjpT80clYc]Happy New Year, friends. Let’s send 2015 out with a bang — or in our case, bed at 10PM and PJs before 5PM! Ha! xo

our 3rd anniversary //

April 21, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I’m keeping it short and sweet today. It’s our THIRD wedding anniversary! That’s right… on this day three years ago we were getting couples massages at the Inn By The Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine — just outside of Portland. I had my hair and makeup done, and we met our photographer (who would act as our witness) for the first time.

It’s amazing that three years later we have a 2.5 year old Moosh; a photographer that we keep in regular contact with (and who will do our family pictures AGAIN this Summer); and 1,095 days of memories!

And yet again, I’m sharing our wedding video…. Enjoy. Or don’t! 🙂 But I will!

[youtube=https://youtu.be/udamT5uRudw]

summer. sickness. and this KID. #MOOSH

August 6, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

When your son has been sick with a summer cold, when you have been sick with something unmentionable, and when your husband is running a 100+ degree temperature… you just survive. Survive, ya’ll!!

Because what in the world would summer be without one serious illness, am I right?? Sigh. My poor husband. My poor Moosh!

Sidenote: This kid managed to be adorable even when he was feeling sick. He can sing Katy Perry Roar like a champ. Well, an under 2-year old, singing Katy Perry is the bomb dot com regardless of how it actually sounds. But this kid?? Adorable.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFz43ythKjo]

Love, love, love this kid.

weekend highlights //

March 6, 2014 by Rachel 1 Comment

It’s a little late, but here are scenes from the weekend …

Ari is talking (gibberish) non-stop:

We ate a late lunch, complete with tea (and crayons — cause that’s what happens when you lunch with a 16-month old):

I officially started to crave Spring weather & Spring clothes:

I spent a good amount of time snuggling my happy baby:

Our weekend may seem boring to most people, but it was totally perfect for us. 🙂

How We #TurnItGreen & Keep It Green in Our House!

January 17, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to Repreve, the company that uses recycled plastics and turns it into fibers for fabrics used in tons of awesome products like The North Face Denali jacket, Patagonia fleece products, and Ford uses the recycled fibers in their seats!

Buying products like this isn’t the only way we Turn It Green in our house. I’ve mentioned before that we’re a bit crunchy-granola in our house! Ha!!

We take the #TurnItGreen theme to a bit of an extreme in our house. Here are some ways we achieve this:

We eat almost entirely local and/or organic. It’s difficult to find both, but we tend to lean more towards local. It’s hard (and expensive) for small farmers to get USDA certified as organic, but most of the organic farmers we buy from farm without the use of harmful pesticides. And truthfully? I feel better eating bacon and hamburgers that I am confident are from hormone + antibiotic-free animals. :)Even when we go out to eat, we choose places that we know serve locally sourced, organic foods.
We only use eco-friendly cleaners in our home. Method Products are my #1 go-to, but we also use Seventh Generation products, and Mrs. Meyers. There are sometimes rare occasions when we have to buy something to tackle the dreaded clogged drain, and that is not exactly eco-friendly (ha! not by a longshot!). And it totally breaks my heart.
We recycle EVERYTHING. All boxes, cardboard, plastic, paper, etc gets recycled.
We compost. (and here’s where I lose some of you! Ha!). Composting is actually easier than you might think! We bought a collapsible bin a couple of years ago and we use it consistently during the summer. Every biodegradable item that comes out of our house, goes into the compost bin!
We have changed all of the light bulbs in our house to compact fluorescent bulbs. It’s saves on our energy costs, but it also saves the environment!
We shop for quality, not for price. I’m not saying this exclusively, but we do tend to purchase products that will last longer, even if they are a bit more expensive. Effectively, we are spending less over time and saving on resources!
We use a push-reel lawn mower. Granted, our yard is not big. But using a push reel lawn mower saves us money on fuel, helps save the environment, and helps us get some exercise!
We go green! With paper, that is! We’ve turned almost entirely to eBooks and we do all of our banking and bill electronically.

And remember that Repreve beanie I received?? Well, I’ve been wearing it as I run! And I uploaded an Instagram Video to the #TurnItGreen Contest!

My Repreve Video

And YOU can record your own short video and enter to win a cash prize! Here are the details:

#TurnItGreen X Games contest:

Dates: Jan. 1-31
Grand Prize: $5,000 cash

To celebrate the X Games, REPREVE invites participants to share how they “turn it green”, or how they live a more sustainable life by recycling or reusing materials, by sharing an image or video on Twitter, Instagram or Vine with the #TurnItGreen hashtag.

Once you share the image or video with the hashtag, you will be entered into a sweepstakes where five entries will be randomly selected as the Top Five. Those five will be voted on by visitors to Repreve[dot]com where the image or video with the most votes will win a $5,000 cash prize. The other four video entries will receive a REPREVE Jacket and a Go-Pro camera (retail valued at over $350).