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Crafty Mart // Explore + Shop Locally

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Thanksgiving weekend was the shortest, long weekend in the history of weekends, friends. We laid really, really, low for most of it. But I did manage to sneak out with Remy Bea on Saturday to go to one of my favorite local events — Crafty Mart. Crafty Mart is Akron, Ohio’s market for all things handmade! It’s honestly just an awesome collection of locally-made eclectic finds.

And I freaking love it!

First of all, it’s at, like, all of my favorite places — Musica, Summit Artspace and the Akron Art Museum! There really isn’t a place big enough to hold all of the vendors here in Akron, so they are split between three, very close, locations.

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Remy Bea and I started out at the Akron Art Museum. We left the boys at home and just wandered around. It’s honestly been a couple of months since we visited, so it was nice to see the new exhibits while checking out the vendors. I don’t recall what this big red exhibit was, but you could walk into it. It was fun!

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Here are some of my favorite vendors and local artisans from the event:

  • Norka Beverage. Hand-crafted artisan beverages made right here in Akron in 1924. After being out of the business for over 50 years, this local business has been given a new life! It’s been revived and given a new life!
  • Whiskertin Lighting. Bringing incredible industrial brightness to new spaces! I absolutely loved all of their pieces — and wish I could purchase them all!
  • The Social Dept. Graphic designers turned screen-printers turn local midwestern t-shirt makers! Gotta love Blimp apparel in the Rubber City!
  • Department 100. 3D printers turned artists. Ohio-shaped fly-swatters; Ohio-shaped earrings; Ohio-shaped cookie cutters; and so much more!
  • Akron Coffee Roasters. I’ve long been jealous of all of the local coffee roasters that Cleveland has. Sure, we’re close to Cleveland, but Akron has been long overdue at having a good coffee shop. They roast their own beans and can tell you exactly where your coffee has come from! Give me a pour over, stat!
  • Bacon’s Superior Beard Care. Beard oil and mustache was for the special furry man in your life! Made with a blend of beeswax, lanolin, and jojoba oil — and it smells delicious!
  • Studio KMR Photography. My dear friend Kevin takes amazing photos and turns them into awesome works of art. Ari is a big fan of all of his coasters and magnets (which he insists on taking off of our fridge and hiding…).
  • BreadAndRoses2. These. bags. are. ADORBS.
  • France France Kids Shop. Adorable kids clothes, made by hand, right here in Kent, Ohio!

I just can’t stop loving Crafty Mart — or shopping from local vendors! Seriously! Whether you live here in Ohio or not, I urge you to check out local makers in your area. There are so many amazing crafters out there. Just go and explore them. Buy from them. And support the economy in a big way by shopping in small ways! ♥ ♥

 

Weekend Wrap Up //

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I mentioned yesterday that I got really sick on Friday afternoon. Truthfully, I was feeling a bit ‘off’ on Friday morning. I thought it was from just lack of sleep. Turns out, I had a ‘bug’ of sorts.

I took both kids upstairs to my bed and turned on the TV. I thought if I could just get Ari to relax and watch a movie and get Remy to nap, I would be OK. But Ari wouldn’t stop talking. And Remy wouldn’t stop screaming. So I called in the big guns — Chad. I kindly asked begged him to come home early from work so I could dry-heave in silence.

He obliged. Thank G-O-D. Seriously. If I could have told Ari to shut up, I would have. But he would have told me “We don’t say that! That’s a bad word!” Truth, kid. Truth!

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So I spent from 1pm Friday through Saturday morning in bed. And even then, I wasn’t feeling 100%. So I woke up late. I handed Remy off to Chad for a little while. And then when I finally woke up, we all headed over to Home Depot for their kids’ workshop.

Ari usually makes Chad do all of the work for him, but this time he actually used the hammer himself!

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It was adorable. Straight up… adorable!

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And then we napped. Cause, exhaustion.

Post-nap we gathered the kids and went to a graduation party. I still wasn’t 100%, but I was feeling OK-ish enough to go.

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PS. I totally didn’t believe my husband that Bob Seger was at this party. He was at another party with us (3 years ago) and I was like “haha, yeah. Ok.” and he said the same thing this time. And I was convinced he was messing with me. I thought “OK. It’s just a dude with the *name* Bob Seger, right?” But no. It’s the actual Bob Seger. I guess the first time I just didn’t know I was meeting Bob Seger. Cool, right? Well, my mom thinks so. 😛

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Regardless, Ari wore himself out. Completely.

And we were all asleep by 8:30. #MomLife

Sunday we didn’t do a darn thing. Except, of course, go to Earth Fare.

We love Earth Fare. We especially love Earth Fare when they have BOGO deals. And Remy loves to be worn at Earth Fare.

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We did the BOGO deals hard, friends. HARD. And then we passed out (well, everyone else did. I, on the other hand, made meatballs at midnight and cleaned the whole house.).

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Regardless of illness, it was a glorious weekend. Truly, glorious.

And yes, I realize that it’s now Thursday and I’m posting my weekend wrapup. But, hey,… life, ya’ll. Life.

Life Lately // June 2016

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This post originally started as a “weekend wrap up” … OVER A MONTH AGO! Like, I’m talking APRIL. But life just got extra busy and the sleep started to get even harder to come by. So I was failing at putting words into sentences. Heck, most of the time I’m still struggling to put logical sentences together!

I swear, in between the Remy Bea drama (yes, I’m calling her newborn nonsense “drama”), we have had a bunch of fun(ish) things going on, too!

I have, like, 300 things on my to-do list. At least half of which are action-items for this here blog. But last weekend I ditched my to-do list — and my email, twitter feed, and online presence — and I lived in the moment!

Our First Baby-Free Date //

My mom has been up to visit several times over the last month. And one of the days she was visiting, Chad and I took full advantage of “Mimi!” We went on our first date without the kiddos! Yes, I realize that it should be obvious that a date doesn’t include kids; but that’s rarely the case. Seriously.

On our “Big Date Adventure” we went to Choolaah Indian Barbeque in Beachwood. Choolaah is a Chipotle-ish, fast-casual, Indian restaurant. We’ve been meaning to try it for a while, but kids. Always those darn kiddos! Ha!

 

We swore that since we were childless for a meal we would slow down and actually enjoy our food; but of course we inhaled it, as per usual. But we absolutely freaking LOVED our lunch! We both left satisfied and eager to come back to try it again! Next time we’ll even bring the kiddos!

Post-lunch we headed over to Trader Joe’s for some serious shopping. We had just gotten our chest freezer the previous week and we were aching to fill it up with some frozen goodies! We’ve been avoiding the TJ’s frozen section for a couple of years now since we’ve been without a chest freezer (’cause we will seriously buy all of the things!).

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We seriously ended up with a giant cart full of goodies… but somehow we made it out of the store in what seemed like record time. … But that’s what happens when you are shopping with kids! It’s too easy! Ha! When all was said and done, our date ‘day’ ended up being a date ‘three hours.’ And that includes about 60 minutes of drive time. Ha! Pathetic! 🙂

But, ohhh, what a lovely three hours it was! ♥

Playdates in the Park  //

We are so lucky to have a park right behind our house (literally. right behind our house. we frequently find children wandering onto our deck because they want to play with ari’s toys and can see them from the park.). It has a full playground and a wading pool for small kids!

And every single day, Ari asks “Mommy, can we go to the park behind our house?” And it’s hard to say no when he can look out the window and say “I see my friends in the park!”

So we go. Even if it’s just for ten minutes. We go.

Columbus Weekend Trip  //

While I wish my mom and my sister lived closer, it’s nice being able to take a whole weekend away to go to Columbus and visit. My mom will drive up from Kentucky to Columbus (about a 2.5 hour drive), and I’ll drive from Akron to Columbus (about a 2 hour drive), and we’ll all spend the weekend together.

Well recently my brother-in-law had to go out of town for the whole weekend so my mom and I drove to see my sister and have a girls (plus kids) weekend!

 

We enjoyed many a-fun-things while in Columbus! We ate lots of yummy food, went to dinner at the Rusty Bucket, played board games, sipped CBC Bodhi, and helped my sissy register for her must-have baby items!

Also? Donuts from the Lil’ Donut Factory! I saw them years ago on the Food Network and ever since, I make it a point to get a donut on every Columbus trip!

It was a fantastic weekend! It was a fairly ‘normal’ weekend; but it was awesome because I spent it with my family!

LEGO Americana Exhibit  //

The LEGO Americana exhibit toured our area mall recently and I was so eager to take Ari to see it! First of all, historical sites for the win! But also? Legos. All. the LEGOS. Ari freakin’ loves Legos. In a big way.

We walked around Beachwood Place for over TWO HOURS. Ari held his “treasure map” and kept saying “Mommy – let’s go see more legos!”

Be still my Mommy heart! ♥ ♥ But seriously. It was totally, totally, awesome.

Workshops Galore!  //

Home Depot, Art Museum, Legos, and Lowes — OH MY! I absolutely LOVE the kids workshops that are available to us. And I’m surprised how many families don’t even know about them. FRIENDS. If you have kids, register them for as many of these workshops as possible. They are FREE!

Making all the things  //

I’ve been trying my hand at a few recipes. (Related: I hate those “tasty” videos you see on Facebook). They are YUM!

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So yeah. We’ve been busy. A good busy!

PS. Other things have suffered. Mostly cleaning, laundry, etc. But these are the moments, people!! These are THE moments!

 

crafts, drafts, + food trucks //

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I have about a gazillion things on my blog to-do list right now. But I would be remiss not to mention this past weekend — regardless of the crazy to-do list!

On Wednesday of last week I sent out an S.O.S. to my mama. It has been a few weeks since I’ve seen her, which is enough of a hardship on it’s own. But I had a helluva week with Remy Bea last week. Without getting into too much (yet), we entered the dreaded 4-month sleep regression, PLUS we had the mega teething issues going on. I cried. I cried a LOT last week, friends.

And Mama (aka, Mimi) saved the day! She, without question, just drove up from Kentucky on Friday afternoon, arriving at our house Friday night. Sure, Remy Bea was asleep; but Ari was awake and ready to snuggle! It was the perfect way to end a crazy week.

Saturday morning we woke up and we hung out. We just… chilled. We were supposed to go up to Cleveland, but the weather was just ridiculous. Not just rainy. It was a freaking downpour! And chilly. So we hung out at home for the morning. And by noon we decided to hit up Crafty Mart‘s Crafts & Drafts event at Thirsty Dog Brewing Company.

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When we pulled into the parking lot we immediately saw (and parked next to) another babywearing family. Be still, my babywearing heart! ♥

When we walked in, we were in the bar area of the brewery and there were seriously THREE other babywearing mama’s ordering a beer at the bar. THESE ARE MY PEOPLE!! However, it seemed that my people were being a tad bit ignored for service. Bummer, dudes. Like, we waited 20 minutes to be served whilst others were served who just walked up. Major bummer, dudes.

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However, the crafts part of crafts and drafts were the b-o-m-b. We meandered around the brewery and browsed, but I didn’t actually buy a darn thing.

Post-Crafty Mart we headed back home where I promptly took a nap with Remy. Because, Crazy Baby. And I ended up having to go work at the YMCA for a while that evening. So I left Miss Bea with Chad and Mimi for a while. Aaaaand she refused a bottle — again. Super. But I was home in time to feed that fussy butt before she passed back out.

Sunday morning we all slept in. It was GLORIOUS! I mean, I still didn’t sleep very well; but not setting an alarm was wonderful all on it’s own.

We decided to hit up the Tallmadge Food Truck Festival. 25 food trucks, a live band, and games for kids.

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When we got there, parking was an organized disaster. I wasn’t really surprised, considering 2k+ people had RSVP’d ‘Yes’ to the FB event online. I ended up babywearing Remy once again, while Chad pushed Ari in the umbrella stroller. PS. An umbrella stroller is a MUST-have for toddlers. They are small, compact, and super easy to navigate in crowded spaces.

Okay. How did I just go off on a tangent about strollers?? #MomLife, friends. #MomLife.

Anyways. When we got there I had my eye on the prize — Barrio Tacos. I love Barrio in Tremont, but I rarely get to eat there (no lunch hours = bummer for mamas who wanna be home before dinner). My mom ended up getting this killer burger from a food truck I cannot remember the name of.

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And we ended up finding a shaded spot under a tree to have a little picnic! It was super fun! And after our picnic Ari ran around and played for, like, 30 minutes straight. We also ran into some friends we haven’t seen in a very long time. It was, overall, an awesome day and a super cool event!

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Unfortunately, Mimi had to go home Sunday afternoon. Blah! We hate when she leaves to go back to Kentucky! But it was lovely having her visit!

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It was a fantastic weekend. I loved everything about it. Every second of sunshine; every moment of family time; and every single baby smile.

Kid-Friendly Kitchen Crafts!

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When I found out I was going to be a mom, I had visions of what Motherhood would be. You know, not just rainbows and butterflies. Or even meltdowns and panic attacks. Honestly, I had visions and dreams of coloring, painting, and other crafts! You know, typical kid stuff, right??

Wrong. Oh-so-wrong! It turns out boys are … different, to say the least! OK, OK. Before you want to punch me, hear me out. I totally was all about the “it’s nurture, not nature” side of the debate. Buuuut, try as I might to have a gender-neutral child, the rough and tumble is totally built into this kids’ DNA.

But my rough and tumbly kid still likes to do ‘craffffs.’ Yep. He’s definitely a crafty kid! However, I have to carefully plan our crafty projects because he’s still a boy. He has a fairly short attention span, so I keep him ‘tied down’ for the absolute shortest period of time possible. And the way that I do that is by choosing to do Kid-Friendly Kitchen Crafts!

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Why? Because they not only produce delicious results, but they can also be prepped ahead of time and are done on a surface that can be cleaned easily — the kitchen counter! 😛

Ari’s Mimi (my mom) recently bought Ari a Star Wars apron for when we do crafts and he was so excited to put it to good use!

Our first adventure in kitchen crafts was the ever-so-popular Unicorn Bark! I saw this on Facebook a while back and I knew Ari would love to try his hand at making it!

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Like so many kids activities, there was a lot of Mommy prep for a fairly short kitchen craft! I purchased four different colors of pastel colored melting chocolates from the local craft store (I prefer Pat Catan’s!) and a 6-flavor pack of brightly-colored sprinkles. That’s it.

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I melted the chocolates according to the directions on the bag (which means slowly and steadily). And I had Ari waiting patiently to do his part. He had his mini-baking sheet ready for the melted chocolates! I greased the baking sheets (besides Ari’s mini-baking sheet, I had a regular sized baking sheet) with coconut oil. As soon as the chocolates were melted, I hurried and dropped dollops of color randomly and sporadically on the baking sheet. Once the baking sheet was covered, Ari used a spoon to drag the colors and swirl them together.

Once the colors were swirled together to his liking, we went crazy with the sprinkles! Post-sprinkles we shoved the baking sheets into the freezer for about an hour to harden the chocolate. The result? This glamorous looking gem!

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Totally cute and totally fun! Ari absolutely loved doing this kitchen craft and we are still reaping the deliciously edible benefits!

Another one of our favorite, easy, and slightly more messy kitchen crafts is homemade pizza. For this kitchen craft I purchase some ready-made pizza dough. My personal favorite is from Corbo’s Bakery in Little Italy. I picked up a couple of them recently and then let Ari play around with one.

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I spread some flour on the kitchen counter and told Ari to just spread it out. He did a great job and, most importantly, he had SO much fun! I was impressed at how quickly he learned to pound on the dough and roll it out! It was awesome!

Our pizza was lopsided and delicious! We topped it with some Trader Joe’s Pizza Sauce, Basil, and Organic Mozzarella Cheese! Yum, yum, yum! It was so delicious that I somehow forgot to snap a picture of that lopsided monstrosity. Ha!

Of all the different types of crafts we have available, kitchen crafts will always be my favorite. Next week I have a ‘slow’ week at work and I plan on getting Ari in the kitchen with me every single day. I’ll be sure to update you with our future kitchen endeavors! 🙂

Weekend Wrap Up //

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After a full week of [part-time] work last week, I was oh-so happy to see the weekend! Not because my week was hard (it was fun and exhausting, but not hard!), but because my Mama was coming to visit from Kentucky!

Fortunately (and unfortunately) by the time Mimi arrived Friday night, Ari and Chad were fast asleep! So Remy and I got some solo Mimi time before our very busy Saturday!

Ari was oh-so-excited to see Mimi when he woke up Saturday morning! And equally as excited to go to our first ever Home Depot for our first Kids Workshop.

We arrived at Home Depot at 9:04am for our 9am workshop — and it was totally, completely, packed already. We checked in and got Ari his workshop apron and we (aka, I) started building our butterfly house!

I have to say, although I had to do most of the building parts (because a toddler, hammer, and nails definitely don’t mix!), I personally had a ton of fun! Ha!

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Luckily Mimi was with us… because this mom of two thing is hard work! I don’t know how I would have done it by myself! One kid was screaming and the other needed help with the hammer and nails!

When we finished up we hurried to the Akron Art Museum for the start of Crafty Mart, a local pop up shop that features awesome craft vendors of all sorts.

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Crafty Mart is located in three locations in downtown Akron: The art museum, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, and Summit Artspace! I saw many familiar vendors, but I was so excited to see three awesome (new-to-me) vendors at the library.

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My faves were Bucha Bill and his mango-cayenne kombucha; my fave barista, Maryssa, and her pottery at Maryssa Moczan Studios (how did I not know this about her!?), and very new crafty mama, Tara, from Baby Got Crafts. The only purchase I made on Saturday was one of Baby Got Crafts baby headbands! But she also makes baby leggings that are available in to-die-for prints!

After we finished browsing + buying at the library, we headed towards our last stop on the Crafty Mart tour — Summit Artspace! Well when we left the library we took an elevator … and got stuck. Very, very, stuck. The elevator jolted and dropped a couple of feet (umm, scary!) and then it refused to move or do anything. I pressed every button for every floor before Ari started to seriously lose it and scream and cry. I finally got through to the Akron police by pressing the emergency button. They no sooner sent someone to help us than the elevator (magically) started to move again. HOLY scary.

But still. We continued on. Dedicated Crafty Mart attendees right here!

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Summit Artspace is by far one of my favorite spaces in Akron. Two floors of the building were filled with tasty treats and crafty vendors (including my friend Kevin from Studio KMR!). And this time Summit Artspace had a DJ on site! It was fabulous!

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Macarons, crafts, and shrub mixers galore! What a fabulous way to spend a crafty Saturday!

By the time we made it through all three locations, we were all wiped out! We headed home to sit down and relax for a few minutes before Mim and I took Remy to Mario Fazio’s in Willoughby for an anniversary party!

While we were at the party I had plenty of people to hand Remy off too, which was super nice for me. She was being so fussy and there were many, many, willing participants!

Unfortunately all of our weekend antics caught up with us and Ari ended up with a pretty intense fever on Sunday. We literally stayed home all day long, which was kinda perfect after our fun and crazy Saturday!