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Illness, Float Therapy, Yoga, and the Northside Market // Weekly Mantra

February 5, 2017 by Rachel 24 Comments

So last week I was all “this is going to be THE BEST week,” which is pretty much just tempting fate. And fate handed me about 50% of what I was expecting last week, and 50% of the unexpected. Win some, lose some, friends.

Monday morning I woke up with a bit of a sore throat, but I got myself and the kiddos ready to go into work (for those who don’t know, both of my children come with me to work everyday — it’s quite a benefit!). Shortly after we got there, a building maintenance issue was uncovered and we realized that instead of 2 of us staffing one small area, there would be four of us. Which… is way too many. So I said “Hey I’m kinda feeling like poo a bit. Send me home.” And so I went.

No sooner did I get home did I start having fever and chills. It was so bizarre. I still don’t really know what was up, but I spent all of that day in bed, shaking and aching. I finally gave up and texted Chad at 3pm and told him I absolutely needed him to come home and take care of the kids. I was completely incapable of doing so. He ended up making it home from work very early so that I could try to sleep off the fever. I awoke some time later, but still feeling really awful.

Long story short, our Tuesday plans were ruined, too, because not only did I not go into work, but I kept Ari home from preschool just so I wouldn’t have to leave the house. I was so ashamed to keep Ari home, but I seriously couldn’t muster the energy to drag two kids out of the house for preschool dropoff.

But then I had a moment of panic — this fever? Did it have something to do with the dental procedure I had had on Friday? Should it be cause for concern? So I ended up having to drag both kiddos in to the dentist office with me. Far less than ideal, especially when there was an hour wait. But we survived — and my procedure site was not the cause of the fever! Hooray!

Thankfully, all of that rest paid off and Wednesday morning I was finally feeling so much more like myself! Well enough to go to work and take Ari to his first ever karate class!


OMG this kid loved his karate class! And, no joke, a serious natural talent for it!

Thursday evening I had scheduled my first ever float tank therapy session. If you’re not familiar with ‘floating,’ it’s essentially floating in 10-inches of super buoyant water (thanks to the 1000 lbs of epson salt!) in a sensory deprivation chamber. The tank is lightless and soundproof, so, in addition to your body floating effortlessly, your entire body and mind are completely zoned out.


Being semi-claustrophobic, I was super nervous about getting into the tank/chamber. But after a while, I was totally fine — even super relaxed! The only way I can explain it is that it was like a 90-minute savasana!

And the effects have lasted for days. Guys. I fell asleep SITTING UP AT MY COMPUTER WITH THE TV ON. Even at my most sleep deprived moments, I have never been that relaxed!

Next thing I knew, Saturday morning was upon us — and a very busy day at that! We started with the monthly kids workshop at Home Depot! No joke, this build was complicated, ya’ll! It ended up taking way longer than I anticipated, so we were racing to make it to Ari’s karate class.

​[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLIgsbcYBLA ]
Chad missed Ari’s first class so this was his first time seeing Ari in his (new) element! It was just as adorable as his first class. And he still really loved it!

And from there I raced home to put the kids down for naps and I raced back out again. I made my triumphant return to yoga after a terribly long hiatus!

My deer friend Gretchen is opening a new studio, Do Good Yoga, so I went to check it out. Honestly, it gave me the perfect excuse to get back on my mat. And, oh my gosh, it took returning to my mat to realize how much I’ve missed my yoga practice!


Post-yoga I brought Remy to the site of Noto North Akron, Do Good Yoga, and Akron Honey Company for the first Northside Market Akron!


The vendors and DJ were amazing! I’m so lucky to be a part of such an awesome community of makers and shakers!

Between all of this fun AND a late night thanks to the Super Bowl, my weekly mantra for this week is simple:


Happy Monday, friends!

 

Filed Under: #MomLife, Akron, Ari Davis, busy mom, children, crafty, creative, desserts, events, explore locally, live happy, mantra, mommyhood, NEO, Ohio, pampering, parenthood, week in review, weekend, workout, yoga Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, ari davis, being a mom, busy mom, children, crafty, explore locally, family, fitness, food, foodie, health, life, local, mantra, mommyhood, motherhood, weekend, workout, yoga

Red & White on Thursday Night // Recap

February 2, 2017 by Rachel 14 Comments

Last week Chad and I legit skipped our way out the front door to attend the 20th anniversary of Red and White on Thursday Night — a food and wine event to benefit The Arthritis Foundation.

I’ve said before that this event is truly our favorite event of the whole year. It’s something we continuously look forward to, year after year. In prior years, Chad and I have entered together, but split up and gone in different directions.

This year was so different. It was clear — more than ever — that we truly needed this night to reconnect with each other, at one of our most favorite places. So we made it a point to stick together nearly the entire time!

We headed straight to the VIP Lounge when we arrived, which was more glorious than ever! Dante Boccuzzi and his team were serving up the most delicious sweet potato and shrimp skewers!


I’m honestly not even a big fan of shrimp, generally speaking. But these were beyond amazing, ya’ll. Chef Dante is just amazing.

After eating several of the shrimp and sweet potato skewers, we refilled our wine glasses with red wine and headed over to the VIP dessert table, which featured this incredible creme brûlée from West Side Bakery.


Here’s my moment of truth: It had dairy. AND I ATE IT! Honestly? It was absolutely worth the cheat. Truthfully, one of the only reasons I ‘cheated’ with dairy at this event was because it’s hard to tell if something has a bit of dairy in it or not. That being said, I totally passed up cheese and pizza and other just plain ol’ cheesy things. (Le sigh…)

The rest of the event was spent meandering around, trying new-to-us wines and sampling foods from some of our favorite local restaurants!

Some of my personal faves from the night were the tacos and guacamole from BOMBA Tacos & Rum, the bacon-wrapped-dates from The Twisted Olive, and the goat-cheese and berry donut from Hudson’s Restaurant!

And my all-time favorite wines from the night came courtesy of Filia Cellars in Wadsworth, Ohio! This local winery stood out amongst it’s competition!

All in all, it was another perfect event. We ate, we drank, and we reconnected in a way that we truly needed to do. Thank you, again, to the Arthritis Foundation for inviting us to attend this event!

Filed Under: #MomLife, Akron, bloggers, charity, cleveland, date night, desserts, drinks, events, explore locally, food, friends, fun, fundraiser, life, live happy, marriage, mommyhood, NEO, Ohio, pictures, review, sponsor, wine Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, bloggers, celebration, cleveland, events, explore locally, food, foodie, friends, fundraiser, life, Live Happy, marriage, NEO, ohio, pictures, review, wine

Keep Calm and Party On // A Stress-Free Cheese Board

November 30, 2016 by Rachel 26 Comments

It’s no secret that I’m not a fantastic cook. Despite my efforts and desires, my talents are elsewhere (think baked goods and such). But if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s throw a party. And, sure, I may enlist the help of others for the ‘heavy lifting,’ but I will throwdown with the appetizers.

And as we enter into this busy holiday season, and prepare for party after party, it’s fun to hit up the tried and true; the perfect, zero-stress, appetizer: a beautifully crafted, delicious, cheese board.

itsahero_cheese
Zero stress and zero skill involved! As a busy mom of two, it’s absolutely right up my alley!

I’m lucky enough to have acquired several actual cheese boards over the years (I’m not kidding when I say that this is really my only kitchen skill, ya’ll), and although I prefer the slate board for a night-in with the husband, an actual wooden board is perfect, light, and festive for a party!

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First, grab some fruit. Organic grapes and apple slices will do!

Next, gather your favorite crackers.

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And, finally, the cheese! My favorite cheese is Stella Cheese Fontinella! It’s sweet, creamy, and sharp, all at the same time! Stella Cheese offers such a delicious variety of cheeses, like swiss, provolone, gorgonzola, and asiago.

Right now Stella Cheese is hosting an amazing giveaway. Click here to enter to win trip to Napa Valley valued at $5,000! How awesome would it be to win a trip to wine country!? Am I right?

In the meantime, tell me — what is your favorite cheese and wine pairing!?

Filed Under: busy mom, domesticity, food, giveaway, holidays, sponsor Tagged With: busy mom, domesticity, food, foodie, giveaway, holidays, sponsor

Kentucky Round Up!

August 23, 2016 by Rachel 1 Comment

Hey! Did you know we went to Kentucky (or as Ari calls it ‘Tucky) three weeks ago!? Yep! We did! And honestly, the last two-plus weeks haven’t been hard. We’ve just been busy. And I’ve had a hard time concentrating on pretty much everything (helloooooo, three different to-do lists that need to be condensed!).

But Kentucky was our first real/kind of vacation as a family of four.

It took us EIGHT HOURS to make a 5.5 hour trip (#ThanksRemy). But we made it.

We had to stop about an hour from home because Remy had pooped and wanted to eat. Yayyyy infants. 🙁

She seriously screamed the entire drive… which was super fun and not at all anxiety-inducing… Sigh.

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But we made it. And when we got there we settled in and ate (a very late for us) dinner! To be honest, the whole sleeping situation was even more rough. Not because it was uncomfortable; but because our children are sleep demons. Ari and Chad slept in a queen bed and I slept in a room with Remy. She, of course, hated sleeping in the pack and play. And woke up frequently.

Thursday morning my mom and Ari made pancakes for everyone — and it was totally cute. The pancakes were very heavy on the blueberries! Ha! 😛

tucky1
After our delicious breakfast, Mimi and I went to get pedicures! I’ll admit – I’ve had very few (if any?) indulgences since Remy was born; but Mimi wanted to treat me and my little piggies to some pampering! A little girls time was just what the doctor ordered!

We ended up spending the rest of our day relaxing before grabbing some dinner at this incredible Ethiopian restaurant, Queen of Sheba.

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Traditional Ethiopian food is served ‘family style,’ and without utensils! The spongey-bread is the only utensil you need! Surprisingly, the kiddos did awesome. Not surprisingly, we l-o-v-e-d our amazing meal. Seriously. We need to find an Ethiopian restaurant nearby in Ohio!

Other items of note during our trip — Ari got to play with Legos. Like, a lot. I mean, I know that’s business as usual for him. But we ended up finding this Lego resale shop that specializes in minifigures. It was totally cool. They even do birthday parties! If we were local we would totally be having his fourth birthday party there.

Oh! Chad and I got out for a date day without the kiddos! Okay, so it was really like three hours. But still! It was fabulous!

We went to a neighborhood in Louisville called NuLu — which is very Ohio City-esque (if we’re comparing Cleveland to L-ville!). They happened to be having a neighborhood block party.

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We wandered around, in and out of little boutiques. Being in bourbon country almost made me want to drink bourbon. Almost. 😛

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We ventured into a crazy antique store that was… trippy, to say the least. But there were fun-house mirrors! :O

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How fun! Post-fun-house/little shop of horrors, we grabbed some (Nashville) Hot Chicken. Add grits, slaw, and potatoes to the mix? Hea-ven.

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For reals. We LOVE this food. Love it.

Later that night we all — meaning me, Chad, Mimi, Poppy, Ari and Remy — all went to downtown Louisville to walk the bridge over to Indiana! It was HOT. And our kids were straight-up losing it. But the views were incredible (even if we did bribe Ari with ice cream — real talk, friends).

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To be honest, the rest of our trip was spent just lounging around. It was really nice to visit. And I’m seriously surprised I was able to post this update before our next trip to ‘Tucky! :p :p

Filed Under: #MomLife, busy mom, children, events, explore locally, family, food, fun, life, live happy, marriage, mommyhood, parenthood, pictures, road trip, travel, trip, vacation Tagged With: #MomLife, being a mom, children, events, explore locally, family, food, foodie, life, marriage, mommyhood, motherhood, parenthood, pictures, travel

Life Lately // June 2016

June 3, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

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!

 

Date day starts with a delicious & fresh lunch at Choolaah! First time here and it’s amazing! Side note: even without children, we still eat really fast. Ha!

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on Apr 24, 2016 at 8:47am PDT

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!).

tj

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!

What a perfect afternoon to spend outdoors! Ari rode his balance bike around the neighborhood and we met several new (to us!) neighbors with young kiddos! WIN!

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on Apr 16, 2016 at 2:57pm PDT

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!

 

A rainy night in Columbus consists of @columbusbrewingcompany #Bodhi, board games, and a toasty fire! #familytime #CBC @thedailygrowler

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on Apr 30, 2016 at 7:30pm PDT

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!

Sunday’s are for ? and ☕️. Love the @lildonutfactory never disappoints! Nice way to end our weekend in #Columbus!

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on May 1, 2016 at 7:28am PDT

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!”

Ari had a blast at #legoamericana at @beachwoodplace today! He kept yelling “Mommy, LOOK!” Coolest traveling exhibit EVER!

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on May 26, 2016 at 2:08pm PDT

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!

Someone is having a LOT of fun at the @akronartmuseum Tots Create event! We are going to have to make this a monthly event for Ari! #dailymoosh #getcrafty #akron #akronOH #aridavis #art #littleartist #littleartistinthemaking #moosh #instakids #instamommy

A photo posted by Rachel (@itsahero) on Feb 27, 2016 at 8:36am PST

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!

baking
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!

 

Filed Under: #MomLife, Ari Davis, babies, baby girl, baking, beer, busy mom, children, cleveland, coffee, Columbus, cookies, cooking, crafty, creative, date night, desserts, events, explore locally, family, food, fun, life, life with a toddler, marriage, mommyhood, Moosh, NEO, Ohio, parenthood, pictures, Remy Bea, travel, updates, week in review, weekend Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, ari davis, babies, being a mom, busy mom, children, cleveland, crafty, domesticity, events, explore locally, family, food, foodie, life, life with a toddler, local, marriage, mommyhood, Moosh, motherhood, oh baby, ohio, parenthood, pictures, weekend

crafts, drafts, + food trucks //

May 25, 2016 by Rachel 11 Comments

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.

Filed Under: #MomLife, Akron, Ari Davis, babies, baby girl, beer, busy mom, children, crafty, Crafty Mart, desserts, domesticity, drinks, events, explore locally, family, food, friends, fun, life, life with a toddler, live happy, mommyhood, Moosh, NEO, Oh baby!, Ohio, parenthood, pictures, Remy Bea, weekend Tagged With: #MomLife, akron, ari davis, babies, being a mom, busy mom, children, crafty, events, explore locally, family, food, foodie, life, life with a toddler, Live Happy, local, mommyhood, Moosh, motherhood, oh baby, ohio, parenthood, pictures, weekend

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