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weekend wrap up // Memorial Day Edition

June 2, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Oh hey, it’s a week later already. Short work weeks don’t equate to long blog weeks, that’s for sure. Cause I haven’t even had a chance to TALK about our Memorial Day Weekend, let alone sit down and write about it.

Saturday //

So those big plans I had to go to yoga, Crafty Mart at Thirsty Dog, and a pool party? Well the idea of over booking my planner kind of over loaded my brain. Seriously. I skipped EVERYTHING. Well, except the pool party and cookout with my sister.

Moosh hasn’t been swimming in ages. And last time he went, he was skeptical, to say the very least. But we told him we were going to go swimming and so he wouldn’t stop saying “I wanna go swimming, Mommy!” And like all things a toddler learns to say, he repeated this over and over and over again. I thought once he saw the pool he would remember how much anxiety the water gave him.

But nope. Dude wanted to swim. And he did. And he wanted to splash. And he did that too. A lot. Oh, silly butt Moosh.

We also cooked out and ate delicious food with my sister and brother in law. It was the perfect day, except for the fact that Moosh didn’t nap except for our 30 minute drive home (maybe 40 minutes considering I made Chad stop at Grandpa’s Cheesebarn on the way home!).

A no-nap toddler is the exact kind of thing that will make a Saturday evening exhausting. Early bed times for all!

Sunday //

We slept and slept and slept, friends. It was glorious. We had to wake Moosh up so that we could get him ready for our adventures that day. I know, parent-friends… I know you’re jealous that we have to wake our toddler up after 12+ hours of sleep a night. Sorry (but really, sorry not sorry).

We spent another day with my sister and brother-in-law. This time at the Marc’s Great American Rib Cook-Off and Music Festival at Jacob’s Pavilion, downtown CLE! The plan was to arrive at the festival just after they opened at noon for two reasons: 1. To beat the crowds & heat; 2. To buy time from a potential no-nap crazy-baby. Mission accomplished! We arrived just as they were opening the gates.

The great thing about so many of these festivals in Northeast Ohio is that they are affordable and relatively easy to get to. Parking was a breeze (holla! $5 parking a block away!), even on a day when both the Indians were playing and the Cavs were playing in a home playoff game! There were concerns about the safety thanks to the #BreloVerdict coming down the day before; but honestly, I think the media was trying to turn the demonstrations into more than what they were. When we arrived downtown it was clear we had nothing to worry about (another reason CLE/Northeast Ohio is a great place to live).

Anyways… back to ribs. 🙂

It was seriously empty when we arrived. We were able to make a full lap around the festival, planning our ‘attack’ on the barbeque! Moosh was a champ while we ate. Of course, we kept him distracted with baked beans (dude LOVES baked beans). We split a lot of food with my sister and BIL, which meant we were able to try a lot of different vendors.

All of them were delicious (including the ice cream waffle sandwich and the funnel cake (Mooshies first!). As you can guess, we were a no-nap family yet again. Even after getting to (and leaving from) the rib cook-off early, he still refused to nap. That’s a major parenting UGH, friends. So another early bedtime was in store. For sure.

Monday //

We slept in again. Hooray for sleeping in! We had pretty much ZERO plans for our Memorial Day. Thank goodness! Shortly after we woke up Moosh and I went running (you’ll remember this post here about our experience) and then we got coffee and kombucha (thanks, Bearded Buch!) from Scribbles in Kent! I’ve been meaning to stop in to Scribbles since I tasted their cold brew at Crafty Mart a couple of months ago. And I finally got to go and sip some delicious cold coffee again. Ha!

After our running/coffee date, we picked up Chad and went to ChickFilA for a quick lunch (you know, because that makes sense after a run. Ha! Oops.). Follow up with watching the Cavs basketball game? And call that a successful Monday. For serious. It may sound boring, but it’s perfection to our teeny family. 🙂

However, things took an ugly turn when we put Moosh to bed. He was awake and coughing. And I was listening to him on the monitor, convinced he would stop and fall asleep. But he didn’t. He just kept coughing. So we had to bring him into bed with us. It was… rough, to say the least. It was ROUGH. He finally fell asleep around 3:00 am. And I finally fell asleep around 5:30 am.

Sure, it didn’t end the way I intended it to; but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. ♥♥♥

Blogging // Authenticity // and the Truth

May 19, 2015 by Rachel 5 Comments

I created my blog years ago as a space and an outlet for me to share the happenings in my life with myself and a few people who may actually read it at the time. Over the years it transitioned from me being single and living in Syracuse; to Chad and I dating; to us living 6-hours apart and dating long-distance; then to us moving in together; and then to us getting married and starting a family.

Along the way it’s remained a place where I share my hopes and my dreams; my passion for creating a healthy lifestyle (while being completely honest with myself and the world about continuing to seek balance throughout the process); local events and happenings; and the everyday hum-drum of my life.

One thing that has changed over the last 7.5 years is opportunity. Blogging has created enormous opportunity in my life. I’ve met some incredible people in-real-life thanks to friendships created over the internet and social media — because I put myself out there. I’ve been around people from all different walks of life that I wouldn’t have met otherwise; and for that I’m incredibly grateful.

Blogging has also brought me a teeny bit of financial opportunity via sponsored and reviewed posts. And while that hasn’t quite been a life-changing amount of extra income, it certainly has helped. I don’t do them often and they seem to come in waves where I have months without an offer and then two at a time.

However, this is really and truly none of anyones business. In fact, the great thing about the internet and social media is that we are all free to share what we want. But we are also free to see what we want. We can follow whoever we’d like on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook; and we choose to follow those that we don’t align with. When you open a blog, follow a person on twitter, or engage in social media, YOU ARE PROVIDING CONSENT TO WHAT YOU ARE SEEING, whether you agree with the subject matter or not.

I received a nasty comment in regards to losing my authenticity of blogging with my recent sponsored posts yesterday. I have not yet approved the comment; but I’ve also not yet denied it. (Sidenote to people who leave fake or anonymous info: IP addresses don’t lie). It hurt. It shouldn’t have, but it did. The words didn’t exactly hurt; but the idea that someone would go out of their way to be nasty to another person? that is something that in my 30 years I have YET to wrap my head around.

Here’s the truth: I’m not always authentic. None of us are. But — dammit! — I try my hardest to do so. I put myself out there — the good, the bad, and the ugly parts that no one else has the balls to talk about. I’m a hard working mom. I’m a full-time employee for a huge company (to which I’ve been employed for the last ten years). I am a partner to my husband. We run a household together. And we try to work in some fun in our spare time. And in addition to that? I share parts of it here on my blog. Because each of us chooses what and with who we share things; each of us crafts an online persona; and that isn’t being inauthentic — it’s simply just a piece of our true selves.

So basically thanks for the perspective on my blog, commenter. 🙂

weekend wrap up //

May 6, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

After last weeks drama that nearly put Moosh into the hospital for an overnight stay, we welcomed the weekend with open arms — and hesitation. Cause who knew WHEN this kid would have another episode, right?

Well he definitely wasn’t feeling himself Friday. In fact, after a quick trip to Café O’Play where we pretty much just stood in the dance room, we picked up a pizza and headed home. It was definitely needed after our week. Chad went to an NFL Draft party with some of the dudes in my family and I stayed at home with my snuggle bug watching movies.

Scratch that: we watched movies together for a while; then this mama scrubbed the house from top to bottom before Mimi showed up for a weekend visit!

But let’s talk about how seriously not himself this kid looks. It definitely was NOT cold; but Moosh kept saying “Mommy, I cold! Blankie Tom, peas!” And then he wanted my Lululemon Vinyasa scarf to wrap around his head (he’s been a bit attached to it since I wrapped him in it in the hospital last week).

We ate “peetzy” and salad and watched Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo on repeat until Mimi arrived.

And then? Mass chaos! Ha!

Yep. That’s my kid running around in his underwear. Moosh finally fell asleep way way later than he should have. With promises of lots of fun on Saturday and goodnight kisses from Mimi, that seemed to do the trick.

My mom and I had planned to wake up early to get a long run in Saturday morning. But we stayed up WAY too late. And then Moosh woke up earlier than anticipated. So we improvised. We brought him with us. I despise running with the jogging stroller, but Mimi decided that we could switch off pushing him, so I agreed. Hesitantly. Ha! We got a couple miles in before having to head home. But every step counts, right?!

Mimi agreed to babysit Moosh while Chad and I went on a day-date to see the Avengers: Age of Ultron. The movie was amazing! Yes, yes… I’m a total dude-movie nerd. I love all of those nerdy comic book movies. But it really was good. And funny. Also? Robert Downey Jr?? LOVE that guy.

While we were at the movies, Mimi took Moosh (or is it the other way around — Moosh took Mimi?) to Café O’Play in an attempt to wear him out and get him to nap. Well, he was worn out. But he refused to nap. Which was extremely inconvenient because we had suite tickets for the Indians versus the Blue Jays that afternoon. So a nap of some sort was nearly required to prevent crazy-baby meltdown. But the little dude did extremely well. We even got to meet the hot dogs! Moosh loved Mustard, could care less about Ketchup (weird considering he eats ketchup as a main course these days), and was downright terrified of Onion! Ha!

Mimi and Chad had fun watching the game. Moosh and I mostly just played. Cause for me, a ballgame is more about the experience of the ballpark than paying attention to the game. SPORTS! Ha!

I’m super bummed that I didn’t get any photos of our food. We visited the new Right Field District and I was in awe of the food and drink selections! My mom ordered a sandwich from Melt, Ari got ice cream from Sweet Moses, and Chad and I split nachos and a taco from Barrio. And GLBC on tap for the win!

On the way home we indulged a little more with some Rita’s Ice. Moosh wanted “Boo ice!” which means blue ice, if you haven’t figured that out. 🙂

Moosh obviously didn’t fall asleep on the way home. And he went to bed really late. Like 10:30.

And Sunday morning he was up at an ungodly hour. 6:00 am. This kid sleeps til 9:30 on the reg, and decides after a day of no napping and staying up late to wake up at 6am!? Sigh, kid, sigh.

Mimi and I took him to Café O’Play for an hour or so before calling it quits! Kids had fun but was nutso! So we grabbed lunch from Planet Sub and headed home.

PS. I’m not certain how I feel about Ari’s most-recent obsession with Monsters Inc. and Monsters University. So he just does this “Roar!” face all of the time. Sigh. It’s cute; but not when he’s meeting new people. KID you do NOT greet people with a roar! Ugh!

We totally bailed on a family party (sorry fam!) so that our teeny family could rest. We were all exhausted and Mimi wanted to get home to Poppy before it was too late. Honestly, we needed it. We slept and slept and slept! It was perfection. The night ended with a clean house and happy hearts.

The perfect ending to a perfect weekend. 🙂

better late than never // our weekend wrap up

April 29, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Friday //

My BFF from high school, Carli, moved down to Akron over a year ago. As mucha s we SAY we’re going to get together now that we’re living down the street from each other, we just haven’t been able to as much as we’d like. ‘Cause life happens, y’all. But Friday night we had a date! We planned on hitting up The Office Bistro for a glass of wine and dinner, but the hostess was incredibly rude so we just left. (Note: this is not my typical experience at this restaurant; but her attitude completely justifies us leaving without a second glance).

I told Carli that I had had great experiences with Craft Beer Bar, right next door. Sure there was beer (hey, Bodhi!); but there was also an incredible spread of food.

I will say, Shawn and Dustin did not disappoint! Dustin was insistent that we try some of their new menu items and pretty much force-fed us. Ha! The potato pancakes (in the upper left hand corner) are not yet on the menu, so we were lucky to get a “sneak peak.” And they were delicious! As soon as we were completely full, thanks to the Bacon Queso (upper right), Poutine (lower right), and the Mac and Cheese (lower left), Dustin came out with yet another surprise — an orange creamsicle ice cream sandwich. I honestly don’t know the menu name for this dessert yet because I was in a serious food coma by the time it came out.

While we were out I got a call from my husband that he had a work emergency, so I quickly rolled home — ha! — so that he could run out to Cleveland for a night of work. Unfortunately, he was out ALL night and didn’t get home until 6am. I swear if we didn’t have events scheduled for Saturday, my poor husband wouldn’t have gotten out of bed. And I don’t blame him one bit.

Saturday //

We had a bit of a lazy morning. Between Chad working all night and Moosh sleeping in bed with me, we were all kind of exhausted. We did manage to make it to Crafty Mart, a local artisan and maker show located in downtown Akron, in time for Chad to go to a kombucha-making workshop with the Bearded Buch!

We’ve been fans of the Bearded Buch for a while now; and Chad has been itching to make his own Kombucha at home; so a workshop with the ‘buch guru himself?! Hecks yes!

While Chad was in his workshop, Moosh and I walked around Crafty Mart where the first stop was the Akron Art Museum! The art museum is one of my favorite places in Akron, so the fact that they open their doors for these local vendors to showcase their craft just is that much more awesome.

But it was definitely one of the most popular Crafty Mart locations. And my dearest, dearest, Crafty Mart — as a patron, the one piece of advice I would give you is that as this event grows (which it has!), please locate this event in one single location! 🙂

But one of Mooshie’s fave places is the Akron Art Museum. He ADORES this place. We bought a few things and headed over to Musica, a local music venue. Musica. Oh dear Musica. You are a beautiful location. I would love to see a show at this venue. Scratch that. My early 20-something-year-old self would love to go to a Taking Back Sunday show at your venue. Cause this gal finds herself in PJs by 6pm these days, let’s be real.

I didn’t get any pictures at Musica because it was way too crowded. Way too many vendors in such a tiny space. I think this does the vendors a disservice because people, such as myself, aren’t lingering nearly as long because they are getting quite claustrophobic. After one purchase, we popped out into the alley for some air.

Post-Musica, we ended up at Summit Artspace. It’s a little “off-the-beaten-path,” that’s for sure. It’s a spot I’d heard of in passing, but I didn’t really KNOW what it was.

Apparently this spot is one of Akron’s best kept art secrets. I’ve likely heard of it in passing, but I had no idea that it was a space where local artists have their own little ‘shops’ inside to showcase their art. It’s fantastic to have this, but sad that I had no idea it existed up until this point.

But back to the art and the vendors… I was majorly impressed with the fact that this space was a bit more open. Plus, they borrowed an idea from the way the Cleveland Flea is set up and had vendors on one floor and food and drinks on another (just like the last holiday flea). A HUGE thank you to Nuevo (remember that amazing mod mex restaurant we went to for our anniversary??) for providing tacos á la carte (along with amazeballs guacamole and homemade chips!), Thirsty Dog for the beer, and Stray Dog Cart for the ‘dogs and the (free for kids!) cannolis!

This is exactly what we needed to ‘rest’ until we were ready to do more shopping. I hope next time there are even more food/beverages available.

After Chad was done with his Kombucha workshop I took a terrarium workshop with Land Of Plenty. It turned out beautifully and wasn’t nearly as difficult as I imagined it would be!

Sunday //

I was supposed to go to an event in the early afternoon, but after such a busy busy Saturday and severe lack of sleep, I decided to stay at home with my boys and get things done instead. It was just what we needed. <3 Sometimes you’ve just gotta listen to your body/family. 🙂

It was a wonderful weekend, but unfortunately our week has begun with a sick Moosh, hence the not getting this post up until mid-week! Sigh. Blog fail; parenting win.

The next weekend is just around the corner…

OH, HEY WEEKEND.

April 24, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

IT’S THE WEEKEND! IT’S THE WEEKEND! IT’S THE WEEKEND!

Okay, okay… I need to relax. But I am MEGA excited about this weekend.

First of all, I have my FIRST girls night in AGES scheduled for tonight. My BFF (like, BFF since we were 5) and I are going for dinner and drinks tonight. She had her first son about 6-months ago and I haven’t had a girls night in forever. WE NEED THIS. I’m excited for salad and wine. Which makes me pretty much the epitome of a mom. Ha!

Saturday is Crafty Mart — a local craft-vendor exhibition all-over downtown Akron. The most exciting part is that Chad is taking a kombucha-making class via The Bearded Buch (a local Cleveland-based company) and I am taking a terrarium workshop, from Yates Apothecary. GOD WE ARE SO NERDY. I love it. 😉 There is something spectacular about learning something new… something we can do on our own!

Last but not least, Sunday I’m headed to XHIBITION for a blogger event/fashion event (which seems funny considering I’m in no way, shape, or form a fashionista). However, visiting a new Cleveland business PLUS enjoying brunch via JackFlaps!? THE bomb.

Not included in this fabulous weekend lineup? Moosh. Well, Moosh will certainly be there… but for once, he isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of our weekend plans. This weekend is for US! 😉

weekend wrap up // Easter edition

April 7, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

After last weekend and this past week, we really needed a truly happy and fun weekend. So when Friday arrived we jumped into our weekend with both feet! Ari was hanging with his friend Kayden all day on Friday and when I went to pick him up, I hung out for a while with K’s mom just catching up and chatting. It was SO nice and exactly what I needed to start off the weekend.

By the time Ari and I got home, he was exhausted (life is rough for a toddler); but my little trooper stayed awake until Mimi and Poppy showed up from Kentucky! We visited for a little bit before all heading off to sleep.

Saturday //

We woke up and snuggled with Moosh on the couch before getting started on our busy, busy, day! THIS is exactly what I adore about now having Saturdays off — early morning snuggle sessions! It may have been short-lived but that’s OK. It was great while it lasted.

Aaaand then we were off….

Mimi and Poppy were in town for a wedding; so we were lucky enough to spend an hour or so with some distant relatives that I haven’t seen in a few years. It was a nice visit and Moosh did really well while the adults chatted. He was shy and cute, of course. And then warmed up to everyone and started showing them his trains.

Then the real fun began — we went to meet the Easter Bunny and “hunt” for eggs at the park!

I thought this dude was going to be terrified of the Easter Bunny, but he wasn’t. He was smitten. He had this cheesy grin on his face the whole time. So proud of my little guy for being so brave and just walking up to the bunny!

I would be lying if I didn’t say I was a bit overwhelmed by the whole egg hunt experience. The youngest section was for 3-4 year olds; so we joined these kids who were like a whole foot taller than Moosh to race for eggs.

Everyone gathered in a huge circle on a soccer field and when they said “GO!” kids just went nuts going for the eggs.

Usually Moosh is too timid to race other kids for things, but with a little help from Chad, he successfully snagged about 8 or 9 eggs and a handful of candy (which was MORE than enough!).

After our egg hunt fun, we went back home to squeeze in a suuuuuper short nap (think like 20 minutes) before we headed to Ewan’s 2nd birthday party. My dear friend Gretchen had Ewan just six months after Ari was born; and they’ve been buds ever since!

We laughed, chatted, played, and had a blast celebrating with Ewan and the gang. When we left it was already after 6pm and our normal 2 1/2 hour napper had napped exactly 20 minutes. We were playing with fire when we decided to stop by Earth Fare to pick up some crab legs and other groceries for dinner.

Luckily Moosh was still in a ‘buzzed’ state of deliriousness. I decided to baby-wear him so that he didn’t go nutso in the store… which made for a lot of fun for both of us! Chad was busy shopping and Moosh and I were busy snapping selfies in the produce section! Ha!

By the time we made it home Ari was more than ready for bed. He fought it though. No, we are not blessed with one of those kids who will sleep in the car or just fall asleep on the floor from pure exhaustion. That is not our kid at all. Buuuut we do have a kid who will sleep a solid 12+ hours in his own bed at night. So no complaints.

Once he was in bed we settled in for a ‘date night,’ which consisted of fresh steamed crag legs and a movie. I am completely spoiled by having a husband that loves to cook amazing meals. And this did not disappoint!

Sunday //

I was so excited for Easter. There’s so much less pressure than at Christmas; but still lots of fun involved! I hid eggs filled with M&Ms and pennies throughout the house. However, I did not anticipate that my child would open up the first egg, notice the M&Ms and stop to eat ALL OF THEM before moving on to find more… Sigh. Mom fail.

Sure, he was excited about his Easter basket; but he was most excited about the candy. Until recently he hadn’t had any candy. Now? Now he knows what it is and we are in trouble!

Mimi and Poppy didn’t help. They brought even more candy over with their basket for him. We were lucky to get him to eat anything other than smarties and M&Ms that day. Ha!

After an earlier-than-usual nap (for all of us), Moosh and Chad went to play in the park while this mama cleaned the whole house (I LOVE cleaning when no one is around!!)… before we messed it all up again! Ha!

And then we did something that we never do together — we cooked dinner TOGETHER! We weren’t rushed or hurried, like during the week. And we used our first Blue Apron meal plan to cook up a fantastic Beef Stir Fry!

It should be noted that Chad does not need recipes; I, on the other hand, do NOT feel comfortable in the kitchen. So having this pre-planned/pre-measured mel was awesome for me! Bonus? It was delicious! And the two-person meal plan had generous portions — PLUS we had leftovers to eat for the next night! Even our picky-“I-only-want-candy”-toddler liked it. Hooray for a successful meal!

Honestly, this weekend was the best weekend we have had in a long time. We didn’t do anything extraordinary, but it was filled with family, friends, and lots and lots of love. My heart feels so happy and so full. I’m so lucky to be surrounded with these amazing people — Chad, Ari, my parents, family and our friends.

And I cannot wait to see what this weekend has in store! <3