Its a Hero

Live Happy

A Different Kind of Happy

by 12 Comments

“We haven’t been happy for a long time.”

Before Kids – AKA when it was easy

Disclaimer – this may be an unpopular post/opinion, but it’s real life. And, in all honesty, when my husband said this out loud to me, I responded with, “we’re just a different kind of happy.” But then he said, “Yeah but not a ‘happy all the time just because‘ happy.”

And you know what? He’s right.

But so am I.

Having kids is completely draining. Sure, it’s emotionally draining. But it’s also physically demanding. At the end of a busy day, when you have zero left to give, you have no choice but to give just a bit more. Your little humans’ lives are depending on it.

And it’s emotionally exhausting. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been brought to my knees and at the mercy of a two-year-old demanding lord knows what. That’s not to say that I give in, but I’ll tell ya what — there have been many moments where I’ve negotiated with the (tiny) terrorist if it meant just a little bit of sleep.

Would I trade them? Not for all of the riches in the world.

But I can still long for the days where I only had to wipe *only* my own ass.

The days where I could live by my own schedule.

The nights where I could work extra hours in the office and not have to worry about anyone waking up and needing me in the middle of a deadline.

I look at my husband and long for moments where we aren’t both too tired to converse during (a long overdue) date night.

Surely I know these days and moments are fleeting. But right now? Right now they are REALLY FREAKING HARD. They are fabulous, messy, hilarious, frustrating, and so. damn. HARD.

So if you’re in the thick of it like us, just know that you’re not alone when you get these feelings. It’s okay to be bummed about the fact that your life looks vastly different than it did before. It doesn’t make you a bad mom (or dad); It doesn’t mean you don’t love your kids; It just means you’re normal.

 

We’ve been keeping a secret

by 12 Comments

(No, it’s not a baby.)

We bought a new home! Our FOREVER home!

Long story short, we weren’t in the market, per se. But the perfect house was put for sale by owner just an eighth of a mile down the street from us. We went to see it on a Thursday, went back for a second look on a Friday, put in an offer and had it accepted on Saturday, and signed the contract on Sunday.

The house is double the size of our current house. It’s 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, a gorgeous kitchen, high ceilings, original wood framing from 1900, a huge yard, and a basement! I fell in love right away and thank goodness they accepted our negotiations (there were several times that I thought they would walk away and it resulted in a serious loss of sleep and many tears).

We close next week (even though I’ve been SUPER anxious to try and get in sooner) and then we’ll start taking things over. Packing has been a struggle thanks to three tiny humans and a full workload. But shortly after we move, our current house will go up on the market!

I just can’t wait to start living here… and neither can the kids!

So I guess this is to say, my life is going to continue to get crazier over the next month or so. Ha!

PS. For all of the times I asked for positive vibes over the last month on Instagram, this is why.

Cleveland Food + Brews — The South Side + the Best of CLE Party

by 17 Comments

The last few weeks have been filled with exhaustion, thanks to a cold that we’ve been passing throughout the house and a baby that is teething; but in between the sickies and the sleepless nights, I wound up getting out of the house not once but 2 whole times for fun events with friends.

First came a blogger meetup at The South Side for Chef Natasha Pogrebinsky’s fall menu preview. Even though I was exhausted and a big part of me wanted to stay home snuggled up in bed with Mila, I decided to venture out. I’m so glad I did.

I was able to meet up with some of my favorite local bloggers and enjoy a night of wonderful conversation, laughter, and fantastic food.

Some of the new menu items include a Clam Bake (basically a clambake in a bowl), Garlic Rose Flatbread, Mushroom Arugula Flatbread, Tuna Stuffed Roasted Tomato, The Clevelander (fresh local kielbasa and sausage, a poached egg, butter beans, tomatoes, and kale), Roasted Tomato Hummus, and Sweet Potato and Sage Pierogi — to name just a few.

The food was creative, fun, and best of all delicious. My favorites were the calamari, hummus, short rib, maple sweet potatoes, our world tots, and the flatbreads.

Oh, and rumor has it that The South Side has a pretty killer Bloody Mary on the weekends. I’ll definitely be returning to check it out.

The next big adventure was the Best of Cleveland Party at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Our two VIP tickets not only meant that Chad and I could go on our first real baby-free night since Mila was born 4 months ago, but also that we could visit the Rock Hall and check out all of the 2018 winners of various food, drinks, and live music.

Winners included Sunoco Cafe (Best Hummus), B Spot (Best Burgers), Barrio (Best Tacos), Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream (Best Ice Cream), Rocky River Wine Bar (Best Wine Bar), Market (Best Bloody Mary Bar), and so many more!

We dined, we danced, we drank, and we explored so many pieces of music history. It was, by far, one of the most fun events I’ve been to in Northeast Ohio. Many thanks to Cleveland Magazine for putting on such an incredible event.

Sometimes a little bit of (extra) exhaustion is worth the fun, right? Absolutely, totally right. Thanks for being so awesome, Cleveland. You continue to amaze me. ♥ ♥

 

 

Favorite Fall Activities

by 15 Comments

Fall is my most favorite time of the year — it always has been. Not only is it the season of my birthday, but it’s the season of my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! The weather gets cooler, the leaves change, and pumpkin spice is readily available! Ha! 🙂

Our Fall has already been off to a great start! Here’s what we’ve been up to and loving lately!

Hayrides!

We went to a local Fall festival and the kids were super excited about the hayride through the apple orchard! Remy had never experienced a hayride and the last time Ari was on one was several years ago, so it was excitement across the board.

Remy laughed and smiled the whole time. Everything — the apple trees, the birds, even the far-off sound of a ‘choo choo’ — is more fun when you’re on a hayride.

Ahh, to be a kid again! ♥ ♥

Going to the pumpkin patch!

This is one of the things I love doing the most in the Fall and I’m happy to share my passion with my kids. Thus far, they seem all about it. I mean, who doesn’t love pumpkins!?

Ari has already mastered the fine art of picking his own pumpkin. The biggest pumpkin is the best, of course. Ha!

Swim Lessons at Goldfish Swim School.

Outdoor swimming may be over for this year, but a change in season is no reason to stop learning to swim! Remy is in the middle of her Mini 3 lessons at Goldfish Swim School in Hudson and we’ve seen huge progress with her abilities already.

The small class sizes of just 3-4 kids per instructor along with a fun curriculum has helped her love of swimming grow by leaps and bounds! Even during the one lesson where she cried and cried (for zero reasons), the teachers were so gentle and loving — they even had her smiling and laughing by the end of class!

Goldfish Swim School offers a state-of-the-art facility featuring hairy drying stations, swimsuit dryers, private bungalow-style changing rooms, a glass-walled viewing area, and 90-degree water for the kiddos. Teachers offer weekly feedback and help closely monitor the development of each child to maximize their swimming success.

Remy is so proud of what she’s learning —  flutter kicks, wall holds, and even holding her breath underwater. But most of all she’s having fun and keeping her Summer skills active year-round!

Fall Food + Beer.

One of the best parts of this season, at least for me, is all of the delicious food and drinks. Apple pie, pumpkin spice lattés, apple butter, pumpkin ales… the list goes on and on.

Basically, if it has apples or pumpkins in it, I’m here for it!

I mean, have you ever had an apple cider donut!? They’re delicious.

And we’re nowhere even close to Thanksgiving yet. So basically the best is yet to come!

And, of course, Halloween Parties!

I know it’s still a bit early in the ‘season’, but we’ve already been to one big Halloween party and look forward to at least two more!

My little Ninja, Skye from Paw Patrol, and little unicorn (held by Tigger) loved dressing up and playing games. Ari was especially into it. Like, extra. Ha.

He can be seen here eating all of the sugary goodies off the candy apple bar and then followed it up with an enthusiasm for apple-bobbing that I’ve never seen in another human before in my life!!

This kid, man. Freaking hilarious! I think he’s found his passion. And his passion is 1000% Halloween.

What are some

of your favorite

Fall activities !?

 

 

Friday Favorites

by 11 Comments

I’ve been struggling to keep my head above water this week. Truly, nothing extraordinary has happened; I’m just feeling the weight of the end of pregnancy. Between pregnancy insomnia, chasing the kids, and pregnancy exhaustion (thanks to that insomnia and lots of jabs to the ribs), I’ve been a terrible homemaker this week.

As we sit here,  there are three large loads of laundry piled up on the living room furniture — in plain sight so that I will fold them and put them away — that have been sitting there for a couple of days; dishes are piled up in the sink; and our floors are in desperate need of the vacuum.

Despite all of the craziness, here’s my current favorites from this week!

Favorite on Netflix: We may or may not have binge-watched the new crime docu-series Evil Genius this week. Although it was no Making a Murderer, it was still really good. And super freaky, considering it happened not far from where I grew up — but I had no idea that this even happened until this show! Was I living under a rock!? No, I was just in college.

Favorite read: This article titled What if All I Want is A Mediocre life? It really struck a chord with me. Especially the part about being a mom. In the age of the ‘pinterest mom’ I strive to be just mediocre. Not kidding.

You know why? Because a while ago I realized I wasn’t happy when I was being a ‘pinterest mom’ — and my family noticed — and they weren’t either!

Favorite listen: As per my norm (I’m a creature of habit, y’all), my favorite listen this week was a This American Life episode! Check it out here.

Favorite ride: For the last week I’ve been driving around this incredible Mazda CX-9! We recently turned in our lease of a small SUV and I was really curious about trying this Mazda. I have to say — this car was a game changer, y’all! First of all, it has optional third row seating. Also? All the bells and whistles — between the huge navigation system, to in-dash speedometer with traffic sign recognition, Bose sound system, and the lane-keep assist — were awesome on a little mini-road trip we took!

The kids loved it as much as I did!

Favorite sip: This week was brought to you by… coffee. Copious amounts of coffee! But seriously. I know I generally drink a LOT of coffee; but this week I literally could not have functioned without it. I was a zombie. Not sleeping at night; not able to nap during the day; and did I mention that we transitioned the kids to bunk beds last weekend?? Yeah, that’s been buckets of fun.

So it should come as no surprise that my favorite drink of this week was the Triple Threat Latte from Nervous Dog.

Favorite eat: As I mentioned before, I’ve kinda been a trainwreck on the homefront this week. If it weren’t for my husband being off from work Monday and Tuesday, I swear my children would have eaten spaghetti o’s everyday for lunch and dinner.

But, alas, he was home to save us! And instead, we ate a delicious dinner Bibimbap — which is basically a Korean dish of rice, veggies, and beef.

Favorite link: Just another shameless plug — but my latest blog post for Cleveland Plus went live a couple of weeks ago! Check it out here.

Favorite place: I feel like I don’t say this enough, but I truly love working at the Riverfront YMCA. My fellow coworkers and the members are like an extended family for us. And this week, Ari celebrated his last day of preschool at the YMCA. He’ll be heading off to kindergarten this Fall!

So we celebrated with friends this week and said goodbyeeeee to preschool! It was such a bittersweet moment for all of us!

One of my favorite places will always be the YMCA. It’s a good thing we’re still going to be there everyday 😉

 

What are some of your favorites

from this week !?

 

Cheers to SIX Years ! // and a COFFEE Prize Pack Giveaway

by 25 Comments

Six years. Six years ago, tomorrow, Chad and I eloped on an empty beach in Portland, Maine.

It truly feels like a lifetime ago. We were about 13 weeks pregnant with Ari at the time. We had been dating for what seemed like forever, so we decided why the heck not go get married and make it official!

When I say we ‘eloped’ I mean that we were the only people present, besides the justice of the peace, our photographer, and her assistant (whom also acted as our two witnesses for the event).

Our parents knew we were getting married; but no one else did.

It was perfect. And I love looking back on the photos from the day…

And here we are — six years and three pregnancies (and almost three babies) later — still in love, even though our lives look much different than before.

To my husband — you are still the love of my life — even if our lives look tremendously different than we imagined, and even if we get lost in the hustle and bustle of parenting and work. I love you. 

I’m certain our anniversary will look even more ‘boring’ this year — as I’m working a fundraiser and Chad will be working — but it will be special, nonetheless. ♥

And to help us celebrate our anniversary, I’m hosting a giveaway for a Dunkin Donuts Summer Prize Pack. It includes everything you need to celebrate this Summer!

2 Dunkin’ beach towels
2 Dunkin’ drink containers
1 donut pool float
1 donut drink float

Use the rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Photographer: Justine Johnson
Resort: Inn By the Sea
Jar Cakes: Etsy
Location: Portland Head Light, Crescent Beach, Lobster Shack at Two Lights