travel

Buffa-LOVE // Part 2 // Ohhh Canada!!!

April 30, 2014 by Rachel 2 Comments

I promise we did more than just eat on our mini-vacay (although from Part 1 I can understand how you might assume otherwise)! I’ve been trying to go through pictures since last week and I couldn’t get through all of them until today. What a WEEK! 🙂

Saturday, our first official (and only) FULL day in town, we woke up bright and early (7am) and grabbed a quick bite at the hotel before heading out to Niagara Falls!

I spent most of my young adult years frollicking back and forth across the rainbow bridge and drinking at the age of 19 on Clifton Hill, so I should be a pro at customs. But for whatever reason I FREAK OUT every time I see customs.

Example: One time I was coming back across the bridge to the US side during a day trip (no drinking involved). The customs officer asked me if I had anything to drink. Instead of responding with a straight forward “No,” I said “Just some fruit punch!” super goofy and cheery. Tip: Customs does NOT like jokes!

Travelling across the border with a baby and a passport in my maiden name made me super nervous. But it was a breeze getting into my fave neighbor country!

We parked on Clifton Hill and walked by the falls for about an hour — we gazed, we ooh’d, we ahh’d, and snapped pictures. In the end, that was pretty much all we wanted to do on The Hill. Cause the mini-Vegas-style attractions just aren’t really our scene right now. Instead of heading back across the bridge to the states, we decided to keep driving north to Toronto!

It took about an hour and a half, but Moosh ended up napping for most of the drive. If you’ve never been, the city of Toronto is beautiful! And the drive into is equally as awesome. I mean, the highway is high above the city and you drive directly through downtown Toronto.

Chad used a map (my dad would be so proud — No GPS required!) to find a place where he wanted to grab some lunch. We went to the St Lawrence market and had a peameal bacon sandwich. It was delicious! Even Moosh loved it!

Apparently Chad knew that this peameal bacon sammich thing is a legit Canada thing… But I had no idea. If it isn’t poutine, I don’t know about it. (PS. we def had the most amazing poutine in the universe in Toronto!) Mostly St. Lawrence Market just reminded me of West Side Market in CLE! It’s a little smaller though. And much more busy (if you can believe that!)

In addition to hitting up the crazy market in downtown Toronto, we walked around downtown for hours. HOURS!! Ari was not thrilled…

Hence this photo…

He loved the street performers! I snapped this picture a little late, but Moosh was totally enjoying a little drum performance!

But we loved Toronto (except for the random/crazy mall-ish area) full of religious radicals screaming at each other about Lord knows what (literally). It was a lot of travel, but I’m so glad we got out of Clifton Hill to see a bit more culture!

By the time we arrived back at our hotel, Moosh was ready for bed. And so were we. All completely exhausted.

Thanks, Canada, for the awesome day!

Buffa-LOVE // Part 1

April 27, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I spent the better half of my young adult years in New York State. First in Buffalo, then in Syracuse. Basically everywhere but NYC. And if you think that NYC is the ONLY place to be in the great state of NY, you’re wrong. You’re completely wrong.

Last weekend Chad, Ari & I made the trip back to Western New York for a mini-vacay! To say I was excited about the trip would be a huge understatement. In fact, I hardly slept the night before. I couldn’t wait to get back!

I’m lucky to still have great friends who live in the area who hooked us up with an awesome deal at a hotel. So we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Williamsville — a quaint and adorable little town just east of downtown Buffalo.

As soon as we got in we immersed ourselves in Buffalo “culture.” I’m embarrassed to say (well, not really. Not much embarrasses me) that much of the Buffalo “culture” I was excited for was the food. Ohhhhh the FOOD!!! Buffalo food is definitely not healthy. Not by any means!

Buffalo is home of, well, the Buffalo wing. Or as New York knows it — the chicken wing. Chad & I have both been to the Anchor Bar (famous as the original chicken wing location), but neither of us had ever been to it’s main ‘competitor’ — Duffs!

So our first order of business — Duffs Wings. All I have to say is OMG OMG OMG. Their wings completely blew Anchorbar out of the water! I seriously didn’t think it was possible. But I’m a complete Duffs convert.

Chad wonders how I spent so much time in Buffalo but never went to Duffs. Truthfully? I think I have been there. But I don’t think I had any wings (how is that possible??).

Moosh thought the food was kinda awesome, too! He ate pretty much all of my french fries (so I ate all of Chad’s!). The wings were so crispy! Yum!!

Later that night (after a long walk and a swim!) we ordered an awesome pizza from La Nova and sipped on some Loganberry!

Over the next couple of days we managed fit in some poutine (french fries, cheese curds & gravy for the WIN!!), sponge candy and Mighty Taco! — things that are native to that region! Chad said that the tacos were just ‘ok’… but he doesn’t know good fast food. 😉 ha!

I swear we did more than eat during our trip! More to come!

Time To Come Clean! // Road-Travel With A Clean Bum

April 20, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I love travelling. And I love road trips. But (pun intended?) something about spending countless hours in the car and using rest stop bathrooms pushes me over the clean-freak edge. Seriously.

And as someone who has done a LOT of road-travel (aka – I’m someone that has seen a lot of rest stops), my need for feeling clean while on the road has gotten super intense over the years. Thanks in large part to having a baby. Seems like having a baby/getting pregnant makes a p
erson a LOT more neurotic in a LOT of ways! Ha! Worst!!

Well during our weekend road trip we brought along Cottonelle flushable cleansing cloths. I mean, I get it. No one wants to talk about their bum (well, almost no one! Perhaps I’m the exception? I’m pretty sure I am.); but honestly it’s time to come clean, y’all! We all have bums; we all want to keep them clean!

These flushable wipes are alcohol-free and great for the entire family! I stuck the easy dispenser in my purse, headed into the rest stop, and come out confident and feeling refreshed!

Instead of being totally grossed out during our travels, I actually felt clean! We even took our Cottonelle flushable cleansing cloths with us to Canada! Hope the customs agents didn’t mind seeing these in the trunk when they were searching it! Ha! Clean bums cross borders!

Seriously though. I’ve been a long supporter of keeping my bum clean! Why should babies be the only ones with clean bums, AmIRight!?!

Cherry Healey came all the way from England to talk about our bums and, specifically, using Cottonelle® Flushable Cleansing Cloths and Cottonelle Clean Care toilet paper on them. And now we’re inviting YOU to join the conversation. It may seem weird that we’re talking about this, but we think it’s even weirder that people aren’t always open to using Cottonelle® Flushable Cleansing Cloths and Clean Care toilet paper — nothing leaves you feeling cleaner and fresher!

Thank you Cherry Healey and Cottonelle for starting a conversation about bums! Check out the Cottonelle Facebook page for a coupon for up to $2 off! Try a clean bum for yourself!

Thank you Cottonelle for sponsoring this post and keeping my bum clean!

get fit! // fitness update

September 26, 2013 by Rachel 2 Comments

Weight Watchers //

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve started WW on a really strong note… but I’ve actually slacked near the end of each of the last two weeks. I’ve been out of town on fun adventures. Fun adventures = food, drinks, and slacking on the tracking! I didn’t even weigh myself last week. So when I weighed myself this morning, it was 2 weeks since my last weigh in.

And given the carbs, the beer, the oh-so-amazing food… I gained a pound since my last weigh in. It’s not ideal. And even though I’m a bit blah about the whole thing, I know why and I’m taking steps to change it.

It doesn’t help that I’ve been fairly sick for the last couple of weeks. In fact, this semi-gluten intolerant mama has had to eat more than her fair share of bread/crackers because she’s been throwing up (thank you, antibiotic. ugh). Oh yeah — and I’m on an antibiotic for my freakin’ double-ear infection and sinus infection. Ugh.

After a day at home, some chicken soup, and lots of sleep, I felt a teeny bit better. After a few days on the super aggressive antibiotics, I gave them up for a homeopathic method. I was down for a couple of hours each time I took it (twice a day)… it got to the point where people kept asking me if I was pregnant!! Ha! [PS. I’m NOT.]

Workouts //

I’ve been working out as much as I have been able to. I was tempted to work out when I was super sick — desperate to fit in a run — but I avoided my urge. I rested. And I rested some more. And it worked. I’m already feeling better!

I did manage to fit in 3 (short) runs and a power yoga class, but it never feels like ‘enough’. Ya know??

Food //

I haven’t been eating crap. In fact, I’ve still been avoiding it. I’ve been focused on eating local foods. But sometimes those local food makers are so. flippin’. dangerous! And so so good. So indulgence is “necessary.” Or too hard to resist.

When I say “indulged” I really mean: 1) split a fried chicken + mac entree with my sister on a girls (plus Ari) night out; 2) nibbled on a soft pretzel with Ari [he ate most of it]; 3) we bought a lot of ‘occasional’ treats, sampled them, and put the rest in the freezer.

Looking ahead //

The root of my issue is really mental. Alright, alright… hold your laughter! Not in that way! 🙂

I’ve just had issues balancing life (go figure). I desire a good night of sleep, spending meaningful time for my husband, and having enough energy to work out. But that doesn’t always happen. I did end up running while I was in Columbus. Which was a feat in itself considering my sister and I spent the night before playing board games and drinking Columbus Brewing Co Bodhi. But we ran. And pushed Babycakes in the jogging stroller (ugh!).

But this week I’m purposefully taking it easy. I’m recovering from sickness PLUS I have the Akron Marathon Relay Saturday. (PS. I’m SUPER nervous for that race!)

I’m still working to get to my goal. I just need to continue to find that balance between work/life/workouts. I’m too used to the pre-baby/pre-marriage state of mind… you know, the one where I could get up at 2:30am, workout, and not worry about anyone else? Well I still have that same motivation, it’s just not a reality to apply it. At least not 100%. And that should be OK; that should be enough.

We’ll see what this week has in store! 🙂

Happy (my) Friday!

September 12, 2013 by Rachel 1 Comment

I’ve been crazy busy for the past couple of weeks. Between getting lots of extra OT hours at work, fitting in workouts, and spending loads of time with my two favorite guys, I’ve been completely neglecting my to-do list. I know that I will never have a completed list

And that’s OK.

Regardless of how much I have unchecked on my ‘to-do’ list, I’m beyond excited that today is my Friday. Cause even though this weekend is slated to be a busy one, I’m pumped about it.

Tomorrow I’m going to go to a yoga class before Ari + I drive to Columbus — just Mama + Babycakes! 🙂 I figure we’ll spend the day walking around downtown, hitting up some favorite spots [like Pistacia Vera + Jeni’s Ice Cream] on the way, before grabbing lunch with Mimi. Yep — my mom will be meeting us there! And once my sister and her fiance get out of work, we’ll meet up with them.

And Saturday the three of us are going to run the Pretty Muddy Columbus Women’s 5k! I’m so excited! It will be my first ‘obstacle’ run. So I guess I’m a little nervous, too. I hope to meet up with Heather from Mile 26 & More while we’re both at the race. We, very briefly, crossed paths at Charles Scott Salon for the Elle Magazine and Wella Cosmetics event. But we didn’t officially meet. So it MUST happen this weekend. 🙂

After the race, I’m going to ‘race’ back home to Akron to relax. You know, after only a short 3 hour drive. I’ll need to relax a bit because Sunday I’m going to run the Hereos Run 5-miler race in Westpark. That will be my last race pre-Akron Marathon Relay. My leg of the relay is 4.8 miles, so this will be a good ‘test’ before the big day. 🙂

#HappyFriday!

weekly mantra //

September 9, 2013 by Rachel 2 Comments

Well, we had an incredibly relaxing weekend! I pretty much kept this past weekend marked as “busy” in my planner even though we had nothing to do. We’ve had SO much going on lately that we totally needed some time to relax as a family — even if that meant blowing off things that would’ve been fun.

Friday night we chilled at home. Saturday this mama went to the gym followed by a dentist appointment [yuck!] and grocery shopping. I followed all this fun up with a run [I was a bit ‘fitness inspired’ this weekend].

After everyone had napped (me included!) we headed to the apple orchard. We didn’t apple-pick, but we did apple-taste! And shopped for some honeycrisps. They were delicious! Then we walked around downtown Kent before heading home to settle in for another round of naps!

Saturday night was just as chill as Friday night. Everyone went to bed early and woke slept in until 8 Sunday morning! Ari & I headed to Yoga Bliss for a morning of Vinyasa — well, technically I did yoga and Ari went into the babysitting room. The rest of Sunday was spent sipping Starbucks, drinking fresh kale juice and watching TV.

This weekend was everything I needed to head into this week! I’m ready for my TWO fitness classes early in the week, a (very likely) crazy end to this week, and a half-day on Friday. I’m taking off early Friday afternoon to head to Columbus for the Pretty Muddy women’s 5k/mud run on Saturday. I plan on spending a quick but awesome 24-hours with my sister & my mom while I’m in Columbus! 🙂

And I’ll be back home in time to run a 5-mile race on Sunday! Busy, busy!

And my mantra for the week is this:

Cause it’s time to let the love in and the light shine through! xo!